Peace and Love in 2011

Greetings to you in the new year! Okay the good news is I am ready to do some blogging.
The bad news is the blogging will be on a protected site for a class I am enrolled in.

"Online Document Design & Deliver"

Oh-did I mention I was in school? Taking a design class of the internet variety. Anyway, as part of our class grade we must create and maintain a blog. Even this ambitious writer-wannabe can't see her way to writing two blogs on a consistent basis.
Not even with my best intentions.
Nope.
Especially if grey sets in.
Not gray as in "gray day".
No, this is the knock you down trip you up kind of grey that is best referred to as the "grey way".
Not a good way.
Way.
Weigh by the grey way felt this gray day. (comprehenda?)

So, back to the jest of this entry....
The class runs until May 19, 2011.
Check back after that.
I intend to do some work on this here site
Oh and figure out some better ways to create community awareness for COTS, Inc.

Wish me Well as do I Wish You,
Peace & Love,
Laura

construction zone

this site is under construction and not due to be reinstated until completion of detailed reconstruction on person.

Not so much dirty, but a wee bit nerdy

Mike the dude

So the other day with my leg in some serious throbbing pain, it became apparent that it was time for a little investigating. I pulled off my pants to look for signs of bruising on my backside where the pain was radiating from.

Standing in front of the full length mirror, I couldn't get a real good look at my situation... so I called my husband in for some help.
Entering the bedroom I bent over at the waist and asked Mike if he could see any bruising or suspicious areas.

"All I see is an invitation" was his fast-track reply without missing a beat.

Ah, the good God almighty must have one heck of a sense of humor.

Creating such different mentalities and then encouraging cohabitation of same!

Elinor-Elly-Ella Our Bella the Beautiful

"c'mon, no new blog in nearly 2 weeks???? what up seester??? me want new blog, just a jonesin for some of that fine bloggin material, blog me, blog me blog me. please............................."

Okay, this - the latest email from my darling baby sister - is a message I dasn't ignore. Long my biggest fan, Bella has always had a special place in my heart. My first maternal swing, both loving and loathing her - sometimes in the same moment - but never able to imagine a world without her in it.

We call her "Bella" now...so many names later. Her names evolving, even now as I write. Bella is good. Bella means beautiful and that describes her perfectly.

Yes, back in the day when my beloved twin Clara, or Cawa if you will, was out tossing balls with the boys Bella was patiently awaiting my every word. Like a bird in the nest restless for the worm, her apt attention would have made another squirm.

We had bats in the basement back then, I know I know most bats are in the attic. But not the bats on Darboy Road. Not the bats in Mongin Manor. Who knows why they chose the basement, all I can assure you is that I refused to be in the basement alone. Since the shower was located...yup, you guessed it - go directly to Park Ave & collect $200 - the shower was in the basement. The bats were in the basement. The only way this girl was going to shower was to have a bat lookout. Oh Ella, oh Ella on guard with no umbrella, not to worry, Bella's guard was for a shower that never got her wet, but kept this here writer free to focus on shampoo and not the possibility of uninvited mammals.

All those years of bat watching for me and bless her heart Bella never said no. Even handed me my towel a time or two. Service like that can leave a footprint on you.

A footprint she has left too. Some folks pass through your life with nary another thought, others leave footprints on your soul and they forever become a part of who you are.

Know what I love about my Bella? She is the part of me that I love most.

bella & rosey

Hope that sums up a nice little blog fix for ya now Bella. You all come back now ya hear? Just w8 until the dog days of summer are a memory. Cause the memories we are making are too quickly in the past and those sweetest of memories, well we just can't make them last.....

Sol Onnibus Lucet

The Same Sun Shines Upon Us All

Sol Onnibus Lucet

You Say Its Your Birthday

Fifty years of living. Thanks to the gift of a lifetime bestowed upon me by my parents I have never ever been alone on the planet. I came into the world with my best friend and God willing I will leave without ever knowing a life without her presence. Or should I say her "presents" because she is truly a gift, my sister, my twin, my ever "present" always loving twinnie Clara. Clara Joan.

Maybe it is because the Mongin clan has pretty much put Ned's kids through college with their patron ism of his pizzeria, but whatever the reason when he was approached by our mother to put a birthday message for Virginia's first set of twins on this the day of their half-century mark he not only heartily agreed to do so, but to keep the message up for the entire week. Oh what the heck if 50 years of good clean living - okay okay - 50 years of living isn't worth a week on the local marquee, nothing is.

So head on over to Kimberly. Take in a pizza at Butch's Pizza aka Ned's Place. While relishing your slice of the pie, be sure to check out the marquee. Gosh but I do LOVE a bit of attention, don't you??

Silver Anniversary

On Monday, June 21st, Mike & I quietly celebrated our 25th anniversary. I remember on our wedding day thinking wow, if we make it 25 years I will be turning 50 the same week - two thoughts that at the age of 25 seemed remote and highly unlikely to ever occur. Yet here we are, a quarter century later celebrating the arrival of both of these milestones.
Today marriage is not taken as seriously as it once was. Truth is I have a hard time understanding why such a marvelous institution has taken a back seat in the lives of so many. While I admit it has been a great deal of hard work, I think the truth is; that which we work hard to achieve is met with the greatest amount of satisfaction. Easy street is dull and conquerable. The hard road of real living means tasting the saltiness of your own sweat, watching the seasons as they roll past and living in the moment cause the moments don't last.
Real living isn't for the faint of heart - it takes true grit to get through it.
If you live long enough you learn how to plant your own garden and tend to your soul with the fertilizer of faith, hope & love. Yes and the greatest of these is love.
So to my great love I say; "thank you darling for 25 years of laughter & tears" long may we love.