THE WEATHER OUSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL!!!!

.....................And it's New Years Eve.

Ahh And it's a time for new beginning. 2008 was a good year for me.

It was a time with connecting with old friends and new friends.

It was time of much happiness.

It was a time of getting over the past. (Embracing it and Moving on)

2007(not a good year) Is really beginning to distance itself from me. I am most thankfull for this. I am back to myself but better, wiser. (Supposively)

I really do know that sometimes there isn't happy endings. And so gee, my fairy tale life will not happen.

New Years eve is a time to make those silly resolutions that everyone gives up on by the end of February. So what will be my unrealistic resolutions this year. What will be my good intentioned, life improving, quality resolutions. One only, One word, one thing: SIMPLIFY!!

I want to simplify my life! How will I measure that? I will know that my life is simplified by having more time to do the things I want to do. I like that. Now that is measurable.

Happy NEW YEAR.

Another Year Older!

Today marks my 46th Birthday and I really am in denial about being in my 40's at all.

Like what is it about being in your 40's? Does it make me more important than being in my 30's. But I am 46 and each year I do get a little bit older. I think when is that grand year going to happen for me. You know the year when everything is just fantastic. You know the year when nothing goes wrong and you are bestowed many blessings from beyond. Yeh right.

I must say 45 was fine for me, I would't mind skipping altogether 44. But for me a milestone happened at 45. I guess you would call it that. Like I became a Grandmother. Okay, no laughing, it's not as bad as I thought. And I must confess, I love it when I go into a store with my Grandson and they think I'm his mother. Puts everything in perspective for me just one more time.

Perspective is everything. It's how I see things. It's what I do with the things I see.

It's how I understand things. It's what do with the things I understand.

But perspective everyone has one. I have a perspective on being 46.
Change is coming!

Life is beginning!

Everything always comes full circle!

Nothing but chocolate will do!

If I always do what I always did.........

Change

Oh and by the way Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Can you smell it in the Air?
One of the best things about living in the Northeast is snow.
Most people don’t like snow. But I love it.
I love the quiet it brings.
I love how clean and white the snow is.
I love watch how each flake falls.
Mostly I love watching the children play in it.

No School! No School!
That is the favorite of my kids. The excitement of missing a day of school is almost as good as the snow storm itself.
So today we have no school. We have hot chocolate, plenty of pizza bagels and soup. We have cookies!!!
It’s party time!!!!!!

It Really, Really IS!

It Really, Really IS! What? Read On. It’s almost mid December, and our Christmas tree is up and decorated. Im busy writing Christmas cards and really enjoying it. This post in fact, started out to be my Christmas letter. But I canned it. So I have pulled out the Christmas Photographs, Christmas books, the Christmas music and the Christmas movies. And I am in the Christmas spirit. I must say I have at least 3 favorite movies. And one of those movies I can watch over and over again is; “It’s a wonderful life”. Oh how I love that movie.
As I watch the movie, I can relate to it in so many aspects. I am reminded in the midst of hard, life changing circumstances we really can't think to clearly sometimes. This is evidenced by the main Character in the movie George Bailey. George Bailey he had dreams and hopes and in his mind he had not fulfilled them. In many ways we are all like George Bailey in the sense that we have dreams and hopes. Without going into too much detail of the movie, on Christmas eve George Bailey, head of Bailey Savings and Loan is under a lot of financial pressures and attempts to end it all by jumping off a bridge. And that is the turning point of his life because he is saved by an angel named Clarence on assignment to get his wings. Then the fun begins.
George wishes that he had never been born and Clarence gives him that exact wish. Clarence’s journey through George’s life shifts George’s perspective from monetary problems to the positive effect he has had on others. And he really begins to relize that he has made a difference in peoples lives. Then George realizes that he does want to live and that he has a wonderful life, no matter the money difficulties. Racing home to his family, he finds friends there who have gathered the necessary funds for the deposit – thereby saving the bank. In the end, all turns out well. As George’s family and friends gather around him, a bell on the Christmas tree rings, signaling that Clarence earned his wings. You see because we really, really do have a wonderful life.
Many of us might feel a bit like George Bailey this year, financially strapped and not sure how we will make it through the tough times. This often leads to many desperate thoughts and it can affect our entire outlook on life. A reframing of our thoughts away from monetary and economic matters might help remind us as well that there is much good in life and much to be happy about, much to be thankful about. Mainly because it still is such a wonderful life.
What makes us happy? I really am a firm believer that only God can make us happy. Then if we are having that personal realationship with Jesus, out of that comes giving to others -- through our time, money and talent. I think this tends to make us happier rather than temporary gains.
George Bailey’s story unfolds in the small town of Bedford Falls. For those of us who live in large cities or like myself live in Norwalk a much smaller scaled city, it is up to us to help create and participate in communities and associations. These volunteer associations, about half of which are worship-related, provide a way for us to give to others as well as to create social networks that add meaning and context to our everyday lives.
This Christmas season, with so many people in need, try focusing on helping others out of the icy waters, and you might not notice that you are a bit cold yourself. And you know giving to others will lead to an increase in your happiness, increasing your ability work harder, be a better parent, have a better marriage and become a better citizens.
The truth is, I’ve done some cool things this year. I’ve accomplished some things I am proud of. I have people in my life I love. And I guess that’s the point of writing a Christmas Letter, just sharing some cool things. And as I write these letters year after year, I realize "It really, really is a wonderful life". There are just so many things that turned my life upside down and I know have impacted others lives too, and these things have made me giddy and joyful inside. Yes, I been in tough situations and circumstances, yes, I have had some of these this year and yes I will have them in the future. But all in all, I will continue to make a difference in the world I live in in the context of Jesus and really really, it is a wonderful life!

I’m a softie!

I have a confession to make and it’s big. I am a softie for the Salvation Army Bell Ringers at Christmas time. You know the ones that used to wear the Santa Costumes.

I have another confession. This is bigger. It’s very hard for me to walk by those bell ringers with out putting something into the hanging pot.

What is it about me that feels like I have to do this?
Don’t they know I was there Sunday, Monday and Tuesday? Don’t they care about the guilt they make me feel when I happen to walk by because I already just gave at Wal-Mart and now I’m at Stop & Shop. Can’t they hang out all in one place so I don’t have to be guilty everywhere I go.

The biggest confession I have is some of these Bell ringers look like they aren’t too trustworthy with the money. Its kind scary. At the same time, I’m truly not Salvation Army Bell ringer profiler. But the cynic in me makes me take double look.

Then I realize that I am having bad thoughts about the Bell ringers. I think about the cup of coffee they are drinking and I wonder if they used the money that people gave to buy that coffee and so I feel guilty and give.

Now I must confess that this is the part of the season that is pure torture for me. But the other reason I have a hard time passing them by is because it’s cold and I feel sorry for that they have to stand out in the cold. So I break down and put something in the bucket. And I do it again and again and again.
I am a softie