One happy grandma

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It's been a tough several weeks leading up to yesterday's big day, my "first dose observation" day. When it was all uneventfully done and over, I was so very thankful — for the outcome as well as for the incredible support from all of you, from my friends, from my family.

And I was happy. So very happy. Once home, all I wanted...

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A brief prayer request

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dear readers

I've been conflicted for weeks about sharing this — TMI isn't usually my thing — but today feel I must. Today I'm swallowing a pill that could stop my heart, so I'm writing to ask for your prayers, positive thoughts, healing vibes or any sort of goodness you could send my way.

My MS has gotten ridiculously aggressive and...

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Changing seasons: Thoughts on giving my adult daughters their baby books

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Changing seasons: Thoughts on giving my adult daughters their baby books

baby books

"It would be good for me to know those things," my middle daughter sighed into the phone the other day. And she's right.

We were on the phone, discussing challenges she faces with her middle child, my second grandson. There is hope, I pointed out, a...

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6 topics on which I could speak with ease... even if drunk

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6 topics on which I could speak with ease... even if drunk

 

I belong to several online writing groups. As a freelance writer, the gathering spots of like-minded wordsmiths are where I most often find support, advice, inspiration.

One tidbit I recently gleaned from such a group was instruction on how to determine the topics that one might determine — and promote to publishers — as his or her areas of expertise. The simple solution offered was to consider...

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7 lessons learned when my dog got skunked

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I have a big back yard. Birds and squirrels enjoy frolicking about back there. As do skunks.

dog skunked

Skunks, as you likely know, are nocturnal animals, so we've never seen them during the day. And we've only smelled whiffs of them now and then as their stinky scent wafts through the night-time air. Our dogs...

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5 names and 5 uses for Grandma

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5 names and 5 uses for Grandma

grandma names and uses 

5 names for GRANDMA:

I've been exercising my brain a bit more than usual the past couple weeks in an effort to counteract some mushiness and muck courtesy multiple sclerosis. Challenging one's noggin' is wise for one and all as we age — not just those with cognitive issues — and my dear friend Ruth and her Cranium Crunches site are a super source of fun ways to keep the brain fit.

Ruth recently shared with me...

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Ice bucket fatigue no more

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ice cubes

I feel like a jerk admitting this, but I tired rather quickly of seeing video after video of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I know it's a fabulous way to raise awareness of — and funds for — the horrific disease. I know that. Truly, I get that. But each time I saw yet another...

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Life Reimagined? Call mine Life Reenhanced

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cairns

I'm firmly entrenched in life's second act — or is this the third? — and all about me are folks in the same phase of life making the most of the opportunity to rework their lives in order to make it all they imagine it can be.

It's impossible to miss the wave of boomers...

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14 reasons to smile about being a long-distance grandma

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14 reasons to smile about being a long-distance grandma

Being a long-distance grandma can be hard on a grandmother's heart at times. There are, however, several perks to having plenty of miles between Grandma and her sweeties. Here are 14 of them.

long-distance grandma

14
Dates with friends or Grandpa...

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