WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

Volume 189

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Thank you Joyce, always a fun day for me.

1. On Thursday we pause to remember a dark day in history-9/11. Will you mark it in some special way?

I will definitely be praying for all the families who lost their loved ones along with praying for our country. 

2. Do you ever/still...listen to an actual radio? Watch a videotape (VCR)? Look up a number in a phonebook? Refer to a paper map while traveling? Set an alarm on an alarm clock as opposed to your phone?

Yes I do listen to the radio but mainly at Christmas when they have the uninterrupted Christmas music. I still have a VCR plugged in but haven't used it in years. It would be very rare for me to look up a number in the phone book. 

(update because I missed this one) I like to look at a map before I leave but we use GPS. I have my alarm on the phone but have an alarm clock next to the bed. My husband does use the alarm clock on his bedside table each night. 

3.  Is it ever a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don't know?
It would be very rare but possibly religion if someone is hurting. I do like to reach out if I can. 

4. What's a dish you haven't eaten all summer, but come September find yourself craving? Have you made it yet this month?
The only thing that comes to mind is that I start to think about all things pumpkin. 

5. What's something you know nothing about?
Well that is probably a long list but I will just say a car engine to make it easy. 

6. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like classical music? If so, what's your favorite piece?
Pachelbel Canon in D is my favorite. Otherwise I do not listen to Classical Music at all. I am a fan of Smooth Jazz. This is my favorite music for a wedding. 

7. What's the oldest thing you own?

I'm going to say the 1929 Singer sewing machine that belonged to my grandfather who was a tailor. Next would be our dining room set that belonged to Mark's grandparents. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I would love if you could visit my FOR YOUR TEARS blog and read my post about a special book called "Rare Bird" which was released yesterday. I have been very close with Anna Donaldson since her son passed away on September 8, 2011. 

I have read Anna's blog posts since this tragic event and she never ceased to amaze me with her words. I would read her posts so I could comment with compassion and hope to help her on her journey of grieving but that didn't happen, it was her who inspired me with her writing.

I have not read the book yet but it should arrive shortly from Amazon. I do know that people like me who have followed Anna on her walk and have been reading her posts never expected to be so blown away by this book. They assumed they already new their story from her blog posts. I've been in the circle of early reviews and they have been truly amazing. 

Amazon

WAVE OF LIGHT ALL OVER THE WORLD

WILL YOU JOIN US TONIGHT:

REMEMBERING OUR BABIES

OCTOBER 15th (link)

FRIDAY FRAGMENTS

 

I have a lot of fragments to share so I thought I would join in with Half-past kissin' time this week for her Friday Fragments.



 

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Last Saturday Mark and I went out to eat to celebrate Valentine's Day and we saw Safe Haven which was really good. If you like Nicholas Sparks movies you will definitely like this one.



Safe Haven IMDb

 

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Yesterday I went out to get my hair done. I was definitely in need of a cut and color and then I went to see Identity Thief. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see it thinking it just might be to silly and over the top. Well it wasn't and I really enjoyed it!



Identity Thief IMDb

 

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Sunday Adam and Tisten came over for a visit which was fun. We had saved a few Aurelio's pizzas to share with them and I also made some Garlic Knot Rolls. They came out really good. We had a fun visit and we played some Wii.

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Wanted to share with you that I did get a thank you note for one of the handkerchiefs I mailed to the mother's at Sandy Hook whose children had passed away. I was concerned about the School District passing them out to each parent but apparently they did and that made me happy.

 

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Wow it was cold the other night. I even put a sweater on Skye when I took her outside. Thursday morning we had frost on the top of the spa. It was supposed to be about 33 degrees which is pretty cold for us.

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Even though it's been cold we still have some Gerber Daisies blooming! I'm looking forward to Spring!

 

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Have a great weekend and don't forget to watch the Academy Awards on Sunday!

 

BORN IN SILENCE

When I saw this video over at Holly's blog Caring for Carleigh I knew I wanted to share it with you. If you have been following me for awhile you know about my For Your Tears blog where I mail out handkerchiefs to women who have lost a child. I know my gift to them doesn't take away their heartache but I know I bring them a moment of comfort just knowing that I do care about them.

 

Approximately 3 million babies are
stillborn each year around the world.
 

In the United States, that's one baby,
one family, every 21 minutes.





 

I have mailed out 437 handkerchiefs in the last 3 1/2 years and have made donations of 328 to different projects. (I've moved away from making donations but on rare occasions I still make them) I have remained small and that is exactly how God intended it to be. This is one on one with each person which means the world to me. If it was ever bigger I couldn't afford to do it and the personal touch would be gone. When God touched my heart with this plan close to 4 years ago I rushed into it with all that I had. Within six weeks I was up and running. 

 

There are times when I think of stopping but for now that isn't happening anytime soon. I just placed my bulk order of handkerchiefs in January and recently picked them up at the embroidery shop so I am set for the year. A dream of mine was to have them in hospitals across the world but my biggest dream is that I never have to mail another one out again and that all babies would be born healthy and alive.

 

Holly was the second woman to receive one of my handkerchiefs. Since that time Holly has been blessed with two rainbow babies.  "A rainbow baby is a (miracle) baby conceived after the loss of another child." 

 

I hold these women close in my heart.....

 

WITH A HEAVY HEART

My heart is heavy, my prayers are constant and my tears are never ending. I pray for comfort and strength for the families affected by this tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.  I pray for those who have passed away and I am so sorry they had to suffer during this tragedy. I pray that God is holding them close.

 

There is never a good time to lose a loved one, especially a child, but around Christmas it seems extra heartbreaking to me. I think of their precious little hearts all filled with joy ready to celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah. Trees are decorated, presents are under the tree, candles have been lite and days have been celebrated. Now what.... parents must walk into their home and experience a pain that no one ever wants to feel.

I found it hard to read posts yesterday after hearing about this horrific tragedy. Eventually I turned off my TV, put on some music and did some busy work around the house. I will be taking a few days off from reading general posts as my heart heals and tries to make peace inside. My heart is with all the parents, step-parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brother, sisters and friends of these families. No parent should ever have to bury a child and this includes the adults who were also murdered, they are the child of a parent also. ((HUGS))

Please keep these families, along with the town and children who attended this school in your prayers. Pray for their healing during this process and journey of grief.
 

John 14:27

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (NIV)

Love,
Debby 

Philippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (NIV).

JACK'S TREE

I would like to share the post I wrote on For Your Tears about Jack's Tree. I would appreciate it if you could go over and read it.

We need to make the most of each day we have.

P.S. You do not need to leave a comment here.

STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD

I am so blessed! I received the Stylish Blogger Award from three people last week. I feel like Sally Field who said "You like me, you really like me," in 1985, accepting her second Oscar in five years.

I received the first one from Katina at Peaceful Divas whose blog is awesome and dedicated to helping women navigate life's necessary, yet not so glamorous, tasks with style and the realization of God's Grace!

The second one I received from Jamie at Forget-me-not, Oh Lord! which was actually given to me on my For Your Tears blog. (I decided to do one post here) Jamie is a born again Christian, the mother of an adorable toddler and also the mother of an angel in Heaven.

The third one is from Joanna from Pregnancy, Miscarriage & Life with Chronic Pain. She also has a baby in Heaven and has been suffering with chronic pain for almost a decade. She could certainly use and appreciate your prayers. This was also given to me on For Your Tears.

Thank you Katina, Jamie and Joanna, I appreciate you thinking of me when you passed this award forward.

The rules for accepting this award are:

1. Thank & link back to the person who awarded you this.
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 10-15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

1. Even though I am pretty lazy around the house I definitely have OCD when it comes to blogging. I am looking for balance but haven't found it yet. We just might have our Christmas decorations up all year because of this thing called blogging!


2. I have two beautiful grown children who are both in love and that just makes me so happy. Our daughter is married almost 9 years to our wonderful son-in-law and our son lives with the love of his life. (we love her too! )


3. We have no other relatives in Southern California so we are really lucky that we like each other, or should I say that we are blessed to have children who actually like hanging with their parents.


4. For those of you who are newer to my blog I am my husbands first & third wife!


5. I watch movies that I love over & over again. I have many favorites and will concentrate on several at a time. If it is a favorite I just can't get enough of it! I guess it's kind of like those of you with little children who have to watch Cars or Toy Story a million times a day. By the way, those are favorites of mine too! Am I in my second childhood?


6. I ended up buying the "for dummies" book for my Canon Rebel since I am just not liking the pictures I take with it. Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? I certainly hope so!


7. I have a exercise glider in my office that I never use but it does a wonderful job at collecting dust!

So if you know me well you will know that I am not passing this award on because I just don't like having to make a choice, it's like picking people to play on your team in gym, it's just too much pressure for me. I love everyone who follows me and appreciate the fact that you actually come back for more!

MY EMOTIONAL CHRISTMAS EVE

Below is a post I wrote today on my For Your Tears blog.

I feel that God also wanted to share this with each of you.

I have a story to share with all of you. I was overwhelmed with emotions when I attended the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service last Friday evening. I was just a mess, holding back tears the whole time. So many emotions flowing through my heart and mind. On Christmas day I received an email from a baby lost mother (BLM) who lost her Ryan Elizabeth on November 23, 2010, she was born still. They are currently living in Germany, please feel free to visit her blog Livin' for Ryan and send her your love. She was thanking me for her handkerchief which helped her through the last month and was wishing me a Merry Christmas.

Things like this don't just happen without God being involved with each detail. I was sitting at my computer in tears reading her email and I made a decision that I wanted to share my Christmas Eve with her. This is what I wrote in my email to her:

"Thank you for including me in your wishes. I was at church last night, I always go on Christmas Eve and I was overwhelmed with emotion last night. All the children dressed in their new Christmas clothes, sweet babies in their mothers laps, grandparents with the biggest smiles loving on their grandchildren and I just started crying. All these emotions flowed through me and I was thinking of all the BLM's. I could never say I know how you feel but last night I came really close because I seemed to be mourning a loss myself but in a different way. I turned 59 this year and I so desire to have a grandchild. My children are not sure they even want families and I mourned for what I don't have. Our daughter lost a baby at 12 weeks into the pregnancy 8 years ago in October. They had only been married for 3 months when she found out she was pregnant. They were not ready and did not want to become parents but accepted it as best they could. When she miscarried it was more about her life then her child because she bled badly and wasn't doing well. I never really mourned for the lost child. She was okay and she really never felt the loss in the way others do. I did mourn for this baby last night. My mother passed away at 56 from a massive heart attack. She was blessed to see all of her grandchildren, our daughter being the youngest at 10 months old. I worry about never having a grandchild to hold and love. I am overweight, have COPD and high blood pressure. I wonder if I will ever get to do that but I know now that I also have a baby waiting for me in Heaven. It all hit me last night in church. I have never shared this story on my blog but I know that I will. God has placed this on my heart to share what happened and my own desires. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Have a blessed day. ((HUGS))"

I haven't shared the story of our daughters miscarriage because I never new how to explain it, the words never would form. I think that maybe I have been worried about how it would be received since she didn't feel the loss in the same way as all of you. There is nothing wrong with how she grieved, it was just her way. Obviously this is my time to share, time that was given to me from God. This blog did not come about because of what happened to our daughter. This blog came about from something that happened almost 11 years ago. Now here I am typing with tears forming in my eyes. I just received a Christmas card from my dear friends in Chicago. It's been a long time since they have sent us a card, not because they don't care about us but as you know after you lose a child your life changes.

They lost their young son to suicide, he was in the 8th grade. I immediately flew to Chicago to be with them. When I came home from that trip I had bought her a music box with the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" which is what she played for him at his funeral. I also included a handkerchief and told her that it was for her tears. I shared their story here, that is where it all began but I never knew how to get a handkerchief out to people until God gave me the insight when I started my blog Just Breathe.

In there Christmas note to us we found out that our dear friend, her husband, had a torn aorta back in February which almost killed him. This happened two weeks prior to the 10 year anniversary of their sons death. They say that 80% of the people die from this, he survived and the nurses called him a miracle. Also in their letter, something I didn't know about was that they also had twin granddaughters in September. My heart was thrilled with this news but heavy with my own wants. They were 9 1/2 weeks early, they have thrived and survived.

Then today I received a very sad but beautifully written email from a woman who lost her 24 year old son, he had taken his own life. They were celebrating their first Christmas without him and it hit me hard. She does feel blessed to know that he is in heaven and that she will be with him again. Please send her some love at Joyful Noise for a Joyful Life.

I know that God brings people into our lives when we need them and when they need us. The Christmas Eve Service, the emails I received that touched my heart, the letter from our dear friends in Chicago are all examples of Gods timing. I think of my friends in Chicago and how blessed they are now to have their two little granddaughters who are bringing joy into their lives yet I know from her letter that the pain of losing their son is ever present in their daily lives and she said it just keeps getting stronger as time goes on. This is just so sad and my heart breaks for all of the parents in our world who have to live with this pain forever in their hearts. I believe that God has a special surprise for all of you when you meet your children in Heaven. You can not live your life with so much pain and not be rewarded for it! (that is just my feeling)

I pray that all of you are blessed with happiness beyond measure for the New Year. I pray that your dreams/desires can be realized. I pray that you can feel what it's like to be blessed with your rainbow baby like so many have had this year. I want to point out Ashley at A Ruby Family who was blessed with her rainbow baby Christopher Charles this December and what this Christmas meant to her. She lost her son Nolan on June 11, 2009 and lost her brother Charles on July 13, 2010. I pray her happiness for you. ((HUGS))

Happy New Year

With all my love,

P.S. If you are in need of a handkerchief for yourself or someone you know who lost their baby/child please email me at dpucci9972@gmail.com

WAVE OF LIGHT

PLEASE JOIN ME IN LIGHTING A CANDLE TONIGHT

Remembering Our Babies

KETCHUP ~ CATCH-UP THAT IS!

So it's 3:55pm on Tuesday afternoon and I'm ready for a glass of wine but I better wait. I have five handkerchiefs to get out first. I had taken six with me to Florida and the rest I promised as soon as I got home. I am pretty much unpacked but not totally since I'm just going to pack for Mammoth Lakes pretty soon. The reason for the wine is that after three weeks in Florida I am finally seeing the end of the tunnel on my reader. Of course Mammoth Lakes will get me behind again. I will be checking emails but not sure I want to read too many posts. I NEED TO TAKE A VACATION FROM BLOGGING DON'T YOU THINK? (I read and comment on hundreds each day)

So far it looks like Skye will be able to stay home this time and not go to the kennel like last year. (sometimes when the kids move home it's a good thing) It was so hard to leave her last year. Our son-in-law has a trip with his family in early September so he can't go to Mammoth Lakes this year with us. My daughter isn't sure if she is coming up but if she does it will be later in the week with our son, her brother, for a few nights. It's still in the works. She is not going on the trip with her husband and his family because it involves a plane trip to Yellowstone Park. Flying is not her cup of tea!

I was excited to see the growth in the backyard when I got home on Sunday and the umbrella up. Skye was sunbathing today and the dogs next door were crying for me to come over and say hello to them. So like I said earlier I got my reader down to 99, turned on the iron to do my handkerchiefs and opened the best $2.99 dollar bottle of wine to celebrate with. {giggle}

Hope your week is going well.

Love,

P.S. I have talked with my dad several times. He misses me but is doing good. Eating the lasagna I made for him and went over to the pool to visit with some of his neighbors today. All of your prayers helped him to get well. Thank you.

IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES

As you know my friend Kristie at Kristie's Notes has been posting updates on her blog about her friend Amanda and her tragic story. There is a poem that Kristie has posted that Amanda had read at the funeral for her family. If you have time today, go on over and read it. Each day is a precious gift from God.

MY HEART IS HEAVY WITH EMOTION

This is the post that is on my FOR YOUR TEARS blog. I wanted each of you to know why I do what I do.

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I am having trouble figuring out how to post this. I don't want it to be about me but it is about the ministry that I do and I can't stop crying. Please read the story, watch the video and you will see why I am so overwhelmed with emotion. (the handkerchief that I mailed to her is sitting on the table in the interview)

I have a blog friend named Kristie at Kristie's Notes who posted a story on December 15, 2009 that you need to see. Please visit Kristie's blog to read about this tragic story (then watch the video) and the outpouring of love that Amanda Buckland has been shown from the community. (Donations are still being accepted)

I can't put into words what this has done for me today

~ the last day of 2009 ~

ALL PRAISE BE TO GOD

What will forever get to me is that it is a small world. Without Kristie I would not have sent this woman a handkerchief and it would not have been seen on the local news. I love the way God works, everyday each move is in His hands.

JUST A REMINDER OF MY OTHER BLOG

I wanted to let everyone know that I have written a new post on my other blog spot. I also want you to know that as soon as I have a button I will let you know since I have had several requests. I have someone working on one right now for me. I have mailed out a few handkerchiefs to women who I have been blogging with and my heart felt good doing this. So please visit me at: http://wwwforyourtears.blogspot.com/ Remember if you are ever in need of this service please leave a comment on the blog so I can get back to you for all the information needed to mail a handkerchief out to a women in need.