Faith and Love.

Lately it seems as though so many of us are having one, or both of these (faith and love) tested.  It happens almost as silently as a blanket of fog, rolling in slowly, the next thing you know you shiver and realize your vision is clouded.

Whether it be an unwavering love you have for your spouse, family and/or friends, or it makes you question your faith in God or other power you choose to give credence to, it is very disconcerting.

Many of us, when bad things seem to happen begin to ask, "Why me?"  I suggest we look at it from another view, "Why not me?"  What is it that is so special about one of us as to lead a completely worry-free or problem free life?  The answer is simple, nothing.  We are born special, and what we choose to do with our lives is either to reinforce this, or refute this.  Often it takes the latter to make us appreciate the things we did do to reinforce it.  

There are children who are born with, or people who discover great illnesses later in life, but how they deal with it will determine how the rest of us, who care for the person, handles it.  Indeed, it will guide your own way forward if you choose to take the path of hope and faith, one guided by love.

If you choose to embrace your life, and look ahead both to your future and those of your loved ones, you will find some measure of peace, no matter what the outcome.

When you have been blessed with love, I believe you have found the part of life that makes living so worthwhile.  With love you can see beauty, goodness, kindness, and hope.  Without love, you fall into the victim cycle, one in which few people can thrive.

People who embrace an ideology of being the unwitting victim of the fickle finger of fate are missing out on the joys which lay along the path of coming to terms with our own mortality. Let's face it we are born and we die, all of us.  What we choose to do in-between; be the best we can be, or as most of us do, stumble around feeling slightly (or more) unworthy.  Then we are forced to realize how much of this has been due to our own choices, sometimes long before we appreciate all we have been given.

If you are fortunate enough to discover this truth before you die, consider it another gift.  After all, what could be better to know than you were or are loved for who you are?  I dare say it is part of the plan.  

As I look around I see people with great loves, and I also see people who wouldn't recognize love when they have it.  Love doesn't fit neatly into a trite definition for most of us, but instead is something we grasp for without understanding it comes in different forms.  There are healthy forms of love and unhealthy forms.  In fact, the most unhealthy of them are those who feel they must be all encompassing and possessive.

Faith that love will see you through the good and the bad is exactly what we should all be striving to have.  Once we acheive it, hopefully we can recognize it and honor it with our every step.

And that is today's view from up here.  I wish you peace and love.

She is back.

Gosh, though I had lost my way for months, nearly a year but who is counting, I'm back!

I have nursed my Hubby back from his open heart surgery, started working out at the gym, and am now in the process of house-hunting.  My business is now kaput, having heard the death-knell of the new economic realities.

We have been out of the country twice, in September past we travelled to England to meet up with some friends, coincidentally just in time to catch the fall of the banking systems on CNN...from our $1,600 a night hotel room.  

Okay, I gotta say it, rooms for disabled individuals SUCK!  Look, not everyone has the same kinds of special needs, but how difficult would it be to make every (newly done) hotel room with a roll-in style shower?  But by the Grace of God we all don't need them...yet.  Let's face it, the things we can count on happening to us are; aging/getting old and dying.  Hopefully the aging part comes first for the majority of us, but wouldn't you love to know you could still travel and be able to not get ripped off because you need one of the 1-6 rooms set up for disabled travelers?  Just a thought.

We also took a two week cruise to Hawaii.  Weather is everything on a cruise.  Bad weather, you're just cooped up with a group of unhappy cruisers.  Sun is out and moods improve.  Not a difficult formula, but you never know what you'll get.  We saw sun one our of 15 days.  Bad cruise. 

Now I am house hunting, having fired our architect for wasting a year and a half of our precious time.  No way will I start the process again,  then try to find somewhere to live while we spend two years going through the pains of building.  So now I hope to find a suitable home for us.  When this will happen, who knows?

Now we have a new President, and I feel like giving him a chance, even if I find him to be leaning a bit far in the socialist direction for the country.  I don't know how much I'll be able to let this go without expounding more.  Time will tell.

Heartly worth mentioning.

     As Jackie Gleason used to say, "And awa-a-a-y we go!"  There's nothing like starting a new blog off with an open heart surgery on day two!  Yes, I'm afraid it is true, we got the word yesterday that my dear Hubby will have to go through this.  Of course if he goes through it, we all go through it.

     No, I don't think they'll let me in the operating room for a blow-by-blow description, but you can count on me relaying every blissful moment I encounter as I nurse him back to his old, loving, sarcastic, humorous self.  All of this fun can be had beginning March 11, 2008...assuming all goes well until then.   Apparently the surgeon is counting on it, as he is taking a two week vacation beginning next week.  Let no heart stand between a surgeon and his vacation.  

     We are due to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in June.  I am counting on this surgeon to fix Hubby up as good as new by then.  We had planned a trip to London and Ireland to celebrate, but I have a feeling that would be a stretch.  I don't really care where we are, as long as we are together and able to be together to laugh and love.  Isn't that generous of me?  The truth of the matter is, we just might be making another move by then.  Yes, we are planning to build our new home this year, and it could start happening this summer.  The plans are being worked on right now.  See how much fun we're going to have here!

     Hey, not to change the topic but do you know how much this kind of surgery costs?  I'm hearing $500,000 and up.  Is it any wonder there is only a month waiting list?  Can Mrs. Clinton or anyone else really stand up there and tell me that they are going to bring health coverage to everyone, at a reasonable cost?  I don't know what a "reasonable cost" is anymore. Just for some of the tests Hubby has had the past few months the bills the insurance company must pay are out of the stratosphere.  I know we pay exorbitant premiums monthly, and neither one of us has been seriously ill before.  In fact, as an employer we pay premiums for all of our employees, and it's enough to make a person think twice about it.  Every month we check our premiums to see if it has risen because of this latest problem.  So far no, but we know it isn't going to last. It certainly can't.

     Speaking of Mrs. Clinton, she must not be feeling so good after the elections last night.  She is supposedly counting on Texas to pull through on the delegate count, but I don't know if she can.  Perhaps what she needs is a little bit of heart surgery too, like to add sincerity to hers, if that is even possible.  I guess you know how I am feeling about her candidacy huh!

    I see the fog is beginning to roll in here, so I think it may be time to leave this for another day.  Thank you for stopping in.   The welcome mat is always out.  Just don't drag in any mud please.

The one thing I never heard people say to me:

     "You should blog less."  I have been blogging for three years on another site.  I've developed a following and established a cadence in my blog.  That's all well and fine,  but I'm about to enter the sixth decade of my existence on this earth and I do not want be confined to the expected anymore.  Of course that does not mean I will abandon my "voice", it merely means I wish to exercise the option of ...well, I don't know what yet.  I'm sure I'll find out right along with you.  

     So what can you expect here?  For one thing my sense of humor,  my element of sarcasm.   They are a finely honed resource that shine through life's stomping down tendencies.  Yeah for me!  Yes, when I said the glass is generally half full I mean it.  Of course it depends on how clear the glass is,  whether or not the mineral deposits of everyday life built up...but hey, think of me as a  human stalagmite.  

     There are a cast of characters who remain constant in my life, and through me I'm sure you'll get to know them all.  Here is a mini-guide, or introduction:

1.  Hubby - my wonderful husband of almost 25 years.  (And I mean it!)

2.  Mikey - my only child, now a 40 year old man-child-bachelor  living at home, with my gratitude.

3.  Frasier - our sweet Maltese with a very big mouth.

4.  Niles - our cat/dog, the very adorable, short bussed Shih-Tsu.

5.  Cesar - our Chef.  The hapless, but necessary helper.

  These are the intimate members of the family that I speak of frequently  (though you are bound to hear of others) whom I shall introduce as I include them in this virtual world, my view from up here.