Good to Know...

Lately I have seen so many quotations and catch phrases about change. Like this partial list: "Things do not change, we change." Heraclitus "Nothing endures but change." Henry David Thoreau "Change your thoughts, change your world." Norman Vincent Peale "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." Carol Burnett "The key to change is to let go of fear." Rosanne Cash "Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world." Joel Barker "Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." Sydney Harris And my favorite: "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged, to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." Nelson Mandella Everyone knows about change, experiences change, sometimes hates it, and sometimes l...

It's now December. September was the last time I published a blog. Excuses, excuses! They fill my calendar. Life is just too busy it seems. Looking through my list of posts, there were at least five that I wrote and never published. In trying to figure out why, I re-read through some of them and realized that at those times, I just needed to get thoughts out of my head and onto the page. They definitely were significant at the time, but it wasn't necessarily anything that anyone else might find interesting, so they sit in the draft pile. This moment in this season seems like a good time to catch up with writing. Over the past month, Christmas traditions fill our thoughts and plans, some good and anxiously anticipated, some just obligatory. Usually, decorating the house and the tree, hanging twinkling lights and playing the Christmas tunes all build spirit and excitement weeks before. It was difficult this year for us in the decorating part, almost all of our Christmas...

This blog will be a little different. It will be more concise, not as much fluff, but none-the-less rewarding for me to write because I have some rather important news to share. For the past few years, many things have aligned in my life that have brought great joy, peace, happiness and love. At the top of this list is my relationship with Michael, who is the love and joy of my life. Not only are we head over heals in love, find ourselves longing to just be together and do everything together, he has become my solid rock for support and encouragement. We have proven over and over that we are better together than apart. It was totally appropriate that we played Jack Johnson's song "Better Together" at our wedding reception! He has allowed me freedoms, given me validation and helped me sort through all the toxicity of the past, all in preparation for opportunities in the future. I'm truly grateful that he has allowed me to be me, loved me on both the good days and the...

After moving a few months ago, the other day I was unpacking yet another small box with things belonging to my office. Tucked between a number of folders, papers and other desk things, I found a little blue book. It's about the size of a small envelope, about a three by five inch size. It was held together by a black elastic band so the pages wouldn't be disturbed. On the front it says "Mommy's Little Prayer Book" handwritten with a gold pen. There is also a small angel handdrawn with the same gold pen in the top right corner. Looking at it, again I thought, "how precious." It was signed on the bottom of the front cover, "from Pookie." I sighed.  Pookie is a nickname for my daughter, Sara. She was born with an extraordinary amount of hair for a newborn, it was dark and the top stood straight up. At the time, punk rock was becoming mainstream, with hair styles similar to my little baby. So, it seemed only fitting that she be nicknamed "pun...

Photo by Jami Dale. For the past week my daughter Sara and I have connected because there has been a need...her car died. It's always stressful, annoying and just a total inconvenience when any hour of life has to be devoted to dealing with car issues. But needs have a way of drawing people together. It's a time to rally around and get the problem dealt with so life can be back to normal, especially in her case with 9 month old Wyatt. Babies need routine. Breaking that can be an added layer of stress. Sometimes the expectation is that this need has to be fixed or remedied by a certain method or by certain people. However, pulling everyone together allows for the best possible outcome. It allows the mixture of resources, energy, intelligence and prayer to come together in one unique opportunity to support and bless that individual who is in need. In this case, it was Sara and Wyatt. I'm so thrilled that she called me to include me in that circle of contacts as she ...

Not sure who originated this quote, but my friend Angie told me a few months ago when we were discussing the affect getting older has on our bodies...."motion is potion." Some people say "use it or lose it." Either way, those of you in my age bracket probably understand. You know, when you sit for a while at the computer desk, or on the couch, or even in the drivers seat, that first second standing...ouch! It's a constant reminder that we aren't getting younger. It sort of makes you crazy though to realize that even simple things aren't as easy as they once were. And if there's been any sort of trauma to the body, then it's even harder. In my case, after several car accidents, my body's telling me...you better be careful, one more and we're through. Well, not permanently, just through trying to recover in a timely fashion. Once injury or trauma happens, it takes much longer for the muscles, nerves and tissues to heal. In spite of others s...

For the past few years I have written and resubmitted the birthday blog about my two children, Sara and Chris, their birthdays are at the end of this month. Here's a link in case you missed it. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=695155067&v=box_3#!/note.php?note_id=123210038433 It was written in a moment of happiness, joy, love and hope. Hope that if they knew how I felt they would be blessed by knowing my deepest thoughts. Hope that somehow it might create a movement towards mending the broken hearts, chipped ego's and stretched-out-of-shape emotions. Hope that the possibility would exist for every part of our family to recover from the events of the past four years and we would emerge stronger, more resilient, more intertwined knowing that relationships are the only thing that we will take into eternity. I look at pictures like the one above and remember the time when I got them dressed in cute clothes, set up the little rocking chair ...