Counting Our Blessings...

• Did you have a blessed Thanksgiving? We did. It was like none we've never had. In fact, my children and I didn't have any turkey. We didn't eat much at all. We all shared on thing though. The flu...
• 
  Instead of checking the temp of the turkey, I was checking my children's. Instead of hugging all the family and catching up with long lost friends, I was rubbing aching backs and speaking comforting words to very sick kids.
• 
  
• Instead of enjoying a guest room at the generous relatives house, my daughter and I took up occupancy in the hospital so she could receive fluids.
• So why am I saying my Thanksgiving was a blessed one? We are all improving. This is just like life. You plan on one thing. You might have your menu meticulously planned out, house cleaned spotless, door open and ready for guests and in one moment everything changes...
  This Thanksgiving we counted our blessings-for a healthy and recovering household. For the ability to be sick to appreciate our health even more.
  
  As we were leaving the hospital I glanced in a couple of rooms. I saw some less fortunate then ourselves. I said a prayer. Will you do the same? Pray for what you have, the lessons you've learned from your trials and being thankful EVERY day for what you have. Right this very minute.
  
• 
  
• -The quickest way to become rich is to count your blessings.
• -Unknown Author

When She Loved Me...

• Did you have a baby doll growing up? I did. Her name was Anita. She was my best friend. She went everywhere with me. She taught me so many things.
  She taught me how to be a mommy. I know your mother is really the one that instills the motherly example. But a true mama first probably started out being a good mama to a special baby doll growing up.
  
  I think as we are little girls our dolls teach us to care for something that never asked to be taken care of. We were given our babies and something within our hearts knew to take care of it. What a reward it was to change our babies clothes, take our babies on walks and cuddle up at night with our special treasure. Nothing could replace that feeling.
  
  
  
  My baby taught me to not neglect my responsibilities. It's true. I would never ever think of leaving My Anita out in the rain. Never left her on the floor. If I was off to school she had a special place on my bed she would wait until I got home. I pretended her babysitter was taking good and loving care of her while I was away. Boy, she cried something fierce when I left. But always was so happy when I returned. Nothing could replace that feeling.
  
  
  
• What memories we made. Long walks in any weather. Talks on a ratty old quilt sitting under a tree. She had a special place right in the crook of my arm. I still remember her baby doll baby powder sent. I wasn't the only one providing the care. She could make me feel so much better when I was sick. Her hugs could stop my tears when I was sad. When I was homesick for my mom if she were away on a business trip I hold my baby tight and it took the sting away. I never thought I could love anything more...
• Nothing could replace that feeling...
  
  
• Then when I was handed my newborn that miraculous day many years ago I realized that motherly feeling I had learned with My Anita was just a tiny fragment of how I would feel with the real thing. The void of my life was filled and my cup runneth over. I couldn't imagine loving anything more...Nothing can and will ever replace it.
• I watch my daughter play with her dollies knowing with her condition she will probably never have a baby. But that's OK. She has the mommy instinct just like I had. She knows how it feels to receive that same love, and how to give it. When she's sick her baby makes it better. When she goes to the Doctor her baby goes too. She is tucked into bed with her every night. That is a special feeling she gets to experience and nothing will ever replace it. For what are we if we do not know what it feels like to receive love and nurturing and how to give it to others?
• Just like My Anita...

Zzzzzzzz......

• The nights he doesn't visit are so difficult. I lay awake and wonder when he will arrive. Sometimes, he doesn't show up until the next day. I don't like when he tries to visit during the day. Because normally it's when I am at work or way before the sun goes down. When I go without seeing him for too terribly long, I'm in love with someone special. His name is Mr. Sandman. He puts a hypnotic spell on me almost every night. He fills my mind with dreams that only the night can bring. He knocks me out and makes me drool and leaves me wanting more.
• 
  I get cranky. I get angry with him. I turn to other methods to get a glimpse of him. Over the counter medicine just so I can see him. He should share his time with me more. Doesn't he know I would feel better and be happier if he came to visit me more? Maybe I should write him a letter.
  
  
  Dear Mr. Sandman,
• I'm writing you this letter to remind you of my neverending admiration for you. I love how you make me feel so rejuvenated. You can make a bad day almost erase from my mind and you fill my mind with dreams.
• 
  I have a complaint though. You don't give me enough time. I miss you when you're not here. My nights ache for your company. I'm bored staring at the clock thinking about when you will arrive.
• I know sometimes the alarm clock becomes an interference. I've tried to remedy that by starting to use the snooze button. Maybe if you visited when you were suppose to and weren't so late all the time, your visits would satisfy me until our next date. Sometimes your non-existence makes me feel as though I should see a doctor. I'm becoming desperate. Please understand how much I need you...
• Either make me a priority or I will be forced to become an insomniac. You don't want that, do you?
• Sincerely,
• Gina
• Yawn.

My Fair Lady...

• I heart Audrey Hepburn. I have said before, I am an old soul. Sometimes I feel as though I was born in the wrong era. I love all the old movies, actresses, actors and singers from the old days. I want to go back to those times and spend a day living in that time period. One of my favorite actresses from back then is Audrey Hepburn. She was amazing. She's classic. The first thing you notice when you see her is her outer beauty. But after you get to know her, you realize her beauty is her core. Her outlook on life, her humanitarian efforts, the way she aged gracefully.
  
• I wish the actresses of today were the type of role model she was. She stressed upon the importance of inner beauty. But that the most important feature you can have are on the end of each arm. Hands to help others.
  
  

• I feel as though I can relate to her on some levels. I'm a girl that doesn't cuss. I believe you can emit more beauty by being kind to others than wearing fancy clothes. I think your heart can reflect so much more than your words can by your actions.
  

• 
  I gathered some of my favorite quotes from Miss Audrey and would like to share them. I think they reveal why she was so adored by many. She didn't let her celebrity status change her goodness, chisel away any of her sweetness. She used to help and inspire others for years to come.
  
  

• 
  "For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry, For Beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day, For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others." —
• "I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." —
• "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible!"
• 
  "The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters." —
  
  "The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." —
  
  "Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once."

• 
  "When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that's when I think life is over."
  
  "It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it'." —
  
  "The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows."
  
  
  _____________________________________________
• 
  
• The most important part of her life was not in the limelight. Later in life her acting went on the back burner and and humanitarian efforts were priority. She was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in the late 1980s. Traveling the world, Hepburn tried to raise awareness about children in need.. She knew what it was like to be hungry from as a child in The Netherlands during the German Occupation. Making more than 50 trips, Hepburn visited UNICEF projects. She won a n Academy Award fin 1993 not for acting but for her humanitarian efforts.The sad part of this is that Hepburn had died January 20, 1993 after a battle with colon cancer.
• 
  Gone but not forgotten and her work still continues. Her sons carry on the tradition to help others. They established the Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund in 1994.
• Thank you, Audrey, you will always be My Fair Lady...