The Sky is Blue

Do you ever wonder what makes some people friendly and cheerful, and some people dour, and cranky? I do. I am sure there are many reasons behind it, and a ton of psychology that I am unqualified to interpret. As my husband recently pointed out to me, I definitely have a positive bias toward friendly, outgoing people. I attribute positive characteristics to people who smile, and make conversation. When people are quiet, unsmiling, or cranky, I assume not so positive things. Time normally uncovers a persons true character, and often my first impression proves wrong. Quietness can be shyness, or nervousness. The appearance of disinterest, or negativity, can really be insecurity. It is just a little harder to be warm and fuzzy, with someone who makes you work so hard for it. It is exhausting. People are worth the effort, so I'll keep smiling, and trying to make eye contact, whether they smile back or not. It is not my job to change anyone, I am just supposed to love them the...

For everything there is a season, right? My seasons are feeling a little convoluted. My older sons have truly reached the age of independence. They have lives of their own, they have schedules and commitments. At the same time, I have little ones, still looking for me to be the entertainment director. It is making for an interesting summer. Trying to make plans for the little ones, around drop offs & pick ups for the older ones is challenging. My oldest nephew graduates from college today. I couldn't be more pleased for him. He has been living a pretty adult life for a while now. He chose the path less traveled, (coming to LA, and taking on a lot of financial responsibility, rather than enjoying dorm life, on scholarship back east), and I am so proud of him. A little worried too, I must admit. Those first few years of adulthood, with a job, and no real responsibilities (no family to take care of), can be filled with excess and temptations to live not so smartly. I r...

I know everyone has different views of what family means to them. For some, it is the blood connection that is unbreakable. For others, who perhaps haven't been blessed with very good blood relative relationships, it is friends that make up a family. I grew up in a generation where it was not uncommon to have divorced parents. My own parents were divorced when I was pretty young, and my husbands parents also divorced when he was in college. The result of those divorces, was like the splitting of an atom-- where two people separate, remarry, combine families, and so on, and so on. We are fortunate, as our parents have ended up happy, and we have a huge, loving, and relatively close family. All of this comes to mind, as my oldest nephew is preparing to graduate from college this weekend. His brother, and his mother are in town for the festivities. His father is remarried to my sister. It feels like no time has passed. We are all just as comfortable together, maybe even more...

Worry is a sin I struggle with every single day. If you allow yourself to, you can find things to worry about without even trying. We struggle a bit keeping up with the financial commitments of a large family living in LA with one income, there is always something that can keep me up at night there. People we love are struggling with some pretty serious health issues. People we care about get in senseless accidents with serious consequences. Life just keeps on happening. Now don't get me wrong, mixed in with the tough stuff there are amazing blessings being poured out. Beautiful children, graduations, fun holidays, every day joy, those blessings come daily, and I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of them. I would just love it if I could get a strong handle on managing worry. I know it doesn't do anything positive. When I wake worried before the day even starts, that sets the day up for stress. That is no good. So, before my kids wake up, before the hustl...

Happy Summer everyone! I am so glad to have all of my boys home for the summer. Yeahhhhh ! We started summer off with a great weekend celebrating my brother-in-laws birthday, and Father's Day. Now we are off running. Two of my boys leave for camp this week, and as usual I have left the details to the last minute. (That procrastination habit gets me every time!) At least the weather is gorgeous, which inspires me to move and get things done. Clouds make me tired. We are picking up our pup Murphy today too. He has been on an extended stay with his Foster Mom. We decided the chaos of my household wasn't conducive to his healing. (he got an infection after being fixed, not pretty) The boys are looking forward to seeing him, they are afraid he won't love us anymore. This pup is pretty lucky, he has two families who love him and want the best for him. I have details and things to do swirling through my brain, doesn't make for very interesting reading, so I'll ...

We celebrated our son's 8 th grade graduation last night. It was a nice ceremony, mercifully paced, and thankfully not too hot. It is a lot of pomp and circumstance for a middle school graduation. While I am always happy to celebrate a child's accomplishments, I don't really agree with all of the hullaballoo over pre -school, elementary, and middle school graduations. In my humble opinion, it isn't such a big deal. Many disagree with me, I know, I get that I am in the minority on this one. I must admit however, that I found myself overwhelmed with emotion yesterday, and it caught me totally off guard. It didn't happen at the graduation ceremony, but when I picked Jack up at school. It occurred to me, as I watched him walk down the sidewalk, saying goodbye to friends, that this was the last time I would pick any of my children up on the curb of AC Stelle Middle School. For some reason, that realization made me emotional. Even today when I think about hi...

I am an impulsive woman, no doubt about that. I have learned over the years to slow myself down, a little at least. I try to think on something, to detail lists of pro's & con's, to run it past my husband, to seek council from wise friends, to pray. Notice I mentioned pray last. I list it last because I would be lying if I didn't confess that I run far, far, ahead of God on most decisions. I have been living under the misconception that I know what is best for me, that I am a smart woman, that I can trust my gut, that I don't need God to intercede in my decision making process. The problem is, that last part, the part where I decide if God intercedes or not... yeah, well, it doesn't work that way. God does as God will. He decides what will work in my life, and what will not. If my chosen path is wrong, it will work, or it won't, but I am not the one who decides which way things will go. Sooooo , it doesn't much matter how possible or impossible ...