Here I Go.......

Well……here I go.  Several friends have suggested I start a blog.  My questions to them:

1.  What’s a blog?
2.  Why do people blog?
3.  Why in the world would anyone want to read it?

4.  What am I supposed to “blog” about?

As you can imagine, no one has really bothered to answer the first couple of questions for me.  I guess they figure I can "Google" those and get the answers on my own.  However, they did provide me some guidance on what I should write about.  Their suggestions include my main roles in this play called, "Life":  mommy, advocate, and educator.  At this point in time, I’ve been trying to fulfill both the mommy and daddy roles for our two little girls, Katie Jo and Addi, for the past 5 ½ years.  It was in June of 2005 when their daddy, Jo Paul, grew weary and tired after a lengthy battle with leukemia.  So, I’ve been solo-parenting ever since.  We're also heavily involved in creating a world with more birthdays by promoting the work of the American Cancer Society.  Oh my goodness, I have so many wonderfully inspirational stories to share!  And finally, I've had the joy, pleasure, and honor of working in education for the past several years.  As we all know, children really are our greatest teachers!

In this initial post, I'd like to offer a brief explanation.  Notice I didn’t use the term “single parent” above.  I really do despise that term – mainly because of all the times I hear moms/dads use their marital status as an excuse.  It simply amazes me how many times the "single parent" card is played in our society for not following through on a commitment, for not being able to pay for something, for justifying why their child cannot possibly be expected to follow the same rules of society that everyone else must adhere to, etc.  (Obviously, I have a huge soapbox associated with that last one.  More on that kind of stuff in later posts.)  Needless to say, I choose not to refer to myself as such.

I've included part (yes, there are many more parts) of my "single parent sermon" in this initial post to lend explanation to my overall motto for life.  Essentially, no one has the ability to preplan every detail of their life - both the good and the bad. No matter how hard we try, nothing ever goes exactly as we planned it.  Often times, we end up grateful when things go better than we ever could have imagined!  However, we all experience those unplanned difficulties, disappointments, and challenges in life.  It's how we handle both the triumphs AND the tragedies that make us who we are and determine how well we "navigate" through life.

So...I'll finish up this blogging maiden voyage by reiterating the blurb from my blog description above......Sometimes the hand we're dealt in life doesn't play out exactly as we planned.  However, we have a choice.  We can continue playing our hand the best way we know how - or we can fold.  I've chosen to keep playing my hand and to enjoy all the little "jackpots" along the way!