I Would Like To Introduce You To My Real Life Friends

Trust me,  you are going to want to read this one through to the end....

It was almost exactly a year ago when I started this journey with you all. The blog went up in October but it wasn't until Dec 23rd that my first article ran and a lot of you found me.

I was about to pull out of the parking lot at the grocery store when all of a sudden my blog email inbox started up with messages. Now I'm not saying 1 or 2 came in, I'm talking about several hundred within the first hour. I'm a little dull so I'm sitting there thinking "who the heck are all these people and how has my blog suddenly become the place to hang out?"

Now mind you I put up this blog and I told no one. There is obviously no family to tell, I didn't tell any of my friends, I just put it up and went along my merry little way, writing for myself and anyone else who cared to read. For all intents and purposes I had walked into the middle of the forest that is the Internet, stuck a twig in the ground, and suddenly thousands of people were noticing that one tiny twig.

8,000 people that day to be exact and I had no idea who any of them were.

I drove home, pulled up the blog, looked at the traffic reader, and realized that an article I had submitted to XOJane 7 weeks prior had published that morning and people were now pouring into my blog from there. 

It was about then that the enormity of what I had done became apparent. I had told the entire world that I had disowned my family and then they followed me here where I proceeded to tell them that my husband was abusive and I had been raped.

Because that's not scary at all....

Hurry Up!

Gah I have so much to fill you guys in on but I know so many people are busy and traveling for the holiday's that I figured I would wait until things calmed down a bit, which for totally selfish reasons I would like to speed up a bit. So could you all hurry up and get back here please? I have a few things to tell you about my ex, a new boy in my life, I want to talk about New Year's resolutions, and oh yea I still have a few people that want to say "hi."

So until you all get back and because it's a "No Work Weekend," I'll leave you with a few other things to read.

**Dear Haters, Stop Judging My Single Mom Status. I'm Not To Blame.** "I am first and foremost a single mother not because of the circumstances that led to my single mom status, but I am a single mother because the father of my children decided that he did not want to be their father anymore."

**Natural Remedies For Cold and Flu Season.** "I am one of those moms that worries about overusing antibiotics every time my kids get sick, but luckily many illnesses can be treated right from the cabinets of your very own kitchen."

Also, for once I'm not talking about myself! Check out this article where I step out of my own brain for a minute and talk about someone else: **Lucky Puppy Wants You To Shop And Adopt** "This high-end retail store and spa also makes space for rescue pups, and the public -- including Hollywood celebrities -- are taking notice."

Alright peoples, I will see you on Monday and I'm bringing a few of my friends with me!

Thank You For Being In My Heart

It's Christmas!!

This has obviously been a strange year for me. I look back through these blog pages and I am astounded by not only how much I have grown, but by what an amazing support system that I have gained along the way, in all of you, my dear readers.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, please know that you all mean the world to me. I know from talking with all of you that as amazing as this season is, it is also a season for painful pasts and navigating new lives.

If there is anything that I can give you this Christmas, it's that I would like to remind you that unique purposes are taught only by creative lessons. 

We may not have everything everyone else has and our roads might be harder, but if we allow ourselves the opportunity to embrace our differences as a means to becoming more than "normal," but something truly amazing, we will realize that the hardships are simply training for the amazing people we are going to be.

You are not alone this season for I hold all of you in my heart.

Yours Truly,

Eden Strong

P.S. I told a few people about all of you and they have a few things they would like to say, so stay tuned for an interesting sort of "hello" from Mr. Attorney Man and a few others you have read about on this blog. 


Photo Credit

True Stories In The Operating Room

As I've mentioned on this blog several times, I had a few major foot and ankle surgeries when I was in my early twenties. You guys have seen the pictures, heard the background story, but what I have yet to tell you about, were the funny parts.

"Funny parts? Broken bones, screws and bolts, tendon transfers, cadaver transplants, and FUNNY PARTS?"

Well, admittedly, they were not funny at the time, but looking back I think I'm starting to appreciate their humor.

For example;

My first surgery was expected to be a long one. Screws were being placed, tendons were being lengthened, donated cadaver parts were being implanted, it was just a big ole' freak circus going on down there.

As I'm waiting in the pre-op room the anesthesiologist walks in and I kid you not, the heavens parted, I heard a chorus behind me play the musical phrase "Dun Dun," he smiled at me, and his teeth glimmered just like they do in cartoons.

Gosh do I love good teeth.

Ok, well maybe that didn't really all happen, but the man was hot. Not just "oh, he is cute," kind of hot, oh no, I'm talking "Hi, while I was between photo shoots for GQ I did a little studying and now I'm a doctor" kind of cute.

He really did have good teeth. Not even good, more like AH-MAY-ZING teeth.

Anyways, so there I sat, patting myself on the back and happy that I had chosen the right hospital, (Go me!!) and drooling at the GQ doctor with AH-MAY-ZING teeth.

"Hi Eden, my name is Something That I Can't Remember and your doctor asked me to come place an epidural line in your leg."

"Um....I thought I was going to be asleep for surgery....what do I need an epidural for?" was the expression I must have had on my face because he said "Oh, don't worry, you are going to be asleep for the surgery, but because it's so involved this will keep your leg numb for up to 24 hours after you wake up."

Marvelous!! Sign me up for that plan!!!

"Ok" I said, "no problem."

"Alright great" he said. "Since this is a teaching hospital, would you mind if a student observed?"

Well sure, no problem, I'm all for aiming to help mold America's youth. Bring the schmuck in.

In walks seven students.

Saaaaay what!?

Make It Count

I have a best friend that has the same name as me. She parents almost exactly like me, even has her kids on nearly the same diet as mine. We shopped for maternity clothes together and when it came time to have our sons baptized, she stood in front of the church and led the congregation in prayer over my son and then I did the same for hers. I spent last Christmas with her side of the family and Halloween with her husband’s side. I feel more a part of their extended families than I have ever felt with my own family. Our schedules are different, our lives are hectic, I don’t see her as often as I would like, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about her. I trust her with my life and above that, I trust her with my children’s lives.

There are no two things more certain about me than the fact that I love my children and that I trust almost no one.

Last week I finalized my will and in the event of my death I left her the custody of my children.

Just weeks after my ex left, she came to me and I will never forget what she said. She said “Eden, I know this is weird and I don’t want to put you in a strange position and if you want to say no I will completely understand and this won’t change anything between us (she was rambling), but I wanted you to know that XXX (her husband) and I have been praying about this, we have talked to both of our families, and I want you to know, and you can say no and I won’t be offended, but if anything were to happen to you we would love to take your children.”

It was so awkward that I made some sort of joke about the fact that I have cute children and if I said “yes” was she going to kill me?

Life In My House Is Strange

The other day I got out of the shower and found this dude standing in the bathroom. I looked at him and for a fleeting moment thought "this is strange" before immediately thinking "actually, this is fairly normal around here."

Kids are weird man. I mean there really is no two ways about it, they are weird!

My boy child recently announced to me that he was "too big for my bed so I now seep (sleep) on da for (the floor)."

He was apparently very serious about that.

Serious enough to commit to it night after night.

Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

The Girl Child wanted to build a gingerbread house this year, but with our dietary restrictions the only place I could find a gluten and dairy free kit was online and it was $29, plus shipping, plus a several week delivery time.

Yea that's not happening. I don't really have the time to be baking gingerbread walls either, so...sorry kid.

A couple days later I was in the grocery store and just happened to walk past the largest marshmallows I have ever seen in my life. I stood there for a minute and started thinking about the ridiculous amount of cookies the food pantry had given us and the left over frosting and chocolate chips that I had from another project. I grabbed a bag of the ginormous marshmallows, a jar of marshmallow fluff, and headed home.

I decided that while we couldn't make a gingerbread house, we could make snowmen!

Be aware this was made by a 3 yr old so it's imperfectly perfect.

I have to say, not only do I think the project went well but the kids had a blast!!

Do you want to try it too? Of course you do! (I'm feeling a little over confident here)

What you will need: