Love, Light, Laughter and Chocolate - One Mom's Journey

October 21st.  A beautiful Autumn day, yet again.  Just another day for most people, yet one of tremendous significance for me.  16 years ago, I was 38.5 weeks pregnant with twins, certain I might be pregnant forever.
17 years ago, I was having a very different experience on this day.  It's not one I talk about often.  It's not a birthday, holiday, or anniversary. Well, it is an anniversary, but not one that is ever acknowledged or talked about.  But I remember. ...

It's here, it's here!  It's finally here!  It's sail away day!
Today we finally embark on a cruise that has been nearly 18 months in the making, and although the day dawned cloudy and rainy, it turned out glorious, on many levels.
We had rented a car from National in Seattle and drove to Vancouver, BC.  It turned out that the rental car return was in the parking structure at Canada Place, and all we had to do was drop the car off, walk a short distance to an elevator, and we were...

It's 9:46 am EST on Wednesday, May 31, 2017.  I'm somewhere over the midwest, courtesy of Jet Blue.
Our day began at o'dark thirty and our flight began at 6:44 am.  For those doing the math at home, that's a 4 am wake up call and we were staying at a hotel at the airport!   We live over an hour from the airport, and parking is outrageous, so it was...

F*ck you 2016 is a common sentiment in my Facebook feed these days.  All related to untimely deaths of the icons of our youth.  Prince.  David Bowie. George Michael, and today, everybody's favorite Princess, Carrie Fischer.  The list goes on...
2016 seems to be the year of celebrity deaths, or, perhaps, for those of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's, a bad year with a simply a heightened awareness of how death can strike at any time, and perhaps, an unwanted focus our own mortality?  Heck...