I just got back from my (cough) 30th High School Reunion. I had never attended one of the reunions before; I had no desire to attend one. You may find it hard to believe but High School was not the high point of my life. Frankly, I hated most of it. Not the schooling parts but the people parts. I didn't understand what made some people outcasts just because they didn't wear the same clothes, or live in the right neighborhood or whatever. I still don't.

Being back with some people I knew, but hadn't seen in 30 years was a little weird. Some of us slipped back into our friendships easily. Some of us had been talking on Facebook for months so we were already somewhat reacquainted. The sad thing was the cliques still exist and even though there is a lot more common ground among us as adults than there was as kids, those cliques still clung together to the exclusion of all else.

Some people haven't done so well and some people are just plain annoying like the jock hero who is now a drunk and the do-gooder who insists that everyone march to his drummer or they are not worthy of his attention.

I think in the end, despite various life experiences, the people that I liked in high school I could probably still be friends with today if given half a chance. I hope that now that we have reconnected, that half chance is possible. :-)

I found this story on-line. I am the daughter and niece of the"greatest generation". We were brought up to love and respect this country, those men and the freedom they fought and gave their lives for. I am the mother of a soldier. The day he graduated was probably the proudest day of my life.

I know who the real heros in this world our. God Bless Shifty Powers and all of our armed forces no matter where or when they serve(d) us.


Darrell "Shifty" Powers.
Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time . I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until some time in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center .

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

I am posting a video today made by a friend of mine from HS for her daughter. Her beautiful daughter Amanda is a diabetic. Their lives are filled with so many difficult moments and yet they manage to stay upbeat. I love this video because it is truly a work of love from Amanda's mom. Amanda is an ambassador for her annual ADA walk again this year. You might not know her but I know you know someone whose life this disease has touched. Please look for a walk in your area and consider making a donation!



Support the cause!

is my nephew James.

It has been a year since I have seen him and this picture makes me so sad. he has grown so much and I have not been around to kiss those cute little round cheeks of his. I have not been around to admire those grown-up little jeans he is wearing or hear him giggle or read him a book. I love getting pictures of my family but sometimes they just make me sad.

What makes me really glad is that a week from today I will be able to wrap my arms around him and kiss him silly if he will sit still that long (which I know he will not). It's ok, I can still hear him giggle!

how much can I get done?

Yesterday we moved another load of stuff from our house to the new one. I am getting tired of trying to cook with only tiny pans and things! Today hopefully we will have some trucks to get some of the bigger things.

After we did that, I went and picked up my MIL so she could see what we have been doing at the new house and she can get a feel of how things will look. We are trying to make it a family place as we don't want her to feel like it is our house it belongs to all of us and we are all making the decisions. She seemed to like it although I don't think she really cares as long as she is with family.

After we took her home, I finished the first coat of paint in the kitchen and I LOVE it, love it love it! We are putting the same color in the dining room but I am using the little half pint of smaple paint I bought that was too dark and mixing it with a translucent glaze to give the dining room a little different feel. Fancy it up a bit you know.

When I had the first coat of paint finished, I took my Allison Brennan book Sudden Death out on the deck along with some cheese and crackers and tried to enjoy the cool evening breeze and some peace and quiet. I am learning (after 22 years in the country) that peace and quiet is relative. Within minutes of me settling on the deck, my neighbor came out on her backyard swing and had a long and loud conversation on her phone. I am not used to neighbors that I can see and hear and I miss my birds and frogs... oh well...

OK, I am off to track down #1 son and a truck, put a second and last coat of paint in the kitchen, do some laundry, paint the dining room, move some more stuff, go to Target and find a shower rack, go to Hobby Lobby and find a shelf for the kitchen, hang some pictures, paint the hallway...oh hck you get the idea...no rest for the wicked my mama says! It's ok, vacation is a week away when I head east for my 30th High School reunion. This will be the first one that I have been to and I am really looking forward to it. So many of us have reconnected through Facebook that I really can't wait to see people again. I plan on taking lots of pictures too. It will be wonderful to see my family too since it has been over a year since I have been home. I am debating as to whether or not we can declare Sunday a shore day. Too much to do, too little time!

I believe in karma. In the past few months I have had someone I believed was a friend betray my trust... badly. It hurts. Not only did I have to re evaluate how I looked at someone I thought I could trust, but now she owes me a lot of money and I know that short of suing her, I will never see it. I can and will sue but geez... So I believe that someday, in someway, her bad karma will come back to haunt her and when it does, I have kind of hoped she thinks about me and the trust she betrayed...

The flip side of karma is this. I have a friend whose stepson brought home a "homeless" friend to live with them. I don't think it was for a real long time but the kicker was when the stepson moved out and the other kid had to stay because he had no where to go. The whole situation was beyond awkward and I am sure more than a little embarrassing for all involved. So my friend helped this kid get a job. He helped him get to work when he didn't have a way to get there. The kid helped around the house a bit but clearly my friend was doing more for this stranger than the stranger was doing for him. He had no idea how much more he was doing though.

After a few weeks of the kid working his grandparents agreed to let him move in with them. He was able to get a car to have his own transportation. He is now working a second job and doing well, great actually. My friend hadn't heard much from him since he moved out and he was not worried about that after all the kid was virtually a stranger and my friend had no ties to him,nor did my friend figure the kid owed him anything. The kid however had some other ideas.

Yesterday my friend's father called him to tell him that there was someone down in the fields working in his vineyard so my friend drove over to see what was going on. Turns out the kid had worked all the hours his first job allowed him for the week and it was too early to go to his second job so he went to my friend's vineyard and by the time my friend got there had set about 40 fence posts for him.

No one asked him to do that. Certainly no one expected him to do that. In the end though, the kid knows the gift he was given and has tried to pass that back and refill the well so to speak. So this has made me rethink some of my situation. I am sure someday my former friend will at some point have to reap what she has sown. I know longer care if she thinks back to the situation she has put me in...I just hope she has enough intelligence to realize what has caused the situation and at some point will decide to refill the well she has drained so she can find some balance in her life.

Talk about Independence Day... here's to growing up!

A couple of weeks ago I took a class at my local library on Tatting. Tatting, in case you do not know is a way of making lace. You can do it in several ways either using a shuttle or a needle. I tried and tried but I just could not get the shuttle tatting to work, I ended up with twisted mess after twisted mess! So I broke down and bought a set a tatting needles and lo and behold I got it right off, I can tat chains like mad! Can I make a ring? NO. Now be aware that I bought just the needles and got my instructions for the needle tatting off the Internet. I cannot for the life of me get any of the demos that I have watched to work! I have no clue what I am doing incorrectly but I know I am wasting a lot of thread which fortunately is not too expensive but it is very pretty and I hate wasting it.

I just don't get it, I am an intelligent, very crafty , hands on person. This is not going to defeat me. It may take the rest of my life but I am going to get it.

In the meantime, I am going to do a couple of things. First I am going to troll ebay and see if I can find an edition of the needle tatting book I should have purchased (if all else fails, I will get it the next time Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon). Then I am taking a shower and curling up on my bed to read my book. I think the tatting will have to wait a bit until I am feeling less frustrated!

On another note totally, We are slowly but surely making our way through the painting and renovations at the new house. The bathroom is going to take much longer than we expected. That is frustrating but glory I am enjoying the colors I am choosing. I will have to go to the other house and get my battery charger so I can take and post some pictures. I am looking forward to getting everything finished and getting the moving done.

Happy Independence Day tomorrow, fly your flags high and with great pride and remember the men and women who have made that possible! God Bless America!

There is so much going on in my life right now. We are moving into my in-law's house, making it handicapped accessible so we can move my MIL in with us, painting, cleaning, moving...it all adds up. On top of that neither of us is taking vacation time to actually do this so we work all day and then go to the house and work. We are working all day on our days off. There isn't any down time as we want it finished as soon as possible.

On top of this, I have not been well. I have had bouts with debilitating pain. I could not close my hands, my legs hurt so badly I couldn't sleep. I am experiencing chronic fatigue (imagine that). Nothing was/is helping. On Monday I was in so much pain that I called the doctor and took a 1/2 day from work to go. He believes that I may have fibromyalgia. I have always thought that fibromyalgia was a catch all diagnosis for "I have no clue what is going on". It has so many symptoms and so many variations. I am on a course of steroids that have taken the edge off the pain but have not eliminated it. I can feel the drag of depression coming on with the ramifications of a diagnosis.

This year has just been one thing after another health wise. I have also had to deal with some tremendous losses, my beloved friend Pam who I still miss daily and the betrayal of someone I truly trusted. Moving, my MIL's health issues, my so loved uncle's health issues. I hate it. It is no wonder I am tired and no wonder I am depressed.

I am looking forward to my high school reunion in a couple of weeks. I hope by then they will know what is going on with me and I will feel well enough to travel and enjoy my family and friends. I just want all the pieces of my life to fall into some semblance of order... is that just too much to ask?