Looking Glass

  The title of this post is definitely not literal.  It is quite the opposite. June broke into sunny warm days that  started the month and it exited the year by leaving hotter weather behind it. July barely had winds at all,  which is the nod to the ironic title.  The winds of July reference the surprises and activities that the month held in store for me after a pleasant visit with my nephew at the end of June. Six years has spanned our last meeting at a family reunion. He is thin, tall and bears a smile easily on a face resembling his mother, my sister Mary.  He talks happily of life with a family and a chiropractic practice despite some hard years not so long ago. His two boys are the prime ages of five and eight and they still like hanging out with mom and dad (smile here).The "family man" characteristics definitely exist for him.  He had a friend on his coattails during the three day stay at my house and thanks...

 I have noted in many blog posts of writing about my life's history in order to lead readers up to the beginning of this blog, five years ago. I opted not to start at the beginning of my time, although that is important to write about at some point; childhood memories, family happenings and the like. But, not today.  I debated about starting at the middle of my life which would peg me at 27 years of age, as I turn 54 this year.  At that point in time, I gave birth to my third child, had been married for 7 years and was a "stay at home mom," raising the kids and that first husband. Despite the importance of that year in my life, I didn't want to start there today either.  I chose not to start at the beginning nor the middle, but at a pivotal time in my young life; age fifteen. It was the year my mother uprooted me from my family and hometown in Minnesota to move across the country to Washington state. This seeme...

 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...