Mother's Day 2010

Gifts I Have Received Through Being Willing to Be a Mother:

(I'm going to preface this by saying: I wrote this on Mother's Day, May 9^th, 2010, to stand as a written reminder of things I have learned, and am grateful for knowing, due to becoming and being a mother. I also write these things down, so as to be able to share them with my family.)

1. Six AMAZINGLY brilliant children, 10 FABULOUS grandchildren (so far)
   

2. More understanding of how much God loves us

3. More understanding of what “LOVE” truly is, and what the word means

4. Better understanding of exactly who I am – my strengths & weaknesses – how to recognize and increase my strengths – how to accurately view and work to overcome weaknesses and turn them into strengths because I am human, but a Child of God

5. Learning to accept and love myself, in spite of faults and weaknesses

6. Learning to like myself as I am now, while continuously striving to become BETTER!

7. Learning to forgive – and that forgiveness frees the soul to soar to God

8. Learning more fully the GREAT POWER of the prayers of a mother

9. Gaining an understanding of unconditional LOVE

10. The greater measure of gratitude for all the blessings the Lord has given me

11. The better understanding of Eternity and Eternal Progression – grandchildren who continue to fill and bless my life with joy beyond that which I could comprehend without them

12. Understanding of the joy of righteous children and their families, and seeing them grow in life and the Gospel

13. Better understanding of God's HOPE for us to repent and return to the path that leads back to Him

I learned Love, Understanding, Forgiveness, the Power of Prayer, Gratitude, and Hope!

Review, Renew - Can you say "do-over?"

Well, as any of you few that have checked out my blog will know, I haven't posted for a REALLY, REALLY long time! Well, I think I need to pick it up and restart.

Since the last post, I have had many, many changes in my life, but I'm not going to review all that - just a few things:

1) New Grandkids Heidi and Owen

2) New Son-in-Law David

3) 3 Semesters of College completed at ASU - YAY! I have 2 years to go, but I'm still here!
3 LESS semesters to go to get my degree! My projected graduation date is Spring 2012.

4) Another batch of puppies. Yay for the added income. But Sugar and Cookie have now been spayed, so no more puppies.

5) I bought a mobile home, but that didn't work out well. Too much to tell about it here, but you can call me if you really want to know. (I'm still involved with the court case suing the guy who illegally repossessed it.)

6) My neighbor from the mobile home park, and new best friend Matt, passed away a short time ago. It's really hard losing a close friend. Not as hard as losing a parent, but as he was only 42, it was really a great loss to me and others who knew him. He was such a good-hearted person, loving friend, and great neighbor. He also was the owner of the father of 2 batches of my dog's puppies. Sugar loved him MASSIVELY, but now she will never see him again. :-(

7) I currently "work" as a live-in caregiver for an elderly lady. This has been a blessing in that I currently have no rent or utility payments, so this has been nice. I do expect to probably move again though in August, before school, since I will have TWO night classes in the fall semester. There is NO WAY I can ask Jeremiah to pick me up 2 nights a week for ANOTHER semester. So, if I don't move to west Mesa or Tempe, I will have to buy a car or something to get me home after 9:00 or 9:30 when my Monday and Tuesday night classes get out. It totally stinks that you are at the mercy of the SINGULAR option they have for your major classes. But, what can you do about it? Nothin'.

8) Oh, I nearly forgot - I've also had two knee surgeries - meniscus tear repairs on both knees. The first was last July, and the second in December, during the winter school break. Yeah, I still have pain in both of them, but not so much as before. The recuperation for the left was much more difficult than the right, but the physical therapy place, Banner Physical Therapy over by the Banner hospital on Dobson and Southern, has the greatest physical therapists! They are easy to work with, and genuinely gifted in knowing what will work for each individual person. And, they treat you like a person - not a patient.

Thanks so much to Camille, Kieth, Aon, Janet, and all the staff there for all your help and encouragement!

Anyway, so I've been through a LOT in this past 2+ years. I have had many highs and lows, but I'm still here, and still moving and breathing, so I'm grateful. Now that I'm trying to go back and do a better job of writing down the things that happen in my life, maybe I can better manage to keep updating my blog. I know this is not really spring or the new year beginning, but it's a restart, so wish me luck with keeping this up.

Time will tell.