(TAG! YOU ARE IT! Copy and post this on your blog ASAP!) What is this? Well, you’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done so readers can find out how you've led an awesome life so far. Here's what I have done in blue...
1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disney World 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Been water or snow skiing 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill . 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo's David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant. 44. Climbed to the top of the Washington Monument 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching No, but I've gone dolphin watching in the Atlantic Ocean 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Been to the National Zoo in Washington, DC 67.Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Ridden on a motorcycle (see #77) 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Been kayaking or canoeing 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Read an entire book in one day
I love reading your blogs! In my mind, I have made many new friends and I know you, but you don't know me. I am a much better blog reader than a blog writer. I have always loved to read, so that stands to reason. It doesn't matter that no one is reading this blog, I am going to make an effort to document the things that I feel.
Today is Election Day. In this country we are quite priviledged to be allowed to vote and elect our leaders. Whether we agree or not with the outcome, we will have a peaceable exchanging of the offices. Look around the world and see how many countries do not have that. I'm feeling quite emotional right now thinking about what a great and blessed country we live in. The election has been ugly, but hopefully those memories will fade and we will try to be a "united" nation of individual states. It's going to be hard because right now we are so divided in our views of whom should be our president. I woke up in the middle of the night and I prayed and prayed for God to lead us forward and to soften people's hearts toward their enemies. That's a dramatic word, enemies, but it sounded so Biblical, I used it. But we as Christians need to be reminded that Satan is our enemy, not our fellow Americans.
I have used my first tool, my vote, and I will continue to use my strongest tool, Prayer, for a peaceful and democratic America where no one is hungry and all children are loved! A nation that others will look up to for inspiration rather than a nation that others look to with hatred and jealousy. Just my feelings.
Last post I wrote about losing my friends. I'm starting to find them. They were not really lost.
I was.
I don't want everything I write about to be sad, because it's too hard to go back later and reread it. I've done that with journaling and I didn't like it. Maybe I had a bad day and wrote about it, but 6 months later, I didn't feel the same way and it was depressing to relive those emotions.
Saying that...I feel like things take so much effort and I'm continually crawling up out of a hole.
But when I see daylight, I'm happier. So that's what I am going to focus on. The Happy!
I've spent more time with friends and Bible Study gals lately and I'm so grateful for those times.
Yesterday our Bible Study group gathered for lunch to celebrate one gal's birthday. We usually pick a local restaurant and go out for breakfast or lunch, but this time she opted for a potluck luncheon. It was fabulous! Several of us have "food issues" or allergies, so everyone is very considerate and modifies their recipes to accommodate the others. We had a delicious, healthy, abundant lunch and topped it off with my low-fat chocolate cheesecake cupcakes. Yummy!
We met at noon and when I left at 3pm, they were still going strong.
We're studying Max Lucado's James and I plan to post about what I experience with this study.
We've had dinner with dear friends at a beautiful, historic Richmond hotel. We had our son's girlfriend's parents over for dinner. And last night I had dinner with ladies I used to work with. We meet once a month for dinner, but I don't think I've been able to join them since June. Last night we had a great time. We laughed a lot and for a couple of hours, we enjoyed each other's company as well as listened to each other's problems. That's the good thing about friends. They will laugh with you or cry with you and love you during both.
We had a great time at "the river". We boated, provided waves for some kayakers, my nephews jet-skied and we pulled them and my niece on a tube behind the boat. My nephews are 19 & 16 and my brother, their dad, could not shake them off that tube. And he tried, but they are so young and so strong they held on.My family has had so much fun and made so many special memories during the past 30 yrs at that cottage. And it's there that I miss my Dad the most. He loved it!!! Oh, then we ate! With so many cooks bringing food, it was a feast. But the best part for my mom, was that all of her children and about 1/2 of her grandchildren were there together at one time.It was a great afternoon and a beautiful evening.
I've just realized that I am losing my friends. It's happened gradually in the past 4 years. May, 2004, my husband and I were in a serious motorcycle accident. Is there any other kind?
We had multiple injuries, but we can walk and talk so we are very lucky. Blessed. Still not quite right. My most serious injury was a fractured ankle. I was in a wheelchair for 3 months because I also had a broken shoulder which prevented me from using crutches. So my dear daughter, who had to postpone her wedding for 3 months, had to push and pull me everywhere all summer of 2004. She was wonderful: loving and patient with not a shred of resentment. She was so grateful to God that we were alive.
Anyway, after 2 more surgeries, countless hours of PT and a mountain of pain pills, I am still not quite right. I can walk, but not without pain. Lots of pain. I look in the mirror and I see the pain etched in my face. It does not make me feel better to know that I could be so much worse. My personal pain is eating away at my soul.
And that's why I feel so disconnected from my friends. When we came home from the hospital (I was in for 7 days, P was in for 10 days), our friends and family came in droves. We did not have to prepare a meal for 6 weeks. We were on prayer lists all over the world. And we knew we were being lifted up! But now that I have had such a rough time, I don't see my friends much. I had a business with lots of ladies that became friends, but I no longer am able to continue to work it. I just don't feel like socializing, entertaining or even chatting on the phone like I used to. I love that people are concerned, but I hate that conversations revolve around how I'm feeling and what the doctors are planning next. So I have retreated into a shell. And that's not where I want to be.
I have had my next door neighbor's son's birthday present sitting in the dining room since June, because it's too much effort to take it over.
So, I am going to intentionally make plans and reconnect with all of my dear friends. I need friends in my life and I want to be somebody that they need in their lives.
Yesterday, after my doctor visit, I had lunch with a good friend and then we went and got pedicures. I think that's a pretty good start.
I'm an empty nester with 2 adult children. My daughter and her husband live about 2.5 hours away and my son lives in town. I'm so proud to be their mother. I've been married to my best friend for 36 years!