....................................................to my belles-filles

My belles-filles! I like that! Happy Mother's Day, Belles-Filles! I just completed a Mother's Day Blog below where I talked about my biological children, grandchild and my own dear, sweet mom. But I did not even mention some of the most important and special people in my life since the day I married my sweetheart, Papa-F! This is in away an apology to his children/grandchildren and to the memory of their their beautiful mother, Jackie. From all that I have heard and all the positive qualities I see in her children's lives, she seemed to be a great wife and MOTHER! They were married for 25 years before cancer took her from their lives. I know to some extent, from losing my own mother how hard this had to have been, however, both of Jackie's children were alot younger when she died. I know too that they loved her and that she was and always will be their mom.

Our families had not even met until we got married, August 3, 2003. They all lived in different areas of the country, so we decided to get married in Las Vegas. We were happy when all of the kids and many of our relatives could attend our ceremony there. There were actually 22 people at our wedding at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas!







That was the beginning of our new "blended family". When the pictures were taken, I tried to explain relationships to the photographer and she said, "You can no longer say 'my children' or 'his children', as of today, they are 'our children'." And it hit me, she was correct! We had discussed how our children would deal with our marriage, but we had pretty much agreed that because they were adults or old enough to make their own decisions, they would be okay with our union. But I also knew that my children have their dad and that our marriage would never interfere or change that. Nor would our union change what Papa F's children had with their mom!


But there is a new relationship that forms. And as with any human relationship, the real tide that binds is time spent with the other person. And with our seperate geographical locations, it is not really something that any of us deal with on a regular basis!


Here is what I am trying to say: I feel so blessed! Papa-F's son is a very loving and caring person and he is married to a lovely young lady. He has a terrific 9 year old son who we have not seen much, but who seems to be a great boy. His daughter is a wonderful woman who has a beautiful 3 year old daughter with her loving spouse. All of them have made me feel very accepted and cared for whenever we are together or talk on the phone. My husband has said the same thing about my kids.



But I do not like labeling these folks "stepchildren" or "stepgrandchildren". I do not like the expressions? So, I have adopted the term "Belles-Filles" on this Mother's Day! Now if I could just find something that works better than "blended family". We are not blended. We are still who we are! But we do respect and care about each other. I have grown to love my belles-filles. They really are special and precious to me.
I also failed to mention our other belles-filles who is married to my daughter. He too is a great guy and I love him.

We are all going to get together and celebrate this Christmas and I can't wait! I look forward to us all getting to know each other better and making memories that we can share and enjoy for many years to come!

So, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to ALL of YOU!

............................................Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, Everyone! TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS--The beginning of motherhood for me! What a great journey began November 11, 2008. She was/is so perfect, so beautiful and full of her own dynamic, sparkling personality.

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS--Another beginning! A great adventure began December 18, 1984. He was/is so perfect, so handsome and full of his own dynamic, charming personality.

You wonder after having your first born, "How can I possibly love any other baby/child as much as I love this one?" But that is the powerful, magical thing about parental LOVE! It is like God's agape love. It is limitless and inclusive. At least for me. That was truly my experience.


These two individuals were as different as night and day, from their sex, to their physical appearance, to their personalities from day one.











Time did fly. How long ago was it that I was holding my babies? It really seems I should be going to coach a softball game for Michelle this spring at Lincoln Park or watching Michael and his dad practicing baseball at the Legion. Was that just yesterday that I watched Michelle perform with the RedCoats or warch Michael play his guitar on the tool box on the back of his dad's truck in our driveway? Or did we go to the Elk's pool and spend our entire day sunning, swimming, picnicing, and visiting with friends?

Fast-forward: September 13, 2007. Another brand new soul, brand new person, brand new personality...minutes old...there in my arms. How could this be? There was my baby glowing as she watched me forming those first seconds of love bonding with her new baby/person! So many emotions passed between the connection of my eyes to his ageless vision. In those eyes I saw her and him. (I am not going to elaborate on her or him because it was a multitude of them.)

SO, I SAY, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY,! Celebrate life on this day and everyday in that energetic, embracing vital way that only you can. Hold your baby for precious moments to build lasting memories that will sustain you when you sit on a day a long way down life's road. And remember, as the song says, "Slow down, 'cause you're going to miss this!"

I cannot let Mom's Day pass without mentioning my mom! I miss you everyday, Mom. You are the example I try to live by and set for my kids.Love You Forever
by Robert Munsch
A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!
But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!
But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always...
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy Mommy you'll be.
When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,I'll like you for always,As long as I'm livingmy baby you'll be.
(This was sent to me but originally taken from book by Robert Munsch.I recommend his books. See: http://www.robertmunsch.com )

Sometimes you just have to:
shovel after the parade.

I heard this recently and exploded into laughter. It was in reference to Suleman who just had octuplets, which is not a laughing matter, but the expression caught me as very funny! It made me think about what you have to do sometimes...

• accept the losses Phrank reflecting
  
• celebrate victories Brother John,b-ball champs, '59
  


• throw the dinner down the disposal



• eat humble pie


• crawl out from under the bar stool


• tread water for awhile


• head for deeper water VP, Channel Islands, CA
  
• sweep up the broken glass
  
• get out vacuumJD vacuuming
  
• join in the pillow fight
  
• take 2 aspirin and call the doctor
  
• get up outta bed
  
• remember the way we were PDad & MLou, Wedding 9/4/4
  
• imagine how we can be
  
• see the possibilities JD with twins at Butler University
• walk before I run
  
• swing for the fences VP
  
• dust off my pants as I head back to the dugout
  
• punt
  
• take the charge
  
• shut my mouth JD with the girls
  
• say the hard thing
  
• forget to omit
  
• ask forgiveness for the things I have not done that I should have done


• ask forgiveness for the things I did do that I should not have done


• forgive someone even though they do not deserve it


• forgive myself even though I do not deserve it
  
• avoid the puddles after a rainstorm



Turtle playing in a fountain in L.A.

• splash in the puddles after a rainstorm


• share your umbrella


• shovel the snow away from my door
• put on my gear and trudge through the mess JD in the snow '09
  
• use my last ounce
  
• let go
  
• hold onTurtle, hanging in there!
  
• use a thicker picker upper
  
• spray some febreeze
  
• share a rideTurtle at Santa Monica Pier
  
• add some a garlic
  
• what's your sometimes you just got to?

Spring Cleaning?

My latest inspiration is now appearing in front of me on TV with the Ellen Show. She was saying that since 1952 her mama has moved 31 times. That is a lot but 57 years is awhile too. Anyway, she was amazed at the things her mama has kept and allowed the movers to move into her newest home this past week. Ellen brought the items to the show and as the first of them was a 3 hole punch just like the one I have on the shelf in my office, I felt defensive enough to start this blog! (By the way, Ellen's mom told her how much junk she had gotten rid of for this move, so with all the moves and downsizing every time, Ellen thought her mama probably had a couple of boxes to unpack so she went to help her.) Unwrapping layers of paper that the movers had used.

1.three hole puncher ( I have 1 or 2 of these! My justification is that I was a school teacher! But I remember before I taught, I was envious of 3-hole punch owners!)

2.single hole puncher (I am sure if I looked, there is at least 1 in the office, 1 in the kitchen junk drawer, 1 in the garage and perhaps 1 in the bedroom--don't ask!)

3. Abs of Steel on VHS and Hip Hop Abs on DVD(still unopened) for mamas 6-pack (I do not have these particular works, but I have my share of VHS and DVD's. I mean, who doesn't love to keep some old eight-tracks or cassette tapes around? I had more than one of Richard Simmon's 'Sweatin' to the Oldies' on VHS that I loved! Whatever happened to those?

4. hand exerciser (Need I say more?---Oh but I do have some of these: I keep them under my bed & occasionally when I vacuum I knock one out and then I stub my toe on it in the middle of the night.)

5. plastic harmonica (This is not mine, it is Frank's!)

6. 2nd plastic harmonica (And he has 2 Duncan Yo-Yo's in that same drawer!)

7. old rusty steel harmonica (As Ellen said, "Stumbling along the railroad tracks one day, taking a drag from the 40 I had in a brown paper bag, I came upon a real harmonica!)

8. metal flour sifter from 1953--mama does not cook (I used to have one, but I lost it, so now I cannot sift my flour.)

9. metal biscuit cutters from '53 also (These were too fancy. I never owned my very own biscuit cutters, however I did have a Tupperware hamburger- shaper that made perfectly round and flat hamburger patties that I could pre-make and freeze!)

10. metal colander that looks old and dented (I have nothing to say about this other than I did get an image of myself as a child with one of these on my head as a helmet?--flashback or hallucination?)

11. 5 pretzels in a bag (Ellen stopped by her Mama's house to pick these up but Mama had eaten them! You never want to waste perfectly good pretzels!)

This really made me laugh to see all these great items that Mama had moved with her over the 57 years and 31 moves. Sometimes she packed and moved herself and other times she had movers packing and moving her. As you can see by my comments on each item, these are probably essential paraphernalia for many people such as myself.

It did amaze me to see how much wrapping paper the movers use the first time I got to use professionals to move and what they will wrap and pack! If it is in the house and not tied down, they will grab it and pack it! So, I have learned to specify if a piece of trim board needs to be left and put back on a kitchen cabinet or that the broiling pan stays with the oven, the drawers stay in the refrigerator, the unused portion still on the roll of toilet paper can stay on the roller (not to mention the bowl cleaner brush and plunger wrapped in 5 sheets of white movers wrapping paper, the flower pot with just dirt in it does not need to be wrapped in 7 layers of paper and then packed into a box labeled "miscellaneous", old buckets and old rugs and rags that were to be used when doing a final house cleaning at the old house do not need to be wrapped and packed either, nor does the whole kitchen cabinet that contains throw away plastic containers or plastic grocery bags you had saved need to be wrapped in layers of paper and placed into a box with your kitchen things...I didn't understand the mover's theory: the more boxes, the more money, the more paper around small items, the fewer things go into each box.

Now as far as defense for KEEPING those items such as old plastic margarine containers and their mismatched lids, plastic grocery bags, all my old shoe boxes, other empty boxes, clothes that neither my husband nor I have worn in at least 5 years, shoes & boots we never wear, coats and jackets that are never worn, blankets and bed clothes for twin &/or full size beds when we have NEVER had one of either in the 5 years we have been married, old telephones (both home & cell) we have not used in years, enough cable from cable TV to wire a complete Indian village, enough speaker wire and telephone wire to take care of that same village,(although in reality the villagers are probably all using wireless phone cells!--like the story of an expedition in India where a group were taking a day trip through the jungle on elephants. When the lead elephant stopped and refused to go, everyone in the party panicked and asked their guides what could they do, "Nothing," he replied, "When the elephant stops and refuses to go, then there is nothing you can do." Then he promptly reached inside his turban, pulled out a cell phone and called for a truck to come get them!)

You may ask what would possess people to hoard such things. There are many reasons. Like my collection of little ceramic lighthouses that my son in law PDaddy asked about when he was packing & helping us move. I explained, "PDaddy, those are nicknack's. And I am just a nicknack- kind of person!" I will not tell him that because we live in a smaller home here in CA the lighthouses are still packed in that box in our attic. And when my daughter MaLouise asks, "Mom, why do you keep this stuff? I cannot respond with, "To pass on as a family heirloom to you, MaLouise." because she obviously does not want it! I mean there may be several treasures packed in that attic that she could take to Antiques Road Show one day and hear them say, "That item is worth...1.2???" You can thank me later, MaLouise!