Back From Blogging Break...

Am officially back from my break from blogging...

Ended up taking longer than a weekend, so thank you to my blog followers and subscribers who still keep sending me encouraging emails and have continued to follow  / subscribe, even though there has not been a new post in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the continued prayers for my mom, G,  and Dear Hubby's mom, Grandmom, too.

Things are starting to get back to normal around here, but in some ways, it is a new normal...

We have had some fun times along the way, including road tripping to see the Grands in Hilton Head, visiting Papa & G in The Villages, and having friends come from Maryland.

We have taken in some fun at various beaches, parks, playgrounds, museums, and restaurants both in South Carolina and here in Florida. We even got to have a fabulous dinner at Papa's favorite place of all time, so thanks to Papa for that...

We have also been busy doing some fun projects as a family...these projects have been a Godsend...truly awesome to have creative outlets to lift my spirit and to re-energize us as a family.

Thank you to Chris (and Doris),  if for some crazy reason you read this post...
Chris, you are "way, way, way better than Santa and a scientist, rolled into one"...for, as Big Bro puts it, you "make us think about things as we have fun"...

Gracias to Kim, Jody, Nicole, Jennifer, Rebecca, Tammy, and Jessie...you girls are awesome too!

Merci to Martianne, thank you for your encouraging email, as your words helped me to realize that if I needed to take a blogging break, that that would be okay... 

Really to all of you who kind of knew the back story to my last "taking a blogging break" post, thanks for the calls, emails, FB messages, etc...

To my Sis, I love you and am so happy that you came down for a visit. Thank you for spending time with my my crew. Was so nice to get to spend time with you and your family, too. One of these years, we will head North and come for a visit. Hope that the B-day party was awesome and that the girls loved doing Cupcake Wars! Thanks for all of the insight your provided and for the great b-day fun for Little Bro.
Sis, you have set the birthday party bar so high that it is amazing!!!

To my brother, a.k.a. Guncle / Uncle Brian to the boys, thank you for coming down to pinch hit when Dad was away...we had a good time visiting with you and were so relieved that you were able to be there for G when we could not be there. Was fun going to the Dali Museum with you, playing chase with you, and looking at your latest jewelry you have made. We love you, Guncle!!!

To my Dear Hubby, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there...for being the rock, the voice of reason, and the sounding board...Thanks for having a sense of humor in spite of it all and for driving to and fro and putting in all of the extra time to do it all, too...xoxo

Will be back doing regular posts starting Monday, but just had a few minutes tonight, so thought I would write a post to say hello and a little about being grateful, optimistic, and happy in spite of it all...

Gratitude and optimism make a great tag team...
When things seem stressful, if you can take the time to reflect upon how grateful you are for the people, the experiences, and the memories that make up the fabric of your life, either as an individual, or as a family, it helps to put things into perspective. Focusing on the fun times, the good times, the zany times, the wonderful times, the comical times...this makes the difficult times more bearable.

With respect to being grateful, am happy that I had a very close relationship with my mom the whole time growing up. The dynamic of dealing with someone with a progressive condition changes the relationship a bit, as I now have to move from the one who was cared for like when I was the child to the one who now has to be the caregiver.
Need to focus on the happy times we can still have together versus the devastating blows of what is no longer possible, with respect to the physical, mental, and emotional...

Optimism is key to a better-than-expected outcome...my mother-in-law is a shining example of optimism.
We should all learn from her, as she has done her best to be positive and hopeful in spite of what she has been through over the last few weeks. Grandmom, your attitude is top notch! Grandad, glad that you are enjoying learning to cook and grocery shop! We look forward to the next time we see you both.

Well, that is all for now...look forward to getting back into the blogging groove.

See you for a Montessori Monday post on Monday!

Love and Hugs to all of you!!!