Good Morning and Welcome Back!

Well......good morning and welcome back! 

Not sure if that greeting is more for the readers (assuming there are any), or me. It has been almost a year and a half since I last blogged and before I actually sat down to begin this morning, I was a bundle of giddiness mixed with almost procrastination, as I kept finding things I needed to do before I sat down. Still, I was so excited to be able to sit down and write, and more so that I wanted to sit down and write, that I couldn't stay focused on the things I needed to do. Welcome to that sneak peek into my world.

I have no idea where this first blog piece is going to take me, as there are a lot of pent-up words, and emotions fighting to get out as I type, so pardon any rambling, incomplete thoughts, or out-and-out absurdity that may show up here. Just know that if you are reading, I am grateful and I promise all my blogs won't consist of locked-away brain gumbo. Some may actually have real merit! Ummm....maybe. Well...possibly. Okay.....we can only hope!

So a little catch-up about my world, since last I blogged. I think I quit blogging because I was starting to feel overwhelmed with life and the expectations I was putting on myself as well as what the world was serving up, and my feelings and emotions were in a place where I couldn't get them from my brain to the paper. I went on a bit of a hiatus from social media, blogging, texting, people, and anything that made me feel overwhelmed. Did I mention people? Maybe it was a late-term, mid-life crisis or maybe it was just me feeling like I was just doing too much. Whatever the case, I had to stop it all for a bit and find my footing again. 

During that time though, I was not bored, nor was I free from life's little surprises and tragedies. In the course of a year, I lost both of my older dogs (Gizzy and Spud) to age and injury and I lost my new puppy (Wendell) just before his 1st birthday to a brain tumor. I was truly not prepared for the emotional toll that losing these fur babies was going to take on my heart. God had my back though, and I guess the compromise was, that my late husband Tim now has three fur babies to play with in heaven and I have a new fur baby (Harley) that came to me through I have no doubt, divine intervention. She just turned a year old and she healed my heart and my soul in ways I had no idea they needed healing. 

We also went through some major family drama (what family doesn't) and some loss of good people. I also found audiobooks. Yes, I know they have been around for forever and that I am behind the times, but sometimes I just fight technology, because we are not friends. However, up until audiobooks became my best friend, I had to choose between sitting down and reading and leaving everything else undone, or doing everything else and never having time to read. I can now do all I need to do and listen to my books. Last year I read close to a hundred books, rereading old favorites, and classics I never got around to, and finding some new genres and books that I would never have thought I would even crack open. I was pleased to find that my love of books is still alive and well. 

During this time, I also added apron maker to my repertoire. It all happened by accident as I decided I wanted a farmhouse apron (a longer, crisscrossed in the back apron with lots of pockets). I went to my favorite place for instruction (YouTube) and I watched videos for making many different types of aprons and then pieced together a pattern of what I wanted MY apron to look like. The first one I made for me was hideously made, but from outward appearances, it was cute. It had a beige and black background of farm animals and the straps and pockets were red gingham. I loved it regardless of how bad the stitching and piecing looked and I took a picture and put it on Facebook. As they say.....the rest is history. From that one picture, I had numerous requests for these aprons. This meant no more piecing and racing through the sewing. Before I knew it, I was taking orders from all over the country (literally), I had a Facebook page dedicated to the aprons (Grandma Lisa's Farmhouse Aprons) and I even branched out here and there and made mens bbq aprons, kids aprons, and kitchen towel sets to match the aprons. I was working 9-10 hours per day, 7 days per week and it was literally the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a deep focus with a deadline and a purpose that wasn't just kids, the house, appointments, etc. Between the aprons, my old reliable cheesecake making, and Harley, I found a little piece of me that had gotten lost in the chaos that my life had become. By the way, that first hideously made apron is still going strong after literally hundreds of washings. I guess it wasn't as hideous as I thought. 

This summer I was able, with the help of David's school para, who is now a family friend, to take David and the three grandkids on many fun adventures. We made it to zoos, museums, and parks and I was made aware of how blessed I am to be such a close part of my grandkids' lives and how lucky I am to be able to watch them grow into individuals that make me laugh, make me furious and keep my world from ever being boring. 

Amongst all of this, one of the best things that has happened is that I have found my brother again. The adult years have not been great for him and me for a multitude of reasons. We had many ups and downs over the past decade and have become just people we used to know. The fact was we knew very little about each other's lives or even who we were as grown people. In truth, there was just so much wasted time being angry over things that we didn't have all the facts on and we likely never should have been angry about in the first place. 

My brother has the Lynch Syndrome gene which is a particularly nasty cancer-causing gene. My mother also had it, which gave him and I both a 50/50 chance of also having it. Once tested, we found that I did not have it, but he did....and he didn't just have it, but he apparently took on the motherload of this gene. In the last 6 years, he has dealt with three recurring cancers (colon, bladder, and kidney) plus he has just been diagnosed with two more (lung and bone). He is also suffering from the side effects of the cancer treatments he has endured which include: osteoporosis, the loss of his bladder, and diabetes, just to name a few. In the last year though, he and I have become much closer through all of this. It nearly kills me thinking that my baby brother has to endure what he is going through. Moreover, it cuts me to the bone that there is no way that I can fix it. We talk though. He keeps me up on his appointments and their outcomes, and our conversations have even ventured into our kids, and even memories of our childhood. The conversations, even though the content is not always pleasant, are always good, and my prayer life is increasing by leaps and bounds as I flood heaven with prayers for him. 

I have also gotten to know the tremendous strength of the man who is my brother. He reminds me very much of my mother and her strength in fighting a similar, though not nearly as heinous battle with her own cancer. My brother is strong, as he knows his wife and young son depend on his strength, and he has taken each new diagnosis and treatment with calm and quiet determination to fight and beat this horrific disease. I find myself in awe of how steadfast and even positive he remains through all of this. I am not sure I would have the strength he has and I can't help but feel that God still has much He wants my brother to do here on earth. He has definitely reminded me that the years don't matter if the minutes aren't handled with care and appreciated to the fullest. I think in this aspect, we are both trying to make every minute count. 

If you pray, please pray for my brother and put him on any prayer chain you see fit (Andy Jacques). If you don't pray, please make an exception in this case and send him all the positivity you can. 

Also in this last year, I have begun more and more to think outside the box and look at different ways of accomplishing things and just simply doing things that I have never done before. I am also doing my best to simplify everything in my life. I am trying to opt out of any and all clutter in my life, my home, and everywhere else clutter tends to pop up and overwhelm me. 

So now I guess we are caught up. Back to this blog. 

I have no idea when I am going to blog again or how often, but I will share my blog posts in as many places as I can, including several places on Facebook, so if you like my blogs, you will have plenty of opportunity to find them when they appear. Also, in the theme of simplifying and downsizing, I currently have four blogs out there in the blogosphere, all as woefully discarded as this one has been and all dealing with different aspects of life. Going forward though, I am going to condense them all into THIS blog. Trying to chase down numerous blogs and keep up is one of those things that overwhelm me. All the blogs have served some form of purpose and even healing for me in the past, but let's face it, they are all about my life and my world, so why complicate it all? Let's just pile it all here in one place and call it good!

The following are the links to my other blogs so in case you would like to catch up on them or in case you have never read them, feel free to take a peak and see what they have all been about. 

Do I Look Like a Celery Kind of Girl? https://cmom-toomuchinformation.blogspot.com/

This was my health blog. It took on many faces over the years and I can't really say that I am much healthier since its inception, but there is some good information to be had in it. 

Life With the Incredible Mr. David  https://theincrediblemrdavid.blogspot.com/

This blog deals with all things David and covers some of the most agonizing and awe-inspiring moments in his life. 

To Hell and Back, An Al-Anon Moms Story  https://thabalanonmom.blogspot.com/

This blog saved my life during some of the worst moments of my sons' addiction and it covers some of my journey of finding my own self and the healing that had to happen for me, through Al-Anon.

So there you have it. This blog will be a combination of all of this, plus I have asked some past readers and Facebook family and friends to throw out ideas for this blog. It might be fun to step further out of my box and have to do some research here and there and learn a little something. However this goes though, I hope that my blog gives you entertainment, education, and maybe even humor along the way. For me, it will be an unburdening of my brain, emotions, and experiences and as always, it will include a good heap of healing for my soul. 

Please feel free to go back and reread my old pieces, follow the links to my other blogs, and read and comment anytime about anything. I look forward to hearing from you and I hope you like what you read. 

Until next time..........