In life we have two major identity crises. The first, occurring in adolescence, is to establish an identity. You must get a sense of who you are. The second identity crisis is at midlife when you must give up who you think you are so you can become who you were meant to be. This transition isn't easy and is greatly resisted. Midlife is ultimately about the search for true meaning in life. Whenever we ask about *meaning* we have asked a spiritual question. Midlife is an opportunity for an awakening into a deeper spirituality.

A Healthy dose of Life on the Other Side

This was a weekend to remember. As I've been locked up here today doing my usual blogging and tweets, conducting and concocting...all things creative today....I've had the chance to look back into some late summer photos. We had the privilege to be invited by my dearest daughter and *the man*, to stay with them at the House on the Lake, as we'll refer to it. Invited family members for some sun and fun for the day. We boated..thanks to bro and sis-n-law, bar-b-qued and swam all afternoon. I even got pulled along behind the boat on a floatie (what was that thingie called?) anyway...my apologies to Wendy for the momentary insanity and cursing in her ear as I panicked and held on for dear life. All in all, I was scared $#@)less...but I survived. Thanks Sam! Enjoy some beauty by the beach!

And ta-da....this is a shot from the inside of the hotel at French Lick. Doesn't this look like something from Europe? We'll guys, its Indiana and you'll just have to check it out for yourself.

Who knew this could be Indiana?

I'm tellin ya, as I live and breathe I will still be in shock over what we stumbled upon last weekend on our roaming trip back from Dayton. We decided to let the roads be our guide, the colors point our direction and the hills keep us from falling off the sides. Wandering through the upper parts of Kentucky and back into Indiana to make our journey toward the goal of finding out what the deal is about Madison, IN. Like two kids ooing and ahing through the windows at the beauty of Southern Indiana we rolled into Madison only to be wonderfully surprised. Had a great lunch at a hip deli/cafe and did the main street shops. Off again, no photos only visual memories though. Winding back up towards Indy we happened into French Lick. A place speaking to my jumbled memories of past Midwest Living Mag's torn pages of places I'd like to visit some day. Did that make sense? My kids always ragged on me about my nasty little *habit*. Yes, I'm one of those people who sometimes, quietly and ashamedly rips out pages of magazines as I wait in the Dr.'s office, only to add to my piles of people, places and things to visit one day, my Bucket List......So what?, I digress....
Wow, there it was..a very welcoming cutsey town with flower beds and a HUGE Casino/Hotel before us as we rolled into French Lick. I knew that it wasn't the Casino I had read about so many years ago in that page that I had saved. Check out what we found just down the road...gotta tell ya....WOW! This is what I had read about so many years ago. If you haven't been there, you've got to at least see their website....and by the way....wear a bib to catch the drool!!! www.frenchlick.com

So this is she, queen of the house, ruler of the roost and love of my life. Who'd a thought? For most of my adult life I've been a Black Lab girl. The family dog and there have been several whom we've loved, no make that adored/spoiled and grew up with the kids just like another child at the table. (well not literally at the table). But this girl, this little Cinnabun came to us out of the blue and well....from the back of the couch she watches life pass by.
I never saw myself as a Chihuahua kind of person, I thought they were yappy, bitey (?) and snippy little annoying things. But here she is, my queen, my Cinny. I used to be the person who thought this was a bit unusual, a thinker of *those kinds of people* that were a little bit *off* shall we say? Good grief, yup...here I am....the dog lady, crooning over those cute little outfits at the local Pet Smart!There has to be someone out there who can relate, huh?