The Dream Mobile!

Our Wonderful New Vacation and Get Away Tool!

It is all ours now. This gorgeous 1989 Airstream 370LE and extremely rare and gorgeous Airstream. It is literally a collectors item as only 15 of them were ever made in 1989 and now only five remain on the road and we have one of them. It is in immaculate condition and we are thrilled to have it. The previous owners were so sad to see it go, but they know that they sold to two people who would take as good a care of it that coach as they did. How great is that. There are such wonderful, positive, vibrant people in the world and my husband and I connect to these types of people instantly. Pat and Patty were our type of people! We connected instantly.

Then there are the types that are selfish, self-absorbed, jealous, constantly negative, and energy suckers. Those are the people that I am working on removing from my life as quickly as possible. I absolutely can not and will not surround myself with these energy suckers because they so want to be happy and have the light of love in their eyes but they just can't do it themselves, so they suck the rest of us dry. Argh. Those types I am throwing in the trash can, literally, the trash being for yucky people.

However I will continue praying for these people and I know who they are and I pray that they find their own light and stop feeding off of everyone else.

So, with that off my back, I can say that I am thrilled to have this glorious new Airstream we've named the Dream Mobile. Because it is our dream and certainly my dream to be gone for the builk of the winter. I have more girl friends wanting to come down that my husband is saying that he is going to have to kick the chick slumber party out so he can have a little time with his wife. What a hoot.

But, first we are getting a queen size bed in that Airstream because who uses twin beds anymore? I mean really. Good Grief. More to come...

Robin

PS please take time to say a kind word to someone who so obviously doesn't feel good about themselves or are so insecure they can't move forward themselves. They can use our good thoughts and God's wonderful love to intervene.

Are You Ready To Rumble? Because I am!! Ha!

Beyond Excitement-- if there is such a thing

I truly do not know if one can be so excited that they are ready to burst, but that would be me right now. Here's the thing...

I feel like I have finally landed after careening down the black and horrible tunnel I have been sliding down for the past four years. Yes, I have come to a dead stop and amazingly enough, I am now on the way back up. God is truly my savior and the love of my life. I am entirely grateful to have such faith and a faith which has been restored to an even higher level than once before. I have a friend who has said to me a gazillion times, how his mother would "work the beads" and this is exactly what I have done and the most consistent action I have taken for the past four years. Every time I thought my life was over or that my life was destroyed and over, something would happen, which would seemingly come out of no where, snap my head around, and suddenly my perspective about my situation would change, or my situation would actually change, and I would be left in awe. The type of awe which only God can provide. All because I worked the beads.

Now, here I am, still climbing out a little at a time, but climbing out of the fray, the depression, the despair, the hate, the rage, the...everything else that comes with being buried in a hateland which was so awful that I could not imagine my life anything but over. It is truly, truly amazing that I no longer feel this same way. At all.

So, yesterday, I was discussing the tough past few years with my Naturopathic doctor, Nita Champion, and she was truly amazed and respectful of the fact that not one time during that dark period of my life had I ever resorted to taking an anti-depressant or an anti-anything else for that matter because the pills would alter my thinking and feeling.

No, Nita was actually amazed that I was willing to allow myself to FEEL the depression and despair because it is a NORMAL and NATURAL response when difficult, and majorly challenging times occur in our lives. I am not in any way judging how others handle their emotions, but I do want to say that there are other ways one can respond to the pain and suffering and dark times of life than taking pills to alter a feeling which is normal and natural. I will, however, confess to having terrible thoughts of suicide, which never in my life had I ever even considered. But, I could not resort to that because I thought it so selfish and hurtful to those people who loved me so much: my husband, my family, my closest friends. Instead, I leveraged those very people to help me deal with the pain, suffering and sorrow I was experiencing. Most importantly, I leaned and relied on God more than at any other point in my entire life. I fell in love with God all over again because He, once again, saved my life. He gave my life back to me many times during the course of my life and I owe Him everything. Everything.

Also, I owe homage to the phrase my friend so unknowingly gave me.

Work The Beads.

And another little thing:: Thank you, God! We have an Airstream!! What a hoot. Never in my wildest dreams. Ha!!!!!!

1989 Airstream 370LE--certainly one of a kind!

How fabulous is this?? I mean really. This particular Airstream is extremely rare as reported in an earlier blog. There are only five of these units remaining in existing and on the road.

According to Bob Wheeler, President + CEO of Airstream, we have a just purchased a truly rare and classic beauty. Plus, Bob has now named me one more in the "tribe" of hardcore Airstreamers and I am blessed to have such recognition.

The interior I will be revamping to fit my style of interior design, of course. I love the previous owner but pink and gilded gold are just not me so we will be doing a little uplift and bringing this into the 21 C. or simply returning it to its retro style I haven't decided yet. I simply need to spend some time in the unit to see what type of "sense" I get from it.

Now, I am off to see a Naturopathic doctor, whose name is Nita Champion. I will give you the outcome of the meeting of course. You can count on it. I am thrilled to be honoring the anthesis of our Western medicine ideas and balancing that with some Chinese medicine. I figure, if the Chinese have been doing things for over 2,000 years it can't be bad!! It is probably really good...the opposite of what I think. So this is very, very good indeed.

Jeez, I think I am beginning to write in the way Ducky speaks on NCIS my favorite TV show, period. Mark Harmon could not be any hotter, I mean really. Yikes.

Okay, more to come shortly.

Reporting from The RockinR Ranch

The Mobile Rockin R Ranch

Meet our new home::

1989 Airstream 370LE

Extremely Rare!

Wow, what a stroke of luck! My husband was goofing around on the internet and guess what he found? Yep, a 1989 Airstream 370LE in immaculate condition. It has had two owners, and now us. 45K miles on it and the interior is perfectly Airstream. Mitch said, "Honey do you think you could live in this motorhome for the winter" and I was quick to say "You can't be serious, of course I can". But before the emotional buy we asked the wonderful Rick to look it over and to make sure it is in good working order. He said he would buy it. Well, that was all I needed to hear. So, we bought the coach last Saturday and the closing will be the end of this week or Monday. Can you stand it?

So, I am now free from the cold, snowy winter in Minnesota, which makes my arthritis so bad I can hardly move. We have decided that we will find a RV park in Fredericksburg , TX as I have a lot of friends there and and in Horseshoe Bay and Austin. OMG, I am so excited I am ready to burst. The interior of the coach had the last owners touch but it isn't mine, so I will be changing that. But everything else is fantastic.

Did I mention that in 1989 they only made 15 of these motorhomes. They have Chillig chassie's on them and a very powerful Ford engine and transmission. Fast forward to today and we are the proud owners of the only five units still in use! Wow.

At the end of August is Mitch's birthday and early September is mine. We we decided to drive it my in--laws who live a stones throw from Jackson Center where ALL Airstreams are made. Some of you may recall that I worked with them for at least five years and I got to know everyone there. So, the President + CEO, Bob Wheeler, and I go way back. He would like to see it and so would the entire manufacturing staff. We, of course, will pop in and say hello to them as well.

So, there is always something positive that comes from prayer and meditation. Mitch and I put the vibe out to God through prayer and the result was not what we expected, it was beyond anything we could have ever thought of! How great is that. We can tun around in the mountains

And when I am settled in, I would expect many of my girl friends and family members and my HUSBAND to come and see us. That means, Remy, Jack, Lily and moi. What a kick. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd have an Airstream and one that is literally a collectors item.

I will put all the pictures on my FB page so that you can see all the pictures Mitch took.

OH PTL ---just on time. When God wants you to wait on something it is always worth it.

More to come!!! Oh, and we've dubbed it the "The Mobile RockinR Ranch! And as Bob says," Welcome to the tribe". Yay.

OMG I love it.!!!

Robin

Don't LOOK Back!!

I am an extremely slow learner, but I now know this with conviction!

I know that looking back into my past is not even remotely rewarding or positive in any way, shape or form. Looking back into my past never conjures up positive memories but usually only memories which are sad and depressing and hurtful. In other words, they do me no good in the day I am currently in, which is today.

I have often been told over the years that God only gives us our daily bread. I would venture to guess that this means that God only gives us one day at a time to do with as we wish as He gives us free will. But it is our job to know, love, and serve Him to the best of our ability each and everyday. I must re-learn how to keep my mind where my feet are.

I know this may come as a shock, but I am simply not good at taking directions sometimes. I often think that my way is the best way and I start believing that. Yikes. Doing my own thinking is actually what gets me into considerable jams and that is not how I would like to function in this one life I have to live. I would like to live this life with calmness, serenity and a peace which passes all understanding.

When I relive experiences from the past I am frequently sad and in despair. Two very unproductive states of being.

Today, I work on not boarding that train. The train that states that I what I did in the past defines who I am today. Some of it has helped to shape the person I am today because I have not repeated any of the mistakes I have made in the past. Especially the biggest ones because then I have truly missed the lessons that I needed to learn. But when my mind travels back into the negative feelings that past mistakes make, I get progressively more miserable and right in the day that is mine today, not three years ago, so I end up missing the most vital parts of my life. The one that is occurring right now as I write this blog message. Living in the moment requires work. No wonder Eckhart Tolle wrote a book on living in the now. It is vitally important to me because it requires an enormous amount of effort on my part. Living in the moment doesn't come naturally to me at all. But with practice, I am hoping that it eventually will.

So, again I challenge any of the three of you that read this blog (teehee) to begin consciously learning how to live in the now and refrain from going backwards and revisit the past. This type of behavior is not productive or positive in anyway and I refuse to live in this manner.

One day at a time I will not allow any negative thoughts or emotions to enter my brain. One day at a time I am going to allow my love of God and God's love of me to enter my heart and mind and let that Tinkerbell dust drift over all those around me. I believe in Tinkerbell dust. I believe in God healing all things including my desire to hurt myself through my use of negative emotions and feelings. Nothing is accomplished by doing this. Only more self-hurt is a result. I want this no more. Period. Will you join me in this effort? No negative emotions in body or mind. Too destructive. Too depressing. Too much effort pushing God out of my life when the very thing is my desire for a more nurturing relationship with my Holy Father.

On this Father's Day weekend I will give thanks to my Heavenly Father first and my wonderful Daddy next. How wonderful is that?

Many joys be with you today. This day. The only day we have.

Robin

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Some Other Day

it is a beautiful day nonetheless

My hands are always my indicator of a wet day as anyone with arthritis can attest. This day is like any other rainy day...today my hands ache and to top that off my physical terrorist really did a number on me yesterday. Yay! You say, how can I say Yay to hurting? Well, let's be positive here for a darn minute. Or, how 'bout for the rest of our lives? Because this is my long term strategy beginning right now. Positivity, period. In everything, period.

You have heard it hear first people. I am making a commitment right here on this blogspot to do my PT everyday, fearlessly and ferociously. With the complete competitiveness that has made me a brilliant business entrepreneur, writer and athlete. Whahoo, I say! Let's get Rockin at The RockinR Design Group where we are Extraordinarily Creative!

Who wants to join me in this type of commitment? You can commit to doing anything you have been procrastinating about. It can be anything you chose it to be, but it has to mean something and it has to be something that will add value and positivity to your life today and everyday. And then it will have lasting value to you and have a positive impact on someone else. Because we don't live in a vacuum now do we? As my dear, loving girl friend of all time and my spiritual guide, Joan Ryan says, positive, Godly energy is like Tinkerbell dust, it gets all over everybody around you once you have it inside your belly. Positive, Godly energy is positive, powerful stuff. I love that notion and visual in my mind's eye. Read some Louise Hay to get started if that helps as her positive affirmations regarding health is nothing short of amazing and transforming, not to mention spot-on!

For me, I am being asked to do two different types of PT. One is for my L5S1 facet joint impingement, and the other one is for my 8 week old post-operative right psoas tendon repair surgery. Ferocious. Fearless. Fiercely. The three F's. These words can be our new and vastly improved F-Bombs. And Brand New Mantra! I LOVE IT!

I am saying this for me, of course, having leanings slightly to the selfish side....ooops. But, I do want all of us to improve our situations and look at our health or anything else with new eyes and with the eyes of positivity. I do not believe, for one moment, that my creator put me on this planet to be unhappy and miserable. I believe He put me here to LOVE and BE of Service. Now, that I can understand and can relate to. How about you?

Now, I can do all of this by myself, but it seems to me to be much more fun if others reading this will challenge themselves to the three new F-bombs and commit to eating better, exercising more, loving more, and to improving our relationships with others and with God. Ultimately, this is my goal. To improve my relationship with God. Period. And since this body of mine is something He gave me I must do my best to take care of it. I have been blatantly irresponsible in this regard for many years and I am NOT doing it any longer. How about that! I feel empowered and I hate that word. It's so PC. And I HATE anything that smacks of PC. Ha!

So, I am beginning today, on this gloriously rainy day, by saying::

Good Morning God, what would you like me to do for YOU today? Because I will willingly do anything you would like me to do for You. The first is being gentle with my body and still give it some good, old-fashioned, physical terror! Ha. So, balance ball here I come...

Have a wonderful day where ever you are reading this.

Blessings and Namaste.

Robin

Gripe Mode!!

Let's talk digestive issues shall we?

I am now sure that I am over 50 because suffice to say, my digestive system is not like it used to be. I am now literally having to swallow that I can no longer tolerate diary products or anything with a high fat content. My little digestive tract is rebelling at every turn when I am eating certain foods.

Let's just say I am saying good-bye to ice cream and now need to try yogurt/soy ice cream if I must have to have it. Last week I did my own experiment and purposely did not eat any ice cream, including Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. Oh, I am swooning from the mere thought of taking these things out of my diet! I love dessert and can eat it in the middle of day as well!! However, this is what I did last night as a little experiment. I simply love being an armchair MD! However, I ate wonderful organic foods and cooked from the South Beach and Anti-Inflammatory diet and never felt better. Then I had a pretty large (okay, HUGE) bowl of Kemp's Cow Tracks ice cream, ate several pieces of home made pizza with tons of cheese and then ended that dinner with a nice heaping blend of ice cream. Not good. Body rebelled. Last time that will happen. Must change diet! It is as simple as that. Argh!

I am back on the Actvia deal and will hopefully see some changes soon. But, every day I am working on sending positive energy to my entire body and I have complete faith in the fact that I am doing wonderful things to my body and equally wonderful things to my spirit.

Cheers and I will check in later to let you know of my success!

Robin

Now, it is off to do my morning exercises and then perhaps walk. My body will tell me what it needs to day. All I need to do is listen to it. How come it is that things can be so chimpanzee simple and I still don't understand.

Updating and Moving Forward!

Trust God -- Move Forward

I am being a little delinquent in some of my responsibilities. And for me that is nothing short of amazing. You see I am one of those types of people who MUST do everything correctly and perfectly or I freak out. I think having this quality is not necessarily a good thing because I have put an undue amount of pressure on myself to have my own distinctly appropriate brand identity. I have lived more or less a bit off the center of things and I find it amusing to call my colorful even being in the color business! For instance, I went back to school in my, okay to mention one. Oh, I married my true love in my early thirties even after a scathingly horrible relationship I have entitled 'the situation' brought me to the point of telling daters this little mantra:: 'What you see is what you get and if you don't like me there's the door.' To Mitch's credit, he thought that was a fantastic sentence and still recalls it with laughter. Not fear. Hah!

Now, trying to be perfect isn't exactly the worst habit I can think of having, but I must be able to look all around me to see who is dealing with who? Or is that whom? I can never recall how to do that. Meaning, this perfectionism thing bugs the heck out of the very people I love the most. Mainly my dear Husband! During our marriage he and I have done a pretty good job of being each others strongest advocate, and his more laid back qualities counter my personality traits so we end up balancing each other out. Which is wonderful and quite a surprise from God because I never saw Mitch coming. He was like stealth bomber. He was silent and sweet and delicious and before I knew it he was asking me to marry him. Ah, no more situation, PTL!!

Anyway, yes, I am shirking my duties of being a being the classic first born and a national Overachievadiva. Many years ago I had that domain name purchased but I think I left the information go south. Well, I have had an epiphany of sorts. The kind that is making me both excited and vulnerable simultaneously. I am not going into details quite yet, but suffice to say that I am in the throes of figuring out exactly how I will move forward. The trust God scenario makes total sense to me but to actually go about doing that daily requires effort and complete willingness on my part. In other words, waiting on God is what truly separates the men from the boys. It takes calm aim and the type of perseverance that never taking my eye off the ball requires. I love the challenge of waiting on God because it stretches me out of the box of my own making, and also gives more power to never taking my eye off the ball.

However, the word wait has never been in my vocabulary. For me it has always been, bigger, better, faster, more. Living at that pace isn't exactly a great thing either because life speeds by when I am racing around. It must be immensely tiring to God having to run after me all time. HA! So, I must stop myself before things really get tiring!!

Funny, even as I write this I am actually calming down a little bit. I am no longer on deadline, heck, I don't even have a job outside the home. My greatest and most important job is to take care of my husband our home and our posse of animals. How great is that, I ask you?? I don't think my life has ever been better and yet I keep searching outside of myself for that one little glimmer of something else and I think I know what it is I just need to fall back and let the tide glide me around towards dry land. I am still working on ramping up The RockinR Design Group, Extraordinarily Creative, website, well, whoa Nelly, putting the cart before the horse here I think. Yikes, it is that easy. I am still working on tweaking my own company's brand identity and we stay fixed and focused on everything that will have The RockinR on it. However, this time, no paper Grasshopper! For those of you who are too young to know it, Grasshopper was coined back in the 70's in a TV show with David Carridine called, Kung Fu. Gosh, the things one remembers from the younger days. What a hoot.

So, I hope to keep you appraised of all that I hope to begin doing this summer. I am taking my time and letting God run the show. Funny, how when I step aside, miracles happen, but I must be willing to let go of the controls.

LOVE is all around. I live in a gorgeous warehouse-type artists loft complete with two balconies. But, while taking my dog to the dog park I smell the lilacs at the park just blooming away. It is wonderful this life of ours. I am no longer going at warp speed, Scotty. Oh, no, now it is how many things can happen to me without me telling God how things will go down. What a silly, immature notion too. I am not bigger than God, I just think I am from time to time. I would imagine that God laughs and laughs at me. Ha!

Checking back in Roger Ramjet. Now where on earth did that come from I ask? Roger Ramjet...if you know, please let me know.

RC

Love is Everything

Love. Love. Love.

God has placed in front of me a new person to learn from. I have always heard that when the student is ready the teacher appears. This is certainly very clear to me right now.

This will be a short and sweet musing this morning, but I will say this. I am learning first hand the power of positive thinking and living and breathing in the moment. If you haven't read it get the book 'The Power of Now'. I am taking things on using baby steps and not letting ANY negative thinking take hold in my mind. I am simply ready for my inner life to change and the only way to do that is to stay focused on living in the now and being positive about everything I think about.

If you consider this easy, I challenge you do try it for an hour. Rearranging old negative thinking patterns is hard work, but the rewards so sweet.

Reaching for God is a Powerful action.

I am up for this action. Wow.

Much much more to come.

R

Finally, An Early Morning Musing!

Early Early Early Morning Musings This Time!

I am going to continue discerning God's intention for me more than I have ever before. To be truthful, I am not entirely sure I have ever really prayed to know what God has wanted me to do, rather, I pray for others constantly. I enjoy prayerful times with God for others but never for me. I am learning that that is not always the correct thing to do. So, instead, I am being asked by my spiritual mentor to give my questions to God and then sit still and listen for answers. Run them by someone if I must or feel insecure, but that these should lesson over time and practice. Perhaps this is why meditation is called practice. Interesting.

However, one wonderful thing happening tonight is that I will be attending my dear friend Honey Man's (well, okay, if you must know his real name, Gregg Rotvold's) church choir rehearsal. I will not be able to attend their main performance this weekend, but at least I will be able to watch Gregg perform with the choir he is so happy to be a part of. As I sit back and watch the changes Gregg has made in his life, I want to make some of my own. I am actually thrilled at the thought of it. I think in many ways we are making them simultaneously. Perhaps it is because we are the same age.

So, I think today, I will put pen to paper and acknowledge the changes that I wish to make. Pray about them, and see what happens. God has never let the people down whom I pray for so I find it unlikely that He will not help me. The thought is actually amusing to think this way. I also owe someone I love dearly an amend. I plan on tackling that today too.

Well, lots on the docket. I am happy that my behavior is good and one I can be proud of. I am happy that the people that I associate with are kind-hearted and loving. I am glad that I am loving towards myself and towards others. My new motto:: I Know More Than I Think I Know.

So there! Ha.

I will let you know how the concert goes too. Rock on Rock, you are loved!

Robin

More Hiatuses...is that a word?

A little hiccup in my diddi-up!!

Oops. Please forgive me for such a long period of time in between musings. I have actually been busy. Yes, busy. First of all I had my seventh hip surgery about five weeks ago and so that put me down for about three weeks. Then I slowly started to be able to lift my right leg up. You see, over the winter when I did my swing-a-long-with Robin routine, trying desperately not to fall down on my titanium side (left) I ended up tearing the psoas tendon in my right hip, which required surgery. Dear Lord! I can't win! So, off I went to surgery where the wonderful David Palmer did his seventh bit of work on my hips. However, here's the good news in all of this slowing down. It made me begin to listen to myself. To hear what my Holy Spirit was telling me, and most importantly, how to begin to trust myself. Trust myself. I have no idea at what point in my life I began not to, but I did. So, at 52 I believe I am finally beginning to listen to this most powerful inner guidance. It is nothing short of amazing.

During this listening process I have been guided by my inner self to make some very big changes. Changes that I have needed to make for a long time, but have been very afraid of making. Somewhere along the line of my life I have let others do my thinking for me. I have listened to their guidance and dutifully taken that guidance whether I thought it was right or not. Well, I am not willing to do as much of that any longer. Listening to others is often good if it is accompanied by the wisdom of not repeating mistakes, which can be very costly both time-wise and financially. If taking guidance from someone who has been through something I am going through and can offer their wisdom to spare me, that is good! However, I believe I have been listening to myself for a long time already but have been too afraid to truly TRUST myself to make my own decisions about myself, my marriage and my life.

For instance, I have had a friend who for years has belittled me, called me names, and basically treated me very poorly and I have accepted this friend as a condition of our friendship. It doesn't occur often, but it occurs and then it dawned on me. Would I treat myself in this manner? Would I treat others in this manner? Is this acceptable behavior from someone who professes to love me, as she does? I love this woman, I truly do. She and I have been friends for years and it hasn't been all the time, just sometimes. But, is sometimes even okay with me? The answer is a resounding NO. So, I have made the decision to keep my distance from her and not accept unacceptable behavior from her or anyone else for that matter. I have learned through my illnesses that any form of negativity is not good for me. Period. I want to surround myself with love, light, and the positivity and love of God.

I have a junior high and high school girl friend who is probably one of the strongest women I know. She has had to endure many physical illnesses and has done so with power, grace, and dignity. That is what I want my new me to look like. These are the attributes that I have inside me that I have never let out due to fear. Well, people, the boxing gloves are going back on, because I want some of the Robin back that got lost in all the physical ailments. The feelings of being a victim and why me? Nope, not any more. I am going to begin to unleash the Robin who I remember as being tough, happy, and healthy. I can be all of these things despite having bad hips and a chronic illness/chronic pain predicament. Because I have a hunch that I have buried that girl and it is time for her to come back out. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Much, much more to come.

Namaste,

Robin

Little Hiatus

Guilty As Charged!

Can you believe it has been nearly a month since I have logged on and started to write my musings? Well, I have to admit I do have good reason. I had surgery about one month ago and it has been a slow recovery. I find the older I get the longer my recovery time is, so I must proceed with this information accordingly.

I had my seventh, yes, seventh hip surgery. This one was the third on my right side. I have no labrum left in that hip joint and my bone is corroded as the dickens from all the osteoarthritis and RA coursing through my system.

Here's some hope for you! I am going to see an Naturopathic Doctor at Woodwinds ASAP for a consultation. My dream is to meld eastern philosophy with western medicine practice for a more balanced approach to self care. I can't wait. I will tell you all about it after my first visit. I will scheduling that today. I heard about it from my holistic therapist, Julia Clowney, who is just a power house of great information. I am sick and tired of prednisone being the go-to medicine for most of the docs that I see and I am sick and tired of what the ramifications of that drug are, so presto, poof, gone. Not doing it anymore. No more injections, (exception is made for my L5S1 back inpingement, that requires the big guns). However, no more injections in my hips or hip bursa's I am done with that drug, period. End of report. Have I made myself clear???

Now, on another subject and then I have to get going. I have two dear friends on the east coast who are in dire need of more prayers. If you will join me in your devotionals to a higher power, my one friend is Sue who is fighting for her life with 3rd degree burns over 60% of her body and the other is Eric who is remarkably battling a gleoblastoma brain tumor. Please include these names to your prayer list or chain. I would appreciate it.

Okay, more later, promise.

Robin

An Old Friend

Saw An Old Friend Yesterday

Yesterday I was in Stillwater (as usual) getting a prescription filled and ran into a gentleman I had not seen in at least two years if not longer. He is an older man but as feisty as they come and extremely generous, humble and wise. Oh, and did I mention handsome! Sorry Jane! Jane is the wife. He is an ex-Marine and solid as a rock.

However, when I saw him yesterday in the lab area of our medical facility he was a glimmer of the man I knew two years ago. I found out this was due to the fact that a mere three weeks ago he had prostate cancer surgery and that the cancer was in some lymph nodes. Apparently, this is not good. But with steely determination I could still see the fierceness behind those eyes to conquer all that was swinging his way. This man has faced all of the obstacles a long life has to offer and was given a new life many years ago. Now, he is looking down the barrel of another new life. What an amazing story he has to tell.

As we began talking he was telling me about how tired he was and how he was sleeping so much. For the first time in my poor health career I was able to share my experience with another person by providing a solution to his question based on my experience, strength, and hope. The answer was so decidedly simple, too. I told him to follow his body. If his body wanted to sleep, let it sleep. If it wanted to eat, let it eat. Etc., etc. Our bodies tell us exactly what it needs to get better if we would only listen to our bodies more frequently we would hear the vast wisdom it has to offer us.

So, running into him did him some good and it certainly did me some good. I was able to see a dear friend and watch his eyes light up when he saw me as my eyes lit up when I saw him. He is the dear, sweet, grandfather type if ever there was one, but again, feisty as all get out. You could call him a little stick of TNT. Hah!! That is perfect in describing him.

Our discussion was short lived as he was called in by a nurse for his lab work and we lost our connection. But, in that short amount of time I was able to tell him a bit of my story, provide a solution to a question he had, and most importantly, tell him he is now included in my daily prayer chain. I work my beads daily and he will now be a welcomed addition to my prayers. This man is a humble, dear man. I am blessed to know him and know I will know him for a long long time to come.

Here's another great event that will be occurring on Monday night the 18th. I hope I see some of you there. Positive Living with Chronic Disease. I think you should be able to click right on that sentence and get to the website for more information. If not, simply Google it and you will see what an amazing couple of hours can be spent for nothing. What a wonderful blessing. And they are all around me if I just look.

Blessings of the day to you and all you meet today. I think I will remember that everyone I see or talk to I touch in some way so it better be a positive experience for them. I would much rather leave them with that than a negative experience. Yikes. How awful would that be.

Okay, so my husband is home from his big meeting in Atlanta and I am going to enjoy the remainder of my coffee time with him this morning.

If you would like more information on the chronic disease seminar or talk given by Joe Nelson, please let me know and I will point you in the right direction. Mitch and I are already registered so please join us.

God's Blessings to you on this fine day He has given us.

Robin

A Week Long of Healing

Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Healing

What an interesting week it has been watching and listening to my body heal itself. God, of course, had a pretty good hand in all of this, but my body is slowly beginning to heal the broken parts and fix them better than they were. I am following the book by Huddleston, Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster. I am finding the book to be an amazing resource for understanding how love is the greatest healer of all. Think of that. LOVE as healer. For me it is the love of God. The book says higher power, blah, blah, what ever you want to call something that is higher than ourselves, so I call mine God.

I think of God's healing touch and power as something that surrounds me. That is constant, that is unshakable and undeniable. The color of God's love is a gorgeous, luminous shimmering gold with silver and bronze accents. A beautiful color to wrap myself around in to let my body do some healing.

I think of God's love as the very first love I should have experienced as a child and as a human being, (even before that of my parents) but I do not unfortunately, remember that feeling of God's love. I am not sure why this is so, but I hope to figure it out. Or, perhaps this is universally the case with all people. Who knows?

But as I enter my second week of healing I hope to be guided by my body to let me know what it needs and wants to make it easier for it to rebuild itself. I am so happy knowing this process and knowing that my body doesn't need a thing except love and rest to make it heal itself so beautifully. (Okay, and perhaps some good doctoring and medications to accompany this).

What I truly believe and have complete conviction about is the fact that God loves me unconditionally and without reservation. This is the same way I must approach or extend the love I give to my body. Love, love, and more love. It is like an ingredient that is required in many bodily recipes making them above perfection.

I have a magnate on my fridge and it reads::

DON'T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE

--- GOD

HaH! I am going to rest and heal!

Peace...Robin

Prepare For Surgery:: Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston

Getting Ready for the BIG DAY!

You would think I was preparing for open heart surgery, but no, it is only day surgery which will repair my psoas tendon and right hip labrectomy, which rids me of all the floating cartilage inside the joint itself. It has been nearly 3 years since my last rotto-rooter, so I am glad this is happening now. With any luck at all this will be the last surgery I will need for a while. Yay!! It is also quite ironic that doctors say:: Yah, you'll just need a couple of days rest and no crutches and you'll be up and ready to rumble. RIIGGHHTTT. They are sticking an enormous scope into my hip joint in three places, hoisting my leg in the air to get at the joint itself and they're telling me I should be back on my feet in a matter of minutes. Why is that? Why do we always want to believe that surgery is no big deal? It is an enormous shock to our bodies, yet we treat it like we've just gone to the ball park and over eaten a few hot dogs. I don't get it at all!

I do think that there is a big difference between the intensities of each of the surgeries. Meaning, open heart is much more scary and life threatening to me than what I am doing, but it still illicits the same amount of anxiety and negative emotion. Hence, I am doing the steps in the book, Prepare for Surgery :: Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston. Her book on learning how to relax, calm down, is said to allow us to recover faster, have less pain after surgery, and strengthens our immune systems after surgery. I thought this completely profound and something worth exploring. The wonderful Julia brought the book to my attention and loaned it to me to read prior to Tuesday. I sometimes feel like a complete wimp. I am merely having a small rip in a tendon fixed and then my hip joint cleaned out. However, they do this with an enormous scope sticking out of my hip in three places and please, let's remember, one persons pain is another's no big deal. My body takes on pain at three times that of another person. I recall a conversation with my dear friend, Jeanine Ferguson from junior high school about how differently people experience pain. I experience pain at a very high and intense level which makes me a candidate for a high level of anxiety prior to and after surgery. Anything that I can do to calm myself down that does not require more medication is a very good thing.

So, I am learning Ms Huddleston's five step method at relaxation and what to do prior to having surgery. I thought one was very interesting. It was meeting your anesthesiologist. How often do we even consider knowing the name of the person who will be responsible for monitoring the amount of sedation medication it will require to keep us asleep during our surgery? It is mind blowing that of all of my different surgeries there are only two anesthesiologists names I know. I don't know any of the nurses names, which is sad, but I may even explore changing how this is conducted. I may just do a mass group hug prior to my surgery so I know who everyone is. Sounds strange, but how many people would you allow to work on your innards without knowing them? Like a:: 'hey buddy' wave to the dude across the street. 'Come on over here and operate on me! We need an extra person to help stitch me up. Wanna help?' We wouldn't conceive of doing something like this, but we do when we don't know the very people who surround us in the OR.

So, my goal is to know Matt Larson, my anesthesiologist, at least one half hour prior to my surgery (as indicated in the book). And request calming medication be run in my IV prior to my surgery. I absolutely can't stand sitting there waiting on the surgical staff to get things organized and me sitting outside anxious as hell, waiting for them. Now that I can help myself relax and drift into a calm mindfulness, I can use the benefits of the calming medication to assist me in this process and my body is less rigid, less uptight, less high strung. It allows me to remove my shoulders from my ears and just be. I think this will be or can be a very, very healthy process and idea. I wonder if hospitals have ever thought of this as an idea for all of their surgical patients. This assists me in helping myself calm down and relax, so that I can get in the 'zone' so to speak. I love the entire notion of it.

Today, I am going to read the other portion of the book. Like what to do after you've had the surgery and what do you do to best heal? I think this is extremely interesting and helpful in how I can best help my own body. No one has ever taught me how to treat my body with dignity, love and respect with love being the most important thing. According to Huddleston, love is the most amazing healing tool of all. Finding divine love in the healing process is an even more important part of the tool kit.

I will let you know what I find out, however, in the mean time, I would appreciate prayers. Prayer works. Period. And I love and appreciate and respect them.

As part of my relaxation steps from Huddleston's book, I am taking myself for a walk in the woods today at one of my favorite parks in Stillwater. Walking in the woods is THE most wonderful thing I do for myself and I can't do it very much in the winter because of the snow and the fear of falling and blowing out my $40K hip. Now that the snow is melting and we are set for a gorgeous day, I am going to walk and listen to the birds arriving, breathe in the spring air, and open myself up to love and be loved.

I invite you to do the same.

Namaste.

Robin