The First 2011 White Iris!

Ahhh! The first of many to come. This little beauty came forward today, standing tall, with anything but Spring-like temperatures to welcome it. So I took this photo not only to welcome this first white Iris but to thank God for his subtle reminder that renewal is a part of our journey.

Wishes into Prayers and Blessings!

I never tire of Dandelions! I've made wishes on them all my life and I always will.

Today as I closed my eyes, my wish became a prayer to be carried upon each seed head with it's fluffy wings...asking for blessings for everyone impacted by the Japan earthquake, the resulting tsunamis and now the nuclear reactor situations...as I watched each spore blow into the breeze I hoped for a mulitude of blessings for all.

Here's some information you might not have known about this special plant.

You'll have to use your Imagination on this one....

When I was 8 years old I was given the highly sought after assignment of being one of the two Angels leading the children taking the Sacrament of their First Holy Communion! I was thrilled! My Mother sewed a beautiful long flowing white angel costume, a real halo and a HUGE set of Angel wings with gold glitter, of course. I practiced fervently and with humility!

The Friday night prior to the BIG event, my brothers and I were practicing putting with our child sized golf putter. I had my turn and missed the hole all 3 times. My oldest of three brothers took his turn...he missed the first, then the second and when he was ready to attempt his third shot...I decided it would be funny to look over his shoulder and tease him. BIG MISTAKE! He swung that club like a pro...and it hit me smack dab in the face. Well, I knew I had an out....SCREAM...and scream I did! I ran into the house. My Mother grabbed a dishtowel to cover my eye. My Father grabbed me and his keys and off to the base dispensary (clinic) we went. I was thinking to myself...this is a little more attention than I counted on...but decided I would go with the flow. Well, 3 stitches later, lots of screaming from me, a threat from the poor physician dealing with me and the promise of a Coca Cola from my Father if I would just be quiet...the medical deed was done.

Needless to say I was wallowing in a bed of care, concern and great and I mean GREAT attention from family, neighbors and friends alike.

Then came Saturday morning...my Father took one look at my humongous black eye and called our Priest. I listened as my Father explained that there was no way I could be the processional Angel for the First Communion. Then I heard him say, "Yes Father." He told my Mother that our Priest couldn't stop laughing and thought it would be an even more spectacular event with the addition of a "Black Eyed Angel"!

Sunday morning came, I was thrilled with my Angel costume and most especially proud of my HUGE shiner! Off to church, everyone lined up, the door opened and everyone in the church turned to look at the processional...The nuns had told me during our practice that my responsibility as an Angel was to walk slowly, look straight ahead and be solemn. So I started my solemn walk but when I looked at the whole congregation and our Priest...EVERYONE WAS GIGGLING, SMILING AND SOME WERE OPENLY LAUGHING! Now here comes the imagination part...IMAGINE a tiny, fair, curly headed blond, little girl with a full set of wings and a HALO...oh and a shiner the size of the state of Texas leading the First Communicants to the alter! Oh how I savored the moments walking down the church aisle but with intense humility...as any good angel would.

After Mass, the angels were to lead the First Communion children out of the church. At the back of the church I saw my Father...he was not smiling...there was a man with a big camera and I saw a flash, then the man was on the floor! Seems my Father didn't want my introduction to the newspaper to be as a Black Eyed Angel...somehow the newspaperman tripped...hmmm that was strange.

After Mass everyone was to go to a celebratory breakfast...unfortunately not me...my Father could not-would not tolerate any more humiliation.

I was disappointed to miss the sweet rolls at the breakfast but I still wore that shiner with pride...school the next morning was spectacular!

Ooooo New Rain Boots!

Last Winter Mr. B bought these rain boots for me. It wasn't that I needed them at that time but they were on sale and he knows my proclivity for getting in the muddy gardens during a wet Spring in my barefeet. Now that's a pedicure nightmare!


Here's a side view. They had cute red ones with with polka dots! They had sexy zebra striped ones. However, my conservative frugal nature took over and I chose black.


So these little piggies....


are waiting to look like this. We have a chance for rain tonight! Perhaps I'll be out in the muddy gardens tomorrow morning wearing my new rain boots!

The Right Words...

I am amazed by the power of words.

I was in 8th grade getting ready to choose electives for high school. I wanted to learn Spanish. I was born and raised most of my life in San Antonio, Texas and I just knew that Spanish was a language that would be a benefit to know. When I approached a member of my family, I was told, "You are not that smart. Just focus on being pretty and getting married." That family member walked out of the room and I sunk down into the abominable hole of self doubt.

I questioned my intelligence. I knew my family member would not tell me an untruth. So right then and there I decided since I was not intelligent that there was no need to study...ANYTHING. I never studied again...why bother? That simple sentence truly impacted my thinking at a very early age.

I made good grades but never to my true potential. True I failed Algebra I - but gosh I had 6 teachers in one year! The next year I was required to take it again. I had a 98 average for the year. My school counselor said I should major in math...NO WAY. I was done with any type of math...over...pergatory penance performed...my focus was clear...just get out of high school...for me it was boring...hmm that's interesting since I never ever studied...my text books were simply taken to class and dumped in my locker afterwards.

After graduation from high school and with the experience of "business" classes under my belt I went job hunting. Well, I looked like I was 12 years old and no working experience so my family member decided I should go to college.

I enrolled and on the drive home my family member told me that I better study because he had paid-Paid-PAID for these courses. So from that statement I knew I could not disappoint him. I studied...I excelled...with a 3.9 GPA!

My family member looked at my grades and exclaimed, "You're smart!" I was so proud.

The negative comments were to come up time and again throughout my life...and they always brought me emotionally back to the young 8th grader...

So with my own kids I decided never NEVER to repeat what was done to me...I never believed in false praise...BUT I DO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE RIGHT WORDS! I always told them they were loved, I was proud of them, they would determine their best effort not me AND that I believed in them.

So far this mindset has served my children well! My oldest daughter excelled in school as a child and as a young adult...she has her BACHELORS degree from Texas State University...oh by the way she is Profoundly Deaf. She works for the State of Texas and her new goal is her MSW so that she may further her career and help even more people! My youngest daughter is still in high school and throughout the years she has always excelled, her goals change from a K-grade 3 teacher to a Pediatric Physical Therapist..I know whatever she chooses she will do well...because she like her sister knew the power of the RIGHT words from their parents!

Is there a moral to this story? Yes, Ethics, Honesty, Recognition of their Intelligence, Trust, Accountability, Dedication to Task, a Healthy Self Esteem, Humor, Love, Respect, Understanding, Praise for their best effort, the Right to an Equal Voice and Leading by Example are the emotional foods that feed a healthy person throughout life!

Savor the opportunity to be a positive influence in another persons life because the plot may thicken at times but the conclusion is oh so rewarding!

Please go visit a blogger I've just met. Jane's story defines the "Right Words"! Her journey defines courage, honesty, integrity and most of all LOVE! You will find her blog here!

Memories of My Childhood Revisited...

Every time I hear or read about an earthquake and/or tsunami I am mentally and emotionally transported back in time March 27, 1964...to my beloved Anchorage, Alaska...Elmendorf A.F.B.

It was Good Friday. I was 11 years old and I really wanted a new Easter coat. My Father said he would take me downtown to J.C. Penney's and I was thrilled! My Mother asked that we wait and eat dinner first. I was helping Mother prepare our dinner when I felt the first 2 small tremors. My 3 bothers, Mother, Father and I looked at each other and laughed. Being from Texas we thought tremors were funny! Then a pause of perhaps a second or two...

I remember the sound like a B-52 engine or a locomotive...as if it were rolling towards our home...then violent shaking. I froze with my fingers clinched on the kitchen counter...hanging on for dear life. I heard my parents voices yelling for everyone to go outside...my Father grabbed me and herded me outside. I couldn't walk straight or get my balance...everything was moving. The kitchen cabinet doors were opening and closing with all the contents crashing to the floor as we exited our home. We sat down on the back steps of our home and I remember watching the cars in the parking area rolling back and forth. I looked to the telephone poles with the wires moving in a wave like motion. The sound continued. Neighbors looked at each other in total disbelief. When the earthquake stopped there was total quiet. Not a sound. It was a quiet beyond description. I was struck by how warm it was that day as I looked up at the sun shining in a crystal blue sky and the streets were clear of all ice and snow...all the while thinking how did this happen?

My Father went to get our battery operated "transistor" radio. He was furious. He thought my brother has used it listening to music and worn down the batteries. All he could get was static. Someone had a ham radio...our link to the world...that's when we began to find out how serious this situation was. No phones, no television, catastrophic damages through out Alaska...a new sense of seriousness took over.

My Father dressed in his uniform and told us that he had to report to his office. He kissed us goodbye and we opened our home to other military Mothers and children. We all tried to sleep on our living room floor while we listened to the ham radio operators reading messages from friends and family across Alaska...all the while hearing the all too familiar rumblings of aftershocks coming upon us. The Mothers collectively kept a sense of humor and it immediately calmed all of us children. We were constantly reassured that our Fathers would be home soon and the Air Force would take care of us. We so firmly believed these statements that we never questioned their validity and for good reason...Father did return home the next morning.

The news he shared with us was defined with his ever present sense of "we can do what needs to be done and we will be fine". Again we never doubted any of these statements.

As more information came to us we realized the enormity of this earthquake. Here are some statistics about the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.


Railroad tracks buckled.


Highways cracked.


Alaskan soil is so saturated with moisture due to the climate and snow that during the earthquake it turned into a "jello like" viscosity lending to further destruction.


Tsunamis are real...devastatingly real.


We learned concrete structures were totally unforgiving in an earthquake and there are reminders.


Downtown Anchorage...after the quake.


The J.C. Penny store my Father and I were supposed to be in...had we not waited to eat dinner...the girls department collapsed...we could have been seriously injured or worse.


Easter Sunday came and we went to church as always but this time there was a difference. Back in 1964 church attire meant your BEST clothes. This Easter Sunday it was different...the services were held outdoors due to the compromised structural integrity of the church. The military personnel were in full uniform as always...the other parishioners were in every type of clothing...but the demeanor of each worshiper was powerful...so powerful that to this day...I remember for the first time in my young life the church service didn't seem too long...the sermon had real meaning for me...and I wanted to stay at our church with it's cracked walls and Thank God for protecting all of us.

A wonderful blogger who lives in Alaska NOW is Retired in Alaska you can go here to see this beautiful state as it is today. It is a place of wonder and it's pristine beauty holds true even today. I love this state, it captured my heart as a child and I still hold it dear today!

My prayers for everyone impacted by earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami victims and survivors from Japan to Hawaii to the continental United States...May God bless.

My Best Friend X 3 !

I am rich beyond measure! My wealth is not in the form of money, possessions or status. My wealth is defined by my husband, children, grand babies and my dear friends!

Today I'd like to pay tribute to these dearest of friends...3 to be exact. Each one unique. Each one is beautiful from their most private souls to the swathe of skin that is their public selves and even more the love they so willingly share with me.

I met each of these special women years ago at different stages of my life. We've known each other through good times and bad times. You know that special relationship women have that is reality based? Where I can lament having been on a "rabbit" diet for WEEKS, working out for 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day only to get on the scale this morning and find I've gained 1 1/2 pounds! They listen to my self pity and they reassure me that it's muscle! They offer prudent advice on my much needed reality check! We openly share the much needed release of tears held in check way toooooo long. We discuss feelings, hopes, desires, faith and most of all the mutual recognition of how much we truly love each other. Then they help me find my way back to happiness!

These events remind me of a scene from one of my favorite movies, "Fried Green Tomatoes"...the setting is in the courtroom...The prosecuting attorney is asking Ruth about her dear friend Idgie...

DID THIS WOMAN
PROMISE YOU MONEY ?
NO.

A BIGGER HOME ?

NO. NO.

THEN TELL US,
MRS. BENNETT,

WHY WOULD A RESPECTABLE
CHRISTIAN WOMAN...

GO ANYWHERE WITH
THIS IDGIE THREADGOODE...
I OBJECT.

WHOSE REPUTATION
IS KNOWN FAR AND WIDE...

AS A NOTORIOUS LIAR
AND DRUNKARD ?

- OBJECTION !
- SUSTAINED !

WHY DID YOU LEAVE...

WITH IDGIE THREADGOODE
THAT DAY ?

[ Judge ]
ANSWER THE QUESTION,
MRS. BENNETT.

BECAUSE SHE --

SHE'S THE BEST FRIEND
I EVER HAD...

AND I LOVE HER.


So for all the women out there who are fortunate enough to have that SPECIAL best friend...be it one or as in my case THREE best friends...

May your lives continue enrich each other.
May your bond go beyond mere words.
May your tears be shed due to laughter.
May you know you are cherished.
May you hold close to your heart...each others deepest secrets, hopes, desires, fears and cherish the fact that each of you were entrusted with these sometimes only "once spoken" events because you are loved!

I am blessed! Thank you all three!