Going Home

Today I took my momma home. 

We had to go to Miami for a Memorial Service

and it was time to place my momma's ashes in the spot she had secured 

39 years ago when my father passed away. 

It was hard taking my mom out of her little apartment 

The place where she lived the past 16 years. 

Of course, I believe with all my heart that the moment my mom's life ended on this earth

She was immediately in the presence of God

and reunited with my father 

as well as the other loved ones who had gone before her.
but placing her ashes today made it all seem so final again.
I have to remind myself of the beautiful reunion  that awaits
every soul that is Born-Again in Christ.
What a Glorious Day that will be!!!

Today has been an emotional day.

Mood-ology

Well, another week has quickly passed. 

They seem to go faster all the time!

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to grow up?

Now we wish we could slow down the hands of time...

but we can't!

We can only do our best to make the most of our days.

So, this past Tuesday was my last Weight Watcher's Meeting. 

I had enrolled for three months and got one month FREE.

They were sad that I was leaving but I told them I would probably be back some day.

Mostly because of the wonderful support that group had offered.

I didn't tell them that I had actually switched to using Slim Fast 

half way through my time there, 

but I truly valued the principles they taught me while I was there. 

They were lovely people. 

Since I started I had lost 7.4 pounds. 

I would still like to lose about 5 more, but at least now I feel back on track.

Funny thing happened the night before I left:

I received a package containing our new line of products at Origami Owl.

It's called Mood-ology. 

They are 4 different combinations of Essential oils

and the neatest part, is that you can put a few drops on a disc that goes inside 

our brand new Sentiments Lockets. 

Want to know more?

Here you go...

Once Upon A Time...

I am embarrassed by the fact that I've been back from my convention for nine days

and I'm just not getting around to writing here.

I (we) had a wonderful time at Convention! 

It was a bit different not having to get on a plane and  travel, 

but I was excited that more of my team members (who are local) were able to attend.

I had 22 team members attend convention with me this year

and it was so wonderful sharing the experience with all of them!

My hubby drove a few of us there in our bus.

The rest came either from opposite directions in Florida or from other states.

I've decided it would be more interesting for you if I just shared some of the pictures I took,

So here you go:

Manny  a.k.a. Bus Driver

Stacey, Theresa H, and Theresa P

(team members who I now call "dear friends")

Because we didn't have to fly, I think we may have overpacked.

We took up a whole bay.

We totally filled up that cart!

Hooking up with some other friends at the hotel.

Brenda and Jacque

We had a special slotted shopping hour in the Swag Store

and we took this cute picture!

Lesley joined us here (long pink dress).

Opening Ceremonies for our Convention was a Night at Epcot.

It took 70 buses to get us there, and I was extremely impressed with how smoothly 

this process worked transporting 5,000 Happy, Happy Ladies!

This was taken when we were done "Finding Nemo"

We had SO MUCH FUN! 

And, we had all you could eat ice cream novelties, cookies and old fashioned bread pudding.

YUM!!!!

Next day back at the Convention Center, they started with the 

General Sessions where we heard amazing speakers and they showed us new products for Fall.

Here were some of the speakers

Our theme at Convention was "Live Sparkly"

and it went along with a Fairy Tale theme.

Then they began some of the New Fall Product Reveal

After the General Session which ended around 1:00pm

we had Breakout Session Workshops.

I loved those! They offered so many classes. I took three that afternoon.

Later in the day I caught a picture with my mentor/sponsor Lori.

She lives in Illinois and I did not know her before joining Origami Owl. 

Even though we live miles apart, she has been a wonderful support to me!

Here are some pictures from the Gala Event Saturday Night

I especially love this picture! 

The three young ladies sitting down in front are called Owlettes

They are allowed to sign up as "Young Designers"

sponsored by a family member or guardian.

Our founder Bella was only 14 when she started this company.

She had no idea what it would evolve into -

she was just  trying to raise money to buy a car.

(You can see the image of Bella to the left on the screen behind us.)

And this picture has special meaning for me, 

because once I signed up with Origami Owl, I was able to pay for our KIA SOUL.

This charm was created to represent Bella's "car" - a Jeep she named "Alice"

but it looks just like my KIA Soul to me! 

It was a wonderful convention! 

God knew I would need this business and the precious ladies I am now surrounded by

for such a time as this! 

It is really helping me to deal with the loss of my mother, 

even though I have meltdowns every now and then

(more lately it seems)

but it gives me purpose and I have sweet friends lifting me  up in prayer

just because they care. 

God is SO GOOD! 

Just Breathe

I feel so badly that it has been a whole week since I wrote last.

My last post was a rather emotional one for me, 

and somehow the rest of the week just went so fast. 

Today was Weigh-In Day, and believe it or not, I'm down another .8 of a pound.

That is more than three-quarters of a pound and almost a whole pound!

Can you tell I'm pretty happy about that, LOL? 

I'm actually surprised, too, only because I felt like I was stuck there for a while.

Tomorrow I leave for the annual, national Origami Owl Convention.

This year it is being held in Orlando, Florida

which is practically my back yard...

so no traveling across the country for me, 

but I am excited that more of my gals will be able to attend...

about 22 of my team members will be attending with me this year.

I am very excited! It will be so much fun.

This is the motto this year

I love working from home and having the flexibility of being my own boss 

and setting my own schedule, so I am able to do the things that are most important to me

like spending time with my family! 

I know my own children are now grown, but I am available to watch my grandchildren

once a week or more often if needed. 

So, I probably won't be posing the rest of this week since we pull out of here tomorrow,

By the way, my husband will be driving some of us (who live near by) in our bus.

He would probably drive us all but some are coming from other cities.

Plus, we don't have that many seats, ha ha.

I know many of you are wrapping up your summer fun 

and getting your children ready for the new school year.

Man, this summer went FAST! 

I use to get so sad when my kids went back to school....I loved having them home. 

Ok so have a great week. Be safe, happy, and healthy.

Here's a new song I just love! Maybe you'll like it too...

Regrets

Today I went to my Weight Watchers meeting. 

To my amazement, I lost the same .6 of a pound I had gained last week.

That was rather humorous to me, but I'll certainly take that loss over gaining. 

I need to switch things up a bit...I feel stuck. 

I would REALLY like to lost 3 more pounds before my convention next week, 

but that's probably not going to happen, SO -

I am going to hope that being away from home and away from an easy access to food

and switching things up a bit, and the dancing we will do at convention 

that at least I won't gain...a girl can dream can't she???

I ran a few errands and then came home. 

I picked up a binder because I've been wanting to organize 

countless print outs of recipes that need some order.

They have just been crammed into a folder and whenever I am looking for a recipe

I have to go through the entire stack before I find the one I want. 

Now that I got our taxes done, I can focus on other things, PTL!

(That stands for Praise The Lord!)

I cried on and off today. 

I keep thinking I should have been kinder to my mom that last year of her life.

I loved her very much and I loved being able to care for her.

 I wouldn't ever think of putting her in a nursing home, 

even though she hadn't walked for years, and she couldn't get into the bathroom.

The past couple of years she did less and less because she simply wasn't able to do things.

The thing that bothered me the most was that she was ALWAYS in pain. 

No matter what she tried or what she took, she was in pain.
I don't know how she dealt with pain all those years!
I think I would have lost my mind. I don't handle pain well. 

It's made me really work hard to take care of my body the best I can

so that I don't wind up in pain like that. 

My mom was also negative about a lot of things, and she never wanted to go anywhere, 

not even my house which was just 10 feet away from hers.

I couldn't understand that, but I didn't force her, 

I guess, silently, I resented the fact that she didn't want to, or wouldn't try. 

I ended up doing a lot of things out of duty, without much joy. 

That haunts me now. 

It is a blessing that I work from home, so I would run over to take care of whatever she needed (meals, washing, cleaning, etc.) but then I would go back home quickly 

because I couldn't stand to be around her long the way she was. 

I remember often thinking, "God, please help me to make the most of this time with her"

and "God, please give me patience with her, I don't want to live with regrets when she's gone!"

Well let me tell you, I have plenty of regrets. 

I loved my mother! I know she knew that, and I know she loved me. 

It is a challenging task being a caregiver of someone you love. 

I might have rather not had that role, but I realize what an honor it was. 

Still, it got harder with every month, week, and day that passed by. 

For her age she was surprisingly healthy. 

She was not overweight, nor did she have any major health problems.

Her biggest problem was her arthritis and her aging bones. 

That's what caused the pain. The commercials all say to keep moving, keep active, 

so that's what I was always encouraging her to do...

but my mom gave up years ago. She had missed my dad for so long, over 39 years. 

She talked openly about death to me for years. She longed to be with my father. 

I never really understood the severity of her loss for him until after she died. 

Seeing her young and so full of life (in that video I shared yesterday)

THAT was the mother I longed for, the mother who had gone missing many years before she died. 

I'm going to keep watching that video. It reminds me of how she used to be. 

It's how I picture her in Heaven. 

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mother's 90th birthday

but instead she gets to celebrate in Heaven

with the ones she loved dearly who had gone before her. 

I believe with all my heart that she is young again...

healthy, happy, and whole.

But I miss her, and life is just not the same. 

I was so thankful to have Ethan and Abbey today, 

they kept me busy and I felt surrounded by their love. 

There is so much more I'd like to say here, 

but there are too many emotions to deal with and I feel so overwhelmed by them

I am unable to express any more here.

So I will leave you with this:

a precious video that my sons worked on for my mother's memorial.

I will treasure it always!

Thank you Mark, for the countless hours you spent putting this together, 

and  for your help with the music Manuel.
I love you both more than you will ever know.

Duke, Gidget, Max, & Ringo

So yesterday I got to spend the day with Ethan and Abbey.

They always seem so excited to see Papa and I 

even though they probably get woke up to come so their mama can get to work on time

but they don't seem to mind, because they love being here. 

I had taped some movies for us to watch together.

One was Despicable Me 2 and it was hilarious! 

The second movie was a newer (animated but not cartoon) version of The Lorax.

I cry in that movie. It teaches children the importance of trees 

and makes them more aware of our environment and how to care for it. 

It also teaches them about greed and what's really important in life. 

I just loved it! Ethan likes it, too. 

Our music lesson involved the Beatles. 

Ethan's daddy likes the Beatles, even though they were from my generation

their music is classic and their impact on pop culture is undeniable. 

We watched several videos on YouTube. 

Even though I know they introduced drugs and other bad things to the modern world

their lyrics were so innocent, at least in their earlier music.

This one I thought was especially fitting for all the turmoil our world is in now

I'm trying to teach him the names of the band members. 

He seems to remember Ringo hahaha, even though I tell him that Paul was my favorite.

Oh well....

Today, I had a routine doctor's appointment and then ran some errands.

I was on a quest to locate Max! 

Max is the main character in the movie 

The Secret Life of Pets

We all went to see the movie a few weeks ago...

Both son's, both daughters-in-love and three of the grandkids, plus papa and I.

(Abbey was a little young to sit through a movie).

We had a BLAST! 

Three of us were missing from these pictures...

Abbey was with her other grandma because she would have probably gotten bored

but my oldest and his wife are not fond of pictures and I must have shot these before they sat down.

Anyway, I fell in love with these characters and they are now in 

McDonald's Happy Meals!

This is the whole collection.

Ethan couldn't wait to show me the few he had already gotten! 

I gave him some money in an envelope marked (McDonald's Fund)

so he can get some other Happy Meals this week.

But today I picked up Hannah and Sarah and took them for Happy Meals.

They each wound up with Gidget and she is their favorite character!

(Little White Dog)

I came home with Duke today

But this is the one I just HAVE to have!!!

This is Max!

He reminds me of my Milli! I miss Milli.