So this is???...a new beginning

From the safety of my home I am able to take pictures like this one....of my dog named Cody - Cody lives for this time of year. It's his season - his time to walk the yard, or bury himself into the snow while he sniffs the air, and yesterday provided him with the first real taste of this year's Wisconsin winter.

The snow started mid-day and continued through the night. Blizzard warnings flashed across the t.v. screen while the brilliant white piled outside my window. Yes Wisconsin - you will have a white Christmas....did you really doubt it?

With the threat of the bad weather coming I knew that it was going to be a trying week - I mean c'mon, after all it was all to occur on a Tuesday - DEADLINE DAY for the The Messenger of Juneau County. If something is going to happen it always happens on deadline day - that's a given!

Yesterday morning I woke up knowing it was going to be "one of those type days" - and it started at 7:00 a.m. when I went to turn on my laptop...which of course was after I had started the coffee brewing. I went to sign on and check my email...rubbing my eyes..yawning...and half feeling the pressure that was building in my sinuses .....

Chaos had officially started....I couldn't get a connection...

WTF????????????????????????????????????????????

It was after about 20 minutes of playing with all the wires to my DSL, and after a long string of non coherent obscenities, I finally broke down and called Verizon....I wanted to inform them on just how they were having a negative impact to my day ...one in which I already knew was going to be HELL!

HOW DARE THEY BE PLEASANT WHEN I WAS MAD!!!!!!!

"Oh...it that all it was? Really??? WOW!!....ummm...Well, thank you for your help."

Well.....1st obstacle tackled.........

I sat looking at my screen.....

Glancing over at all the notes I had taken from things I had covered....

Wondering just how the hell I ever ended up being a part time reporter........me a writer? Who was I fooling?

Trying to figure out just how I was going to put it all together into something some reader, while sipping their morning coffee, would find the least bit interesting.

Yup....a typical Tuesday!

Oh but wait...not really....

That storm was on it's way....

A storm that would basically shut down Wisconsin....

It was then I found myself wondering about people out there without shelter....

How many were there?

How many kids were going to shiver the night away?

What crisis calls for Lend a Hand would come my way today??

How would we be able to help them all?

Why in the hell are there people who don't believe this problem exists in our county?

I remembered the email I had the night before, about an elderly woman that was about to be evicted on Wednesday....a proud woman who didn't want to leave....an email asking if there was anything we could do because this woman had nowhere to go, and no family in the area....the agency that sent it had only just become aware of the situation and needed time to help her with other things in her life that would allow for proper housing....

This woman was to be evicted on a day where the rest of us would be digging ourselves out from over a foot of snow.....

What could Lend A Hand do?

I ended up playing telephone tag all day long with the person who had sent me that email...and all while I tried to type those words out that would end up being articles in this week's paper...

Needless to say my frustration with the day was building....

In came some other calls...

A young mom who would be in need of shelter soon....

Then another call....same as the first...another young mom who would be in need of shelter soon....

In between the mix were calls back and forth with my editor of the paper....

All I kept thinking is there has to be someway we can get a shelter here in Juneau County....there has to be a way....

I even found myself at one point looking up towards the ceiling and asking God to hear my plea for a Christmas miracle.

I looked around from where I was sitting...and out the window...I realized how incredibly grateful I was for all I had.....sure it's an old drafty house...and yes my car is on it's last leg...and yes the last few years have been the rockiest points so far in my personal life...but that part time income and partial unemployment do help me keep a roof over the kids' and my heads - food stamps (which I hate to admit I get) and that once a month trip to the food pantry keep my children growing healthy and strong - and then this year there's something new....well not really "new" but something that for a very long time I haven't had the courage to allow in as I have been so terrified of what would happen if it was gone....Love...love of friends...

Somehow down this road to healing it happened and it all occurred without my knowledge that it was happening....but...this year a sturdy brick wall came tumbling down and in doing so allowed ...accepted....that there are people in my life who do truly care and love me for who I am ..and it's OK...it doesn't leave me vulnerable, if anything it actually strengthens me when I need it the most.

It was right about that time my friend Dee came to my door to drop off some Christmas gifts for the children and I....just a few days after another friend handed me a card from three secret Santas who wanted to make sure that I could provide a Christmas to my children.....

Just typing this all out brings tears to my eyes....

And then there are the letters that have come to the children...two of them now...no return address other than to indicate the letter is a clue....a clue to let the kids know they haven't been forgotten....

Yes, it was after I realized just how much I have to be grateful for that my head cleared and my day finally started to fall into place....

I found out the name of the out of town landlord for the elderly woman and negotiated another week before he would take action....

Made sure that both of the moms had somewhere safe to stay until after the storm so that we could work on a more permanent location for them.....

And then, FINALLY, I typed out that last word to that last article and emailed it to my editor!!!

I made it through another Tuesday....another deadline....and in the end I realized just how much I am loved........

It was a beautiful day!