Random thoughts and so on and so forth . . .

A big week for Cyrah, she

had her promotion from the

8th grade on Monday, June 8th and she got her braces off the same day. She's pretty happy!! And she looks so grown up!

Congratulations Cyrah!

And for the beautiful little Chloe girl, it looks like she graduated - from Kindergarten!! The way time seems to fly by I'm sure we'll be watching her promotion from 8th grade in no time!

For the boys, school was out last week and on Friday of last week we went out to lunch at McDonald's, then we checked out a few Charlie Brown's, Snoopy's and Woodstock's. These figures were the focus of our summers for 3 years in a row. And now we like to go visit the ones that are still in the area and take pictures with Benji because he wasn't born yet when we saw all the others figures. When we started 4 years ago, Cyrah was 9, Matt was 6, Joe was 4, Zach and Chloe were 2. We always had fun looking for them and taking pictures. And they still love to do it.

I received this email from a friend of mine - it's amazing to think that a 90 year old woman wrote these thoughts down. I think we can all find something in what she wrote that can help us along in this journey we call LIFE, so I thought I'd share them in my blog.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer,Cleveland , Ohio"

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column I wrote once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Here's a recent photo of my sweet peas. They are on their last hurrah. I still have quite a few flowers but they are definitely fading. My yard is still a work in progress. I guess one of the lessons I learned from this gardening experience is ~ it seems the yard is a continual "work in progress." I have enjoyed all of it so much. I've given so many vases of sweet peas away and all the people I've given them to are so excited to receive them. I've become a regular at the Dollar Store, that's where I've been buying glasses that become "vases" for the bouquets. Last week I took a vase full of flowers over to a nursing home near our house, I find that older people (older than me) really have quite a sentimental attachment to sweet peas, they always remark about how they had the sweet peas in their yards years ago. I think the smell of the flowers is also a reminder of days gone by. So I will grow them again next year although I will have more support for them. They tend to fall over is they are not supported well.

I've also been sticking some seeds in the soil and have yet to see flowers but I see leaves and sprouts so I'll report on how they do in a blog later this summer. We finished our back section with rock and it's quite nice to be able to go back to the garden area and be able to walk on a footpath. I have before and after photos that I will post another time. I have tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and radishes planted in the garden area and I see they are all making progress towards becoming food for us to eat.

The weather has been cool ~ not hot enough for swimming ~ so the kids have been disappointed. We are in the last stages of Little League baseball. Matty's team has made it to a playoff situation, Joe has his last game Wednesday and Zachy's last game is Saturday. They have learned a lot more about baseball than when they started and I think they will all try it again next year.

So now we start our camping season. We will have our first camping trip to Richardson's Grove State Park in June with Jeff and Mike and the kids. In July we will join Rob, Renee & Rhonda and their families up in Chester at Lake Almanor for another camping trip. Matt, Joe, Zach & Benji will go back to Utah and be camping with their Mom and her family in August. Then school starts again for everyone August 17th. I'm not sure when Cyrah and Chloe go back to school but they will be going to LA to spend a week with their Grandma and Grandpa and then back again for Chloe's 6th birthday at Disneyland. So it sounds like a pretty busy summer for everyone.

And for me it will be my first year that I will not be going back to school after summer vacation in a very long time - 28 years to be exact. But I think I can deal with it. I am now fully immersed in being a retired person and am very thankful to be able enjoy every day. I continue to look for the positive and hope that I can keep the 45 examples of "how to live a good life" that Regina Brett took the time to write down above as a guide.

My thought to leave with you this time is: You're never too young or too old to have a positive outlook on life!!

Until next time . . .