May Day

I can't believe it's May 1st already - this year has flown by so far.  Teresa is turning 23 tomorrow - wow - how time flies!  It's so true how people say that they grown up in a blink of an eye.  I'm so proud of all her accomplishments so far - she has become a young independent adult.  She and Jeff have been shopping around on weekends test driving new cars  - and she is leaning towards a Toyota or Ford hybrid in order to get good gas mileage.  So thankful she got a great job right out of college - and can afford to get what she wants.  So many college grads these days are not as fortunate.  I'm very grateful for all the blessings to our family.

I'm looking forward to a visit to Boston this month with Jeff - we are attending his 30th college reunion - and I need to do some shopping for a nice outfit (or two) for the festivities.  I've been to Boston several times before - but only during the fall - and although it's beautiful at that time of year - I'm excited to see it during the spring time.

Spring is almost in full bloom here in Texas - and the flowers on the patio make me very happy ;-)

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday ;-)  It's been a long week of spring cleaning and I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with the hubby & girl's this weekend.

Jeff and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary this past December - and we spent the weekend at the W Hotel in Dallas - and had a great dinner at Craft restaurant.  The food was excellent and the wait staff were so wonderful.  They really bend over backwards to make our night special.  It was so nice to relax for the weekend and just re-connect with one another. With how hectic and busy Jeff has been with work lately, I really think we need to do that more often!

Rise from the ashes

I am a Phoenix!  I have decided to rise from the ashes of the past two years of not blogging - and re-start posting here.  I have been very active on Facebook - posting general updates and playing some fun games - but I feel that I may be able to use this blog as more of a cathartic outlet for what's been happening in my life lately.

Not sure where to start though - lots of changes happen to everyone in a two year span - and I'm no different.  So - some of the highlight events over the past two years:  Teresa's graduation from college, celebrating my 25th Wedding Anniversary with Jeff, Katie's move to high school and OMG - driving, and my trip back in & then out of the corporate world.

I'll take a bit at a time getting to all of it - so here is one thing I want to share from last year:

Frozen memories

COLD COLD COLD here in Texas today (only about 20 degrees) and it is supposed to stay that way for the next few days to come - colder than it has been in about 10 years. I'm not complaining - and I know how cold it has been up in Minneapolis this year (stay warm & dry family!) - but this type of weather really reminds me of growing up in Minnesota. Great memories of playing outdoors in the snow when I was young, building snow forts in the drifts, and even jumping off the garage roof into the plowed snow piles next to the garage. I remember stepping outside in the mornings to head to the school bus stop, and almost "feel" the ice crystals lingering in the air, and you could almost smell the crispness of the frozen lake nearby. Feels a little bit like that this morning - and it's good.

Live a life that matters

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave. What will matter is not your success but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. CHOOSE TO LIVE A LIFE THAT MATTERS!

Where did the time go????

The Holiday's really flew by this year - lots of time spent preparing baked goodies, shopping for Christmas gifts, good times with friends and family and having house guests ;-) Whew... I have to say I'm tired - and glad for a New Year and a fresh start.

I don't usually make formal resolutions - I never seem to carry through with them - but I do have ideas for making this coming year better than the last. Here's to everyone I know having success, good health and happiness in 2010 ;-)

I hate shopping...

Maybe it goes against all of my natural female instincts, but I really hate to shop - especially around this time of year. Why are people so rude and obnoxious when it comes to finding a parking space (speeding through the parking lot to get a space - nearly running people over - just to get 3 spaces closer than the one they were waiting for in the first place), waiting in line (more like cutting in line), being so darn rude (bumping into other people without an apology)????? What horrible examples some people set for for their kids.

No wonder I do more shopping on line whenever I can, than in person in stores. I wish people would have more grace, gratitude and patience this time of year.