Linda and Laura have the same dream, Simultaneously

The Shared Dream...

Dream Catcher

One of the most mysterious twin experiences to date...A mothers recollection...

 Mom tucked us into bed like she did every night.  "Sleep tight Linda and Laura and don't let the bed bugs bite."  This night the five year old twin sisters would enter a world that was somewhere beyond sleeping, waking and dreaming and they would enter it together.  How could this be? Laura and I had shared a similar dream before this encounter, but this would be the first time we would have the same dream, simultaneously.   

 Later that evening as mother layed in her bed next door to us, she began hearing noises and whisperings that she could not place.  After about fifteen minutes of trying to convince herself that the night noise would eventually calm, she could no longer ignore the goings on outside her room.  She nervously walked to our bedroom and opened the door.  What mom witnessed that night was something she Never thought possible.  She stood in our doorway and became an onlooker into our  mystical nightly journey into dream- land.
Laura and I were both searching for something we had lost.  Laura was looking under her bed and I was looking under mine.  What had we lost?  How could we both be having the same dream simultaneouly?  Mom had seen some inexplicable twin behavior between Laura and I before, due to our uncanny connection, but this event actually rattled her.  After quietly observing Laura and I babble with one another as we searched for some unknown, lost item, she eventually knew it was time to end our evening escapade.  She softly murmured, "Linda and Laura, I found it, go back to bed now."  Like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, we both stopped the incomprehensible chatter and curious searching and went back to bed.  Till this day, I still wonder what it was we both lost in that dream...

Linda's Poem-Written in 7th Grade

L

Twins are Forever

Twins are for Keeps

They come in all ways
Cute or like Creeps

Their the sibling you tell secrets to

In faith they won't tell who knows who

Their glad when you are happy

Their sad when you are blue
       And when you've had a tough day

     They'll love and care for you 

     


      

           

I have such great neighbors

Thanks to all my wonderful neighbors who stopped by to congratulate me on my six year, cancer-free anniversary.  I am so blessed.




Can you find the pink gorilla?

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone

What a great day thus far! My nephew Jacob is on spring break, so we went for lunch & had the traditional corn beef and cabbage at the local American Legion.  I wait a year for this tasty, salty treat.  It's always fun seeing everyone dressed in green.  It seems like the crazier the attire the better.  I was disappointed that Laura couldn't join me but she had an important meeting at work.  I'm looking forward to tonite.  Laura and the kids are bringing me out for dinner for my six year anniversary of being cancer-free, but won't tell me where.  We were initially just having a simple bbq at the house.  I hope they keep it simple-All that matters to me is spending time with family and celebrating life.
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  P.S.- If you plan on having green alcoholic drinks, be sure to have a designated driver or cab it home.

- An Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields

and, Until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of His hand

My six year Anniversary of being cancer-free

Hi blogger buddies-Hope everyone is well on this St. Patrick's day eve.  I felt compelled to write tonight because St. Patrick's day is one of my favorite holiday's.  I don't have a lot of Irish in me but I have always enjoyed celebrating on this day.  Usually my twin sister and her two kids and I, go to a cute little home-town parade in Hopkins.  The people in town always joke about how quick and small the parade is and say, "If you blink you'll miss it."  It's true-it really is that fast and small but it means a lot to all of us as a community.  Many of the local store owners are in the parade and throw out candy and flyers that advertise their store.  It's just a fun way of getting out of the house after a long winter.  I have also made it tradition to go out for corn beef and cabbage on St. Patty's day.  My twin sister and I plan to meet for lunch tomorrow and do the (all- you- can- eat) thing.

The family (Laura, Jacob and Ellie)is planning a big celebration for me tomorrow night because I will be six years cancer-free.  In February of 2004, I was diagnosed with lung cancer despite the fact that I have Never smoked. It was one of the scariest ordeals I have ever faced.  My faith, family and a lot of support got me through it.  I know it was really scary for my twin sister Laura.  I think she was afraid of the unknown and the fact that cancer might take me.  We're soo close that neither one of us can imagine life without the other.  She is my very best friend in the world.

When Laura got divorced in 04, she kept asking me to move in with her and the kids.  I had a really charming apartment in Wayzata and enjoyed my single life.  I kept telling her that I would move in eventually, but just not now.  She kept asking me everyday-"Linda, are you ready to move in with me and the kids yet?"  I kept saying no.  Then in March of 2004 when the doctor came in my hospital room and said, "I have bad news, your path report came back and showed that your cancer spread to two of your lymph nodes.  You are not a stage 1A like we thought but are stage 3A.  You have a 20-25% chance of surviving this within five years."  I felt like I was watching a movie-Could this really be happening to me?  Anyway, that day in March when Laura came to visit, I said: (half crying/half laughing)    "Laura, can I move in with you and the kids?"  Ever since that day, I never looked back and have lived here since.  Now I can't imagine not living with them.  My life is so rich and wonderful here.  I can't ask for more-helping my twin sister raise her children.  They give me such purpose!  So at midnite I am six years cancer-free. ! I would love to go tell that doctor that I beat the odds.
Have a Great St. Patrick's Day everyone- I know I will!   P.S. If any of my blogger friends have a cancer survivor story to share, I would love to hear it. 

Ellie my neice wants to write on my blog, so here goes: ( Whats up world!) says Ellie

Hey, whats up world! I dont know what to say so i'll ramble. Sorry if I misspell, im only a child(she says innocently.)  Im 12 and everyone always asks me "Ellie, what is it like to be in the life of a teen age girl." After, I always think to my self "I am not a teen!" and people always say that after I act out so it's kinda a nice way of saying hey little brat, when I was your age, no one acted like you. After I get cooled off, I realized that.   To me it's nothing special (being 12) cause well, I know what it's like, but I dont usualy ponder the thought.
So now I'll tell you grown-ups what it's like.(grown-up was one of last weeks spelling words! My teacher will be so proud.) Any way i'm just like any other 12  year old, I go to school sometimes. just kidding, I go to school, eat lunch, breakfast and dinner, I text or txt, watch tv while eating a bag of potato chips(talk about hard to do while my dog is jumping all over me trying to eat my snack.) I play basketball, ping pong, (which is very intense in my family) and tennis. I dident say I was good at it though.

So before I stop typing, i'll tell you what it's like to live with my mom and aunt, or the clones. As you know, they are twins. I swear they are telepathic because they finish eachothers sentences and can feel when the other is in trouble. All my friends are like, "How the heck do you tell them apart?" I'll be like, it's easy for me. To me its like comparing an apple pie to a pumpkin pie.  Mmmmmm pie.......well back to the subject. They are so much alike but after living with them, it's easy to tell them apart. I love it over here, its like a circus. By that I mean, it's awesome. I never get bored living with them.

 I'm going to go be productive with my day- bye!(by productive I mean eat potato chips and watch tv).  BTW, please comment- It'll mean so much to me(she says cutely if thats even a word)but really comment! pleaze

My Dog Has Issues

Ok, so my sister Laura, the kids and I recently rescued the cutest little puppy you have ever seen.  We adopted her on November 14, 2009.  She is a Black Lab, Border Collie mix.  Some people believe she also has some Chesapeke in her as evidenced by her wavy black hair. 
  
Anyway, my niece Ellie had been pleading with Laura and I to have a dog she could call her own.  We already have Joey the dog,  our eight year old Black Lab mix who we all love very much.  At the time we rescued Joey from the animal shelter, Laura was going through a tough divorce which was really hard on the kids and  I.  Soon after,  I was diagnosed with lung cancer, so things were pretty serious around here.  Adopting Joey was the best thing we could have done to open our hearts.  We call him our angel because he really did Save us more than we saved him.  All four of us knew Joey was meant for us and we were meant for him.  He is just plain and simple, part of the family.

So back to Spooky, our newest member of the family.  She is soft, cuddly and loves to kiss you and anything else she see's around her, but as we all learned,  even cute little puppies can have issues.  I noticed when bringing her out to do her duty that she was looking for something.  Every time I brought her out to the bathroom, she was scoping something out.  Eventually she would get it in her mouth and I would just take the unknown item and launch it across the yard.  My guess was that it was a rock or a big piece of ice.

One day when going through the same routine:  She does her duty and then finds that special treasure to put in her mouth.  I finally decide to put the mystery to an end and look at the gem that spooky has unearthed.  To my horror, there in my hands (glad I had mittens on) lay a piece of Frozen Poop.  All this time I was letting Spooky eat her own poop. 

I have talked to friends and other bloggers about my puppies issue and learned that this is fairly common with girl dogs.  I guess they like having things nice and tidy in their own space, thus eating their poop.  After the family got over the initial shock of what she had been eating ever since her adoption, we started getting more of a sense of humor about it.  We now coin Spooky's little treasures as Poopsicles.  I guess we'll have to come up with another term now that spring is coming.

"Oops, I guess I got a little side tracked

Hi blogger friends-I hope everyone is having a Great day! If your anything like me, you have major spring fever after this Long, Long, winter.  Every year since I can remember, I seem to come back to life in the spring. I get more energy, my overall attitude improves and I want to play again and get out of the house.
I promised my twin sister Laura as she left for work today, that I would clean up all the doggie doo doo in the yard now that the snow is melting, but I got a little side tracked.
My intentions were good regarding keeping my promise but it was soo mild out and I love that "spring smell". Do you know what I mean? It almost smells like fresh hay or something.  Anyway, instead of doing the yard project, I did what I love to do when I am suffering from "spring fever".  I jumped in my car, cranked up the radio and put the front windows half way down.  I was on my way to a spontaneous adventure.
I began the adventure by meeting my sis for lunch at Olive Garden.  I really enjoy getting the (all-you-can-eat) salad. Those soft, warm breadsticks go so well with this entree.  I say my goodbyes to Laura and I am off. HMMM? What's next on my agenda? Well, lunch was a little salty, so icecream would be good right about now, so I pull into Leann Chinns' for my favorite yogurt icecream. You can choose from a variety of toppings and I decided to skip the candy toppings and go for the fresh raspberries.  It was sooo good!! I was really planning on going home now, but wait, what does that sign say? Massage? I could really use one.  I had never been here before, but hey, we're on an adventure. I knew this would be good when I looked at her inviting business card.  It read: "Life Changing Massage".  Her name also intrigued me: Aspira Dzuro. During the initial consultation and introductions, I learned that Aspira and I had something in common.  She is also a twin which immediately made me feel more relaxed.  I received one of the best massages I have ever had in my life and that's saying a lot as I am a long time veteran of massage. Oh, and by the way, the sign that grabbed my attention as I drove by, read:  "first time customers get special price of $39.00 for one full hour".  You can't beat that price for an incredible full-body massage from a masseus that has been in the business for twenty-six years.  Her business card was right, it was life changing. "Thank you Aspira".
Aspira mentioned to me that there was a cute little boutique downstairs called Bellaluna, so as soon as I got dressed, down I went. Talk about a charming little store. The name of it tells you it's going to be fun and magical. On the business card it reads, "Gifts for the Spirit". They carry items like crystal necklaces, jade earrings, incense, antique lamps and a lot of other really unique, gifty type items.  I had a great time looking around the store, but even better than perusing, was meeting the friendly boutique owner, Gail Melynie.  She has a warm, welcoming personality that makes it hard to leave the store. She's great at telling true life, spiritual, ghost stories. She had me at H-E-L-L-O.  I plan to blog about one of her many interesting experiences in my next post, so stand by for a very touching tear jerker. I ended up spending about thirty minutes at Bellaluna chatting with Gail. What a Great day I had, and all because of "Spring Fever".  I hope Laura won't be too upset about the yard.  I'll do it tomorrow.