2.5 Years Later…...

Wow, it has been 2.5 years since I last blogged and that was supposed to be a New Year's Resolution to do so frequently.  So here I am again.  We (Bob and I)just returned home from a little getaway for our 34th Wedding Anniversary.  We travelled to the Northwoods area of Wisconsin as a sort of nostalgic tour and took in the sights and sampled the great food available.  We had dinner at one of our favorites in the area, "Pub and Prime", and we shared our thoughts and feelings with each other.  They were all good and a bit on the romantic side.  Sometimes, it is wonderful to just "getaway and concentrate on each other" once in a while.  We had a glorious, fun, wonderful time together.

Getting back to this blogging thing and New Year's Resolutions, I obviously did not keep my promises to myself on this blog.  I have made some notes and jottings in one of my journals, but only sporadically.  I am proud to report that this year, 2015, I made only one resolution and that was to get healthy.  I have lost in excess of 30 pounds, many many inches, dropped a couple of sizes, have developed healthier food choices, and am still working on daily exercise.  I retired from my position as Executive Director, and after several months of freedom, decided that I might like doing some work on a part-time basis.  I was offered the maintenance job at Nicolet School in Kaukauna, working approximately 20 hours/week.  Initially, I cleaned the classrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, and gym on a daily basis, but for summer, I do the bathrooms, lobby, and landscaping outdoors.  Most recently, I pulled all of the thousands of weeds in the gigantic playground over the course of the last two months. 

My musings on a glorious sunset.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to create a blog and contribute to it often.  So I am early in getting started (a good thing). I named this blog "Glorious Sunsets" because when I was a child of about ten years, I received my first autograph book.  I believe I received it from my cousin, Mary.  Of course, I went around and asked many people to write something in it.  When I got to my Mom, she wrote something that at the time I didn't think was very positive.  She wrote "I do not wish you every day to be filled with sunshine but just enough rain to create a glorious sunset."  It took me many years to figure out what she meant by that statement, and now every time I reflect on it, I am filled with a sense of incredible love.  She knew that life is filled with ups and downs, happy times and sorrowful times, good things and bad, but she also knew that I needed to experience all of those things to enjoy and revel in the beautiful things that happen on this journey we call life.

I am so blessed in this life and so thankful.  I have a beautiful, healthy family with one grandson and another on the way.  I reflect on the Holidays we just shared and am humbled by the love of dear friends and family.  Right now, at this current segment in time, life is great in my immediate family.  But it can change at any moment.  I have dear people in my life who are struggling with devastating illnesses, yet they carry on in a positive way.  Not only that, their families present a strong front, all the while knowing that things can go south in a hurry.  But they are so incredibly faithful and hopeful and try to make everything "normal" for everyone else.  True warriors.  I sometimes wonder if I will be that strong and inspirational when those tough times come for us.

In the meantime, I am committed to live life like today is my last day, to provide joy to someone else everyday, and be a person worthy of all that has been provided for me.  My love language is giving.  I love to see the happiness and joy on a persons face when they receive something unexpected.

So this is my first post, a starting point.  Please choose to be happy and live each day to the fullest.  It is a gift.
Connie