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Showing posts from August, 2012

The Monsoon Did Not Steal My Morning Shower

I was grateful to get a shower at all this morning before heading off to work.   Here’s why.   We’re in our Monsoon season and it’s dramatic.   This is what it’s like just about every afternoon….the skies turn dark and threaten to burst open and fall upon  you with excessive speed.   Eighty percent of the time all the drama passes and the late afternoon sun peeks out before twilight.   Last night was different.   I was sleeping soundly until b ooms of thunder woke me complete with lightening and then the massive rain fell and poof…the electricity failed.   I mumbled to my husband “we lost power” but he hardly stirred.   I felt my way to the kitchen for a flashlight in pitch darkness.   I returned and he was on his cell calling the electric company.   About two hours later, our power came on and with groggy faces we went to the window and watched with delight as homes lit up in the distance.   I thanked   hubby for making it happen and returned to the sack.   It was sti

My Mother-in-law's Gift

My girlfriend, Cindy, is the cutest mother-in-law you could ever meet.   She introduces her DIL as her “dilly” and she affectionately adds:   “I’m her milly!”   I never had that kind of relationship with my MIL , but my MIL gave me a gift I will always treasure and it will last forever. My MIL was not mean spirited or out to get me.   She was closed minded and unaware.   Both she and I were raised in religion and you always have a lot of guilt and fear when all you know is religion.   When I married her son, I was not versed in scripture except that I knew Genesis 2:24 which inspired me and irritated her.   “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”   Mom never left home.   When she married, they lived together with her family and that was expected of me, too.   Granted, I was timid and a people pleaser, but I rebelled against that one! I rebelled as well when mom selected our china. She redeemed all

What Advice Would You Give to the Mother of the Bride?

My niece will be getting married in a few weeks.   Her mom asked me, do you have any practical advice for me? This will be the first time she will be “mother of the bride.”   “Yes, I do!”   1) Make sure you wear comfortable shoes.   2)   Deflect stress with humor. Here’s my favorite mother-of-the- bride joke: THE PERFECT DRESS  Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement not even her parents' nasty divorce. Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the best dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!  A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress! Jennifer asked her to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not. I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied. Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special

Another Anniversary!

Our house is quiet again.   We’re back to work, some returned to California and I’m back to my regular routine.    Last week was busy!   we celebrated our 41 st wedding anniversary and our family gave me the desire of my heart: being all together and enjoying one another for five days! We got a kick out of a passerby outside our favorite restaurant after a very special dinner on our anniversary.   One of the kids asked him if he would snap our picture.   He positioned us like a seasoned photographer and got just the right lighting and then told us it was his birthday!   We flooded him with our well wishes and I love the photo he took of us! I like the saying:   “Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.”   Being with a spirited three-year-old kept us hopping with glee.   We took Susanna to the Toddler Reading Program at the Sedona Library, lunches out, shopping mall, swimming at the Rec Center, and on days we stayed in