Hi all! Glad to be back here. Took a brief, if unpleasant trip back into the land of debilitating Migraines. (Damn, thought that was over). Well, life is a series of ups and downs. We had rain, glorious rain and thunder and lightning! Thunder always seems like the voice of God to me. Not shouting, just being God. Almighty, and so powerful, sometimes ya just gotta roar. Today my Bible Study group threw a Baby Shower for my youngest daughter, who will be induced with her son on November 28th. What's unusual about this shower was that she's in Kansas and we're in California. This is her 4th(and last baby) and her husband still doesn't have a steady job. Sigh. I asked the girls for prayer for her, and they cooked this up. So amazing. Faith in humanity restored, as they say.

I'm grateful for my life, even as it is now. I felt boxed in by my lack of transportation, and now am grateful for the quiet time alone. I've questioned all the endless trips to town. Maybe just time and money spent in search of the deadening of my loneliness. My cat and I are learning to cope. Even she, a hesitant companion, is curling up in my lap as the cold approaches. This time of year I rarely see my Hubby, as he is in the turkey shipping business. Bummer, I say. I have rekindled hand sewing/mending, which I believe is a dying art. (I have proven this by teaching sewing basics to my 21 year old future daughter in law.) I know just how she feels - I was raised by wolves too. On that subject, I was recently recommended a book called "Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers" by Karyl McBride, Ph.D. Normally I don't go in for that kind of stuff, but as she was reading off a mini-list of "symptoms" I thought it sounded all too familiar.

When all is said and done, we are still here, after the rain. My life may not be what I wanted or imagined, but it is still MY life. I still make the choice to get up every day and try. I have learned to be kinder to everyone, including myself. I am, I admit, looking forward to Christmas. Not because of all the commercial garbage and greed; because of the birth of Christ. It's openly celebrated then, and I think that's very cool. It's my favorite holiday. My favorite carol is: "Let there be Peace on Earth", cause after all, that's all I really want for Christmas anyway.