Make a wish Monday

Who loves road trips? I come from a family of people who LOVE long drives ... I am the anomaly. If I could snap my fingers and instantly be in a new location I would. BUT ... When life gets so busy that everything seems to spin out of control, a 6-hour drive to Utah for business is just the ticket. I'm alone. And although I miss my sweetie pies a ton, I get to think. When is the last time I got to think till I was tired of thinking?


This reminds me ... Remember when you we're a kid and you were bored? I don't even know how to be bored anymore. There's just not enough time!

So anyway, my wish this Monday is for clear roads so I don't even have to concentrate on the roads ... I just want to think.

What do you wish for?

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"Play is the beginning of knowledge"

I'm not a hoarder. In fact, often I find myself sorry for getting rid of stuff. But legos .... Ahhhh! nothing quite compares to a few days of playing with legos!






So imagine what a fun day it was when my teenagers pulled the big container out of the garage and dumped all the legos on the floor. Our Lego building contests go on for days. It's been s couple of years since we last did this .... Who says you have to have little kids in the house to play with toys?!!?

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18?? Can't be!!!

18 years ago today my little Bryan was born. 5 weeks later he joined our family ... And it took a grueling 2 years to make him officially ours. All of my children are miracles. The miracle of adopting Bryan is especially sweet to me today. What a blessing he is to us!


Above: Bryan age 2 ... Below: Bryan now


"However motherhood comes to you, its a miracle." -Valerie Harper


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prince & pauper

I was recently reading a bit about Mark Twain. Interesting man, fascinating life.

He once said, "Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man." And that is true ... one can hardly tell from what others say about a person, what he/she is really like - deep down. But from what I have read about his life, then reading his works - I believe his books tells us who Sam Clemens really was.

All this leads me to this: Blogs are fun reading, yes. Profitable for some, therapeutic for others. But what are they really? To an extent, they are our autobiographies. Even if our daily writings are only passing thoughts we share with each other, as a rule they are honest and true thoughts. Stack a year's worth of blogs together and they will give you a glimpse of the person who penned them.

Want to know who Sam Clemens aka Mark Twain really was? Read Tom Sawyer, The Prince and The Pauper, Crossing the Mississippi, etc. Skip the biographies.

Want your posterity to know who you were? Keep those blog posts coming!

crisp

It's one of those days ... I just really, really like "crisp" today. From my socks to the food I eat ... crisp is the word of the day.

My all-time favorite thing to wear, in the whole-wide-world, is jeans and a crisp white shirt. (admission: this picture isn't me. bummer, I know.)

So, Saturday afternoon my husband and I hiked into the River Mountains by our home (above picture). There's a certain beauty to the desert - and I especially love it when it's CRISP outside. It was such a pleasant walk - up and down the hills. When we emerged out of the mountains this was our view ... I'm much more a country girl than a city girl, but wow! Vegas is really pretty from a distance! So that's it for today. CRISP.

What kind of a mood are you in?

have you entered?

I know the chances of me, myself winning HGTV's dream home is pretty small ... but wouldn't it be neat of someone I KNOW wins it?

What? You don't know about the dream home?

Go to HGTV.com ... and let me know if you're the winner - it'll make me feel like a winner too!

oxoxoxox

choices

"Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions."

-Anonymous

BREAKFAST .... this?

or this?

... so I figure that either way, it'll be the right decision - if I choose the rest of the cookie, the bad decision will help me make good choices in the future ... if I choose wheatgrass juice, it proves I've learned from previous bad decisions.

So which will it be?

What would you choose?

Sound of Silence

I was listening to this song earlier today while I was deep after-Christmas cleaning. You know, vacuuming up the last of the stray tinsel, finding random ornaments hidden in corners by grandkids, bits of wrapping paper that Buddy the Dog shredded up to perhaps use for a pillow? Anyway, you get this gist.

January used to make me a little sad... such a downer after the holly jolly, warm fuzzy feelings of December. This year, though, it makes me feel rejuvenated, awake, alive and excited for the coming months.

You know that relief that you get when you drink a big glass of water after eating really rich ice cream? That's my January.

And what does this post's photo have to do with anything, you ask? Nothing. I just miss my grandson! Anyway....

This year I resolve to:

1. Take a class... not sure what or where or even on which subject (I'll keep you updated)

2. Eat fewer preservatives

3. Go on weekly dates with my husband

Mind sharing a couple of your resolutions with me?

insomnia

ugh.

It happens to all of us, I know.

So for me, I usually get insomnia on nights when I have to sleep.

I've got a long drive ahead of me tomorrow ... need to be awake and alert, so of course, that's what's keeping me awake and alert at 2am - the fact that I really need my sleep right now.

I have a friend who once said,

"I have learned to make insomnia my friend".

So that's what I'm trying to do right now - be productive with my time awake - rather than continue to lie in bed, forcing my eyes to stay shut, begging my body to sleep.

Here are some more things I've been thinking I'm going to do in 2011:

* finish the creative writing course I started months ago

* copy all of our family videos to DVD (I'm not sure, but am thinking that about the time I finish this, I'll be needing to copy all my family DVDs to some other sleeker media)

* make time to comment on more of your lovely blogs that entertain me and enlighten me!

* get rid of stuff in our garage that we've moved with us from Guam to Alaska to Nevada, but have never used

Ok - I feel better about being wide awake during the middle of the night before I have to be up and driving in 4 more hours :) Thanks for listening ....

oxoxoxoox

make a wish monday

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true."

Richard Bach

Well, I'm back to blogland ... sure missed all of you!

Today's make-a-wish-monday actually consists of wishes for 2011.

I'll share some of mine with you and would love to hear yours in return:

In 2011 I will:

publish a short children's book

set aside 1 full hour daily for myself (yup - this includes exercise)

visit my kids in Ukraine

complete my "personal progress" with my girls

develop an ability to "play by ear"

get at least one of the shows I have in mind into production

Here's to wishes coming true in 2011!!!

(I'd love to hear about some of your wishes ...)