Happy Birthday To Me

Today was my birthday...I turned 58. 

It was a really nice day! 

I anticipated it being hard, because it was my first one without mom,

but it was ok. I made it through...

Not without some tears, but that's to be expected, I suppose.

My dear friend Theresa spent a good part of the day with me.

Everyone else had to work, but she was able to meet me for lunch

She had the little booth all set up with Princess Placemats 

and we had a lovely lunch together. 

After lunch we visited some lovely shops downtown. 

I love quaint downtown shops! 

She has become such a dear, sweet friend to me 

and I am so thankful God has brought her into my life. 

Her life has not been without adversity, but she is one of the most positive people I know. 

She is strong in her faith and full of the joy of the Lord. 

Then she left to go to her studio (she teaches dance)

and I came home to wait for Manny and then head out to a lovely dinner

with my kids and grandkids. There was a balloon waiting for me at the restaurant,

along with some beautiful yellow daisies, and we had CAKE, too! 

Here's a picture my sweet daughter-in-love captured of me and the grandkids

In a few weeks we will take our annual family pictures.

It's the only thing I ask for for my birthday.

I have had so many expressions of love sent to me, in cards, texts, FaceBook Posts and Messages. 

I am so blessed. I am so thankful for God's goodness and mercy to me.

Thank you Lord! 

Today this song came on the radio. It's a song I have always felt strongly about.

I've decided it's my motto. I hope I'm living my life this way.

            

You Only Ask Me to Follow....

Oh Goodness, once again it's been way too long since I've written. 

I've been in a funk and struggling with some things. 

Manny's back was getting better but now the pain has moved to his sciatica.

I'm starting to go into panic mode. 

I woke up this morning crying. 

In my sleep, I can escape the heartache of this life

waking up puts me back in reality.

I'm not depressed (I don't think), at least not in the clinical sense, 

but I do miss my mom and lately have been going over things I did

and didn't do, the past few years she was alive.

I hope she will forgive me for being so busy, and for not being more tender.

I know now, it just doesn't matter to her anymore because she's free of pain, 

and happy and whole, but there are a few conversations we had there near the end

when I was growing weary and allowed things to come out of my mouth that I wished I hadn't.

It wasn't curse words or anything like that, 

but the words were just as sharp, and just as hurtful to her, I'm sure!

Truth is, even though I have so much to be thankful for
 I've been having a pity party with myself lately, 

and allowing myself to go down the path of

"I should have done this or I should have said this"

and then I move onto my own life and grumble and start whining about our work load

and thinking - we are going to work until we die, 

and - I want to have more fun in life. 

Then I feel guilty because I think I'm not working my business hard enough 

or consistently enough, 

then I get upset with my husband who has been working more than usual and long days

so he's not letting his body heal  and he won't listen to me. 

And then, this song came on the radio this morning, 

and I knew it was for me!

Lord - help me to lay my dreams aside and Want What YOU Want for me!

        

Getting BACK on Track

Ok so we've been away the last three weekends...

time to get back on track and in the swing of things.

Speaking of backs -  my poor hubby has somehow messed up his back.

He had been complaining, moaning and walking funny the past week. 

It didn't get any better while we were away. 

He just doesn't slow down enough, but now he's having to. 

Thank God for our son's help packing up camp and unloading when we got home.

We couldn't have done it without him!

Manny finally went to the chiropractor yesterday -

the diagnosis is a pinched nerve.

He has to wear a brace around his waist and put cold compresses on when he's home. 

Praying he feels better soon.

We did have fun camping this past weekend, though. 

It was very hot, but tolerable in the shade and cool inside the bus. 

The kids went swimming a lot;

I'm not sure why I don't like to swim anymore. 

I grew up on a lake and was always in the water, maybe I got my fill back then, 

or maybe it's just too much work putting myself back together after swimming. 

That's just lazy, I know, but it takes a bit of effort to make myself presentable in the morning

no need to waste more energy doing it all over a second time in the same day - right? 

Here are some pictures from our fabulous weekend camping at Disney

By the way - we celebrated Manny's 59th Birthday while camping

Let's just say, we had a Magical Time!

Thank you Lord!

9/11 Lest We Forget

I viewed this video on FaceBook.
It's graphic, but this happened.
May we never become callus or forget this horrible tragedy!

Happy Birthday to My Hubby

Today was my husband's 59th Birthday, and he was gone most of the day.

I have to tell you, the past two days have been crazy busy. 

The kind of day(s) where you just want to throw in the towel and say

"That's it! I'm done!"

I feel like a spoiled brat to even think such thoughts. 

I know we just got back from a long weekend of camping, 

and believe it or not, we're going again this weekend, 

but we rarely (if ever) have had back-to-back get-a-ways.

Two weeks ago, we traveled south to attend a memorial service, 

to visit my mother-in-law, and to bury my mother. 

Last week, we were invited to camp with some friends 

not far from home, but still, it was a nice get-away. 

This weekend, we will be camping at Disney during their annual Christian Festival 

called Night of Joy which usually coincides with my hubby's birthday.

It's a family thing we've done for years and we look forward to it. 

I just feel like, after all these years of working so hard, 

I want to work less and play more. Is that wrong?

I want more of my (our) days spent doing things we enjoy doing. 

Now, I know we are suppose to make the most of every moment, 

and I know that attitude is everything, 

but this work, Work, WORK thing isn't fun anymore. 

I fear we will work until we die. 

I don't want that to happen. 

God please do a work in my heart, 

clear my head and keep me grateful for all the blessing in my life 

and in the lives of my family.

I know I have so much to be thankful for!

Labor Day Get-A-Way

We were invited to go camping with some friends 

and we don't usually do back-to-back camping trips

but we haven't been camping as much the past two years

(for different reasons)

and we hated saying "no" again to these friends. 

So, even though we had gone to Miami last week...

It was a long, holiday weekend anyway, and not far from home, so why not?

We met up with four other couples and had a great time. 

The odd thing is, that a hurricane was making landfall in our beautiful Sunshine State

quite a ways north of us, but still - it was bringing rain to most of the state. 

When we woke up Friday morning, it was dark and rainy, 

but within a few  hours the rain had stopped.

We had a pretty good weekend, weather-wise. Just an occasional shower that didn't last long.

We shared meals together, as well as stories about our families and our trips away. 

They did not all have buses, but they did all have interesting stories to tell 

about their coaches or their travels.

One of the gals we were camping with wanted to host a Jewelry Bar 

so we decided to do it from the bus - now that was fun!

You don't have to have a lot of room 

and you don't have to have any certain number of people.

We had fun, looking at all the pieces (especially the charms) 

and what they meant to the people they were creating their lockets for. 

I hope you all had a fun and safe holiday weekend, too!

Tomorrow will be the start of a short Work Week Whoo Hoot!!!

OH, one last thing:

I did pretty good with my eating while away, 

even the scale confirmed that, 

but I came home just craving something like this:

But instead had one of these:

YAY for me!!!!

But my husband's birthday is just a few days away

 and I can't wait to bite into his birthday cake!

Hello September

Today I did something HUGE! 

Huge to me, anyway, since I don't like to see myself in pictures 

not to mention videos

but I have been hearing and reading that Going Live on FB 

is a great way to connect with your friends and customers 

and make yourself more personable. 

It took me more than 25 minutes to hit the "Go Live" button, 

but I did it!!!

Now, wouldn't you know, my connection ended long before I was ready to, LOL.

We had bad weather here and if just shut down the video,

but guess what? I logged back on and finished the video! 

Whoo Hoot, I needed to overcome this fear I have of being on camera

and today I did it! 

Not sure when I will do it again...but I have a feeling

it won't be near as hard next time!