It’s Time To Bring Back Dysfunctional Family Bingo

It’s officially holiday season! That means it’s time to revisit the delightful diversion known as Dysfunctional Family Bingo created by author Martha Beck. If I’d known about this gem when my family of origin was still in tact, I would have had tons more fun…and I would have had a good chance of winning every …

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Going With The Flow….Day 27/30

We’re flexing. We’re rolling with the punches. This Thanksgiving holiday had 3-4 potential scenarios. I’m the one that communicates and coordinates. That’s what I did. And each scenario seemed possible….until it wasn’t. Then one of the scenarios fell into place. The time was set. The menu was planned. The food was purchased. And then it …

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Dysfunctional Family Bingo Revisited…Day 20/30

Photo by Don (c) I wanted to get this into your hands early so that you have time to plan to use it this gathering season… The holidays are upon us. Whether you love them or whether you hate them… They come with their own special brand of stress. So this post is designed to …

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Remembering…Day 18/30

Photo by Dinah (c) Remembering I’ve spent a good deal of my life, choosing to forget, to release to move on Remembering was unproductive at best… Damaging at worst. But remembering has once again become important, a necessity now So I’m choosing to remember… who I was before I became who I am I’m recalling …

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Sisters…Day 16/30

I was the youngest of fourI had three older brothersI always wanted a sisterFamily was always a challenging subject for meI was the one that didn’t fitEver We were the proverbial rock and hard place meeting and refusing to yield As strange as it may sound….I'm actually proud of thatI didn’t compromise myself to gain …

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Dinah’s Holiday Hello

Hello my friend!So….the holidays have arrived. They tend to do this every year whether we’re ready or not. This year I feel acutely aware of the vast differences in where we all are emotionally during this time that Hallmark has branded as joyous and magical. And, for some people, it really is wonderful….to those folks, …

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Disability -Day 29/30

Photo by Dinah (c) Disability means something different to everyone. For some, disability means “those people”. For me, disability means an ever-changing me….and it seems to be swallowing up more of me every year. As a child, disability meant that I didn’t walk well…that was the biggest thing. There was more but I chose to …

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Dinah’s Chat About Continued Gratitude -Day 24/30

Photo by Dinah It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m still grateful. I’m grateful that our day was quiet and drama-free. This wasn’t always the case. I’m grateful for peace. My friends have become my family. They support me and challenge me. They help me to keep trying to be a better person. I’m grateful …

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Happy Thanksgiving -Day 23/30

It’s Thanksgiving here in the US. That means different things for different people. For some people… It’s a welcomed chance to get together with family from near and far. It’s an opportunity to continue family tradition.For others…. It’s a reminder of family dynamics that didn’t/don’t work or of family lost… Either physically or to dysfunction…or …

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Miracles -Day 20/30

Photo by Dinah (c) I’m looking forward to miracles the same way a child looks forward to Saturday morning. When teachers and schoolwork choreograph most of every week, there’s a kind of deliciousness in reclaiming the openness of the weekend…an excitement that comes when you can make time your own. That’s what I’m looking forward …

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Boomerang -Day 18/30

Photo by Dinah (c) I am a boomerang I almost always come back Perhaps this is my own personal Right of Return We were young and married and forgot that love can only flourish where appreciation dwells We ended our storyAnd then returned 2 years later and rebuilt everything Starting with ourselves Boomerang I worked …

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Dinah’s Chat About Dysfunctional Family Bingo -Day 17/30

Photo by Don (c) Can you feel it? It’s in the air. The HoliDAZE are coming! I decided to write about this earlier than usual because I wanted to be able to share author Martha Beck’s ingenious holiday coping game in time for Thanksgiving. And I want to be sure to stipulate that this is …

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Dinah’s Chat About Dad- Day 11/30

Photo by Dinah (c) I’m the keeper of our family photos and family stories. In my family, we didn’t have a lot of positive stories. Dysfunction steals the good stuff. I guess that makes the good ones even more precious. So, periodically, I’ll tell one of the few stories that I remember here. Good things …

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Exploring Procrastination-Day 3/30 (Dinah’s Wkend Chat)

Procrastination has been my companion for my entire life! We’re seemingly inseparable. The sad part though is that, even though we’re lifelong companions, we really don’t understand each other. If procrastination truly understood me, she’d realize that constantly putting things off isn’t doing me any favors. In fact, it’s actually quite anxiety provoking. Facebook Meme …

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Another Liminal Thought

Intuitive Creativity Class taught by Lauren Sapala… Prompt: Choose a color. Make something beautiful using that color I’ve thought about this for 2 days and I’ve decided to write something rather to try to draw/paint/create something. Writing seems to be the only medium that sparks me these days. And, for the last 6 months, that …

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Dinah’s Coffee Chat—Day 25/30

Photo by Dinah (c) Hello my friend.It’s been a while since I’ve done a coffee chat. It seems like a good time to try again.So… Come on in and make yourself comfy. Let’s chat…We had the Thanksgiving holiday yesterday in the US. Whether you celebrated the holiday or not, I hope your day was lovely.Ours …

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Dysfunctional Family Bingo—Day 23/30

I must begin by giving 100% credit to author Martha Beck. She came up with this ingenious idea. I’m only sharing it with you because I think it’s so wonderful. Those of us with dysfunctional families know that holidays can be more than challenging. Some things are predictable. Some things are not. But regardless of …

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A Really Good Story About Angels—Day 11/30

Thanks for visiting. As a way of keeping us both interested in this 30 day blogging challenge, I’m going to tell you a story about something that happened last December. I really felt like it was a gift. And gifts are meant to be shared. Last Fall I was completely exhausted. Life events kept happening …

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Healing and Reframing the past—Day 7/30

 OK… So here goes… I’ve decided to write about things that I have learned by analyzing my memories of the dynamics of my family of origin over the years. I’ve debated this for quite some time. Wondering if it’s appropriate because they’re all gone. My parents, stepmother, and three older brothers… All deceased. I …

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Dinah’s Coffee Chat About Accessibility…Day 4/30

Photo by Dinah (c) ~~This is going to be a dual post. It is part of the month long NanoPoblano blogging challenge. It is also part of the Weekend Coffee Share. Please see the last couple of paragraphs for explanations of both of these groups.~~ For those who are new to the space, I have …

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Dinah’s Coffee Chat 11/20/21

Photo taken by Dinah on the way home from Don’s outpatient surgery! Hello my friend. Thanks for stopping by for another coffee chat. How are you? How are you adapting to the changing seasons? I hope you’re taking good care.If we were having coffee… I would be having an internal debate about whether to be …

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More on the NPE/MPE Journey

Photo by Dinah I wrote this piece originally for DNAngels blog. You can see more of their blog posts and services here https://www.dnangels.org/blog NPE/MPE = people with misattributed parentage such as… Adoptees, Donor Conceived, people who are the product of affairs, rape, or incest… There are so many uncertainties in any NPE/MPE situation. Let’s look …

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Happy Birthday to WA&E

Birthdays are important! I like saying Happy Birthday to friends and family….even though I’m almost always late. The sentiment is real even if it isn’t timely! True to form, I’m acknowledging another birthday with sincerity but not with timeliness….. With Angels and Elephants turned one year old in October! Yay! Thanks to Ra Avis (blogger …

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Dinah’s Coffee Chat Anniversaries….

Anniversaries……Welcome back my friend! It’s been a while since we’ve connected. And hello to any new friends that stop by.So let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room… At least the elephant for me… I clearly blew it with the July blogging challenge. I did pretty well for about a week. And then we …

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9 Favorite Things ….#10minchallenge Day 7

Photo by Don (c) Prompt: 9 Favorite Things….. Nine of my favorite things in no particular order: 1-Grace—Grace, to me, is synonymous with kindness, gentleness, forgiveness…I’m always grateful when grace is visited upon me…whether through serendipity or through the openheartedness of a friend or stranger, grace helps me to believe in tomorrow. 2-Serendipity and synchronicity …

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#10minchallenge Day 5

Today’s writing prompt just didn’t resonate with me. And I’m feeling quite uninspired. So, instead of boring you with BS, I’ll wow you with garden pictures taken over the last 2 years. Flowers are always welcome and uplifting. Thanks for visiting. Enjoy your day and we’ll try again tomorrow. I’m glad you’re here 💜

Dinah’s Weekend Coffee Chat 6/18/21

Photo by Dinah (c) Hello my friend….It’s been a while since we’ve gotten together for coffee. How are you? I hope life is treating you well!Grab a cup of something you love and let’s chat…If we were having coffee… I would of course, tell you that I’m thrilled to see you. It’s good to connect …

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Wisdom Wednesday 4/7/21–Rumi

Photo by Dinah heading south on the freeway. The sky was stunning! “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I’ll meet you there.When the soul lies down in that grass,the world is too full to talk about.Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”doesn’t make any sense.The breeze at dawn has secrets to …

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Wisdom Wednesday 2/24/21

“Mirroring & Mindfulness”-Photo by Dinah (c) Welcome back to Wisdom Wednesday!Last week we briefly discussed mindfulness. Mindfulness is about learning to pay attention. It’s about paying attention to what goes on around us and to how we choose to respond … Remembering that we have the ability to choose a thoughtful response rather than a …

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Wisdom Wednesday 2/17/21

Mindfulness 💜 Introducing Wisdom Wednesday! My thought is that this will be an opportunity to explore different thoughts/beliefs/insights from various Wisdom Traditions that can add to our individual peace of mind and heart. Let’s face it, the world isn't getting any easier to navigate any time soon. So, since we can’t control the outside chaos, …

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News Year’s Day is Every Day!

Photo by Dinah (c) For last year's words belong to last year's language, and next year's words await another voice.~ T S EliotQuote compliments of:www.earthschoolharmony.comHAPPY NEW YEAR!Well my friend… Take a bow! You/we survived 2020. That was no small accomplishment. Congratulations!It occurs to me that this is the day each year that we do what …

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Holiday Insights-If We Were Having Coffee 12/26/20

Photo by Dinah (c) If we were having coffee.... Welcome back, my friend! I’m sorry that you’re only hearing from me during the weekend  coffee share group blog opportunity. I’m working on fixing this problem!  Anyway.... I’m happy to connect with you now, at least. How are you? How have you been doing during this …

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