"A Wink and a Smile"

Makes my heart go pitter patter ... Dear Mommy, You are the very best mother in the whole wide world! Thank you for loving and caring for me. Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed you. Thank you for everything! You have lots of patience with me whenever I make you mad. When I am sad or confused, I know I can always go to you, and I love that special quality of yours. The reason why is because you understand my problems and really listen, then try the best you can to help me. I love you so much, and you love me! I love one memory of you with me. The memory was the time when you let me learn to babysit and stay home alone. The reason why is because it made me feel more responsible. I knew you really trusted me, so I haven't let you down. That memory is so special to me. I love you so much, {ej} *I am such a lucky girl. Thank you LORD for letting me find this letter in my mix of stuff tonight!

That would be the slogan for Nationwide , but I feel it practically every day. Just when I think I get comfortable with something , BAM! ... change has to happen. There is always something new to learn and remember. There are always new choices to make. Most days I just feel like I have OVERLOAD on the brain. My husband doesn't help in this department. He loves CHANGE and finding newer, bigger, and better things. I don't think a day goes by that he doesn't share with me something that he just discovered that I MUST try. Most of this has to do with the computer. Some days I enjoy this, but most of the time I just pretend to be captivated in the same way that he is. I suspect he sees right through this fakeness ... I am not good at pretending. This weekend I am taking a break . Today I am just going to hang out with some little girls at a playplace in town. The computer is going to be shut down . Tonight I will just read or maybe watch Nottinghill (recorded ...

My Mom's birthday and today is All Soul's Day . Thinking of my Dad and saying a prayer for him ...

We had a great night!

~"As mothers, we want so much for our children . . . and we ask so much of ourselves. Yet when we rush headlong through our days, we are left scattered and exhausted, unable to luxuriate in the quiet gifts of everyday life. We end up shortchanging the ones we love, depriving our families and ourselves of moments of grace, intimacy, and joy. But there is another way ... Katrina Kenison began this remarkable book as a series of reminders to herself to slow down. Now, in the warm voice of a treasured friend, she shows us how, even in the midst of a busy, stress-filled world, we can pare down our schedules and tune into a gentler rhythm. Through stories and experiences taken from her own life, she offers simple suggestions for clearing a space for silence and contemplation, wonder and spiritual renewal . . . for rediscovering the pleasures of the family dinner table . . . for seeing the sacred in the ordinary . . . for teaching ourselves the value of a deep breath . . . and for turnin...