Dammit Dolls Day Out

It all started when these two crazies picked me up in a store, one saying,  
"We should get your friend Rhonda with breast cancer a dammit doll. 
My mom had one when she had cancer"

What is a dammit doll you ask?  

It was my lucky day, the crazies happened to be in Hawaii.   

Except I forgot my bikini.

(these are not beads, its a lei, they give them out everywhere)

But,  

what happens in Hawaii...

does stay in Hawaii.  

Don't judge. It was the only shady spot.  

Then this happened.
I tried to feed the birds a cracker, fell and no one picked me back up.
Have you see the movie "The Birds"? THANK YOU.
Some new friends I have!

I feel better now.

After a wonderful nights sleep and a quick
stop in the store, I head to the North Shore. 

HELLO sunrise. 

Thank goodness for coffee. 

I guess this is where they make you ride when they are
afraid you will blow away in a convertible.

A stop for breakfast...

at Turtle Bay Resort isn't too shabby.    

Ahhhh....  

Shhh, I snuck in the outdoor spa area.

Enough of the fancy life.

It's good to mix it up and explore some local fun. 

Like shopping by Giovonni's Shrimp truck.

Just didn't quite fit.

And now the beach. North Shore!
Surfers... anywhere? 
Hello? 

Oh. HELLO!
Why Pro Surfer Miguel Blanco,
don't mind if I do!

A day like that will wear a girl out.  

Another beautiful morning, last day. 

And another friend. 

Although Bubbles the duck was a little  shy. 

One last look at the beach. 

Last minute shopping at the airport. 

Headed home to meet my Rhonda. 

Won't be long!

Dedicated to Rho with prayer's for a speedy recovery

If you have a Rhonda send them a Dammit Doll, 

or if you just want to share a laugh, forward this post! 

16 Truths for for a Happy Marriage

Do read the book “The 5 love languages” early in your marriage.

Don’t accept jewelry with “You should return this, it cost too much” because your love language isn’t gifts.

Do take your long hair out of your husband’s hairbrush if you use it.

Don’t share a hairbrush.  

Do tell your husband he is really, really tall.

Don’t decide to challenge his height by measuring how tall he really is.

Do make homemade meals for your husband.

Don’t get offended when your husband says your homemade pasta ravioli tastes like Olive Garden.

Do shower your husband with lots of attention.  

Don’t ignore your husband for a year after you have your first child.  

Do leave detailed instructions for your husband when he cares for the children as if he is a babysitter.  
Don’t offend your husband by saying it is like he is “babysitting” his own children.   

Do get a mommy’s helper occasionally if you are home with little children all day.

Don’t threaten to lock your husband out of the house if he is home five minutes late from work. 

Do act like you have missed your husband all day when he returns from work.

Don’t talk to the dog before you talk to your husband.

Do answer your phone when your wife is trying to reach you.

Don’t act like you are going to run over your husband when you finally get a hold of him. (especially in front of his business associate)

Do talk openly with each other.

Don’t tell your spouse, “Wow, it is hard for me to talk to you with that big zit on your forehead”

Do find the name of the closest drycleaner.

Don’t promise to iron if you don’t know how to iron.  

Do apologize to spouse when you are wrong.   

Don’t tell your spouse you have an “Unable to Apologize Disorder.”  

Do refrain from keeping secrets.  

Don’t tell your husband about late public library fees.

Do tell your spouse how smart they are.

Don’t feel the need to look up something on the internet to prove them wrong.

Do enjoy a sense of humor with your spouse.

Don’t enjoy a sense of humor at your spouse’s expense “all the time”

Do let your spouse know you can’t imagine your life without them.

Don’t follow that up with, ‘I can’t imagine life without our [newest dog]”.

Seriously, eat a family meal whenever you are together at dinnertime as a family.

And…

Do Easter Miracles Still Happen?

I wasn’t looking for an Easter miracle.  Although getting to church early enough to get a seat would have been a nice surprise.

 I kept telling my family, “we are going to be on time”, but they were all right….
on time on Easter is very, very late.

On Easter eve, I asked my Walk to Emmaus Reunion Group to please pray for healing in my arm and shoulder. I was tired of the unexplained nerve zinging across my shoulder which felt like someone was playing the “Devil Went Down to Georgia” on a fiddle.  The zinging was hindering the diagnosis of other arm pain. That after a x-rays, a neck MRI, a shoulder MRI, a round of steroids, a steroid shot, a neck cortisone injection, 800mg of ibruphrophen regularly, and enough time with my PT I thought we were dating…. I was ready to be better and move on.   

I had a sweet friend take me to two of the mentioned my doctor appointments, because she said, “You take care of enough people, someone can take care of you!”  I shared with the group that maybe God wanted me to learn through this experience to learn to ask for help.   

Later that night, I helped the Easter Bunny fill the baskets and went to bed.  I was unable to sleep due to my jelly bean sugar high and my arm. I ran the scenario in my head of storming in my doctor’s office telling them “to just cut my arm off”.

Rushing the next morning to get ready for church “on time’, I didn’t give a lot of thought to my arm.  And we did eventually get a seat.  As I was listening to the sermon I thought, this is the first time my shoulder hasn’t hurt in church in forever.  I almost said something to my husband. 

Then the pastor says, paraphrasing of course, “as we were praying for today’s service and the church members, we felt like it was pressed upon us that someone was going find repair in their marriage, a grown man was going to cry for the first time ever, and someone was going to find healing in their arm.”  I looked at my husband wide eyed. 

Well folks, it’s been two days and it is feeling better than it has in months. 

So I am going to assume he was talking about me.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Leaving of a legacy

When I first heard my 90 year old Grandma
had fallen ill and was terminal,
my first thought
(other than the gut wrenching sobbing and snot slinging)
was,

this...is the end..... of an era. 

 My mind said that she lived a wonderful and full 90 years,
but my heart was so very sad.

After travelling to NY to see her for the last time,
I no longer feel it is the end of an era.

 As God calls her home to be with my Grandpa
whom she loved dearly,
I now feel like it is the beginning of her legacy.



She is at home and most definitely
surrounded by love and family,

and it is how they are loving her that represents her legacy.

Loved ones praying for her,

gently holding her hand,

sleeping by her bedside or on the couch near her,

listening to the monitor in case she makes a sound,

giving medicine as needed,

calling from all over the world to let her know they love her

and hear her voice,

bringing flowers to her,

thanking her for everything she has done and 

all the prayers she has prayed,

 kissing her forehead,

and...

even arguing about what will make her most comfortable. 

 

Even in those moments of disagreement,

it is a example of how much she is loved.

 

 Not just one, but two priests came to pray with her at the house,

bring her communion and / or read her last rites.

If you include the priest from the hospital,

we think she had her last rites read three times, 

 she is in the Lord's hands.

 She is a witness for her love of the Lord

by the way she  clings to her rosaries saying prayers. 

 

 

 

This is all the mark of a woman who loved her children deeply,

all thirteen of them, 

and showed her family the power of love and prayer. 

 

A woman who taught those around her
to look at the world
 through rose colored glasses,

literally and figuratively.

 

She will be missed terribly,
as Grandpa is to this day,
however she will still live on in each person

that was lucky enough to know and love her.  

It is not just her legacy, but their legacy.

 And as she is being called home and takes this journey,

I pray for her to be at peace.

 

 

 

"Angels are everywhere,

one has only to be still to hear the rustle of a wing."

 

 

It's not what you think

You are in the grocery store check-out line, you glance over and see this the lady's cart in front of you.

 Let's get a closer look.

You are thinking... really, COUPONS????

 Why do I always get behind the lady with the coupons. 

She probably is paying with a check too. 

Oh, wait....she has some issues. 

Well, folks it isn't always what you think! 

So we drove by church last Saturday and saw it was "garden clean up day." We stopped to help and all the kids were out by the road (with adults) helping clean up trash....then, this little white, scruffy, Benji-looking dog ran across the main road, dodging cars, right up to all the kids there. Happy as can be, so friendly. 

I am not one to let a dog get run over, so we made a leash out of a scarf. 

First thought, no collar = not very good parents. (Yea, MY dog has gotten off her collar before and run away, but we live in a gated community and she looks clean, there is a difference...) 

Then I start to hear about this family across the street, people see LOTS of different dogs there. Um hum....they would explain why he was in tact if you know what I am saying....

By the way, they haven't even looked for the dog, do they even care?

So he hangs out with us awhile, we actually come across a real leash. When it is time to leave, we drive across the street to find out what is going on. I go walking up these peoples driveway with my "I am better than you" attitude, polite, but definitely an heir of I know better.

"Excuse me, Sir, is this your dog I found without a collar? He almost got hit by a car crossing the street."

"Oh, my daughter brought it home last night, I am not sure what is going on...."

Here we go I thought. Um hum... Keep in mind the dog is in the car with my husband because I am not about to give it back.  The man's daughter comes out...

"Yes, Mamn.  He was at the gas station up the road.. They said he was there for two days and had to go, so I brought him here with me. He was so thirsty he cried when I got him water. I bought him some food too. He was very hungry. I didn't have time to get him a collar. I gave him a bath too."

My face and heart melted..... I was so ashamed. We started talking about church and I told her about a youth concert we were having next month. She was very involved with youth at her old church but it was too far, she may attend the concert and bring a friend. I offered to take him and help find him a home.

 Shhh, don't tell my husband, but he may not leave! 

And back to the Preparation H, you can also use it for "eye cream" on a puffy day. So next time you are quick to think someone may have or be a pain in the you know what... think again.... I sure will. 

Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

  

Grief ~ It's Simple

1. 
   

   . 

   Yes, this is a wood block.
   We are off to a good start. 

   
   

   PHYSICS 101     Work = Force x Distance. 

   The unit of force being Newtons. 

   
   

   (don't go thinking I am all of a sudden a genius, 

   they teach this stuff in 4th grade)

   
   

   So the Newton is the measure of energy it takes  to move an object.  

   
   

   Say you push or pull the block on the left, you are going to use a certain amount of energy or force or newtons. 

   
   

   
   

   

   Say you add wheels to the object, making it a SIMPLE MACHINE. Why golly, it takes less work...newtons.... & force!
   What on earth do you ask, does have to do with Grief??? 

   Earlier this year I attended my Uncle's  funeral. He was in the Marine Corp. There must have been twenty marines in uniform that were standing guard at his funeral. You could see the sadness on their faces, as they mourned with our family.  I hope their presence helped my Aunt that day with her grieving...each marine being like a wheel on the block, making her load easier to carry. 

   
   

   

   I saw it again when my best friend's parents were tragically killed in a car accident this year. People helped her and her family as they grieved. Whether it was a hugs, cards, meals, babysitting, prayers, each person was like a wheel on the block helping make their load lighter... 
2. I saw this again when a friends mother passed away shortly after that. When I stopped over she mentioned how a stranger brought brownies and a neighbor mowed their lawn. Again, people were the wheels on the block to help pull them through.  

   
   

   

   Today, 9/11, eleven years after the tragedy

   it still sits heavy on every one's hearts today. 

   
   

   And it sits much heavier on the hearts of those who lost loves ones in those awful events or were helping with rescue efforts. 

   
   

   Hopefully those families feel a nation mourning with them 

   and it is helping pull them through today, like the wheels on the block. 

   
   

   Well, I am sure Grief is still sitting heavy on the hearts of my Aunt, my bestie and my friend and their families now and for sometime to come. Just as we haven't forgotten about 9/11, we mustn't forget about the other people so we can be the wheels to help pull them through.... it might be a little weird if you were to run over and mow their lawn at this point, but you can surely share a laugh or a smile.