I picked up a book from our library day before yesterday called “The Athlete’s Way” by Christopher Bergland. I’d never heard of the man, but it turns out he’s a champion endurance athlete. He runs those killer marathons through the desert in July, that sort of thing. But what he writes about is what he calls the ‘biology of bliss,’ the biochemical ( Read more... )

 Near the younger girls school there is a cemetery. As we passed it this morning Gaered cried out, “Look, what’s that?!” I looked up the hill and saw a truck with a big wench and large dark box. There were two men digging behind it ( Read more... )

When I was a child, I remember going out one night, it was very dark, with the whole family. We drove to a neigbourhood I didn't recognize and Mom and Dad went inside a strangers house while we waited in the car in their driveway. After some time they came back out smiling, and shortly thereafter a piano arrived in our living room.

That was the ( Read more... )

I wrote this for my Young WIdows group online. It probably won't make a lot of sense, but I decided I'd post it here anyway. You could say I'm in more of a crevice than a valley right now.

Being a Widow:

Gasping for breath, trying to hold the pieces together until something else, something sufficiently distracting, comes along or can be found through ( Read more... )

It's been an interesting week so far. A while back I mentioned that I was tired of people in my Anatomy class acting like we were still in junior high, and I have to say it has reached a new low. Beware, this is my rant on the subject.

In the last week we have had a both a Lab Practical and a unit Lecture Exam, both giving 100 points towards our ( Read more... )

I've been noticing lately all the things I have taken for granted that the men in my life would do for me. Take my car for example. The only time I lived away from either my Dad or one of my brothers until I was married was also the only time I didn't have access to a family car. My roommate Kathleen had a car, but since she was practically her own ( Read more... )

 This has been weighing on my mind, and I wondered if writing about it might help me feel a little better. 
Yesterday I called the principle of my daughters school and went in for a meeting with her and the school counselor. My concern was Ciara, my seven year old mildly autistic daughter. Ciara didn't speak any english until she was three and a ( Read more... )

 Each of my children have an Irish first name and a family middle name. I just wanted to explain them.

Moira Esther (pronounced Moy-rah, like 'boy' with an M) was an Irish name we both really liked. We named her Esther after my paternal Grandmother, Esther Cline Cormode.

Fiona Kelley was a name my sister Elise suggested, and Kelley is Kevin's ( Read more... )

 Since several people have asked me what happened I thought it might be simpler to post it here.

Kevin joined the Army in 2000, and served in the Navy before that. While we were together he was deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq as well as Puerto Rico. He developed multilevel degenerative joint disease while serving, and when he injured his back ( Read more... )

 It's been difficult the last three months, but I just realized last Saturday that it has been THREE MONTHS! 
Denial? check
Anger? check
Depression? check
Acceptance? not yet

The kids are really doing very well. Moira has joined a grief group at school where she and two other students get together once a week to talk about stuff. She's the only one to ( Read more... )