An Apology and My Word for 2017

Hello friends.

Let me start by saying, I am so very sorry I haven't been able to answer all your lovely comments on my last post. Please don't think I didn't appreciate them. Quite the opposite...they brought joy to my heart each time I read one in the midst of what was a very emotional and chaotic week. Let me explain. You may remember I mentioned my mother-in-law being hospitalized week before last. Well, my dad was hospitalized on Monday with what they thought may be pneumonia but turned out to be a reaction to a medicine he had been prescribed the week before. He was released the following day and is doing well now. He is almost back to normal. On Tuesday, Rooster (my dog) had an appointment to be neutered. The procedure went well and I took off work Wednesday to stay home with him and make sure he didn't injure himself. He managed not to despite snatching the leash out of my hand and tearing through the woods after one of my cats with his cone on his neck. He came back out of the woods with it flopping to the side and busted to pieces. He was happy as a lark since he hated the cone anyway. He has been fine without it, so all is well that ends well. 

Wednesday evening, we got the call from my mother-in-law that she does indeed have cancer. We don't know how extensive yet...she goes this week for further testing. We are praying it hasn't spread. Thursday, I got a new student (she's a sweetie) and I found out one of my kinders may be going through sexual abuse. Praying it isn't so,...it breaks my heart and makes me ill. 

Friday was a full moon and believe it or not, it does make a difference with my kids. They are always super loud and more hyper than normal. Luckily, I left early that day since I was helping decorate for my niece's wedding. I didn't get home until around 11 that night only to have to get up at 5:30 and start baking several things for the dessert bar at the wedding which was at 2:00 PM. I managed to get everything done and arrive 2 hours before the wedding. It was such a fun day...albeit another long day and I was exhausted when I finally got home last night. 

And that brings us to today...Sunday. The day intended to be a day of rest. And, it certainly has been for me. I spent a good portion of the day sitting on my yoga mat with a blanket and my laptop on the deck of our porch in progress. It was a beautiful day! I started to reply to all the sweet comments you all left and decided to just write a post to explain to you all at once. Thank you for your loyalty and your understanding.

I also wanted to share my focus word for this year......

I really want to be mindful of everything in my life and devote my focus to whatever I am doing during each moment of my life. Here are some of the areas I am hoping to be more mindful of. This is a vision board I created on PicMonkey. I just found pictures I liked on the web and created a collage using them. I'm planning to print a few and place them where I will see them a lot. One in my planner, one on the fridge, in my craft room, and so on. A couple of the things on my vision board will be shared soon as I am trying to be more mindful of my blogging as well.

I do hope this post wasn't too much of a downer. I am not complaining about my circumstances in life, I just wanted you to understand what an emotion filled week I have had. Life is full of ups and downs but I don't let it keep me down. I am blessed and thankful. Thankful for friends like you all who always have such nice things to say. Hope your week is blessed. I am thankful to have tomorrow off for Martin Luther King Day and plan to be mindful of my time. 

Until next time.....