friend | Magnolia Beginnings

Well, I’m a sucker for an award! Honestly. I am very grateful that anyone wants to read what I have to say, much less award me with anything.

Okay please humor me and play along.

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

Thank you, http://forcingmyselfhappy.com/ I just recently started to follow her journey to a happier self and I have to say you’re not only brave but very sweet and interesting. I’m rooting for you!

2. Share seven things about you. See list below if you are in need of a sedative. : )

3. Nominate other bloggers you think deserve the award and post on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated.

This is difficult. I will spare the several bloggers I adore and who I think deserve every award out there because they are so incredible, because they’ve already received most of the awards and because they will wish a pox upon me for giving them one more thing to do. You know who you are and they know where I live. Enough said.

Instead I will offer you two new blogs I’ve been following in hope that you will take a look and possibly follow:

http://lifeinthedashlane.wordpress.com/aboutme/

http://misifusa.wordpress.com/about/

Wonderull, smart and funny. Enjoy!

7 Things about Me (you’ve been warned)

I talk about them all of the time, but the most important thing about me is that I am the mother of four children ranging in age from 28-16. Everyone is about to move up an age which clearly meant I desperately needed to get a winter hobby in my childbearing years. I adore them all.
I am a pescaterian (vegetarian who occasionally indulges in fish) and a vegan wannabee. I’ve eliminated almost all meat and diary since April. Oh, and wine is made of grapes and vodka from potatoes for those you who wondered. : )
My second biggest fear is getting sick. Not just a flu, but incapacitated and reliant on others. I’m fine being there for others and have done it many times, but I am terribly afraid of ever being on the receiving end.
What is my biggest fear, you ask? The inability to correctly punctuate even though I was an English teacher? Noooooo. It’s that something will happen to one of my kids. Whenever I would hear sirens my heart did a double beat until my youngest finally said, “for crying out loud Mom, they don’t put the sirens on to tell you bad news.” He is so much smarter than I am, although now I just shake when I see any emergency vehicle.
I will turn 50 on December 10. I’ve tried to get it declared a national holiday but so far no luck except for one friend who agrees, or thinks I’m nuts and pretends to agree. I really never considered making it to 50, so I am incredibly pleased. I’m planning on redefining middle age and also living well past 100. The child with the worst record of being consistently nice gets “Depends” duty eventually. It’s my oldest son right now. He is praying for my continued continence.
I just quit my job, started a new business and a nonprofit. When I tell people this they smile and say, “*That’s wonderful.” I suspect they also think I’m nuts, but that’s’ what they say about most people that live extraordinary lives. I’m so full of surprises I usually don’t know what I’m going to do until it’s done. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s a hellish disaster. It’s been quite a ride.
I always like to be learning something new. I just learned how to make pasta and made it with my son this week. That gave me more joy than I can possibly explain.

I have been very fortunate to not only spew my thoughts on to these pages almost daily, but also have some of you like them. Thank you all for reading and bless you all for taking the time to comment.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, when you let go of trying so hard to make things happen, they just appear on their own?

There’s a bunch of you reading this right now and saying “No, actually.”

I know, I know it doesn’t happen nearly enough to me either. It usually happens when I finally say “F**K it. I don’t care. I’ve had it and I’m not trying anymore.”

Yesterday I spent the very, very… did I mention very… rainy day making lists. Lists of things I needed to do, lists of things I wanted to do and then more lists on how to do them. When I’m feeling overwhelmed or out of control I make lists of what is important to me. Most of the time it helps calm me down. Even when it’s a very long, seemingly insurmountable list, I still know where I need to start and what I need to do.

One of the few things on the list without a list of steps to make it happen was friendships. I haven’t been a great friend over the last few years. I’ve let many of my friendships fade away because I just haven’t made the time to take care of them. I need to change that.

It’s not that I don’t love these people, but when they called to get together I was with my kids, working, studying, going to school, etc… Something had to go and that was the only thing I could spare, although I really couldn’t.

So, recently I’ve been trying to arrange get togethers, coffee, drinks and/or dinner, anything to bring those people back into my life and off of the fringe.

All of the other things on the ‘to do’ list seem to pale in comparison to renewing these friendships. So, I’ve been working hard at it.

And then yesterday in the middle of all of that planning and list making a wonderful new friend reached out and just made my day. Truth be told, she made my month. Sometimes amidst all of the planning and making things happen I forget that wonderful unplanned opportunities present themselves and that friendships are what we all really need and belong at the top of the list of things that are important to me.

The greatest sweetener of human life is friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.
Joseph Addison