Category Archives: humor and health

A Caring, Comedic Character

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Through humor you can soften some of the worst blows that life can deliver. And once you find the laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it. ~ Bill Cosby

“The treasure is in the voice,” the author says of her EVVY award-winning audio book version of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Some readers argue that “the real gold is in Fanny’s character.”  Either way, the Batton family benefited from the love and friendship of a woman who kept things in the right perspective. Fanny was a real winner!

Last weekend at a book signing in Towson, Maryland, award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard’s home town, something wonderful happened – a group of Fanny fans gathered round! Some knew Fanny in real life and others met her through reading the award-winning memoir.

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Fanny’s Fan Club

If you want to learn more about the “phenom Fanny,” Ukazoo has Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfillling Things in the Unexpected in stock! http://www.ukazoo.com. It is also available through other major on-line book sellers in audio book, paperback and e-book.

Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected has become a finalist in another book competition, in two categories – young adult and non-fiction. To read more about the 2014 Harvest Book Competition, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/ZWqMxV and to see the list of other finalists and the titles of their books, please visit this list. http://bit.ly/1vbWwfb.

 

Appreciate the Season

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good health and sense“You continue to amaze me,” my cardiologist whom I have been seeing annually for twenty-five years said to me last week as he spoke with me after my yearly check-up and echocardiogram.

“Thank you, “ I said. “I am very fortunate, and hope to keep up a great bill of health.”

“Keep on doing what you are doing!” He said.

“I will. I promise.” I said.

Every time a day comes around that I don’t really want to go out and walk because it is snowing, raining, too windy or cold, I think about the alternative – declining health or being sickly, and it spurs me out the door every time.

But it’s not just the physical benefits. Walking two or three miles daily lifts me up in other ways. There is no doubt in my mind about the connection between living with positive spirit and good health. There are 15 ways to naturally lift the spirit mentioned in this article. Check it out http://bit.ly/1vA9h0J.

Experiencing change in one’s life every so often is a good way to refresh and renew the spirit. Right now I am on an East Coast book tour and enjoying a change of scenery. It’s good for the “heart health.” Last Friday I was a guest on Salley Gibney’s show “Let’s Talk.” The topic of discussion was “Write your Story.”  In the interview we talked a little about my own personal history which is recounted in the memoir “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” In the coming weeks the footage from GNAT-TV in Vermont will be posted on All Things Fulfilling.

Steamboat october snow

Photo from the Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs Colorado

October 1, 2014

Have a great day everyone. October has arrived and it has already snowed in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It’s a beautiful month to get outside. Take a walk -check out the autumn bounty- the colorful leaves, apples being harvested, pumpkins and gourds at farm stands, the fall scents of foods made with cinnamon and cloves. Woodstove smoke, which indicates cooler temperatures, will soon be lingering in the air.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard, writing from the State of my native roots, Maryland.

Naively Speaking

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“It is well for the heart to be naive, and the mind not to be.” ~ Anatole France

tonsils removedI remember feeling slighted. It seemed like all the kids in the neighborhood had their tonsils and adenoids removed except me.  As a child, it didn’t matter to me that I had lived through pioneering heart surgery, I still wished I could get my tonsils out like many of my buddies.

Apparently, according to this article, twice as many tonsillectomies were performed in the 1950s and 1960s as today. http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2015264059_med10.html.

To a kid, getting tonsils and adenoids removed  meant eating ice cream! And lots of it! Ice cream was one of the few foods that I really adored when I was growing up. And to go to the soda fountain counter at S.S. Kresges or Reads Drugstore for a scoop in an ice cold silver dish with a doily between the dish and a small saucer was a special treat.

Remember the litttle plastic cups of ice cream with the wooden spoons? They reminded me of tongue depressors the doctors used. And then there were the ice-cream pop-ups.

 

icecream cups

 

icecream orange popups

 

vintage doctors kit

In my memoir I share both a child’s perspective of my “operation” at Johns Hopkins and  my adult insight into why perhaps I fared so well.

This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Her memoir, “an anthology of short stories,” is a  two-time award winner in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Book Awards. For information and ordering, please follow this link.

Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected is available in audio book (that holds the real treasure), paperback and e-book.

 

Finding the Lesson

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“Live joyously among your occupations.” ~ St. Francis de Sales

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” Children are often asked. In my generation and particularly in the generations that came before the “baby boomers” it was usually assumed that little girls wanted to be wives and mothers, above all else.

How my sister and I loved our baby dolls.We paid so much attention to them because we were practicing for the real thing. There was Thumbelina to care for and Betsy Wetsy. “Betsy” was the top toy of the century in the 1950s.

Girlfriends, do you remember this ad?

It never occurred to me when I was a child that not all women are blessed with children. When I became an adult, I faced a big realization that having children is a great honor to be taken very seriously.

Wouldn’t it be a more perfect world if every parent grasped this concept prior to conceiving? Good parenting is an awesome responsibility. Even finding the joy and meaning in difficult parenting conditions is what I think the great philosopher St. Francis is also talking about.

Do return tomorrow, on Saturday. I have a special blog planned for my husband for our anniversary! It gives a little insight into our marriage.

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her EVVY award winning book, Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1ti4XVi

Camp Fire Songs

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I love to go a-wandering

Along the mountain track

And as I go, I love to sing

My knapsack on my back

Chorus:

Val-der-ri, val-der-ra

Val-der-ra, val-der-ha ha ha ha ha ha

Val-der-ri, val-der-ra

(My knapsack on my back)

Who remembers these words and music by Friedrich W. Möller and Antonia Ridge?

This song reminds me of a very happy time in my youth –  singing around the campfire with the Girl Scouts. First I was a Brownie, and then I “flew up” to a Junior Girl Scout. Ceremonially it made me feel as valued as becoming a debutante at a  “coming out” party. Although I had  never experienced what that was like, I imaged as a kid the feelings were similar.  I’m from an average, middle class American family with parents who had strong work ethics. They put their family, work and  community first.

If you were a Girl Scout, watch this less-than-a-minute video. I promise you will fall into repeating the words as if you just said them yesterday, even if it’s been decades.

In retrospect, I guess my values haven’t changed much and I still love to go a wandering with a knapsack on my back. Val-der-ri, val-der-ra….

This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author, Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her memoir, which won 2 EVVY book awards, visit this link.http://amzn.to/1ulyFYs

Eggs in the grass

My twin and me, atop Mt Werner in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  What a gift to spend a birthday with Jan after 30+ years of being far from each other on our special day.

Welcoming the Miracle of Life

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“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” ~ Rumi

Today’s blog  writing will be very short. I want to share a video with our readers that continues my thoughts about doing what we love and finding fulfillment in it.

This news story warmed my heart. It has obviously struck a chord in the hearts of others as well because it is being widely shared on the internet, but you may not have seen it. Welcoming the Miracle

And although we are not always in a position that can make a big difference in other’s lives, there are ways that ordinary people can make a difference in their own communities. Here is an article that shares 65 things that can make an impact on the world in small but noticeable ways. http://generationon.org/teens/make-your-mark/65-ways-make-difference

Tomorrow’s blog is about two people whose careers changed the lives of many including my own. I hope you’ll join us on AllThingsFulfilling.com.

This blog brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on the award-winning book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1lC6Bys.

 

Chill Out and Listen In

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memorial-day-swimsuits

Happy Labor Day, everybody.

Soon we will be sliding into winter! So take those few last plunges into the pool, have yourself a tasty Labor Day cook-out, relax and enjoy the long weekend.
Today I am wishing we are at the beginning of the summer rather than at the official end. So, I have a special treat for our readers. I have posted a new audio chapter about the national holiday that we celebrate at the start of the summer rather than at the termination.

 

Listen in and enjoy the chapter “A Memorial Day to Remember” from the EVVY award winning book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.  For more information on this book, please visit this website. http://amzn.to/1pdjsCb.

 

Do come back tomorrow. I am going to kick my shoes off and lounge around outdoors on this Labor Day because  in the mountains of Colorado  we can be faced with the onslaught of winter any day ! It could even happen tomorrow…..please, please no, not yet. I am not ready.

Channeling Creative Kids

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“True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” ~  Oprah Winfrey

Boy on closeline

When I came across this image, I couldn’t help but ponder “Why didn’t I think of that?” when I needed to rest after chasing my overly active son all over the place when he was little? It would have given me great relief. Holy Cow, those child rearing years nearly did me in.  Of course, to him this would not have been punishment. It would have been great fun and challenge. The little Houdini could get himself out of any situation that took brainpower and physical maneuvering!

creative active kidsActive children are often very creative children.  Here is a book that might be useful for parents of children who are in perpetual motion. http://www.amazon.com/The-Active-Creative-Child-Parenting/dp/189077247X.

Ah…well, once we directed his energy in the right and positive direction, he became a different kid, so absorbed in his interests. As a twenty-something, our son has given me more than enough compensation for what we went through in raising an extremely active child. Now he lends a hand as my tech support person unless he is too busy with his own projects. http://www.marcrleonard.com.  Thank goodness he’s had my back  in coming to my aid and rescue whenever I struggled with certain stages of publishing my memoir due to generational inequities in computer skills.

In spite of myself  I successfully completed my own independent desktop publishing project. Not everyone can put that accomplishment under their belt. Now I have an award-winning paperback, e-book and audio book to my credit!

I think I did OK for an ole gal who is more comfortable with a card catalog in a library than e-book technology. I need to give myself more brownie points than I do!

I am now an award winning author! Yipe!!!  Yikes!!!

 For more information on Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, please visit this link. http://amzn.to/1opTrPS. The audio book won 2nd prize in the EVVY book awards and Merit Award in the anthology category.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard

 

Double Trouble & Sidekick

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Double your pleasure…double your fun… vintage doublemint gum

“A gift with a kind countenance is a double present.” ~ Thomas Fuller

I am so excited, I am about to burst! Tomorrow my twin sister arrives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado from the East Coast. She is coming here for the first time and we will be celebrating our birthday! It has been decades (if I am calculating correctly – about 32 or 33 years) since my twin and I have been together to recognize this day of personal importance.

To top off the cake, another sister of the heart, our childhood friend Mary Grace, whom I featured in a chapter of my memoir is arriving also. Jan and Mary have not seen each other since the mid-nineteen seventies! To read more about this special friend, visit this link. https://allthingsfulfilling.com/2014/06/04/sisters-of-the-heart/.

Mary will be here with us for only one night of celebration because she must rush back to her work. She is a veterinarian who is caring for a nearly extinct species – black-footed ferrets. It is the breeding season and she has nearly 200 newborn ferrets  under her watchful eye for the U.S. Forest and Wildlife Service. For more information on Mary’s work as a veterinarian, please visit this link.http://bit.ly/1qanHiZ and http://bit.ly/1l7vXEx.

I wrote about Mary’s love of animals and her fulfilling work previously in the blog called Horse Sense. If you missed it, here is the link https://allthingsfulfilling.com/2014/06/03/horse-sense/.

The next few days will be a gift of a lifetime, filled with all kinds of fulfilling things for my twin and me and our sidekick! Bring on the fun, hon……

For more information on Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, available in audio, paperback and e-book, please visit this link.http://amzn.to/1tbsLc3

Meet You at the Sandbox

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“Play is the work of children. It’s very serious stuff.” ―Bob Keeshan

Welcome back! Hope you had fun weekend.

A few years ago when I moved to Colorado, I went to a business conference for entrepreneurs. I sat next to a very nice young woman, not many years out of college. We visited throughout the day and enjoyed each other’s company. At end of the conference, she turned to me and said, “You know, you really ought to join the young professionals networking group.”  I began laughing!

“What?” she asked, in all seriousness. “What are you laughing at?”

“Young professionals?” I asked. Not because I thought joining networking groups for professionals was a bad idea but because I was questioning her judgment of how old I was. If fact, there are great advantages to joining organizations to meet-up with other entrepreneurs and business people. http://bit.ly/1uICWXy.

“Yes,” she said, “they are a great group and you ought to be part of it.”

Captain KangarooI kept laughing and said, “I don’t think you understand how old I am. I’m not sure I can keep up with all the techies and you. I grew up with Captain Kangaroo!”

“What?” she asked. “Who is that?”

“A TV icon from the 1950s and 60s. You know,” I said, even though I knew she didn’t, “his friends were Mr. Green Jeans, and Bunny Rabbit.”

“Sorry, I don’t know who or what you are taking about,” she looked at me like I was crazy and dropped the subject.

As I left the conference and considered what she said to me, I began to feel good that even though I am a baby boomer this young professional had wanted me to play in the same sandbox!

If you even know what a sandbox is you belong in the same group as I do – the playpen for people who remember when life and child’s play was much simpler.

sandbox

This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on her book, the memoir “Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected,” please follow this link.http://amzn.to/1pRK5Ao