Ever Changing

Here is the reason my life never gets stale. These three creatures infuse it with laughter, fun & joy. Maddy is getting pretty big for her six year old britches, as they say. She is often sassy and gives us the "whatever" eye roll. Then she turns around and kisses me on the nose and tells me she loves me! Jack is all boy with a feisty temper at times and then asks to be hugged when he gets really upset! Abbey, the sponge, is repeating and reacting to everyone around her. She clearly knows what she wants and rarely takes "no" for an answer. She also loves pumpkin spice lattes and playing on the iPhone ~ at almost three!
They wear me out and keep me young, all at the same time.

Role Models

Whether we realize it or not, kids are constantly watching and modeling themselves after us. They want to be like us, good or bad. Role modeling can be a very effective parenting tool. We don't need to look only at the negative things they model, but also the positive. I love these pictures I took this morning of Pa building a house and Jack building an airplane (with a little help from Pa!) He just wanted to use tools, cut, nail and measure like he's seen Pa do dozens of times.

What we must face is that being a positive role model takes fore-thought and self control on the part of the adult. A lot is said and written about disciplining children. We must also put equal emphasis on disciplining ourselves. Little eyes see all! Little ears hear everything!

Passion

When most people hear the word "passion", I think they think of sex. Actually, passion is defined as a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. I have met many people in my life and I can honestly say, the ones I remember the most are the ones who had a passion for something. They are interesting to be around. They create energy and excitement. They are out of the ordinary. Let's face it, most people are just that, ordinary. While there is nothing wrong with ordinary, it is not how I want to be remembered. I want to have had a passion for things that people can sense when they are around me. I want to feel more, good and bad, rather than just float through life. I see people who, I think, lack passion for anything. They are neither happy or sad; they just are. If I become a person who no longer gets really angry or really excited about things, I will know I have lost my passion for living. I can't think of a worse fate.

Good Advice

Do something silly, that makes you laugh, EVERY DAY!!!

A Boy & His Dog

"The dog was created specially for children. He is the god of frolic."
I love this picture, which is, obviously, titled "A Boy & His Dog". Jack loves to hang out with Saddie. Poor Saddie endures ear tugging, neck grasping, and tail pulling. Labs are known to be good with children, thank God! Jack's idea of love is pretty rough and tumble. He starts out playing with her, it turns to teasing and often ends with him in tears because she nipped at him. Saddie thought it was still playing while Jack is crying. The funny thing is, he continues to go back for more. Dogs and kids have short memories for our wrong doings. They just want a little attention and a pat on the head. Then again, don't we all?

The Grammie Diaries Postscript

My daughter asked me to write another entry about the weekend of babysitting as she was afraid the first night sounded so bad. I didn't think I spun it badly, just honestly. Look, there are three kids, six and under, and a puppy. It is not bad by any means, it is just VERY loud, non stop and busy. Any mother of small children will agree, it's a tough job. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart. Like anyone else, if you stop, listen and pay attention to them, even if it is silly nonsense, they blossom under your undivided attention. Close your computer, put down your iPhone, turn off the TV and just listen to them. You will be amazed at the things they think, feel and say. You may even learn something!

The Grammie Diaries

Watching the kids for the weekend is something I don't mind doing. My daughter & son-in-law get away so seldom, I am happy to help them. We had a great afternoon yesterday with everybody behaving and no meltdowns. I brought my bag of tricks and pulled out a few fun things to do. Pizza for dinner, baths, stories, new flashlights x 3 and they were all asleep by 7:36pm! I felt like the super hero of grammies!
No so fast...12:00am Jack wakes up and wants to crawl into my bed. The answer is easy ~ debate with a 4 year old at midnight or pull back the covers and let him in? At 1:30am, I heard Abbey crying and went to see what was wrong. Upon opening the bedroom door, my nose was assaulted with a hideous odor that could mean one thing ~ the puppy had pooped in her crate! Quickly getting Abbey back to bed, Maddy wakes up and tells me her nose is stuffy. I informed her what a lucky girl she is as the smell of poo is only getting worse! At 1:45am, I hit the "Pa Panic Button" in the kitchen. This is the pretend button Sean created long ago that, when you hit it, Pa comes running to the rescue. I didn't know how bad it was going to be with the dog and I needed help with getting the crate outside. Within seven minutes, he arrives, we access the damages, toss out the pooped blankets, wipe down the cage and put the dog back. By now, both girls are awake. Remember, they've had over 6 hours of solid sleep. I put one back to bed and within minutes the other one gets up. This goes on for an hour; it's now 3:00am. I finally crawl into the bottom bunk, put one on each side of me and tell them we are going to sleep! Maddy continues to ask, at least 6 more times, "When will it be morning, Grammie?" I figure, somewhere around 4:00am, they are both finally asleep. At 6:17am, Jackie Boy comes bounding in, refreshed from his full night's sleep and is ready to start the day! He wants his milk and cartoons on the sofa. As I drag my weary body to get it for him, he says to me, "If you get me milk, Grammie, I will pay you with a kiss." Enough said, the long night is forgotten. Well, all except the dog poop!

Nike Half Marathon

Sunday, 10-17-10, was the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. I flew up there, met friends and we ran the race. It covered some beautiful scenery from Union Square, along the Embarcadero, through the Presidio to the ocean and finished at Golden Gate Park. It had some challenging hills from mile seven to mile nine. At that point, I questioned why I had willingly decided to do this torture! It started raining at mile ten and drizzled steadily until the end of the race. Ahhh, the end of the race where a fireman in a tuxedo handed us that little blue box with our Tiffany necklace in it. NOW, I remembered why I wanted to do this race! There were 20,000 people, mostly women, who ran it. As we enjoyed the city the next day, we proudly wore our necklaces and strangers congratulated us on finishing the race. We belonged to a sisterhood of other runners who had been there with us. Oh, some were much faster and some were much slower, but that really was not the point. We set a goal, we trained for it and we accomplished it. It is a heady, empowering feeling.
Running may not be your thing, but I urge you to find something that is. It may force you to get outside your comfort level and grow in ways you never thought possible and that may just be even better than a Tiffany blue box!!

Happiness

Did you know there is actually a "Secret Society of Happy People"? Harvard researchers recently published a study indicating that happiness can be contagious. The study examined how emotions spread across social networks. It found that when a person is happy, it "infects" friends, increasing by 11 percent those people's chances of being happy. Conversely, one sad friend can double a person's chances of being unhappy. This is powerful information. It means not only can we affect our own level of happiness, but we can also influence the people we are around. We can't take this information lightly. We must understand that spreading happiness is a cost-free way to make the world a better place. We may not always feel it, but making the effort is important. You may never know the difference you make in someone else's life.

Anticipation

This is one of my favorite pictures out of all of the ones I took at Disneyland last week. I call it "Pa & His Posse". He is always the one the kids gravitate toward because he always makes time for them. As you can see, it was raining and yet, clearly, it was not raining on their spirits. We were about to go in the main gate, the day was still before us and the anticipation was high. The kids had been talking about this Disneyland trip for weeks as it was the topic of many dinners. Look at their faces and feel their joy. It was impossible not to get caught up in it despite wet pants, puddles everywhere, and a bad hair day.
Whenever you feel like life is getting you down, saddle up next to the little ones and they will show you there is still plenty of joy to be found!

Handbags

As many of you know, I love cartoons. I think it falls under the category ~ "Many a truth is said in jest." Often, reading one makes me laugh out loud or, at the very least, pause and smile at its message. This one caught my eye because, like many women, I carry a large handbag stuffed with many things. Mine is pretty organized but still, I carry probably more things than I need to carry. When I have to condense it down to a smaller bag, say for an evening out, I am filled with anxiety. What should I leave behind? Will I need a band aid or the coupon for $5 off at Pick Up Stix?? Is lipstick enough or should I bring the lip liner pen as well? It is so much easier to just lug the whole thing rather than whittle down the contents.
Years ago, I complemented a woman on her cute purse. She informed me, rather haughtily, that is was NOT a purse, but a handbag! When I asked what was the difference, she told me "purse" is something you do with your lips. You carry handbags! Her message stuck with me as I have faithfully called them handbags ever since!
Buying a new handbag and switching over all the contents from the old one is such an exciting moment. It lets you clean out everything, start fresh, & find just the right spot for all your things. It's a new beginning, of sorts. Getting complements on your handbag can make your whole day; giving one to someone else can make theirs.
Forget Capital One ~ "What's in your wallet?" What's in your handbag??

A Reminder

I was reminded this weekend how right my husband is when he tells us, "Everyone has a story." Appearances are, more often than not, deceiving. You may think that person next to you waiting to pick their kid up from school or in line at the market is happier, smarter or richer than you. Think again. Each and every one of us is fighting some sort of fight. Whether they are small fights ~ kids that won't sleep through the night, an angry word we sent our spouse out the door with this morning, or big fights ~ sickness in the family, more month than money, feeling isolated and lost, we are all carrying the burden of something. If we can remind ourselves of that fact a little more often, we may be able to give people a little more leeway as we go about our day. Wouldn't we like them to do the same for us?

Sweet Success

Yesterday was the Fall Boutique & Craft Show. This was the 4th show I have produced over the last four years. It has grown each time and I have fine tuned it each year. You definitely learn from the experiences, both things you want to repeat and things you don't. Being in sales and marketing all my life, it is interesting to observe how different the levels of sales ability is in other people. In some cases, I should say lack of ability. You can have a terrific product, but if you don't market it well and have the ability to sell to others, you are winking in the dark ~ nobody knows you are there! I think some people love a product and decide to distribute it or make something cute and decide to make it to sell it, but never think beyond that fact. These are the same ones that sit back at a boutique and wonder why they are not selling anything. They would rather blame the producer than take responsibility for their results. Sound familiar? It is how many people run their entire life, blaming others.
All in all, we had over 200 people visit the show this time and the feedback from vendors was 95% positive. Those who had an upbeat attitude seemed to do well and sell more. Funny how that works!

Farewell

Today we must go to the funeral of a lovely woman who many warmly called "Grandma D". She lived a very long and full life. She had been fading for the last few years and was lovingly cared for by her family, especially her daughter. It was a testimony to great love to witness Cathy's unending care for her. In this situation, it was easy to see that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". Once the tears have dried, the many, beautiful memories will remain. May the family take comfort in that fact and also in knowing that anyone who encountered Margaret will remain a witness to her kind and loving nature.

Beautiful Maddy

Six years ago today, my life was changed forever. My first grandchild, Madeline Michelle Riley was born. It is a joy and love like no other. Sorry husband and kids, but it is true. Oh, they can be messy, loud and demanding, but they say the sweetest things when you least expect it and your heart just melts. Trust me, being a grand parent is NOT overrated!!!

When Maddy woke up this morning and looked outside, she found 50 pink flamingos on the front lawn with a sign saying "You've Been Flocked! Happy Birthday from Gram & Pa". I went to bed so excited, knowing my phone would ring early and I would share her delight at this silly fun. At 6:55am, the phone did ring and all three kids had to tell me what they saw and what was going on at their house. The sheer happiness in their voices was my present.

These flamingos were not my idea, but is a fund raiser for the Foothill Cheer squad this year. They come the night before, under the cloak of darkness and "plant" the flamingos. The recipient awakens to the yard full of them in the morning and then that evening, again in darkness, they remove them. What a fabulous, fun idea! Not only does it bring joy to the person you sent them to, but everyone driving by gets a smile out of it too.

Happy Birthday, dear Maddy! We love you so much!!

Extremes

My daughter and I are a lot alike in many ways. However, one way we are polar opposites. I am a rush in, take a stand, confront the issue type of person. My daughter is a wait, avoid conflict at any cost, least confronting person you can imagine. We have many lively discussions about how to handle situations because our styles are so different. She thinks I am a bull in the china shop and she cringes at my willingness to meet a situation, however uncomfortable, head on. I think she is a big chicken that won't confront things even if it might make her life easier. We are both wrong. We are both right. I think being so opposite in this area has actually helped us both be better people. I often bounce something off her as I know she will see a side I don't see. She, in turn, may not want to hear my suggestion on resolving some conflict in her life, but will at least takes bits and pieces, soften the edges and use my suggestion. Through it all, we continue to love each other and always want the best for each other and that is the happy medium where we meet.

Which Are You?

"Be a fountain...not a drain"
This quote was on some one's Facebook page this week and I have been thinking about it for days. Isn't it nice that something worthwhile can come from Facebook rather than, "I had a burrito for lunch."? Someone put this out there because it spoke to her and how she'd like to lead her life. I read it and couldn't stop thinking about it. The words stuck with me and made me think about keeping my attitude positive and open. The truth is, good breeds on itself and bad breeds on itself. Whether we like to admit it or not, our thoughts become actions. Life happens to all of us. The difference is how we choose to deal with it. The good news is, we can always keep trying to be the people we want to be. My goal is to be as awesome as my grand kids think I am!