Category Archives: 5 minute Friday

Turn

Posted on November 7, 2014 | 5 comments

I have not joined 5 minute Friday in a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has been a year or more. 5 minute Friday is a weekly meme originally hosted by LisaJo Baker and now living over at Kate Motaung’s blog Heading Home. Each Friday she provides a prompt that all are invited to write about–whatever can be said in 5 minutes with limited editing. Here I go, diving back in with the prompt TURN

“It’s my turn.”

“No, it’s my turn.”

“Uh–uh, you already had a turn. Mommy, Caitlyn won’t give me my turn.”

I hear this or some variation of this many times a week, often many times a day. It apparently comes with the territory with multiple children.

It throws me for a loop every time.

I am an only child. I didn’t have to share or take turns with a sibling on a daily basis, but for some reason, I developed an overpowering sense of fairness. I try desperately to help my girls settle each squabble or issue fairly and quickly.

This makes parenthood very labor intensive and confusing to me. I am always asking my hubby, the baby of 5, “Is this normal? Are kids always like this?” He repeatedly says, “yes dear. You don’t have to answer their every question, you won’t make everything fair. They’re kids. They’ll be fine.”

Man, I hope so. I hope they will exit childhood knowing there is unity and peace in family and that they are loved by their parents and each of their sisters, very, very much.

Times up! Now it is your turn to take 5 minutes and put together a post!

5 Comments

Posted in #nablopomo, 5 minute Friday, parenting

5 Minute Friday–Dance

Posted on June 29, 2012 | 1 comment

It’s been awhile since I joined in 5 Minute Friday, but it is a fun writing exercise. The rules are simple, link up with Lisa-Jo, write for 5 minutes on the given topic, visit and comment on the blog that linked before you.

Now on to the topic:

When I think of dancing I think of my friend A’Driane at Butterfly Confessions. She sometimes does a Dance Party Friday where she chooses a song and does a great video of her dancing. She gets me dancing along every time! My favorite of her songs with “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson. I can’t help but think about it every time I hear the song.

Thanks to A’Driane I now have the cutest dancing baby in the world. Anytime Patrice hears a catchy song she puts her hands in the air for ‘raise the roof’. Seriously, it is as cute as it sounds.

I also think of King David, in the Bible, dancing before the Lord. I think we were made to dance. It is so natural in my baby girl (and my older ones too). And even natural when we get excited worshipping the Lord.

My 5 minutes is up. Now head on over to see what others have written.

1 Comment

Posted in 5 minute Friday

Grateful-5 Minute Friday

Posted on November 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.

For fun, for love of the sound of words, for play, for delight, for joy and celebration at the art of communication.

For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.

Won’t you join us at The Gypsy Mama?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

Today’s Topic:

Grateful

I am grateful for so many things. I am grateful to the Lord for giving me a husband who loves me completely, and three beautiful girls. The doctors had told me for so many years I would never have kids. And here I am with three, the desire for more.

I am grateful for every step I run. 15 hospital stays in 3 years, two a month long each to learn how to walk again, and here I am, running. I’m getting ready to do a 10k (6.2 miles) run next month! I remember teh day I was working so hard in therapy to learn how to walk again. It was slow and not pretty. They had my dog with me. He got bored waiting for me and laid down. He can’t do a whole run with me now.

I am grateful for how far I have come in the last year. Postpartum depression and anxiety was hard. Really hard. Every step hurt my heart and my soul. I don’t even know how many times I asked if I would actually survive it. And I am. Dare, I say I am thriving? Yes, I am. I have so many people to thank for that–my midwife, hubby, friends, family, #ppdchat mamas. So many.

I am so grateful.

What are you grateful for? Come share!

Grateful on this 5 Minute Friday

Posted on July 8, 2011 | 5 comments

As I mentioned, yesterday was 7 years since my dad died in a car accident. Even as I type those words, I fight to believe them. It does not seem like it is possible my strong, healthy, funny dad is gone. It does not seem possible that he was not at my wedding and has not met any of my children.

I have a lot of regrets over some lost time with my dad. There was some time after college where we were quite far apart on several issues. It made conversation hard. I didn’t know how to work through the issues, so I let the 4 hours that separated us be a safe barrier between us. I know why, and my reasons were valid, but I regret it, nonetheless.

But this is not about regret, it is about being grateful. And I am extremely grateful for a conversation I had with my dad exactly 2 weeks before he died.

I had just gotten engaged to the amazing man I now call my hubby. It was a dream come true. And we were making the rounds telling people. I was looking forward to telling my dad.

So I called him one morning on my way to work. I had gotten up very early and was headed into work about 5:30. My dad was also an early riser. Always had been. I thought he was nuts. So that Wednesday morning, I called him to tell him just that! “Dad, I still think your nuts be here I am almost to work too.”

We talked about the engagement, the beginnings of our wedding plans and a few other things I don’t quite remember. But what I do remember is that I hung up the phone feeling very healed. Like things were much better between us

Just two weeks later he was gone, and I was left with my regrets, but also with that one call. That healing call. And for that I am eternally grateful.

That is my 5 minutes writing about what I am grateful. Won’t you join the fun?

The Gypsy Mama hosts this blog party every Friday. She gives a topic for us to write on for 5 minutes, with no editing and no worrying about perfection. In return, she asks we link up and comment on the person’s post linked up before us. It is a great way to cap the busy work week! Head on over…

5 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, blog hops, daddy, memories

Wonder for 5 Minute Friday

Posted on June 24, 2011 | 2 comments

Oh I wonder, wonder, wonder, who, oh who, who wrote the book of love.

I look at my life and see a lot of love. Yes, in my children, but even more so in my husband. He is an amazing man. He makes me laugh. He holds me while I cry. He drives me bananas. He loves me by loving our girls.

God wrote our book of love. And a precious story it is. He wrote the pages where my husband loved me in spite of the Multiple Sclerosis. Where he loved me in spite of an explosive temper. Where he loved me through the ups and downs of three pregnancies and the darkness of postpartum depression.

And what a beautiful book of love He wrote for us.

What makes you wonder?

Head on over to the Gypsy Mama and share…

The end of the week – a good time for few words.

Want to take five minutes with me and see which ones bubble to the surface?

Let’s just write and not worry if it’s just right or not. Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing or tweaking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my right side bar}

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard. {And if you love us, consider turning off word verification for the day to make it easier for folks to leave you some encouragement}

It’s a great way to exhale at the end of a beautiful week.

2 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, depression, Multiple Sclerosis, Postpartum Depression

Backwards…5 Minute Friday

Posted on June 10, 2011 | 2 comments

We made it to Friday. Through a full-week back at work. And I think I did it rather well. Much better than I handled it before my medical leave last month.

Making it to Friday means it is time for The Gypsy Mama’s 5 Minute Friday. She provides the topic, I provide 5 minutes of unedited writing. So here goes…

Backwards…

That makes me think of when I was little and my mama didn’t feel like cooking. Her go to food was french toast when she didn’t feel like making dinner. My mama’s french toast concoction was egg, milk and cinnamon. Always made with white bread. Yum, yum, yum.

Having breakfast for dinner was a normal part of growing up for me. This was not the case for my hubby and thus far, I have not been able to get him to embrace the concept. But he does a fine job with breakfast at breakfast time. Almost every Saturday and Sunday he makes pancakes, french toast, waffles of eggs. He is awesome at it. Honestly, he is just an all around good cook. I require a recipe, he can just take ingredients and put together a yummy dinner.

Did your family do breakfast for dinner or was breakfast just for breakfast?

2 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, blog hops

Every Day–5 Minute Friday

Posted on June 4, 2011 | 1 comment

The Gypsy Mama hosts a really great blog hop on Fridays…5 Minute Friday. Here are the “rules” Wanna just write? Without wondering if it’s just right?Indulge in five rich, delicious minutes of pure writing.

Tell your readers you’re linking up here and invite them to dig in too.

And most importantly, go visit, read, and compliment the five minute chef who served something up right before you.

Easy peasy.

This prompt of every day has me a little stumped. The Gypsy Mama wrote a great post, but I can’t very well copy her’s, now can I? So I had to think. A little hard to do after a really long day at work. I have only been back two days and both have been crazy busy. Ah well. Here is what came to mind as I thought about every day…

I have a history of Multiple Sclerosis. I say it that way because I have been in remission for 5 years (totally awesome, Praise the Lord, I know!) But before the remission, I was really sick. Some days I even spent in a wheelchair because I could not walk. Other days I could not use my right hand as it would claw up and not move. There were lots of different things that could be wrong at anytime, so every day I did an inventory before I even got out of bed, I would move each part of my body to see if it was going to work that day. But slowly, as I got more confident in the remission, I quit testing every day.

That every day testing has returned, but for a different reason. Now, because of the 9 months struggle with postpartum depression and anxiety, I have begun testing every day…how is my stress level? How is my mood? How is my response to the girls? How am I feeling? How am I reacting?

I recently finished an intense treatment for the depression called transcranial magnetic stimulation or TMS. I am doing much, much better. I can not even tell you how much improvement there is over 3 weeks ago, but for now, I test myself every day, many times a day…but I am trusting that one day soon, I will no longer test every day…

1 Comment

Posted in 5 minute Friday, blog hops, depression, Multiple Sclerosis, Postpartum Depression, TMS

On Forgetting–5 Minute Friday

Posted on May 27, 2011 | 3 comments

On Fridays, the Gypsy Mama invites us to write for 5 minutes without worrying if it is just right…to just write and share. Come along and join the fun.

On Forgetting…

This one has me a little stumped. I of course want to remember so much right now. The sweetness of my baby girl next to me in bed, the joy she has when nursing, the wonder of each of my girls learning so much every day. I want to remember the amazingness of this time.

There are other things I am not sure how I want to remember them. If all goes as planned, I am in my final days with postpartum depression. I will finish the transcranial magnetic stimulation treatments on Wednesday. At that point I will end my journey to find the right medication, I will end the daily battle against myself. Who doesn’t want that?

But another part of me wonders. What will it be like to live without this challenge? Will I just walk away from the wonderful ladies I have met through #ppdchat on twitter? Will I stop blogging about postpartum depression? What will I do with the last 9 months? Will I be able to remember these first months of Patrice’s life? Or will they be a fog of depression, anxiety and medication.

What will I remember when this journey is over? How will this journey really end?

*TMS was not my cure all. The Postpartum Depression and Anxiety became Bipolar Disorder II

Make sure to head over and see what others are thinking about forgetting…

3 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, blog hops, depression, Postpartum Depression, TMS

Motherhood Should Come With–5 Minute Friday

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 6 comments

Another Friday, another fun 5 Minute Friday with the Gypsy Mama. We write for 5 minutes, no editing, just 5 minutes. Check out what I have to say and then head over to see what others think. Today’s prompt, Motherhood should come with… A friend who has been to the dark side of motherhood. A friend who is willing to ask, how are you emotionally. And not believe you automatically when you say fine. And not be scared when you share what a wreck you are inside. But totally believes you when you say how much you love your kids even though you are a wreck inside. I have found mothers like that in my recent journey with postpartum depression and anxiety. Some I knew about beforehand, others, I never would have dreamed had walked this road. I have also met several more via Twitter. There is this amazing group of women out there under the hashtag #ppdchat. They are amazing. Some are at the beginning of the journey, some are survivors. All have a heart for each other and what life is dealing us right now. Can I ask you, please check on new mamas you know. When you ask them about nursing and how the baby is sleeping, also ask them, how are you mama? How are your emotions? Ask, you never know what life you might help save.

6 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, blog hops, depression, Postpartum Depression

Posted on April 29, 2011 | 6 comments

The Gypsy Mama hosts a fun blog hop, 5 minute Friday. She gives us a prompt to write about for 5 minutes flat. No rewriting, no editing, just honest writing. She then asks we link up with her site and give comment love to the person who linked right before us. Here goes… IF I KNEW I COULD, I WOULD… If I knew I could handle going back to school and raising kids, I would go back for a whole new career field. I would go back to school to become a certified nurse midwife, especially if I knew I could be an amazing blessing to women like my midwife has been to me.* I would want to be the blend of midwife I see in my own. She loves and embraces the women she works with. She loves and embraces the birthing process. She blends the natural elements of birthing with what can and should be done medically to give women a successful birth. Yes, I know in a perfect world, birth would require no “help” but it does. We are told in Genesis that birth would now be accompanied by pain. I believe, like all other things affected by the fall, the element of sin continues to degenerate things, so birth is not only accompanied by pain, but can also be accompanied by complications. I understand birth is not always a medical emergency. I know people who have carefully and wisely chosen very natural births, but for me and my household, we love the blend of care our midwife provides. Now it is your turn! What would you do if you knew you could?!
*Just look under tagline midwife if you have any question about the impact my midwife, turned friend, has had on our family

6 Comments

Posted in 5 minute Friday, midwife