Sifting through Memories

As part of project Get Rid of the Clutter, I cleaned out the shed this weekend. I had forgotten how many playthings were in there from the girls' younger days: sand toys from the boat shaped sand box, the Barbie® jeep they and their friends drove around the cul-de-sac while playing tunes on a battery operated radio, a myriad of water guns that no longer work, and tiny bicycles that have long since been outgrown. So many memories and so many treasures.

I was able to part with most things, but couldn't quite let go of these:

The twin shovels the girls used to help Paddy clear the snow. That usually lasted five minutes before they wanted to come in for hot chocolate with marshmallows in front of the fireplace.

The bird house the Lil' Diva made on a school field trip and the training wheels off her bicycle when she finally felt brave enough to ride on her own.

As I tucked away the remaining gardening tools in a cleaner shed, those memories brought a tear to my eye. Those days will never come again. But with God's grace, new adventures and fond memories are in the making. 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts is hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. This is a chance for book bloggers to dabble in areas besides books (but those are welcome too). Share your plans for the weekend, a rant on people not using their turn signals in parking lots, or your love of Sunday morning mimosas.

Yesterday was an emotional day. My in-laws' place is finally organized so that the clean up crew can come in and toss what needs to be tossed and bring to our place what is being kept. I found so-o-o-o many wonderful family photos and other mementos during the clean up process. It was hard to part with some of them, but there is only so much room at our place. Here are some of the special treasures I discovered on the last day:

My mother-in-law's parents (they died before I joined the family)

My hubby's newborn photo

Local magazines from the 1980s

My father-in-law's navy uniforms

I'm grateful for the blessing of being part of a wonderful family. 

Book Review: The Journal Project by Susan Lerner

Have you ever struggled to recall a funny family story? Have you ever lost a loved one and thought: I wish I could talk to him one last time. There is so much I would ask? The Journal Project: Capturing the Magic of Family Life Through Stories by Susan Lerner might just be the encouragement you need to get started.

In this booklet, Lerner shares the benefits of writing down ordinary life events, how stories differ from photos and videos, the writing process and more. The reality is that we all probably wish we captured more memories of our children growing up, our loved ones before they passed, and even thoughts about ourselves. If you've been contemplating starting a journal or have a family member or friend wishing to start one, The Journal Project will help put things in motion.

What I really enjoy about this book is that it provides a good amount of information, but is easily read in one sitting. I've put it on the reference shelf in my office to refer to later because there are some neat resources at the end of the book.

Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: on the edge books (October 4, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0975285394
ISBN-13: 978-0975285398

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Mailbox Monday - July 25

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. This is the first weekend in a while--other than being on vacation--that I didn't work the whole weekend away. I definitely was on the computer Saturday, but Sunday I went to church, did my grocery shopping, and then made Yia-Yia an orange coconut cake for her birthday--which is today. Happy birthday, Yia-Yia!

No new books in the mail lately, but I did pick up some new Kindle freebies. I've also been reading A Simple Vow by Charlotte Hubbard. 

Read about it on Goodreads

Read about it on Goodreads

Read about it on Goodreads

Read about it on Goodreads

What was in your mailbox? 

April 2011 A to Z Blogging Challenge

What is the A to Z Challenge? It’s blogging a letter of the alphabet every day the month of April (with Sundays off for good behavior.) It began April 1st, with the letter A and ends April 30th, with the letter Z. You can click here to see who else is participating in this challenge.

Today's post is for the letter:

Today we'll talk about family. Families come in all shapes and sizes. When I was born in the 1960's, I was the last of three girls. I spent many years as the baby of the family. After my mother passed away, my father remarried. He and his wife had two boys. After the birth of my brothers, that planted me squarely in the middle; though I've never felt like a middle child. I'm like the stopping point of the old family before the new family begins.

At the ripe old age of 19, I gave birth to my first child. My son's father and I were together until our little one was 18 months old. We split, and I began dating the man who is now my current husband. We dated for many years; so long that several people thought we would never marry. But one day he asked and I said yes. We were married in May 2000 and soon began working on adding to our family.

I spent the first 20 months of our 41 months of marriage pregnant. We welcomed the Lil Diva in 2001 and the Lil Princess in 2003. Life hasn't been quiet or dull since.

Our family grew to include my daughter-in-law. Perhaps one of these days I'll be getting a call that a first grandchild is on the way. We'll see. We never know what God has planned for our growing family.

Family is at the center of everything I do. I left Corporate America in 2004 to raise my children. I am fortunate to work from home, so that every day when the girls step off the bus they find me here to help with homework. My son still calls every once in a while to chat with Mom. Yesterday, we got a chance to catch up on things when we ran into each other unexpectedly at WalMart.

As I mentioned before, I'm not sure what God has planned for our family, but it sure has been one wonderful ride so far.

What is one of your favorite family memories?