Happy New Year!! This is a new adventure for me, so if you are "tuning in" for the first time, welcome and please be patient as I learn the art of blogging. I must admit to being intimidated by such public postings of personal views, and promise to avoid a tendency to preach... I'll leave that to the professional preachers and politicians. My aim is to write the opinions and adventures of one aging but optimistic woman, who loves her family and who longs to remain vital in a world that changes so fast it makes me dizzy. I want to make the tiny portion of the world I find myself in a better place. I can't affect world peace or global warming but perhaps I can lift spirits with humor or stimulate others to think about an issue from a different perspective. When I find myself feeling the most frustrated, I also have discovered the most valuable life lessons... all things I hope my darling grandchildren can learn from.
Perhaps an introduction is in order. I am a 50-something woman living in the midwest, who is recently retired from nursing after 37 years in that field. Nursing is something that I really had no choice in as a career-- I didn't pick nursing, nursing picked me. That is probably a whole separate post, so stay tuned... I will say that it is a difficult profession both intellectually and physically, and as any nurse can attest to, you must truly love doing it to last 37 years!
I have been married twice, the first time to my college sweetheart. We divorced after 26 years of marriage-- perhaps another post? We had two sons, both of whom are the center of my world. I am enormously proud of both of them. I met my second husband through on-line dating. He brought a wonderful daughter to our marriage and I have learned quickly to love her as my own daughter. He and I are truly soul mates and so compatible it can take my breath away at times. He is intuitive, gentle and the kindest soul I have ever met. He is curious and interested in so many things that have broadened my horizons . We are hopelessly in love even after almost 7 years of marriage. We are truly life partners and feel incredibly lucky and profoundly blessed to have met one another.
The doggie in the photo is our miniature schnauzer, Sigmund von Schtopyerbarkin, aka "Siggy". He is 4, and the best little doggie in the world. Despite his name, he only barks at intruders (animal, vegetable or mineral... anything really that blows across his view out the window...) and once someone enters our home he is most affectionate. Too affectionate if you are a small child or have a generic fear of dogs. We have him mostly trained, but his terrier exuberance beats out the training when it comes to greeting visitors...
We live in a lovely home on 3 acres in Indiana with a woods and a creek and some interesting wildlife. I love it here, and since I came to live here I have worked to redecorate and improve our home. More on that I am sure in future posts.
My sons have blessed us with three grandchildren. Addie is 3 1/2, Sam is 2, Will is 9 months old. These three children have filled that empty place in a home when the children grow up, and we have discovered that being grandparents is way better than parenting ever was... all the fun and love and little of the worries of discipline. There is something else too, a little harder to define. There is a sense of continuity of life-- of watching a new generation that will outlive us, of seeing the future. A sense that we will live on in them. It is very fulfilling. I know there will be more posts on them and to them. I love each of them so much it is hard to express.
On that note I will close this first post and wish all readers a very Happy New Year. I hope 2012 brings us all prosperity and good health, and that we are engaged enough in life to learn from the experiences of 2011 and apply that to 2012 to make life richer and happier!
Barb: I thoroughly enjoyed reading your initial blog and am looking forward to your next entry. I especially liked your description of your and Lanny's relationship--how wonderful that you found each other in this crazy, often disconnected world. I had to smile as I recalled your giggling phone calls with feedback @ your interactions with Bachelor #1, Bachelor #2, etc prior to meeting Lanny. Keep the blogging coming.
ReplyDeleteExcellent "About Me" initial post. I am adding you to my home page and I look forward to being a "follower" aka blog stalker! Your paragraph on being a grandparent gave me the goosebumps! I so relate. Best wishes, new blogger! I'm along for the journey!
ReplyDeleteI am not tremendously informed on the sport of blogging but I was looking for more. I would say that it is not only successful but very interesting to someone who thinks the world of you but don't know you too well. Keep it up you have so much to offer.
ReplyDeleteI encourage you to continue and look forward to deeper musings to come. I am one of four, three living, siblings. Our grandparents ( paternal) blogged the old fashioned way-via diary. My mom has been transposing these handwritten journals, faithfully entered into each day with facts such as the weather and activities of the day, salted with observations of political, economic, or personal tidbits. This Christmas my mom began the gifting of the original handwritten journals to us. My brother received the journal my grandfather wrote in the year of his death, at age 55, of a heart attack. How interesting to read what his focus was in the days before his untimely death, ow sd to see my grandmother filling his journal with her grief after his death.
ReplyDeleteBarb,
ReplyDeleteeverything you said makes me smile, from loving the man you share life with to the incredible blessing of being a grandparent. All of this reminds me of the joy I found in our relationship. Keep writing. You indeed have a gift for it. Looking forward to reading more. Wishing you a truly happy New Year full of joy!
Sherry