This past week we had several dark, cold, wet days which made me realize how much I love sunshine.

Nothing lifts my spirit more than going outside in the morning with my coffee, walking around my home letting the sun shine on me!  It is like medicine!

Sugar maple tree in my front yard, and sun shining on the burning bushes around our home.

Our little stray cat “Blackie” always walks with me and enjoys the sun.  I reached down to give her a pat and she was so warm.

Enjoy some sun today and everyday it shines in your area, it really does warm us and calms us on those terrible dark days we all face in our lives.

Love your day, let the sun shine!

Loving our life can at times be so difficult.  I have come so far on my journey but this one is so hard for me to put away.

Our family is dealing with a heartbreak.

This is a photo of my son and his fiancee at the time it was taken.

All of you know from my posts, how good, kind, and decent, this wonderful human being, my son, is to everyone.

Jim and Cheryl were together for years and finally engaged.  They were in some way or another friends from junior high school. Cheryl and her family lived across the street from us.

They both had people come and go in their lives over the years, Cheryl even having a baby daughter from one of her relationships, but there came a time when they got together and committed to one another.

Jim loved Cheryl and her daughter Christina so much.  He worked hard and made plans for the future, saving every dime for Christina’s education and a home for his new family.

Their dating time together was not normal, Cheryl lived with her parents and both were sick.  Jim stood side by side with Cheryl through the death or her father, and helping with the care of her mother through a long illness before her death.  So much of their lives flew by during these times.

It was then that something happened that we never expected.  Cheryl started communicating with an old friend on Facebook, and eventually started a relationship with him on the side.

Jim saw the signs and eventually Cheryl admitted the affair.

Our heartbreak began.  Jim was devastated, and we all were stunned.

What we all thought was our future family, including a grandchild, was not to be.

Overwhelming sadness took over our lives.

Cheryl has moved on, but Jim is struggling.

When he was small it was easy for me to comfort him, and protect him from the things of life, but this one is hard, he is a grown man and must sort this out for himself.  How could I have prepared him for something like this.  Betrayal from someone you loved.

I pray for him, and know that God must have something, or someone, planned for his future.

These are the things we all must deal with in life, and with faith overcome in time.

I see signs of happiness and peace slowly coming back to my son and his life.  He laughs more and more each day.

Life is good, and I believe he will love his once again.

Blessings.

So much of my love of life involves music, and the joys it brings to me everyday.

I love soulful music, songs about life, love and its heartbreaks, all the ups and downs of living.

Everyday tasks go buy so fast when listening to songs we love, it can change our mood in an instant, calm us, make us smile, and of course it can bring about some “loving sad” from memories of certain songs.

Love so many old gospel songs, probably because of those old memories of my mom and her sisters singing while doing the dishes after a family gathering.

I could list so many of my favorites, “Love Hurts” by the Everly Brothers, popular when I was a preteen, Ray Charles, Norah Jones, the sad songs from Johnny Cash, later in his career.

“Stand” by Donny McClurkin, is one of my go to songs when life throws me a really bad thing,  and I can’t forget Beth Hart.

Have you ever heard Beth Hart sing, “I’d Rather Go Blind”?  Love it!  If you have time watch the video at the end of this post.

Instead of listening to talk radio, or all the bad news of the day, I always would listen to my favorite CD’s  on the way to work.  Doing this helped to eliminate stressful feelings of the day ahead of me.

If you don’t have an I-pod or MP3 player, I guess I am mainly speaking to older folks, like me, get one!  Download your favorites, explore new artists, and stick on those ear buds.  Whether you drive to work, walk, ride a bus, or a subway, listen!

Enjoy!

We all know that life doesn’t give us everything we strive for or dream about.

I have come to realize that I am a mediocre person!

Don’t be sad for me, I am really OK with saying that!

We all can’t be successful with all that we do, we all can’t be a Steve Jobs.

The most important thing to me is that I try.  I try doing new things in my life all the time, I have even applied for a patent!  No success with it, but I tried.

I have sent ideas to companies for new products hoping that just one might be picked up and successful.

This blog, even though I am not a “real writer”, making mistakes with spelling and grammar, as a “friend” pointed out, is something I wanted to do and I am trying to do my best.

We are not failures by trying, but by not trying.

None of us should ever stop trying to be better, that would be a sad thing.

I strive to be a better wife, mother, and housekeeper but there are days I just do not want to clean or cook.

Being mediocre isn’t laziness.

As long as we all try and don’t give up, doing the best job we can at everything, I think it is really OK to be mediocre.

Do your best today and everyday, let go of perfection, don’t beat yourself up!

Blessings.

I am really not a “star watcher” but all the talk in the past few days, on TV and the internet, has been about Renee Zellweger’s new look!

Speculation is that she had surgery.

She does seem to have a softer look and a thinner face.   Let’s not forget that she is getting older.  Regardless, in both photos I think she looks really good!

She spoke out and simply said, “I am very happy”!

To me that is it!

Find your “happy place” with your looks, your weight, your image, and just be happy!

I underlined your place, not the place others want you to be!

It has taken me years and years to know this, even at one point in my life wanting to hide when I had gained too much weight.  I stopped living.

Please don’t do this to yourself.  Find your “happy place” with your looks and stay there!

Shame on everyone else.

When will be ever stop judging others for the way they look?

Be happy today, love to all.

Saw something on a news report yesterday that really got me to thinking about this life of ours.

The report was about Harlan County, Kentucky, a coal mining area, and also the place my mother and her family were raised.

The report was about the current push for closing all coal mines, and the many that have been closed in Harlan.

Coal jobs were the only good jobs for folks in this area.  The pay for miners over the years increased dramatically.  Raising a family, and giving them a good life was the way of life for the miners for many years. Unfortunately, everything has changed.  Changed “in an instant”.

As the report showed, miners were called in one day and told the mine was closed, and jobs gone.

There were interviews with miners and photos showing closings of business in the town.

This photo really hit home with me,

An older woman, probably my age, searching through a dumpster for food, or something she might sell to buy food, as reported in the news piece.

Seriously, all of our lives can change in an instant, without warning, for a number of reasons.  Sickness, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, false accusations, I could go on and on!

We really cannot take a thing for granted, not a single thing!

Love your family, build strong family ties, and build a relationship with God.

Here is the link if you want to take a look.  There are some parts, of course, that are politics and the upcoming elections, but showing Harlan, is the part I want to share.  Just scroll down to the section on Harlan.  This link is brief but you can find the entire report online.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/10/13/dont-miss-fox-news-reporting-american-payday-big-squeeze

Blessings.

Just a simple reminder today,

You can be old at 18

or young at 90

– unknown

Be Happy!

Do happy things!

Enjoy life everyday, it is so short.

Love to all!

I have written many times on how I am learning to appreciate all that I have, but I still struggle with wanting “things” that I see when I am out and about.

Before I started on my journey of discovering what loving life is all about, I would buy what I wanted, within reason, without hesitating.

I was an “impulse” buyer!

A couple of years back, I received an “exclusive” invitation in the mail, exclusive to me and thousands of other women, to come to a special sale, with 40% off everything, at one of my favorite women’s clothing shops.

Of course, I had to go!

After browsing around the entire shop a couple of times, I stood next to a beautiful, older woman, even older than me, looking at some nice, soft gloves, in beautiful colors.

As we were small talking about the colors, a younger woman came up to us and said, “Mom, do you see anything you want”.  The older woman replied, “Oh, I see many things I want, but nothing I really need”.

To this day I remember my encounter with the lovely woman.  Now when shopping, I try to whisper to myself, “do you really need this”?

I have also found that if I go back for a second look at something I thought I really wanted, it doesn’t look that good after all.

When I receive these “exclusive” invitations in the mail, I often wish I could run into this lovely person once again to thank her for her words.

Money is so tight for me and my husband since I have stopped working, but I am still able to buy a special “something” now and then, which is OK for all of us.

This colorful (boysenberry) jacket is my “something” at the moment.

Love the color and the buttons.

I have always loved buttons, thanks to Grandma’s button box I remember searching through so many times as a child.

Right now I am waiting on the 50% off coupon before buying this jacket, who knows, maybe by that time it won’t look that great to me.

Remember my lovely older woman when you are shopping, she may help you as she has me!

Happy, enjoyable shopping to all of you!

Treats are good!

Today I am going to give you all a gift.

I always loved Maya Angelou, her wonderful books, poems, quotes.

Here is a video she made on being a blessing to others.

Enjoy!

Be someone’s blessing today if you can, it will bring you such joy!

Love to all.

Changing my life is work every single day.

Many days are difficult and I slip, but the most important tool for me now is prayer.

When I feel distress, pain, hurt, I pray.

Prayers do not need to be long or complicated, just start by calling His name.

Here is a quote I think of often when my life is so busy.

If you can do nothing more, thank Him!

We all have so much because of His love and goodness.

Blessings.