One Cha-Cha Step at a Time
This is the year…
The year I take myself back.
Not to anywhere or to anything.
I take back me…control of my life.
Control of who I am. Read more
Posts from the ‘Living Life’ Category
Jan 2
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Merry Christmas from Motzy and Louis!
Look at these two innocent little faces…
Like they’re the sweetest little puppies in the world…
Louis arrived (along with Alex and Tom) on Saturday and the two puppies ruled the house until this morning when the three of them departed for another Christmas get-together. It was 4 days of (controlled?) chaos!
I hope you’ve had a wonderful, crazy Christmas – like the one we’ve enjoyed here!
Best wishes to all – and may God bless you with true joy and love.
Patty O
Witnessing a Story of Faith, Love and Support
What child is this, who, laid to rest, On Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping? This, this is Christ the King, Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud, The Babe, the son of Mary. So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh, Come, peasant, king, to own him. The King of kings salvation brings, Let loving hearts enthrone him. Raise, raise a song on high, The virgin sings her lullaby : Joy, joy for Christ is born, The babe, the Son of Mary.
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In this season, this ‘Christ’mas time, may we all stop our fun preparations: the decorating, present buying, wrapping, and cookie making…to reflect on Christ’s birth. The gift God gave us on this day…His Son.
The babe that would grow into a 12 year old child who would sit amongst the elders speaking wisdom in the temple. The young man who, when baptized, was descended upon by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and a voice came from heaven, which said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased”. The man who would die on the cross to save us from our sins.
And God, the Father, watched from above. He saw all the joy…He saw all the suffering. He was there through it all…beside His Son.
On our worst days, we may wonder ‘Where is God?’.
He’s watching. He’s waiting. He’s with us, just as He was with His Son.
We just need to have Faith.
I’ve witnessed this show of faith.
First, in my husband’s Grandpa, who passed 12 years ago: Frank was at home, having fought a good fight against cancer. He was in hospice care…and he had faith. In his last weeks he spoke about seeing Jesus there in the room with him. And we knew…He was there. He walked Grandpa home to Heaven…of that there is no doubt.
And in the past few months, an incredible story of courage, faith, and love has filled our small town – pulling it’s people together in a show of support for an incredible young man suffering from leukemia. Read more
I Almost Forgot I Was Sick…
STOP!
If you’re looking for a funny post, this isn’t it. Nor is it a home decor post, or a cute kid saying post, or a religious post, or an art post.
What this is, is a health post. Not a whiny, woe is me post, but rather an epiphany post.
Late last week I picked up a prescription at one of our local pharmacies, and as I watched them through the drive-through window, my heart leapt and I thought…I could work there…I could do that!
And then came the epiphany…No, sadly, I couldn’t.
Not because I couldn’t learn what to do, nor because I lack the customer service experience. But because my health wouldn’t allow it. {ok, I whimpered a little here…ok, in all honesty I said “damn”.}
In the past year, my Sjogren’s Syndrome has gone from being a somewhat silent illness (under control with the right medicine…as long as I didn’t overdo it), to my daily foe. 15 years ago I was known as ‘The Energizer Bunny’ – able to multi-task with the best of them; juggle job, motherhood, work, community plays, you name it – I had energy for it. 13 years ago, I couldn’t seem to find any energy, I hurt everywhere and became depressed…I’d just had Gabi. It took 2 years for doctors to figure out it was Sjogren’s Syndrome causing the problems. Medication helped tremendously until last Fall, when my body fell apart. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m better than I was a year ago – the shoulder has been fixed, the lower back/sciatic is lots better – it’s the regular Sjogren’s stuff that’s still running on high.
There are millions of people who have Sjogren’s – in fact approximately 4 million in the US. And there are millions more with RA, Fibromyalgia, MS, Lupus, and many other auto-immune diseases. These are the group of chronic illnesses described as ‘Invisible Illnesses’. Why? Because you don’t see a limp…or an open wound…or a cast. You can’t see it…period. On any given day ‘we look good’…in other words, we can’t be very sick…right!?! Wrong.
Auto-Immune Disease is described as ‘when your body’s cells attack themselves’. No need for an infection to get you sick…your system does it for you. Infections just make it that much more fun (jk) – they just throw your disease into high gear.
It can be like having the achy flu EVERY DAY…or being so tired that you can hardly keep your eyes open, even when you’ve had a good night’s sleep…or your joint pain may flare up – with or without exercise…or your eyes and mouth are so dry that you need medicines, surgeries, or dental work to help…or you may get hit with Brain Fog and it leaves you wondering if you are getting Alzheimer’s because you’d swear your child never told you the fact she insists she did – even though your spouse saw it. There’s no cure, but there is medication to help (thank God).
There are so many more symptoms that all these diseases bring with them…and so many levels within each illness. Some people are better than others. Some unable to work…while others can.
We need to all remember this – there’s no “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” auto-immune disease level…so PLEASE don’t judge others. A – you don’t know what health issues they have…and B – you never know what someone else is going through in their lives.
I think I can speak for most people who have auto-immune diseases when I say the following: If you don’t understand what I’m talking about above, we pray you never do…because sometimes the only way to understand what someone is going through, is to go through it yourself…and we hope you never have to.
And if you do understand, thanks for the moral support…know that I’m here for you if you need an ear, or a gentle hug…and best of all…I believe you. Let’s keep smiling…whether you dress up or have a sloppy day…do whatever makes you happy – and don’t forget to look for the BLESSINGS and HUMOR in everything!
As for the job thing…I’ll keep watching these two funny, little, daycare babies…we can hang out and color, or work on our alphabet, or rock-a-bye. And sometimes we (they) run, chase Motzy, or march around the couch playing cymbals while we listen to John Philip Sousa on the stereo. They’re pretty flexible with how I’m feeling…and thankfully, so are their parents. These two little girls bring great joy to me – I hope your life is just as blessed!
Have a great weekend!
Patty O
Happy Halloween!
Which broom, which broom, witch broom? Ahhhh…decisions…
One of my friends on FB tells the story of her favorite Halloween memory where she always looked forward to going to one house where the woman dressed up as a witch and had hot apple cider she served out of a couldren…how fun is that?
One of my favorite Halloween memories isn’t from my childhood – instead it’s from when Alex was little and she asked if she could wear my ‘antique’ dress for a costume.
Hrmph.
My ‘antique’ dress was about 10 years old, thank you very much. What a little shit. {I say with a chuckle}
Oh…and there’s the time I wasn’t feeling particularly crafty…so I dressed Sam in a dinosaur costume I’d found secondhand and put a tutu over it and a crown on her cute little head.
She wasn’t thrilled. But God was she cute! (And yes, notice that once again, Alex posed…I think she was born posing!)
And then there’s Miss Gabi…
My favorite costume of hers was when she dressed up like Hershey, our sweet little old chocolate lab (God rest his soul). She even took him with her trick-or-treating in our neighborhood!
I think my favorite costume EVER may have been the year I dressed Sam up as Raggedy Ann…she was ADORABLE! See…
Alas, the girls trick or treating years has passed. Our rule is once you hit 7th grade – you’re too old. Yes, our kids loved that rule. {sarcasm} Now Gabi gets to join us in handing out candy to all of our favorite little people!
So, what’s your favorite Halloween memory?
Patty O
A Thankfully Imperfect Woman 