They Walk Among Us.

You know em. Those people. Sometimes camouflaged as friends and family. Concealing hidden, and often not so subtle, judgments about you or your family. Their super powers lend themselves to assumptions about your life. Little snippets of information, quite often less than factual, grow in their judgmental, analytical minds until they believe without doubt that they know your every thought, intention, belief. They are easily offended and bruised if your opinions or schedule conflicts with theirs. They believe that once wronged, people never change. They think ... no, they know beyond doubt that their values, their plans and their political views and religious beliefs are the only way and, be-damned if you don't place your own in alignment with theirs. I have a couple of those "friends" and "family" plans. I'm beginning to let those relationships drift like a corked bottle in a vast ocean of dribbling nonsense. One day, after growing in their frustrations over their vain imaginations, they'll blow that cork and sink in their guilty assumptions and gossip and only then, by the grace of God, will they learn what grace really is. I'm not perfect. No one is ... this side of Heaven. I'm also not a hypocrite. I've made mistakes. I've learned from them. Life is a perpetual learning curve, not a place for closed minds and hearts.


I thank God for my family and friends. Those who have loved me for me and haven't judged me for my shortcomings. And, may I say? Check your own tiara before attempting to adjust mine!

Which Way Will I Go?

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word ... excellence.

And to be excellent, I must focus on one thing. I don't wanna be jack-of-all-trades-and-master-of-none. When things slow down a bit... When I get caught up... When I have time to think...

Joyfully Occupied!!!

Isn't she delicious!!!

Hey ya'll! I've been a bit outta touch the last few weeks....

I've been watching my granddaughter since my daughter returned to work. You'd think after caring for a baby all day I'd be ready to get outta here at the end of the day....but, once I hand her over to her mom, I find myself wanting to hold her just one more time before leaving. And although having to get up to a six o'clock alarm isn't at the top of my list of faves, I so look forward to seeing her little face every morning. She changes daily. We actually had a car ride from WEMO all the way to the Infirmary and she was awake the entire time and didn't fuss...that's a milestone! Trust me! Jen said she slept through the night last night. Wow!

I can't say enough good things about her other grandmother. Pam is fabulous. More than words can say I appreciate her being here during the birth and that first couple of weeks. My mom passed away nine days after Keller was born...only having seen her in photos, which were plastered all over the walls of her hospital room. I was back and forth between two hospitals - what a parking nightmare - several times daily/nightly. While my heart ached to be there with my firstborn and her firstborn.....I knew there would be many "hellos" with her....but only one goodbye with my mom. I was so grateful for Pam's presence. Sure, after mom's funeral, I was anxious to fill that void with the new baby. I'll confess there was a little jealousy surfacing cause I couldn't be there for my daughter like I should have been. I know that is self-imposed guilt cause my daughter knew I couldn't be there. I wasn't really jealous of Pam having more time with the baby...not really. I just couldn't wait for my chance to get to know her...my first grandchild.

It was an awful, yet bittersweet season of time. My mom couldn't have died at a worse time and my first grandchild couldn't have been born at a better time. God knew what he was doing. I miss her over the weekend and can't wait til Monday rolls around again. I can only imagine the grief Pam feels being 5+ hours away in Mississippi and not seeing her as often as she wants. I know it's heart wrenching for her. I know Keller will so look forward to road trips to Mississippi for weekends and holiday visits and to MimiPam coming to Mobile to snuggle and spoil! I didn't think I would be good at sharing ... playing fair ... with the grandmother role. But a mother's heart grows exponentially when her child has a baby. Pam and I have that in common and so much more.

Looking forward to her being spoiled rotten by the Mobile granmamma too!
The easel will have to wait a while longer!