A Southern Rehabilitation

Yesterday and today have been "Snow Days."  A snow day is when the kids are out of school due to inclement weather. I am a teacher so that is doubly exciting for me--maybe even triple the excitement! We even got out two hours early on Monday b/c of the "expectation of snow coming." We didn't get near the amount of snow I had hoped for, but at least it covered the ground for the most part.  I've been off these last two days and it has been fabulous. I woke up late, stayed in bed even longer b/c I have this wonderful new mattress that is a work of art, a slice of a heaven. I traveled to SC to get it. It was made just for me... not kidding. I digress, sorry. I didn't make my coffee until almost 10:00! (WHOA! That's a big deal.) I sat and watched TV for a while and didn't make breakfast until lunch time. It was a great morning. It's been a great TWO mornings. Today was actually an "Optional Teacher Work Day"... ok, really??? Keyword: ...

Every cloud must have a little rain. I know the last post had a whole lot of "serious." It is what it is though. This journey is a lot like mountains and valleys. I've had and do have very high mountain top days and there are times I've had and continue to have some low valley days. It's inevitable. One cannot live life without some dark rain clouds from time to time. There is just no way to stay "high" every single minute of every single day. Impossible. I purchase a new Planner every year b/c I have to be able to write things down and see it on paper versus the "new way" of keeping everything on one's phone calendar. I like to doodle and make things look pretty. For this year's Planner Cover, I chose "My Favorites" design. I came up with a list of some of my favorite things and the list was printed on the cover. I love it!! I had the best time thinking of things that are my favorites . Typing them out and reading them i...

Have you ever felt a storm brewing? Could you sense something bad about to happen? Perhaps you have felt a dread coming, a rumbling in the background and the closer it gets the louder the rumble until it is so loud you are deafened by the sound of it? It's on top of you before you realize it and you're taken by surprise at the enormity of its power? Well, that's where I am these days. I am sitting on a beach somewhere looking out to sea and I hear a low rumble and I see the waves tossing and churning about, the white caps are forming and getting more frantic as time passes.  In essence, I see a big nasty tidal wave developing. Even though I see it forming way out in the distance and I know it's coming and will no doubt make landfall, I don't move. I can't move. I am making no effort to out run it or try to find a safe place. I sit, ready to take the hit. This past week has been a doozy, a lot of storms. Really the last two weeks have been "quite a bit....

Yesterday, January 22, marked the 3 year "anniversary" if you will, of one of my dear friend's death. It is hard to believe it has been 3 years. I miss her more every day. I met this friend in high school--1977ish. I was a sophomore and she was a junior. I thought she was a beautiful girl with this amazing smooth hairless olive colored skin. One time I watched her make this wax stuff. She stirred and kneaded until it was the perfect consistency and then Girlfriend put that wax on her arms, legs, etc... and pulled the hair right off her body. I visibly winced as she did so. She also had the biggest boobs of ANY girl on campus. We girls were totally envious! The guys thought Hugh Hefner sent her just for their viewing pleasure. PLUS, she was from Egypt! EGYPT! I was a mountain girl from Asheville, NC, and this girl was pretty exotic to me--to all of us. Her name was Fibi Hanna.  Today, yesterday--these days have been heavy on my mind. I have been thinking of Fibi a lo...

It's hard to believe that another 365 days have come and gone since my last "end of year post." I just went back and read my " Finding the Good in 2013 " post and at the end of it I said something about feeling like the rotten of 2013 was going to carry over into 2014. Well, it sure did... in a million different ways on a zillion different levels, but upon reflecting over the last 365 days, I did find some good; I did remember some incredible moments. In all honesty, I bet I could recount many more highlights from the year than the lowlights. I think it's the weight of the hard and difficult and painful and heartbreaking times that make the days feel so sucky. The hurt is just so heavy and and when the burden is "that heavy," it is difficult for me to believe that there will be a better day and there is a big tendency to simply give in to the hurt because that is all I can feel.  It's during those times that I forget about all the sunshine in m...