A Southern Rehabilitation

 I was asked a very big question yesterday that I have not really thought about in a very long time. A dear friend asked me, "How in the world did you ever get accustomed to being alone?"  At the moment she asked, I was getting my hair done and couldn't respond. Truthfully, the question knocked me back a couple of steps. I had not traveled down this road in a very long time. I had a two-hour drive back home, so I pondered this. How could I answer her question and at the same time give her hope? This friend is going through a separation and eventual divorce. She too has been with her husband for over 30 years.  How do I answer her question with honesty, yet give encouragement for brighter days?  In my mind I thought I am NOT accustomed to being alone, it's just my present state of life right now. God didn't design his Creations to be alone. He designed a mate for all living things. Humans most of all. So I decided to go back in time and I thought back to the fall o

 Another year has come and almost gone. Here is the 2022 Christmas card and letter . I keep hoping I will get back to my blog writing once again but until then... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!                                                                                                                                                                 Christmas 2022 Merry Christmas, Friends and Family,     What a year 2022 has been in so many ways! Remember when we didn’t think a year could         be as bad as 2021? HAHAHA Let’s not say that as we are on the verge of kicking off 2023. :)   I’ve had some “doozy” moments this year…I left third grade and am now teaching second grade. It has turned out to be a good thing. The Lord does have my best interests in mind as He puts things in my path, especially things that I might not like at the time. This second grade class I have now is what I’d call a “doozy.”   This summer, my friend, Brown, and I took an amazing road trip. We left

 This year's Christmas letter... I have already sent it out but wanted to put it here for record-keeping purposes. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope "your" Christmas season was a merry one.  Dear Ones,       Another year has gone by... How grateful I am to be writing another Christmas letter to you! We've celebrated another round of birthdays; we have enjoyed another family vacation (Oak Island, NC), celebrated all the holidays again, and my children and grands are all ok (at least at the writing of this letter--ha). There has also been sadness and shock. I lost a dear friend. It was a horrific circumstance. An entire community mourned her passing. My niece was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has 4 young children. Her testimony has never been stronger. She inspires me and so many others. Even in these devastating things, in the happy things, God has been, is, and continues to be good. Family News:               John Robert , the oldest child, now 33 years old, wo

It is a quiet Sunday afternoon. It is August and hotter than blazes outside. Summer, thankfully is winding down, or I hope it is. These heatwave days are no joke here in Fayetteville.  Since I have some downtime today I thought I would jot some thoughts here. I was talking to my friend on the phone just a few minutes ago and I was telling her my latest news and when I finished telling her, I said, "There ya go," because really what else is there to say.  I have been talking to a guy for the last 6 months. We have talked just about every single day and sometimes multiple times a day, for literally the last 6 months, which is 24+ weeks, which translates into a TON of hours on the phone. A. TON. I am not a big phone talker so this was new for me and I actually didn't mind. We don't live in close proximity to each other so we have not been out on any dates or seen each other, etc... However, I know him. I have known him for many years. He called me. He kept calling me. We

It is Mother's Day weekend 2021... the whole world has just spent a year in quarantine and dealing with the thing called Covid-19. It's been a super messy year because of it and so many other "issues" in our world today. However, this weekend is about celebrating, remembering, grieving, feeling great loss, being grateful and blessed, honoring, etc... It's just a freaking emotional weekend for so many women (and perhaps guys as well). I have been wondering all week what is up with my emotions, my inner being so to speak. I have felt "off-kilter," restless for the last four days and I couldn't pinpoint the reason. I think it has to do with Mother's Day--at least a good percentage of it.  I've read different posts this week about women acknowledging other women and their feelings on Mother's Day. Women who feel extremely blessed because they ARE mothers and at the same time feeling empathy and love for other women who haven't or can'

I know there have been untold references and discussions and shows and specials on the year that was "2020," but I would be doing myself a disservice to my journaling if I didn't do my own post about it. After all, I will forget all those other shows and specials, but here, here I will have documentation of my own journey through the "year that was 2020."  I remember choosing my word for 2020: it was self-care. I was going to make 2020 the year of taking care of myself in a myriad of different ways. I got off to a good start. I joined a gym and I was going fairly regularly. I had a positive mindset and I was being mindful of all the choices I was making whether food-related, friend-related, management of time, blogging, etc... Little did I know, or did any of us know, the absolute train wreck that was about to happen.  I remember the day clearly. March 13th. A Friday. We had all heard the news of this Coronavirus and how it was rapidly spreading to the US. I wa