Christmas Day is always celebrated at my brother and sister-in-law’s home. Each year we plan some sort of fun gift exchange. To date, this past one is my favorite. To set the stage, let’s go back a bit, actually several years to bring you up to speed.

My favorite part of Tuesdays, the day I stay with my grand baby, Emery, is when she is in my arms sleeping and snuggling close to my heart. At least once a day when she naps I rock her to sleep.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere” - Albert Einstein. Recently, a friend of mine sent a link for a 7 Day Creative Visualization Challenge she thought I’d be interested in. She was correct.

“She embraced the chaos as it painted her life with purpose” - JH Hard. I don’t believe people purposely seek out chaos. Life just happens, and with it naturally comes some disorder and on occasion, complete pandemonium. Over the last several weeks I’ve experienced a bit of anarchy myself.

When my daughter and I found out my son and his wife were having a baby we were beyond excited. Of course we wanted to know what names they were considering or adding to the mix. They told us they wouldn’t be revealing the names until the baby was born, and didn’t really want any suggestions.

Just the other day I was at home and heard a loud racket coming down the road behind my house. In an instant I knew what it was as I scurried to the patio doors. Thundering down the road was exactly what I expected, and a warm wave of emotions filled my body.

“When things don’t work out the way you planned, maybe life has bigger things planned for you. You just don’t know them yet” - David Cuschieri.

My son and his wife were due with my first grand baby May 26, 2022 and had decided they wanted to know if their baby was a boy or girl. It didn’t matter to me in the least but once I learned it would be a girl, I was excited for all the things we would experience together in the coming years.

This year marks a significant birthday for my Mom and we deemed it as the Year of Kate (the nickname my Dad gave her). She moved from Illinois to Virginia 18 months ago to live with my sister and she started to organize a special celebration and asked Mom how she would like to spend her birthday.

Then someone asked about favorite cabin memories. Everyone started throwing out past stories, some funny then and some funny now. One story that always gets mentioned involved my son, and his two cousins. They were going to the fireworks in a neighboring town.

“A baby arrives, and just like that everything changes. The world gets bigger, the heart grows fuller, and life means more.” - author unknown This weekend celebrates Mother’s Day. For me, it feels a but different for two reasons.

Have you ever worked hard on a project, one you were excited and proud of your accomplishments, only to be told you missed the mark? This happened to me recently and I had to step back and take a hard look at my why.

I’ve been trying to get my family together for a game night since Christmas Day……gasp! Unfortunately, my son and daughter-in-law were gone most weekends during the winter being photographers for the Amsoil Snocross National Racing Series. Amazingly enough, between our schedules the past weekend was the first time we were all available on the same evening.

Once our plates were full, and the Thanksgiving prayer was said, I noticed that Andrew was handing his plate to Crystal. All I could think of was why in the world would they be exchanging plates. What I hadn’t seen was Crystal was handing her glass of wine to Andrew. Still not clear why in the world they would be swapping dinner plates, Andrew says, “If she’s eating for two, I’m drinking for two.” My daughter exclaims, “I knew it!” Knew what? What did she know?

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,’ Mark Twain. During this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, my sister-in-law, Pat sent out a communication to the family in regard to the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Recently, I was thinking of some of the stories my Dad told over the years. One memory in particular, I’d like to share which happens to be one of my favorite stories from his childhood. I also believe it had a huge impact on his life. He never said those words out loud but by the way he told the story, I could feel it through his heart.

I like to think I am an excellent gift giver, however this year there will be no gifts to buy for my children….gasp! It actually seems odd and frankly I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

In addition to remembering earlier farm memories, Jeff mentioned a friend that always calls him a “Fancy Farmer.” We started laughing again and realized at the exact same time, our Dad could have been called a “Fancy Farmer” too. Not for the same reasons but a fancy farmer indeed.