I’ve dreaded this day for a long time, the day I would say goodbye to Mom – to both my parents, actually. Just 15 months ago I said my final farewell to Daddy. I now begin a new chapter in my life; it is going to be very different. My mother was the toughest person I have ever known, probably ever will. I lost count, but over the last year she had a least a dozen surgeries and was hospitalized or in the ER many, many times. You know you are spending too much time at the hospital when the parking attendants know your first name. Mom endured dialysis for her […]
Read more...Category Archives: Random Thoughts
Aging is no Laughing Matter… Or IS It?
I turned 52 yesterday…yikes. I used to think people in their 50s were lame and already had one foot in the grave. Well, now I’m there and it happened in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, I’m nowhere near a cemetery (she says crossing her fingers) and I’m still pretty cool – in a middle age kind of way, that is. Admittedly, I don’t let my bra straps show, I don’t have any tattoos or piercings on my face, I prefer Aerosmith to Nicki Minaj, and my goblet holds a dry Chardonnay instead of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill, but I do have my contemporary moments. My kids tell me I’m […]
Read more...SILENCE IS GOLDEN
For an overachieving, working mother with a “Type A” personality and a tendency toward anxiety, the concept of being still is rather foreign … and a little frightening. Like so many Christians, I can be silent and listen to God for oh, about 15 seconds, before the noise of my over-stimulated mind breaks in. So imagine putting me in a place for 36 hours where true silence and isolation are observed? Then consider that this bona fide city girl would have no electricity or indoor plumbing and you’ll get an idea of how daunting the whole concept was for me. But that’s exactly where God led me. Finding myself at […]
Read more...A WHOLE New Ball Game
Aren’t you getting tired of everybody telling you to eat whole grains? I know it sounds like a broken record, but as a newbie on the road to wellness, I’m going to do it again. Sorry. If you’ll recall from last week’s first WELLNESS WEDNESDAY, I am trying to incorporate small changes in my life to make me healthier, happier, and more energized. So far we’ve talked about the importance of drinking a ridiculous amount of water every day. Doing so has health benefits from your brain all the way to the vascular system in your tippy toes, and it is a small thing to do to keep the specialists away. Today we […]
Read more...THE WONDERS OF WATER
I sold yellow pages advertising for twelve years, eleven of those years as an outside sales consultant dealing with major accounts. While it was a great way to make a living, it was definitely NOT glamorous. Most of my clients weren’t in luxurious offices with mahogany furniture; they were plumbers, remodelers, and roofers working out of a van. As long as I live, I’ll never forget meeting with a mechanic at his auto repair shop in a suburb of St. Paul. I pulled up to the dilapidated shop in my yuppie sedan and clicked up to the front door wearing three-inch heals and a designer suit. I swallowed hard when I […]
Read more...A Slippery Slope
Last night I enjoyed an abbreviated game of Bunco with a group of friends. Unfortunately the aura of an impending migraine came on and I had to pop an Imitrex and leave early. I felt pretty sorry for myself; I had been looking forward to getting together with the ladies for a long time. It was a dismal night of freezing drizzle in rural Minnesota. As I headed out to my car, head pounding and stomach lurching, I steadied myself against the vehicles lining the driveway to prevent myself from taking a flop on the ice. The drive home wasn’t too precarious until I reached our township where the roads are poorly […]
Read more...To Everything There is a Season
“Every blade in the field – Every leaf in the forest – lays down its life in its season as beautifully as it was taken up.“ ~ Henry David Thoreau Autumn is my favorite season. The cool, crisp air of September is a welcome respite from the sweltering dog days of summer. The woods surrounding our lakeside home pop in stunning crimson, gold, and bronze and I stand in awe of God’s masterpiece. How did He conceive something so majestic? He must have been very cheerful that day. This is a photo of my favorite tree on our property. Although we live amid a canopy of magnificent sugar maples, it’s […]
Read more...The Wonder of God’s Creation
In 2005, I wrote and released two books in my “How Do You Know He’s Real” series. They both feature incredible testimonies by celebrities from the worlds of sports and entertainment. Of course, personal experience is the best way to recognize God’s hand, but we also see His divinity in nature. For a moment, picture yourself walking in a forest of pine trees in the north woods. Do you see the cardinals and the blue jays, the eagles and the hawks? Do you see the little chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels scampering around on the ground? How about the majestic blue sky filled with billowy clouds and rays of sunshine. Then […]
Read more...A Father’s Legacy
My 80-year-old father passed away on November 22nd from aspiration pneumonia due to Alzheimer’s disease. I gave a eulogy at his memorial service as a final tribute to an incredible man. The following are excerpts from my remarks. Over the past few days, my mom, my siblings and I have been sharing special memories of Dad. Walter “Bud” Hammond was a man of integrity and character who loved us all unconditionally. I treasure the faint aroma reminiscent of his pipe tobacco and the sight of his goofy hats, long pants, and sweatshirts as he mowed the lawn. He had a wonderful sense of humor; he even had his own language. […]
Read more...California Road Trip – “Crazy Busy”
– photos by Kaia Calhoun For much of our recent vacation, my daughter and I stayed with my niece Dena and her wonderful family. Their beautiful home is situated amidst the heavily wooded, narrow twisting lanes of a Bay Area paradise. What a great place to grow up; no mosquitoes or blizzards there! Dena’s life as a mother is crazy busy. From dawn until dusk she is running her two kids, Jensen (7) and Boden (4), to one activity or another—swimming, tennis, ballet, play dates, or day camp to name a few—yet she still manages to make nutritious home-cooked meals and teach Pilates. The whole business was a little overwhelming […]
Read more...