Caught Within the Wild Rush

The last 10 days have been a blur of guests arriving and leaving on different days, graduation party and actual graduation day, meals out, meals cooked, sleeping arrangements, debates on correct thermostat setting, Nebraska spring weather (Really Mother Nature??), yard work, house hunting and negotiation, shopping, energy boosts and energy zapped.  But it has all been worth it because I love my family.

I call myself, "The Family Hog".  It's not as negative as it sounds.  Actually it's quite positive.  By being the Family Hog, I mean I love having all my family around me and if it could be that way all the time, I'd be in hog heaven . . . so to speak.

Besides one sister, my siblings are spread across the county (Arizona, California and Washington state) and my sons are in North Carolina and England with my daughter soon to be leaving for college in Chadron and my nieces are in Florida and Washington.  So the times that we can all be together for any amount of time are treasured.

Even when we aren't together physically, we all know that the others are only a phone call away.  During this last difficult year, my family has served as my uplifting cheerleader, my butt kickers, my encouragers and the all around best support system I could ever ask for.  On the days that I've thought "I can't", they have encouraged and sometimes forced me to pull up my big girl panties and trudge on.  Although at the time I may have had my doubts and maybe even resented the lack of pity parties they allowed me to indulge in, I couldn't have made it without their support.

The saying is, "It takes a village to raise a child", but it takes a family to lift and support you when you need it most.  For that, I am grateful, even during a wild rush.

Welcome To My World!

I have enjoyed writing since I was a kid.  I don't really know if it is a talent or just a way to transition from talking since my mother always said I started talking as a baby and never shut up.  Proof of that was found on my elementary report cards found by my siblings and me as we went through paperwork & photos following my dad's death.  On nearly every one of them, "talks too much" was marked.  How rude of those teachers!  Didn't they realize I had important things to say?

Whether the things in my head are really important is up for debate, but when it comes to important things to say, I have always been more comfortable with the written word.  It gives me time to think about what I really want to say and how I want to say it.  So upon the recommendation of a good friend and with the technical help of my daughter, I welcome you to "Seeing Red".  "Seeing Red" really means seeing me-Red, a nickname given to me years ago by a man I love dearly.  I plan to use this blog as a bit of an open window into my world and how I see thing.  I will be expressive with my feelings, my beliefs, my humor and my sometimes off balance way of seeing things.  I hope you will like it and continue to follow.  Welcome to my world.