Parents or Friends?

I thought I would branch out with this post on our blog and write about a relational principle that we have found to be controversial, but freeing for all involved.

That principle is this: When a child in the home becomes an adult and sets up his/her own home either singly or with a partner, then the parenting part of the Mother and Father ceases and the Mother and Father and adult children start establishing an adult friendship. If the parents are contributing financially to the child, then this condition is not yet fully met. This principle is applied when the child is separate financially and has separate living quarters. There is still some say in what children do as long as there is accountability in finances or in-home living.

Many people when they hear this thoroughly disagree. What I'm saying with this principle is that I will always be the Mother of my adult children, but I transition out of "parenting" them and begin to respect their individuality and their decisions and relate to them as equals, much as I do with my other adult friends. Acceptance and respect are the main characteristics of this relationship.

This is not an easy thing to do. I remember when I began to come to this, it was quite an eye opener to realize how much I was still parenting and giving advice. Some of my children were still seeking my approval. As we began to move away from this type of relationship it was hard. One of my children said to me, "I don't like this. You are my spiritual strength. I draw from you."

It was also strange for me because I still felt so responsible for my children's actions. But, as is usually the case, when one in a relationship stops the "relational games," it's as bad as too quickly jumping off the see-saw on the playground. It leaves the other with a strong jolt and no one left to go back and forth with. I think we as a family did okay because we talked and discussed this while the relational transitioning was happening.

Some of the wonderful benefits of this relationship with your adult children are (at least in our experience):
• We are equals. I've learned as much from my adult children as they ever learned from me. It's amazing!
• We are both responsible for our own actions. I am neither responsible nor to blame for their decisions as adults. How freeing, both for me and for them.
• We have all dealt with our expectations. I've worked on mine to get rid of them, and I think they have theirs also.
• When we're together, we can truly enjoy the fun and fellowship. Early on that wasn't true. It seemed when we walked in the door to be together, we all picked up the relationships they had when they were children in the home. That was not good nor was it enjoyable. I think we all realized we wanted something better, not the typical "have to go home, but can't wait to get away" relationship.

There are many other benefits, too numerous to mention.

We've had a lot of criticism from our friends and other family members about this approach, and many have told us how wrong they think we are. Interestingly, our four children tell us often they are glad we have come to this in our family. They say they listen to some of their friends complain about their parents and they're so glad we're at least walking this route in our journey.

I would love for some of our children to speak to this in the comments section on this blog, but since I respect their time and have no expectations, I consider this an invitation if they want to. If they don't, well, hey, that's what it's all about. ;-) And the reason for the invite is: It's one thing for me to say it, and it would be a special treat to hear how they think about it and how it's affected them.

For that matter, it would be good to have a "blog discussion" about this relational principle. Several people tell me they read this blog, but not too many (hardly any) stop by long enough to post a comment. Doesn't matter, it's fun to write.
MB

Plane Schedules and Stress

I've set a goal of trying to write twice a week on this blog. It's a loose goal, but one I would like to try and keep.

The most recent thing that's happened to me and thus it's fresh on my mind is my flight home last night from Austin. Thought I would write about it.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:05 p.m. To save the $50 taxi ride from the office to the airport, I hitched a ride with two other people with whom I had meetings. We headed out to the airport at 2 p.m. because the first flight one needed to catch was at 3:30 and the second was at 4 p.m.

First stress of the day was that a huge storm came into Austin about 1:30 p.m. Lightning, thunder, and heavy rain. That was fun trying to load luggage and drive through that rain the several miles to the airport. We made it just getting a little damp. But when we turned in the rental car, it was quite a walk from the lot to the airport pulling your luggage and dodging the huge puddles of rain on the ground plus getting soaked from the falling rain. Fun, fun!!

The other two travelers with me had no problems with their flights. Reason: one went to Aspen CO and the other to Orlando; neither went through Dallas. We had gone up to the Admiral's Club, and each of them left from there to go to their gate. So I just relaxed and waited there as long as I could. Those clubs are really nice and relaxing.

So about 4 p.m. I headed down to my gate. Oops. Flight delayed was flashing and time was reset for 5:30. I noticed an earlier flight at the same gate that was to leave at 2:35 was still sitting there. Hmmmm. . .That was not a good sign.

Soon the flashing sign just posted a brand new flight number and destination. I go out and look at the big sign with all the Arrivals and Departures, and they have changed my flight to a new gate. I alert the others waiting with me and we move to the second gate. We wait another hour plus and here comes our plane. Yeah!

But, bad sign number two: a maintenance man with a big light and a ladder starts going over the front of the plane while it's parked at the gate. My thought: oh, no, they're going to say we have mechanical problems. It was worse. Problem: that plane was hit by lightning upon landing and they would have to take at least an hour to check all the electronics. Within ten minutes we were told this plane was out of service and they were working on what to do with us.

At this time I noticed that the 2:35 flight at my original gate was still sitting there. It had not taken off. The couple next to me kept calling their relative in Fort Worth asking how the weather was. That big storm was going through Dallas/Fort Worth, so we got an update about every thirty minutes.

Soon, but not very soon, we were sent to another gate, our third gate. There we were combined with another fallout group holding green plastic cards. They had been waiting longer than we had been, so they got to board first. So much for being No. 1 on my boarding pass and standing in the A line to get a good seat. Now, it's like being in Line C.

One other tidbit: I was keeping Paul posted on my cell phone about each delay so he wouldn't waste his time sitting at the airport. I kept telling him not to leave home until I was taking off (not just landing) in Dallas. DO NOT!! Problem: My cell phone was losing power. Great! I thought it had a full charge. So, I plugged it in to charge up in the waiting area. When we changed gates, I completely forgot about it. Another, oh great!! Had to run all the way back and unplug and grab it and hurry to get back in line, hoping against hope that I had enough charge to stay in touch with Paul. (By now I'm thinking, what else could go wrong.)

Finally, they said they had found a plane and we were going to load up and take off. This was after they told us we had to all go through the process of changing our boarding passes. We moved to a different area and lined up all the way down the hall. The first person processed took over ten minutes. Being the math person that I am, I am quickly calculating how long it's going to take them to process fifty to sixty people. I would like to tell them this is a bad plan, it's not working. I just tell the people around me that. Before they get the second person processed, they came to the same conclusion and told us to never mind, they were going to try to do this without changing everyone's passes. Yeah!! But they asked us to just stay in line and they will guide us when we're to move.

In the meantime, another phase of storm is going through. The lightning is everywhere and lighting up the whole sky. Austin has been in a terrible drought and it is pouring rain. I'm glad for them, but wondering why I had to be there for the rain to come! JK

Finally, finally they board us. All the green plastic cards go first. We are at maximum capacity, and wouldn't you know. A large man sits in the middle seat and immediately claims both arm rests. I'm scrunched to the window, and I'm freezing. The day had started out very warm and I had packed my raincoat. Smart planning. The flight from Austin to Dallas was worse than a roller coaster. We traveled through lightning and so much rain that it looked like it was snowing outside. All the attendants had to stay strapped in.

We land in Dallas, but because of the erratic flight schedules delayed by weather, there are five planes ahead of us waiting for gates. More delays. I was really doing a number on myself to calm down, relax, take naps, relax, read a chapter, relax. That's harder than it sounds. Plus, I'm not going to drink water and make sure I'm hydrated, because there's not easy access to the lavatory or restroom. Nothing in, nothing has to come out. That was my reasoning. Isn't that bright? JK

Finally, finally we are up in the air going from Dallas to OKC and it's smooth and we're heading home. Boy, was I tired. Probably about as tired as you are reading this, LOL. I'm still freezing, freezing. I sit on my hands, I tuck my hands under my arms, I try to sit on my feet (no socks). I start dreaming of a warm bath and that wonderfully very warm, almost hot (in a temperature sense, and others ;-), body of my handsome feller. Hey, Handsome, I'm coming, I'm coming!!

The good thing about all of this is the airlines I was on. Southwest! They are the best at customer service and trying to make all of these delays as easy as possible on you. I've been on other airlines through this kind of mess and it was not handled nearly as well. The other good thing about this incident is that none, zip, nil, not one of the passengers got ugly. They were all very nice and understanding and did as told. I heard no griping. In fact, one guy spoke loudly to the attendant handling all of this that we all appreciated her and her graciousness. Very nice.

I landed in OKC about 11:15 p.m. I had arrived at the airport in Austin at 2:30 p.m. earlier that day. That's almost nine hours at the airport or on an airplane. A full day's work! LOL It's only a five and a half hour drive! In fact, one girl asked if anyone would go with her to rent a car and drive to OKC. No takers. She also stayed.

Moral of this story: When you can't think of a blog subject, write about your flight. Hopefully others will read and think about their day yesterday and realize it wasn't so bad after all. ;-)

Bottom line: Arrived home safely, albeit tired and hungry and have a real compassion for people who have to travel a lot in their business. Sometimes, quite challenging!
MB

Daylight Savings Time and Other Changes

This Sunday we "spring forward" one hour and go on DST. Losing that hour is quite a change. My metabolism has difficulty adjusting although the "fall back" to regular time in the fall is more difficult.

However my physical body adjusts, I also do some adjusting with every season change; for that matter, I have to do some adjusting to every change that occurs.

Some changes that are difficult, I adjust to but don't fully realize how I've adjusted. The last few years have had some traumatic changes for me.

The job I loved was taken away because the company was bought and the great facility we had was sold. I stayed on with the new company and had a huge learning curve and became an office manager, a properties facility overseer, an HR person, etc., etc. Actually I loved it, but I never go into change confidently and excitedly, but I do love to learn. All the changes have been good and I'm in my third year with the new company.

However that new company was just merged with another branch of the big company, and the two people who hired me and who have been phenomenal supports are no longer with this company. Change, change, change!!

And in the last five years we've had some major changes within our immediate family. Some changes were very hard for me and I didn't perform well with some of the principals, my dear loved ones. However, they have forgiven me and we've moved on to re-establish and re-connect.

And in the last six months I started having a few little health problems, like a fractured hip with unknown cause. Whoa! This is not in my plans for my healthy senior years. What I'm seeing in hindsight is that I've let my physical health go and have pretty much eaten my way through all the comfort foods and slowly but surely gained weight and gotten out of shape. Terrible way to handle change and deal with stress. But that was my choice and the consequences began to show.

So, time to take stock and to do some reworking. Here's the plan: Get this physical body back in shape, and quit taking out my emotional stress and distress on my body and get back in shape.

BUT! This is so blankety-blank HARD!! But success is around the corner!

My goals:

Get back down to my best weight, which is a few pounds below what the insurance charts say I should weigh. I wanted to do it healthily, so I've set a goal of losing two pounds a week. I weigh every Saturday morning and write down my weight. So far, it's working and I've reached each weekly goal. But this is not an easy thing to do. Question: Why is it so dang hard to take off one pound and so cotton-pickin' easy to put on two? I'm six weeks into it and have about six weeks to go. I'm committed!!

Get that injured hip back to being a healthy joint. I've started clogging again and though it was painful at first, I can now do most of the steps. The skip, hop, and slide steps were the hardest. The first time I tried it I was scared I had reinjured that joint. But soreness left and it's much better. I'm also doing one mile on the treadmill every morning and two miles on the bike. That's a have-to every day. No days of rest on this one. I take the stairs always, and try to run up them instead of trudging up. ;-) At first I was a little breathless, but now I feel like a spring chicken! Well, almost --

Get a healthy look: I've started tanning. The last two years I didn't wear shorts because I was so whitey white. I'm becoming a golden tan, although a little wrinkled ;-) and that's after getting a little red. Yesterday at work some of the team said, "Are you tanning?" It's becoming obvious. Yeah. I don't recommend this to anyone because of the dangers. However, I'm choosing to do this and I like it. Someone asked me, "Why are you doing this?" My answer: "Just because I want to and I feel better when I have a little color." Actually, I don't owe anyone an explanation. Should I have said, "What's it to you?" Oops. One of my other goals is to try to be respectful and polite. JK

Well this post is a little bit of a confessional, isn't it? One of my other goals is to try and post midweek and weekend on this blog; i.e., twice a week. This morning I could think of absolutely nothing to write. The above is probably too personal to tell the world, but hey, what the heck.

A few years ago Paul and I did much the same thing as I'm doing now. We had a goal of his high school reunion. We wanted to look good. (Isn't that funny how that's true of a lot of people. No one wants to look their age at reunions and thinks everyone else looks so old. ;-) We did pretty well, in fact so well, one of our granddaughters said that she didn't like Grams and Papaw looking so good, almost like movie stars. She preferred them looking normal (like white and fat)? LOL Hey, I like the first part; as if we ever really did look like movie stars, but that's a worthy goal in itself, isn't it? Look like movie stars to your grandkids. JK again.

So if and when you see me again, you'll obviously know whether I achieved my goals. (Remember: looking like a movie star is not one of my stated goals. That's a serendipity and a one-time statement from a granddaughter who was recovering from an illness, maybe not in her right mind. LOL)

I may be successful, I may not. I think I'm learning that most of the fun in life is the journey to, not reaching the end. Is that a copout or a good philosophy? I'll bet you have your own opinion.

We'll see. Thanks for reading.
MB

P.S. For those who don't know, JK stands for Just Kidding in Web lingo (or so I'm told).

March 4–A Special Birthday

Sunday, March 4, is the birthday of a very special person. Our sixth grandchild, Dara, will be 19 years old tomorrow. Unbelievable!

I remember well the day Dara was born. No one was prepared for anything being wrong. I'm from a family of eleven children, my older sister has ten children, I have four. Point being--we're a family who have had lots of babies and it's just part of life, no big deal. And very few of the births had any problems with the Mom or the child.

So, when Dara was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalis, it was pretty traumatic. Her head was triple the size it should be and the doctor said there was no brain activity. I was told the doctor had said, "This is not a human being. Let it die."

He said that to the attending medical personnel. I remember standing over the baby crib in the hospital nursery, silently weeping, and listening to the little non-human being whimpering like a little kitten. I had a lot of questions for God at that time such as, "If this is not a human being, what am I looking at?" Wonder why I believed that doctor? Don't think I really did, but I had questions.

Nothing seemed to be moving in the care of Dara, so her parents began asking questions, and they were told by a medical person not connected with the hospital to quickly get her transferred to Children's Hospital in Dallas. It was there we learned that much should have been done for Dara within the first 24-hours of her life. It was there we were told Dara would be paralyzed from her mid-chest down if they operated, but if they did nothing her chances to live were not very good. Her parents immediately said to do everything that could be done for her so she would live. The doctors in Dallas immediately took action and Dara was properly taken care of.

When the water was drained off Dara's brain and a permanent shunt was installed, her brain became normal size once the pressure of the water was gone. Much of Dara's spine and the connecting nerves, etc., were on the outside and unprotected. The doctors had to cut that away and quickly cover the exposed spine and nerves to prevent infection. Result: paralysis and they removed her ever having the ability to walk.

Those were Dara's beginnings. A new experience for our family. Traumatic but growth material. And that was just the beginning for all of us, especially for her Mom.

Some of the things I've learned by being Dara's grandmother: I've gained such an appreciation for families who have handicapped children; before Dara, I had an aversion to people who were handicapped, now I am drawn to them to relate to them, such a difference. I've learned that Dara can read people better than most people read books. Result? I can't get away with anything with her. She will call me on anything that remotely looks or feels like "spin" or deceit. Yikes! That's scary and funny at the same time.

Tomorrow Dara will be 19! This May she will graduate from high school. She's learning to be self-reliant. Just recently, Dara underwent some surgeries so she could take care of her personal needs without help. Dara's very active in her church. When we visited her church, we were surprised to see her acting as a Greeter in the entrance area. She also helps her Mom with the children's choirs. Recently for a class in school she had to spend a day with someone doing their job. She "interned" with their church worship leader. Dara entered a school election and won! Dara seems to know no limits to what she can accomplish. She's an inspiration to all of us.

So, Happy Birthday to a very, very special young lady! She has plans to celebrate all weekend. She told me recently that she loves having a birthday on the weekends because she can celebrate three days instead of one.

Dara always asks me if she's my favorite granddaughter, and I have to reply, "You're one of my favorites. I have others, you know." She insists she's my favorite! That's rather a joke between us.

One day a few months ago, Dara called and said she needed help. She'd had an accident and her Mom was out of town. I told her I would be there in fifteen minutes, as soon as I could get there. When I walked in the front door, Dara said loudly, "Thank God for Grams!" That's one of my favorite memories with Dara.

And, to conclude: Thank God for Dara. She's definitely a gift from Him, and she has enhanced all of our lives.

Happy 19th Birthday to you, Dara. You're a very special granddaughter (and one of my favorites ;-).
MB aka Grams

Stress and Massages

On my last birthday I was given a great gift by one of my children--five one hour massages at the health club where we are members.

Last Saturday I finally used the first gift certificate. What a treat!

I was feeling really good about how stress free I was. My neck and shoulders seemed relaxed and free. I wasn't having any muscle burn, which happens to me often when I'm tense. I had hydrated well as suggested before the massage.

My mistake: As she was working on my back and shoulders, I asked the certified massage therapist what condition my muscles were in. Her response: "You would be the Mount Everest to massage therapists." Huh? I replied with what does that mean? She replied that I was so layered with stress and tension that it would take her a long time to even get down to the knots in my muscles. Again, get down to? What does that mean? Found out a physical body can adjust to stress over a long period of time and the inhabitor of that earthsuit not even be aware of what's happening!

I was shocked. And I was motivated. I think you can "Google" search anything, so off I went on a search for stress, its effects, how to handle it, and what to do. Hmmm. . . I was especially fascinated with all the articles that were entitled, "Stress–-the Silent Killer." Another hmmm. . .

Then another thought captured me. If I was a certified massage therapist and wanted more business, what would I tell a client/patient? Of course. I'm slow, but I do come around. LOL Conclusion: Take everything with a grain of salt. I'm good! No problem, but I sure do like those massages.

(Thanks, Cherri. Great gift!)

One final thought in this train of thought: I found out something I didn't know. I'll pass on my tidbit of info. In OK you don't have to go to school, you don't have to be certified, you don't have to be licensed to be a massage therapist. My Saturday therapist kept emphasizing that she was certified. She explained the difference to me. She said I could go out and open up an office tomorrow with absolutely no training or state requirements and say I'm a massage therapist. There's current legislation being proposed in OK to change this.

From now on, I will always ask that question; i.e., are you certified? A couple of years ago my handsome feller bought me four one-hour massage gift certificates. The massages were little more than a weak back rub. I found out later that that particular "massager" was a hair stylist and when she needed extra money, she booked massages. She was bad!! (and that's not used in the popular sense of being great; she was really bad, B A D, bad)! ;-)

I'm looking forward to next Saturday's massage. Absolutely wonderful. I may have to sign up for weeklies. But, good wife that I am, I am sharing my certificates with my handsome feller. He's booked next week also. He'll love it. She'll probably tell him that he's the most relaxed person she's worked on. That's the way things usually are with us. Oh, well. Life is still good, fun, and exciting. And sometimes absolutely funny!
MB

Movies and the Macs

My younger sister Jenny has a reversal going on. Most people as they get older have only memories of the good old, exciting days. Not Jenny and Tom.

I told her yesterday that most of the really exciting things that have happened to her are happening in her older age. She laughed and said she just didn't know if she was going to be able to handle it all.

The latest event in this exciting real-time serial is that a movie star came to Cornforth road yesterday and conversed with the Macs about an upcoming movie and how their place is perfect for part of the shooting of the movie. He became aware of this possibility through his friendship with both the Mac boys out in CA. He bragged and bragged on both of them. That's very good for parents to hear.

The older movie star is actually going to direct the movie and his son-in-law, who is the younger Mac's good friend, is going to be the star of the movie. Shooting is scheduled to be done this May and June. They talked about putting horses on the land. They checked out having enough electrical connections to handle all the outside outlets they will need to do the outdoor shooting, etc. They're spending the week getting lots of contracts in place and all that goes with putting together a movie. They told the Macs they'll call them later in the week perhaps to have dinner together.

Is this not exciting? The Macs new place is also being looked at for another aspect of the movie, not their actual house, but the addition. The two movie stars told the Macs that they're all going to have a good time and a lot of fun making this movie. Can you believe it?

The girls at the office think they're working with a real live famous person. Almost every day Jenny comes in with some new story or something exciting that is happening. Sometimes she's a little embarrassed (usually about the gifts given to them) and doesn't want me to share everything, but I ignore her and share all. She gets over it. LOL

Just to remind everyone: A couple of years ago Jenny's highschool class traveled to NASA where one of their classmates is a high-up executive. He got them in to places otherwise not available to the public. At that time there were astronauts in space and Jenny was chosen to get to speak to them. She made the front page of the Edmond Sun on this adventure.

See what I mean? Things like this usually happen to a person when they're young and adventurous. And it's way too fun to be a sister and friend and get to hear all about it and enjoy it with her. Funny, but we laugh and laugh together when each new thing happens. Yesterday I said to her, "Instead of your moving to CA, CA is coming to you!" Laugh, laugh, laugh. Tis true, tis true.

Actually, these fun and exciting events could not happen to a better or more deserving couple. I look forward to hearing all about the movie making and sharing in the excitement as a friend. It's fun.

Just wanted to share with you. Often I think of the old saying, Truth is stranger than fiction; in this case, Truth is more exciting and more fun than reality TV, at least for the Macs and friends who share their excitement.
MB

The Twenty-One Eleven Disease

Last week when we went to Kade's basketball game we grabbed a sandwich after I got home from work. Paul ate a meat and cheese sandwich, and I ate my favorite, a peanut butter sandwich-loaded with peanut butter-with a stalk of celery. Mmmm, mmmm, so good.

About an hour later while I was talking with Rachelle, I became deathly nauseous and broke out in a sweat. She didn't know it, but I leaned over to Paul and said that I didn't know if I could get out of the gym in time to "toss my cookies." I was so sick. But, mind over matter. I breathed deep and deeper and deeper still. Told my stomach to calm down and that I was not, I was not going to add to the stink in the gym. I was not! And I made it. It passed. Barely. That was a new, strange feeling. That never ever happens to me.

For several days in a row before that I would feel sickly in the morning. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I remember telling myself, all I'm eating in the morning is a peice of toast with a little peanut butter and taking my vitamins. But I was fighting a bad stomach most mornings. Paul also was having stomach problems.

We didn't make any connection with anything. Just thought we were having a hard time.

Then out came the news about the bad peanut butter. It took awhile to make the connection, but I finally did when I saw a little kid from a family in Edmond who said, "I just throwed it up." Bingo! Suddenly everything fell into place. Oh, my gosh! Sure enough. We checked and we had a large peanut butter jar that was one third gone with the number on top that began 2111... (That's what I'm calling the twenty-one eleven disease. Get it? ;-)

Our compensation? I don't think it's worth it to send in for a rebate on the cost of the peanut butter. That to me is just a hassle. But it's certainly good to know we don't have some bad, bad disease that's making us sick all the time. Who would have ever guessed? Anyway, all is well and since I quit eating that jar of peanut butter, I'm feeling a ton better! I'm not going to give up peanut butter; I'm just going to watch my brands for awhile.

Moral of this story: Can't think of a good one, except that we sure do have a lot of faith in our food processing system in this country. Never even crossed my mind that something could be wrong with the peanut butter. Perhaps a good moral is this: Nothing's sure; nothing's pure; Keep that in mind; and don't be fooled.

Perhaps a fun thing to do: If you read this blog, try your hand at a story moral and write it in the comments. We could have some fun out of this.
MB

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. A very special day for those of us who have a valentine in our life.

I thought I would do one of those goofy acrostic tributes to my valentine. Not that he's goofy, but I've always thought those poems or articles that spelled a word vertically and then let each letter stand for something were pretty goofy, and I still do; but goofy as it is, here goes:

A Tribute to my Valentine

V is for valor; isn't that bravery? He's not a soldier, but he is brave. He's lived with me all these years!

A is for amourous; did I spell that right? Isn't that French for loving? My valentine wrote the book on being a good lover!!

L is for laughing; Paul has the best laugh. I usually laugh at his laugh, not his jokes. ;-)

E is for energy; energetic is his middle name.

N is for near; my valentine stays near, emotionally and physically. Great gift.

T is for teaser; he gets this glint in his eye and I know he's up to something.

I is for initiator; Paul is a big picture guy and he loves to initiate new and better things.

N is for nice; the guy is just plain nice; nice as all get out! (That's Okie for through and through.)

E is for encourager. He is known as a man's man and the encourager of ministers.

Well, there it is. A goofy acrostic to say "Will you be mine, you great Valentine?" To PB from MB

And I must tell you why I need to pay special tribute to him:
A few weeks ago we planned a weekend trip Friday through Sunday to celebrate Valentine's Day, I have enough air miles and enough motel awards to take a free trip for two. We had everything arranged to go to Padre Island and visit friends. BUT, a glitch at work caused me to have to cancel.

Not to be deterred, Paul planned a very special surprise for me to come to the office on Tuesday--a dozen red roses and a box of chocolates! Big surprise. Even a bigger surprise was when I told him I had to go to Austin on Monday and be there the rest of the week. He couldn't change his order due to high volume, so he merely came to the office on Monday and asked the eight women there if they would be his Valentine. They said yes, and he told them they would be receiving roses and chocolates and to enjoy. Even the FedEx guy whom we call FedEx Larry, who was the deliverer, had a song ready to sing to me. Oh, what I missed. Anyway. . .

Then Paul came to Austin with me. Everyone on the team I'm on was staying to work late on Tuesday night. However, at this point I told my supervisor, I'm leaving. I knew I could not frustrate my handsome feller, my special Valentine, one more time. I did not work late and we went to a super nice restaurant, dressed up, and had a great meal and a good Valentine celebration. I thought if I let work interfere one more time, I might not have a Valentine next year! Think? JK

One more thing: We figured out that this year is our 50th year to be sweethearts! Huh? How can that be? But it is. We met in 1957, both teenagers, and never dated anyone else. Married one and a half years later, so this is our 48th Valentine's Day together as a married couple, but our 50th as Valentines. Yikes, yikes yikes!! How did we get to be this old? But, hey, life is good when you have a wonderful, handsome feller, for a Valentine! Happy Valentine's Day PB. Love you much. MB

Fun February Friday Family Facts

February 14 is coming. My valentine sweetheart for the last 49 years is still my favorite! Paul and I met in the winter of 1957 so we're almost at the 50 year mark to start celebrating all our firsts. Incredible! But fantastic! Lots of wonderful memories, as well as many change points and growth. I call him "my handsome feller" so often that the women at work will tell me my handsome feller is waiting or on the phone. Too fun.

This is Friday, and I thought I would post a few fun happenings/events.

Tonight at Norman High, Kade's team from Enid is playing. Papaw and I are going and Cherri said the Moxleys might try to make it. She's checking with Mike. Watching Kade play is always fun and reminiscent of watching our kids in sports, Mel in volleyball (Mel, please note I listed you first!); Brett in baseball, basketball, and football; and Wade in football. We have missed going to all the sports events. Fun times in our lives.

Today Brett's work staff is moving into their new office building, which is located very close to where he is now but much larger and brand new. Fun! Brett is doing so well in his job and says he is loving it.

Paul just finished at FBC in Durant with James and Judy. He really enjoyed it and got to see Justin and Joni and her husband and child. The church was very responsive. Some old friends were in some of the services. Jackie and Jimmy Gee from Southcliff came to one of the Sunday services and one of the Midgette girls of the Mundlin family in Wichita Falls came up to Paul on Wednesday evening. My, my how time is flying and little kids are growing up. The weekend before, Paul was in Alabama with Jeff Hatcher for a three-day conference. Got caught up on all that's been happening with Jeff and his family. Paul's ready for some time at home and some rest. Me, too. It's hard when he's gone. I don't have a handsome feller doing my honey-do errands. ;-)

This Saturday is the start-up date for Grandma Cherry's cleaning service via the Bullard girls. Most of you grandkids got an e-mail or a note from Aunt Jenny. She and I are the co-conspirators in this fun project. I'm the producer and she's the director, meaning I'm financing this (with others having opportunities to contribute) and she's doing all the work. Not a bad setup. Mother is 89 years old, will be 90 this year. We expected a fight about this because she's pretty stubborn about accepting help. Amazingly she's very excited. We'll have to be careful that she's not excited about having company in the house and tries to engage the girls in visiting instead of cleaning. Can you believe we have an 89-year-old Mother/Grandma who is still driving, going to art lessons, and resists having help? Hmmm. . . Quite a model for us all to follow.

Graduation days are fast approaching. This spring Kade will graduate from Enid HS and Rachelle will graduate from college, nursing school. Dara will graduate from Norman HS and has already had her graduation picture made. Wow, can you believe it? And Beth will soon graduate from cosmetology school.

And last, and least, I'm getting back on my feet from my hip ailment, whatever it was. There's been some trouble with getting the bills paid through insurance. Just another hassle. But on the brighter side, I'm doing my walking on the treadmill and I've slowly started back to clogging. I do well until I get carried away and forget that I'm an old lady acting like a young lady. Yikes! Sometimes pretty painful. Painful in my body and probably pretty painful to watch, LOL.

Happy Friday to you. Hope you have a good one.
MB

Proud New Mac Owner

Saturday we went shopping.

We came home with a Mac Pro iBook (laptop) and a 30" display screen. JM bought the Mc's a large display and it is really nice, especially for old eyes.

We were checking out, having picked out a desktop and a regular size display screen, and I commented I had really wanted a large display, and Paul said he had really wanted me to get a laptop. So Mark, the good salesman that he was, started over with us. And we ended up with exactly what we wanted. So fun!

I've got the laptop working easily, but I don't have my e-mail changed over to the cox account. I do temporarily have a .mac account with the same name, so I'm not totally off line, but I'm not in my comfortable settings yet. ;-)

I don't have the display screen hooked up yet, but I will. Paul's gone and I need help getting it out of the box.

Anyway, we had agreed to get the old computer fixed so I'll have to pay to get it out of the computer hospital. If you know of anyone who would like an old (really old) computer that still works, let us know.

It's good to be back and here again.
MB

Back to Posting

I'm back!

My old computer got so sick it went into spasms. It's now in the computer hospital. I was questioned whether I wanted to put it permanently to sleep. Answer: no, not yet. Am I acting like a person with a longtime pet who can't let go? Maybe? (Kind of odd, right?)

In the meantime I'm having to use Paul's desktop; he uses his laptop almost exclusively. However I have to be careful because I'm in his area. I'm trying to be respectful.

Anyway, his desktop is so much newer than my old desktop that I was able to upgrade the account, which was the problem. Now to get acclimated to all the new stuff. Looks like it will be easy.

We've probably lost all our readers since we've been gone so long, so if you're reading this, would you comment to let us know you dropped by? Thanks.

I'm going to try this to see how it works, and if it does, I will post often.
MB

A Matriarch's Birthday

Today, November 30, 2006, is my mother's 89th birthday!

Born Virginia Pearl Salyer in November of 1917 to Pearl Wade Salyer and Sarah Elizabeth Chapman, who were married December 9, 1916, in Anadarko, OK. Mom was named Virginia for the state in which her mother was born. Her middle name was her father's name.

She had a younger sister, Laverne, and a younger brother, Basil. They moved to Texas where she spent her teenage years. She attended Kilgore Junior College and is listed on that college's first honor roll and was a Phi Beta Kappa. She played basketball in high school and was captain of her team and had the lead in the senior play. She liked school and had fun. Her goal was to attend Baylor University and teach high school English.

Her plans changed when she met Fred Cherry, a young petroleum engineer. They became engaged on Thanksgiving Day in 1936 and were married after Wednesday night prayer meeting on January 27, 1937.

Just a few months after their wedding, Virginia's younger brother Basil, eleven years old, was killed in the New London School explosion. Recently I found the Web site which has a lot of information and recollections about this explosion in East Texas. I told Mother she should write her memories. She did and gave the pages to me and I sent it in.

This morning, Mother's 89th birthday, I received word that they had posted her entry.

New London School Explosion

(I hope this link works; it's the first time I've tried the html linking. If it doesn't, and you're interested, you can copy and paste the URL: http://www.nlse.org/cherry_virginia.html) I thought this was a pretty cool (or neat or whatever is the current appropriate adjective ;-) birthday present!

Mother and Dad had twelve children; I'm the third. Their last child, a girl, was stillborn. Fred died in 1970 at the age of 58.

Mother lives in the home where she raised eleven children. She still drives, enjoys a weekly art class, attends Faith Bible church, and socializes with the Single Sisters.

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to a wonderful Mom, and I hope she has many more.
MB

Thanksgiving 2006

At our church they've opened a place on the church's Web site for everyone or anyone to log in and write an anonymous "What I am thankful for" entry. Then all of these are posted.

Last Sunday morning two people read some that had been picked from the many postings. And between readings we sang a new chorus called "I will remember." It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving time.

And it's prompted me to want to write about what I'm thankful for. So, here goes:

Family, friends, friction (makes me a pearl), fearful things (makes me faith it), fat (makes me warm and not so cold), fights (sharpens me), and facts (makes me smarter and wanting more). And, of course, alliteration! ;-)

One of Paul's (as in Burleson, not Apostle) teachings/sayings is, "Whatever comes my way, I want to make it mine, as God's gift to me." And he emphasizes the "whatever." He bases this on scripture, but I forget which one.

That's the basis for my thankfulness this year. Oftentimes this is a challenge, but it's a great mantra and helps keep my eyes on God, my heart on Jesus and His love, my mind on things that are pure, lovely, of good report, . . . ,and my whole emotional/spiritual self thankful and not bitter or frustrated or disappointed or worried. It's often a struggle, but I have the goal of, "I want to make this mine." Amazing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you. May we all be full of thanks as well as turkey!
MB

Enjoying this Fabulous Fall

I just can't say enough about this weather and about the beauty of Oklahoma this fall. It's been just about perfect. Cool days and warm days alternating, sunny and cloudy days also taking turns, not too much wind, and a gradual moving into cooler temperatures.

I'm so glad our home roots are in OK and we get to live here. I used to love TX and never wanted to move back to OK; however, these days I get to visit TX once a week and it always feels really good to come back home to OK. (Think I'll apply for Tour Guide with the OK Tourist Bureau. I can sell OK to anyone. ;-)

We've been concerned these last couple of weeks for two of our own. Grandma West was seriously ill and in the hospital for more than a week. She's back in the nursing home now, but she's quite weak. They whisked her off to the hospital in the middle of the night because she was having a hard time breathing and they couldn't rouse her. When we saw her the next day, she was very weak and upset that she didn't get to bring any of her things with her. We gathered what she wanted and took them back to her. She was on the verge of pneumonia, but she's rallied and is doing better.

Dara has also had quite a week. Cherri has detailed it very well on their blog. (I was going to try to link it here, but I've not done that before so I'll learn another time. The link is on our blog links.) Dara went in the hospital last Saturday and had an eight and a half hour surgery on Monday. She was in ICU for a couple of days and is now recovering in her room on the fourth floor.

Dara's had lots of company and received flowers and gifts and you'd think she was princess of the floor. She's also had some tough times and she's been a real trooper, along with her wonderful parents, who have also had some very tough times and been real troopers. This has not been an easy or fun experience, but we all think it's going to be well worth everything they've gone through. Dara got to start on broth yesterday and will gradually get to eat solids, depending on how well she tolerates each stage.

If all goes well, she's looking at getting to go home sometime next week. She'll be home tutored and then hopefully get to go back to school in January. Her church youth group is planning to come up to the hospital this evening and Dara is eagerly looking forward to that.

Other things: We have our third driveway and new single gate with a double-wide gate. Paul had a sidewalk and steps put in for his office out back. Everything went very well and we have no graffito written on our concrete. (I looked up "graffitti" to see if I had spelled it right and I found it was "graffito"! Huh? 'Tis true.) We have some teenagers in our neighborhood and we held our breath until the concrete dried. All is well and smooth and unadorned, no graffito!

OU basketball has started and everyone is looking forward to seeing how the new coach does. Paul got to go to the first game Friday night. Of course, OU football is doing well, but alas coming to an end. Last night was perfect football weather. And a perfect game--OU won, of course.

One fun item: Our nephew, John McMonigle, Jenny and Tom's son, is going to be on Oprah this Wednesday, November 15. He's a real estate agent and has a $72 or $75 million dollar home listed on the market. Tune in.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Looks like everyone's on for Wednesday afternoon and evening for fun, games, and food. We're looking forward to it. Plan is to spend Wednesday at the retreat center, everyone who can and wants to, head for Harrah (the Cherry dinner) about 11 a.m. Thursday and then that will end our Thanksgiving time together. We'll close out at the retreat center that morning. Too many had to leave to go home on Thursday, so that looks like what we're planning. Sounds good to me, hope it does to you.

That's it! Have a good Sunday!
MB

Happenings

It's November already. Gasp. Where does the time go?

We have our third driveway. It's really nice. The men who did it are the best. This is the third try (thus the charm) of trying to contract with someone to do this, and it's obvious that it was worth the wait. They still lack the part that connects to the street and they'll finish that up next week.

We also have our fence repaired, and E.E., our handyman, is making us a two-part metal gate, and he worked with the concrete men to set in the posts. That will also be finished next week.

Last Tuesday we had a new washer and dryer installed and gave Cherri and Mike our used ones, which were still very good; so we both got new appliances installed last Tuesday. Paul and I are trying to get all of our appliances replaced while I am working. This is our start. Cherri met us at the appliance store last week and bought Dal and Megan a used washer. Dal and Mike got that installed Monday.

(Isn't this what everyone wanted to know? About our driveway and appliances?) LOL

On to more important things:
Yesterday Brett had Lasix (? I think) surgery on both eyes. Kelly took Thursday and Friday off to be with him. He said he was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. and would be through at 7:50 a.m. He called about 9:30 and said all went well and he was amazed at how much better he could already see. Yeah!!

Cherri and Dara found out yesterday that Dara will have surgery next Monday and will check into the hospital tomorrow. (I think I have the dates right. They are second-hand so could be off a bit.) Hopefully, they can do both types of surgeries at the same time, but they have to see and make sure her blood flow is sufficient. If she has both surgeries and after full healing, Dara will be able to care for herself and be much more independent. Yeah!! She will be about ten days in the hospital and four to six weeks recovery after that.

Other snippets from others:
Wade is flying to India on Thanksgiving Day to visit the orphanage that his church sponsors. Boe has a football game tonight at Crooked Oak and Paul and I are planning to go.

Beth and Bryce broke up. Surprise! I thought that was a done deal. Cody had his fifteenth birthday party last Saturday. He got to have more than twenty friends over and sounds like they had quite a bash.

November is a big month for birthdays. Logan's is the 15th, Dal and Pierce's is the 27th. I have three siblings' birthdays, Mark's yesterday, Ronnie's tomorrow, and Ruth's the 14th. John Mark's is Monday the 6th, and Grandma Cherry will be 89 years old on November 30! Lots of birthday celebrations.

Saturday Paul flies to Burlington NC to be with Bob and Debbie Felts in a meeting. He comes home Wednesday. Tuesday I fly to Austin and will get home Thursday.

I got word yesterday that the lease was signed for our new office, so that means my little group will be intact for at least two more years. I received permission to hire another person, and was told yesterday that a superb former Saxon person (whose husband is the OU band director) is interested in joining up. Yeah! Life is good. ;-) We're getting a new office in the same complex where we are, and it has three times the space we have now. We have a wonderful team who get along great and are all very good workers. How has this happened? I love working and I love my job!

My company is very supportive. We'll be in our new office area within the next few weeks. We've got people coming from Orlando and Austin to direct all the remodeling and setup and moving. The guy in charge says they will move us and we will not miss one day of work. Beats how we moved last time. I had to do it all; and it was a headache. Yeah for company support!

We need to have a family discussion about Thanksgiving. We have the retreat center reserved for Wednesday and Thursday nights. However, Melody has to work Friday, so they will leave Thursday. Wade's flying to India on Thursday. Dara will be healing, and Cherri's not sure what that means for them. I haven't talked with Brett and Kelly about their plans. If each of you could call or e-mail and let me know your plans, we can make ours accordingly. We're very flexible and will work with everyone's schedules. Let us know when you can.

Have a good week and a good November! (Love this fall weather.)
MB

Aches, Pains, and Mundane Things

Paul and I had a good laugh when we were comparing our bodies to our cars. Sometimes we have creaks and squeaks, and sometimes we have a flat tire or engine failure. We're working hard to keep our bodies "cars" in the best shape possible, but often it's a challenge.

I rarely have any kind of physical problem. I think I pulled a groin muscle on our vacation. I've been on the Internet and have about decided that's what I did over having a sciatic nerve problem or an abdominal hernia. (Those are two possibilities.) Since I'm such a good self diagnostician, that's my opinion. ;-)

The results of this problem are not fun. I'm limping like an old lady, and it's hard to lift my right leg without pain. I plan to get some compression shorts (read about these on the Internet) or some kind of tight support in that area like elastic wrap bandages or some such. And when I can remember to do it, I take a couple of Ibuprofen tablets. Helps.

Thankfully, I haven't slowed down. I made my weekly trip to Austin and did okay. I'm just moving a little slower. Grrrr. . .I do not like physical problems.

Then while I was gone Monday evening, Paul had a nosebleed that wouldn't quit. After several hours not being able to stop it and starting to feel weak, he headed for the emergency room at midnight. Interestingly, he had just had one side of his nose cauterized at the doctor's office last week to try and help with the nosebleeds. He's worse than I am about thinking he can fix it himself. We had a fun argument over the phone about why he's not going to do what the doctor said. Of course, I'm one to talk. Oh, well. . .

Paul was at the emergency room over three hours. They almost killed him, he said, when they stuck this mechanism up his nostril and then inflated it. He had major claustrophic reactions and made the doctor remove it. She found a smaller one and it worked better. They wanted Paul to leave it in for 24 hours and then come in and have it removed. He refused. He said it was totally goofy with the end of the thing hanging out on his face and taped to his cheek. He was feeling nauseous (sp?) and ill. He just couldn't do it. He had the doctor remove it. He decided to leave and try a self cure. He got home about 4 a.m. and did what he could and he was successful. No more bleeding so far.

My doctorly advice was to quit blowing his nose so passionately. Paul does everything with great zest and passion and that's one of his traits I love. I've told him repeatedly that he's going to blow his brains out. He says if something's worth doing, it's worth doing with gusto! We laugh and laugh!! No more passionate, gusto nose blowing for him, at least for awhile. Dainty, feminine, Kleenex dabbing has got to do it. We'll see.

Are we typical old folks or what? Writing on our blog about our aches and pains. But that's the most interesting thing that's happened to us of late. That's way off the charts, identifying us as old folks. Right?

Mundane things are like comedies: Paul made a deposit and kept some cash out. He called me late Monday (before the nosebleed) and said he'd lost the cash. He'd gone through the trash twice and through his car and through the house. It was gone. Lost. And it was quite a bit. I told him not to worry, it's just money. It's replaceable. Much later, he sat down in his chair and felt something in his shirt. He had put the deposit slip and cash in the cuff of his sweatshirt sleeve (no pockets) and it had slipped up into the sleeve of his shirt and when he sat down he felt it. Found! Relieved! We were rolling!

My comedy happened on the plane. I was reading along and then started smelling that awful smell of vomit. (Reminds me of the olden days on the school bus when a kid would throw up. The smell was unbelievably bad and you couldn't get away from it.) I looked around and the guy behind me had just leaned over into the aisle and tossed his cookies. Yuk, yuk, yuk. Doesn't he know what urp bags are for? I turned the air vent on high and began the mental antics of keeping my mind off the smell and popped two pieces of gum in my mouth. That's quite a trick to keep yourself okay and not get sick from the smell. When we stopped, the guy across the aisle stood up in his seat and wouldn't step on the floor. Everyone was assuring the guy who was apologizing that it was okay and not to worry, but it was a fast exit off that plane. LOL

And that's the end of my aches and pains and silly things blog post. Life is good, albeit at times somewhat challenging. ;-)

Looking forward to Dal and Megan's Thursday wedding. Will be our first grandchild wedding. I love firsts!
MB

Fall in New England

Everyone should make this trip at least once in a lifetime. There's nothing like seeing the turning leaves in the New England area.

We're back. Got home early last evening. We headed straight to Edmond to deliver Sierra's seventh-birthday gift. We had picked up a cute pair of pajamas and a polartech vest in New Hampshire for her. Today, October 14, is her seventh birthday, but we have an OU football game at 11:30 a.m. (kickoff time, which means we leave for the stadium about two hours prior). After the game, Paul heads for east TX for a four-day meeting in Linden. We knew we had no time today to go to Edmond.

Our trip was wonderful. We flew to Manchester NH on Sunday and drove north to the White Mountains to the Twin Mountain KOA. We had rented a Kottage, not a Kabin and not the K-Lodge. The Kottage has a small refrigerator and most important has an in-house bathroom, complete with shower. We took our bedding and towels and coffeepot and early the next morning made a trip to Wal-Mart to fill in what we needed and didn't want to buy beforehand. Made our little Kottage our home for five days. We built a campfire a couple of nights and sat out under the stars wrapped up in afghans and warming ourselves around the fire. FUN!

Tuesday we drove through New Hampshire, made a big circle around in an area we knew to be the prettiest. It's definitely a crap-shoot whether you hit the foliage just right or not. We were a tad disappointed because the leaves were just a little dull, not brilliant. The area had had an overabundance of rain, so one forecast was that this would be the best year in many. A different forecast was that there would be mold and the foliage would not be good. The yellows and golds were alive and brilliant, but the reds were already brown or a dull red. It was still beautiful and beat anything we would ever hope to see in our area.

Wednesday we drove over into Vermont and made a big circle through the Green Mountain area. It was cold and blustery and a true Autumn day. The foliage there was also beautiful and the further south we went, the prettier it got.

When we had called ahead and rented a car, Paul had asked for one with Sirius radio. When we picked up the car, they didn't have one the size we ordered with Sirius radio, so they upgraded us to a small SUV with a sunroof. Oh, the serendipities of life!! We kept the heater on our feet and kept the sunroof open for the cool air and the smells of autumn. Loved it! And, the SUV color was OU crimson red. Could it have been any better? ;-)

On Thursday we drove over into Maine and found the prettiest scenery of all. Last time we went into Maine there wasn't much there. This year the trees were magnificent. Maine has a lot of evergreens and those blended with all the colors made a spectacular view.

Tuesday while we were making our big circle through New Hampshire and were heading back to the KOA we got tied up in traffic and snailed through a couple of miles at zero miles an hour through the mountains. When we got up to what was causing the slow-down, it was very sobering to see a motorcycle in the middle of the road crushed to pieces. It was a two motorcycle and a one car accident. There was at least one casualty, perhaps two. New Hampshire doesn't have a helmet law, and a lot of cyclists don't wear helmets unless they have to. Being cycle riders, we observed the scene carefully and probably felt it a little more than a typical rubberneck. Very sobering. Took any irritation about the delay quickly away.

Friday the 13th we headed home. Took us all day. The view from the airplane was absolutely spectacular. Ranges of mountains full of color. Our flight path was over the northern USA and maybe part of Canada. Got to see our first snow on the ground. We now feel like we've ushered in 2006 autumn in fine fashion.

This is the first time I've been gone a full week from work since I started with Harcourt two years ago. I called in at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning and answered questions and got an update on what was happening. They did great without me and got quite caught up on things. What a relief. Yeah!! I've got a great team of ten who are now well trained and trustworthy and do a great job. Life is good!

That's our update on our fall trip. Tony, hope you had a great birthday and got our card. We're eager to hear about your trip to CA. Soon?

I fly to Austin Monday evening, but just for the day on Tuesday.
We're staying caught up via your blogs and e-mails. Keep 'em coming.
MB

2partners

People are different aren't they. I don't have a thing for cards of any kind necessarily. Oh don't get me wrong, they're nice. And I certainly appreciate them, especially from the family. I'm just saying they don't do for me what they do for others, say for example, Mary. She loves them. I've seen her face light up when reading one whether it's funny, or simple, or serious, just any kind of card. She loves them. They represent thoughtfulness, love, sincerity and a host of other things to her. Me! Give me a cake, gift, money, whatever, and I'm happy. People are just different.

People are special too. No one is as special to me as Mary. And there is no more special day in the life of a special person than their birthday.This is her birthday.

Then there are special birthdays in the lives of special people. This is her 65th birthday. That's special. You can tell I think there is just something special about Mary. I'm not talking about her looks. Although she still is being mistaken for my daughter all the time and then tries to comfort me in my devastation, her youthful looks and beauty are not what I'm speaking about.

It is not her energy of which I'm speaking. But, boy is that part of who she is as a special person. To work 8-10 hours a day, to fly to Austin regularly, to oversee 10 ladies at her office here in Norman, and then to go to Mystic Conn. to periodically meet with the author of the material she works so hard to get published, talk about energy. But I haven't spoken of clogging, dancing, motorcycle riding, and a host of other things that, time permitting, she loves doing. She is special in looks, energy, and how can I name the ways?

That's my point. How can I? Give her a card? You have got to be kidding. Wait. Cards are special to her. Maybe if I could find a card that said some things I mean but don't know how to say. Maybe the fact that cards are special to her, a special girl, a special card would be just the thing. Well, I found one. I gave it to her. She's in Austin today. So I'm posting that card for her to read...again. Because she's special and I love her in ways I can't seem to express, maybe that dumb card can say it again...to her.

Mary, happy birthday..here's how and why I love you.



"For my wife, my best friend,

You've been there to laugh with me,
to cry with me, to be proud of me,
and to be happy for all the good
things in my life.

You've also shared my disappointments
and listened as I worked out my thoughts
and feelings about so many things that
troubled me.....

You're the most important part of my world,
and you always will be....I love you."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY....Paul

Fall in Oklahoma
Fall as in season, not as in stumble. ;-)

I'm convinced this has got to be the best fall ever (so far) we have had. Hasn't it been incredible? This whole last week hovered in the mid seventies. Cool breezes, some rain, lower than average temperatures. . .And life on our back screened-in porch can't be beat (beaten, I know). We've moved our old leather recliners out there and it's our favorite place to relax and read or watch TV. We look at each other and ask, could it get any better? Life is good!

Out Our Way-
Not much new stuff happening around here. We're busy and having fun.

Paul came home Thursday from having the best meeting he's had in a long time. He says it really does rate among his top three ever. He's been idle for awhile from traveling, so it was encouraging for his first meeting back on the road to be such a good one.

My computer went out. We've had a lot of power surges lately, and even though I have a surge protector on everything, it was right after that my computer would not come on.Yikes! Off to the Computer Hospital. My Mac is an old one I bought from work at an auction, so I thought I was going to have to break down and buy a new one. But, it was repairable, and I'm back on. Scary stuff. I didn't realize how much I count on having my computer--all the blogs and e-mails. I was lost.

I snuck into Paul's room to his desktop and used his, but soon realized that's kind of like invading someone's personal space. He was gracious about it, but I could tell, so I backed up from doing that. I began to bring my work laptop home and finally took the time to figure out how to hook up my laptop to the Internet (it's not a wireless laptop) here at the house. Serendipities are wonderful! But, it was difficult to get into my personal account from my work laptop. Anyway, all is well and I have my desktop back and I hope I've learned my lesson about not backing up important stuff. Not sure. We'll see. LOL Bottom-line: I'm back!

The reason I think Oklahoma is having such a wonderful fall is that I flew to Austin Friday morning and back home Friday night. We've had such cool days here, I wore some new clothes including a long-sleeved t-shirt with a light fun jacket. Burned up! Austin was over 100 degrees and humid, and Dallas was in the mid 90s. Arrived back in the city and it was in the low 70's and not very humid. Wonderful! Love Oklahoma!

Friday was a party day for seven of my ten-member team. Two couldn't go with us, but eight of us flew to Austin for one day. We spent the morning at the office building and then drove to a country club for a publisher's retreat with all the Saxon math team from Harcourt Achieve, about a hundred people. It was fun and very generous of the company to fly us all down.

Having led tour groups overseas, I knew the responsibility of taking a team out of town. I had them all fill out emergency sheets and carried those with me. I had to make sure we all had boarding passes and the rental car and all of that. I don't have an admin person at the office, so I had to do all of this myself. Quite time consuming, but worth it. We had a great time and laughed a lot. I have a great team and we're quite varied in personalities and age, but we get along very well. They enjoyed it and we were all very worn out by the time we arrived in OKC. I was especially so. (Do you ever write something and when you reread it, you see that you used a certain word way over the appropriate limit? What's with the "all"? Hmmm. . .) That's all! LOL

I've been flying so much I get a lot of rewards. I earn free trips. Paul is off this next week (off as in work, not as in other ways ;-) so he's using one of my free tickets and accompanying me to Austin. That's nice. I have to stay down two full days this time instead of just one. We're apart a lot lately and we miss each other's company. We've kind of gotten used to having each other around. We get a little lonely, so this will be fun. I will have my evenings free this time, unlike many of my other trips. We've already got our favorite places to eat and visit when we're in Austin. (Hope it's a little cooler.)

We're looking forward to our trip to New Hampshire, the White Mountain area, for our fall foliage trip. We're going the second week in October.

Next month is a big (really big) birthday for me and it seems appropriate that we heard this week we may be great grandparents in a few months. Zowie Zooks! How can that be? When do you finally feel as old as you really are? I'm still amazed I'm Grams, even though I've been that for 25 years. Now I'm going to be a Great Grams (that could be debatable ;-). Kelly noted that now we will have two Grandma Cherrys, but one will really be Grandma Cherri. That makes me feel even older. My child will be a grandmother. (Just having fun. I'm really excited. Our family's growing!)

This morning we've been asked to speak in a Sunday School class about marriage and how we have done certain things, etc. Do you think they're ready for us? I wonder. We'll see. I guess our record of being together, 47.5 years, says something.

That's all. Just catching up.
MB

A Day to Remember

We probably all remember where we were five years ago today. The term, 9-11, has come to mean more than the emergency call-in number. I had a friend at Saxon who got caught in the air flying from CA to VA. They landed in Salt Lake City and it took her one week to work her way home via rental car, a friend driving her, and finally on the train. She was thinking all the way, and didn't stand around wondering what happened. She ran for the rental car agency as soon as she landed and was one of the few who got a car.

I'll think of her this evening as I fly to Austin. I may be wrong, but I'll bet there aren't many people flying today. I was in Austin last Wednesday through Friday and am going for my weekly Tuesday trip this evening.

Not much happening at our household other than being quite busy. We had our deck refinished again and had our patio paint touched up and then a glossy finish put on. Looks great, but that took two days of moving stuff, having someone at the house, and then moving it all back. Not our favorite way to spend time. Paul does all the work, so I'm speaking for him. I just come in from work and admire all that's been done.

We're slowly getting the third driveway and concrete slab prework done. Had to have our lot surveyed, and that's about all that's been done so far. Sometime this fall we'll have the concrete poured.

We enjoyed last Saturday out at the football stadium. We went quite early and enjoyed walking around and soaking in all the smells and sounds and sights. Such fun. We both love it. We walked around to the east side of the stadium and viewed Steve Owens statue in Heisman Park. Then went on around to the south side to the All-American Plaza and enjoyed seeing Fred T. Cherry's name three times in the early thirties' plaques, twice for OU football and once for track. (FTC is my Dad for anyone reading who doesn't know that.)

We had arranged to meet a pastor and his foster son for lunch, but before we met them, we couldn't resist splitting a JR's barbeque sandwich at about 10:30 a.m. Then at lunch we had to have one of the fabulous O-Club burgers, the ones with a hamburger patty AND a split frankfurter on it. Really, really good.

We checked out The Oklahoman for Kelly to see how the crew was doing without her. They did okay. We reported that back to Kelly. We ate with our friends under the big tent by the big screen. Since he was a pastor, he and Paul enjoyed talking about blogging and also exchanging funny stories. A woman had come up and sat down at our table to get out of the sun and to eat her lunch. She joined right in and as it turned out, Paul probably was at OBU with her. Too funny, and such a small world.

We also enjoyed watching the game. We left at half time and Paul headed to Houston. He preached both services yesterday in Angleton. He's driving back today and will get home in time to drive me to the airport.

Work is still quite fun and keeps me hopping. I now have nine women besides me in the office and one other working off-site. Managing is a full-time job, but I like it a lot. Our company is having a celebration later this month at a country club in Austin and our whole crew is flying down together for one day. They're all excited about doing this and getting to meet everyone they work with almost daily via fax, phone, and e-mail. Putting faces with names is always a fun and sometimes surprising experience.

Better sign off. Hope 9-11 is a good day for you. A time to remember, a time to reflect, and a time to report to you. LOL I've been married to an alliterator far too long.
MB