ALEX GRADUATION

Another milestone in this grandmother's life.....My fourth grandchild graduated from High School this weekend. After your children make you proud , if you are lucky, your grandchildren just keep piling the honors on you. This darling boy was darling from the start, so much charisma! He loves the outdoors, boating, snowmobiling and dirt bikes are favorites. Girls love him, but they play second fiddle to his truck and the truck has the priority of where he spends his money. His parents had a great graduation party for him the night before graduation. I drove out to Vernal and shared it with him and lots of friends and neighbors and relatives. All four of his grandparents showed up even though we are all divorced and barely speaking to each other (and the roof didn't fall in!) You can see what an important person in our family ALex is......to bring us peacefully together. We all love him lots and are very proud of him. The next night was the big graduation ceremony......again so proud. It was very windy and a little chilly and we got it all done before the rain moved it. Last month Nicci's MBA graduation, this month Alex's graduation and I am already looking forward to Richie's next spring. Life is good and my cataract surgery seems to be healing OK, one week tomorrow.

I DID IT!

I did it.......yesterday I had cataract surgery, and as everyone who had already had it, and that was most of my friends, said "it was a piece of cake".

The worst part was the anticipation and the sitting around waiting to get it done. It only took about 15 minutes of actual surgery. Sherrie came in from Vernal and took me in. Then we chased around trying to find the three kinds of eye-drops I have to put in three times a day for the next few weeks. That seems to be the biggest pain. Sherrie taped that plastic eye guard on for me last night but, left me to do that myself tonight. I was happy to have Sherrie stay all night with me. She was up and off early this morning to get some chores done and get home to help Kennedy's school class. Her sweet sister Karrie arrived at 10:00 (with a cappuccino) , to take me in for the mandatory follow up check on the eye. I guess it takes a few days to settle in and get use to. With a cataract growing on the other eye I guess I will be repeating it all again before long. But I am thankful for the knowledge and the good doctors that can take care of these kinds of things, some countries aren't so lucky. One more day and the Opra Show ends, I will miss her great show. Tomorrow bridge and lunch and hopefully off to Vernal Thursday to celebrate Alex's graduation from High School. So many terrible tornadoes going on, my heart goes out to all those folks. Will the rain ever stop?

THE JOURNEY

Through your life you always run across a poem that speaks to you. I have several. My mother was a poet, and I always wished I had inherited her talent, but I didn't. I have tried now and then but don't feel it. "The Journey" is a fun poem:

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice----

though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations---though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice, which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do---determined to save the only life you could save.

No one can ruin your life unless you let them. No one person is worth making you less than you are and you have to choose, to make your own life all it can be. I learned this lesson the hard way---

TREASURE YOUR EYE SIGHT.....

I am afraid we all take our eyesight for granite. We look, but do we see? Day after tomorrow I am going in for cataract surgery and must admit I am a little nervous. Everyone I talk to that have been through it says "Oh, its a piece of cake." We shall see. Sherrie is coming in from Vernal to take me in and hold my hand, such a brave mother. It has made me stop and think we should appreciate nature more. The trick is a really notice the beauty that is often in our own backyards. We often miss the close-up beauty of life because of both our pace of living and our life style. How many times have you missed a beautiful sunrise, sunset, rainbow or ice crystals? Oh they come and go and there will be more........maybe. Life is very uncertain? There is something nurturing about nature, something soul-satisfying and basic, that we are inclined to miss when we spend most of our time indoors or in a car. At 79 I am keenly aware of my time limitations----I am what is considered a "short-timer" because I know my days are numbered. I'd like to think perhaps I had another 10 years, but who knows. So I have started doing the things I enjoy and want to (to heck with the dusting), playing the piano, having fun with my children and grandchildren and friends. I also have been looking at my grandchildren more closely, and perhaps they are the most marvelous part of "nature" and the most enjoyable. each child is unique, and "discovering" them is such an adventure. They help me laugh at the sheer joy of being alive. I don't want to come to my end and say, "I wish I'd really got to know my grandchildren and spent more time with them." I am enjoying my life and I am thankful for the beautiful things I see each day and for the good doctors that keep me doing that until the end. Karrie and Andrea helped me clean out the garage today!

"INFORMATION SPECILIST"?

I have always been one to volunteer........I started with the Rape Crisis Center on the crisis line and as a public speaker and on the board of directors. I volunteered with ESP teaching English to foreigners, On the foster parent board. I worked at the Food Bank filling boxes etc. I helped with the Junior Miss projects in Utah. In every instance I have learned something. I guess my most interesting volunteer job was as an "Information Specialist" at the Salt Palace. It was once or twice a week and we greeted tourist and visitors to in the city helping them enjoy our city. I learned so much about our great state and it was fun to pass it on. I worked with fun people like Tom and Ken, but we just never got use to the wonderful "Yellow vests" that were our uniform. We had great fun during the 2002 Winter Olympics with the city full of people.

Aristotle taught that success is a habit. We are what we repeatedly do; therefore, excellence is not merely an act, but a habit." We need to practice a Daily Success Regimen. In the morning prayer or meditation sets the program for the day. Then some mental stimulation, Newspaper and morning news on TV of the day, lets you know what is going on all over the world. Then many people (of which I am not one) have a morning exercise habit! Self worth, self esteem and confidence are core to a successful life, be careful not to become your own worst enemy. Find time to acknowledge, affirm and declare to your self some of the good, great and best things about yourself. Use the great I AM ( I Am defined God in the olden days) I am healthy, I am honest, I am enough, I am worthy and deserving and what ever it is you feel in your heart. Do get in the habit of shaping your day with conscious creation of your own ritual. The above makes you want to reach out and share yourself with those in need, volunteering makes you a better person.

APRIL SHOWERES INTO MAY?

Today I decided to heck with planting flowers.......I have my own flower garden. Pam, Karrie and Sherrie help me enjoy a year round flower garden, no matter the weather. Rain, rain, rain all month, not May weather at all. Maybe we should all just stop and enjoy all the wonderful flowers, (friendships, neighbors, family members) that grow all around us. I am so lucky I have a very beautiful garden to enjoy year round.

I have to admit spring time in Salt Lake City is mostly a wonderful time of the year. Salt Lake City is a beautiful city by the big Salt Lake. Rainbow colored flowers poking up out of last years dead grass and dead leaves and yes, the smell of rain. All the resurrections of flowers, plants, and birds returning. I love it. I have just decided to sit back and enjoy life, heck we don't have to shovel it!

"There are knowns, these are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But, there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we don't know we don't know." Donald Rumsfield.

Sherrie just called and was out looking for one of her horses, I told her to just wait for it to come home when it got hungry or lonesome. Maybe I am not a horse person.

WEDDING.........

I am 79 years old and have received many wedding invitations in my day but I swear these modern day wedding invites don't do much for me! When I received this invitation from my nephew's son I thought I had been invited to a Halloween party. I have no idea why the rabbit heads other than they are both into doing plays. I am not sure they even wanted to be close to each other or recognized. There is no love or tenderness or caring shown, maybe holding hands connects you. On the other side was the announcement of the reception. It listed his parents as Lauren (his mother), Mike and Andrea ( his father and wife) and Sheri and Rob Holcombe ( the people he lives with?) Now I have known him since he was born how did the Holcombes become his parents????? Well that is not all it listed they were registered at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond AND Taco Bell! I guess I am just old fashion, but I really hope registering for a wedding is not getting down to McDonalds, Wendy's and Taco Bell...............I did get invited to the luncheon and wedding in the Holcombes backyard and the best part of the wedding was getting to spend the day with my sweet sister. She has lost so much weight and looks great. I have finally recovered from my fun trip to Indiana, but so tired of rain every day. I gave in to buying flowers but only have my front pots planted because of rain every day. Richie and Scottie cleaned my back deck and got out the patio furniture, yeah! Sherrie popped in today on her way to Speech Therapy Class for Kennedy, I do get lonesome for her family.

MY FOREVER GIFT.......

Wind chimes have a long and varied history. Their development spans cultures, continents and uses. The wind chime can trace its lineage back almost 5000 years. The first were primitive constructions of bones, shells and wood, thought to ward off evil spirits. In Indonesia they were used to scare off birds in fields. The Chinese hung them in their temples, pagoda and caves to repel demons and evil. They spread from China to the western world in the 1800's. The practice of feng-shui helped to spread the knowledge that they have a calming and balancing influence in a home. The soothing tones echo the music of the breeze and bring a relaxed meditative feeling to an environment; creating a place of peace and balance.

I began giving wind chimes as gifts a long time ago to friends, now I want to give all my family members one. I am amazed at the scope of their beauty. I love the glass ones, the metal ones make great music and the latest Red Neck ones are quite entertaining! With each one I enclose a little note telling them: The same wind that blows over my house.....also blows over yours. When you hear the little wind chime know that the breeze brings my love and thoughts of you. And for the ones I give my family members I add: AND after I am gone and through the years, the wind chime will continue from up above to bring my love and quiet your fears. So it is a gift that continues your connections with people long after you are gone or no matter where in the world that little chime ends up. My second graddaughter just got her MBA, I gave Nicci a wind chime with my note and I have no doubt that little wind chime is in for a lot of traveling with that little gal................... So if you ever need a "Forever Gift" for anyone, why not a pretty wind chime?

FUN INDIANA TRIP

Left for Indianapolis, Indiana on the third of May and home the 8th for a great trip to watch my second granddaughter, Nicci, receive her MBA degree in Marketing. Rob had rented the perfect cabin to fit all of us.......Pam, Rob, Tiff, Scott, Nicci, Bill, Will and I. The whole fam-dam-ally. We took one day to hit the grocery store and get settled, then the celebrating began. We had Cinco de Mayo, Nicci's graduation, The Kentucky Derby, and Mother's Day. We did them all. The school is Kelley School of Business and is in Bloomington, IN and it was just turning spring and so pretty. We visited a winery, the fun shops in Browns close to the cabin and the campus in Bloomington. We ate, drank, played games, ate, watched TV, napped, ate and visited. It was definitely a perfect family reunion. Pam and I had left our dogs with the Cooks, which gave them four dogs for the week, but they survived. While I was gone Annie got a summer job as a life guard and Richie was accepted to go to the Philippines to do charity work for two weeks next March. Before Nicci heads for her job with General Mills in Minneapolis she is off to London and Turkey for a couple of weeks. My next to youngest grandson Kennedy started his scuba diving to become certified, he is just 13 and loves it. In three weeks Alex graduates from high school, my life is filled with good things!

OFF TO INDIANAPOLIS

This is my cute Nicci at her college graduation in Phoenix , Arizona where she graduated from ASU, now this is my third graduation ceremony for her, (went to her high school graduation).....she is graduating from graduate school. Keeping up with grandchildren isn't easy. I am very excited as I haven't been on an airplane for a couple of years and that is very unusual for me. Pam, Rob, Scott, Tiffany and I are all flying out this afternoon. Rob rented a cabin on the water near the school so it will be great fun. William is flying out Friday to join us as he had finals at the U to finish up first. Karrie is keeping my dog and Pam's and with her two dogs that will be a house full all week. It is cold and rainy today....at least not snow...... and Nicci said for us to bring our umbrellas and layer, so doesn't sound to promising on that end. Mike just called to get Lucille's address for his sons upcoming wedding, you know the one with them in their Halloween costumes and registering at Taco Bell! Karrie just got word Richie was accepted to go to the Philippines for two weeks with a youth group from Salt Lake to do charity work next spring, wow, such great goals my grandchildren have. Last summer Brayden went to Africa and built desks for a new school and the year before Alex went to Europe with the Young Ambassador Youth group. Guess they all have their grandmother's gypsies blood in them. Tiff has been to Europe and Nicci has a long list of travels, China, Australia, Iceland and soon off to Europe! Oh yes, I have to note how proud I am of Andrea, she just made cheerleader!