Happy 2013 - already?

Another year finished and a new one rapidly approaching!
Gee - I was just getting use to writing 2012. 

Happy New Year Everyone! 



May this one go by a little slower, please!!!

Family Traditions passed down

Tonight we sat around the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, the children in their new Christmas p.j' s and the fire crackling in the fireplace.  The children were antsy with excitement, it is Christmas Eve after all.  We had a full day of playing games and baking cookies, including the peanut butter balls recipe my husband's mother passed to us.  Our tummys we're stuffed, the dishes we're done and lovingly we gathered together in their family room while my son read the Christmas story from the New Testament, just as his father did when my son was a child, and just as his grandfather's did when hubby and I were children.  My heart was full, my eyes brimmed with tears threatening to spill as I watched my child lead his young family in some of the same activities that we did with him and his siblings.  He is a man now with little ones of his own.  All of our children are grown and tonight they all sit with their families carrying on many of the same traditions.  We are not with them physically, but we are with them in spirit and love.  I am proud and I am blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Blindsided

Just when I think I have everything under control (a joke indeed), I suddenly get blindsided. The other day while driving to work, I was channel surfing the radio. One channel was giving their headline topics that were planned for the next hour. My ears perked up when I heard the word "Parkinson's". You know - I can't even tell you the topic. Strangely, something in my mind triggered and all I could think was "Damn it! I have Parkinson's Disease - I really have it!!" Then the tears started flowing...to my chagrin. 

"What is wrong with you - seriously???" I thought. "You've known you have it for awhile now- get a grip!!!" "Yeah, but I really really DO have it and it's not going away!!", I answered myself while wiping the trickling tears from my cheeks. "Crap - where is this all coming from and why now? Good grief girl - get a grip, you're almost at work." I managed to pull myself together and arrived at work with red eyes and an "allergies are acting up"excuse.

I don't get it! What's up with this blindsided feeling? It's not like I don't think about Parkinson's all of the time as it is these days. So how is it that it can just hit me hard out of the blue like that? :(

And really - in comparison to all the horrible and truly sad things going on in the world today - my having Parkinson's is nothing.  So...Self - are you listening?  You are hereby given notice, if you need to have a cry, at least do it for something more than hearing the word Parkinson's on the radio.  Have I made myself clear?

Where can I Turn for Peace?

While snuggling with my 2 year old grandson during a much needed nap (for both of us), I looked at his sweet little face and wondered what I would do if this precious little guy's life was violently taken. I can not even comprehend the pain of the many families in Connecticut during this very tragic and heart breaking time.

I dedicate this song to all those in Connecticut and throughout the world who are suffering - for whatever reasons.

JOHN 14:27 -  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."