Way to go, Susan

I know I'm a little slow with this since everyone has been writing, talking, blogging and wowing over Susan Boyle's sensational performance on Britain's Got Talent for a while now. I just want to add my "wow" to all the others. It was, without question, an incredible performance with the added wow factor in being so unexpected. The pathos of the song she sang made it even more compelling to me.

I'm sure, for me, the effect has been even greater because I cannot carry a tune. I love to sing, I know the words to almost every song in the world (at least the old ones), I think I have a singer's heart, but, I cannot carry a tune. Of all the talents I don't have, the ability to sing is the one I have always most wished for. There is definately not a Susan Boyle moment in my future.

For the heartwarming story she has brought into an often bad news world and for all of us that don't have the talent she has, I hope Susan Boyle gets to live her dream.

Happy Easter

Easter Brunch in pictures......Little girls in pretty dresses and boys being boys, lots of good food and egg hunting

Leah, Anna, Hope, Ben, Justin, & Wil (Jared is now too cool for the kids table)

Justin & Jared (I am glad Jared is not yet too cool for Easter egg hunting)

Wil is a champion egg hunter
Eggs are okay, but Anna loves Ellis
Ellis, Hope & Anna-Easter Cute! Too cold and rainy to go outside

I Am Glad I Have A Job

"Just be glad you have a job!"

I want to be clear....I am glad I have a job. I'm glad I have a job that I like. I am glad I work for a great company (almost always in the top 10 of Fortune Magazine's Best Places to work) and that I work with a great person. I am glad I have a job! That being made clear, I do occasionally have a rough day or a rough week at work and I may mumble a small complaint like "Boy, I had a rough day at work," or "I sure need a vacation," or some such minor grumble about working. Inevitably, in these tough times, any such statement is met with the same response....."Just be glad you have a job!" More than once when I have casually asked someone how their day is going the response has been, "Well, I'm just glad I have a job."

I am certainly not unaware of the struggles of those who have lost jobs and those who fear losing their jobs. I have been there and I could be there again. The jobless, without question, have reason to complain.

I truly hope things improve on that front soon, for those who need jobs, and in a much smaller way, for those of us who have jobs. It will be great for the time to come when complaining about our jobs can once again be in style.

Tagged by Joanna

I was tagged by Joanna to go to the 6th folder on my computer and post the 6th picture. I think I got a good one. This is Joanna, Jill & Rob taken last summer at Wil's 3rd birthday party. Like getting all 6 of my grand kids in the same picture, I always like getting a picture of all 3 of my kids together in a picture.



This one was not the 6th picture in the 6th folder....it was off in a folder all by itself and I thought it was too good to leave in there all alone. Heather and Joanna, 6 years old, I think. Best friends then and a longtime friendship.

Some things I wish I had know sooner..

One of my mothers favorite things to say was "live and learn," and I hope I have. One thing I have learned is that there are some things I wish I had learned sooner.....


How to take a compliment.

Being kind matters more than than being right.

If someone takes something out of the refrigerator and says, "smell this," don't!

That a healthy looking suntan is not really so healthy.

The difference between a defined benefits plan and a defined contribution plan...I really wish I had know this about 20 years ago.

People will still be nice to me, even if I'm not wearing any make-up.

The difference between good fats and bad fats.

Whatever we think kids know, they always know way more than we think they know.

If I've forgotten some one's name, it is okay to ask.

It isn't always my fault.

There are some people with whom I will never be totally comfortable.

Wasting time isn't always a waste of time.



Another one of my mother's favorite things to say was "pretty is as pretty does." There's a lot of learning in those few words.

Is it the time change?

It has either been a fairly unnoteworthy (spellcheck tells me this is not a word, oh well) few days or my brain has not adjusted to the time change, leaving me a synapse or two short of full consciousness. The time change has seemed harder than normal to adjust to this time, but I'm not sure a one hour change should be enough to rob me of all brain power. I did have a great day of skiing with Brandon, Joanna and Hope last week-end, and I got to see all of my grand kids on various nights through the week which always makes it a good week for me.

Since I am fairly new to blogging I didn't want to go too long without posting something, so I am totally stealing a couple of thoughts from a "things to think about" e-mail:

This one could be true for me-
My short term memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my short term memory is not as sharp as it used to be.

What did they measure hail by before golf balls were invented?

An old man was driving down the highway when his wife called
saying "be careful, I just heard on the news that there is a car
on the highway going the wrong way!" "It's not just one car,"
he answered, "It's hundreds of them!'

And a reflection on the death of Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote
The Hokey Pokey," who died recently. The most traumatic part
for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg
in, and then the trouble started.

Okay, maybe the time change has caused more damage than I thought.

And finally, just for fun pictures

.

Jared and Justin at the Dairy Queen after Jared's school play

Hope at one of Ellis' parties for her 1st birthday Justin, Wil & Hope "enjoying" Jared's basketball game

Cooking Consciously

This is not a very attractive picture...not at all cute like blog pictures are supposed to be. I'm using it as a reminder to myself of why I don't cook very often, or at least to pay more attention when I do cook. Don't misunderstand, I can cook. In fact, I can cook pretty well when I make the effort. Unfortunately, my best efforts lie in the direction of the not so good for us Southern cooking that I grew up with, though I can do a more than passable job on heart-healthy if I try. I spent many years cooking every day, but pretty much gave it up about the time Joanna was 15 or 16 and didn't often show up at home for a meal, or had just eaten Taco Bell.

Lately I have been making an effort to take my lunch to work instead of buying lunch every day (the economy and all), but I am pretty tired of the few things I usually have on hand to take. So, today I decided to go to the grocery store (ugh) and do some cooking for lunches, and maybe even a couple of dinners this week. I bought what I needed to make chicken noodle soup, a chicken casserole and chicken salad and came home feeling pretty smug and proud of myself.

The picture tells the story. The knife, the onion and my thumb ended up on a collision course. The cut is not as bad as the bandage makes it look, but it was bleeding a lot and I still had cooking to do. I made it through the chicken noodle soup, and the chicken casserole. The chicken salad will have to wait for another day.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I spent more at the grocery store than I would spend buying lunch every day and a couple of dinners, and I've looked at so much chicken I'm not sure I really want to actually eat chicken any time soon.