April 30th ~ Friday's State of Our Union Address? Forgot about it...

I. Forgot. About. It!  So what.  Who cares?  There was a Royal Wedding to be had, and I was there.  Actually, here... at home... pulling an all-night er.  It was great!  Loved it.  Worth every minute of sleep lost.  Yea! Kate and William!  *Please, don't hate on me, haters.   (Address coming up later; must nap now.)

April 28th ~ I LOVE A Royal Wedding

I love weddings, however I haven't been to too many - maybe ten, including my own - and I'm pretty sure only 2 out of those 10 marriages have endured.  Wow!  So all those statistics are correct.  My wedding can best be described as understated, unconventional.  Intimate.  It was nice; not at all what I had imagined my "dream wedding" to be like.  The only thing I think I'd change after 20 years is Rick having not lost my rings during our move to the house we live in now.  My rings were left behind, along with irreplaceable cookbooks and recipes, at the apartment a block away.  When I finally realized they were missing and went back to apartment management office to ask if they had been found, it was sad to hear that nothing had been turned in.  I've lived the past 6+ years without my rings AND without those cherished recipes of family favorite dishes.

So here I am, it's 11:57 pm and I've camped out downstairs to await the start of A Royal Wedding.  I'm sure it will be perfectly lovely.  CNN's Anderson Cooper is my date.  I'm giddy with excitement, wishing I could actually be in Great Britain getting the full experience those Brits and lucky tourists sitting on London sidewalks will have tomorrow.  Uhhhh... Today? 

Only human, I am also heartbroken; news of tornado damage to our Southern states is constantly on my mind.  I'm having a hard time making sense of it all.  The extent of destruction is unbelievable.  The look on the faces of all the people affected... stunned.  It hurts to imagine what they are going through.  I see the smashed towns and all I can think is, "Whom can we call?  We have this huge house; plenty of room..."  I want to take those families in, give them shelter while they wait and sort things out; they can stay here and regroup, re-assess, and restore peace of mind so as to be able to return home to new beginnings filled with hope; strong and secure.  This is where my mind immediately goes after hearing news stories of tragic circumstances or when catastrophic forces of nature occur.  I want to rescue, feed, and hold babies and give families a place to simply be.  They need us...  They are in my prayers.


So are William and Kate.   

Sarah Story

Today is our darling, delicious, delightful daughter, Sarah's, birthday, which automatically makes it a great day.  I'm doubtful anyone who reads my blogs has ever actually met her.  So here is a little bit about my girl.  She was born on this day seventeen years ago, a chubby, squishy little thing, with very powerful set of lungs, which I recall, only got stronger and stronger as the months went on.  Day one, she and I stared into each others eyes and shared one of those mother-daughter "ugh" moments; same day, Dad held her in his arms and the room filled with an aura of ooey-gooey, lovey-dovey, mushy-wushy sweetness.  She was delightful - and we were goners.  That day I new exactly what the future would hold.  I sensed a stubbornly determined, serious persona filled our tiny pink, precious baby; at the same time, a clever wit and sassy spirit could not be contained.  I got all that from the get-go.  She was delivered by c-section like her brother had been, however, not under emergency circumstances.  During the last weeks of my pregnancy, fear of impending surgical procedure started to intensify.  (I was still experiencing effects of serious post-surgery complications from when R.J. was born, so I was scared to death.)  But, just the way life works, the loss of a favorite cousin days before Sarah's scheduled delivery date provided  enough distraction and minimized any childbirth trauma that might have gotten the best of me when my newborn baby girl would need her momma most.  Actually, I remember the only problem while on the operating table was not being able to swallow due to very bad cotton-mouth.  I remember praying and asking God to make my mouth water; I told God to always keep my cousin Marta in my heart, and hoped some of Marta's "funny" could be shared with baby Sarah.  God heard my prayers and delivered.  Funny thing was, Marta shared much more.  I love that memories of Marta fill my heart today; makes a joyous occasion, all the more special.  I love laughing with Sarah - a short two-minute drive to drop her off at the high school can leave us in stitches.  My cousin Marta could make me laugh the minute she walked in the door.


Sarah was a sweet baby sister to her big brother R.J.  I love how she sang out his name calling him to her.  Aaaah Jaaaayyy.  Too cute.  My prayers to God also asked that he not let me be too overwhelmed caring for my new baby, and that I be strong enough to properly care for both babies (R.J. was 18 months when Sarah was born) because I was still very weak and required doctor's care for whatever was going on with my body.  God took care of things.  Rick was always hands-on;  my mom was available at the sound of  ringing phone; my babies had the most agreeable dispositions and were so easy to manage.  She may have had a stubborn streak and baby-size temper, but baby Sarah somehow knew how loud and how long to go with the crying.  It was all good... regardless of my illnesses.  Our drooly, chunky, little Sarah brought all of us miles and miles of smiles every day.


One thing I'm grateful for is that R.J. and Sarah have amazing memories of their shared toddler-hood.  We spent hours those mobile home days in Palm Desert playing on the living-room floor, or in the nursery, where there were plenty of things for babies to creep around, roll under or crawl upon safely.  R.J. introduced Sarah to all his favorite shows on PBS; but Sarah never became as big a television watcher as he.  She did enjoy watching Disney movies after lunch. We would lay a quilt down in the middle of the room, lie down to watch our movie, and then all fall asleep midway through.  Good times.  Another wonderful memory  is of brother and sister's conversations.  Both spoke very clearly early on, so as soon as she could keep up, Sarah followed her big brother's lead in whatever playtime fun he came up with; it was no time before Sarah took charge whenever she saw fit.  They played news reporters, scribbling on tiny note pads with fat crayons, or running their pizza place taking orders, assembling imaginary pies, and cooking up pizzas for anybody who walked in the door.  They spent hours quietly playing "family" with soft dolls and stuffed animals or were builders, like dad, stacking wooden blocks, vhs's, toilet paper or paper towel rolls.  It was evident early on that Sarah had foreman/leadership qualities.  She could be very bossy.  Fair... but bossy.  When we learned Sarah would be a big sister, it was definitely time to move out of the tiny mobile home that Rick had custom designed for us.  We celebrated Sarah's 2nd birthday there before moving to a larger home a few miles down the road.


... to be continued.

April 26th ~ Busy, busy, busy...

Busy day.  First of all, R.J. has finally made up his mind in choosing a film school to attend next fall, so now we are in the midst of planning excursion to university town for campus tour, check out housing options, and finding resources that can be useful to R.J. while he adjusts to life away from home.  Not to be forgotten, make plans for celebrating his high school graduation next month by booking a 3-day visit to California Disney Parks & Resort and week-long visit in Palm Desert.  Finally, drag him out to shop for his first suit for his special day.  A vehicle will make the perfect graduation gift; I hope he likes it.  And I can't wait for him to open up the one and only hard-cover copy of R.J.'s Blanket book on that day. 


Also kept busy shopping and making special plans for Sarah's 17th birthday tomorrow.  She loves shoes, skirts, dresses, jewelry... such a girlie-girl!  Hoping we coordinated delivery of her new bedroom furnishings and new, snazzy "wheels" to arrive while she's at school.  Sushi Dinner reservations for she and her girlfriends are taken care of for tomorrow night; We can celebrate as a family when Rick comes home.


Emily's end of year party to celebrate her transition from middle school to high school took some time.  Party venue is booked and all RSVP s have been received; she and all her besties are in for a big surprise. They have been exemplary students and totally deserve this extra special treat.


Biggest task was planning and booking family Bucket List Summer holiday travel to visit Grandma Carmy, family and friends in Palm Desert, CA and L.A. CA for a couple of weeks; followed by 10 day stays each, in Washington D.C.; Prince Edward Island, Canada; Scotland, Haifa, Israel; and Italy. Whew!


Out in California, Rick is doing everything possible to accelerate his return home by hiring a remodeling pro to finish the kitchen he's been working on in La Quinta so he can come home as soon as possible.


Last but not least, I enrolled in community college English, creative writing and art courses for next Fall.  Having fun developing my little stories and writing my kooky blogs (hoping someone is finding them entertaining).  I pray it someday pays off because I'd really like to take over the bread-winner role for the next 20 years of our marriage.  

Sounds like a very busy day, indeed... Made my head spin anyway.   This is where my head immediately went when someone asked,

"If money and time were no object, what would you be doing right now?"

~ Back in reality, I sit here hopeful that our circumstances will improve sooner than later.  I have this gut feeling about things. The Woodlands has been foremost in my thoughts since last night; don't know why this feeling is so strong, besides the fact that I still miss living there.  But, I can't deny what is of greatest importance: for Rick, R.J.and I to find immediate employment, and Sarah have a job to start at as soon as school lets out next month.  I won't have peace of mind until we settle our debt, get caught up  on mortgage  and auto loan, and finally sell this house so that we could move on.  And this is only possible when we  finally  have income and job security.  Soon God.  Please. Please help us  survive this  very difficult time.

This I pray for us - and all families finding themselves in similar circumstances, or worse...  Lord, please help us to find strength and courage to persevere; may we keep each other in constant loving thoughts.