Valentine's Evening
Not sixty six years together but working on it!
about the need to get rid of some supplies. It hit a real cord with me. Since I love to create with paper , fabric, and all sorts of other things I have a problem. I buy way too many gadgets that come my way. I buy way too many papers. I buy way too many stamps. You get the picture. When I was commenting on Judy's post I had a thought about treating my supplies like clothes in the closet. I once read a way to control one's closet was to throw something out each time a new item was purchased. I think I am going to try this approach to my art supplies and see if it helps. In the meantime I am also going to start with a little goal-I am going to go through all of my stamp sets and get a box and filter, filter, filter. When watching a recent Opra show it was about getting rid of clutter. One of the important suggestions was to have little goals to reach instead of getting bogged down by viewing the big picture. Thank you Judy for putting a spark in my being about getting rid of some things.
Now-my next topic of conversation--beautiful, inspiring, gorgeous, eye candy filled publications. Like supplies, I buy tons of them. It is like going to the movies for me. I love to look at them. Special treats for me to spend time being still just perusing and aaaaahhhhhing and ooooooohhhhhing. I purchased the latest edition of Artful Blogging a couple of weeks ago. I just started looking at it a day or two ago. As I read the letter from the editor at the very beginning of the book I stopped dead in my tracks when I came to the following sentence:
And as Jenny Doh reminds us, it's not whitewashing the truth to only blog about the good parts of your life-----it's spreading a positive message that will help brighten someone else's day. This sentence evoked many emotions within me and started me reflecting on it's content. I immediately went back to my beginning blogging class 101 with Mike Putman at Mystic Paper. He told us we needed to decide on the focus and purpose of our blog. I can remember thinking my purpose was to include everything about me--all of this thing called LIFE that I hold so dear. I also read a muse today by Ro of the Scrapgirls site concerning this very topic. B U----- It is worth the read. Often her muses are definitely worth the read-- but back to it-- I guess my point is, if one's blog is about one's life, not blogging about the entire being is not allowing someone else to gain entrance to one's REAL being. Now, if the intent of the blog is not about life at all and just about ???? then why would one need to even address the topic about whitewashing the truth? I want people to know all of me. I want to know all about the people with which I spend my precious time. I want to feel close to the people in my life and to be close requires intimacy. To be close requires trust----not so much trust in other people but trust within oneself. Trust that allows one to B U!
Thanks for spending time with me today and my hope is you will find some time today to spend with yourself.
legs. I can specifically remember making sure my legs were shaved. Alright, then I called Dr. Kennedy, my doctor. She told me to come in so she could check me. Off to the Dr. Yep, she told me to go to the hospital. On the way, Amber's father, stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken to eat. I, of course, could have nothing. Since then, people have commented to me how insensitive this was on his part. At the time it did not bother me. Anyway, I got to the hospital around noon. As most mothers do, I remember the time well. I won't elaborate on the details---most of you know them from your own experiences! Around 5:59 , Kelly Amber DuPriest, my daughter, was born. I wanted her named Amber Neill DuPriest. Neill was my maiden name and I thought it sounded classy. But Amber's birth father did not like the name Amber. In order to name her Amber I had to agree to name her Kelly. When Amber was born Amber was NOT a common name. I like unusual names----seems I started something with all the Amber's around now-------Anyway, she was a beautiful baby and I was full of a mother's love. I am still full of a mother's love but my hopes and dreams are different now. My hopes are that she will make better choices for her life and my dreams are that she will make better choices for her life. She is at a disadvantage but ultimately each person makes choices regardless of the circumstances. Amber's birth father struggled with depression all of his life. He eventually committed suicide after ten years of marriage when Amber was six years old. Her early years were spent in a family that was not the best to say the least. I was nineteen when I married and I thought I could save my husband. Since I have learned it was me I should have been saving----we all need to save ourselves----the only person we really control. Anyway, as the years passed I did my best, married a wonderful man who has been Amber's father for 30 years. Starting from around the age of 12 Amber made choices that led to most of her teenage years being in drug programs across the state of AZ and juvenile detension centers. She was allowed to return home each time she completed a treatment program. This was not often as most of the time she ran away from the treatment centers. She would also run away from home eventually even when she did complete the programs. Around the age of 14 she was diagnosed as being manic depressive. Medicine, on and off again----hard to be on meds when running away. Counseling with Gordon Cuddeby ( he still practices in the valley and I highly recommend him ) and going to Tough Love sessions gave us the courage to wake up each day. At the age of 19 after many years of pain for everyone, Amber decided to take meds regularly and started reaching for a better way of living. Through many trials and glories we regained a family relationship. This past October that relationship delved back into the depths of blackness. While not understanding the actions on our daughter's part we have had to rely on former growth lessons. Regardless of the reason's one deals with the behavior. That old adage, " Actions speak louder than words" must remain foremost in our minds. There are many details that could be told but on this day they are not important. The important thing is regardless of the age, a mother wishes her child the best on her birthday and prayers for her protection. Your prayers are appreciated too! 
