Today is bittersweet as I celebrate my Dad who I miss more and more as time goes by and I also celebrate all the amazing Dads that I know and love! It is heart-warming to read all of the Facebook posts and I love hearing stories of all the wonderful Dads. We are all blessed beyond words for these loving, kind men that we call our Dads. I gave the eulogy at my Dad’s funeral and I put together a speech called “Nobody Better …” Continue reading
March 15, 1997
Weighing in at 4 pounds, 7 ounces and 21” inches long, John William Hooper makes his way into the world at 2:02pm. Just two minutes later, Lucille Reed Hooper makes her debut at 3 pounds and I can’t remember how many ounces and only 20” in length. Of course, John had to come first ~ I am sure he was pushing and shoving his sister out of the way as he always has to be first and always has to win.
It truly is impossible for me to think that it has been 20 years. So many women say the happiest day of their life was the day their children were born. For me, it was the scariest day of my life. I had such a hard time getting pregnant, had a very high-risk pregnancy, was on bed rest for a month and in the hospital for two weeks before my babies were born. Continue reading
Life continues to move at warped speed at my house ~ I always thought that once my kids went off to college, things would slow down. No such luck! I have talked to our friends who are in the same boat and we all agree that we never thought we would be working this hard at this age. And it’s true ~ I am constantly thinking that as soon as I finish this project, then I will have some down time but it never seems to happen. Continue reading
I have always loved Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer.” When it was featured in a Super Bowl commercial years three years ago ~ it brought me to my knees. I am blessed and honored to have grown up on a farm in Ohio and to have known many amazing farmers. They are a special group, a fraternity of hard working, strong, dependable, salt-of–the-earth men.
Today is the 6th anniversary of my Dad’s passing and not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. The pain of missing him will never go away but as a tribute, I try to live my life in the way that he taught me from a very early age. Continue reading
I haven’t written on my blog in many weeks. I have been buried with buying a new house, staging and selling our old house, closing two other escrows, listing two new homes, packing, moving to the Hooper Farm (which is a major fixer upper), unpacking, cleaning, dealing with my kids being home… It has been a whirlwind and it feels like my feet never touch the ground. I have been in survival mode. I am stretched thin and my plate is full. I am overwhelmed.
This morning I woke up realizing that Lucy leaves on her mission trip today. She will be gone for 10 weeks. We have all been so busy that we haven’t paid much attention to the importance of her journey.
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It’s that time of the year when high school seniors and their parents are on edge and checking their mailboxes daily for acceptance letters. The stress of filling out applications, writing essays, taking the ACT/SAT tests is over and now comes the waiting period. I could write a book about this topic as I have so many stories and to be honest, I feel quite strongly about the whole process … Continue reading
Today is my Dad’s birthday – he would be 79! I would love nothing more than to hear his voice or spend the day with him … They say time heals all wounds but I find that I miss him more as time goes on. So I will hold fast to the memories and close my eyes and we will be having dinner together at the Golden Lantern. He will order a CC and 7 and I will have a glass of wine. We will both have our favorite shrimp cocktail and then he will enjoy his “surf and turf” and I will have a nice steak. It will be a wonderful dinner and as always, he will pick up the check! Happy Birthday Dad!
The welcome home for my daughter who had been off to college for 3 months. Our puppy misses her brother and sister so much!! I love this!!
And so they say but I have to confess the Christmas decoration is not my favorite thing! Because I’m a designer, extremely organized and on top of all the details, everyone “assumes” that I would go all out for Christmas. When in reality, it is something I dread every year! And what I have just now come to realize is that I am not alone …
TAKE A SHOWER...you'll feel better! 