DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG

I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot

George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Christmas and Family!!

My One Little Word for 2015 was LIVE and as the year drew to an end, I was very pleased about how I have made changes in my life to allow me more time to LIVE!

If you want to read about what changes I made, click HERE for My Reflections on my One Little Word.....

I do not often share personal family photos on my blog so this post is a little different than those I normally do.......

The recent tragic passing of my Great Nephew, Craig, my niece Lisa's only son, has caused me to do a lot of reflection.........

Craig

We are all busy in our lives and sometimes get tied up in our daily routines and forget to make time for those that are the most important to us........... our family!

My niece, Lisa, who is only 12 years younger than I am, with her husband, John and her grandchildren, Craig's children.

Her grief is overwhelming.....

In the Fall, I had a Get Together at my house for my sister's family and mine and it was such a joy to reconnect!

This Christmas, we did it again and ALL but 1 of my sister's 5 children and their families and my family of 5 partied at my house!!

Yep, 20 people in my house all at once!!

It was chaotic, crowded, loud with laughter, filled with smiles and was such a joy!!

I actually managed to take a few photos!!

That is my Sister, Barb with her grand daughter Carly on her right and Caitlin on her left. Please excuse my BIL's head!!

I was taking these photos on the fly but they are better than none so please excuse the poor quality!!

That is my Sister's husband John and to his right is Renae, my nephew Johnny's wife. Carly and Caitlin are 2 of their 3 children. And that is the back of my niece Lisa's head..... so sorry!!

You can see Joe is the Kitchen!!

Jim, my youngest son and Danielle, our daughter-in-love!!

My Niece Lynn and her daughter Madalyn.......

Out in the Den, watching football........

To the left, trying to not have his picture taken, is my great nephew Will, Lynn's son and to the right is Ed, Lynn's husband.

My nephew Dan and his wife Heather , who came in from York, Pa. for the party!! I was so thrilled that they did!!

Heather and I share the same Birthday!!

This is Johnny, my nephew and God Child and Renae's husband.....

Jim and Danielle watching Carly and Madalyn.....

Heather, Lynn and Renae with Dan sitting in the chair.......

Our son, Joey, who hates to have his photo taken and put online!! LOL!!

My Sister, Barb, who is 10 years older than me....

Doesn't she look terrific!!

Me and Barb

Joe was taking the photos so I apologize!!

LOL!!

There is a story behind these photos of Barb and I together.......

From the time I was a child, on Christmas Eve at our parent's, it was a tradition that Barb and I sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and act out the song! I had learned this in grade school .

After these photos were taken, I got the idea to "perform" Rudolph again after many years!!

Some of Barb's older kids remembered this tradition that we did every Christmas Eve at my parent's house up until our Dad passed away, our Mom sold the house and we had our own separate Christmas Eve celebrations.

My sons and the little ones never saw this and were hysterical as we did our song!!

Yes, there is Video and NO, I will NOT be sharing it here on this Blog!!

LOL!

But we ALL had a wonderful time and will be getting together now more often!!

We missed Brian , my sister's youngest son, and his wife , Ann, who live in South Carolina.

Barb and I both said that we were sure that our parent's were smiling down upon us on that day!!

I want to share a few more photos of my sister and her family........

These are from Christmas Day at her house.....

Barb and John and their grand children.......

Madalyn and Carly in front with Caitlin, Cortney and Will.......

Madalyn and Carly.......

Barb and the girls.....

Caitlin Loves my Guest Room and was found sitting up there on the bed , gazing around the room, saying "I love this room!"

John and Renae and their lovely daughters in NYC.......

Another thing that I realized is that I now have someone to pass some of my treasures onto especially since my 2 sons are really not to interested in all my stuff!!

Several years ago, Joe bought a Christmas Village at Sam's Club. I admit that it was one of Joe's impulse buys because I ALREADY had a Village that I display on a platform under our Tree.

How I displayed the Village years ago.......

I asked my sister if she wanted it. Madalyn was so enthralled by it that it ended up under her Tree at her house!!

Madalyn loves playing with it!!

Lynn and her family......

Renae and her daughters love Tea Cups and Antiques so I know they will be "inheriting " some of my Treasures too!!

Heather and I share the same Birthday and a lot of similar interests as far as decorating and crafting!!

It was a difficult Christmas for my sister and her family and I am glad that we all got the chance to be together.....

On Jan. 3, Joe's parents and a family friend, Frankie, came to visit!!

Again, these photos were taken on the fly so I apologize!!

As I mentioned before, my oldest son , Joey, does not appreciate having his photo taken!!

Pardon Joe's Dad's head!!

Joe's Mom, Elly, Jim, who always seems to be eating in photos, and Danielle

Jim, who is still eating, Joey, Joe's Dad, and Frankie. Joe is again , in the Kitchen!!

And will you look at Joey's face!! I told you he does not like his photo taken!! I know I am going to hear about this!! LOL!!

Joe's Dad was in the ED on Christmas Eve day and is feeling better. He is 85 y/o.

Joe's Mom is 82 y/o.

I have no idea what was in the TV in the Living Room!! LOL!!

Jim and Danielle worked hard this Christmas Season at Target. They always work the overnight shift and go to work at 3:00 am!!

Danielle, a friend and Jim........

While Joey took vacation and was off from December 24 until Jan. 4th!!

It was the topic of much busting and laughter!

We got to spend a lot of time with our children over the Holidays:

December 7th- Jim's Birthday
December 20th- Family Party
December 24th- Christmas Eve
December 25th- Christmas Day
December 29th- Joey's Birthday
December 31st- New Year's Eve
Jan. 1st- New Year's Day
Jan. 3rd- Pizza with Joe's parents and Frankie

Yes, Joe and I are tired!

But we loved every moment of it!!

We hope you got to spend the Holidays with those that you love!!

And please remember to cherish EVERY MOMENT with your family!!

I hope you will come by and visit again!!

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

Hugs,
Debbie

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Saturday, January 2, 2016

My One Little WORD for 2016

Here it is, the beginning of another year......

And it is time to choose My One Little Word for 2016!!

What this means is choosing One Little Word to focus on for the year........

My WORD for 2015 was LIVE!

And I think I did fairly well in achieving what I set out to accomplish!!

If you missed my post , Reflections on my One Little Word for 2015 , please click HERE

In July, I was finally able to go Part Time after 37 years of working full time.

Going Part Time has greatly improved my quality of Life!!

I am not going to beat around the bush this year so I will tell you now, up front in the beginning of this post, what My One Little WORD for 2016 is.........

WELLNESS!!

I have learned that there are several different aspects to Wellness.......

As I have stated in these posts for the past several years, I no longer have New Year's Resolutions but I do have Aspirations for the New Year.......

PHYSICAL WELLNESS

There are several things that I aspire to accomplish this year.....

1. Weight Loss for Health

This is different than trying to lose weight to fit into a little black dress for some upcoming big occasion, even though that would be nice!

What I mean by this is that YES, I am overweight and Yes, it is seriously affecting my overall Health!!

I did start a Weight Loss Journey 2 years ago and I did lose a total of 55 pounds. This was to prolong Knee Replacement surgery on my right knee. However, with Part Time also comes a decrease in activity and with a decrease in activity comes weight gain. Also , being home with the refrigerator does not help. So, I have put back on 20 pounds . According to my Orthopedic Surgeon, every 50 pounds of extra weight is like 200 pounds of pressure on your joints!!

GOAL: I hope to concentrate on healthy eating habits and take off at least 30 pounds by the end of the year.

I also want to drink more water and cut back on the amount of coffee that I drink.

In fact, i am starting the New Year off with 31 Days of Hydration - Water Challenge! Click HERE to read about it!!

2. Exercise

This is a difficult thing for me as I can not walk for any length of time but I do have an exercise bike and I am supposed to ride that bike to strengthen my knee joint and the muscles around it in preparation for my knee replacement surgery .....

GOAL: To do at least 20 minutes on the Bike at least 5 days a week

3, Maintaining my Health

GOAL : Taking care of medical issues such as Pap Smears, Mammograms, Cancer Follow up with my Urologist , Physical Therapy for my Back, Dental issues.......

4. Sleep

GOAL: Working night shift, I have been used to only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a day.
Now that I am Part Time, I want to try to get at least 7 hours of Sleep on the days that I am not working.

ENVIRONMENTAL WELLNESS

5. Purge

GOAL: To continue the process that I started in 2015 of going through everything in the house and if I do not need it, do not LOVE it or absolutely have to have it- out it goes!! Things will be donated to Thrift Shops or Treasures will be passed on to family members.

I have now lived a year with what I decided to keep from last year. Now I want to go through everything again and see what else I could purge!

6. Organize

Again, a continuation of what I started last year.

GOAL: As I purge, then I need to re-organize.

I have to do more organizing up in the Attic and in our rented Storage Shed.

A lot of organizing will take place in October. Joe is hoping to retire by October so that means we will be able to donate all of his NUMEROUS Postal Clothing to the Post Office where he works so others can use them. That means cleaning out several closets and then maybe there will actually be some room for my clothes in the closets in our bedroom. Yes, I had to move my clothes into the Craft Room closet because of all his Postal uniforms!

INTELLECTUAL WELLNESS

7. Enjoy!

GOAL: To do more things that give me enjoyment. I hope to start to READ more and I have created a few cozy reading areas for myself through out the house.

8. Be Creative!

GOAL: I also want to Craft more. I have a huge amount of Craft Supplies that I want to "dabble" with.
Also there are several projects that I want to finish this year such as painting my bedroom furniture, going through, organizing and putting into albums many vintage photos that were my Mother's.

All of these things are Stress Relievers for me and thus will promote........

FINANCIAL WELLNESS

9. Plan for the Future

GOAL: To continue what we started last year in paying Bills off and to meet again with our financial planner in regards to Joe's Retirement. Stop impulse buying and to buy only what we need or LOVE!!

SOCIAL WELLNESS

10. Reconnect with Family and Friends

GOAL: I started to work on this last year by reconnecting with my sister and her family. I want to plan more family get togethers and spend more time with those that I love and are important to me.

SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

11. Returning to Church

GOAL: I will admit that because the the pressures that were placed on me to run Fund Raising Events for our Parish, I needed to step back and be "absent" for awhile. I took the "out of sight, out of mind" approach. Now that a full year has passed and events have gone on without me and have been successful, I will again to become active in our parish BUT not to the extent that I was before which caused me a great deal of emotional and physical stress.

12. Relaxation

Goal: I hope to take more time to relax and just Breathe!! Slow down and "Smell the Roses" so to speak.....
Enjoy the simpler things in life.

So those are all the things that I want to work on this coming year , focusing on My One Little Word for 2016........

WELLNESS!!

I feel that by focusing on Wellness this year, I will be able to "LIVE" better!!

And hopefully prevent this from happening to me again!!

I do hope to keep you all updated throughout the year on how I am focusing on WELLNESS and how I am working on my Goals and Aspirations for the Year!!

So I hope you will come by and visit again!!

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

Hugs,
Debbie

I am linking up to these weekly parties:

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