Just being me. Serenity's Sister; really.

Louisiana – had the best time listening to R & B sitting in the longest traffic jam headed to Florida for Spring Break 2008

E-mail is nice, but think of how lovely it is when you receive a letter in the mail. I love it and I am going to begin to write at least one person a letter per week.

I much rather have the trees of Michigan, the fresh air, the cold winters, the changing leaves than the palms of Texas, the drought wracked earth, the stunted trees, the algae green water and the lack of good ole midwestern determinism.

We get in the SUV and take turns saying left or right. All of us get in on it and we always love finding out where we end up. It is fun. One time my sister Dannette and I, along with my husband did this in rural Texas. We ended up beside an experiemental farm for monkeys. About a month later they got loose and had been part of an e-coli experiement.

Change comes at a cost. I always identified who I was through my job. I changed careers for my children, only to find out that being a teacher is a gift. I touch lives every single day and they touch my life every single day. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I am going to take a communication class with my husband to break down some of the barriers we have when we try to talk.

Michigan – Lived there
Iowa – went to Iowa State
Kentucky – went to Cumberland College
Tennessee – went to Martin Methodist College
Texas – live here
Ohio – my boys were born here
Indiana – drove on through
Illinois – went to G. America, went to Navy Pier
Wisconsin – T got drunk, had to drive it was bad
Minnesota – went to the mall with Suemee
Missouri – went to their wedding, they are already divorced
Colorado – went to the mint, Denver with DK
Kansas – we’re not in ARkansas anymore
Arkanas – went to Arkanas State
Alabama – Drove with Suzi to Tuscaloosa
Georgia – went to Statesboro – what a waste
Virginia – went to Holiday Inn saw Craig
Maryland – went to DC too
Pennsylvania – loved the trees MEP lives there
Oklahoma – paid a toll, drove on through
Nebraska – had pneumonia and ate purple potatoes
Mississippi – went gambling

I want to go back home and eat a DQ ice cream in the Valley Park in Coloma.

Thus far today I have relaxed. I got up late, took a shower, sat down and talked to Haley. I talked to my mom on the phone, pet my cat. I played on the computer, talked to the adoption agency, sat on the couch. Made lunch (okay—ordered lunch out). Sat in the chair. Now, I am going to take a nap. It is hard being me.

When you get married, grow up and have children you lose yourself in the day to day ramblings of living. I had dreams that I lived prior to getting married. I made every moment count. Now? I think I have let myself go to a point where I do not matter. How am I going to matter to others if I don’t even matter to myself? I am going to create a list of 100 things I want to do. Like go back to Iowa and visit the Amish farms and buy potato bread. Yeah, it has sweet memories attached to that trip and I can create even more cool memories. That is number 1.

adopting children who are not biologically yours at an older age creates all kinds of issues. all you want is for them to love you and you love them and everyone dance the happy the happy dance. we don’t have that often here, but today was one of those special moments when my boys came in, hugged me and told me they loved me. i am blessed.

I would love it. Of course living in Southern Texas I will wait until it gets winter to go camping. That way the rattlers are hibernating and the weather is tolerable and we can explore the brush and eat off of the land. Okay, I hate to eat fish…but at least I can fish off of the land. My kids will LOVE it.

today i was in a fender bender. the lady hit me and was mad because i felt dizzy. she didn’t hit me hard she said. i looked at her and wondered where our humanity has gone. where has simple kindness walked to? i will vow to be kind to others no matter the circumstances so that i can love deeper and better than ever before.

bring the light closer to the mirror within my soul and see the fog drifting slowly by. understand that this year has been marred with sadness, enveloped within hidden meanings and false joys. show the light near my heart and see God. peacefully waiting for me to come to him, lay my burdens in his out stretched hands and walk away from the chaos. hand me the light and allow me to walk into my own, creating a new beginning.

We bought a beautiful house in a lovely neighborhood where EVERYONE recycles. My very sensible and loving friends Margaret and Mark sent me vinyl grocery bags in order to aid me when I get groceries. No more little plastic bags!

We started this on Spring Break. We have four left to go….and it is October now. It is fun and the kids have really gotten involved in looking at their surroundings and being more aware of where they are from and where others are from.

I learned to cook the best meals while managing a group home for adults with cognitive disabilities. At 19, I was their mentor, their mom and their cook during the weekends. What a better way than to show your love for others than through a fine meal shared with joy and laughter.

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
-Joseph Addison

Love is the requieter of all emotion.