A Reflection of My Past Blogs . . .

I always thought on my 100th blog entry I would write something big, but guess what?  I missed the big day and am well passed 100!  However, I did go back, back to the beginning . . . to the beginning when I wrote for me and a very few . . . I remember writing my first entry wondering where it would take me . . . never thinking I would ever share my thoughts to anyone but the close few I had opened up to.  And then . . . I started sharing to a bigger audience and as they say the rest is history!
Going back and reading those entries, my mind was flooded with past joys, struggles and reflections . . . As I read some . . . I could feel my heart and soul pouring out through my words, some made me smile, others brought tears and some . . . well some were just a snippet of a moment in time.
I also reread all the comments, many more once I started sharing and I felt such a greater connection to people I knew, and a new connection of sorts to people I only know through this blog world.
So I guess, by BIG entry is really as it always is, reflections, thoughts and snippets of a moment in time.

The C O L D . . .

Sniffle . . . Sniffle . . . Cough . . . Cough . . . Snort . . . Snort . . .
My heads spins to look at my husband . . .
PLEASE . . .
    PLEASE . . .
        PLEASE . . .
Not a C O L D!!!!  Anything . . . REALLY . . . anything but a cold!
Don’t get me wrong I love my husband dearly, but when he gets a cold it’s like a 911 emergency 24/7.  It’s always the same conversation . . . me giving suggestions to ease the cold symptoms . . . Start taking high doses of vitamin C and zinc. Try gargling  with warm salt water.  How about getting into a really hot shower and breathe in the steam?  Do you want me to make you a doctor appointment? And always the same response . . . he telling me nothing will work! Or the never ending questions about how he contracted the cold in the first place ;-)  Please don’t think I am unfeeling or insensitive . . .  but to me a cold is just a nuisance  . . . a nuisance that ends in 7 to 10 days. To my hubby it’s a far far worse sentence. . . I wonder is this a man thing?

Thinking About Thanks . . .

This time of year most of us think about how thankful we are . . .
I made a promise a few years ago that I would take a part of each day . . . especially on the really rough ones to remember all that I have to be thankful for! I told myself that these challenges, are the very things that make me stronger and make me the person that I am.  I am so grateful for so so much and I hope the way I live my life is evident of how thankful I am!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Girls on the Run!

Last Saturday morning I participated in the Girls on the Run 5k race for the forth time.  This year our school decided to participate in the November race rather than in June.  Honestly, it was a lot tougher waking up at 5 am on a Saturday morning in November that on a Saturday in June! The venue for the 5k was at Toyota Park, where our Chicago Fire Soccer team plays.  The route for the race weaved throughout the surrounding neighborhood which was really cool and different from past races. As we walked/ran people were standing outside cheering us on and at mile marker two there was even a high school band playing. Luckily the weather held out and in spite of a cool breeze it ended up to be a beautiful day! As difficult as it was waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning . . . literally  . . .  it really is a “feel good” experience!   Giving a little of my time . . . may just make a little difference.

Still Thinking About Sandy . . .

Sitting in my kitchen very early Sunday morning wishing I would have taken advantage of the extra hour of sleep . . . but alas, it wasn’t meant be so I sit enjoying the quiet of a new day.  The quiet in my head doesn’t last long as I again begin to think about the people who’s lives have been devastated by Sandy, the Perfect Storm . . .
People .  . that are literally cut off from the rest of us because they are still without power. 
People . . . that are unable to get medicines, food, water and gas. 
People . . . so scared . . . because they have no idea how long this desolation will last.
People . . . that never cease to amaze me for their courage and their fight to restore their lives.
I turn on the television to see if one of our early morning news shows has any more information, any good news for the people who’s lives have been rocked by Sandy . . .
Not surprising there’s a whole segment on New York because the Marathon was to be today . . . the race that would have run through burrows that up until last week were alive and bustling . . . 
Today. . . these burrows look like the aftermath of an atomic bomb . . .
As I watch, I’m so thankful that most people were in agreement that canceling the marathon was the right thing to do . . . disappointed yes, but in agreement. 
Thankful,that ever so slowly help and relief seem to be getting to the people in need.
And so, so thankful that my niece who lives in New York, is safe and had fared the storm.
Tragedies of all kinds makes me think how in one split second . . . lives can change for ever.
In one split second. . . what we take for granted can be taken away.
In one slit second . . . things we complain about are so not important as compared to what someone else may be going through. 
It makes me realize how fortunate I am . . .
It makes me realize how grateful I am . . .
It makes me realize to always . . . always appreciate and not take anything for granted.