Well, She does have nice teeth...

When I was growing up my Mom & Mam-Ma (southern for live-in grandma)  always said emphatically, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say ANYTHING AT ALL." Well to be honest, this advice went down the tubes the minute I moved out of the house. We all decide some where in our heads that it's okay to dish with our best girlfriend or a family member, "they won't tell anyone else." Famous last words.

Over the years my feelings on this topic have waxed and waned, mostly I've always admired others who refused to dish. My favorite example of Non-Negativity is always my friend Vicki. If you called her and recounted something ugly that someone had just said to you, she would deflect negativity with an "Oh, she's probably just having a bad day, I'm sure she didn't mean that." I once heard a friend say to someone when they were expressing feeling disliked by another person, "What makes you think you're so dang important that it's all about you ?" Pheweee! That's a bomb and a half but one hundred percent food for thought.

FAST FORWARD as life fleets by me faster than a bullet speeding to age sixty, I have come to some hard realizations. One, is that the things you will hear people say about our friend Vicki is that she was sweet, giving and she always deflected negativity. Yes, she's gone from us now. Which brings me to the next thought. TWO, Life is Fleeting and Junior High is Over. What do I want to be said of me when I am gone ? What will be my legacy ? Will it be Sweet or Junior High Caddie ? And Three, I have absolutely no idea what is truly going on behind the scenes in someone else's life. Because of that, I want to choose to think that whatever is going on that made someone behave in a less than pleasant fashion has nothing to do with me at all. Therefore I won't take it personally, I'm really not that important. 

OKAY, that was a bunch of super heavy duty stuff. So, I'll end on a funny note. When my Mom and I are feeling that feeling of the need to dish, but wanting to be sweet instead. We dig deep into the Mam-Ma Archives remembering the instruction of "If you can't say something nice.." ( I hope you read that in your best southern voice). We look at each other and say, "Well, she does have nice teeth !"  

Vicki on the right and her best friend Lynne. 

These are a few of my favorite things...Send me yours.

When I woke up this morning, I felt the smoothness of the sheets around my feet and the softness of my favorite feather pillow. I thought back to a time spent in a third world country when I was afraid of the bed I was sleeping in and what little critters were living in the mattress. I have never taken my bed or sheets for granted since then. The thought came to me of just how little it takes to make us humans happy. I began my monthly I am thankful for.. list, and wondered about others "lists" ? What about you ? What are those "simple pleasures" that add loveliness to your life ? Send me your list. Come up with at least five, okay ? Waiting to hear from you. 

Here's my top ten list from this morning. 

1. The feeling of my bare feet on the wood floor. 

2. My big ugly white squishy terrycloth robe. 

3. Babies toes. (they look like little peas) 

4. The smell of a new book. 

5. Lingering at the beach in the late afternoon and staying until the sun sets. 

6. A cold glass bottle of Coke sipped through a straw. (this goes nicely with #5 & salt and vinegar chips !)   

7. Ironing with a new can of Spray Starch. 

8. The sound of rain outside my window and lying down with a book to enjoy it. 

9. Lingering at the dinner table on my porch with company, candlelight and conversation.

10. My old doggy lying next to my thigh as I sit and write in the morning. 

There ya go. That's mine. Send me yours. You can post here on the comment section following this post-OR- go to the Towandatude.com FACEBOOK PAGE & add your list there. Can't wait to read your list of happy things !  

Your HUG, Your Free Gift.

Eyebrows go up

BRIGHT EYES

Lips pull back into A SMILE

ILLUMINATING your face

Elbows raised

Arms EMBRACE

Hand pats

Forearms SQUEEZE

Your HUG

The BEST Free Gift You'll Give Today

Here's the picture that didn't make it in...

MY GIRL dancing in the kitchen.

MY GIRL

It's been a whirlwind of  excitement around here the last seven days. My daughter and her boyfriend surprised everyone by flying in for a visit. There's been a 60th Birthday, Fireworks, a celebration of Life party, more fireworks, two beach parties, a marriage  proposal, a lot of happy tears and a ton of food that I never should have ingested. It's been a blast !

Tonight my sweet girl and her husband-to-be are on an airplane. The will fly back to their home in Brooklyn, leaving us all wondering why can't they just move back here where they belong. You see, we all believe that they belong to us. All of their fun and magic that they bring every time they come to town, it seems so quiet after they go.

So, I place the clean towels back in the cabinet. I put clean sheets on the bed where they slept. I pick up one of her little rubber bands she uses in her hair (where does she get those tiny things?) I feel the softness of her still baby-like cheeks when I kissed her goodbye. I count the days until November when they will return, with the magic, with her polka-dot sunny glasses and the part of my heart that she takes with her every time she says "Bye Moomer". 

"Low E = HIGH D"

 I have a little problem at this stage of my life. It seems with my loss of Estrogen I have also lost my ability to focus on one thing at a time. It's funny how organized and streamlined my life was when I had three kids at home, plus two dogs and a cat. Soccer, Piano lessons and Dance Classes. Car pool, Library Volunteer & Lunch Mom. Housekeeping, laundry, gardening and canning. How did I do all  that ? Juggling six balls in the air at any given time. Life was full and rewarding. I loved being a Mom and a home maker. It was all I ever dreamed of when I was growing up. 

Now, my life is full of other things. Mr.Wonderful and I have a little house that we work on a lot. I landscaped our back yard. We have four kids between us and four beautiful Grandbuddies. It would seem that life would be easier at this slower pace. BUT for some reason, I am scattered. I sit down to have a little "Morning Devotions" and my mind wanders...'Wow, we better trim those palm trees..Oh dear, the hawk is hiding in that pine waiting to devour the little cardinals..Darn, I forgot to fill the bird feeder, come to think of it, is there water in the birdbath's ?' See what I mean ? My dear friend Diane, who teaches YOGA told me that this is called MONKEY MIND. In my devotional this morning it said that the many of the cares of life would seek to sway us from staying on the divine path. 

So, I am going to try a new discipline. I REFUSE TO BE DISTRACTED. I WILL REFUSE to be swayed by my new "estrogen free-thought filled mind". I WILL stay on track. I WILL focus on one thing at a time. I will NOT stray from this sentence in search of more coffee..wow a doughnut would be good with this, hmmm.. did we finish the cookies ?.. It MUST be possible. It has to be. I have never had "A.D.D." and I am sure not adopting it now. I have goals and purposes to fulfill in this chapter of my life. But doggone, if it's not one goofy thought it's another ! 

I would love to hear some feedback from you. How are you dealing with this new phase of life ? It seems that many of my friends are experiencing similar things. Hearing their stories is what got me off the secret nightmare that I might have some disease. I've heard some pretty funny stuff.  

WRITE TO ME. In the meantime, DON'T BE SWAYED by the distractions, unless, you are also having that vision of trimming the palm trees mid sentence.. join me out back, I'll be right there ! 

I really MUST do something about those bird feeders OR should I trim the palms ? I need to dead head the roses, Oh MAN I forgot to call Diane.....

HERE'S MY STORY OF BELINDA GALE

I have a precious friend, she has red hair. She calls herself a "shade babe" my daughter calls her "hell on heels". She taught my daughter to drive a stick shift. She packs a pistol. She's loaded with the tude, that's TOWANDATUDE of course.The little rhyme that follows i wrote for her wedding and read it for my "toast to the bride" a few years back.

In honor of our first trip together, backpacking in June 1974, I post it here today.

 HERE'S MY STORY OF BELINDA GALE

We were just eighteen, when our friendship first set sail

When we set off to conquer the Ocala Trail, 

So Belinda bought new shoes, a weakness I'd normally excuse

But she kept singing the blues with a whining refrain  

"I've got blisters, I'm in pain !"  

And now thirty plus years have passed

Today is your Wedding Day and all my children say, 

"Oh Aunt Belinda, Hooray! Hooray!" 

Many Band-aids later and miles of travel  

Years of Malls and countless phone calls

Eons of antiquing (and here i am public speaking & freaking)! 

YOU are my HERO

My original TOWANDA GIRL

Hell on heels  

Speed Demon at the wheel

A lady, A true friend. 

My dearest dear. 

You are a Fairy Princess on this your Wedding Day. 

I love you. (2005) 

Two crazy gals in 2009. 

WOW-EEE-WOW-WOW !

If you read about or listen to the stories of authors, you will hear them say that they write EVERY DAY. Each year I set out on a journey called "THE ARTISTS WAY". Part of this program involves something called "THE MORNING PAGES" (writing every morning). I faithfully start every January and by March I fizzle out again, pick it up lay it down, on and on...BUT this week, I've had super good excuses, I promise ! (Spoken in my early school days voice). NOW, GO GET YOUR COFFEE THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD, WITH PICTURES & EVERYTHING !!

 MONDAY-  Remember how I was at my Mom's last week ? Mr.Wonderful is many things, a dust patrol agent he is NOT. I grabbed my cleaning weapons and went to work. Good thing I did because wait 'til you see what happens !

TUESDAY - My youngest GRANDBUDDY "A" came to stay for a couple of days. We LOVE "Despicable Me" and part two opened Wednesday. YES, I MAKE UP WORDS. YES, IT MAKES LIFE MORE FUN. Try it with your kids, they'll love it.

 WEDNESDAY-  "A" and "Tu-tu" (that's me, it's a Hawaiian Grandmother) set out to be first in line for the ten a.m. premiere of DESPICABLE ME II. That night, Mr. Wonderful and Tu-tu take "A" to a local Food Truck & Fireworks event. While we're there it storms, Everyone is walking around with umbrella's. A person walks up & says something to me, I look under an umbrella and into the face of my thirty something youngest daughter, who lives in NEW YORK. WOW. She loves surprises, so does her boyfriend. (Good thing I cleaned the house, right ?) She came to town to surprise her DaddyO for his 60th Birthday on the 4th of July. Why not surprise everyone ? 

THURSDAY THE FOURTH OF JULY- Our whole family, past, present and future, gather at my oldest daughter's home for a Birthday and fireworks celebration. Just before we all head to the street at dusk... My younger daughter's boyfriend stands and says loudly, "I just want to say thank you all for...blurrrrr  ask if she will marry me"...(que the ring box)..fainting, sobbing, snot.."WHHHAAAATT????" say her siblings and various folks not "in the know". He asked me at the Food Truck thing & her DaddyO earlier in the day. I told Mr.Wonderful, who was camera ready, just in case. THEN, we all set off the best ever home fireworks display EVER. 

FRIDAY-  I start again, writing my "MORNING PAGES" .Sometimes you just have to let go of your goals and let life happen. Hey, look what happened, I got a story for today's blog. A new Chapter for my family story. I like that. I hope you liked it too. 

Mr Wonderful

IF you know me personally, you know that I call my husband MR WONDERFUL , and he calls me "MY BRIDE" . We met for the first time, when I was fourteen years old. It was June.He was my first boyfriend. He took me on my first "sort of" date. My Mom let me ride on his motorcycle to a church function. We broke up the following school year. After High School, I moved away, married and had children. He stayed local, married and had a child. FAST FORWARD thirty plus years.   We meet again, back in my home state and we got married. It's an incredible thing to finish your life with the person you first opened your heart to. It's a  privilege I don't take lightly.

I never forgot "My red haired boy" , the picture of him remained in my minds eye. Here is a little something I wrote a while back about that summer day, long ago.

Summer Sun, melting asphalt

Motorcycle buzzing, passenger laughing, 

Legs and arms flailing

A glimpse of orange (your hair) 

A beautiful smile, blue eyes shining

The sound of your laughter as you pass by... 

At that moment

You left an imprint on my heart

and my life

Leaving this photograph forever

in my minds eye

Then and now, YOU

My first love, the rest of my life LOVE.

Happy Anniversary Mr.Wonderful from your "Bride"

Mr Wonderful and his Bride.

Be a SHELTERING TREE.

I HAVE JUST RETURNED from my Mother's home. This is a trip my daughter and I make when my oldest Grandbuddy is at Church camp. My youngest Grandson goes along with us. Here's the scoop. I come from a long line of Southern Women. If you know anything about us, you know that our chief goal in life is to bamboozle you with our hospitality. Saying that, I have spent the last five days being fed every favorite food in my vocabulary, my clothes ironed, and just plain ole' bein' "LOVED ON ". That last run on sentence was spoken in the regional vernacular. 

It felt good. It felt great. It's relaxing. There's something about being at your Mother's house. A sort of safety from the world, a place where you can be SHELTERED.  I have tried to remember this feeling in my hospitality skills. I want my children and Grandbuddies to feel that feeling here when they come to stay. I try and follow certain routines for them. They have their own plates & special cup/glass. My sons favorite spoon from his childhood is still in the drawer. My Grandsons fight over who gets to use Uncle Bub's spoon! There's something so comforting about feeling like you are someone special at your family home.

Older southern people called their family home "The Home Place" I like that. I want to create that. I know the home / homes my children were raised in are long ago and far, far away. But our memories and treasures are still with us. My southern girl hospitality still abounds and I can be (like Momma Jane) a sheltering tree. We can lavish the hospitality on our friends and family. Meet them at the door with some ice tea (like my girlfriend Lynne). Give them the stories of their youth (like my gal Marci). Just "LOVE ON 'EM REAL GOOD". People need that. They need you, your brand of hospitality, YOUR SHELTERING TREE.

For Vicky, with love.

This is a letter i sent to a friend a few years ago. She was the most amazing example of TOWANDATUDE in a woman that i have ever known. So, in her honor i am re-sharing it today. We all know someone like this in our lives. Celebrate them while they are still with you. 

For Vicky, with love. 

Five girls. A shell rock road. Brazilian pepper trees and Maleluca's. Laughter, teasing, we are fifteen years old. She tells me a story. The story of the day i got us locked in the elevator on purpose at "Richard's Department Store". I don't remember this. It's selective memory due to shame.  The days were longer then it seems. So much time to do what we wanted. We didn't look too far into the future, not much further than  October & the Carnival that came to the J.M.Fields parking lot.

Now, she tells me a new story. That her illness has invaded a new location. She is angry and heartbroken. We all try and console her. No one really knows what to say. I want to say how i love her. How i have always admired her strength. Her ability to go the second mile. Does she know that we all say how loving and caring she is ? How proud we all were when she became a police officer ? The girl from West Gate who rose above. The first one to get a job, and sneak us all in to the movie theater. She would go home at the end of those days and babysit her younger siblings including a baby brother with Down Syndrome. All while the rest of us were still dreaming of boys... 

Oh this disease is a cruel, vicious thing. It seek to destroy. You take your victims by surprise. Healthy, vibrant ones, unsuspecting. You weren't able to take this one so easy. This one is a fighter, this one is a Towanda! girl. You met your match and five years later she still stands !

And we are standing with her. On that shell rock road. We are holding your hands. Your girls are surrounding you with love, with thoughts of admiration. We are sending strength. We are shouting out to you from wherever we are, "We love you and we are standing with you, You are not alone". 

I tell her a story. A story of balmy days, the breeze singing in the Australian Pines. White sandy roads beneath our bare feet. The sweet smell of the night blooming Jasmine. I can hear the sound in the distance of the Carnival...

Mornin' Glories !!!

Good Morning !  

Here's some inspiring words filled with TOWANDATUDE  to help rev your engine !  

ABLAZE INDUSTRIOUS ZESTFUL PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL ! 

WHO ? YOU ! 

BEAUTIFUL GLORIOUS FANTASTIC AND PRECIOUS YOU.

Enjoy this day and spread your loving TOWANDATUDE ! 

SOME DAYS A GAL JUST NEEDS A NAP !

     THINGS have been crazy around here lately. One of those seasons in life where you find yourself starting to say "What else could go .....". You stop yourself mid sentence, knowing you don't want to jinx things !

                            HERE'S HOW IT'S ALL GONE DOWN

      FIRST, MY CLOTHES DRYER CROAKED. I proceed to hang the wet clothes out on the clothesline. Seemed like a good idea. UNTIL the line broke ! All of the clothes fell into the swimming pool ! Yes, my clothesline is over my swimming pool..Yes, it looks like the "Beverly Hillbillies" live here.

     THEN, while getting ready for work, I dropped my diamond engagement ring. I caught it, or so I thought, it bounced off my hand and dropped into the OVERFLOW DRAIN. Yes, the tiny hole in the back of the sink. Ever wonder what it was for ? Catching runaway rings apparently !  

     THE NEXT DAY, I stroll out to the back yard early in the morning. I am greeted by a RACCOON. He has perched himself on top of my bird feeder and is having a gourmet birdseed breakfast. For the next two hours CharlieBean (the 14 yr.old killer cockapoo) and I are held hostage in the house, while ROCKY RACCOON ran around the back yard daring us to exit. Later, I answered the door to a city ANIMAL CONTROL worker. A sweet woman named KAREN. She was filled with TOWANDATUDE and sporting a raccoon LASSO. She gave Rocky a trip to the woods.  

     NOW, our 1980 Central Air Conditioner has died. MAY YOU REST IN PEACE. You have served us well for far longer than we could have dreamed possible. But, seriously, it's summer time here in the South. It's 90 degrees in the shade. Just a month ago, I didn't even have the A.C. on ! BAD TIMING MISTER ! Oh dear, I am just one HOT FLASH away from a breakdown ! 

 Here's the thing, SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A NAP !       

     I gave myself a special treat. I turned the fan on HiGH, marched myself right on over to the sofa and laid down ! This does not come naturally to me. I am more of a "Crash and Burn" kind of gal. Scarlett O'hara may have had something for us TOWANDATUDE types of ladies. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO "THINK ABOUT IT TO-MARRAH" (read that in your best Scarlett voice). 

     SO, go on girl ! Give yourself a pass. Lie down on the couch, read a book or a magazine. TAKE A NAP ! HAVE A BEAUTY REST, YOU BEAUTY ! YES, the laundry will still be there, so will the uninstalled sink in my bathroom, (that had to removed to get my ring out). But you and I will be refreshed, composed and ready to take on the return of ROCKY RACCOON or whatever adventure that presents itself later. May YOU be WELL RESTED AND FILLED WITH TOWANDATUDE !! 

My Mothers Hands

     Funny thing with me, I always notice peoples hands. When I was a child I always sat next to my Aunt Ora in church. I would hold her hand and study it. I was fascinated by the transparency of her skin and the blue of her veins shining through it. Her hands told a story. The story of a childhood spent on a farm in rural Georgia. Years of adulthood spent as an expert seamstress. Later in her life, those hands would sew my wedding dress and later still, baby dresses for my daughters.

     Now, I hold my Mother's hands. Her hands gently guided me across many streets and scolded me in my youth. The hands that worked six days a week at the Dry Cleaners for seventeen years, to support my brother and i. Now I see her years as I look at her hands, the love and sacrifice showing there.

     I wonder what my own children think when they look at my hands. My youth fading and years beginning to show. What memories will these hands evoke in their mind ?  

     We are Women who create memories with our hands, our tools of love. No matter what you are doing, be it  cooking, cleaning, gardening, bringing in the income for your family, or all of the above. You are creating a legacy with your gifts of love. The legacy of Love you leave with your hands. Your hands of love.  

"TALK STORY"

     LAST MONTH I went on a camping trip with my daughter and her family. My Mother, now about to turn seventy six, came with us. What a treat it was to sit at the picnic table deep in the forest and listen to my Mom tell us stories of her childhood. She told us about the summers she spent at her Grandparents farm in Vienna, Georgia. There was no indoor plumbing or electricity. We were hanging on her every word. Listening to hear her story, our story. The story of our heritage.  

     OUR FAMILY lived in Hawaii, when my children were still in school. One of the things I loved about the Hawaiian culture was a term they used, "TALK STORY". It was the tradition of sharing the stories of your family. Keeping the culture of your family alive by word of mouth. Last week, my husband and I traveled to Tennessee for some R & R. I saw again the tradition of telling the young about their heritage. In one small town we visited, an older gentleman was teaching clogging or "buck dancing" to the local children. Their performance at a local "two-step night" was something to behold ! His goal was to keep this dancing tradition alive in the next generation.  

     SOON my Mother, my Daughter's family and I will be traveling to Vienna, Georgia together. We want to see the land of my family heritage. I want to tell my Grandson's about how I ruined my new summer outfits in the Georgia red clay when I visited there as a child. About my Great Aunt's and Uncles houses and the first basement I ever saw made from that same red clay. We'll see the land where the Patterson farm stood and visit the graves of generations long past.    

     WHAT IS YOUR STORY ? In these days of everyone moving about, families are flung far and wide across our country, the world. Time is fleeting past us at break neck speed. Don't waste a minute. Share your stories with your children and your children's children. My oldest grandson has been asking me to tell him the stories of my son's childhood. He wants to hear about how his Uncle never wore shoes in Hawaii and played in the tide pools and learned a warrior dance from a Samoan gentleman.  

     On that note, Today's TOWANDATUDE word is "TALK STORY". Tell the stories of your youth, the stories your parents told you of their youth. Keep it flowing. Keep your heritage, your culture alive for the next generation to come !

Mornin' Ladies !!

Good Morning to you

Wonderful, Marvelous, YOU.

Here's a few words filled with "TOWANDATUDE" 

Just for you ! 

Courageous, Devoted, Effectual, Fervid, Impressive.  

That's YOU ! 

Have a glorious day, filled with your own version of TOWANDATUDE ! 

FIND THE HISTORY OF "TOWANDATUDE" IN YOUR LIFE.

Recently, I had the privilege of spending a few days with the mother of a dear friend of mine. Miss Christine is 83-years-old and has Alzheimer’s disease. On one of our outings, we went to the beach and sat on the shore watching the surfers testing their skill in the particularly rough surf. A small plane flew overhead and sparked a memory in her mind from long ago.

​Christine's Civil Air Patrol Cadette I.D.

“I took flying lessons when I was sixteen,” she said, and proceeded to tell me a couple of stories about her days at Palm Beach High School and her brief flying career. What an awesome concept - I never really thought of Miss Christine as a TowandaGal! It turns out that it might be the quiet ones who need to tell us their stories!

Christine was born and raised in West Palm Beach, FL, in the same neighborhood as my mom. She was in the Civil Air Patrol at PBHS in the mid-1940’s. She told me about her instructor flying her down the Florida coastline and how she saw her hometown from the cockpit of a Piper Cub (or similar aircraft). Sadly, when she was almost ready to get her pilot’s license, her adventure came to an end. “I’m not letting you go up in that plane by yourself!” was her mother’s response to signing a parental consent form.

That afternoon, when we returned to her house, Miss Christine showed me a photograph of herself with her with her flight instructor and fellow Civil Air Patrol Cadets. She looked so adorable in her uniform! I thought what an amazing feat it had been for a high school girl of that era. I’ve known her for so many years and never would have dreamed that she, the reserved, stoic type, would have ventured outside “the box” I had placed her in. Shame on me! Wow! Miss Christine really does have TOWANDATUDE!

As I sit on my cutie-patootie porch writing this story, I want to encourage you to seek out the women in your life and ask them to share their stories with you. Ask your moms, grandmas, and favorite aunts. What about your mother’s best girlfriend? I think that, like me, you will find a wealth of inspiring stories to spur you on to be a TowandaGal in your own real life-adventures! I hope that you will find your own sense of TOWANDATUDE!

Let's Start a REVOLUTION-A Ladies REFORMATION-A CELEBRATION !!

It all started back in Junior High

This Ugly Thing with critical eyes.  

That thing that's always in the back of your mind. 

Wondering, "What fault in my appearance will another girl find,  

to pick me apart ?"  

So, right from the start, you'd begin your day defeated. 

You left your house and competed, 

to be someone you hoped would be accepted. 

WHAT IF WE START A REVOLUTION ? START IT THIS VERY DAY !  

When we see a gal whose roots have gone gray or whose waist has gone away. 

INSTEAD    of the usual "Bless her heart"

lets look beyond appearance and say;

"She has many qualities to celebrate, so I will not berate my fellow Gal Pal, no, not for one minute !" 

I WILL LOOK BEYOND HER GRAYING LOCKS AND FADING BEAUTY 

TO SEE A NEW MAGNIFICENCE THAT IS UNIQUELY HER OWN.         

I vow to CELEBRATE HER LIFE,

and all the gifts that are specific only to her being. 

I will look at her true beauty  without envy

and know her for who she truly is. 

Beyond her taste in clothes, the color of her hair, 

THERE IS A STORY OF ANOTHER WOMAN'S LIFE under there ! 

So, I will leave home today with new eyes to see, 

THIS REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH YOU AND ME ! 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Yesterday, I was sitting at a funeral. Once again listening to someone read the” Proverbs 31” passage. In my head I was completing each line before the Pastor. Why? Because I have them ALL memorized. Why? From years of guilt, inadequacy and a whole host of other bologna I've held myself to forever. I used to read this passage religiously, thinking, "How could I ever attain this title ?" All the while, I WAS / AM that Woman (ok, I'm lacking a bit on the virtuous stuff!). SO, as usually happens, I laid in bed mulling this over and here's what I want to tell you..

I AM NOT WAITING FOR ANOTHER FUNERAL TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE "WAS" A "PROVERB'S 31 WOMAN". While sitting in that pew yesterday, I looked around at all the women there of all ages. I looked across the way and saw my tall, beautiful sister-in-law, surrounded by her friends. I thought; "There's a Prov.31 Woman!" She's been a Wife, an Aunt, a Step-Mother, Homemaker, State Trooper..She's got a loving, kind, compassionate heart, OK she's one..next to her stood her dear friend, she's a Judge, I think she's in too!

I began to think of the women in my life who have raised children while working full-time, helping with their elderly parents..My girlfriends that have weathered the storm of divorce, pulled themselves together, started a new home for their kids and pressed on through their heartache. Women who have gone through the pain of watching a child suffer with an illness or some abnormality, who kept going while their heart was breaking for their child. So many things we've all endured and we've become shining jewels of God. Examples of Him. Loving, Long-suffering, Hopeful...Women are my Hereo's !!

And to my daughter's, their friends, and our lovely daughter-in-law,

Don't be reading that passage and worrying if you'll ever attain the status of the Proverbs 31 Gal.. You're doing it my sweets! You're hard working, loving, nurturing, creating beauty, raising kids, carpooling, T-ball watching, gardening, menu planning, food shopping, arranging trips and having adventures...(makes me tired just thinking about all of it!!)

You Are AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, PROVERBS 31 WOMEN. Don't worry about it "JUST BE.”

If you are not familiar with this passage of Scripture from the Bible, Have a little read all about YOU!!

A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman-who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.

The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of gain or need all the days of his life.

She comforts, encourages and does only good as long as there is life whithin her. She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands (to create beautiful things*)

She considers a field and buys it, then plants it with fruitful vines..

She keeps herself strong physically, mentally, and spiritually..

Her lamp never goes out, warning away fear, trouble, sorrow, doubt and distrust.

She opens her hand to the poor & those needy in body mind or spirit.

She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness (giving counsel and instruction)

Her children (neices, nephews, fam.friends..) rise and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of her and praises her saying,

"MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VIRTUOUSLY, NOBLY AND WELL BUT YOU EXCEL THEM ALL !!!"

The First Day of the Rest of My Life AGAIN

It's 6:00 a.m. I'm seated on the couch in my screened porch. It is still dark. I like it out here at this hour. Because of the vacant wooded properties close to ours, I feel like I am on a camping adventure. The birds are already up and singing. Here I sit, just me, my "Charlie Boy" (the 13-year-old killer cock-a-poo), and "The Dinosaur" (my laptop). I think of this as my secret spot. Yes, we all know it's not so secret, but it gives me a sense of adventure being out here in the darkness!

Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life AGAIN.

I did it. I set things in motion to begin this adventure. I have never known myself to be more of a coward. Not too much TOWANDATUDE going on around her lately! It's a hard thing to let go of what you considered to be a secure safety-net and jump into the unknown. We've all been there at one time or another. Actually, life is a series of jumping off of moving train cars! We leave home. We leave marriages. Life is ever-evolving and we just have to put on our big girl boots and cape and evolve with it!

So, what's that dream of yours? That spark that you lie in bed thinking of, saying to yourself: "I could do that!" "I wish I could....." "If I won the lottery, I would start a....." "My dream job would be....."

But what do you do in the meantime? Be YOU! Wonderful, glorious YOU. With all of your talents, abilities, and wonderment. There is NO ONE like YOU. Do those things that only YOU can do in your own special way. FIND places to lavish your talent on others. Do you dream of having your own restaurant? Cook for your friends! Do you wish you could have a clothing line of your own? Sew for your friends! Do you want to be a party planner? Host some parties! All of these acts of kindness are leading you to your dream. Dream your dream and dare to dream BIG!

Go on - get out there! You may still have to work 9-5 to pay the bills, but meanwhile, plan some fun for this weekend. Lavish your TOWANDATUDE on your friends and family and never stop believing in your dreams!