The Glass is Half-Full

I sat down to write today about being cast/boot free. It is a joy to be back to my 'normal' state of mobility - which is to say that I stumble and totter like a drunken sailor but at least now I'm not wearing a big black boot. Ahoy matey! But instead, I came across the above quote and being easily distracted, I began to think about it instead. (Heck, I'm tired of the damn cast and don't want to waste anymore time thinking or writing about it anyway.) It's a quote my Aunt Bonnie first introduced me too when I graduated from high school and it's come on my radar many times since then, but today for some reason it has given me pause. I laugh often, to be sure. I'm like the uncle in Mary Poppins - I love to laugh. I surround myself with people that make me smile and laugh and am grateful for a husband that still knows how to make me laugh. I'm not to sure about winning the respect of intelligent people, though. I tend to think out of the box and

We did it! John was surprised at last, finally and for good! Mission accomplished... But, wait, it's not really all about me and my planning and for-once-in-my-27-year-marriage surprising my husband. (Though in all honesty, I am pretty darn proud of myself, because it is no easy feat pulling anything over on this man! And believe you me, I have tried!) It is about the reaching the five-year cancer-free milestone. And about, celebrating life and love and family and friends. And that is what we did - despite a deluge of rain our party was not dampened! Thankfully many of the people that helped us make it through that very dismal time were able to be at the party.  It was a time that proved it does indeed take a village to raise a child:  - Patti and Don Beery and Sherry White who whisked off to Panama City with Matthew and Delaney for spring break as we headed to the Evil Empire for treatment. And when they returned, went above and beyond, to check in on Matthew and

A summer gathering on Drummond Island. Post-cocktail hour. After the most recent episode of grace in action, I scoured my memory for the details of my previous broken foot. For the life of me, I couldn't remember if I'd broken the right or the left or the year it happened. Having also sprained an ankle, two things are fairly obvious right now (more obvious than the black cast adorning my right foot). One, I need to write more so that I have written proof on which to rely since my memory is clearly not what it should be. (More on that later!) And second, I am a first-class, gold-medal earning (if there were such a thing), klutz. Klutzy Kathleen. Even before MS was part of my daily life, I couldn't walk and chew gum without a potential disaster. After unearthing the picture above, I discovered it was my left foot. An adorable nearly two-year-old Delaney is partially camouflaging the evidence of the black cast/boot. And it was July or August because we would spend a w

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake rattled our home a few weeks ago. Now if we lived in California (or even Oklahoma!) that would be almost commonplace but we live in Michigan where an earthquake is earth shattering, not because of the resulting damage (aside from a few funny Facebook pictures of toppled lawn furniture, I didn't witness any damage) but because earthquakes in Michigan almost never happen. Or at least ones that are felt by the average person. Or even me!  That earthquake was just the beginning of strange events, for this not-so-average person.  The day after Michigan shook, John and I went to St. Louis to see Delaney's end of freshman year performance.  One of the last times John had been to St. Louis together, was in August when he'd had his heart attack. We had dropped our daughter and a van full of belongings in sweltering heat and humidity. It was the first day of a planned two-day orientation and and the following day was the official good bye. John hadn

Raise your hand if you're ever excited for your annual physical? Anyone? Anyone? Didn't think so. I think it's a particularly unpleasant experience for women. I know men aren't all that thrilled to turn their head and cough during their exam and I have heard the prostrate exam might involve a little more than coughing, but trust me guys you get away easy. I think the dread of the exam has heightened for me through the years. No I take that back - it's not something I merely think it's something I know I dread !  And it starts with the first task after the nurse calls your name - the scale. And it's not a little scale, I mean it's got neon flashing lights displaying what it says is your weight. And it never matches the number to the scale at home or the number I actually want to see! And then the nurse, who you just know is trying not to laugh or comment, walks you to the examination room where the second most dreaded part of the exam is about t

In one of the noisiest places in Saugatuck, last night you could hear a pin drop. For what seemed an eternity to me,  (it was only a minute or two) Phil's was completely quiet.  After a lovely night out and dinner celebrating our empty-again nest, I tried to get off my stool at our table, (note the operative word here is 'tried') I could sense things weren't going to end well as they began falling apart. That hardwood stool, the one next to it and me and my hard head all crashed loudly to the hardwood floor. It was loud enough to silence an entire, noisy restaurant. While laying on the floor, I saw many pairs of shoes and boots (there was a pair of tan leather boots that I particularly liked) gather round and I heard many people; "Oh, my gosh, are you okay?" "Did she pass out?" (that one to John) "Can I help you up?" "What can I do?" I wanted to crawl on my hands and knees to the door - because while my head hurt a littl

It's a snow globe out there! Only, with a real snow globe the snow eventually settles and the globe becomes clear. Not here though - the snow keeps falling and falling and falling. I'm sure that my Mom in Arizona is watching the weather channel and seeing this as a Ziggy-cloud of snow over the Piggins' house. A repeat of last winter and the one before that! Right now, I don't mind the snow so much. It's beautiful to look at from the warmth of my home. And it muffles sound, creating a greater sense of peace like we're wrapped in a blanket of snow. And here's a real bonus, it's looking like Christmas and since I still haven't taken down my tree or decorations I can almost fool myself that it's okay that I procrastinated! Today, I will look at my lighted Christmas tree, put a fire in the fireplace, sit on the couch with my 80-pound lap dog and read a book. My snow story will take on a much different tone in a few weeks when it still hasn't