Valentines Day Cookies

I love baking and decorating cookies, and not just at Christmastime. My Valentines Day cookies are fast becoming some of my favorites. This year I did Bernese Mountain Dog cookies and they turned out super cute if I do say so myself. What do you think?

I have also been writing Month of Love posts on my social media. I had the idea several years ago to write a tribute to my friends appreciating them and sharing how we met and some of my most favorite stories. I've been spending the month of February doing just that. I have each of them posted on my Intentional Winning in Life blog if you are interested. I went passed 28 days and I think I will write a few more to sprinkle into March. It is wonderful to see how blessed I am with the people in my life and it will be awesome for Mason to have as a point of reference about the people I love and loved, who they were, how I met them, and why they were and are important to me. Happy Month of Love that I happen to think should be every month!

Celebrating My Month Of Love

Looking back through the years, this is a small smattering our our Valentines Days. Dave is an exceptional man when it comes to courting, love, and tradition. He loves holidays and takes every opportunity to show us how important we are to him, all holidays included. 

Do you want to know his secret to being such a great gift-giver? He listens and remembers. He hears us comment or admire something, or note something we want to accomplish and then he waits. Sometimes he just makes it happen for no reason at all, and there you have it. He cooks for us, one year I planned a romantic getaway to Somerset, and I typically make his Valentine. Several are pictured, Mutts Comics is our favorite, and the other I had custom printed. Yes indeed, I married an amazing man and I thank my lucky stars every day that he loves me. 

Through February I have been posting about the people in my life that I love. I've been hashtagging #MonthOfLove and I want to share day 14 with you. 

Day 14 in the Month of Love is pretty special, in fact, I think everyone thought it would be Dave but no, it’s Mason. I chose Valentine’s Day for Mason for a number of reasons, first, he was so wanted and conceived in love. I miscarried three times, once in Key West, before Mason “stuck,” that was no fun! So when we stayed pregnant, we were both over the moon. Secondly, Mason taught me that when I thought I couldn’t love any bigger than I love Dave, my heart grew fifty-two sizes! It sounds so cliche’ to say, “Just when you think you can’t love one ounce more, along comes your baby and WOW!” Finally, on this particular day, our society places so much emphasis on couples love, having another person to make you feel like you are not the fifth wheel, I want Mason to break free of those ideas and realize that he is whole just being him.

When you find a partner that you love spending your time with, enjoy all the holidays, have fun and celebrate with a kiss at midnight, flowers, cookies, dinner’s out, shamrocks, colored eggs, American Flags, pumpkins, turkeys, and Christmas trees. But even if you are not in love, celebrate those same things with your friends, even the kiss!! I want Mason to know that his sense of who he is, what makes him feel whole is up to him, he does not need another person to do those things for him.

So today I celebrate my big love for Mason, who he is, what he brings to Dave and me in our family, and how proud of him we both are. He’s a normal 15-year-old kid, he plays video games, doesn’t think he should have a bedtime, is doing some things I don’t like, and feels like he is more grown-up than he really is. I remember feeling that way, I was sure at 16 I could move out on my own and make my own way. Thank God my mom dug her heels in and did not let me, I would have been back at her door with my tail between my legs in less than 30 days! Mason is far better equipped in many ways than I was, but he is still not as equipped in other ways. I love his sense of humor and how kind he is when it has nothing to do with me. Yeah, he is poopy to me, he rolls his eyes when I talk to him about anything, he won’t listen to me but if "his" people tell him the same thing, it’s gospel, and he gives me the “Big Sigh” as if I am irritating him by my very being. It’s not always fun, but it’s normal. What he doesn’t realize is that I talk to "his" people and I let them know what I want him to know, it gets to him even if not through me. Us moms & dads, we have our ways. He’s pretty amazing and I can’t wait to see what he does with his life, I know it will be a sight to see. Happy Valentine’s Day Mason, you have my whole heart in a way no other human can. #MonthOfLove

My Month of Love

Happy February 1st! In honor of the month of love, I am going to post each day about the people I love and why I love them. It stands to reason that I am going to start with my Flower Dave. Why do I call him Flower Dave? I'll post that story at the end of this post so scroll down if you are interested. Dave is the love of my life, not the first one, but absolutely the last one. Dave has taught me what it means to love so deeply that there are no words to describe it. While he was deployed, I learned what it meant to long for someone. How's that for an old fashioned word? Dave has shown me a life that I can live in with confidence that he is loyal and trustworthy. He doesn't send me flowers when we've had a fight, he stays and talks it out with me, and if he feels he needs to leave, he leaves in such a way that I know he is coming back. In fact, if he leaves, we will likely be continuing to work out our issue on the phone because we really want to work it out. More importantly that how Dave shows me he loves me and our life, he has shown Mason what it means to truly adore a woman and how to treat her. I mentioned not sending flowers when we fight, he sends flowers on my birthday, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and the first day of fall. I don't expect them and if they don't come, it's okay, but I do love them. Dave has planned dates for us that may be as simple as dinner in downtown, and as elaborate as tickets to a concert, dinner reservations, and it all started with an outfit I found on our bed with a note, "We've got plans for Friday night, plan accordingly." Yes, he is an amazing man, husband, father, and friend. Some say we got lucky, but I think it's more than that, I think we set up what we wanted to have, what we wanted to live and though we've had some bumps, we do the things we do because we want each other to know our marriage is important - you are important to me Flower Dave! Neither of us is perfect, and we've had moments we are not proud of, but they are far fewer than the ones that make up the happy memories of our life together that started in April of 1996 when I won him on the radio. I love you David, happy February 1, 2019! #MonthOfLove Dave sent me a huge bouquet of flowers after our first date. I was livid mad! I told him after the date that I didn't want to "date." Here I was holding flowers so big you couldn’t even see me, but you could hear that I was not happy. When I finally was able to express myself I said, “Now I have to have this talk with him all over again! Didn’t he hear me say just friends?” I immediately called and thanked him for the flowers but before he could even respond, I started right in on him, “I thought you understood that I just want to be friends, I thought you got that I am not looking for a relationship…blah, blah, blah” Poor Dave, I don’t even know why it is that we are the great friends that we are except to say that we have always been true to ourselves and each other. We have never had to pretend to be anyone we are not. After Dave sent me the flowers and I became so angry, that made quite an impact on my family and friends. They thought I was crazy because I was probably the only woman in this lifetime to get angry with a man for giving her flowers, this became a defining moment in our lives. My friends didn’t know any of the new people in my life so I always had to explain who I was doing things with. Since Dave and I were dancing and talking often - as friends - I started to refer to him as “Dave, you know, Dave, the guy who sent me the flowers.” This went to just Flower Dave and then simply to Flower.

It's About Time

The Young, The Aging, and The Medical Procedures

It's not Monday, it's Tuesday, but so what? I know, I know, it's called the Monday Motivator but I'm of the belief that motivation can come on any of the days of the week, in fact, I think it should come on ALL the days of the week! LOL! I'm finding my rhythm writing again and I'm liking it, although I may not be succeeding all the way in meeting deadlines, I am succeeding in that I am writing again. Like so many who make resolutions for the new year, I too set goals and I am less stringent with how things have to be and allowing things to be how they are. I'm writing something every day and I started writing this on Monday, and picked back up on Tuesday and here I am finishing and sending/posting on Wednesday.

While I was writing yesterday two things happened to derail my best efforts. I got the opportunity to have an almost free spa treatment last minute and so I took it. While I was at the spa, I ran into a girlfriend who asked me to have lunch with her so I said yes. I made it back home to sit down to finish penning this post only to learn that Dave was on his way home from the ski resort he was at with Mason and he had injured his knee. Oh no! I went to get the crutches and the rest of the day was consumed taking Dave to the ER, leaving him to wait while I went to pick Mason up from the school as he stayed at the resort and rode the bus home. I took him home, fed the dogs and went back to the ER to finish out the hours long wait/visit with Dave in the ER. With Dave so close to retiring, it's important that every little thing be documented as it pertains to his physical being, not because it means so much now, but because it could be important later. The ER docs did an X-ray, ruled our broken bones, gave him a referral to our orthopedic doctor and some pain meds and finally we were on our way home. We had a late dinner and it was time to get ready for bed. It's worth noting that the ride down the hill with the ski patrol isn't what it used to be!

Now I'm preparing for an early morning procedure that has me fasting and drinking a horrible concoction that will have me staying in and close to ladies room through the night. Yes, we are of the age that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so prevention is what we are aiming for. After I get through tomorrow's procedure, I will be looking forward to knee surgery on 2/14. Yes, knee surgery #10 but let's note that it's #1 on my right knee. I injured it on Thanksgiving day doing of all things, running upstairs. I missed a step and though I did not slip and fall, my toes were on the step and in an effort not to fall, I gripped and hyper-extended my leg injuring my knee. It popped and it hurt instantly so I knew what I had just done. Hopefully Dave is not in line for this path and his knee injury is just a strain, I'm saying a little prayer.

I have to chuckle as I read back through this, I am seriously getting old! I can't keep up with my blog and as I read it back it is all about medical exams and what injuries Dave has and what procedures we have coming up. LOL! Whatever, it is what it is and if I am documenting my life, I suppose it should be all of it, the young, the aging, and the medical procedures.

I hope your new year is off to a great start and all your resolutions and goals are well on their way to coming to fruition.

This, Too Shall Pass

Just when you think things are rolling right along, BAM! You get a curveball. Things had been going relatively smoothly and I anticipate they will smooth out again, they always do, but for right now, they suck! LOL!

Dave is preparing to retire which is great, but the interim, the unknown is creating some stress. Dave is not sure how much he will be getting paid between his retirement and VA disability, and he also doesn't know when it will start coming. In the meantime, I have a great listing that once we get an offer, I get to start helping the sellers find their new place to buy, but the market has been SO S-L-O-W and it's not moving at all! So while I don't have a paycheck coming in any foreseeable future, I've had a major toothache requiring a sudden visit to the dentist (this on top of an implant that I needed to get financing for), and today my 4Runner broke down. Yep, curveballs all around! I did just get a little paycheck for a condo I sold, but now I don't know if I will be paying to get my car fixed, or paying my regular monthly bills. Now before this goes on too long, we have been in a position to pay our regular bills, fix a car when need be, and even take a little trip now and then. But then shit starts rolling downhill and it keeps costing this, and then it costs that, and then we have none left.

So it's a new year and we have lots of life changes on the horizon, but in the meantime, we are juggling and figuring out what we can put where that we have the biggest bang with the least negative impact. Ultimately, I can't help but look at a bright side, and that is that we are all healthy and as my granny used to say, "This, too shall pass."

Happy New Year!

I don't know if we've all been told that as we age, the hands of time seem to speed up. I know I've heard it many times in my life and I'm here to testify, yep, it's true! As 2018 was winding down it was occurring to me that our family was not as busy in terms of line items on the calendar but we also weren't sitting home twiddling our thumbs either. There was plenty going on to keep us running from the time the alarm clock sounded until the 10 o'clock news was wrapping up and Dave was sound asleep in bed next to me. I also noticed that so many of my friends on social media were bidding good riddance to 2018, using visuals like 2018 on a garbage bag and the like. Did I miss something? I know that I generally live my life wearing rose colored glasses but I didn't think 2018 was such a horrible year. It seems to me that we have some good and bad in every year, and 2018 certainly has its ups and downs. We lost some dear friends, Ty and Angela were two of my close friends who we said goodbye to way too soon, and we had a few financial hits that we weren't all the way prepared for but to me, those are just normal life events. We also had lots of fun, my business was thriving, we spent many days on the lake, Mason made some movies, we went to the premiere of his first film, he did a number of cooking demos and competitions, and I won the grand prize at the 25th Anniversary of the Mandarin Festival recipe competition. We traveled to North Carolina and Tennessee and Dave did all of his paperwork in preparation to retire after 33 years of service to the United States military. I'm sure I'm leaving lots of things out, maybe on both sides of the coin, but I just don't think that 2018 needs to be remembered as the year we toss out like a big bag of garbage. Yet again, it's all about perspective, isn't it?

So here we are in 2019 and it feels like a fresh start. The Christmas tree is down, the new year confetti has been swept up and though there is still some clean up to do, I am ready to make things happen. Menopause has not been easy but I am pushing through it. I didn't make a single weight loss or fitness goal for the new year but I am staying the course with good food and the gym. I hope that doesn't sound contradictory, I just need to not make it the focus right now as it feels like something I just can't succeed at for the moment. I am taking my focus off Mason and turning the lens on me for this year. I want to make more videos and share my message on my channels. I want to start growing my platform in different directions so when Dave and I move when Mason graduates I am not having to start all over trying to "figure it out" in a new place with new people. I want to work in casting and movies with Sally, and I want to tell my own stories, too. Dave and I want to write our story for Mason and if we can craft that into a story that is interesting enough that others will enjoy then that is even better. I am a storyteller, I love to write and paint pictures with my words. I also love to make movies so I want to do that on my Youtube channel as well. I will start with motivational videos and then maybe mini-movies. We'll see where it goes, but this is my year to start, to not be afraid, and to do more, be more, and give more! What about you, what do you want for 2019? Can I help? Let me know and if I can make it happen, I will. Happy New Year!