Thursday, December 31, 2009

Threshold of Change



The last day of 2009.

In fact, the very last day of a decade; the thought of which literally stopped my fingers on the keyboard as I reflected back on the last ten years, and my train of thought has taken a whole new direction.

And I’m sad to say, on a personal level, I’m not pleased with my accomplishments over this past decade…
-My college degree finished (not)
-Walked the green grass of Ireland (not)
-Learned Spanish (not)
-Losing ____amount of lbs. (not)(you fill in the blank )
-Changed my hairdo (not)
-Acquired rhythm in my dance moves (not)
…..you get the idea.
I looked up opposites for the word “accomplishment” and found “defeat, failure, frustration, nullification.” But my un-accomplishments don’t really fall into any of these categories. These antonyms are much too dire. Certainly not words I want to use as I leave this decade.

But then my eternal optimism kicked in, and I realized I gauge my life in decades of MY years in age and not by watching the calendar years. So I have another 6 years to go for my above mentioned goals! So Ireland here I come…..casi no puedo esperar!

Also, I am a forward-looking person, and I do have anticipation for all this next decade will bring. A clean slate lies ahead with so much potential. “Change” will certainly be an element in this upcoming decade, as we all have experienced how life evolves around us, sometimes without our choice. Family dynamics will change (more grand-kids, perhaps?!?) Relocations will happen as loved ones follow their paths in life. Some of the change will be welcome, but it’s inevitable that some of the change will bring pain. But I have found that as we live through painful experiences in life, these experiences add to our empathy, which I believe is a wonderful quality to have. Also, these painful experiences can add to our wisdom as we navigate through the process of healing and learn our strengths and the Source of our strength.

But in light of being on the threshold of a New Year and a New Decade…I wish for each of you change that is welcome, change that you can endure!

And speaking of wisdom, I leave you with words written by one of the wisest men on earth…
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
• a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
• a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
• a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
• a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
• a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
• a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
• a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace


~And remember to dance under the Blue Moon tonight!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A One Second Click

On the right I've added an icon...by simply clicking on this icon you can help world hunger. And besides that, when you click, you have the opportunity to click on other tabs for "Literacy", "Breast Cancer", "Child Health", "Rain Forest", "Animal Rescue". A simple click counts as commercial sponsors have commited to a certain donation per click. So click away, and consider adding the icon to your own page.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

What the D/M/D Girls Do When They Get Together...

Arm wrestle....
Watch funny videos on YouTube...
Definately watch Gator games....
(yes, that's a Seminole fan in the background...thus the background. hee-hee)
(wrong shirt, Robert)...
(Right shirts, Peter & Jess)...
Get Nana ready for the game...
"Queen Esther" gets hugs....
Enough of the Gators - back to the Yankees..
Have a trick-or-treat time for Hope where every room is a separate "home"...
No treats at this house....
But they had some tricks....
Do "double airplane" rides.....
See the Mallard's off...
And my "flower child", Rachel sets off for the airport....
Good Times!
















Thursday, October 8, 2009

"I'm With the Band"

Amazingly, my mom was game for another outing. So after some lipstick application and a little blush, off we went to see what was happening on St. George Street in the historic district. We found a welcoming porch at Pizzalley's (Piz-zal-ley's) where we enjoyed some manicotti and sweet music by Native Tongue.
Here's Little Miss Social with Michael and Woody from the band. They told her they want to see her back, and she threatened to take over the drums.
And what's better after some Italian food in my mom's estimation than Dairy Queen. (I was pushing the tiramisu.) So off to DQ we go, and of all of the selection available, all she wanted was a small vanilla cone. But she enjoyed it to the last drop.

We drove a couple blocks over to the carousel to sit a while and eat our cones.

Our local firefighter....
I've been threatening my mom that if she didn't get out of the house, I would call over our local firemen to carry her out of my place. She lifted her eyebrows at that thought to show that wasn't a bad idea :) As we were driving past the firehouse on the way home, this young guy was sitting outside. I told Mom "there's the fireman I would have come to carry you down". So she said "well, turn around and tell him!" LOL, a fun ending to our night.


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Finally!

My mom has been here since the middle of July. Well, after some physical therapy and with MUCH coaxing over the past month and a half, I finally got her out of the house. (Rachel, I needed you to do her bun!) So off we went to see some of the sights of St. Augustine and to visit some of her favorite places from years gone by.

The first stop was to see the Lighthouse. We can see the light at night from my porch, and I told her when we got out we would go to see it....although I couldn't get her to attempt the 260+ stairs to the top.
From the lighthouse we just basically drove across the street to Salt Run where Rae and I had gone kayaking. The couple in the top right were going out in their kayak to fish. Mom wanted to wait until they started off then she was expecting a wave good-by from them. So we shouted a "good luck" out to them and they turned to give us a wave. For some reason, this gave her a big kick :)

Then a quick stop at the "world famous" Oasis.
This is a place we would always have to stop at on her Fla visits. We'd sit upstairs, have a bite, and listen to some live music.
Then finally to our destination...South Beach Grille, one of my favorite stops, and I knew there wouldn't be any stairs for her to manipulate.

And here is one of the main objects of bribery to get her out...Little Neck Steamers. Yummmm!

Also, she decided to have a "cold one" to celebrate a special day....

....which is Jimmy's birthday. (her oldest child!) Here she is on the phone with Jim, greeting him with a "Happy Birthday" and telling him that we were out celebrating on his behalf.

A shrimper that was out a distance in the ocean gave her some entertainment. It kept coming closer to shore then back out, but always stayed within sight during our whole meal. She thought they had to be somewhat confused going back and forth that way.

There's always a kind soul at the next table willing to play photographer!

We were getting a laugh over her trying to close the door for herself. After a few attempts, I gave in and gave her a hand.

And here is why she is so reluctant to leave....her Mt. Everest, the stairs to my place. But she didn't do too bad. I had her stop for some rests on the way up. After one stop she looked at me and asked, "What's wrong, are YOU tired?!?" This comment cracked her up. She is totally one who enjoys her own "jokes"!











Sunday, September 27, 2009

Saturday, September 19, 2009

A 30th B-day and a Special Visit







We had a great two weeks with my daughter #2 turning 30 (how is that possible ?!?) and with Rachel having the opportunity to make an unplanned visit. Here is a picture of the two taken at Washington Oaks Park, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we spent the time in the lodge there. But having the place to ourselves and alot of windows to see the beautiful outdoors, we still had a great time. Baby Bria even had the run of the place. We had couches and windowseats, bookshelves and wingback chairs. And let's not forget the fireplace. What more is needed for a lovely afternoon!

For Jessa's b-day, all the pictures were pulled out and displayed throughout the house.
Thirty years worth!!! The cause of alot of reminiscing and not too many of them being embarrasing :)







This picture is a result of one of the b -day games where a team had to do the most creative pose in front of the Shores entrance...Christa and Robert won this one (hands up) but the game ended in a tie :)

Rachel and I had some adventures! This is one of the first times in her adult life that we had time together like this. All of her visits have been centered around an occasion of some sort, but this visit had nothing preplanned. We made the most of the time! To the left we're at the St. Augustine Pier, which is a great place to hang out in the early evening. (Does this pose remind anyone of anything?)







We had a visit to the Florida Cracker Cafe on St. George St. in historic district. We closed the place down.







We took a ride into G-ville on one of the days to watch Christa and her team in a volleyball tournament.


As an added bonus, Rachel got to play. She's now determined to find a volleyball league in Asheville.



















One particular highlight was kayaking with Rachel out on Salt Run. Fortunately, we had the lighthouse to guide our way :)
Not only was kayaking with her a highlight, but there was a lone dolphin enjoying the run and feasting on mullet that were jumping all over the place. At one point the dolphin was closer to Rae and she was asking me what to do if it tipped her over :)



Here she is pointing to our dolphin in the
distance. We also saw a Roseate Spoonbill cruising by...at first glance they look like a flamingo. They're rare to see and it was quite beautiful seeing the pink bird against the blue sky.


And then for a finale of the week, my mom's curiosity got the better of her and she had to come out and join us on the back porch for a visit. I'll leave out the picture of her and Rae showing some leg. I'll leave that to your imagination ;)










Good times, good memories!























Monday, September 7, 2009

Memorable Weekend - Meadow and Jake!

Arriving in Bellevue, Wa. across Lake Washington from Seattle, I got my first glimpse of Yuriko's newest home... ...As you can see, it's quite a welcoming entrance, very reflective of the hostess! The first day we had some down time to recoup for the cross-country trip...but from there on out, we had a weekend full of activities.


My Rachy lounging at the hotel....a few of us stayed at the local Marriott, and we'd take quick
moments catching up with each other in the lobby. And remember, Ladies, I will NEVER again park in an underground garage after 12:00 a.m. by myself!!! Now I know why so many movie-makers use that setting to add to the drama!

So, the first night we went to Pegasus to enjoy some kareoke. Here's Timothy doing quite a good rendition of Bob Dylan. Almost worthy of a standing ovation -definately alot of whoops and hollers.


And now, here's Jake seranading us with a song which, if I remember correctly, was Maneater by Hall and Oates. My regret for the night was that I didn't have a video camera for Tim and Jake's performances....it would have been useful for future purposes, i.e. blackmail :) But actually, they both did quite well and were quite the hit for the evening. Who knows...American Idol may be in one of their futures.


Tender moments like this happening all the time. It was very, very heartwarming seeing Meadow and Jake together.


"The Ladies" as we were dubbed at the beginning of the weekend. What fun it was to be together for such a special occasion in such a beautiful part of the country. If only we had more time!!!


The second night was the rehersal dinner...............

......followed by a night at the "Parlor", which was an upscale poolhall/dancing/restaurant venue.
Everyone made it to the Parlor, so it was quite a good time with meeting others and catching up with old friends (yes, Marsha, that means you!) Spending time with Yuriko's Vancouver family was a highlight for me.


And now for the day of the wedding....here are a few of the ladies on the balcony of the Woodmark where they spent the night and where the wedding was held. A setting right out of hollywood for a wedding. It was a beautiful day with beautiful people for a beautiful wedding ceremony!


Another tender moment captured....~Mother and Daughter~

Meadow in the last moments of preparation and what a beautiful bride she was! "Glowing" is an understatement...she was floating throughout the day!


Sadly, at this point I have gone through all the batteries in my possession, and none were to be found. So you'll have to catch other sites with pictures of the ceremony and reception :)
I was, however, very snap happy prior to this, so if you want to see other moments captured, here's a link: