Birthday Bliss

On this day, at this very moment, 27 years ago, I was in heavy labor. Scared out of my mind. Not a happy camper At All.

I was about to give birth to my first born child.

IT (we didn't know the sex yet) was not making it easy on me. And IT didn't seem to want to come out. But finally, late into the evening, IT did come out. All 7 pounds, 3 ounces of wiggling dark haired beauty. Nicole Elizabeth came screaming into the world on Groundhog's Day 1983 and my life has never been the same since!

It's been a roller coaster ride and I've had to learn how to be a mom--her mom--as I went along. I'm still learning. And she's quick to let me know when I'm not getting it right. But she also tells me when I am, and for that, I'm grateful.

I've had a unique opportunity to do alot of the things I've done once before all over again. When she had her accident at age 25, she was suddenly transformed from an independent, active young woman to a small and helpless little person in a hosptial bed--not unlike a newborn. We went through all stages of development: sitting up, learning to eat, hand-eye coordination, talking, and (thankfully!) walking. Because she's in the room she grew up in, and she's still the same size she was in the ninth grade, it's easy to forget sometimes that she is a young woman, not a child. For goodness sakes, she was already two years old when I was her age!

But in that time that I've been "raising Nicole" again, I've had lots of time to reflect on her wonderful childhood and all the joy she's brought into our lives. She's been a little actress since she could talk, and she could recite lines of movies as early as age two. "I've seen a house fly (accentuate the FLY). I've seen a dragonFLY. I've seen a horse FLY. Oh I been done seen about everything 'til I've seen an elephant fa-lyyyyyye!" (That's the song the crows sing in "Dumbo," which was her favorite movie for a long long long long long long long time. We watched Dumbo A-LOT!)

One thing I can say about Nicole is that she loves a camera. And cameras love her! Since she was little, she was hamming it up for professional and amateur photographers, and that's made it even more fun to look back and remember all she's done. This was her first "professional" photo shoot in Hattiesburg at age three. It was a for an ad for a children's store.



Not long after that, we moved to Jackson, and Nicole was enrolled in the Ballet Mississippi School at age four. We did a studio photo session with my friend, David Claiborne. He asked her what she'd like to dress up in to have her picture taken, and she chose this pink tutu--which I bought for her at a garage sale for a dime! What a wonderful investment that was! She loved wearing it so much that it was often her attire to the grocery store, the park, McDonald's...

I'm heading to a blogging conference in Nashville this week where I'll learn alot more about how to improve the look of my blog, tricks with photos, etc. What I know now, I've learned on my own, which means practically anyone can do it! I just want mine to be a little more polished and interesting.

I also want to explore the possibilities of blogging for companies, and this conference has a business track that will teach me alot of how that world works. The conference is called "Blissdom," and many of the (mostly) women attending read each other's blogs and they are great online friends. I read a few blogs every week--it's addictive, and if I'm not careful, I can do nothing but read and admire blogs all day. I learn alot from the many insightful women whose blogs I read. It will be fun to connect with them once I'm in Nashville.

One way we'll connect is through a cool new toy sent to each of those registered to attend the conference. It's called a Poken. http://www.poken.com/ A little plastic USB-looking thing, it is a type of 'social business card.' It's an easy way to share your contact details and online social networks in the real world. just hold two poken palms together - high4! - and you're connected.  Of course, I've already lost mine...so I ordered another one. But this time, I ordered a fun Geisha Poken! (By the way, Larry calls it a "social slapper.")

So, Happy Birthday, Nicole! Hope your day was a good one and that life for you has only just begun! Keep those cameras focused, because she's always ready for her closeup. And I'll use the photos in an artful and entertaining way in my blog, as soon as I learn how!

Blessings to all who read this!

Susan

Obstacle or opportunity?

"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." --J. Sidlow Baxter, 1903-1999, author & theologian


I get an inspirational quote sent to me via email each day, and most are pretty good. At least worth pondering a bit. This quote hit me pretty strong this morning, because it's as if it was written for my daughter, Nicole. She's a person who very rarely sees anything as an obstacle. Most of the time that's a good thing, but it's also what got her into the situation she's in now.

Locked out of her apartment? No problem! She just thought she'd find another way to get in. A six-story fall later, she was in quite a pickle.

Broken body? Not the end of the world for her, by any means! Instead, Nicole immediately started looking for the opportunities to get stronger and better. She loved going to physical therapy in the hospital because she saw it as her opportunity to get back on her feet. Now she celebrates her scars as badges of courage. So much so, that she had photos made recently that will appear in an article about her in Gendance magazine.

While Nicole can't dance like she did before the accident, she is working feverishly to put together a big dance performance on March 27-- a performance where she will dance in front of a crowd of 200 people. Just putting together an event of the magnitude she is planning requires her to face obstacle after obstacle. But positive thinker that she is, she just finds a way around them--she looks for the opportunities instead of the reasons why she can't do it.

I sat in on a meeting Nicole had yesterday with Nathan Glenn and his attorney at The Auditorium (the awesome new restaurant in the old Duling School in Fondren: http://www.theauditoriumrestaurant.com/). They were going over all the points of the event, which Nicole has named "An Evening of Hope." For $75, guests will receive a three-course gourmet meal, a signature drink, a chance to participate in a live art auction, and an incredible evening of multi-media entertainment featuring dance performances by students in the Belhaven department of dance. Proceeds from the event will benefit the "Ask for More Art" initiative of the Parents for Public Schools. (http://www.ppsjackson.org/askformoreart.html)

She is working very hard on the event, learning alot about event planning along the way. Not only is she choreographing and producing the show, she's talking to artists to get pieces for the auction, and talking to businesses to obtain sponsorships to cover the costs of incidentals like advertising, security, etc. It's as if the words "you can't do that" aren't in her vocabulary. She just plugs along and finds a way.

I believe old J. Sidlow Baxter was right..."Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." I'm seeing those words played out right before my eyes through the actions of my amazingly persistant daughter.

What are your obstacles today? Knowing that opportunities have difficulties, what will your attitude be towards them? Just think about Nicole, and face it head-on, with a firm image in your mind of what you want the end result to be.

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan

Girl Trip!!!!!

I'm sitting here with Revlon #42 on my head (red by choice!) counting down the hours until I am in the car on my way to Jefferson, Texas. Fellow BB Queens (book club members) Jonni and Leslie are swinging by around 11am to pick me up. They won't hardly have to slow down. Just pull up in the circular driveway and I'll throw my bags in the car, jump in and we'll be ON THE ROAD!!!

When I was growing up, moms didn't go on girl's trips--or I don't recall any conversation about such when they gathered for coffee. But back in my day, not many of the moms worked outside of the home. Today, it seems like just about everyone I know has a group of girlfriends who take a girls' trip at some point each year. These are all hard-working women who are dedicated to their husbands, children, jobs, civic work, church work, etc... Taking off for a few days with the girls is a great way to decompress...and to recharge.

One of my most memorable girl trips was to Destin several years ago. Nine of us, in three cars, took off on a three-day adventure in early February. The holidays behind us, kids back in school, it was the perfect time to go spend a few days of fun together.

We stayed in Jacqui's big, beautiful condo (that was back before the D-I-V-O-R-C-E...). We cooked, ate, sipped wine, talked, laughed, watched movies, slept a little, shopped and generally had a happy, relaxing time. Just spending so much uninterrupted time together was wonderful...no rushing home to the kids, no demands...no pressure. Just a chance to put our feet up, let our hair down and say or do whatever we wanted. We got to know each other better, create stronger bonds and develop stronger friendships--things that were difficult to do back home due to our busy, active lives.

The trip I'm taking this weekend is a little different. There's a reason for the gathering--it's a book conference, attended by members of book clubs around the country as well as by several authors. There will be panel discussions, workshops, and a fair share of fun. Called "Girlfriend's Weekend," it's the biggest event every year in quaint little Jefferson, Texas--a town that doesn't have a single hotel! We'll all be staying in the many bed and breakfast inns in and around Jefferson. I'm most excited about the luncheon with author Pat Conroy tomorrow.

This is a turning point for our family right now as well...Larry will be working, so Nicole will be "on her own" for much of the weekend. She's ready. As a matter of fact, she "graduated" yesterday...it was her last day at Methodist Rehab Center's outpatient therapy clinic. They surprised her with a beautiful (and delicious!) cake:

We ate some before anyone  thought to take a picture!

And just like it's been since the time of her accident, the media was there to cover this milestone. Stephanie Bell Flynt from WLBT news interviewed both Nicole and me and the story aired on the 4pm and 10pm news yesterday. Nicole's story has been reported on WLBT's Medical Matters since her return to Mississippi, a month after her accident. To see her stories, log on to wlbt.com and click on the Medical Matters link at the top of the home page.

Time to go rinse the color off my head...no one will be able to criticize me for having gray roots, not that I really care. In an hour and a half, me and my newly-red hair will be on the road for a weekend of friends and fun!

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan

Can you dig it?

So much of what I learn happens in gatherings of women. Last night, I attended two gatherings. The first was the bookclub I've been a member of for about five months. I've LOVED it!

The ladies in the bookclub call themselves the BB Queens, and they wear tiaras. From the beginning, that appealed to me. There are about 30 women in the club, from all professions and walks of life. It's a lively, interesting group. The group is a chapter of the Pulpwood Queens, based in Jefferson, Texas. A crazy redhead hairdresser started it all about ten years ago from her beauty parlor/bookstore. Appropriately, it's called "Beauty and the Book." There are now chapters all over the United States! Check it out at http://www.beautyandthebook.com/ These wonderful women have taken me under their wing and provided me with a monthly night out, which was sorely needed after the past year. They are even packing me up and taking me with them to Jefferson this weekend for the annual "Girlfriend Weekend," which is a conference for readers and writers. I'm particularly excited about the luncheon with author Pat Conroy on Friday. We read his book "South of Broad" recently and it made me want to visit Charleston, South Carolina really bad.

We had a delayed Christmas party last night, and played "Dirty Santa" with books from our own bookshelves at home. It was impressive to hear the squeals of delight when each book was opened. Cries of "I love that author!" or, "You're gonna love that book!" rang out. These women are READERS and they know their authors well. It's great to be around fun, intellegent women and I can't wait for our weekend getaway!



After the bookclub, I made it back to my own 'hood, where a new garden club has formed. I have lived in my house for 14 years, and in all that time there has been no garden club. Leave it to a newcomer to the 'hood to stir things up. Now we have a garden club, bunco group, day trippin' group, luncheon group...it's amazing how women love to get together for just about any reason!

I'm the program chairman of the garden club, and last night I was patting myself on the back after hearing Ben Profilet talk to us about things we can do to our yards now to make them more beautiful in the spring and summer. He "dumbed it down" for us when necessary, but again, the women in the group amazed me with their extensive knowledge of gardening. For awhile, it was almost a game of "stump the presentor," but I'll give it to Ben, he handled it well and in the end, he really knew his stuff. He has a passion for gardening that is contagious. I learned alot in the hour and a half I sat listening to the program (he could have gone on all night, and many of those in attendance seemed like they were ready to question him all night).

I'm so thankful that opportunites for knowledge sharing and idea exchanges exist here for me. From professional groups like the Professional Women's Association, to more informal groups like the BB Queens book club and the Whisper Lake garden club, I take something away each time I attend--not to mention the wonderful, supportive friendships that develop along the way.

Now I have to put what I've learned into practice!

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan

From Slug to Participant

There's something to be said about living the life of a slug. Being a couch potato for the past three days has been relaxing and rejuvenating! It's not that I've been totally unproductive...I got the last of the Christmas decorations in the house put away, I cleaned out some cabinets and through Facebook, got rid of years' worth of cooking magazines, cookbooks I didn't use, and other things. Cleaning out the cobwebs and clearing my plate for the New Year...

Staying in was a good idea, as the weather was too darned cold to go anywhere. We live on a golf course, and it cracks me up to see all those fanatical golfers who will endure all kinds of incliment weather (for me, that means too hot, too cold, too wet...) to play golf. Or maybe they just need to get out of the house. But for the past few days the only golf cart I saw was full of stupid teenage boys, who were having a ball sliding the cart on the ice patch in front of my next door neighbor's house. I just said a prayer for their stupid selves and busied myself with cleaning out my cabinets. Lord knows we've seen enough brain trauma patients in therapy over the past year.

I swent to bed full of of good intensions. I set the alarm clock for 6am so I could get up, exercise, bathe (a three-day slug fest can get gross), and be a productive citizen starting today. REALITY CHECK:  I got a bit of a workout rolling over to hit the snooze button for over an hour, and I'm still in my pj's, but I'm up, drinking coffee and writing, so that has to count for something! I'm going to have to ease into be a participant in life again, but I have to ease in quickly...it's already approaching mid-January and I've got a calendar full of things to do this week.

I'm finished with my coffee, and I'm about done with this post, so all that's left to do is to hop up and do something with this day that will make me go to bed tonight feeling a real sense of accomplishment. I'm gonna go take care of my family, make some money, and either discover a cure for cancer or facilitate world peace, whichever comes first...

What are you going to do with this day?

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan

Learning new tricks

Have you ever noticed that some people--most people--don't really like change? Humans are creatures of habit and there is a certain comfort in waking up every day knowing what to expect. But in order to grow, we must embrace change.

In my own life, change often evolves around food. When I think back to my own childhood, we didn't eat sushi and other things that are so common for us now. I think back to the first time I ate sushi. I was apprehensive, unsure, and almost determined not to like it. But a patient friend who had lived in CALIFORNIA (so she knew) helped explain the different types of sushi, and I tried several kinds to determine which I like the best. Now, I am a sushi afficianado! It's quite possibly my favorite thing to eat!

Technology is another area that challenges most of our lives. I actually have friends my own age who have no idea what to do with a computer. In my opinion, they are missing out on so much. I love the fact that I can Google just about anything (notice, Google can now be used as a verb). What's the recipe for a wedding cake martini? GOOGLE IT! What kind of bird is that outside my window? GOOGLE IT! Where can I find the best deal on UGG slippers? GOOGLE IT! And I do, all day long, whenever a question pops into my head.

All that technology is now available at my fingertips, with my new HTC Hero phone, which I may have mentioned before that I HATE. It's basically a computer that also functions as a phone. I can access the internet, check and send emails, go to facebook, and much, much more. Mind-boggling more. Hurts-my-brain more. I've already had friends who have given up--returned their Hero and gone back to their Blackberry comfort zone. But I'm determined to LOVE my Hero. I am going to go to the "how to use your Hero" class tomorrow. I guess I have to prove that this old dog can, indeed, do new tricks!

Sometimes we have to challenge ourselves to be open to learning new things. I did that with my pal, Maggie Clark, just yesterday. We went to a very interesting lunch meeting yesterday where we were introduced to the future of news delivery system. We all know and understand television and radio newscasts, and of course, newspapers. But with broadcast, we are limited to time...you have to tune in when they are broadcasting the news. You can read newspapers when you want, but there is a little bit of effort required--walking down the driveway or driving to the newstand--and the news is only updated one time a day.

Yesterday we saw a new news delivery outlet that will be available online beginning January 18. It's called MSDigitalDaily.com, and it will be Mississippi's only dedicated online news source offering state and local news, as well as news about business, sports, religion, lifestyles, opinion, obituaries and daily audio broadcasts. One of the cool things about it is that anyone can create an account and submit content--press releases, articles, etc. It's something that's going to take getting used to, but I think it has great potential.

There is one change I don't think I'll ever get used to...it's this coooooold weather. Wind chill is at 11 degrees now. I like our temperate climate in Mississippi. I like that I don't really need a heavy coat. I don't like feeling that bone-chilling cold that happens when I step out my door. I got a comment yesterday from a faithful reader from Minot, ND, where the air temp was NEGATIVE 18 and a wind chill of 50 below zero! And they have snow, snow, snow. (By the way, happy 50th birthday Marlarae!) I'm thinking that a warm beach sounds pretty good right about now!

The cold weather really does a number on Nicole. She has so much hardware up and down her neck and spine, and the cold weather makes all those rods and screws really cold. They are all touching her bones and muscles in her back, so it causes pain. The solution at home is a space heater in her room. She loves it. But when I open her door, it feels like a blast furnace to me! We have to be very careful, too, to be sure she wears heavy socks and slippers. While she can feel her feet, she is still lacking the sensations of hot and cold, which can really be risky. So when the floors are really cold, she can't feel that. And when the water in the bathtub is too hot, she can't feel that. She has had to learn ways around it. Thank goodness she's not an old dog and that she's quite willing to learn new tricks!

Stay warm everyone!

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan