Category Archives: encouragement

Trading earth’s cross for heaven’s crown

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Dear Lisa,

Woman.  It is the most breathtakingly STUNNING day here today.  A rough start with the rain and wind this a.m. but now….oh.  My.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Nice wind.  Hovering on the 70’s….just barely.  I can’t think of a better day to celebrate you.

Somehow I managed to make it through with 3 tissues.  Your humongous family, your beautiful girls and your brave and valiant husband filing in just made my heart ache.  In the same breath, my heart was filled with joy at the sheer numbers present.  You seriously made an impression on a lot of people, an indelible print on their hearts.  Way cool.  What a blessing to call you friend.

Your faith and courage in your fight with Ovarian cancer could not help but to spill over on to everyone you came in contact with.  Sharing that faith just came natural and so did encouraging your students and friends to live life to the fullest.  Embrace every day and when you introduced Brendan (and our family) to the story of Nick Vujicic your genuineness and love of God became that much more real.

Thank you for your friendship.  It was a true blessing to know you.

A few words from today that I KNOW you’d be shaking your head “YES” to:

  • You traded earth’s cross for Heaven’s crown.  WOW!  I just love that.  You are free.  You are free.
  • When we let go of fear we step out and grow in faith.  Like taking off without training wheels for the first time.  May we ALL be propelled to grow in faith by crushing fear with the same German stubborness you had.
  • Fight the GOOD fight.  Life is busy and we get pulled in so many directions.  May we all focus on those priorities of living this life and fighting the GOOD fight.
  • Life is hard.  So many people, situations and choices constantly turning us sideways; faith is what guides us through.  A beacon of hope.  You stayed focused on that faith in God’s plan to the very end.  I can think of no better race that was run.

Rest in peace, my friend.  Until we meet again!

XOXO

Tracy

The bluest of blues. Sky today.

The bluest of blues. Sky today.

Good, bad, ugly and a conference!!

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I’ve been MIA and so very hit or miss lately….life, ya know?  Sorry.  I’m preaching to the choir, I know.

It looks like our weekends are slowing down a leeeeeeetle bit here to a more manageable busy-ness which is good and gives me hope to recharge and reboot and refresh and all that because I needs me some down-time, people!  Wahhhhh, cry me a river, I know.  We are all busy.  So.  I am done complaining about that.

Here’s a few things my mind is juggling lately, good bad and ugly.  Ok.  NOT the really ugly, because I’ve already sent THAT email to a few people and I’m just not ready to go live with that.  Yet.  It is brewing though.  It will probably be a total **it-storm when it happens, I’ll say that.  Intrigued?  Well, guess you’ll have to keep checking back in.  wink-wink-wink

Goodnesssssss……all over the place.  The busy-ness has been good stuff.  Kids music stuff, going to All-county for two kiddos 2 weekends in a row.  A certain almost-12 year old birthday coming up and a trip to Plato’s closet to feed her shopping desires and birthday gift!!  Last minute visit from an old friend from Tally in town with her daughter’s volleyball tourney.  (I didn’t get to visit with her but Hubby did and it does a soul good to have some quality friend time!)  A coming visit from Hubby’s Alaskan cousin this weekend for the night.  A total nut and very fun!!  A great AA dinner party meeting Hubby’s AA friends.  Always nice to put names with faces.  Even nicer to hear the inspirational stories coming out of these people.  My dear friend may (HOPEFULLY) be doing Apologetics classes for middle and high schoolers.  Y’all she is DANGEROUSLY on fire and the most AMAZING teacher EVERRRRRR.  I am completely committed to bugging her to YouTube the classes because this is something the Church needs…this area is so lacking.  So offer up a prayer for her would ya?  This cookie dough pie made by our 16 yo.  Oh.  MY.  Deliciousness.  **one special note:  USE the blender/food processor for the beans.  Makes allllllllll the difference in the world.  Hubby and I are planning on renewing our vows this year.  The big 2-0!  Point of contention:  our audience.  Our church generally does this in front of the general Mass.  All several HUNDREDS of people.  Hubby is in favor of this venue.  This gives me absolute palpitations and anxiety I cannot describe.  I’m all for the quiet chapel route.  Also, I know I will be bawling and this is not a good look for me.  Let’s face it, half of our marriage was the “for worse” part and having come through that……..Phew!  Good stuff, but man, oh, man……what a ride!!!

Badness:  (I know, not a word, but in keeping with the theme)…..I didn’t get a job I applied for.  Again.  I DO have promises of other positions in the next few months, so we shall see….but disappointment, I’m really over you.  Really.  16 yo broke his foot skateboarding.  Not super bad, but definitely waylaid the skating for a while.  Good stuff is coming out of that, though…..the ole stepping back and getting a bird’s eye view of friends, new likes and maturing.  Colds.  Several have blown through this house.  5 of 6 of us have had the flu shot, so holding steady there…… lastly, a friend of mine (son’s 5th grade teacher and the best EVER! and not just because she reads my blog) is suffering mightily these past couple years with a recurrence in her ovarian cancer.  The past few months have been tremendously brutal.  It’s heartbreaking and I’m so sad for her suffering and for her family and mad. Mad that the prayers I pray for her don’t fix anything.  Mad that the dinner I’ll take her family won’t fix anything.  Mad that God allows this.  Mad.  Mad.  Mad.  And this is so definitely going on my list of conversations God and I will have in heaven.  Because I just don’t see the purpose of it.  At all.

And on that total bummer note:  let me offer up some fun times for you….There is going to be a little conference in Austin, TX this summer.  A weekend of Catholic gal fun!!  All the deets are here……  my pocketbook can’t swing this, but maybe yours can and I think it would absolutely be worth every second!!!!

Go on and have a super day.  Providing you aren’t snowed in for the umpteenth time this winter.  We’ll be scooting through the day in the humid 80s here…..  tough.  tough life it is.

Blessings!!

A conundrum of sorts…

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Holy cow, y’all it’s almost February!!!  Where in the HECK did January go???  This month, for us, has had our dance card filled EVERY weekend this month and while it certainly keeps us busy, I am a person who needs some downtime.  After a month of go-go-go, we are happy January is almost gone-gone-gone.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time:  All-state concert, Savannah visit with my mom and her Hubby, All-county concert #1 (followed by #2 concert AND LAST this weekend).  All good stuff.  I just need to decompress on the weekends at some point and there’s been very little of that.  The other problem all this busy-ness brings is the whole “physical health” resolutions has taken a back seat with the extra running around.

The interesting thing, and here is the conundrum, is that while I haven’t been wholly UNHEALTHY, I’ve not focused ONE BIT on exercise (got it in when I could or managed to get out of bed in the morning chilliness), nor have I focused on my food (although I’ve stuck to my mostly normal eating habits).  Yesterday, I wanted to brace myself for moving back into regular and scheduled exercise AND food-journaling with our 16 year-old and guess what?  Down 4 pounds.  You’ve got to be kidding me.

No worries though, now that I’ve typed it and am moving back into focus on health, I’ll be right back up….but hopefully not.

Isn’t life crazy like that?

Dear, Biebs

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Dear Biebs~(can I call you Biebs?  well, I did….I am older than you)

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Listen, it’s about time we had a little chat.  See, I have an almost teenster here in the house that absolutely adores you.  Beliebster to the max.  She has 3 other siblings that mock and ridicule her puppy-love for you in an unending fashion.  She can take it though, her love is strong.  Today, she was embarrassed for you.  Really embarrassed.  She is going as far as taking her iPod case cover of you off and going back to her polka dot number.  That’s a big deal, dude.  She is still mulling over removing the posters, mainly because there is such a large selection of your younger, more well-behaved days.  Concert?  Out of the question.  Movie?  Nope.  Lately, your 19 year-old shenanigans are fodder for many teaching moments of “What NOT to do” and “How NOT to behave”.  Our boys are SO over hearing it.

You had a pretty good run there and I’ll admit, I was smitten with your adorable-ness.  However, now.  Now.  Shake my head.  You are in luck, though.  This country we live in has an immeasurable ability to forgive our celebrities for their poor decisions (especially our younger celebrities).  We’ve all made mistakes; the question is what do we do with the knowledge we gain from those mistakes?  So, I offer you up a few little tidbits of “elderly” advice:

1)  Don’t smile for your mug shot.  Let’s try to look a little repentant, K?  Presentation is everything.

2)  Time to pick some new friends.  Change the playground.  Your homies…they’re steering you WRONG.  All.  Over.  The.  Place.  Fo’ realzie.  Go low under the radar.  Friends or hangers on?  There IS a difference.

3)  Eggs are for hardboiling or scrambling.  Bake with them.  Put them in a smoothie.  Juggling perhaps, but tossing.  Vandalizing.  Boo hiss.  Not their function.

4)  We don’t always get along with our neighbors;  practice civility and kill ’em with kindness.  Spitting is just gross.  Love thy neighbor.  Goes a long, long way and sometimes, if you have the flu or have a major crisis in your life they are there with chicken soup or a grocery bag of food to help you through it.  Your neighbors probably just want to help you pack.  And move on out.

5)  “That” is NOT where you are going to find a nice girl.  You know what I am talking about here. You may find a nice case of something requiring some antibiotics, but a nice girl?  no.  Move on.  Eww.  Just eww.

6)  Call your mom.  I think you need some time with Mama, a nice little old fashioned what-for.  If she’s not available, come on over.  I’m happy to yank your ear over some hot chocolate and a “family meeting”.

7)  You’ve got a lot of years ahead of you and a lot of talent.  Take this time off and use it wisely.  Recreate your image to a lesser thug-life image.  Let’s pull it together.  Maybe you could get together with Justin Timberlake for some pointers since he’s managed to be wildly successful without crashing and burning.  Just a thought.  Haven’t we had enough Lindsay Lohans and Amy Winehouses?

Until then my friend, my daughter is off-limits.  (Probably forever, but at least until you show a decent track record of behaving a little/lot better).  Her heart will mend, but she’s learned a good few lessons on what kind of man she doesn’t want to be with (I sure hope so, anyway).

Blessings and best of luck on your recovery time in rehab.  (that’s generally the next step after something like this, right?)

Tracy

Live Life

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In my job as a CT Technologist I see a LOT of stuff.  In my 22 years of working, I’ve learned to compartmentalize in order to keep my sanity.  I’ve seen a lot and I see a LOT.  The kind of stuff that regularly makes me shut up about my “little problems” and stuff that makes me say, “Gee, those are the same symptoms I’ve been having and holy……..”, stuff that makes me take a little more time with a patient, go the extra mile,  give the extra smile and sometimes even the hug (although generally I save those for my 80-somethings who shamelessly flirt with me).  You having a bad day?  Come hang with me sometime, we’ll put that pity party to bed.  Today was another day.

Today, we had a 51-year-old male newly diagnosed with prostate cancer.  51.  51!!!

A  53-year-old woman with a middle schooler and a high schooler with Stage 3 colon cancer.

And this morning, I learned that a sweet former acquaintance from the Junior League went home from work yesterday not feeling well and laid down for a bit.  She never woke up.  She leaves behind 3 boys and a husband and a river wide of mourning friends.

I was the early girl today at work and when I got home, my husband was already home.  God knows what we need and when we need it.  Today I needed his strong arms and shoulder to cry on.

People, get busy living.