Thrive As You

This is one of those things that is just weighing heavy on my heart. Yesterday was my peep's  first day back at school and so I ran errands from 8am-3pm.  No kidding.  One of those stops was to my fave store ever, TJ Maxx .  While hustling through the store (I was on a mission) a mom and her 3-4 year old toddler were shopping too. And he was SCREAMING. Not like "kinda fussy." Full blown 110% temper tantrum SCREAMING. It was SO ANNOYING!  In fact, it was giving me a headache!!!!! So? There weren't many people in the store but what I can tell you is this.  EVERYONE in the store was talking about this mom and her screaming kid. Cuz my assumption is, the mom was DEFINITELY enjoying it. Overhead two older ladies after giving each other "the look,"  (you know the one) "Well, we certainly didn't allow our kids to act that way now did we?" Then we got into checkout and I was one person removed from the mom and the still screaming ch...

I think the better question is, why not? Since the day I announced to travel to Guatemala, A LOT of people have asked me WHY.   I'll let Bethany tell you. Bethany founded A Heart for Guatemala .  She's a mom just like me.  With a passion just like me.  And she's DOING something about it.  She's taking ACTION.  She's solving the problem.  She's a part of the solution.    You can click here  http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/give-us-a-chance/x/3013085  to see the whole campaign (one of them!!!)  but here's the highlights. A 7 year old child walks alone barefoot, carrying a basket on her head…trying to earn enough for her next meal...she's never seen the inside of a school or held a pencil or colored with a crayon. A mother gently places her finger on the ink pad and then on the paper, she can not sign her own name, she is ashamed and embarrassed. A father apologizes to his family, there is no money for food today, ...

So I decided to go to Guatemala. OK not really. What happened was, I was kicking around the idea of going to Guatemala on a "mission" and then I tripped and fell and by the grace of God and my friends and family .... I'm going to Guatemala. Some history. You know how Facebook kind of connects you with people that you may not have ever REALLY known from your past but then suddenly through the wonder of the world wide web you become BETTER friends with them?  Yeah that's how it went down with me and Bethany Widby.  She was an acquaintance  in high school but not a lot more.  We started chatting a lot on facebook and we're both bloggers.  Hers is  http://www.raisingawanderer.com/  and she talks about raising her son while traveling the world.  And oh yeah, she happens to run this organization called A Heart for Guatemala.    I think we connected because we both have passion for the things we are ... yanno, passionate about.....

Look at me, blogging twice in 30 days.  I better be careful, or I might make this a... habit. I doubt it.   This post has been brewing for awhile.  Ever since my last one, mentioning the you-know-what. (divorce)   My friend Heather posted a comment on my last post: "I'm never quite sure what to "say."  I'm so sorry?  Congratulations?  Hang in there?"   I suppose the answer is different for different people but for me I can say....... "all of the above." I'm so sorry .  Yes.  The situation in and of itself is a sorry one.  It's sad.  I assure you with 100% certainty that NO ONE walks down the aisle with all of their hopes and dreams tied to the person waiting at the end with the thought, "Eh, I give this thing 15 years."   Me and the Mr. were BEST friends throughout high school, and quite honestly the duration of our marriage.  We. Made. A. Family. Together.  And I take that pretty seriously....

As always, I'm impressed with the frequency in which I blog. No not really. But it's been a year friends.  I mean, it's REALLY been a year. You know how they say divorce is the second most traumatic thing you'll go through next to death?  Yeah, they're right. There it is, I'm saying it out loud and publicly for the first time.  I'm getting a divorce.  In fact, it's almost over.  But understand, for those of you who've never been through it.  A divorce isn't something you just "get."  It's not something that just "happens."  This has been many grueling, heartbreaking years in the making.  But I won't get into that now.   Now posting the intimate details of my divorce on the internet just wouldn't be appropriate, but I feel it's something I want to talk about because it's something that SO MANY go through.  We are special group, "divorcees" and sadly there's more of us than ever before...

EEEEEEK, I haven't posted since Christmas.  Ouch. Today I sent out this email to my autism support group members and realized it kinda sounded a little like a blog post. Go figure.   So here goes. No one asked for my two cents.  They usually don't but they get it anyway.  So here goes. Today is World Autism Awareness Day.  That's awesome, but for us, every day is "autism awareness day."  What *IS* important about the UN recognizing autism as a "world" day is that it "shines a light" (pun intended) on autism.   I'm sure you've all read the CDC report by now that the rate of autism is at 1 in 88.  The scariest part of that report is that it was based on data from 2008.   And yet EVERY SINGLE DAY I get asked "What is autism?" Is fundraising important?  Yes. Is research important?  Yes. Is finding solutions important?  Yes. Is finding answers important?  Yes.  Is providing help, support, and services ...

Last week I was talking with a friend about Christmas.  This friend was a little "Bah Humbug" about it all.  And truthfully, I have been a little more "Scrooge" this year than I usually am and I haven't been able to figure out why.   Until now. So my friend is saying that Christmas is "just for the children."   And I went on to explain that I didn't necessarily agree (shocking) and that Christmas is about family -- the one you're born into and the one you choose along the way.  This just a few short weeks after spending a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends I've chosen along the way ~ so the subject was near and dear to my heart.  Friend continues to argue with me that the decorations and all of the surrounding hullabaloo are really just for kids to enjoy.   And guess what -- I think Friend may have been kind of right.  (Dear Friend, if you are reading this, you may want to print and frame this post because I'm quite certain I...