Saturday, May 31, 2008

Wind in your hair. . .

Saw a girl driving by in a white convertible and it made me smile.

When I was growing up my Dad had a beautiful blue Impala convertible as his business car - we all loved it! Then they went practical and he got a station wagon for the business car AND he got my Mom a gold Comet convertible with, I think, a white or cream interior - and we loved that car! Growing up within the New York City limits - Bayside, Queens - I actually didn't get my liscense until I think I was 19 or 20 - and that was the car I drove - my parents let me drive it up to R.I. to visit my friends and it was the best.

When I was in college - in R.I. - one of my best friend's parents bought the very first Mustang available in Providence, R.I. right off the show room floor - it was metallic gold - white interior - and it was - yes - a convertible - they lived about 30 mins. from the college and we would go to her folks home for the weekend and they would let her have the car to drive around in!!! Can I tell you that it wouldn't have mattered if we looked like the bride of Frankenstein - we had guys around that car no matter where we went!!! It was so much fun!!! Driving down to Newport, R.I. with the top down - playing our music - laughing - great memories.

Alex, my husband, had a 52' MG white convertible with a red interior before he went to Viet Nam - we weren't dating then - he was just a friend of my older brother's - but he took me for a ride in it - did I tell you I had a crush on him then and took his photos with me to college? Anyway...

When we got married - we bought a Mercury Montego dark green convertible with a white interior - I loved that car - we were married in May and in October we drove up to my old college in R. I. for Homecoming - and fortunately it was really warm that weekend and we could have the top down - and it was wonderful!!!

A full circle with the convertibles!!!!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hugs

A year ago on May 25th my Mom, sister, my mother-in-law, Kik and myself had dinner at Abuelo's, a wonderful Mexican restaurant here with murals and a painted blue sky with clouds on the ceiling and good food.

We were seated at our table and Kik came into the restaurant and saw us at our table and came walking across the room with her eyes on me and came straight to me and wrapped her arms around me and just gave me a wonderful hug - and held on and hugged me some more - we looked like we hadn't seen each other in years - but she was hugging me because she knew it would have been my 39th wedding anniversary that day. That hug meant so much to me that I wrote about it in the little notes I write in my devotional book that I read everyday, Streams In The Desert.

This Sunday I went to church and when I was leaving I got a text message from Kik asking me if I wanted to meet at Bob Evan's Restaurant for brunch - of course I did - and I drove over to the restaurant - they were all seated - Kristen, Ken, his mom and stepfather, his sister and her son - and I came walking in across the restaurant and Kik looked up and saw me and stood - opened her arms - and once again gave me the wonderful comfort of a hug - because it would have been my 40th wedding anniversary.

And I am writing all this to encourage us all to give the gift of hug to someone - that you may not even know they need it - but just try it - or even just touching someone's elbow, I heard in a business seminar, gives someone great encouragement. The touching the elbow is really true - someone had done a study on it and it greatly improved people in the workplace sense of well being - think about giving a hug to your children - to your loved ones - a hug with no agenda - just comfort and concern.

And just to keep the truth going - all of my daughters called me and expressed their love and care of me and I was blessed.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Change???

The place where I work has laid off six people and fortunately for my immediate team one person there had already announced they were retiring so that helped us escape this first round of "changes."

I really have a sense of peace about all of this as I really believe God is in control of all the changes in my life - and even though at the time it appears as a disaster to family and friends it always ends up as a blessing in some way. Sometimes the only blessing has been that I have been able to put my arms around someone and have been able to whisper that I understand and they really know I do - and that always encourages me to persevere.

I have been going to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Seminar for the last 12 weeks and that has really helped me financially and given me a sense of being in control of my finances and getting better all the time. This is my second time through the seminar and I will probably do it again when they offer it! Math has never been a good subject for me (ok - it is my worst subject!) - but I have determined to control the money and not let the money control me and this seminar has really given me tools to do this - and prepared me for the next chapter in my life.

When I see changes appearing on the horizon the best thing I can do is to be prepared to the best of my ability - no matter what the outcome!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

It is all about the attitude. . .

My daughter, Kik, got me thinking about about what it was like when they were young - the good times and the hard times - especially about shopping for clothes. The wonderful thing about my four daughters is that they never really complained - or really asked for things - at least not to any extent that I remembered - and I know that is a good thing. We were really successful in raising daughters that were able to adapt and enjoy - whatever our conditions were - without a lot of carrying on. I know there were times when I wanted to be able to do more for them but I learned to be thankful for those old standbys of roof over the head, food on the table and clothes to wear and to really be thankful for any extras.

My girls were stuck with a Mom that never really liked going to the mall - or really shopping - unless they were antique stores, book stores, or unusual art/craft stores - and then if I had a choice of going to an art gallery or a department store the art gallery would win every time - I remember one time when we were living in Houston I took Kik and Heather to the Galleria and we went to the art galleries there - we went walking in and they recognized the work of an artist and asked me about the painting and the gallery owner commented on the fact that they knew the artist. I am sure we went to the stores - but I remember the galleries.

I think one the best character qualities you can possess is the ability to adapt - change what you can - but learn to adapt without beating everyone up around you - and make it the very best you can from right where you are!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Daughters

Yesterday would have been my husband's 66th birthday and I had many memories crowding in as I went through the day. I was really busy through the day at work but had to write the date many times and so thought of him as I took care of things.

My daughters all called me "casually" checking in - asking how I was doing - and I was appreciating them and thinking of what they are going through missing their Daddy - and then I read their blogs about their Dad and I can't believe how rich I am in having four daughters like them - how they really bless my life and how thankful I am for each and every one of them.

A verse for my daughters:

"Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all."

Proverbs 31:29

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Orange Gelee!!!

Maybe it was in my senior year of high school - I'm not sure - but anyway - by college the addiction was firmly entrenched - my addiction to Bain de Soleil Orange Gelee suntan stuff (can't call it lotion - can't call it cream) - my friends and I loved it - and of course I have stopped using it - but a fresh tube of the stuff signified the true beginning of summer!

My daughters love to talk about how I would put it on and then go in the water with them and they would try to grab hold of me and just slip right off!!! They say that I "slathered" it on - which isn't true - the stuff was too expensive to do that!

I have instructed my daughters that when I am in the hospital on life support and they don't know whether they should turn it off or not that they should go and buy a tube of Bain de Soleil - bring it to the hospital - unscrew the top and wave it under my nose - and if I murmur the word "beach" there is still hope for me - keep the machines going!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Sunday Mornings

I love to get up on a Sunday morning - it is quiet - I go downstairs and usually fix myself breakfast - eggs - bacon and a cup of tea - have my quiet time - I read Streams In the Desert every morning and then I have a Bible reading program from Daily Walk that I am reading through the Bible with (helps me get through some of those Old Testament books) - I'm in Ezra right now - then I get ready for church. I was raised in a formal Presbyterian church - grew up as a little girl wearing white gloves and a hat - I don't know how my Mom did it - I could barely find matching socks for my four girls - anyway - now I go to a Vineyard church and I wear jeans and a top and sandals and I'm done -

This new habit has developed for me on Sunday mornings from my daughter, Lauren, giving me a Starbucks gift card - now I after church I go to Starbucks get my coffee and go back home - put my feet up on my wooden chest that serves as a coffee table - open up my New York Times that I get delivered on Sundays and revel in the perfect Sunday morning (I always loved Kris Kristofferson's "Sunday Morning" song - though its different from my life)- I am just putting this out here because I think of all the Sunday mornings of getting a family of six up - dressed - breakfasted - and in the car in time for church - and that family of six included four daughters with long hair most of the time that had to be braided, brushed or tamed in some way and I am just saying that I appreciate the times in my life - and I do appreciate this time in my life.

Quote from the NY Times Magazine interview with Andrew Stanton, Oscar winning director of Finding Nemo and Bug's Life:

By his bed: "A stack of 6 to 12 books. My eyes are much bigger than my reader's stomach. I can read 3 to 5 at the time."

I love that line about the reader's stomach.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Gas Crunch

Because of the cost of gas my sister and I have started car pooling - which means we ride to work together as we work at the same place. I usually can come in at 9 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m. - on my team we can be pretty flexible about our hours - which I love - but - my sister usually works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 5:30. So now I am working the early hours - which I really love because of the beautiful weather and leaving work and having so much of the evening ahead of me is a great feeling except I realize that I stay a lot of times after work to read the blogs and write mine and the reason for that is because I have not set my computer up at home because I would probably have to have dial-up which I hate and I love my computer at work because it is so fast. All this to say that my blogging has really been curtailed this week and I am missing it - and this is just to let you know that I am reading but not having the time to comment and say hi. (I am so glad that none of the copy editors from the newspaper can read that last paragraph of "stream of consciousness" because the red pencils would be out!)

My mother and sister live a few blocks from me (we all live about 2 blocks from the ocean) and my sister, Corinne, and I usually go home at lunch time to have lunch with my Mom to "break up her day" - and let us relax - have a bite - take off our shoes - and not have to worry about ordering - tipping - finding a parking space at a restaurant - and just really enjoy the fact that we can come home and visit with our 88 year old Mom and enjoy our conversations. She is always saying to us that we don't have to come home - that she is just fine - but - what she really doesn't realize is that we recognize the blessing it is to have her there waiting for us - a pretty healthy - intelligent - curious about the world - fantastic reader - insightful woman who we really love and value and realize that the days are precious and even a small event like lunch at home is to be treasured at this time in all of our lives.

Have to run but I want to put a reminder out there that today is the National Day of Prayer for the United States so please take the time at 12 Noon to stop and pray for our country.