Last night I was gifted a new nick name- Mrs. Holliday. The two l's are intentional. Dave felt it was a great moniker for how I sounded while hacking up a lung and still drinking up at the bar. It was an impromptu get together of old friends and new and a tiny cough was not going to keep me away. Certainly not as I had pressed on over the last few weeks on the wings and the prayers of steriod injections and double my daily steroids. I know, doubling them up isn't smart but it was just to get me through these really tough holiday weeks. It helped me to hide how badly my body was yelling at me to stop. BUT I have no time to stop. I have family I love, kids who need me, friends I adore, a career that fulfills me. I have high school basketball season to cheer through. Finals to help study for. Doctors appointments that must be managed. Many, many of those. You get it. I know you do. All of you have your families and lives that must go on. And just when all seems to be on the upswing I wake up with an ugly harbinger that the lupus knows I have sold my soul too long and it is come to take it's due. The lumpy, itchy rash on my arm is the mark of the dark Lord of Lupus. It's a ...
Our Holy Mother
On this eve of the Christmas I find myself reflecting quite a bit on the role of the holy mother Mary. I wonder how she was feeling on this night of her child's birth. Was she scared? Was she calm? Was she completely freaked out by the events about to unfold? I wonder this because she was a mother. Like me. Like most of you who read my blog. We never really hear her story. I am sure she had one. What would she have said if her story had been told?Would she have complained about the pain of child birth? Commiserated over a teething toddler? Worried as her teen left to change the world? Mothers of this modern age have claimed the right to tell our stories. What a blessed gift we have to share who we are, our strengths, our weaknesses. I wish for every mother during this holiday season that you rejoice as your role as a mom. While you quietly and frantically run around backstage making sure your children shine, know that your story is what makes theirs possible. ...
Special Needs Kids Are Kids
Christmas is a hectic time of year for shopping. Most of us dread the long lines, sold out sale items and kids having major meltdowns in the checkout aisles. But while I was out shopping the other day I saw something that so reminded me of when Carter was younger. There was a child that obviously had special needs, having a complete tantrum in the middle of the store, and the mom is trying to deal with it while people just walked by and glared at her. The look on their face was one I have seen many times: horrified shock that she was disciplining this poor child. She wasn't out of control or anything like that, she had just had it with this kid and was at her limit too. It took me back so many years ago when Carter was finally mobility independent. You know that period when you start teaching them to walk in the store, rather than put them in a cart? Most kids go through this around 2? Carter was probably closer to 4 and had an extra few years worth of excitement in him. He would roll down the aisles and sweep stuff off the shelves in pure joy. And I would get mad. Like any other parent would, like I did with Connor, and I would tell him "if you can't behave yourself I will take ...
Has Social Media Killed the Online Forum?
If I had been asked that question a year ago, my answer would have been a resounding no. I would have said people will still want to gather in forums and bulletin boards regardless of facebook or twitter or google plus. But it appears I would have been wrong. The concept of 'community' online has been changed forever with the advent of social media and as even our parents, and in some cases, our grandparents finally climb on the social media bandwagon, I fear death is very near for the forum model. The idea of community is shifting to a more individual perspective. People can now create their own, personalized, community with circles and groups. Years ago, if you wanted to connect with quilters (for example) you would join a community forum just for quilters. You would make friends there, share your love of quilting and perhaps have off topic conversations. Your online life was quite compartmentalized into specific areas of interest. Now, quilters just have to add each other to their google plus circle or 'like' their favorite quilting bloggers on facebook and it is all filtered into them, aggregated into their streams and merged with their love for say, ...
So, It’s Been Awhile, huh?
Well, hello, blog. It's been awhile, huh? It's not you, it's me. I promise. Really. OK, well maybe it is you. With your blank post pages screaming: "Pay attention to me. I'm here. I am neglected. I NEED you." To be honest, neediness isn't really attractive. It's OK. Don't cry. I'm still here for you. We can still be friends. You just need to stop making me feel guilty for spending time with my 'other' friends. I'm busy. I'm becoming part of a new company, selling off parts of my online world that no longer make sense for me, traveling (yes, that spa trip to Devil's Thumb Ranch really was work). I'm taking the boys to Disneyland next week. I really do have a life offline as well. I understand you feel slighted. I promise to try to be better about paying attention to you, little blog. Can you forgive me? ...