Making Magical Memories (Yes, I did use alliteration.)

I have wonderful memories of doing extra-special things with my parents when I was a child.  I remember the time we went to Campobello Island when I was about 8 years old.  My mom used to pack a picnic lunch when we took day trips.  We were in a hurry when we left home.  I can't remember what happened exactly, but instead of pre-making our sandwiches, my mom just grabbed a tupperware container of tuna  salad we had the day before for lunch, some bread, a cucumber and some chips.  When we arrived at the picnic area of the island, probably about a 3 hour drive from our house, she went to make lunch and opened the tupperware only to find out it was leftover peas from dinner the night before; not exactly great for making sandwiches.  My mom cried and my dad and I laughed and laughed and laughed (not at her) until she was laughing too.  I don't remember what we finally did for lunch, but it didn't matter.  That was a memory I will cherish for my life and thanks to my amazing parents, I have hundreds of similar memories.

I want my children to have similar memories.  Even though my kids are being raised in a single parent family, I want to insure that they have as many wonderful memories as possible.  Today was one of those days that I hope will stay with them forever.  It started at 4:30 a.m.  If you haven't read the post, it's sort of amusing. After we got back from Dysart's, Danny took a nap and Joey vegged on the couch.  At around  11 a.m. we left for Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.  We are so blessed to have this amazing national park in our backyard.  We arrived at Sand Beach at around noon.  My boys and I played in the sand and the ocean all afternoon.

We left the beach around 5 p.m. and drove a little way and had our dinner of PB&J on Otter Cliffs.  I forgot a knife (I am so much like my mother) so I broke a plastic cup into strips and used it as a knife.  The boys both laughed at me.   A little later, we drove a little ways up the road and the boys climbed on the rocks and boulders in the park.  They gazed into a crystal clear tidal pool and played tag and hide and    seek on the rocks.

We drove home and both boys fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Joey managed to take a few pictures of his sleeping brother from the backseat.  He soon fell asleep as well.  They got home and went right to bed.

Today was not a perfect day by any means.  Joey had a timeout and I had to speak to Danny several times, but the most important thing is that today made a memory in their sweet minds.  Maybe someday, one of my children will grow up and they will tell of the time that Grammie Judi tried to make PB&J sandwiches on the rock and had to use a strip from an old plastic cup to complete the job...

I can only hope that these memories will inspire my boys to create their own memories with their children someday.

“The heart that truly loves never forgets.”

Nature called at 4:30 a.m... Too Bad Danny was asleep

In a few weeks, I will be taking the boys camping all by myself.  8 days and 7 nights in a tent with NO electricity.  We will be about 2 hours away at Sebago Lakes State Park.   We went camping here last year and had a blast, but we were only there for 3 days.  We all wish we had more time, so this year, I put in for a whole week.  Since this is going to be a long span of time, we decided to practice last night by camping in our backyard.  There is nothing like a backyard adventures to bring a family closer.

The boys both helped me put up our new tent, which is good as I don't know if I could have done it by myself.  Danny and I ate lunch in the tent yesterday and the boys played in the tent all day yesterday.  We tried to simulate an authentic camping experience by having a fire in our firepit last night.  We were joined by our awesome neighbors Josh and Susan for roasted "smarshmallows" (as Danny calls them.)

At around 9 p.m., we went in our house, used the restroom and then went out to the tent.  We hunkered down for the night.  It was chilly!  The boys both seemed to sleep very well.  I, however, forgot how loud our little city was at night.  We live about 1/4 mile from the interstate, so I heard traffic most of the night.  I never realized that there was a train that blew it's horn about 50 times at 2:00 a.m.  I'm glad I don't live right near the tracks.  I would also love to thank the trucker that decided to use his air breaks for about 30 seconds this morning at 3 a.m.  It sounded like an air horn going off inside our tent.  Not to mention there were countless flights and helicopters going overhead all night.  Camping in our backyard is definitely not the quiet environment of nature I envisioned.

Needless to say, I did NOT sleep well at all.  The boys, however, slept really, really well.  In fact, Danny slept so well that at 4:30 he woke up soaking wet.  Poor boy.  It was cold out and he was wet and cold. I woke up Joey to tell him we were going in the house.  Joey didn't want to stay outside by himself, so he followed us in.  By the time we got Danny dried off and changed, we were all wide awake and the boys were STARVED.   So, this quick thinking (also hungry) mom said, "Let's go to Dysart's".  For those of you not from the immediate area, Dysart's is a truck stop that is open 24 hours a day. They have AMAZING food, huge portions and the best feature for two little boys is that there are trucks everywhere.  We were seated in the restaurant by 5 a.m., eating by 5:20 a.m. an on our way home by 5:45 a.m.  We are not at home and the boys are watching Looney Toons.  I had to blog about our adventure, but now I think I'm going to take a nap.  Good night, er... good morning everyone.  Oh yeah, and I made a note to myself....Pull-ups for the upcoming camping trip are a must!

Marriage advice from the single chick

I know that I'm probably a really odd person to be be giving marriage advice, but I'm gonna do it anyway.  I had a conversation tonight with someone who shall remain nameless and I really, really had my eyes opened.  You see, even though my marriage ended in divorce, I thought I had a really great marriage right up to the day we separated.  In fact, that very night in the car, we were trying to teach Danny the words to the song "The Witch Doctor" and the four of us were laughing together.  Little did I know that in less than an hour, I would find out information about my marriage that would change my life and the life of my two little boys forever.

So, take this advice with a HUGE grain of salt, but I would love to pass it along to others.  Are you ready for my ground-shaking, world changing advice?  You're not going to believe this...  Here it is...


Keep no secrets from your spouse...


Yup, that's it...  Most people might think that it should be something like "Love each other unconditionally."  Yes, I think that is of the utmost of importance as well and "Kiss each other every day."  Yes, that's up there as well, but what really separated our marriage was the issue of secrets.  Now I'm not talking about the secrets you keep at Christmas or birthdays or even the shh...  we're having a surprise party secret.  What I'm talking about is the secret that separates.  Eventually those happy secrets will bring you together.

Adultery is a secret.  When it comes to light, it will separate a couple.  If you've fallen into that, tell your spouse.  He or she will most likely be very, very mad.  They may even ask you to leave your house and tell you your marriage is over.  Until those divorce papers are final, it's not over.  Get help, get counsel and hang in there, but get out of the adulterous relationship and try to get your life back in order.  No matter how miserable you are in your marriage, persevere and work through your problems.  Divorce is worse than death in many ways.

Lack of passion or attraction to the other person, when held as a secret will tear a marriage apart. When you first identify that you know you don't feel the way you should, TALK about it or get counsel.

If you lose your job because you mouthed off to your boss, don't cover it up.  Be honest, tell your spouse.  Humbly apologize, work through the problem together.

If you are drinking, gambling, involved in pornography or even involved in drugs, tell your spouse and GET HELP!!  They are your partner and if you humble yourself and ask for help, they most likely will help you.  At least, they will respect your honesty.


Whatever your secret is, let it out.  You most likely will be found out anyway.  Secrets have a tendency to surface when you least want them to.  Be proactive and deal with your problem honestly before you have no choices left.

Love needs to be transparent.  In order to truly love and be loved, there can be no walls or barriers, so love one another in honesty and truth.