Looking Glass

 Bring on the wine!  My friend KP and I had another one of our long evenings together. The kind of evening where we had cause to celebrate, converse, laugh and of course, drink wine...two bottles to be exact. (smile here).  Our cause of celebrating stemmed from her victory in placing first at a division speech contest via Toastmasters International. The event was predicated from weeks of hard work, practice and placing first in two prior contests. From her original speech and help from a few friends, it was rewritten several times over. She and I had spent hours rehearsing. I was her audience and evaluator. I timed her speech so she could trim it down to the 7 minute speech it needed to be, in order to qualify at the contests. She nailed it and then some!  "There Must Be a Way" was the title. The speech told the story of her stuttering issues from childhood to adulthood, and eventual, intense speech therapy at age 30. Overcoming ...

I just found out last night through a classy well thought facebook post, that one of my friends from my former little town, drowned while vacationing in Hawaii. Now her husband has to return from vacation to Washington with a casket rather than his wife sitting next to him.  I can't even imagine.

More items to dream about... 21) Vocal Lessons for fun. 41) Be able to afford yard maintenance crew 51) Own an advertising agency 71) Be a Distinguished Toastmaster 81) Work for an advertising agency 91) Be more forgiving/release grudges

 Today warmed up with sunshine beaming down on the countryside. It was a lovely Spring day and the weather made the driving more enjoyable, as opposed to the chilly rain that beat the earth the day before. I drove through four neighboring counties today allowing the sun to play its role as spearhead of the travels. No traffic hic-ups impeded the mileage or the clock and  I felt organized and more confident driving through Seattle than other trips to the big city. Familiarity to the route mapping me to the corporate admin building then to my son's house eased my tension, which was thanks to the navigation device on my cell phone and its spare charger in the glove box.  Now, as I sit on my patio in the deep black night, with stillness hanging on the same countryside which was previously glowing with sunshine and activity, I think about all aspects of the prior twenty four hours; the staff meeting at corporate, the hours wit...

  I wasn't part of the gathering nor was I a fly on the wall the previous day when my kids met with their father, for the first time in a decade and a half. Therefore, their encounter will be difficult to describe as I had to rely on their explanation of the gathering, when the five of us met for brunch the day after.  We met at a casino/restaurant to converse over a Sunday brunch. When first seated we chose to get a morning beverage and food to help alleviate the kids' affects of being up late into the night for two nights in a row. Plus, I didn't want to seem over anxious to hear how the private event played out. Between the four of them taking turns sharing their viewpoint and my asking careful questions, I learned that the gathering went as they hoped. Hugs started their six hour visit and sharing general stories of the past fifteen years ensued, mostly from the kids. I gather their dad didn't have too many proud...

 In about eight hours, my kids will be seeing their father for the first time in years. It appears they are all anxious and my daughter has more excitement about the pending meeting than her brothers. Her and her husband landed in Seattle about 9:30 PM last night and she called me while enroute to pick up their rental car. Last night was being spent painting the town red as her older brother turned 31 a couple of days ago and they were having a delayed celebration. Seeing his dad for the first time in years, at the age of 31, blows my mind. It blows my mind I have a 31 year old first off, and I know he has a lot of pent up questions and resentments he is placing on the back burner for today's visit.  Here's to my kids...cheers, good luck and I hope it goes the way you want. I will be looking forward to the debriefing tomorrow. My daughter and son in law will be spending Sunday and Sunday night with me.

 Cautiously optimistic is the phrase my daughter has used often of late. Her term is revolving around a pending meeting with her father, of whom she hasn't seen for about 15 years. She was a 14 year old sophomore the last time she saw him, my eldest was 15 1/2 and on the verge of learning to drive. My youngest son was in 8th grade at this time of the separation and divorce from my alcoholic husband. For whatever reason, since he couldn't have control of us anymore, he disappeared from our lives, his family's lives and the community, to pursue a life of hidden, who knows what.  Over the past few years, when my daughter Googled him, all that seemed to turn up was a rap sheet of him being jailed for "Possession of Illegal Drugs". She spent more time the year prior to her wedding searching for him as this was another milestone in her life he was going to miss, and she wanted to at least tell him so. She has gone through many emotions, as they all have, during ...