Life

A collection of 530 posts

Life

To Love Life, to Not do Business with Life

Sometimes I just don't want to write about the big issues in life.  It's tiring.  I don't want to stir any pots.  I want to just let things go.  But then I read these words from my friend Erin and I know that even

Life

The Search for Frugality

I grew up frugal.  It didn't mean my parents were cheap, but we were thrifty.  I wore hand me downs.  We shopped at thrift stores before it was cool.  I can still remember trying on clothes at a tiny basement store across from Manor Family Health in Millersville

Life

Recuperating Together

It's coming up on 2 years since the boy and I first met.  As I blogged about yesterday, when the first scent of Spring hits my nostrils I start dreaming up the excitement and activity that the warm weather brings.  Essentially I (and my allergies) come out of

Life

Updated: When Spring Sent us to Havre De Grace

Days like these remind me of Kevin.  It's that first scent of Spring Warmth.  When you wake up and the Sun is already energizing the day.  It's the day when you feel like you can suffer through a chilly morning in shorts, capris, skirts and sandals

Life

The Balance of Life

How do you find balance? Several months ago it was about finding a job that suited my financial and gift needs: check. Then it became about creating a schedule that made time for work and social life: check. Now it's about finding time to make my health a

Life

Living for the Day, Not the Dead

I know your parents are always your parents but the past two weeks have made me realize that I may have hit that point in life where we become more confidantes than parent-child.  The past 3+ years haven't been exactly easy on my family.  Kevin's illness

Life

How to Find & Create Shower Gifts on the Cheap

It can become expensive to celebrate your loved one's biggest life moments such as marriage and children. There are so many ways to get creative and come up with fabulous shower gift ideas on the cheap. As much as we all hate to admit it, re-gifting is always

Life

The Day He'll Have Been Dead Longer than I Knew Him

This morning I woke up with some anxiety.  This tends to happen when I think back to Kevin lately.  I feel like I think more about the fact that I'm a widow than I lost a husband.  Kevin feels so distant from me.  I don't hear

Life

Right Place, Right Time, Every Single Second.

Could it be possible that in every second we are in the right place at the right time?  Is it possible?  Is it crazy to think this? I am starting to think not, which is vastly different from what I believed over 3 1/2 years ago listening to Kevin&

Life

Caleb Wilde Guest Post

Thanks to Caleb Wilde for stumbling upon an old post of mine from 2 weeks after Kevin's death.  With the new blog site up and running, it's neat (and sometimes heart wrenching) to see my old posts come to life for my readers.  One such blog

Life

Demanding for Options with Your Medical Treatment, Diagnosis and Healthcare

Entering an unfamiliar medical world is beyond scary. You discover symptoms, get some tests, meet with new doctors, and await the final diagnosis. If you're like I was, you put yourself in denial about the big, scary diseases such cancer, heart disease, HIV. These days there are many

drafts

What Glee Taught me about Being Bullied Myself

I was a plump kid.  I had a very short bob, bowl cut, bangs covering half my head.  I wore blue overalls that I adored.  I played baseball in second grade - the only girl on the team.  I had boobs before anyone else in my class.  I lugged around

Life

Sarcoma Cancer Online Resources

Sarcoma cancers are very rare. Finding proper information about them, is often difficult and stressful. The web is full of information, but finding websites that are reputable can be a frustrating process. When my husband was diagnosed with Angiosarcoma, an extremely rare form of Sarcoma cancer, I searched online many

Life

The Future Has Begun

The month of January is coming to an end and I have been quiet enough only to have published 2 blogs.  I never would have viewed this as an accomplishment, but I have wanted to step away from the super social aspects of life for a while, and I feel

Life

How to Find Jobs in a Tough Economy

I have had numerous jobs over the past 10 years, everything from dining room hostess to Mary Kay consultant. I tend to start, and never go anywhere. For those of us in the same boat, or for those who have found themselves unemployed due to this tough economy, there are

Life

Trust to Empowerment

Trust is fickle (been itching to use that word).  We give it.  We tell people they need to earn it.  We test it.  We take it away.  We use it to manipulate.  To taunt.  We question it. I don't know why I lacked trust after Kevin died.  Kevin

Life

Crying Won't Kill Anyone

When the article about my story came out this week.  The reporter stated "She said her support system dropped off months after Kevin died. Friends stopped communicating with her and later told her they didn't know what to say or do."  While I was fortunate to

Life

Grateful Mentality

As I bitched about my job yesterday I realized that it was inappropriate, but I didn't care.  I wanted to complain.  I wanted to be annoyed at the situation which is out of my control  (reminder Bren, everything is out of your control).  Even when a widow friend

Leisure

You Will Not Be Forgotten - Supporting a Historical Project

Imagine your life having no marker on earth.  Buried in the ground and 100 years later, no one knows your body is there.  Passed away without a record of your life except for the ticket of sale for your body. This is where my friend Andi comes into this scenario.

Life

F in Grief

A friend on Twitter posted this tweet this morning "It's amazing just how restorative and re-centering a long weekend can be."  I think the exact opposite. I knew this weekend would be busy.  I knew I'd have 2 days of semi-rest and relaxation and

Life

The First Boitson Thanksgiving

Excerpt from the memoir "Keepin' it Kevin" on our First Thanksgiving as a married couple: For the first time in as long as I could remember we had no Thanksgiving plans.  My grandmother was having knee surgery, and my Mom’s side was waiting to get together

Life

Your Facebook/Twitter Status

Brenda Boitson is looking forward to seeing her friends tonight. Brenda Boitson has diarrhea. Which do you think is more appealing to an audience of 627 of your "friends"? Your status on your choice of social networking sites becomes you. Once it's out there in cyberspace,

Life

Safety Vortex

There is this vortex of grief that you don't know you're in until you somehow manage to break through and sneak a peak of the outside shell.  Anything can set it off really.  I knew that choosing to sleep in one of his old Jerseys the

Life

How to Begin Going Green

You hit the snooze alarm, boom, boom, boom. I know I have done it at least 1000 times, but this time, you are using a solar alarm clock. You crawl out of bed, and instead of turning on the lights throughout your house, you open up the blinds and let

Life

Taking Time to Find Yourself

So much of my grief journey has been engulfed in trying to find myself, to find time to recreate who I am or I thought I was, and to identify what I have become in this process.  My friend Dianne recently brought up the topic of identity on her blog