This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

Once again I am a week late, however, because of it, I was able to get a picture that I will share for this month’s prompt.

Last weekend we were in PA for our youngest granddaughter’s Baptism. Our oldest son drove my husband and me for our road trip. It’s approximately a 6 hour drive from RI so I did read most of the way which was a plus for me. The weather was beautiful and as we traveled across the Tappanzzee Bridge, I was able to get this shot of the new bridge span and sky.

I am an earlier riser waking between 5 am to 5:30 am and love to have my coffee on the deck, playing a few games of Candy Crush and checking Facebook. Hopefully, now that the summer is almost over, I hope I get to continue my morning routine until the cold weather sets in. I took this picture of the sky one morning and thought the colors in the sky were beautiful.

Please don’t mind our fence, the painters are supposed to be here before the end of the month to paint the house and stain the fence. Unfortunately, we will be closing the pool early this year, putting on the winter cover, because of the work that will be done.

My favorite skyline is the sun setting in Aruba. Wed haven’t been in a couple of years so we will hopefully be making plans to revisit. It’s our favorite vacation destination.

At what time of the day is your favorite at looking up at the sky?

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

Don’t know where the time goes, but once again, I’m a week late but due to the long holiday weekend, I hadn’t written a post in time. However, the reason for this is due to this month’s prompt.

My favorite time of year is the Summer, even though the humidity can be brutal here in RI. I would much rather be able to be outside sitting on the deck or sitting by or in the pool reading. I just wish that the season was longer especially since this year we really didn’t have a spring but mainly rainy days.

The 4th of July weekend weather was absolutely gorgeous and I took full advantage of it. Where was I? On my pool float reading. Matter of fact, I read 2 books during this time.

This is where I spend most of my time in the summer

Don’t mind the fence, we hired a painter for the house and restaining the fence. We are in his queue for some time this month.

Since today is another beautiful pool day, I am cutting this post short and heading out, grabbing a book and my float. If you are looking for me, you know where I’ll be!!!!!

Hope you are enjoying the Summer sunshine and longer days!!!

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

I usually schedule my posts for the 2nd Saturday of the month but having bronchitis has delayed me by a week.

I will admit, this month’s prompt was difficult for me since I am a self-proclaimed wuss!! I really had to dig deep to decide how risk is/was part of my life.

Jumping out of a plane? Hell NO!!! I’m terrified of heights, so bad that I have trouble getting beyond the 4th step on a ladder. Roller coasters? Nope!! Same reason!

I realized that maybe the greatest risk(s), I have taken in my life, has to do with my health, specifically my back surgeries. Most people would probably say each of the 8 times would be risks, but looking back, I feel that 2 of them were highly risky and 1 of them I took a huge leap of faith.

After my 2nd operation, and 2 pregnancies, I was in trouble again. My youngest was 6 months old and my oldest was 2 years old. The pain once again excruciating so I went back to Boston for an evaluation. After X-rays, myelogram, etc, I received a phone call 3 or 4 days before Christmas from my surgeon. The news wasn’t good. My fusion had let go and he wanted me admitted asap. There was NO WAY I was going to be in the hospital during Christmas and I told him so. His words haunt me to this day, “you are taking a huge risk, paralysis could be possible”. I told him that I would be careful and that he could admit me right after the holidays.

As I think back, I’m not sure what the heck I was thinking that I took the chance of being severely compromised. Prayers and faith protected me and I had the surgery the first week in January and it was successful.

In 2009/2010, I was in trouble again. Another surgical procedure and this one was a 2-day consecutive surgery that had to be performed. However, this one left me worse after the surgery than before. A had a severe reaction to a medication that was prescribed and once home, I fell twice. Because of the falls, the fusion and my spine healed in a 45-degree angle. Mechanically I couldn’t stand straight, had to walk with a cane, couldn’t walk 50 feet without difficulty, had more pain after than before and had a poor quality of life. And as each year went by, the pain got worse and the pain meds kept getting increased with little to no relief.

In 2014, I had had enough. I had to take another chance so back to Boston., where again I was blessed and protected. The surgeon I saw was one of only 5 on the East Coast that performed the surgery I needed and it would be another 2-day consecutive procedure. However, I was told up front that 3 things could happen. The surgeon would go in and if it was too bad,
he would just close me right back up, or that he would do the procedure but couldn’t guarantee I would be better and the third was that it would be successful. I decided to take the chance.

While in recovery on the first day, the surgeon came in and said that another day would be added to the procedure. What could I say? So I told him to go for it. What I didn’t know until one of my post-op visits, the surgeon told me that what was done in surgery hadn’t been done before. He put me into a medically induced coma for day 2 and 3 because all of the previous hardware was removed and he couldn’t take the chance of me moving around since nothing was holding my spine in place.

Two days after the surgery, the doctor came to visit me and said it was time to see the outcome. So he made me stand. As I stood and went past the 45-degree angle and kept going until I was standing straight. The tears fell, not only mine but his too.

To this day, I can stand straight, don’t need a cane, can hold and lift my granddaughters clean my house, which I had to have someone in the past because I couldn’t, go shopping, etc., etc. I do sometimes have pain but nothing like before. Because of all the surgeries, I do have severe arthritis so if I overdo or the weather changes, there is pain but now it can be controlled.

This is what I look like on the inside. I do have 2 rods on each side f my spine, which is hard to see in the films.

I took a huge risk. But I can honestly say, because of my faith and the faith in the doctor, I was lucky!!!! This time success!! And I’m not naive, I’m sure other discs will deteriorate with age but I’ll cross that bridge then. Right now I’m enjoying my life!!

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

It’s been a very rainy and dreary Spring here in RI and flowers are a bit late in blooming. I have been waiting patiently to get outside, clean up my flower beds and plant. So no actual pictures of my gardens.

I have perennials planted along a wall on one side of our backyard and in May add some annuals. In a corner of our backyard, I have a statue of the Blessed Virgin with an angel on each side, which I also plant annuals. In another corner, we have a hydrangea bush, with perennials and again, will add annuals for more color. My favorite blooms in this area are the Star Gazer Lilys. The fragrance is beautiful but the actual flowers do not last long.

I also have 4 large pots located in each corner of where our pool is that I plant annuals, usually Impatiens.

Wednesday of this week, the sun finally made an appearance, so I took advantage of the day and planted these seeds and fingers crossed, they will be blooming in a few weeks.

What I am really hoping that will bloom, which I had never seen before, was a seed paper that includes multiple wildflower blends in the shape of a butterfly. Recently, my son’s girlfriend’s Mom passed away and after the funeral, guests were given these packets in her memory.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this year I have a backyard full of color and beautiful blooms.

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

One of my favorite words!

I admit I have a sweet tooth. No that’s not true, I have several!!

My go-to favorite sweet, which also is my comfort food, is ice cream!! Preferably a sundae from Friendly’s with forbidden chocolate and chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge, peanut butter, and marshmallow toppings and let’s not forget the sprinkles, whipped cream, and the cherry!

And talking about chocolate, I’m not very good around Halloween. Having bags of candy ready to be given out, some of the bags do not contain the entire number of pieces that is stated on the bag.

And if I am completely honest, I will never pass on dessert, be it cakes or pies.

But the greatest sweetness in my life today, are my 2 granddaughters, Lucy who will be 3 in October and Nora, who is 2 ½ months old. With the internet being both a positive and negative with some people stealing images, I won’t be posting their pictures. But know, their sweetness fills my heart!!

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

We have a joke and saying in our family. If it wasn’t for bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Lottery tickets and/or gambling have been bought or played maybe a handful of times. We take our vacations in Aruba, and every hotel has a casino. I think out of the last 12 trips, we entered the casino 2 or 3 times. And people laugh at me because if I do go, I go with only $40. and if I lose that, I’m done. I would much rather spend it on something else. However, in the last year I have won some books from GoodReads, which for me, is the best luck.

Even health wise I haven’t been that lucky. With over 30 surgeries, 8 of them on my back, 5 on my knees and multiple medical conditions, I would say not much luck there. However, even with that, I do consider myself Blessed and grateful because I know, and been taught by my Mom, that there is always someone else worse than me. Plus the fact that the last back operation in 2014, which was a 3 day operation that had a total of 5 incisions, I am able to stand straight and not needing to rely on a cane.

Where I am lucky, which IMO I have won the biggest lottery there is, is my family!!

My husband and I will be celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary next month. We have 2 phenomenal sons, I know I am biased, but they are.

Our oldest graduated college and presently studying for his Master’s, was hired within 3 months of graduating in his field with a major company, and bought a house on his own.

Our youngest graduated college with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Engineering, is married, just bought their forever home, and has 2 daughters, that are our sunshine and have a big chunk of our hearts.

So yes, I am very lucky!!

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

Pink was never a favorite color of mine. When it came to makeup, I don’t think I ever wore pink lipstick or nail polish. I always tended to gravitate to a warmer palette.

Even when it came to decorating our house, we went with a Colonial decor look also using warmer colors. We recently remodeled our kitchen and I was surprised, that both my husband and I, agreed very quickly on the color scheme and the granite.

However, when it comes to flowers, my favorite is a pink Star Gazer Lily. The scent is amazing but the blooming period is very short. At one time, Yankee Candle even sold the scent but has since discontinued it.

But on Oct 7th, 2 years ago, our world exploded with pink when we welcomed our granddaughter into the world. Having 2 sons, pink was never a color I had to deal with. But now, I love the color pink because of her.

We are currently on baby watch for our 2nd grandchild, not knowing the gender until he/she makes the grand entrance, we are waiting patiently to see if pink will become a nuclear bomb in our family!!!!

This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

Since I signed up for this Challenge, I have been contemplating in which direction I would go with this month’s prompt. And then I thought, at my age, which I will not admit to :-), there have been many firsts in my life. Some celebratory and others somber. Since this is the first of a New Year, I am going to reflect on the happy occcasions.

My first real true love, my husband. This year we will be celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary, not counting the 7 years that we dated before marrying. I still vividly recall that magical day in 1981.

As all marriages, we have had our ups and downs, but together we have weathered them all and experienced many wonderful firsts.

Buying our first house. I remember being so frightened. Would we be able to handle a mortgage? We both lived with our parents and bought our house right before the wedding. And when I think back now, I chuckle because our monthly payments were $300/month (kind of gives you a good idea how long ago that was.

We knew we wanted a family and the birth of our first son in 1983 and our second son in 1986 was such a Blessing. We could never have imagined the profound and unconditional love that entered our hearts. The one thing that we were adamant that they do, was to graduate college, which they both did. One has already received his Master’s and the other son is currently in a Master’s Program. We are so proud of both of them and the men they have become.

And then 2 years ago, we were Blessed once again, with the birth of our first grandchild, Lucy. What an amazing love to see our “baby” with a baby of his own. She has stolen both our hearts and has both my husband and I wrapped around her finger. Next month, we are expecting our 2nd grandchild. Not sure of boy or girl since my son and DIL did not want to know the gender ahead of time. We are counting the days to meet him or her!

What comes to your mind with the word first? Would enjoy hearing your firsts!