Starved Rock Drum Circle

Today some friends and I travelled to Starved Rock to attend a drum circle lead by a native man from Canada. It was quite a bit different from our drum circle, but still very enjoyable. This one was kinda like a "mini pow wow" in that there was singing and dancing. Ron (native in charge) talked some about traditions and just about how life works; i.e., what goes around comes around, treating others with respect because it's the right thing to do, giving, making connections with others, etc. It was a nice afternoon followed by some flute and piano playing. We browsed in the gift shop, and, of course, we ate. You didn't think we'd forget to eat, did you? In fact, we ate at our favorite hang out in Oglesby - Delaney's. Thanks, girls, for a fun Sunday afternoon!

The Celebration Goes On!

Our family celebrates 6, yes 6, birthdays in February - Mal, Terrance, Maria, Apollo, Emma, and me. This year we decided to try to have one main birthday party, kind of as a "catch all" because it is a busy month for us all, too. We had pizza at Grandma Nola's house, pie and cake, opened presents and, of course, played Thomas the train with Apollo. It was a fun time and we all should sleep well tonight! Thanks everyone for making my birthday a happy one.

Birthday continues

The kids took me out to eat for my birthday at Richard's on Main. The food was great! We had a good time and then went back to Barry and Brit's for cheesecake singles. You know when I felt old? It was going over to the restaurant and coming home by myself - it just hit me - they're really all grown up with their own lives, their own significant others and their own transportation. It's a good place to be - just made me realize how old I am.

Lazy Day

So today is my birthday - I'm eating cookies for breakfast, turned the thermostat up 2 degrees, am not working (at the salon anyway), and laid in bed until way past the normal time for me to get up. Yay! It takes so little to please me as I get older, eh? This is a picture (sorry - couldn't get my computer to cooperate for a scan) of an adorable birthday card I received in the mail from my cousin, Karen. She obviously remembered that I LOVE penguins and this one is, well, she's fabulous - she's got her shades, her purse and her good shoes and she's ready to go. The inside says something about being a "cool chick" - it's absolutely perfect - thanks, Karen! Tonight my kids are taking this old gal out for dinner, and I'm sure we will have a great time and make some wonderful memories. Here's to a new year with new possibilities and adventures. I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve, so we'll see how it goes. I hear there's going to be sunshine today, so everyone enjoy!

Technology

Ok - sorry the pics aren't so great, but that updated technology is another whole story! This story is about my phone. What do you do with a phone, and why do I need a different one? Well, if you look at the pics above, you'll see that the first one is my old, tried and true, had forever, dropped in the driveway, slid under the car, would hardly charge, the battery's always dead phone that I could make and receive calls and sometimes read text messages (if they arrived). The second picture is what my kids got me for Christmas (we just now went to get it today - they INSISTED!). Anyway, they combined it with my birthday and got me a car charger and a blue tooth also. I'm overwhelmed, confused, and trying to update my thinking to now realize that this new phone is my new, confusing, fancy, does texts, takes pictures, has a gps, gets on the internet phone gadget. I used to be sooooo adept at new things, but this is taking a bit - I'm reading the book (something I never used to have to do) and getting acclamated to this. But don't be too quick to call me - I'm still not exactly sure how to answer! Thanks kids - I love you all!

House of Blues

In honor of my upcoming birthday, my friend, Tracey, took me on a bus trip yesterday to the House of Blues in Chicago. Not such a great day to travel, but we did fine. We had a wonderful lunch, and participated in a "gospel sing". These are some pictures of the decor at House of Blues - you can't take pictures inside the hall where we ate and sang, but these are some from the waiting area and Company Store. Very interesting decorations. Thanks, Tracey, for giving me a fun time for my birthday!

Pinewood Derby!

I know that first picture is hard to decipher, but it's my nephew putting his Pinewood Derby car, handmade by him and his dad on the track at the district event yesterday. Since Terrance won 2nd place at his scout pack's derby in Tremont, he got to compete in the district Pinewood Derby held at the Moose Lodge in Pekin (which you already know if you happened to need to get down any street remotely close to that building yesterday!). What fun! Scads of young boys in their scout outfits, excited about their cars and racing. Terrance didn't advance past district, but we are extremely proud of him and I believe he had a great time. Thanks to all those fathers who still take time out of their busy schedules to do a project with their sons; thanks to my nephew for inviting me to witness this event; and thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible for these boys to experience this fun.

Life is hard

These days, life is hard. For most of us (I should say for me, at least - that's all I really know about, I guess - I can only assume it's similar for most of you), it's difficult sometimes to pull it all together - having enough money to make ends meet and help others, having enough time to get the house cleaned, laundry done, doing everything I need to do for work, dealing with people on a daily basis, having enough time to get everything accomplished, trying to make sure I am, to the best of my ability, doing all I can do to be true to what God has called me to do, etc., etc. It's rough out there! Sometimes it's downright exhausting. My point being that outside of my little group, out there in the big, bad, real world, I expect it to be hard, rough, even impossible at times. But here inside my smaller world filled with people I trust, I need it to be loving, accepting, and supportive - life's tough out there, folks - let's be nice and positive with those we love.

Somethin' stupid

Ever do something stupid? Just no other way to say it, it was a dumb thing to do and afterwards you think "why did I do that"? Well, I have - I was thinking about it the other day. My kids were little and my then husband, my kids, another couple and their kids were swimming at my then in-laws pool in their backyard. We adults had already gotten dressed and, I don't know what made me do it, but on an impulse I walked purposely right into the other man (our friend) and knocked him off his balance, so he fell into the pool with all his clothes on. You know, it's funny when that happens on tv! My husband was furious because we had planned to all go to dinner together (couldn't do that now) and he said, "why did you do that?" I said, "I don't know - haven't you ever done anything stupid before?" Point is, we all have. That experience was no biggie - nothing too much lost, some laughs and we didn't get to go to dinner. I guess what I was thinking about was how we look at other people and what they do sometimes and think "why did they do something that stupid?" And to carry it a step further, sometimes we think when they reap the consequences of that behavior that they got what they deserve for behaving so stupidly (in our opinion). I guess I just hope that when you see me doing something obviously stupid, that you'll have mercy on me, say a prayer for me, and feel badly for me when I reap my consequences. We all do stupid things - and some of us even do stupid things after our friends have told us not to - we have to learn on our own sometimes, eh? So go easy on yourself and on others when you see stupidity - it seems to be running rampant in our society these days.

Parkinson's Disease

I have worked on people before who suffer with Parkinson's Disease. I don't pretend to know much about the causes, etc. of this affliction, but I am aware of the push there currently is to help find a cure for this disease that affects many of those around us. Currently, I have a patient named Don Bohlander - some of you may know him, he taught auto mechanics at Pekin High School and was something in transportation at Illini Bluffs, AND he was a race car driver! I can't imagine that because he's tall - I thought they had to be short to fit in those little cars. Anyway, I digress. Don has had a rather experimental (I think) surgery with some stimulating thingys put in his brain and it is really helping him - I can see a huge difference. I'm going to insert a note he and his wife have written to help explain a little of his history and then you will know why it's imperative that research into a cure for this disease go on. Several fundraisers are being held in the next few months to help support Parkinson's research in this area, with 100% of the monies received staying at Bradley University for this research. I'll be reminding you as these fundraisers come up, and I hope you will all find it in your heart to participate - some of them are as easy as eating! Yay! March 8th, eat at Culvers in Pekin between 5-8; March 15th, eat at Mickey's Pizza in North Pekin, 4-8; April 3rd, Peoria Speedway - Race for Parkinson's disease; and May 1, Spaghetti supper, raffles, auction at Goodfellas in Pekin, 5-8 (Tan man and I will be doing chair massages that night, too). Thanks for your support and prayers. Here's Don's story:

Don Bohlander's History of Parkinsons Disease :

Here's some of the facts about Don. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001, however, we suspected he had it before that. He had a small tremor in his thumb on his right hand. He waited about a year before he saw a neurologist who immediately diagnosed him with Parkinson's Disease. For several years he took no medications at all and allowed our family doctor to treat him. In February of 2008, we went to Rush Memorial Hospital in Chicago and visited their movement disorders clinic where Don was given many tests. They confirmed that he had Parkinson's Disease and recommended we begin seeing a Neurologist. He was tested by an occupational therapist to see exactly how far the Parkinson's disease had progressed and to give us a baseline for is condition. We began seeing Dr. Sunil Chauhan who is Don's neurologist and attending Central Illinois Parkinson's Support Group. We learned of a seminar that Medtronic, Dr. Patrick Tracey and Dr. Katchen were having regarding deep brain stimulators. Several people in our support group had deep brain stimulators and when Don discovered one of his classmates had one, the phone calls began. She encouraged Don to get one. She thought it would surely improve his quality of life. On April 29th Dr. Tracey did the surgery and put Don's stimulator in his brain. On May 6th the stimulator was turned on with good results. Very little shaking. Halleluiah!! We were thrilled. However, it didn't last long. The doctor and Medtronics rep tried to adjust Don but he had problems with his speech, double and triple vision and lose of balance. So, after several attempt we accepted that maybe he wasn't going to get an adjustment good enough to stop the shaking. All was well for about a year. We began taking Don to Deb Moldenhauer at Soothing Moments Massage just so he could relax...even if it was just for an hour. Then, on January 8th we left for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico. While on vacation, Don could barely walk. He couldn't dress himself, I had to cut his food and feed him part of the time. He was miserable and I was miserable. We had an appointment to go to Rush Memorial Hospital's movement disorders clinic the Monday after we returned from vacation. Dr. Verhagen was able to dial in Don's stimulator. He made a huge improvement. Most of the Parkinson's tremors were gone, his walking gait was as normal as it had been for several years and the rigidity related to Parkinson's was gone. He was shaving himself, feeding himself, drinking coffee without a straw, dressing himself and brushing his own teeth. He was on cloud 9! We were all on cloud 9! It was like a miracle! He did lose a bit of his speech and his balance isn't the best but his quality of life has improved beyond belief. It's like a miracle to us. So, that's why we are so passionate about finding a cure for this crippling disease. It's hard to live with, it gets really ugly at times but a cure is near! We have every intention of working until a cure is found! We won't give up as long as our family and friends continue to support us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't think this special day is JUST for expressing your love and admiration for one special person - it is that, of course, but I always think it's nice to take an opportunity to express your affection for all the special people in your life. Until this past year, I always bought something for my kids for Valentine's Day (now they all have their own valentine's to exchange with). Above I have pictured the grouping of flowers on our counter in honor of this special day - Barry and Brit brought flowers for me, Amanda, and Mal; Mal got some for her birthday this past Thursday, and Amanda got some for Tanner. All in all, it's a very eye appealing addition to my kitchen counter and when I look at it, I'm reminded of how nice it is to have people in our lives who care about each other and are willing to communicate that in one way or another. Then as an extra added special bonus, our friend Sam popped in to visit - that's him in the picture with Barry. He was down here from Chicago visiting family members, and we benefited by getting to see him, too. Happy Valentine's Day everyone - share some love!

Opening Ceremony

Did you get to watch the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics last night? I was, of course, frustrated because they said it would start at 6:30, so, as I was really looking forward to watching it, I didn't go to the grocery store (oh well, there's always today), ordered a pizza, got my blanket and my dog, and snuggled in on the couch, only to see lots of interviews, etc., until finally at 8:00, voila! Opening ceremony! I LOVED the "First Nations" peoples in their outfits and all their different drums and dancing - of course, I loved the huge drum in the center and was intrigued by the way they were playing what looked to me to be some sort of paddle drums that swung around to both sides. I loved when the floor looked like water and it appeared that whales were swimming across the floor. One thing I have to say, though, and maybe I'm alone in this thought, but several times I wanted to say "hush" to Bob and Matt - just let us watch and try to be involved in a little of the magic and dreams that the olympics are supposed to bring - must you commentate on everything? All in all, I enjoyed the show - about 10:00 Pockets and I pulled up stakes and moved to watch the rest in my bed, though, where the heated mattress pad was calling our names. Wayne Gretzky lighting the cauldron - no surprise, still cool I think. In the end, favorite part - probably the whales followed in close second by the First Nations peoples; least favorite part: KD Lang's rendition of Hallelujah - eww! Of course, all of this is just my opinion, but then, that's why you read my blog, eh? To find out what's going on in that little brain of mine!

Mal's Birthday!

Yesterday was Mal's 26th birthday - wow! Time sure flies, the older I get the faster it goes! A spackling of friends and family went out to Carlos O'Kelly's for dinner, then some went on out - not me, I'm old! It was fun to celebrate and laugh and hear everyone wishing Mal well for another year. One more year under our belts without too much chaos - at least not more than we could all overcome together. Happy Birthday, Mal and may this be the best year yet!

Baby it's COLD outside!

Hmmm..today reminds me of that song - actually that's about all I remember of it - I have singing penguins that belt it out when you push a button! Anyway, I was just thinking about winter and cold and what happens during that season in our world and in my heart. My daughter's birthday is today, so I was thinking about that day 26 years ago and about new life starting. And I think that's partially what the winter, the "cold" time in our lives is for - it seems, anyway, that during those times when I feel like not much is progressing or happening, like things just are without much forward movement, that's when things are happening on my inside - learning lessons about life (yes, even at my age, I'm still learning - seems the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know squat!), about relationships, about boundaries - some of those harder things that take some contemplation and meditation to really fully embrace. So, I guess those "cold" days where I kinda pull inside and ponder and become pensive are really ok, because I'm making way for the impending spring with all the new life and new colors, and yes, the warmth of the sun!

Snow Day!

If you had told me last week that I was going to have 3 days in a row off this week, I would have said ahhhhhh! I hope not. Well, Sunday's I'm always off work (at my massage job anyway, not at the grocery buying, house cleaning, laundry doing job!), but yesterday and today all my appointments were cancelled due to the weather and it happened to be great timing. I don't like to take any time off, since if I don't work, I don't get paid, but I have been kinda fighting off a nagging cold and so it just happened that drugging myself up and sleeping 1/2 the day away yesterday really did help me feel better! Today I'm tackling laundry and maybe some of my room so I can eventually get into that closet - I have to admit, I really am missing my boots right now! So I guess when I'm not smart enough to take off the time I need, God makes sure I get it anyway!

Reminiscing

So today was Super Bowl Sunday - I forgot that fact when I agreed to drive about an hour away to visit a church with a friend - but no matter, I went, I enjoyed it immensely, then I went home to begin cooking a kazillion food items for the anticipated football game. I had planned on whoever was at my house this a.m. cleaning up and sweeping through - you know, just a minimal couple of things to spruce up the place before company arrived; however, when I got home, I found both my boys playing a video game. I began doing things in the kitchen (I don't really think they even realized I came in, they were having so much fun), when suddenly, it was as if I travelled back 20+ years to the kitchen of our big old farmhouse, where I recalled the same sounds and exclamations being made. That time, my kitchen table was moved all the way to the side, my sink and stove unattainable, as my kitchen had been turned into a hockey arena. My mind floated back to that time when my boys laughed, ran around the kitchen, shooting foam pucks all over the place, and I couldn't help but ponder for a moment how wonderful the sounds coming from my living room today sounded. My kids have grown up so fast - I know every mom thinks that, but it really is true - it seems like just yesterday, they were just little ones, playing at my feet. Several times as I was doing dishes and preparing food today, I stopped to smile as my boys jumped up and down, hollering at each other, just thoroughly enjoying being together. It did this mom's heart good to see and hear her kids having a good time - making memories together and enjoying relationship with one another. Enjoy your family - life really does go by extremely quickly and we need to treasure each and every moment.

Boundaries Again?

It seems I keep running into this concept of boundaries in my life. As you know, I've been personally trying to learn how to set and enforce boundaries in my life to keep me in (and out of your business) and you out (and out of my business). That sounds harsh, but you get my drift - like a fence around a yard. I have to walk my path and you have to walk your path. So, I've gotten better at realizing I don't have to make everyone happy, that it's not my responsibility to make sure everyone likes and approves of me, etc., etc. But now the issue is other people with no boundaries (or at least not very good ones). Now that I am learning to see and recognize where boundaries should be, I'm finding people all around me without any. Why exactly, I wonder, does it seem that everyone thinks they know (and should tell) everyone else how to live? And it's not with animosity that I say this...it's with a sense of amazement - no wonder we're all exhausted - we're busily trying to live (and feeling responsible for) twenty lives instead of just our own! You know, my dad was a very quiet man. He hardly ever gave you his opinion - if he did, it was because you asked him to (sometimes had to insist that he give it to you), and I wonder...did he just have a good set of boundaries? Had he caught on to something that alot of us have missed? Yet my dad had the gift of wisdom, so I often thought that a well spoken word from him may have helped people in their different situations. It is in all actuality very freeing, I believe, to come to the conclusion that I'm not responsible to give everyone the answers I believe I have - maybe somethings have to be learned by each person on their own, and I have to be willing to give them the space and time to do that in their own way. I can only set boundaries to keep their path from infiltrating too far into my own. I can't say this subject is cut and dry, black and white, but I do believe that the stress level for alot of our lives would drop drastically if we'd learn to set a few boundaries, and, as grandma Gardner would have said, "tend to our own knittin'"!

Winds of Change

I guess you could say things are always changing ... morphing ... evolving as we age. Nothing stays the same. Time stands still for no one. However, I find that there are times in my life when things change more significantly than others, and this appears to be one of those times. People moving in and out, some alterations and adjustments at work, learning when to set boundaries and when to let others experience kindness and grace, and so on and so forth. The winds of change are blowing strongly through my family right now ... I knew this day would come, as it's come and gone before, leaving in its wake a string of changes ... good and bad ... hard and easy ... necessary for my continued growth. Even though I often know it's coming, I find my whole self is never quite prepared for such change or for the magnitude with which my emotions react. Change becomes a little more difficult as I get older - maybe because it's more comfortable and secure for things to be the way they've always been. And although it's exciting as I look into the new horizon and imagine what's going to be in this new future, it's also a little scarey - a little intimidating at best. It seems as if the words "but what if" loom large over the doorway to this new future. In the end, I'm sure when all the dust settles, and I've lapsed into a new, albeit slightly different routine, everything will work out ok. And down the road, this new future will the "normal" that I resist altering when the next winds of change begin to blow.

Busy!

What a hectic weekend! It went by fast but, as usual, I had fun! First, after work on Saturday (which is partly why my weekends are so short - I work on Saturdays), I went to the Ron Davis for Sheriff fundraiser dinner. Ron is, as you probably know, the father of my daughter-in-law, Britt. There was chilli, hot dogs, desserts, a raffle, 50/50 tickets, etc. All for a good cause (Ron Davis for Sheriff) and lots of fun. Then on Sunday we had "game day". Got lots of games out of the closet and had people over, hoping to get them to play! Some of us did play games, we ate some snacks, and generally had a good time. It's such good medicine to laugh, especially that good 'ol "belly laugh" from somewhere way down in there. Just the comradery (how do you spell that word?) of being together, having fun, working together on a team, etc., etc. It's like when our kids were in sports in school and they actually benefited much more than just learning the sport....that's how it seems when us "oldies" get together to play games - we benefit much more than just knowing how to describe "ferocious" and that it's not the same word as "furious"!