The following is what I read at my Daddy’s funeral service on Monday, May 15, 2023. There are hundreds of stories to tell, but I’m sharing this first because many have asked for the transcript of my eulogy. You can read his obituary HERE. Wow. Look at all these faces. I dislike public speaking so I need to relax. Let’s break the ice. Everybody smile. Now, if you went to school with my dad, raise your hand. If you ever served on a committee with my dad, raise your hand. If you ever heard his band – any or every version of it – play, raise your hand. Raise your…
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Carnival Mardi Gras: Cruising During Covid
Take a ride with us on Mardi Gras, Carnival's newest ship. Cruising during Covid was as safe as anything.
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Project #365DaysOfStitches – 2021
Last year, I chose to embroidery a tiny something each day and it was so much fun to document what turned out to be a really wild roller coaster. I decided to give it a go again this year, adding a 365 Days of Stitches starter kit to my Etsy store. I set a very small goal for myself to sell and surpassed it multiple times over. I’m so grateful for the fun people who are joining in on this project. Follow along on Twitter (mostly in stories) for updates.
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On Functional Blended Families
This is not a political piece. Yes, it will discuss Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but it’s about blended families. Stay with me. While watching the lead-up to and the election results come in, I realized what I was really looking forward to. You know what I’m excited about the world seeing? What a blended family — husband, wife, ex/exes, children — who loves each other & who respect each others’ role in the family looks like. Not every divorce leads to messy, angry relationships. Some just become big, crazy families.— Jana Lawrence (@ohjanabelle) November 8, 2020 I’d like to talk about blended families, specifically Functional Blended Families. I’ll start with…
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A Colon Cancer Story: Q&A
To read my Colon Cancer Story, Part 1 is HERE and Part 2 is HERE. What specifically made you seek medical attention? The pain. I shrugged off the blood in my stool — both the red, fresh blood and the dark, old blood. I know better, but honestly? With Covid-19 and sheltering-at-home, I wasn’t willing to go to the doctor for just a little blood and some pain. But once Brian realized the pain was too much for me, and forced me to the ER, I realized it was bad. Especially since he didn’t think it could wait another 14 hours until a doctor’s office opened. (side note: Covid be…
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The Longest Two Months: A Colon Cancer Story, Part 2
To read Part 1, click HERE. I was playing a waiting game. Waiting for the pain to be gone and thinking that there’s some murderous tumor with a cute name like Dumplin in me, and that I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen over the next weeks and months. My amazing friend, Amy, came to Atlanta to take family photos for me. We hadn’t done them since our wedding, and thinking I might be losing all my hair or worse prompted me to take her up on an offer to “do whatever you need me to do.” While we were doing the photos, all my girls from home…
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The Longest Two Months: A Colon Cancer Story, Part 1
June 28, 2020. Northside Hospital Emergency Room (written June 29) The doctor comes in and sits by my bed. He can’t touch me because of the rules put in place for the Covid-19 pandemic, but I can tell he wants to. The doctor who was joking with me thirty minutes earlier looks at me and says, “I’m really sorry to have to tell you this, especially since you’re alone – stupid Covid – but we found a large mass on your colon when we did the CT scan. There were a few lesions on your liver, and well, you need to have your colonoscopy as soon as possible and contact…
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Get up! Get dressed! We’re going to Disney! Christmas at Disney 2019
Every Disney story has a moral. They’re fairy tales and cautionary tales and hopeful tales. The moral of this post is simply this: It’s hard as hell to keep a secret for ten months. BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT! Last February, Brian and I tossed around the idea of spending Christmas 2019 at Disney with the three kids. As we talked about it and looked at packages, we realized how much fun it would be to surprise them with the trip. We booked the trip and then Brian surprised ME with a weekend at Disney, so then we really got excited about making the Christmas trip a truly magical surprise. I…
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Project #366daysofstitches – 2020
In 2019, I made a decision to paint a 3×3 painting per day. You can find that post here. For 2020, I am doing 366 days of stitches. The bonus this year is that it’s a Leap Year — so an extra day of stitching. My plan is to try a different stitch each month because practice makes perfect! I started with a 14″ hoop, divided into 12 pie pieces. After January, I decided to take it down to a 10″ hoop. That’s keeping it tighter and just looks better. If you’re looking to get started with embroidery, you can check out my post about my favorite embroidery tools.
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O Canada! Victoria BC: Alaskan Cruise 2019
Read about the rest of our Alaskan Adventure: Seattle and Embarkation, Day at Sea and Tracy Arm Fjord, The Skagway Scene, D’you Know Juneau?, KetchiCAN (we move here stat?) Our last day on the boat. This would be a long day at sea, navigating the waters between Ketchikan and Victoria, BC, for a short night port-of-call. Like Juneau, the kids were really excited that my friend Karen lived in Victoria. They’d both read a few of her books and were looking forward to another “locals tour” of a city. Plus, her kids were going to meet us for the evening, too. We spent the day on the boat the same as other…
