Busy days this week.. thank goodness I had such a wonderful weekend, dancing, road tripping, sunning, singing (off key?), and spending time with friends and family.

Last night I said goodbye to the support group I had been facilitating for over the last few years. I was one of the original members of the Ellicott City chapter that formed in 2001. The personal growth and healing that I experienced there was so important right after my separation and I have been "giving back", trying to help others in appreciation of that. Well, I said my goodbye and was overwhelmed with the number of people who told me that I personally helped them... you never know how you touch others sometimes. I will continue as an alumni and help support the organization, but my days of attending meetings and running small groups was due to come to a conclusion. It has been a very rewarding journey and I have made some great friends.


Father's day, I had my daughter, mom, dad and stepmom all over for an early dinner. My daughter surprised me with a laptop holder (so my legs don't get burned by this unusually hot Mac some days) and I proceeded to try to make a big dinner for my family. I ran out of propane 5 minutes into cooking the steaks and veggies. My spare tank was empty! Home Depot was out of propane (what?). I managed to salvage the meal and it was enjoyed by all. A friend was just saying how well prepared I am... I guess I still need some work in the cooking department. I wanted this Father's day to be special, since I almost lost my dad on New Year's. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November and was scheduled for surgery in January to remove it. Unfortunately, he came down with pneumonia just before Christmas and spent the next two months in the hospital. He came out of that too weak for the surgery, so was destined to see what happened with the cancer. But as fate would have it, while attending a reunion of his medical school class two weeks ago.. the classmate and surgeon who was to perform the operation was so taken with his improvement in stamina and vigor that he decided to go ahead with the procedure. So this Thursday, please put my dad in your prayers as he goes into surgery. There are some risks involved, but I am optimistic that he will come through, if only because he still wants to beat me at chess. :-)

I hope all the other Fathers out there got to enjoy the time with their families!