A To Z – PART TWO

A TO Z – PART TWO

I have stolen this from the lovely JezzyBelle! When I was contemplating stealing it, I didn’t realize that you had to pick your own topics for each letter. Finding that out scared me a bit but I decided to see if I can keep it interesting by just using the first thing that comes to mind.

L-LOVE. I think many times we take love for granted and forget how amazing it really is. How you ever heard this saying?: "To the world you are one person, but to one person you are the world". I mean think about that for a minute. How awesome it is that we can meet someone, a perfect stranger even, and over a period of time (or for some even instantly), we fall in love and that person can become the most important person in our lives. Someone we may not have known existed 6 months ago, suddenly makes every day a joy, brings a smile to our face just thinking about them, makes our hearts beat faster when they walk into a room. All because of love. And that’s just romantic love. How about the love we have for our children? The amazing way our hearts expand with each new child? This all encompassing love that is unconditional, fierce in it’s intensity, that just grows and grows and grows. And then there is the love we have for our friends, our family, our pets, our country and even our cars and our jobs. All of it different but all of it real. It makes us laugh, it makes us cry. It strengthens us and sometimes it breaks us. Isn’t it amazing?

M-MONEY. I worry about money a lot. Too much. There never seems to be enough but yet we always survive. I have been without a home but never homeless. I have been hungry but never starved. I have been without a car but always got where I needed to go. All because God provides. Yet I still worry, still lay awake at night running numbers through my head. Still argue with my daughter about her spending. When will I learn that I will always have what I need through God’s grace and love? I need to work on that.

N-NORMA. My momma! God I was blessed to have that woman for my mother. She was so good to me and I loved her so much. Yesterday Aimee and I went to the cemetery for a visit. We had gone there a few weeks ago and couldn’t find her grave site and they were closing the place. It took us a while this time but we found it. I have about 15 family members whose grave sites are very close together. I find that very comforting. My mom was beautiful and loving and strong. She was also flirtatious and funny and spoiled me rotten. She loved to dance and play bingo and cards and spend time at the beach or the pool. She loved children and game shows and eating out. She survived the deaths of her son and her husband and she always displayed such an unshakable faith no matter how badly it was tested. She loved my daughter as much as I did and I only wish I could see her with my grandchildren. I will never stop needing her and missing her.

O-OLD TOWN. Old town is the pulse of our city. It is filled with shops and restaurants and history. It stretches for 18 blocks, starting west at the Masonic Temple and ending east at the Potomac River. We have museums, historic churches, homes of some of the most important figures in history (yes, George Washington slept here!), riverboat cruises, ghost walking tours, eclectic shops and tons of different cuisines to satisfy your palette! Check it out at http://www.alexandriava.gov and come for a visit! Can you tell I love my hometown?!

P-PENQUINS. My other favorite non-domestic animal. I just love these little guys! They’re birds yet the don’t fly. I like how they become monogamous during breeding season and how they share incubation duties and then the male looks after the babies while mom goes off to eat. They live in colonies and are very social and have little to no fear of us humans. And they’re just so darn cute!

Q-QUEEN. I guess this comes to mind because last night Makalya and I read her "Tangled" book, which is the story of Rapunzel. Her real mother was a Queen and she was a lost princess. When I think of queens I think of beautiful woman with crowns and sparkling jewels, gorgeous gowns and porcelain skin that never ages. I always imagine them to be dignified and kind, loved and respected by their subjects. I don’t like mean queens lol.

R-READING. Oh how I love to read! I always have. There is no other pastime that gives me more pleasure than reading a good book. The Kindle my daughter gave me for Christmas was definitely the best gift I ever received.

S-SCRABBLE. When I’m not reading on my Kindle, I am playing Scrabble. I also play online. I love word games but Scrabble is my favorite by far.