The Glass is Half-Full

{ I found this draft while reading through my blog - I have many entries that I've never 'published' often using my blog space as a journal. At the time of this writing, I remember not wanting to post this because the feelings it elicited were too raw and painful. I am, much to my chagrin and to those that love me, a fairly proud woman. And this disease MS often seems to strip that pride, leaving me feeling wholly vulnerable and naked to the world - without my publishing it for all the world to read. Today, however, when I read this I felt compelled by the Holy Spirit, to bare all on this frigid day and remember how cold and naked I felt on a hot summer day.} We moved to our home 11 years ago - and one of the primary reasons we moved here was because of the proximity to Lake Michigan. I love the lake - the sounds of the waves crashing lull me to sleep, the beach inspires me on many levels and swimming in it's calmer waters is relaxing and cooling! Yet, after these 1...

I picked the wrong year to trade in my solid-drive-through-any-snowstorm safely minivan for a cute Mini Cooper! The snowbanks at most intersections are taller than my car and it's so light that it doesn't hold the road like the van when gusts are blowing and it's icy.  But heck, spring is only 30-something days away and then on that first 50+ degree day, I'm opening the sunroof and turning up the awesome stereo and going for a drive. It can be a long drive too, because the gas mileage is awesome! But we have to get there first and on some days it just doesn't feel like this winter will end. The snow keeps coming (we've had about 127" so far this season way above the average of 70"). For many days in a row it's been cloudy but today it's sunny and it is beautiful to see the snow glisten. There were three days in a row that I didn't leave the house - partly because we were advised to stay off the roads and partly because I didn't dare...

Like nearly ever person in West Michigan, I have a serious case of cabin fever.  I won't waste your time however, complaining about the two-hundred feet of snow that's fallen in the last two hours. I won't share about the twenty or thirty times I've had to shovel my walk today as gusts blew it right back in my face. And I certainly will not lament about the temperatures that hover around negative double digits making your nostrils freeze together within moments of stepping outside. To bore you with tales of how we have to shovel areas in our yard so that our large dog and can do his 'duty' because the snow is deeper than he is tall and dogs for whatever reason cannot poop in the same place twice, is not what I will share. You will not hear about how when I open the slider to let aforementioned dog outside, gusts of wind blow drifts of snow inside and require a shovel to once again close the door.  Nor will I share how some roads around here are drifted shut be...

Look out Uganda - this star (he's a little older now and eats more often, I hope, with utensils) will be on his way soon. You get to keep him for just a short while, though - so don't charm him too much while he's there because this momma needs him back. When he said that he wanted to study abroad, I encouraged him with as much courage as I could muster. I believe it's an incredible opportunity for college students to not only see the world but to also experience in a way not possible when they're older, more settled and only have two-weeks vacation time. I secretly hoped, though, that he'd choose a country in this hemisphere. After all, students from America study in Europe or Central America all the time and come home positively changed and it seems easy for their parents to keep in touch whilst they're away. Easy. Done. I can do that. Matthew Thomas however, changed by his trip to the Dominican Republic the summer after his senior year, wanted t...

When my nest was full and a flurry of near-constant activity, I had it together. I could nearly effortlessly balance the demands of being an overly-involved mother of three,supportive spouse, community volunteer, freelance writer and social butterfly. I was often busy  but I felt focused. I could handle the demands of many; many people and many organizations. If someone needed a volunteer - I was their woman. And I would get the job done. If the kids needed a chaperon for a field trip they'd often volunteer me without asking knowing that I'd do it. Now the nest is emptying, with only one not-so-little Piggins at home. And she is rarely in the nest, busy with the life of a high-school senior. That's the way it should be, I know, yet it seems so strange.  I know that a lot of my fellow moms know about which I write. Can I get an Amen?! I've been anticipating these days. But it doesn't mean I prepared for them. When I was expecting Michael, I read every book or m...

I have listened to the Great Consolidation Debate and done little more than soak up information from both sides. I have kept my opinion to myself believing the issue has become to many as toxic to discussion as politics, religion or who is responsible for the government shut-down. Yet, after listening to a man at church on Sunday, (one who has been in support of consolidating Saugatuck and Douglas for many years) tell me he was opposed this time because it meant the 'abolition of Saugatuck' - that it would exist no more, and be completely absorbed by Douglas, I felt I could be silent no longer. Where, I asked him, did he hear this about consolidation? He replied to the affect, "Well everyone knows that's what those people on the committee want?" His problem wasn't consolidation, he still thought it was a good idea. His problem was with a rumor he saw as fact. And that made my Irish and blood pressure go up. There are too many rumors being thrown, and unfor...

Okay fellow children of the 70s - do you remember when we 'searched' for colleges? I do and know that my search was less of a search and more of a stumble. And I know that it was way different than the search that my children and the children of this generation embark. My search. I liked the sound of Notre Dame and we had some family connection so I applied. I went to visit my sister Kelli at Michigan State University over a Halloween party weekend and had a little too much fun. Search over.  There may have been more forethought, but I don't recall looking into entrance requirements or how the schools were rated. I have a vague notion that my attitude at the time was "Since my dad won't let me go to New York to study theater, I'll show him and study political science." The illogical logic of a teenage girl with no idea what she wanted. My kids' searches; involve Internet searches, online testing to see what kind of school would best fit their nee...