I Used To Be........

I have been sort of retired for a year at the end of this month. Even though I still work a few hours most weeks I think being mostly retired is pretty much the best "job" I have ever had. Thinking about that reminded me of some past jobs I have had.....not exactly a career path, but some fun along the way. (Some of this is from a post I wrote a long time ago about the pain of writing a resume.)

My first job, other than babysitting, was when I was 14. I opened mail for a newspaper columnist. He wrote a humor column for the Tulsa World, so he, in turn, got some pretty funny mail. Not a bad first job.

When I was 16 I worked after school in the stationery department of a fancy department store. My favorite part of that job was eating in the store's hoity-toity tea room on my breaks.

Then came college and a journalism degree. That got me a job at a newspaper with stellar assignments like writing obituaries and covering school board meetings in Norman, OK.

Next  came Motherhood, my most important and most lasting job, but not exactly a resume filler. Over the next 15 or so years, I had several part-time jobs in several cities. I taught pre-school (loved it) for a few years. I did some free lance writing for local publications. I worked as an assistant producer for a radio talk show, which was one of the most fun jobs I ever had. I did some modeling and taught a class at a junior college called "Poise for the Professional Woman". (I hated that name). I wrote feature stories and a weekly column for the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City.

After some life changes (divorce) and some additional schooling, I went to work full-time for the first time in years as a paralegal. After a few years I decided I needed something more lucrative and worked for a factory rep firm that sold furniture to hotels and hospitals. I was a dismal failure at that job, but to this day I can identify the manufacturer of the fabric on a chair in a hotel room.

A couple of zigs and zags after that  I spent 15 years in the job I still do part time in financial services. I will be more fully retired with time, but for now I like being able to work if I want to and not work if I don't.

What is your favorite of the jobs you have had?

Good News and Really Good News

I have said here before that I am no computer genius so when something goes wrong I am at a loss about what is causing it or what to do about it.  

 Thus, I have spend the last few weeks with a verrry slooow and very undependable computer. Sometimes I could get on the internet and sometimes not. When I could get on it was painfully slow getting something like a blog post to come up and leaving a comment was nearly impossible. I finally took my computer to my computer guy for a clean up. While it was there I used my laptop and was having the same problems. Aaarghh! It turns out that the answer was all new equipment from my internet provider which got installed yesterday. All minor in the whole of life, but it is good news for me to have things running right again.

Now here is the really, really good news. 

Addison, the son of my daughter's good friend, has been such an inspiration to so many during his years of treatment. There have been some really rough times during his treatment and he always found some good even in the worst times. He has truly lived up to his own motto: I don't have time for cancer!

Six Word Saturday

They'll be eating kale chips later

I had to laugh about what my daughter said about this picture she posted on Facebook yesterday.

Waiting for the Fabulous Fridays show to start at the library! I'll just ignore the disapproving looks of the moms with their healthy snacks while my kids chomp on their suckers. We'll have our organic kale chips later ladies, I promise!

Not to worry....these kids eat (or are at least offered) a very healthy diet. That may change when I stay with them for a week next month. I've told them we are having only Popsicles for breakfast and lunch every day.

To participate in 6Ws visit Cate here

A Beautiful Wedding, Lost Luggage, Seasickness and Chickens....All In All A Good Trip

Even though it started out with a late flight, a missed connection and lost luggage my trip to Hawaii was a good one. I didn't need clean clothes or a hairbrush to appreciate the beauty of the place I was staying.

The view of this pool in one direction and the ocean in the other direction helped ease my concern about when my luggage might show up, which it did at about 10:30 the next night. A little shopping for clothes and toiletries got me through.

The wedding was a beautiful traditional Hawaiian ceremony. It began with the blowing of a conch shell to signal the beginning of the wedding.

The woman who performed the ceremony was a perfect fit for the role she played and she created a very beautiful and moving ceremony. 

(And it wasn't too long)

The wedding ended with a gorgeous Hawaiian sunset in one direction,

and a rainbow in the other direction.

One of the outings I really enjoyed was to a coffee plantation. 

The beautiful plantation setting and all the coffee you wanted to drink made it a place I didn't want to leave. 

On a relaxing sounding sunset dinner cruise I managed to get this one picture before I started getting seasick. The water was apparently rougher than normal and the cruise turned out to be very rough for me, all 4 hours of it.  I have been on lots of boats, big and small, and the only other time I have ever gotten seasick was a long time ago, also in Hawaii. I was nice enough to break the ice by being the first person on the boat to start throwing up off the back of the boat, but I was far from the only one. Lesson learned.....no more boats in Hawaii. 

Any visit to Kauai requires pictures of the chickens that run wild all over the island. 

They are fun to see, but not always so fun to hear. The roosters start crowing before sunrise and keep it up throughout the day.

Despite the vagaries of travel it was a good trip. It has taken me a little longer to recover from the overnight flight home than I would like, but as long as I keep my feet on solid ground for a while I will be fine.

Have you ever been seasick?

Goodbye To May and I'm Ready To Say Aloha

May has been a busy month (I know I've said that before) and it is coming to an end with all the birthdays, end of school activities and sporting events now behind us. Everyone in my family with May birthdays is now a year older, all the school age children are on to a new grade, the sporting events have been won or lost and the memories are all good.

My two 5 year old granddaughters, Anna and EJ are through preschool and ready to be kindergarteners.  These changes that seem to come so fast bring back lots of memories of when they were little.

Anna, right before her graduation ceremony.

EJ at her end of school field day.

It seems like only yesterday.......

Hope will be going from 5th grade to middle school. This "friendly sisters" pic from Hope's graduation is not the norm for these two who both like to dabble in the art of sibling rivalry. The look on EJ's face looks like  she is thinking. "Ok, Hope is being really nice to me right now, but let's take this picture really quick and let me move on before that changes."

I'm sure the day will come when they are best friends again like they were when this picture was taken about 5 years ago.

Jared will be going from 6th grade to middle school. He finished 6th grade with straight As through the whole year. Yes, that makes me very proud.

Jared with his buddy Gabe at their graduation.

Jared and Gabe  have known each other since before they were born when their mom's met at a birthing class.

As I say goodbye to May I will be saying Aloha to Hawaii where I will be going tomorrow for my cousin's daughter's wedding. I am looking forward to some fun in the sun, at least I will be if I ever finish packing. I'd better go and get working on that.

Catching Up and Being Thankful

I was just beginning to do a little catch-up post when I heard about the devastating tornadoes that hit Moore, OK today, a town where we lived when my two oldest kids were in early elementary school. One local official has described it as the worst damage from a tornado ever to occur in this country. Whether that is true or not the damage is incredible. My heart goes out to everyone there with a special prayer for the parents who are waiting with hopes of being reunited with their children at an elementary school that was destroyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've said before that I sometimes try to avoid posting too much of the same 'ol family stuff, though in reality that is mostly what my blog is about. Today, thinking of what the people in Moore, OK are going through, I am doing this little family catch-up with an extra measure of gratitude in my heart.

Our Mother's Day finished with a picnic to celebrate Mother's Day and several May birthdays. There was cake, baseball and the annual picture of me with my grandkids on the slide.

Beck wasn't too excited about the picture taking.

Later in the week I got to watch Hope perform in a school orchestra concert and at her school talent show.

EJ had her last soccer game of the season on Saturday.

On Sunday we went out for a birthday dinner for Hope and my daughter, Joanna, who both have birthdays this week.

Big news! Dodger (center)  has a new girlfriend.....the black dog on the right of the picture. He was doing his best to look cool to impress her at doggy day care.

Another busy week coming up with 4 grandkid graduations.....2 from preschool and 2 from elementary
school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great news.....I just heard that all the kids at two elementary schools hit by the tornado in Moore, OK have been accounted for. As I recall the recent activities that my family has enjoyed, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families in Oklahoma who are suffering from the tornado damage there.
***I just heard an update that they are still looking for children at one of the destroyed elementary schools and that there are also some children that may not have survived.***

May Has Been a Blur.....and It's Mother's Day Already

It seems like for me that it has gone from the 1st of May to nearly the middle of May in the blink of an eye. As that time flew by we enjoyed a trip to New Orleans and a visit from Doc's son and family from San Diego, and I have been working way too much for someone who is supposed to be retired.

We had a great time in New Orleans, but I don't really have much in the way of pictures to prove it. The ones I did take have to do with food, which is appropriate since we spent a lot of time eating while we were there.

This is our dessert being prepared after a wonderful Sunday brunch at Brennan's.

This place was not quite as fancy as Brennan's, but the popularity of their fried chicken dinners is apparent from the line of people that was waiting to get in as we were leaving.

Doc's 5 yr old granddaughter, Avery (left) and one of my 5 yr old granddaughter's, EJ, became immediate best buddies while Doc's son and his family were here.

This morning Mother's Day started early for us with the Colorado Rockies Home Run For The Homeless race. This has become a very fun Mother's Day tradition for our family.

Joanna and Hope nearing the finish line.

Jared, Hope and Justin after the race. 

EJ getting a Rockies tattoo in preparation for the Kid's Fun Run.

Justin ran the Fun Run with EJ after doing the 5k race. She finished in style, still running fast enough to have her hair flying.

Beck was all set for the Fun Run.....until he changed his mind and said "no, thank you".

I'm off in just a little while to Mother's Day part II, a family picnic, another family Mother's Day tradition that I really look forward to. 

Beneath all the activity today are thoughts of my mother who died when I was 18.

I hope everyone is having a good Mother's Day.