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I have a lot to say about the hospital stay, so please bear with me. Back to my first night in lockdown … As soon as I was done completing my paperwork, they showed me to my room, which was nondescript and it had a cold, sterile feel to it.  As I entered the room, there was a bathroom/shower room on the left. The door wasn’t a typical door, but it was similar to what you would see in the stall of a rest stop - not a lot of privacy. I assumed that it was a safety precaution. 

Back to that ominous Saturday… Once my husband and I returned from walking our dog, my anxiousness took on a life of its own. I recall a few incidents that led to me ending up in the frightening emergency department that night. Just as I put the leash down on the counter, I felt this surge of aggressive energy fill my body and I couldn’t sit still. I started pacing back-and-forth. Although, I don’t quite recall how I got there, I just remember being in my bedroom and trying t

In a few of my blogs, I’ve alluded to the "trauma of 2017," which was stressful, frightening and distressing. While I was going through it, I truly did not know if I was ever going to same person as I was before. Given the significance of this experience, I will share unfiltered details of how it all began; how we went about identifying and solving the key issues that were taking place in me; to finally triumphing over it and experiencing an inexpressible freedom. This is par

During the course of our marriage, we have moved three times across state lines, and all of them were fairly significant relocations. We were also fortunate to have my company move us.  By the third move to CA, we had it down. We obtained the boxes from the moving company; packed each room and labeled each space; and we were ready for the movers to pick up everything. There were very few things that didn’t get packed into the moving truck, which were important house and movin

I think most of us believe that forgiveness is an essential component of any healthy relationship and can act as a bridge to healing and renewed trust. A few months ago, in a previous blog on friendships, I mentioned a long-term friendship that I had for 30+ years, but then a few years ago, she requested to no longer be friends with me. Although I didn’t and still do not understand the reason that we are no longer friends, I’ve accepted it. Initially, I was quite hurt and ups

Do you live a repetitive lifestyle (or rat race) that leaves no time for enjoyment, or do you truly enjoy your life? Do you ever feel guilty about stopping your workday to take a break? Earlier on in my career I used to think that if I took a break during my workday or in the midst of a pressing deadline, that I just didn’t have time for it, not to mention that it would be difficult for me to get back to the task at hand. However, through the years, I’ve discovered that my th

I don’t necessarily consider myself a Foodie; however, I love to eat good food, especially anything with potatoes. I consider myself a connoisseur of potatoes, just as Bubba Blue’s character in Forrest Gump declares his affinity for shrimp and “shrimp being the fruit of the sea.” I can easily make a meal of potatoes - Hashbrowns, baked potatoes, french fries, au gratin, scalloped, raw fries (BTW, they aren’t actually raw, but thinly sliced potatoes and onions sautéed in olive

One of my most favorite things to do is to travel, especially out of the country. During the course of our marriage,  we’ve been to either 13 or 14 countries. When we travel, we prefer not to do super touristy things, but we like to hang out where the locals hang out and eat where the locals like to eat. One of our most unforgettable trips was to Portugal. Little did we know that this trip was going to be the kind of trip that we might not have come back from. LOL! We started

I thought that it was time to insert some humor in the series of some very serious blogs. This blog is about my husband who likes to play pranks, especially on me. This one in particular happens to be epic and continues to make me laugh. At the time, we were living in the Seattle, Washington area. It was the middle of the week, and I was going out with a bunch of my girlfriends to dinner to celebrate one of their birthdays. We were having such a great dinner together that a f

This past week, I’ve been thinking about the emotion or spirit of fear and its healthy or unhealthy effect on my life. I believe that some fears can be healthy, especially when it comes to survival instincts. When we were living in Florida, I remember one of our neighbors called my husband in a panic, letting him know that they just found a poisonous snake in their backyard and asked him if he could come over immediately to help take care of it, which he did. Apparently, as s

I don’t know about you, but for me, the word “stress” has a negative connotation. Over the years, I’ve had many experiences with stress, some minor bouts of worry, others, positive events that were stressful, and also some close to debilitating experiences due to anxiety. I have read numerous books and conducted various research on the topic, with the ultimate goal of learning how to get through the worry or anxiety, to reduce or minimize it, and not allow it to affect my sle

Self-image, or the personal view or mental picture that we have of ourselves. I’ve heard it described as an “internal dictionary”, describing the characteristics of ourselves, like intelligent, beautiful, ugly, selfish, etc. These characteristics then form a collective representation of our strengths and weaknesses, as we see them. How many of us would honestly say that we have a positive view of ourselves?  For me, as a child, my self-image was not as healthy as it probably

Do you have people in your lives, who, to put it bluntly, bring you down? Even if we’re not always enthusiastic, those negative Nellies (as I like to refer to them in my blog on April 30th) can put a serious strain on our energy. If you’re regularly exposed to downer or negative influences, their attitudes and moods can easily weasel their way into your well-being and sense of peace.  Even your perspective can become skewed by their perpetual lack of joy and continual negativ

I have shared in a previous blog, that I have a soft spot for movies that involve a “Cinderella” type of motif or “turnaround story.” I love seeing characters (and humans in real life) start from one place and turn their lives around to become a better version of themselves. Inevitably this involves “change” - a change in attitude, mind, circumstances, etc. One of my favorite “rags to riches” movies is The Blind Side . If you haven’t seen it, it is a tear-jerker and an all-ti

As I was riding my peloton this morning, I was thinking about the power of our words, whether it is with our spouse, kids, pets, or even ourselves. We’ve all heard the saying that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But is that really true?  I don’t believe it’s true, as I’ve seen words affect not only how a person feels, but how they perceive the various events around them. For instance, if I was kind and spoke uplifting words to you, chance