Hope

Obama may not have been the candidate of your choice but he represents so much more than business as usual. I have spent the day watching the Inauguration. Thinking about all that it represents. It is evident, when I walk out of my house this morning to take advantage of the aid offered to our family, that there is hope. We accept the WIC program because we can use the help. It has been somewhat humiliating to say but it allows us to feed our children and pay our bills.

It is also evident when I pick up my mother and we go to share this experience with my cousin and her family. We have the right to chose how we represent ourselves to our children. I think, we as a country, have chosen to set a better example. I am sure that this is no end all be all but there is hope.

I am thankful that Obama has put his family values on the table. Mine have always been there and my family comes first. I am thankful for the call of service. I think we as a country should take care of one another. I was also called a bleeding heart liberal at one point! The next time you see an elderly person trying to get groceries to their car, maybe we should ask how we can help. Or, instead of assuming the mother who is yelling at her children in the grocery is a bad mom. Wonder if she could just use some help and doesn't know where to turn. These may not be things that hit home for you but for me all of the above make a difference.

I would say that if I can make someone else feel as if they have hope and a purpose then God has granted us both a better life. Maybe that is just my role as a wife and a mother. I think that it is also my role as a citizen. I do not want a hand out but a hand of help.

I am so very thankful that it is in my life time that I am witness to see the Presidency be based on fortitude rather than color. I am thankful that it never occured to me that color was/is an issue. It is a trait that I wish to pass on and hope is the legacy I wish to start with. If nothing else always have hope.

Fiona turns one!

It is very hard to believe that it has already been a year. I remember all to well the labor that "just happened". I also remember the very small little baby that they only let me see for a couple of seconds before taking me to ICU. It is all very surreal now.

I am so happy to say that she is an amazingly independant dependant. She has a great sense of humor and watches like a hawk! She is starting to climb...I thought it was a boy thing. Not so much! She is a full fledge walker now and says Mamma, Dada, that, bye (with a wave) and lots of babbles.

Fiona obviously LOVED her cake. My mom and I passed on the tradition of a red velvet cake and Aunt Dede was wonderful to decorate it for us.

Thank you to family and friends, we appreciate every step you make with us.

Happy New Year-2009!!

There are so very many things to contemplate today.

I will soon be 39-my father died at this age.

In a few weeks Fiona will be 1- officially a toddler.

On the 5th of Febuary, Greg and I will have been together for 6 years-longer than I have ever been in a relationship.

My mother has been cancer free for 3 years and has been battling Liver disease for 1 year.

I am so very thankful for all of these things. They let me know that I am loved and capable of loving. I am blessed to have been with Greg this long. After all most, businesses fail within the first 5 years! I am the mother of two children who are healthy, smart, loving, and most of the time, kind. I am in an age where I am no longer consumed with "keeping up with the Jones'." I am content with who I am and what I have become (OK-most days). I have grown to respect the wisdom of my mother and to be able to speak my mind without feeling like a child that has done something wrong. I have wonderful friends that validate me as a mother and woman. I am proud to call them friends because I find each one of them strong and a source of knowledge beyond what they might think. Thank you to my circle of Divas! I am thankful for friendships made so long ago that they now seem like family!

I would like to see my life simplified in 2009. I hope to kiss my husband every day because the reality is that if I lost him I would lose my compass. The journey is more fun when we are together-even when we are lost! I want to play with my children more. I want them to remember that I took time for them not that I was too busy for them. I want to watch less TV or be on the computer less. I think I owe it to my family to set an example of moderation. To get out of the house to take walks or go to the park. I want to use my cloth diapers more. If nothing else to use the investment we made but also to decrease our carbon imprint on the earth. I want enjoy the people in my life more often. I think that I need this as a person-to remember that I am also an individual not just a mother or wife.

I do not expect to be mother Teresa. I will probably lose "Mother of the Year" by noon. I just want to make our lives better and to recognize a few things that I can do to make them happen. I also would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Cheers to 2009!