mama said there'd be days like this ...

I sent the following to a friend of mine awhile ago when she was going through a rough patch ... and she just returned the favor. :) Thought I'd share this in the hope it might help someone else who's having "one of those days":

On Perseverance
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do." — Eleanor Roosevelt

You are doing that thing, right now, this very moment. Be proud of your bravery, of your strength, even on the days when you forget you are being brave, being strong.

On faith
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

You’ve taken the first step, and the second and the third. Each day is a new step toward a new adventure, a new life. Trust that the staircase will lead you where you need to go.

On life
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." — Robert Frost

It does. It is. It will. I promise.

On friendship
"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." — Oprah Winfrey

I’ve got the bus tickets, where do you want to go? =)

thanks for the reminder, K ... words have power and meaning, it doesn't matter who writes them, it only matters that they were and that they're shared.

Hugs.

the kindness of strangers part 3

update: Unfortunately, I have no encouraging news to report on Avery’s condition (my coworker Amy’s daughter). She’s still very ill and doctors are now looking at possible surgical procedures (ear/nose/throat). My office held two benefit events last week, which raised more than $1,600 (with an additional $550 added to that, which came from the kindness of strangers) … a wonderful success, however Amy was taking care of Avery and unable to attend.

When Amy stopped by the office briefly to complete a couple of projects, she was gifted with the donations. She was completely touched and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support by both her coworkers and perfect strangers.

On a side note … there’s a very special book on its way to Avery. My amazing mom, who believes in the power and beauty of words, sent a note to author Dallas Clayton (veryawesomeworld.com) upon hearing of Amy and Avery’s situation. For every copy of “An Awesome Book” Dallas sells, he gives one away. Having purchased the children’s book as a 30th b-day gift for me (the message is universally appealing and inspiring), my mom is very aware of how, well, awesome the story is … which is made even awesomer (yes, that’s a word) by Dallas’ pay it forward attitude. And yay (!!!) he’s paying it forward to Avery… a signed copy is in the mail.

Thanks again to everyone who has sent prayers, donations and unexpected words of awesomeness to Amy and Avery … here’s to the continued greatness that is the kindness of strangers.

the kindness of strangerspart 2

Moms. Are. Amazing. I have had more chill-bump moments, more heart-swelling, tear-inducing, steal-my-breath pockets of pure and total greatness in the past few days since posting “the kindness of strangers” and I am simply in awe …

Case in point, just received this beautiful message from a fellow mama I met on the plane to Salt Lake City earlier this summer: “I was going to buy a new comforter this weekend but God prompted me to ‘comfort her’ instead. Please count us in…” There are simply no words for this kind of compassion.

In my first post, I noted that tomorrow I would gift my coworker with donations, however, as so many have asked to send checks, I will continue to collect through the end of the month and will route everything as it is received. A packet with e-mails and donations will be given tomorrow, as well.

thank you. thank you. thank you, everyone.

the kindness of strangers

What would you do if your child was sick and no one knew why?

What would you do if you had to take 6 weeks unpaid leave from work?

What would you do if you were given one day’s notice of eviction?

What would you do if all three events collided into one heartbreaking time in your life?

And what would you do if all of this happened while you were a single mom with no support?

This is the harsh reality one of my coworkers is facing right now.

Since early August, this courageous mom has helped her young daughter battle an unknown illness that has demanded two hospitalizations and some 15 different drug therapies, all to no avail. And she has shouldered this burden alone. Yesterday, after being at her daughter’s side for six weeks (exhausting what little PTO and vacation time she had saved), my coworker was notified that she was being evicted from her home…

In an effort to help offset some of the staggering medical bills and expenses, my company will be hosting a benefit lunch next Tuesday. As we’re a small staff and I know their needs are great, I wanted to extend the opportunity to anyone out there who might want to contribute a small donation to a fellow mama in need. If you’d like to participate either by donation or simply sending words of encouragement, the e-mail address helpamom2009@yahoo.com is ready and waiting (this address is tied to a PayPal account created for the family).

Here’s to the beauty and power and inspiration found in the kindness of strangers …

p.s. If you make a donation, please shoot me an e-mail at writess10@yahoo.com so that I can include your name in the card. I will close out the account next Tuesday and present the donations during the benefit lunch.

a conversation with cooper

me: What's your name?
cooper: name.
me: No, silly, your name is Cooper.
cooper: name.
me: Say Cooper.
cooper: ...
me: hey, say Cooper.
cooper: ...
me: Say Falk
cooper: f%@k
me: oh, eff!

between a rock and a hard place

The past couple of months have been a bit rough … physically and emotionally. The weekend of Daddy’s Day I started experiencing some rockin’ pelvic pain — like leg-numbing, head-spinning pain. I thought my little ovarian cyster was back, but a UTI diagnosis, two cat scans and a sono later revealed that I didn’t have a cyst, but rather a stone — who-hoo.

Kidney stones, my friends — not purty.

When I was told by my urologist — who bares an uncanny attitude resemblance to the crazy OB/GYN in Knocked Up (I almost laughed out loud the first time we met) — that passing a stone is worse than squeezing out a baby sans epidural, I immediately signed up for the kidney stone master blaster. This noninvasive procedure uses sound waves to break apart the stone so that you can pass it in not-so-painful pieces. But, this in no way eliminates the gag factor, but I’ll spare ya’ those details (yay, you).



Anywhoo, turns out, the master blaster isn’t always 100% effective on the first shot … and, as luck would have it, it’s looking like I’m not so much a one-and-done kinda gal. My two-week follow-up showed that my stone was still hanging out and the doc gave me a two-month warning: “Pee It Out, Or I’m Coming In.” Oh, goody.



I have about 4 weeks left to get my rock rollin …

As much fun as this whole ordeal has been, it’s just the tip if the iceberg. It looks like the kidney stone may not have been the pain culprit after all, but rather just a fun little bonus. All signs are now pointing to endometriosis — a little insult to injury to someone who’s already battled infertility. Sigh.

The hubs and I have always said that this December we’d start working on baby No. 2. And though I blogged earlier this summer about some unexpected struggles with this decision, Chris and I both long to have another baby. I can’t even put it into words … I get huge crocodile tears just thinking of Coop holding his baby brother or sister … he would be such an amazing, loving brother (as long as we hide anything that can be used as a weapon).

Now that we’re committed to moving forward, I am absolutely terrified of going back … of diving head first into a sea of infertility issues, especially with this fun little female friend tagging along for the ride.

And because kidney stones and girl gunk aren’t enough for one post … there’s this minor little detail of potty training. We are all potty talk, all the time. And I hate it. I mean I love it, but I. hate. It.



I want Coop to be the big boy who uses the big boy potty and wears the big boy pants, but I also want to cling to his rapidly dwindling days of babyhood with every fiber of my being. Every day brings about change and growth and maturity and it’s exciting and beautiful and painful all at the same time.

This weekend, out of nowhere, Coop started saying, “I don’t want that.” I was floored. The day before all he’d mutter was “No” to voice his objections. And a mere 24 hours later he seemed so cognizant, so capable … so big.

He used the potty for the first time at school today (as opposed to simply sitting there, happily flushing clean water down the drain). So, we went to the store and got his first pack of pull-ups. I cried (such a sap). After bath time, Coop sat on his “thrown” (the hubs got him a music-playing potty complete with a crown on the lid), while I read the book he picked out — The Potty Train — specifically for moments like these. By the time the last “chugga chugga poooo pooo!” was read, Coop went pee pee and the potty sang out like royalty had just entered the room.

He looked at me and said, “I deed it.”



I never imagined that peeing could bring me so much pride. But, then again, I never imagined I could ever love someone the way I love that little “man” o’ mine.

It’ll be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring – with Coop making the potty sing, with me hoping I make a rock roll and with the three of us waiting to see if we’ll become four...

regularity rocks

Well, there's been a bit of "constipation" on the ol' poo front lately (nearly 2 months worth of back up, yowza). But, after a few fiber supplements I'm back and happy to be blogging again. :)

I have much to share, many pics to post and I promise to start dishing details later tonight.