Tom's Birthday

Yes, Tom's birthday is September 29, and I was there when he was born. After having four births myself, it was awesome to actually be awake and active helping my daughter deliver my special grandson - Thomas (for Doubting Thomas the Apostle and Thomas Magnum the movie star whose name also includes Sullivan), Tom's middle name is Gregory after the great Pope Gregory.

I promised as Tom was waiting inside his mother's womb to be born that I would bake him chocolate chip cookies - well, I failed because it is Grandpa who bakes him cookies now.

Tom will be celebrating his 21st birthday in Iraq at Camp Taji. We are hoping he has a great time even though he is out there on the desert without much to do. He has some great battle buddies that I am sure will have a surprised or two for him.

If he was home we would take him out to his favorite place to eat then have a giant chocolate chip cookie cake for his celebration - oh - that's what I sent to him for his birthday cake. I found a company that ships those cookie cakes to soldiers - its an M&M chocolate chip cookie cake - I hope it arrived in good condition. He has tons of friends here so we know he would be celebrating big time with his friends if he was here.

Tom is the type of guy who can have a good time no matter where he is - he is the absolute life of the party and always has been the class clown. He can make you laugh even if you are in the worse mood of your life.

We hope you are having a grand time on your birthday, Tom. We love you lots and miss you more. May God always keep you safe and protest you and your fellow soldiers.

Gold Star Mother's Day

Today is Gold Star Mother's Day. It was set aside by the President to honor the mother's of those military personnel who served and died in the line of duty. I was honored by the Gold Star Mother committee and presented with a Gold Star Banner in memory of our son Brian who served with the U. S. Army. It was unusual to present this honor on a soldier who didn't actually die in the line of duty in time of war, but because of my devotion to care for Brian who was injured while serving with the Army as a result of a non-combat accident, they agreed I was a deserving mother.

It is still very difficult to talk about everything we went through from the time we received the call of Brian's accident until the hour he passed away here at home. Someday I do hope to write everything down. Many of the problems we had with the Veteran's Administration may be helpful for another family to know and understand except that I am hopeful things are better. I do know they are trying to have better support for those with head injuries as they come back from Iraq. I had no support and even the local head injury community here in Clark County was limited. It was a journey Bob and I took on our own and with the help of our children. Our families were no help or support.

Brian was a gun-ho soldiers and he really enjoyed being in the Army. He was well liked by his battle buddies. Brian was a special child anyhow. I have been going through a memory box I have had since the beginning of time. I have things my oldest son wrote in kindergarten. But there are all sorts of newspaper articles and things on Brian, he was an achiever. He was a nice guy.

We didn't go to the celebrations for the Gold Star Mother's which was held in Boulder City. I wasn't feeling too well and didn't need to venture away from the house for personal reasons which wouldn't be mannerly to mention here. I appreciate Linda Garrison for being so kind as to keep Bob and I in the loop for the Gold Star and Blue Star Mothers. She is a wonderful and unselfish person.

It looks like rain outside and we are suppose to have thunderstorms - that would be so nice. Please do take care and I hope you have a really good week.

Can it be Saturday - already?

Another week gone and another week older - good grief! I am listening to my very favorite classic album - Vivaldi Four Seasons - if the music doesn't stimulate the emotions from sadness to exciting then the listener is dead. This week for me has been exactly what the rhythm of "Four Seasons" express.

We all have a list of priorities whether physical, material or spiritual, but sometimes there is that one item on the list that invoke all three elements. This week I had a computer problem and as I've mentioned many times my involvement with my computer is a top commitment. I cannot and will not for the sake of this particular post actually express my deep anxiety and exasperation with this particular problem because my day would be ruined. I am hoping just the revelation of my problem will be enough for you to understand how I feel right now because I did not fix the problem, I do not want to take my computer in to be fixed but I would like to buy a new one and I know I cannot. So there, having said that my number two emotional involvement has been the politics of the week. I dare not go there either. I will say this, I have learned a great deal not so much about politics but government and finance as well. This week has been a tremendously disastrous week for our country financially. There's so many things the average person cannot imagine that goes on both on Wall Street and in Washington DC. We cannot blame one person - but we must put the responsibility on all to work together.

We had a dynamic change in our family this weekend. My granddaughter's mother, my son's ex wife, will be moving away due to circumstances beyond her control. It is sad for my granddaughter. Children always seem to have to bear the blunt of the pain of the disasters of the adults. I know they do survive. I also know that even when the adults do everything they can to keep a stable home the children do stupid things to ruin their own life after they grow up. What a vicious circle life is.........

So it goes and life does go on and how we survive is how we deal with each minute or our day and with the presence of God. I hope your day is going well. Do take good care.

Happy Birthday Bob!

We celebrated Bob's birthday on Wednesday. It was unusual because we had as per his request an ordinary meal - meatloaf. My one son said "that was disgusting" he thought steaks were in order. I asked him if he was going to buy them (you know how the economy is today, and I am trying to save a few pennies!). Bob happens to like meatloaf and that was HIS request. Our daughter volunteered to make the birthday meal. Everything was delicious and fun was had by all. A very simple celebration and only a few in attendance, but it's the thought that counts.

The photo of the family around Bob is one of the best. It is an ordeal to get every one of the kids to put on a normal happy face at the same time. Of all his gifts, I think the photo and our presence is the best. We did miss having one person at the table - Tom. He is in Iraq, but always in our thoughts.

Fun with Grandchildren

There are many things you can do to have fun with kids, but one of my most favorite of all times and forever is bubble blowing. I can't remember when I haven't had a jar of bubbles with a wand somewhere. I enjoy doing this fun thing I think more than the kids.

We have a huge driveway. In the late afternoon when the sun has gone down and we are waiting for Alex's dad to come home we open the garage doors and sit out where it is cooler and bring on the fun stuff. Alex loves to draw on the driveway. We keep plenty of chalk available because she draws large pictures with loving messages.Maybe it's the child in me, but I'd love to be out blowing bubbles every afternoon. It gives Alex an opportunity to exercise and ride her bike or scooter rather than watching TV or be on the computer. It's not always easy because we have several months of very hot weather, too hot to be doing much of anything outside. So, now that the temperatures are cooling down, I look forward to hauling out the lawn chairs and the tools of our fun and enjoying the late afternoon outside playing games with my grandchildren

The doctor's office scale

I went to the doctor this week for my pre-annual checkup. I dreaded this visit for weeks. The very first thing you have to do and I knew it and dreaded it as the nurse led me to the stupid digital scale. Weighing in then an eye check is next, then a heart check, memory check, and breathing, and I was done. I didn't worry about most of the stuff on the list but its the damn scale I hate with a passion!!!! I had been a good girl on my weight watcher plan, well, except that being a good girl ended last February. But, but, but, what is a stress eater suppose to do! Huh! Tell me before it's too late....I know the weight watcher program should have taught me something, well, it didn't except that those little bags of cookies for 2 points turn into more points if you eat two plus bags. Where is the good fairy of discipline when I need her/him...........

I tried taking up drinking. I love Margaretta's and other things but after two drinks I can't see the rug in front of me and I laugh all the time. I thought about substituting Margaretta's for cookies and I need the acid in the lime the drink is mixed with but I don't like the feeling when I wake up at 2 am and have to go wee wee. I wake up at 2 am anyhow, but there's something different about downing a couple or more of Margaretta's and how you feel afterwards and I surely don't want to wake up my husband at that time of the morning. I can pretty much talk him into anything but I think waking him up because I am feeling my tequila and am sprawled out on the floor before the bathroom throne would NOT be a good thing!!! (just kidding - I thought the sprawled out sounded funny!)

So there you are and there I was - on that damn scale - I know, I'm stuck on that description but what else is there for that stupid machine that creates so much distress in so many people. I think it would be a better idea if they would write down our opinion of what we think we weigh! Isn't that a terrific idea!!

Did you ever have one of those days?

Well, today is one of those days I would like to run away to a faraway place. Nothing seems to soothe my soul and everything agitates. How to handle one of these moods is a solution I haven't come across even at my old age. If you have a solution, please make a comment!!!

It is a beautiful Sunday. Couldn't ask for a nicer day. It feels like fall outside. The desert summer heat is almost gone. This is the best time of the year to live in this area. We could use some of that rain from the hurricane though. I wonder why the clouds never drift this way - why do they go west to east? I'm still waiting on a water pipeline from the flooded areas. The intellectuals in many countries can construct a huge over cost machine to duplicate the big bang but they won't help the places that need water. Where are humanities priorities?

Today my patience is thin. There are small happenings in my environment that occur and I want to scream but as I've grown older I know reacting to my immediate impulses only create more horrifying situations that are more difficult to solve or cure. So, its best to suck it up or run away from it.

There is a planned ending to this anxiety but it is time away. At my age and the way I feel sometimes I wonder if I'll make it. Having a dream is becoming less and less of a possible reality. I guess that sounds like doom and gloom but that's how I feel today. Putting positive thinking on the back burner. If you started reading this blog in a good mood , I know you are thinking "boy, what a downer" and maybe I should have warned you. But, don't we all have "one of those days" and I think so - today is my day.

I'm not sure how I will escape. The photos I'm showing are just a few places we've been and where I dream of going again. Today I will escape to some of those places if only in my thoughts.

I hope today is a good one for you. I will feel better tomorrow because this mood always passes. Maybe it's good to have "one of those days" because we can appreciate tomorrow.

Take care.

Today is our 44th Wedding Anniversary

Can you imagine living your life with one person for 44 years? It really is the greatest thing knowing you can depend on that one person everyday of your life. The beginning was surreal - our meeting was love at first sight. It was on a Wednesday evening, April 23, 1964, when I saw him walk through the door, I said something like "oooo lala." He was a gorgeous specimen of a man. He was dressed in a pair of dark dress pants and wore a green shirt with a paisley design and a white pull over sweater. He also had a tan top coat on - that's what we called them then in 1964. He went straight to the "little boy's room" and I didn't give him a second thought at least not right then. I was with my group of friends at our weekly Wednesday night dance at Nellis Air Force Base. It was routine when I got off work at 9:00 PM, as my job as Supervisor at the telephone company on Fremont Street and Las Vegas Blvd., to go to the dance and meet my friends on Wednesday nights. I loved to dance and was quite good at shaking it up back then and I loved having fun.

Meeting Bob was unusual. His first and second impression was unusual and my whole life with him has certainly been unusual and definitely not boredom or routine. He asked me to dance, and we danced the rest of the night. After the dance, I took him to several of my favorite places around Vegas, and then home to meet my mom. My mom was my very best friend. She was a great judge of character and a lot of fun. Oh, my dad was in bed and he was to meet Bob later when Bob flew in from Travis AFB where he was stationed with the Air Force. He came to ask dad for my hand in marriage. Now, I didn't know this was going to happen yet. After visiting with mom for a while, I headed back towards Nellis where he was on TDY from Travis for a few days. Before going back to the base we parked just to talk. We were on Craig Road near the base where at that time there was nothing around - today there is every kind of business imaginable. Yes, all we did was talk. A policeman pulled up next to my car and flashed his flashlight inside the car and he said he was shocked. It was the first time he ever checked out a car without finding naked people doing something they shouldn't be doing - we weren't. The closest to naked we got was Bob showing me his holey socks. We talked and laughed all night. I think it was then after hearing his life and his dreams I realized if I hooked up with this guy, I would someday end up on a farm in Wickliffe, Kentucky. I'm a down and out city bred chick and guess what - I did become farmer's wife in Wickliffe, Kentucky many years later. But first before I even dreamed of what my life would be and after I dropped him off at the base, I hoped I'd hear from him again. It seemed like forever as the days went slowly by with no word from him. When you are young and impatient, a day seems like a year. The mail never comes fast enough.....yes, we exchanged addresses. And you know the phone never rings soon enough when you are waiting for that special call from that certain someone and I would never call him first!!!!

A week or so later his letter came. He did fly in to meet my dad and dad was thrilled to marry me off - I remember vividly dad rushing me down the long aisle of the church. We wore hoop skirt slips then and my hoop shirt was really hooping!!!! I remember whispering to dad to slow down, but he was grinning from one ear to the other, I wonder what daddy was thinking!!! We were married September 5th, at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Las Vegas on Maryland Parkway, in a simple ceremony. Neither one of us had our families except for my mom and dad, and all my friends. Our breakfast reception was held at the Sahara Hotel and wedding reception at my mom and dad's house in the backyard - it was fantastic.

Bob and I have lived in a lot of cities. Our first place was a studio apartment near Maryland Parkway and Charleston, in Las Vegas, then an apartment in Woodland Hills, California. There were many more addresses because in the beginning Bob was searching for himself. He worked at a lot of different types of jobs in many places. He's worked at unusual jobs like Inhalation Therapist, sail boat maker, welder, Air National Guard Hydraulic Tech, and working at Hoover Dam. I worked sometimes. I was a Bank Teller, and Bank Representative, I sold Home Interior and worked at a Sear's Catalog store. I attended business schools, and vocational schools and some college. I've worked at the gas company and the Hoover Dam Union office and for an association IFSEA, but my biggest job was raising five children and taking full time care of our son who was injured in the military and more importantly - fulfilling Bob's needs. And oh, I almost forgot - I worked on that farm in Wickliffe, Kentucky. It was an fulfilling wonderful experience I will never forget. Today we are both retired and are full time nappers.

Some days my life may seem boring and depressing, but its not because my life with Bob is boring or depressing - I yearn to share my days with Bob. He is quiet natured, but has a sense of humor behind his quiet composure. He leads and I follow although it may seem like I am leading because I am a wordy and expressive person - but I know where he wants to go and how he wants to get there. Because I want to be with him until I die, I know how to get where he wants to be. Marriage is like that - there's no 50-50 deal, there is sharing and compromising. I think compromising and sense of humor are the two most important elements necessary in an successful marriage. BUT, the most important above the love of each other is the love of God. Having God in our marriage has saved us from disaster in many situations. God has held us up and protected us together and helped us deal with our trials. He put us straight when we were making bad decisions and soothe our souls when we were hurting. Without God in our marriage, I wouldn't be writing this today.

Every day is a new day. Being married to my lover, best friend and my carpenter, regardless of what the world brings to my doorstep I am ready with Bob at my side.

Windows are open

Finally, I can open the two windows in my office. Right now I can hear the school recorded "bell" sounding from the elementary school down the street. It is reminding the students to go into their classrooms. It is a beautiful morning day here in southern Nevada. Our first cool enough day that we are not suffering and need to run the air conditioners. It is cool enough we can finally open our windows even if for only a short time since the heat will return later. I sat outside this morning as is my morning ritual to wave good bye to Alex as she went off to school. The hummingbirds were racing and playing and talking like it was the first day of spring instead of the ending of summer.

My wonderful husband put a hummingbird feeder by both of my office windows. I am so content when I can open both windows, pull the sheer curtain back and listen to the hummers and watch them feed. We have trees in our front yard so I am blessed to see many other types of birds playing and doing their thing too. With the windows open, I can hear the music from my wind chimes or watch the colorful twirly decorations dance in the breeze.

I love the peace and solitude I receive during the early fall mornings when the school traffic finally stops after the parents have dropped their students off at school. There is a gentle breeze this morning. We lost a lot of tree branches from strong winds which affected our area for several days. I feel sad for each branch that is broken because a bird may have lost it's nest or resting place. I am grateful there are other trees and branches to fill the needs for all the birds that visit our home.

It is a beautiful beginning to the month of September and I am thankful.