Spring, Spring, Spring ~ How I Love Spring!!!

Let me just say that I started my blog on April 8th, it is now June 1st and I'm just getting back to finish it.  So I will be reading through it and putting in updated info (in a different color) when something needs to be updated!!

I guess I could start with the title, Spring, Spring, Spring ~ How I Love Spring!!!  Well, I have loved Spring but we're almost into Summer . . . So I guess my new title would be "Summer, Summer ~ I'm not a fan of really hot days" but all the rest is okay.

Finally, I'm catching up with my blog - I last wrote in October 2012, just after my surgery.  On this coming Monday(April 8th) it will be exactly 6 months since I had my surgery and to say that it has been an amazing journey, would be saying it perfectly.  My ankle has been declared "perfect" by my surgeon many times, he is very happy with the movement I have in my ankle, the lack of swelling and of course the look of my xrays.  My arthritis is gone, my pain is gone and the pain in my tendon is gone!!!  As life changing as it was when I broke my ankle 33 years ago this summer, this has also been life changing.  I have to admit, not to the degree that the original break so altered my life, because as I just said I lived with the pain, the limp, the things I couldn't do anymore for 32 years.  But I am thrilled that I took that big step and had the surgery done.  My daughter Tina sent me a gift for my last great checkup and said that she was "proud" of me for having the surgery.  I, of course, thought "really, it wasn't that big a deal!!"  But then I remembered back to my pre-surgery jitters.  I was REALLY scared, but I educated myself, got a lot of info on the subject, Tina in fact sent be a cd of "preparing for surgery" so I'm gonna take that she's PROUD of me, in fact, I'm PROUD of myself.  I couldn't have done it without my husband, Kenny, who was a fantastic caregiver, so all in all, it turned out to be a GREAT decision.  Here is my xray of my March 28th appointment . . .

The "hatch marks" on my one bone are actually a plate and screws from 1980.  But the "thing" where my ankle should be is my new ankle, just thought I'd share!! 

 

A BIG EVENT is coming up this coming Sunday.  It is our oldest grandson's birthday.  Matthew Jerick Richmond will be 14 years old!!!  I know I say this everytime one of my grandkids has a birthday, but really, where has 14 years gone???  He is now Matt, in the 8th grade at Rincon Valley Middle School and on his way to Maria Carrillo High School in the fall.  Now taller than Grammy, smarter than Grammy but still gives me "lovies" on demand!!!  He's a good student, pretty responsible and an excellent ping pong player.  Happy Birthday Matt!! 

Matt has just finished Rincon Valley Middle School today and is on to Maria Carrillo.  I never did get a picture of the two of us together but here's one of him and my husband, Kent, well Kenny,



 Matt played a lot of ping pong at RVMS and he's gotten pretty good.  His Grandpa has always been the one to beat but Matt has taken over that spot.  He's umpired quite a few Little League games this summer and the skuttlebut is that he does a pretty good job.  So that's it for Matt.

 

We got an early start on working in our yard because we had pretty nice weather in February and March this year, we're way ahead of our usual timetable.  BUT April showers are upon us!!!  We need the water and my plants are getting a free supply so I guess I can't complain.  Again, I was late in planting my sweetpeas but they are in and hopefully I will get some sweet smelling flowers from them.  I grew all of them from seed, I bought myself a small greenhouse to start them in, unfortunately I don't have the continuous light source they need to make them grow, but they did okay.  I had quite a few plants that survived the winter and are already blooming, snapdragons to name one!  I'm looking forward to finding a new plant by Burpee, a yellow geranium.  Geraniums always remind me of my Mom, so I'm hot on the trail of this new yellow one, they've never developed one before, I'll keep you posted!!  Well my yard has done very well, my sweet peas, not so much!!!  Here's a picture (before all the flowers bloomed and now need to be cut back)

 

I always laugh because my sister Connie is a true gardener (I don't laugh because she's such a great gardener, I laugh because I'm not).  She loves finding new plants, she researches them to death, works hours and hours out in her yard, and her yard is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!  Me, not so much!!!  I like a lot of color but I am not a gardener, I'm someone who plants 4" plants and hope they live.  Also, it gives the two of us time out together, fooling around and I always learn something new from her.  I usually forget it, but I do learn it initially!!!  The thing I laugh most about is me trying to have a yard similar to Connie's - basically - not going to happen!!!  I've said before that a lot goes on in our yard ~ basketball, baseball, ping pong, swimming, light sabre fights, general good fun - but - every once in a while a ball goes crazy and crashes into the fence or something else, but I choose to make art out of those instances - here's my latest masterpiece . . .

  

 

This is a picture of my fountain.  I bought it with the retirement money I received from my friends from Cook Middle School.  It's important to me.  When I saw that it had a hole in it the perfect size of a baseball I realized that it had been hit and no one had "fessed up" and told Grammy.  Rather than get all mad about it, I asked my son for a baseball and superglued it onto the hole.  I like it.  It kinda explains what my life is about. 

 

Let me catch you up with our grandkids - Cyrah, will be graduating from high school in May, she's applied to several colleges and hasn't made a choice yet.  She's still interning at the Academy of Sciences building in San Francisco.  That experience has served her very well, it looked great on her college applications and she received a personal hand written note from a college in Boston asking her to come there.  So Cyrah ready to start her own version of "Oh The Places You'll Go" we're all very proud of her!!!  Well, Cyrah graduated yesterday in San Francisco and has decided to go to Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.  I guess the hand written note clinched the deal for her.  Anyway, she's very excited!  Here's a picture of her at her graduation yesterday!

 

Our granddaughter Chloe will be 10 in July and she came up and spent a few days with us during her spring break.  She wanted to make a pillow with a "C" on it and she wanted to learn how to sew and "beadazzle" it.  Well, she did it!!  Here's a picture of Chloe with her pillow, she was very proud of herself!  She finished 4th grade yesterday and has been selected to be in a special program for children who are musically talented.  It's a two week program and she's very excited.  A Star Will Be Born!!!

Then there is our littlest grandson, Rhone.  He is such a cutie!!  Very talkative and full of personality.  He goes to preschool and is very artistic.  He was 2 last October, so he's about 2 1/2 now.  Here's a little taste of Rhone.  Rhone was in his Aunt Katie's wedding 2 weeks ago and here he is dancing the night away.  I've heard that he was the star of the show!!  Stayin'Alive, Stayin' Alive!!!

 



 

Let's see, Benji will be next, Benji is 6 years old and is just finishing up his Kindergarten year, wow, did that year go by fast!!  He's done great, made lots of friends, learned lots of stuff and is ready to take on first grade.  He's playing t ball again this year and here's a picture in his uniform.



 

He is anxiously awaiting a visit from his "Auntie" (Tina who is coming from Mississippi this coming Tuesday) and the end of school on Friday.

 

 

Zach is next up!  Zach turned 10 in May and will be finishing 4th grade next Friday.  He does very well in school and is playing baseball in the Farm league this year at Rincon Valley Little League.  His Dad, Mike, is the manager and if they win today they will get into the playoffs.  Zach is our family lawyer and has been since he's been little, he defends whatever his position is very well and can do a GREAT closing argument about anything!!  Here's Zachy . . .

 

The last grandchild to tell you about is Joe.  Joe is 12 1/2 just finishing up 6th grade and then will be onto middle school.  Joe is very artistic, I don't know if he'll continue to enjoy it but he's always been a kid that sees stuff in an artistic way.  When we used to go find the Charlie Brown's, Snoopy's, Lucy's and Woodstocks every summer, everyone had a job and Joe's job was to tell us whether he thought the artistic quality of each piece was good, bad or ugly!!!

I've always said he should be a model but he just smiles and shakes his head no.  Here is Joe . . .

 

 





That's it for our grandchildren, our own children all seem to be doing okay and we're lucky we're able to see and hear from them on a regular basis.  We do have some exciting news in our extended family.  My niece Katie (my sister Connie's youngest child) had her baby on December 28th and he's just turned 5 months old and become the heart stealer/breaker of the family.  Katie and her husband Jared have given all of us little Evan Leigh Kinzel and he is a cutie pie.  While Katie was off work recouperating I was lucky enough to be a constant lunch companion with Connie, Katie and Evan on Friday's.  Evan will be a restaurant critic when he gets older!!!  Here is little Mr. Evan Kinzel . . . 

Did any of you ever watch The Arensio Hall show years ago???  Well I did and he used to do this thing where he would put his index finger up to the side of his head, look questioningly at the audience and say "Things that make you want to say hmmmm???"  So I have one and I'm going to ask you . . . Do you ever wonder about those people you see on street corners, in the rain, in the hot sun, selling fruit??  They seldom even have a bottle of water with them.  I wonder - where do they get that fruit???  Does anyone ever buy it???  Where do they go to the bathroom???  Doesn't the fruit go bad sitting out there all day long???  I realize that all this shows is that I don't have anything important to think about when I'm driving, but have you ever thought the same things.  Do you have any things make make you want to say hmmmmm???  Let me know, I'd be interested in hearing about them!!!  (I know that sounds kinda weird but I've been thinking about it and wanting to put it in my blog for months, but I haven't been writing my blog so imagine the stress of trying to remember that for all these months!!!

 

I have read some really good books lately and I have a couple of authors I want to tell you about . . . I've really enjoyed Cathy Lamb and Amy Hatvany books.  They are kinda weird but stories about people, love, family - you know stuff that makes the world go round.  If you get a chance try a book by them.

 

I also want to mention that I am reminded lately how much friendship is such a vital, important and big part of our lives.  As a kid growing up I never had lots of friends.  I don't really know why but the ones that I had were very important to me.  I had my sisters I guess and as my kids like to tell me, I am antisocial.  Which is true in a very large sense.  I had my cousin Judy, who I am still very close to today and LOVE talking to her on the phone and laughing, laughing, laughing!!!  I have my friend Linda Robertson Groobin, who lived next to us when we moved to Santa Rosa on Randall Lane, Linda changed my life in so many ways.  Because of Linda I had what I consider to be a "normal" teenage life.  We "tooled" 4th st., we went to dances, we kinda snuck out when she was supposed to be at choir practice - without her I would have really been a mess of a teenager!!  I just wrote her a message for her 66th birthday and though we haven't seen each other in a few years (more my fault than hers) she is always in my heart and mind.  Then I met Kenny, got married, watched each other grow up and became good friends, I think I got the better end of that friendship but that he's hung with me all these years (49) is a testament to him.  I've always had my sister Connie, through thick and thin (literally) that girl can make me laugh, cry and shout out loud!!!  I've just always had Connie, she is my constant, my "person".  When I started working I met many people that became my friends, people I still keep in touch with, people that still mean so much to me - Mary K., Pami, Fred, Joycie, Bill C., Marie, Yolanda and really many more but none so dear to me as my partners through complete trust and love for each other as Linda and Sandi.  We met 2x a day for breaks in an office with our door closed and discussed everything and anything that mattered (and didn't matter) to us.  We griped about what was going on at the school, our homes, our lives, laughed, cried, hugged - opened the door and went back to our own office and kept working.  During the summer we met at Round Table Pizza every couple of weeks for a 3 hour lunch to catch up, commiserate and laugh with each other.  But invariably things change.  Linda has moved to Redding, we haven't seen her in almost a year although we've talked on the phone and that feels like home.  And Sandi and I still meet regularly for lunch to share our lives with each other.  And Sandi is the reason I wanted to write today about friendship.  I LOVE SANDI SO MUCH!!!  She is going through hell right now, and although I feel her pain and sadness and anxiety so much, all I can give her to help her is my honest and true heart, my love, my words that seem to be so inconsequential but I give all of that to her and wish I could do more!!  Sandi learned last July that her younger sister had cancer.  It was a very aggressive type cancer but HOPE became the byword we all lived by (I include myself in this scenario because from the day Sandi told me I have prayed every night for God's healing hands and HOPE for Sandi and Lisa).  If you have anyone who has gone though cancer you will know that it is hell.  In August of last year, Sandi and her family lost their Mother.  So wham/wham, just carry on with life.  Well now, almost a year later, Lisa is losing her battle with cancer and Sandi has been everything a person could hope to be to Lisa and her family.  At this point she is there for a week at a time, constantly keeping Lisa comfortable and she comes home for a few days to check on Lew and try to recharge her batteries and back into the fray.  It is heartbreaking.  Sandi has dealt with terrible loss in her lifetime and I learned early on how to take on grief and go through it because of Sandi but I feel so bad for her right now but I feel that because of our friendship I am helping her in some small way.  And, if in the end I was able to help her even a little bit I will feel that I was finally able to pay back to her what she has always done for me by being my friend!!  She is my Hero!!  If you believe in prayer, could you please say a prayer for Lisa Rios, Sandi and I would appreciate it.

 

I think I will end on that note, I have gone on and on, and if you're still reading by the end of this long post, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  I know that it's weird that I write a blog, send it out, asking people to read about my family and my uninteresting life and people actually do it.  See, that is friendship in action!!!  Again, Thank You So Much!!

 

My thought to leave you with this time:  Take a few minutes to stop, take a breath, look at the moon, breathe in some fresh air, thank God for your blessings and enjoy some quiet . . . you'll feel better after!!!

 

I just added a video of our grandson Rhone who is going to be 3 in October reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to his toys!!!  We had to put it in two parts.  Hope you enjoy it!

 

Until next time (hopefully not so long) . . .

 

 

 





REALLY ~ REALLY GOOD NEWS!!!

Okay, you're thinking, I just heard from her yesterday, I'm not THAT interested in her life!!!  I guess I should've waited to write in the first place.  BUT, I wanted to let you know my dr. Appt today was GREAT!   My ankle is in perfect alignment, my leg and ankle look really good, I got on a non weight bearing cast that I will only have to wear for 4 weeks (then a air cast for beginning weight bearing) and then walking or doing whatever walking type stuff for the rest of my life!!!

The doctor took my foot in his hands and moved it a little bit AND IT DIDN'T HURT!!!!!  Can you tell I'm so excited!!!  Anyway,just wanted to share the news, I've been a little worried but it's all good.  Thanks for your patience reading these posts!!!

My message to leave you with this time is:  Got good news, spread the word!!!  Most people are usually hoping the best possible news for you!

Until next time . . .

TIME, TIME and MORE TIME!!!

Just a short post to let you know that I have had my surgery (it went very well, per the surgeon)(really, what's he going to say - that it was a disaster!). I came home the next evening and today it has been a week since I've been home.  Tomorrow we go down to San Francisco to have my ankle checked out and have a fiberglass cast put on.  The biggest obstacle has been and will be mobility.  At the hospital they suggested I try a walker and I'm so glad they did!  I feel much more secure with 4   Legs supporting me.  I haven't gone too far, sticking to bed mostly but we do have a nice bed that lowers and raises both the head and feet.  The pain hasn't been too bad and I've cut the pain medicine to every six hours, down from every 4 hours.

All the gadgets I bought before the surgery have worked out well.  The transport wheel chair we use daily, the nice big raised pillow I keep my leg up on I use constantly, the commode toilet was a life saver the first couple of nights and days but I'm not using now, but still I'm glad I got it and I'll gladly share if anyone ever needs one!!!  Today is a big day for me, I will finally be getting into the shower and washing my hair and myself!!!  I bought a cast cover for that, I'm a little uneasy about getting in and out of the shower but I think I better get over it!!!

Kenny has been absolutely GREAT!!!  There is no way I could have even remotely thought of doing this by myself.  I'm hoping that by next week I'll be a little more self sufficient and maybe he will be able to get out and golf.  But he's already said, he'll get there when it's right for me to be alone.

I titled this blog time, time and more time because you think when you have some down time of all the things you'll do.  Well, thank goodness for my iPad, it's my constant companion.  I've read a couple of books, played sudoku and checked in on Facebook.  I've watched tv and slept.  and think of all the things I want to do once I'm a little more mobile.  I miss getting on my regular computer and getting lost in wherever  my questioning mind wants to go.  You can obviously do that with an iPad but it's just not the same.

So basically that's it for right now.  We'll see how tomorrow goes and now that I've seen I can post somewhat of a message, I'll keep you informed.  Thanks for all the good wishes, prayers and for thinking of me, I knew you were all out there!!  No pictures of anyone, but let me just say, our grandson Joe turned 12 on October 3rd, so handsome and playing basketball in 6th grade, Kenny had his 67th birthday with absolutely no fanfare at all (I feel bad about that) and little Rhone, our littlest grandson turned 2 on yesterday October 15th and he is as cute as can be and started preschool yesterday.  Our niece Katie will be having a baby shower next week and UCLA basketball will be starting soon!!!

My message to leave you with today . . . Positive thoughts are amazing, use them!!

Until next time . . .

Life Goes On!!!

Here we are at the end of September, the summer just went whizzing by!!  For our family it was jam packed ~ good things, family changing things, happy things, endings and new beginnings!  I have alot to report on, so I'll get started.

The last post I wrote was about our oldest son Mike and my attempts to become a Mother.  The next day after Mike's birthday, my husband's Mother died.  It was a death we were all praying would happen and finally she found peace.  That she wanted to let go of her life made it so much easier on all of us, but still, life changes.  She had been living in Redding for the past 3 years in order to be closer to her oldest daughter Louise.  Louise did a herculian job dealing with her Mother in the final year but care taking is a very demanding job when the one you're caring for only wants to die. The picture above is one of our favorites, my mother-in-law and father-in-law (a long time ago) and one taken later in life.  I also want to mention that I'm going to try and figure out how to make a link to the dvd I made, if any of you would like to take a peek.  I will add it later, so check back if you're interested!

In July the family all gathered together in Santa Rosa (where my mother-in-law had lived with her husband and children since 1955) and we all honored her by all coming together and having a memorial service exactly as she had planned it.  We had a nice family luncheon at Legends and we all got together several times over at our house.  We shared photos, stories and eventually I made a nice dvd that celebrated both my mother-in-law and father-in-law and how much their love created this wonderful family.  And as you see above, here we are!

In more July news, our grandsons finally got to go "scouting" with their their Dad, Mike and their Grandpa, Kenny up to Chester, CA to look for deer, shoot their bb guns and get incredibly dirty!!!  They haven't gone scouting for a few years due to busy schedules for them the last couple of years and Kenny's heart surgery but this year it all came together.  This was Benji's first scouting trip and I think he got kinda bored, it's not much fun to ride around in a jeep and look for deer but not see any.  But they had family time together and made some memories, which is always a good thing.

Also in July, July 26th to be exact, our beautiful granddaughter Chloe had her 9th birthday!!  We got to have Chloe up in Santa Rosa for a whole week during July and we had so much fun with her.  Our daughter Tina was visiting from Mississippi and she was thrilled to have a whole week with Chloe.  They are so similar in personalities, funny as can be and they both love to talk!!!  We had a little birthday celebration for Chloe here after her birthday and she had a great time swimming and fooling around with her boy cousins!!  It was a really fun family get together!!

Two weeks after the memorial service, our beautiful great niece, Alisha Thompson, had her beautiful wedding to Virgil Woods.  Alisha and Virgil have been a couple since they were in 9th grade, so we've all known them together for so long that Virgil's been a part of the family for years!  They also live in Redding, so it was back up to Redding, we were commuters there for a few weeks!!  Alisha had just graduated from Chico State in May and Virgil is finishing up his degree at Chico this semester, both great kids with a wonderful future ahead of them.  Obviously this is not a great picture, but I didn't get any great pictures, hoping for one the "real" ones!

The weird part for me is that Alisha's mother is our niece Renee.  Of course we've known Renee since the day she was born, love her to death and now she was mother of the bride!!  It didn't seem that long ago that we watched Renee get married to Craig and yet this year was their 25th anniversary 4 days after watching their oldest daughter get married.  Time marches on!!  But I don't know if I will be able to wrap my head around it when Alisha and Virgil decide to have a baby, Renee a grandmother!!!  Well, I think that's quite a ways in the future!  I do have a little something to add here, it doesn't really fit in with the time frame I'm working with but I want to mention that in June, our Cassie (Rhonda's daughter) graduated from high school and is now going to Shasta College and I'm sure she's making her presence felt!!  She's a cutie, she's in the family picture above
with a black dress on, kinda scrunching down.  Congratulations Cassie!
Here's our Renee, Mother of the bride!!  Beautiful!!

August continued with a lot of stuff happening around here.  On August 15th I had an appointment in San Francisco to talk to a doctor about the possibility of having a total ankle replacement surgery.  As I'm sure everyone knows, I broke my ankle and leg severely way back in 1980.  This year it's been 32 years and it's been bone on bone the whole 32 years because I crushed all the cartlidge in my ankle when I had the accident.  Talk about a life changing event!!  That accident during a camping trip definitely changed mine!  Anyway, I got an appointment and my sister, Connie went with me and we met Dr. John Schuberth.  He is a big deal doctor in the business of installing what is called a STAR ankle.  People apparently come from all over the country to have him to their surgery and he's very big on instructing others how to perform the surgery.  I didn't know if I would be a candidate since I have some health issues.  But he asked me to try and lower my blood counts some, got out his appointment calendar and I said "how bout October 8th"!!!  He said okay and now here I am 2 1/2 weeks away from another life changing event!!  I am very nervous about having the surgery, I've read a lot of info, check in on a forum of people who have had the surgery, found an excellent blog done by a lady that had the exact same surgery and feel I am ready.  I have lowed my blood counts, lost some weight and tried to think of every possible "thing" I will need for my convalesence.  So, I would appreciate it if everyone that reads this blog will offer up some good thoughts, prayers (if you believe in praying) and general good wishes of a successful surgery and recovery for me on October 8th.  I, personally, believe that someone will hear all those good wishes and I will be able to enjoy the rest of my life without the pain that I've lived with for so long.  So THANK YOU in advance I know you guys will do this for me!!!

On August 20th, more new beginnings ~ our granddaughter Cyrah started her senior year at SOTA in San Francisco (she continues to work as an intern at the Academy of Sciences building and had a great summer with the other interns camping and doing nature stuff).  Her sister, Chloe started 4th grade at Clair Lillenthall and loves her teacher and most of her class!!  Matt, our oldest grandson started 8th grade at Rincon Valley Middle School and likes all of his classes and will try again for those A's he so loves to get!!

On August 22nd, more and more new beginnings ~ our little Benji boy started kindergarten!!!  He was so ready to go to school with his big brothers!  It was a long day for him, they start at 8:25 and don't get until 2:55!!!  Whatever happened to half a day of kindergarten??  Anyway, unfortunately about 3 weeks ago, he tripped over a something, fell and broke his wrist after school.  So, he's been stuck in a cast (and it was his right hand) so writing has been kind of tough for him, but he's made a few friends and seems to like it.
Zach made it to the "upper grades" and started 4th grade.  He really likes his teacher and is doing quite a bit of reading, I hope he becomes a "reader'.  I LOVE to read!  Joe Joe is the the cool 6th grader, top dog, at his school this year.  He also really likes his teacher and he drives the girls crazy with his Justin Bieber haircut and being the silent type, he loves it!  He made the basketball team and I will get to see him play 2 practice games before my surgery.  I love basketball and last year I saw every game, I am so bummed that I won't get to see Joe play much.  I could probably make some games on crutches but the elementary school gyms double as the cafeteria and they aren't very big so there is limited to room to watch the game.  I'm sure he'll understand the game much more this year after playing last year as a 5th grader.

In September we've been doing some changes for the house and we've been getting rid of a lot of stuff and donating to Salvation Army.  When all the work is done we should have a nice new space to have the family over and room for the kids to play.  We look forward to seeing how it's going to turn out!!  September 27th Cyrah will be celebrating her 17th birthday!!  I know she would love to start driving but Erik & Seni think that public transportation is working just fine for her!!  She needs to have her college apps in by November 1st (fast approaching) I'm sure some college is going to offer her a ride!!  Big changes in store for our Cyrah girl! 
Kenny, Erik, Jeff and our nephew Rob are up enoy the wilderness somewhere around Bucks Lake.  Eric loves the thrill of the hunt, buck fever is his friend.  Kenny was going to pass on going this year but changed his mind, he figured "how many more years will I be able to do this, better enjoy our time together while I can!"  I think he remembers his Dad not going what turned out to be his last year of being able to go, so hopefully they'll have some luck!  Here's a picture of Kenny with the jeep.  We got that jeep brand new in 1972, we've had a lot of fun in it and our nephew Rob (he's a mechanie) keeps it going for us!  The picture below is Erik and Kenny, Erik LOVES hunting!

Now, in October our little Rhone will turn 2 years old and he will be switching from daycare to pre-school.  I think he's going to love it.  He is a people person and cute as can be.  Joe will turn 12 October 3rd and 13 (another teenager) will be right around the corner!  Kenny will be 67 and continues to golf and walk 3 miles every day.  He's so diligent about it.  More power to him!!!

Tina is back in Mississipi.  She went back just in time for Hurricane Isaac, they didn't really get much weather from the hurricane but Tina had everyone well prepared since this was her first hurricane.  They actually got a huge storm a week later that overflowed their creek and flooded their garage ~ weird!!  The weather has been a little better - less humid and not so hot so Tina and Max went out fishing and had a great day fishing!!  If you would have ever told me that Tina would enjoy fishing I would have told you you were crazy, but she does love it, paddles a canoe and they eat all the fish they catch.  So things are going well for them.

I don't really have a kinda close up of Zachy, so it's not great but he's giving me a lovie, I'll take one of those any day!

I think that catches everyone up on the goings on around here.  Everyone needs to find something to enjoy and be thankful for every day.  For my friend's birthday I gave her a simple homemade gift, heartfelt to be sure and I think everyone could use this idea.  I gave her a jar, tied a pretty ribbon around it, cut up some pretty paper in different sizes and put them into the jar and told her when she had something that made her happy she should write it down, put it in the jar and a year later relive her happy moments.  But I think they could be thankful moments, sad moments, thought provoking moments . . . etc.  So I'm making one for myself!! 

The title that I put on this blog is Life Goes On!!!  It's a hard lesson to learn.  I learned it when my Mother died.  I wanted the world to stop!!  I wanted people to not live their everyday lives, my Mom had died.  But, obviously that didn't happen, and Life Went On!!  All of us have so many examples of that in our lives.  Change happens, new beginnings happen, sad things happen, happy things happen ~ all of those things are part of the game we called LIFE!!!  So know in yourself, we can get through the hard things, the things that change us, the things that let us know that life as we know it will never be the same.  But we survive!!  We remember the hard times but our spirit always looks ahead for the next cool thing on the horizon!!  LIFE IS GOOD ~ GO OUT AND LIVE IT AND MAKE SOME GREAT MEMORIES (and fill that jar up)!

Whoa!!!  Talk about new beginnings, we have a big one to report ~ our niece Katie is pregnant!!!  She and her husband Jared are expecting a little boy around January 3, 2013!  Talk about Life Changing!!  Along with diapers of course!!  No pictures this time but next time you will see our little Mama-to-Be!!  Congratulations Jared & Katie!  Can't wait to meet little Mr. Kinzel!

My thought to leave you with:  Do something you enjoy doing, I enjoy writing this blog, it fulfills something in me, the need to write something down, communicate, and someday look back and read these posts and enjoy "The Days of Our Lives."

Until next time . . .

BIG DAY TODAY!!!

Today is a big day!!!  For me, it was the day, years ago, I thought "Hmmm, maybe I better try growing up today!"  Of course, 45 years later that thought still hasn't come to fruition BUT the event of that day forever changed my life!! 

Today is our oldest son, Mike's, birthday!!!!  Mike is the amazing person who originally made me a Mother!!  Thank you Mike!!  I was 20 years old when I had Mike and I had never held a baby before!!  He was our experimental baby.  My Mom and Dad were thrilled to finally have a boy in the family - and we gave him the name that my Dad always wanted to use on each of his 4 daughters, had they turned out to be boys of course!!  Long before Mike was born my dad got a dog and named him Mike.  But it was just not enough.  My sisters and I used to have discussions in the back seat of the station wagon, which of us would have a baby boy first and get to name it Michael Barry Boyle.  Well, I won, and of course his last name is Richmond (just doesn't sound the same as Dad's chosen name) but Michael Barry Richmond was born!  And ADORED!!!  My Mom and Dad were scared to death to leave this bundle of joy in my care!!!  My God, this idiot had never even held a baby let alone done anything else for one.  So at the beginning, they would be over at our house every evening to help get him ready for bed and my Mom would be back every morning to make sure he survived the night!!!

Ye of little FAITH!!  I did fine!!!  NOT!!!  I needed all the help I could get.  Connie was my constant companion, it was summer, she was 15, and although she probably never had much to do with babies, she was already more prepared than I was.  Michael was the focus of the whole Boyle family.  He was around my Mom and Dad so much that in the beginning when he started to talk, he called my Mom - Mom!!!  Such a cutie, blond hair with curls, big brown eyes, a smile that could always make you smile and fortunately for me, a very good baby.

He loved baseball at a very early age, still does!  Loved music, still does!!  Loved reading eventually and he still does!!!  He's such a good person - caring, thoughtful, funny, sarcastic to a fault, loves the memory of our family life with his Grandma and Papa and the Richmond side of our family, has friendships that he's had for years, is a wonderful Father to his 4 sons and a son that we are very proud of.

All in all, I think we'll keep him!!!  Unfortunately he really does not like to celebrate his birthday, and I, of course, want a big celebration.  But he suffers through me singing the whole Happy Birthday to You song (probably because of my singing) and will let us have a birthday cake tomorrow night when the kids come over.  So, I guess that's celebration enough for him.

Here's a picture of him today with his 4 boys - Matt, 13, Joe almost 12, Zach, 9 and Benji 5.  He's really trying to instill in his boys a love a baseball and I see it happening.  He worked so hard for all of them this summer.  Out at the baseball park for so many games.  I think it was all worth it.

Bottom line, I LOVE YOU MIKE!!!  I think now that you have kids of your own you probably have a sense of how much I do Love You!!

Message to leave you with today:  Babies, they will change for life, ALWAYS FOR THE GOOD!!!

Until next time . . .

Amazing experience!!!!

I just had to write and share my most amazing experience that I had yesterday!!!  I am a believer that people that have died are still connected to us.  They see us, hear us and know what's going on in our lives.  I come from a big extended family - my Mom had 8 brothers and sisters and my Dad had 5 brothers and sisters.  All of my Grandparents,  Aunts and Uncles have passed on, I even have a few of my cousins who have joined their families on the other side.  So I have dealt with loss.  Losing my mother 18 years ago this July was a life changer for me.  My Dad died 2 years later.  I find it so hard to believe that I have not had physical contact with them for that long a period.  But, I constantly talk to them, they are always with me in my heart, my mind, my everyday life.  I always wished God had given us a way to hear from them.  Well, in reality we do hear from them, we just don't always realize it!!!

I believe in psychic mediums.  I believe there are people who have been given the gift of communicating with people who have died.  I have believed this for a long time and wanted, oh so bad, to have someone help me hear from my Mom and Dad.

Yesterday, I met the person that would help me do that!!!  Her name is Karen Peterson, she is a psychic medium that lives and works here in Sonoma County and my sister Connie and I had a private reading with her yesterday.  What she did for me (and I believe Connie) was to validate, put my mind and heart to rest, and let me communicate with my Mom and Dad.  It was a magical experience for me - one that let me sleep all night last night when I haven't been able to sleep all night for years.

Karen told us that we had a "big" family and alot of spirits were there, not necessarily to talk to us but "be" with us.  Some might step forward and just want to say "Hi!"  And so first of all our cousin Joanne, stepped forward, waved and said Hi!!  Later on, our Aunt Betty, stepped forward and said Hi!!  Then our Grandma Boyle stepped forward and said she had been trying to help Connie find Grandma's information on Ancestry.com.  Karen Peterson, would actually wave when the people just wanted to say Hi and wave to us.
I asked if our Aunt Edith was there, our Mom answered back, "Edy?"  I said yes and then Karen said that Aunt Edith stepped forward a huge bunch of flowers and some sunflowers.  I asked if the sunflowers could have anything to do with her son, Jimmy, being there.  Karen responded that her son is with her and did he die suddenly?  We answered, yes, he died young and unexpectedly, and she answer again, yes he was there also.

We heard from pets we had had in our family.  Our little dog, Peannie (Peanuts but we called her Peannie).  I remember the night Dad brought her home inside his jacket from Millbrae.  She died in the fire our Mom and Dad at their home in 1974.  She almost made it to the front door but just didn't get there.  I loved Peannie so much.  She used to know when to walk up the lane to go meet Susie (our sister in Montana) at the school bus from the time Susie was in Kindergarten.  She died in February of the year Susie graduated from high school, I remember crying and thinking of Peannie at graduation and thinking, "You almost went all the way through school with her Peannie."  We heard from Connie's dog Judy, Susie's horse Katie and Tony's (Connie's son) dog Sage.  It was kind of weird with Sage, the psychic said I'm being taken and shown Tomales on the ocean and it turns out that's near where Sage was born and Tony got her as a newborn pup whose mother had died giving birth to her.  Sage said, "Thank you, thank you, thank for giving me such a good life" and "Thanks for all the good food you gave me".  It was pretty emotional for Connie, Sage was her "granddog".

But most importantly for us, Mom and Dad came to say how much they love us.  And how they see everything that is going on - our kids, grandkids, our house, our yards, Mom was in the kitchen when Connie was cooking spaghetti not too long ago.  I asked Mom, how long did you know you were sick?  And Karen threw up her hand with her fingers outstretched.  She said 5 years!!!  I said, "No, that's probably Mom saying don't ask me that question!!!!"  Mom was a very private person, she didn't tell us she was sick and dying, she went through it all by herself, that makes me so sad.  Anyway, she also said she was in denial for a long time.  Karen told us most spirits go to other places when they cross over, she said our Mom, just hangs right around all her family.  She said that incredible as it sounds, spirits can be in more than 1 place at a time, and so I guess Mom hangs out in Montana, Santa Rosa, Mississippi and San Francisco.  She said our Mom was so full of love, she could feel it and I just know Mom was so happy we could finally hear from her.

Dad actually came through before Mom.  The psychic said he was a strong presence and he really had some stuff he needed to say to us.  He said he didn't have the best growing up experience, his Dad died when he was 9 and the rest of his youth was a fight for survival.  He was saved when he met our Mom and her family.  But he told us that he didn't know how to be a Dad, he'd made a lot of mistakes along the way, but he wanted us to know he tried really hard, was sorry for the mistakes he did make and always loved us so much.  He then asked for our forgiveness for anything he'd done that had hurt us in any way.  We both cried.  That was BIG for our Dad.  Sorry was a word he ever used very often.  When I was a kid - he and I did not get along.  I was mouthy and challenged every thing he told me to do - at times I thought I hated him - but I knew I loved him.  Our relationship changed when I got married, I sort of stopped being a brat and he and I just really connected.  I drove him CRAZY!!!  I was like Lucy on I Love Lucy or Edith on All in the family.  A real scatter brain.  It's like I got married, had kids and went crazy!!!  I provided a lot of laughs for our family.  In fact, when we went back to see Dad in Montana before he died, he was sitting in a chair and I was sitting on an ottoman.  He was so sick.  And I told him "Dad, I'm sorry, I just can't do the bathroom stuff with you, I just can't do it!"  And he looked at me with such love and he said "That's ok Sher, you make me laugh!!  And I love that about you!!"  He grabbed my head and just hugged me and rubbed my hair."  So yesterday was a big day for us and Dad.

My mom talked about her great granddaughter Chloe (my granddaughter).  Chloe is named Chloe Frances after my Mom.  And Mom was proud of that.  The psychic said that Chloe is a great communicator.  And we laughed and said, "That's true, she never shuts up, she talks continually!!"  She reminds Connie and I so much of Tina, we just laugh and laugh when she's around.

So, that's about it for my amazing day!!!  I had a long talk with Mom and Dad last night when I was going to bed.  I thanked them so much for coming and being there for us, that it meant so much to me, that it reafffirms for me we will all be together again some day and when I am with them I will be able to watch over my family the same way they watch over us.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I have lots of pictures and stories I want to share about our family and what's been happening but I just wanted to share this personal day with all of you, people that I LOVE!!!

The message I'd like to leave you with today:  Your loved ones are "out there" leaving you messages all the time, try and listen, and feel the love!!!

Until next time . . .

At Long Last!!!

My gosh, I haven't written anything since November of 2011!!!  It's not that I didn't have anything to write about but I have been unhappy with the "look" of my blog and wanted to change it.  But it's time consuming to do so and I am, Oh So Busy!!!  Well, I was a little busy, Christmas, my 65th birthday BUT too busy to write about my little Benji boy's 5th birthday!!!  Too busy to write about my big boy Matt's 13th birthday!!!  I'm not that busy, I just didn't do it!  So, this blog is about catching up . . . and I have a lot of catching up to do, so hold on, here we go!!!

So, first, we had a very nice Christmas.  Erik and Seni and the kids went down to spend the holiday with her family in Anaheim.  We got together the weekend before Christmas to exchange gifts.  Tina came out from Mississippi and was basically sick the whole time she was here.  But I still love having her, sick or not!!  Maybe she'll try another visit this summer.  Everyone was there except for Jeff's wife Paula and her two sons.    Here's a picture of the rest of us.

Next, I had my 65th birthday!!!  I had a very nice birthday and bought myself a bike for myself!  I haven't ridden it much yet but once the weather gets nicer I hope to go for a little ride every day.  Here's a picture of Connie & I on Christmas Day when she got her bike!

Next was Benji's 5th birthday on March 9th.  He was so excited!  He's been waiting and waiting to turn 5.  He always said when he turned 5 he was going to go to kindergarten and play T-Ball.  Well, he's not in kindergarten yet but he is going to pre-school and he loves it!!  And last weekend he played his 1st t-ball game.  Here's a picture of him on his way to his 1st game (we were in the car) and I asked him if he was excited and this is how he looked!

The next thing I need to tell you about is my Matty boy turned 13!!!  Everyone in our family had a hard time believing that this boy was now a teenager!!  We were all there in the hospital the morning he was born (and had been there at the hospital since the day before).  So it was a really good lesson in "how time flies"!  Every year I take a picture with him on his birthday and this year we haven't done it yet because we had a crazy weekend.  But I will get my picture of us together and share it with you.  He's "Matt" now and to me he's just the sweetest boy.  He, of course, can drive everyone crazy, but he still gives lovies and kisses and nice big hugs!!  He's playing baseball and does "grappling" (a form of wrestling) and does a wrestling camp on Tuesdays &  Thursdays.  He's a busy boy but has done GREAT in 7th grade, he got straight A's on his 3rd quarter report card and one was an A+ in Science.  Although I don't have a picture of us together, here's a "Happy Birthday" magnetic board I hung on the wall for him.  It's hard to see but he's been a cutie from the day he was born!!  Of course, I'm really prejudiced!

Let's see, I need to tell you about my Chloe girl.  She is the happiest girl!!!  She's a "fashionista" as Erik likes to say.  She loves toys, shopping, toys & more shopping!!  Here's a picture of her that they took on her last trip to LA.    

Rhone is next on the list.  He is 18 months old now, starting to talk, walking very steady and Erik says he's the "alpha-male" at the day care.  He always wants to play with the "big boys".  Here he is at Easter, collecting his Easter eggs.

Little League baseball has started and although the rain doesn't seem to want to cooperate, we been to a few games already.  Here's a picture of Zach in his Rangers uniform.  Zach is playing in the "Farms" this year and Mike is the Coach/Manager.  Right now they are 1-1. 

Joe is playing on the Red Sox and he's been playing 2nd base and pitching.   Obviously not a great shot of Joe, I have lots of video of him pitching but I guess I should take more pictures next time.  Anyway, he's enjoying it and seems to be having fun.

Next is Cyrah, she's a very busy girl.  Getting ready to take her SAT's, looking at colleges and working as an intern at the Academy of Sciences.  This isn't a very good picture of her but it's recent (Easter).  Actually it's Connie's grandkids, Justin and Julia and our grandkids down at Connie's right before the big Easter egg hunt.  You'll notice the old kids in the back row, Erik and Tony, who were some of our original Easter egg hunters!

Now, you might be wondering about me.  Maybe not but I'll tell you anyway, no pictures you notice!!!  I am on a mission to get healthier so I'll be able to aggravate all the people pictured above for a very long time.  I joined Weight Watchers online, have been doing my exercise bike and occasionally my real bike.  I am in a bit of a slump right now but I've given myself this week to "snap out of it".  I have been working on some craft projects - in fact here's a picture of an Easter basket that has been sitting in my closet for 5 years because I didn't think I'd be able to figure out how to finish it.  When I got it out and started working on it, it wasn't hard at all, and it turned out pretty cute!

So basically that's a update of what's been happening around here.  Not much after you read this blog!!!  Hopefully I'll do a little better posting from now on.

Thank you ALWAYS for taking the time to read this silly thing and I hope that everyone that reads it is doing well in their own lives.

A little thought to leave you with:  Keep in touch, it's always good to know someone is thinking of YOU!!!

Until next time . . .