Uncertain, lost, directionless and confused. Those are some of the things I was feeling back then. I had lost someone close to me and I was at ground zero. It was scary and I was vulnerable. I was also back in the rabbit hole and afraid to budge. I had to come to terms with the loss and it wasn’t easy. I made my mistakes along the way and at times there was just no moving ahead. That was back then.
Stronger, capable, focused and moving forward. These are the things that describe me now. My life is not where I want it to be but I am getting there, one step at a time. It is still not easy and at times I think I’m not making progress at all. However, the truth is, I’ve made much progress. I pretty much know what I want in my life and when moments of stress hit like it did yesterday, I don’t give up as easily. I see a stronger person emerging out of the fog and one who is capable of achieving more than I thought I would a year ago. Vulnerability is still there but there is strength too. And that’s a good thing.
Is my life today what I pictured a year ago? I wanted better this year and I’m still not there yet. I’m moving forward and that’s for sure.
🎄✨ The Gentle Countdown to Christmas with Honey & Hubie ✨🎄
As Christmas draws near, the world begins to buzz. Shops fill, to-do lists grow longer, and the days seem to whirl by in a mix of excitement, errands, and festive chaos. Yet somewhere between the wrapping paper and the rushing, there is a quiet kind of magic—one that whispers instead of shouts. And that is where The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie shines brightest. In the days leading up to Christmas, when everything feels fast and full, this story offers something rare: a moment to slow down. A soft place to land. A warm breath in the middle of winter’s hurry.
🌟 A Story That Brings Calm to the Christmas Countdown
While adults check calendars and children count the sleeps until Santa arrives, Honey and Hubie remind us of the kind of wonder that doesn’t rush. Their world is full of gentle courage, small acts of friendship, and the kind of imagination that warms even the coldest December day. Reading their adventures becomes more than just story time. It becomes a pause… a quiet moment shared… a way to settle the heart during the busiest season of the year.
🎁 A Cozy Escape for Families
As Christmas approaches, evenings grow softer—twinkling lights, warm rooms, and time spent together. Honey and Hubie fit perfectly into that space. Children lean in to hear about fairies, woodland creatures, and the brave little greyhound who learns to face her fears. Parents find themselves relaxing too, drawn in by the sincere sweetness of the tale. It is the kind of story that helps families breathe again—something peaceful to balance the noise and excitement of December.
🎄 A Christmas Countdown Full of Wonder
This year, why not make Honey and Hubie part of your family’s countdown?
•Five days before Christmas: Meet Honey and Hubie and slip into their magical world
• Four days before Christmas: Pause the holiday rush with a chapter of soft adventure
• Three days before Christmas: Share a lesson about courage and kindness
•Two days before Christmas: Let imagination take over where stress used to sit
• Christmas Eve: Cozy up together for a heartwarming read that ends the night with smiles
By the time Christmas morning arrives, children aren’t just excited for gifts— they’re filled with wonder, joy, and the warmth of stories shared.
✨ A Book That Feels Like a Calm Winter Night
In a season that often moves too fast, The Excellent Adventures of Honey andHubie reminds us to slow down. To enjoy the small moments. To sit together. To let imagination be the gentle snow that settles over everything else. Christmas may be busy, but a good story has the power to quiet the world for just a little while… and Honey and Hubie do exactly that.
May your days leading up to Christmas be cozy, magical, and filled with adventure. And may Honey and Hubie bring your home the gentle calm the season sometimes forgets to offer.
Hmm….skills or lessons I have learned recently? I would say that I have learned how to let go without going through what I usually do. Letting go is something I don’t do well because it is tied in with changes. I absolutely hate anything new that I would have to get used to and to deal with. However, I am learning to let go of situations and not do the “the end of the world” theatrics! I mope for days on end when letting go but these days, it is getting easier. Not immediately, mind you, but in a shorter period of time and when I do, I don’t go back and try to sift through it. I let it lie.
I am also learning that not everything bad that comes your way is really bad. Sometimes it is for the better. Does that make sense? It does to me. Let’s say a relationship goes bust and my first instinct is to get sad. However, I am learning that sometimes that relationship was not worth anything to begin with. It was better off biting the dust! I take the lessons I’ve learned from it and put it to good use so that I benefit from it, the next time around. That’s something new.
I also try to look at the positives. This one is not that easy because we usually tend to look at what is lacking or rather we are pros at it. I’m turning it around. I look at the positives first and the negatives don’t seem to matter anymore. I rattle off five positives first which is easy to do and after that, it doesn’t seem like I’m lacking much at all!
Those are the things that I’ve learned recently and I feel like I’m on the right track. Keeping on it takes focus because falling to the wayside is easy to do.
I’m not much into visiting cities or countries for that matter. If there is one place I would like to visit and spend some time there is the city my son is in right now. It is in the heart of Lower Saxony, central Germany. It is located on the Leine River, about 60 miles south of Hannover.
I’ve been there before but it was a quick trip and we didn’t spend much time there. The Leine River looked picturesque and the park seemed calm and serene. It is a university town and you see students all over the place. If you’re driving, pay attention to the cyclists! There are plenty of them and they have right of way.
Other than that, it just seemed like a nice city for a weekend trip. Lots of nice restaurants and a city center with lots of shops as well. However, I would stay away from the Bahnhof Viertal, the train station at night. Too many weird types hanging out there and I wouldn’t recommend taking a light stroll rather make it a quick one!
My son seems to love it, I suppose there is plenty to do for young people. The usual university town atmosphere of night clubs, bars, fast food places and hangouts.
My reason for wanting to spend some time there is to find out why he loves it there. Exactly the same reason as to why he doesn’t want me there for more than a few hours!
This one is cute. Honey and Hubie seem to be going places! They love being Santa’s little helpers and they do a mighty fine job too. It’s time for some festive cheer folks!
The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie available on Amazon
I hope people will say that I am a genuine person, someone who keeps her word and stands by it. The traits of a genuine person are empathy, integrity, consistency, honesty and kindness.
I tend to stick to those markers or at least I try to. So I hope that people will see all those qualities in me and appreciate them as well. You don’t always get as good as you give because there are those out there who march to a different drumbeat and those things I just mentioned are seen as belonging to a pushover. I try to see through people for what they are but sometimes it is hard and I wind up getting hurt.
These days, I do speak up for myself and “genuineness” only goes so far and then I put a stop to it. It is working out to my benefit and I like the new me. However, going back to the DP, I hope that they will say that she was one of a kind, a truly nice and genuine person. One can only hope!
“Genuine people don’t come around too often. If you find somebody real enough to stay true, keep them close.” Unknown
Most of us are “control freaks” when it comes to controlling outcomes. I know I am. We want to take whatever comes our way, things of the unsavory nature and we want to change it or we spend time, sometimes lots of it, mulling over what we cannot control and instead of letting go or accepting it as a lost cause, we try to control the narrative.
“To find calm, let go of the need to control every outcome.” Unknown
I had a tough day yesterday and “calm” had flown the coop and was nowhere to be seen. I kept playing scenarios over and over again and no matter how many times I kept playing it over, the outcome was the same. It was done and dusted and there was nothing I could do about it but to let it go. The only thing I could do was to control my feelings and how I viewed the situation. The other thing that was staring me in the face was that I had no control over the events of the day, only in how I dealt with it. It was time to let it go and I did.
“When you release expectations, you are free to enjoy things for what they are instead of what you think they should be.” Mandy Hale
I spent most of yesterday getting angry, agitated, frustrated, and whatever else you could throw into the pot, I was ready to take it all and to run with it! Human nature is such that we love to entertain problems. Truth is, problems do show up when we least expect them and they throw us for a loop when we come face to face with them. More often than not, anger and frustration accompany problems. Not knowing how to deal with them is why they appear in succession. In my case, it is the opportunity to fall off from the path of self-discovery I was on and to VENT for all its worth! Ok, it’s alright for awhile but I see the toll it takes on my psyche and even then, I refuse to stop, hell-bent on wrecking havoc as I go along on my path of self-righteousness! The good part is, I’ve learned when to put a stop to it. It took me most of the day but when evening rolled around, I was ready to come to my senses and to look at it with a clear head.
“One of the most rewarding and important moments in life is the moment you finally find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.” marcandangel
Learning to let go of control is not easy because letting go of whatever it is means that you no longer have control over the situation. However, sometimes that is a good thing. You need to step back, view it from a distance and come up with solutions to break down the problem and to make it solvable. Yes, it takes time and it takes focus but it is better than going off the deep end as I did yesterday.
“Real strength isn’t control. It’s knowing when to let go.” Christopher Barzak
It’s hard to describe the feeling. I never expected to be a parent so when it happened and I held him in my arms for the first time, the world stopped for just a second. He was tiny, wrinkled, and he had his eyes closed. I could see that his dad was taken with him, I saw the pride in his face as he held him for the first time.
It was my turn next and I got to hold him. The pain of the last 8 hours or so of labor flew out the window. I had a baby and I was a mom. Ok, he wasn’t the prettiest baby but I guess they never are when they first come into the world. I had a tough labor and the doctor who attended to me had ruptured something in the spinal area while giving me an epidural. It would turn out to be a major problem but all that was forgotten when I first laid eyes on him. He would change my life in a big way.
I made a promise there and then that I would be the best mom possible. The little guy was sleeping peacefully but I was roaring like a lion inside. There was something that rose up within me that day. I can’t put my finger on it but I knew that I was responsible for him. I also felt the kind of love that is hard to describe. The little being I had carried inside me, the one who had kicked to let me know of his existence was finally here and my world as I knew it was being turned on its head!
I held him close, cooed to him, whispered gibberish, kissed his closed eyes, and knew that this was love of a different kind. Being a parent for the first time was a euphoric experience and even though there were other moments that gave me a “high” nothing would beat that first moment when I held him to my heart and heard him breathing softly, at peace with the world.
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