In the 30's!!!



39 Days til the Wedding!



Today is September 4.  I'm back to work after the long Labor Day weekend, and I flipped my wall calendar to September , did a little backward count from the wedding date to today and was surpised to find that we're officially in the 30's...with 39 days to go til Ani and Eric's wedding.

As Mother-of-the-Bride, there are a lot of emotions roaming around inside me:  excitement about the upcoming wedding, panic about forgetting something major I was supposed to do, anxiousness about getting deadlines met, things done, melancholy about missing my daughter, etc.  You get the idea. 

I have been actively praying for the past couple of months.  I mean, close-the-door, on-your-knees, private-time-with-God prayer.  And I'm pretty sure that this is what has been helping me keep it together.  One of the things that I pray for daily is "focus"...Focus on the true meaning and sanctity of Ani and Eric's wedding.  I pray that God gives me the ability to not get so caught up in the excitement and details that I forget what is truly important:  the holy sacrament of marriage.

Don't get me wrong.  We're still running around and doing all the fun stuff.  We're meeting up today after work to check out make up at Sephora, and deal with bridesmaids' gifts.  And I'm enjoying every minute of my time with my baby girl.  But inside, I'm sensing a different calm inside me.  A calm that I know is coming from that focus that I've asked for pairedwith the realization that everything is going to be beautiful and blessed regardless of how we wear our hair, or what our shoes look like.

We're in the 30's.  And it's September.  A lot of great things are coming up this month.  Ani's bridal shower; the 39 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer; final fittings, and wrapping daros for the wedding.  I will keep praying.  For strenghth, for focus, for peace and that God bless our children with a happy and peaceful marriage. 

Who Knows Where the Time Goes!?

I can't believe that I haven't posted since February.  I was just directing someone to my blog when I came here myself and wham....wow, what happened?  Is it possible that six months has past since I last visited?  I guess so.

Life is hectic, but good.  There's a lot to write about but given that I'm at the office on my lunch break, I'll just touch on a few things and then come back and revisit them in a few days.....or next year (okay, hopefully not that long). 

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee  (Camping trip 08/2011)

The main excitement that it going on in my life right now, is that my baby girl Ani, is getting married in just 46 days.  Although this is super exciting, and I am blessed with knowing that she has a wonderful fiance that we love very much, it's still going to be a big adjustment for me.  While we're busy figuring out what we're doing with hair, make up, logistics of the wedding day, photos, and limos and such, I'm also balancing the emotions that come with being a mom of an incredible daughter who is also my best friend -- who I have been sharing a home with for 25 years on a day to day.  We share this bond though, and that's the beautiful thing.  It's going to be weird not to have Ani at home any longer,  but there is always unlimited texting.  : )  And I know in my core, that although it's going to be different, "different' doesn't mean bad.  It just means different.  And new.

As a mom, it's a pretty amazing thing.  Ani will always be my baby, but she's really grown up to be a phenomenal woman, a pediatric nurse, a creative blogger and crafter, a compassionate and beautiful soul.   I'm so proud of her....(actually, proud of both my children).  And I'm looking forward to see how they will grow and reinvent themselves in the years to come. 

A month or so ago, Neddy and I had gone out for our anniversary.  And we were sitting there having dinner.  We had just celebrated Ned's birthday - surprise party style - and he said to me, "on my next big birthday, I don't think I could handle a surprise party again!"  And we started thinking about the future, and what the next ten years would hold for us, through God's grace.  My stepdaughter (Ned's daughter) is expecting her first child in December.  Ani and Eric are getting married.  In ten years' time, perhaps my son will also find his soulmate.  We sat there flash-forwarding to family vacations with grandchildren, hugs and sticky kisses.  It was so beautifully surreal.  Life goes on and it's wild how much change can happen in such a short time.

And then I started thinking backward too..  Just a little over a year ago, I underwent surgery for cancer.  Two types of cancer last year.  Two surgeries.  Lots of challenges, and lots of good stuff too.  Lots of happiness mixed in with the tough times.  And it's all behind me now...and then there's a whole lot in front of me too!

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” - Albert Einstein

I thank God for the miracles!!!