Hearts of Gold

Long time no post! Hope that 2013 has been good to you and your families so far. I have was looking at the calendar this morning and could hardly believe I had let 3 months go by without any posts. Well... this will be rectified today! Ha!

Part of the reason I haven't posted was that I have been at a loss for subject matter. My fibromyalgia has taken a toll on me and my family this winter and so there is only so much you can write about when you don't leave your bedroom.

This January I was able to visit out East to Ontario and see some of my cute nephews and one for my nieces. I had the rare opportunity to have some great sister time! (no hubbies! Just us girls and mom!) It's a very special thing to have such an understanding and supportive family.

One of my nephews figured out this visit that auntie is 'for real' sick. Not just tired... Not sick with a cold... But bigger than normal sick. He sat down with me one day while the two of us watched TV and he asked me it's like to be sick like me.

Wow.... how do you answer that? So, I paused, then said that most days I'm me just super tired. Then some days I'm me, super tired but also have hands that won't hold things really well like he can and sometimes they hurt, but not to worry because auntie has a good doctor that checks on her lots and let's me have medicine that helps take the pain away and I feel way better!

I could see the gears cranking in his brain as he processed this information. Then he snuggled up to me and said, "we can still do this though, right auntie?" Oh Yes! Wild horses won't stop me from snuggling with my nieces and nephews! "and auntie! I'm here... so if you need help, I can do it for you!" And for the rest of my trip that young man checked on me, opened bottles, grabbed things for me... but best of all... we snuggled Lots!

It's funny how my young nephews figured out in a short period of time that I had an issue but instead of shutting me out like so many people tend to do, these little guys all asked specific questions about my illness and then all 3 of them asked how could they help. It was amazing to me how genuine their hearts were. Even the 4 year old asked me if he sat with me if it helps (always!)

So thank you boys!! And my sweetie niece with all her dancing and singing.  I was spoiled rotten by mom (yeah moms!!!!) And it was so awesome to just be with my sisters. I am so blessed by the wonderful family that I have and I am going to finish this post with some action shots of some of the most special people in my world!! (And ya...I have some pretty smoking great brother in laws for letting my sisters come out and play while I was there visiting!! Thanks guys!!)

One Of My Favourite Things

Good morning everyone and hope you all have your favorite warm beverage of choice and a comfy chair at the table. I'm feeling a little rough around the edges so forgive me but I think I'll be joining you from a comfy spot on my couch. One of the definate perks of Internet visiting. Ha!

Speaking of visiting, I have just returned from my annual trek out East. Normally my yearly visits are a flurry of visiting and site seeing crammed into 6 days, but this year I decided to see if a longer visit might be less harried. I have 2 sisters and thier families and my mom in Ontario and 6 days just never seems to be long enough. So after some pondering an schedule rearranging I was able to extend my visit to 3 weeks.

Ok...I know! 3 weeks sounds crazy. Especially when it's visiting house fulls of young children! Throw in Thanksgiving weekend, couple of birthday parties (even had Batman show up to one of them!) and I wonder just how less harried it was! And yet I treasured each crazy moment and found it very difficult to leave when the trip ended.

One moment that stands out to me was one evening after the kids were all bathed and in pj's and we were all sitting on my bed. My nephew started to make faces and be silly for his little sister. She was watching him and then burst out laughing. Of course that got her brother laughing. What a beautiful sound! When children laugh it is such a genuine pure sound. They laugh from their big toes to the top of their heads. They aren't worried about how they look or sound. It is just the sound of pure happiness and joy.

My wish for everyone is that genuine happy moment where you just bubble up and laugh from every fibre of your being. When the laugh just lights up your heart and puts that special twinkle in your eyes. That contagious laughter that draws everyone in. This is one of my favourite things.

A day without laughter is a day wasted.
Charlie Chaplin