Strong Women!

Here are a couple of strong women! Take a good look. One has lived with Stage 4 Cancer for five years and all kinds of major physical CRAP - for want of a better word. The other has lived with hard times, disappointments and physical struggles. Both are - for the most part - positive people. Both keep on going - getting tough when the weak fall behind. My hat is off to you - JUNE and KORI.

Ever feel this way?

Gripes. Here are a few of mine. I hate it when people talk to kids like they are stupid. I mean like......elementary school aged children. My ex has put us through Hell and still thinks we shouldn't talk about these things to our 8 year old. Like she has no perception of what's happening around her. Like she can't feel when Mom is upset?

I don't know how close you are to your children but they know, right? Don't get me wrong, I am not a huge Drama Queen (in real life) so if I lose it when my kid is around.... I am having a hard time. Why do we feel we need to shield our kids from EVERYTHING? Like Life is just one lovely walk in the park? Whoa.

Isn't there some happy medium? I think I'd rather my kid have some information than left to wonder..."is it me?"

Here's another. Do we give kids too many chances? I mean...when they screw up do we say...okay THIS time for sure....? Do we set them up for big falls in Life when they get a resounding NO out there in the cold cruel WORLD? How do they cope if they have never had to deal with it in a controlled environment?

Sigh. I love my child as much as anyone else loves their flesh and blood. It just BUGS me when adults can't walk in their children's shoes for a moment. For a MINUTE.

How do we explain accountability when our Mayor and his Girlfriend lie under oath and then get busted big time? When do adults have to own up and BECOME ADULTS? When do we have to own up to petty behaviour worthy of a 6 year old? I must admit I have had my share of petty, pouty behavior but it doesn't last long and it's usually done in private. I realize....All right, you've had your 15 minutes.. GET OFF THE PITY POT AND MOVE ON.

Wow, can it be that some adults don't know they are whiners? Maybe, huh?

That sucks.

http://jolli.wordpress.com/

The title of this posting is a wonderful website that I visit most days. It's done by a guy whose family owns the Jolli Lodge on Good Harbor Bay - one of my most favorite places on earth! If you want to see some really lovely wintry photos I would highly suggest checking out the site.

Yup, it's Winter again here. We are walking into the annual January deep freeze.

Below is a photo of two gal pals - long term gal pals. Kathy is on the left and Michele is on the right. Kathy I have sung with for 20 years and she is a blast and one of the few who can sing Led Zeppelin tunes at the drop pf a hat.


Michele is my best friend and was my Maid of Honor at my wedding. We met when we were 15 /16 years old while doing our high school musical, Oklahoma!. We've been friends ever since. Although we have spent very little time in the same state/country, we have a friendship that has always been one you could pick up at any time. She is one of my 3a.m. friends - the ones you call when you are freaked out/mad/sad/lonely at 3a.m.

Both these ladies represent moments in my life and mean different things to me. I am so happy they were with me to share my special day and both are dear, smart women. Thanks guys!!

At it again!

Here we are - geez was this photo from almost 2 years ago?? - Lisa and I, getting ready for another show. This is my friend who is the Creative Director of the theatre group I work with.

I am the Vocal Director for the company. This has been a great collaboration for me. I've done 6 shows with the group and am now embarking on my 7th. The Youth Theatre celebrates it's 5th year in existence this season. Cool, huh?

I'm off to rehearsal!

I got the BUG

The Travel Bug. It has been an embarrassingly long time since I was out of this great country of ours. This is a shot of me in Rome - outside the Colosseum no less. (No, I did not carve my name into the wall! But yes, that is my name and date. A whole other story............)

Geez! I have been all over the USA but not outside the country since....gulp....1997. Really! Really? Before then I was all over the place. Money is a factor, for sure. But wow! For someone with this strong of an addiction?

It ain't right!

Best Man and Best Gal

I watched my wedding DVD the other day - was it only 8 months ago? This photo is so cute of our best man and our lovely junior bridesmaid. Mallie was NOT going to be a Flower Girl.
"Mom, it's a fluff job". Everyone looked so good and so happy. It is nice to have an enduring piece of history where your friends and family remain forever in nice clothes and smiles. Love that technology!

The kings have come and gone

Here we are, happy Christmas Family. Epiphany has come and gone and my tree is till up. I always have it down by now but I'm dragging my heels this year. Why? The tree is so lovely and we got some new ornaments from friends and family this year. And it does make the living room glow very nicely. I often think that I will have a Winter Tree one year. Take some old branches - not hard to find after last night's storm - and bring them in and add lights and some left over tinsel. Keep the cheeriness going for a little longer through the yucky months. Sigh. If only the snow would return - sorry snow haters. I love it and it makes the winter so much easier to deal with - for me. This weather is just so ......nothing. It inspires nothing - in my book. There are no bulbs pushing up to excite me. There are no tree buds to make me think of warm summer afternoons. Whoa! It is POURING right now. Major rain. Wow.

Snow is gentle and quiet and serene, I feel. It makes us slow down and think more, don't you find? Warm rain just makes you pull your collar closed and move more quickly into the store. Luckily, I live in the frozen north so I'll get my wish sooner than later. It just seems a shame that we lost all the stuff we had last week.

Spending time with friends

This is Karen and I think she may have had a couple o' beers at this event. She looks rather relaxed, doesn't she? She introduced me to feather bowling. If you don't know what it is you need to find out because there are not many feather bowling lanes around anymore. It's a Belgium thing.

Anyway, my point today is that during the holidays we take the time, often, to get together for coffee with friends. Maybe it's the sentimentality of the season but we do it. And I love that. Karen and I had a lovely breakfast not too long ago and I really enjoyed myself. Sigh.

Mental note.....take more time in 2008 to smell the roses. Or the Karens! ;)

The hills are alive with the sound of music.....

Here we are after our performances at The Music House over the holidays. Ain't we cute? Mallie jumped onto the organ platform for this impromptu photo. It is alot of fun to be able to concertize with your mate. Check out the Music House's website....www.musichouse.org

Phil and Steve and Me & My Girl

I hate that I cannot position photos where I want them!!!!!!!!

Sigh.......

(At the bottom of the page) Here we are, my darling gal and I. This was just before a performance of "Little Princess" - notice Mal's pin curls. And me, before I cut my hair! this was taken by a friend with a camera phone. Aren't those the coolest??







The holidays were a rush. Like in "rush around". We traveled to see my in-laws up north and that was great. My husband and I were concertizing and that made for a bit of craziness. We performed in a museum together - I sang and he did several pieces (on the theatre organ) and then accompanied two silent film shorts by Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy. We did two shows Saturday night and then had to drive back for our church jobs, turn around, and drive back up north. Whew! Luckily the weather was okay then but when we all came home on New Year's Day it was fierce! There was a foot or more on the ground and more snow falling steadily with near white out results. We did make it back in one piece but there were a few times we saw folks off in the ditch and it was kinda unnerving! Although we did not get the chance to see friends too much over the holidays we were able to connect with family and, this being the first set of holidays as a married woman, it meant alot to be able to do some "bonding". Mal and I even walked into town one day and went to a coffee house. We sat in front of the fire, sipping our hot drinks and then set off shopping together. We got some great exercise and some wonderful Mom/Daughter time in as well. Really great to be with those you love.





When we got back home there was more mail to go through and more Christmas letters to read as well. It made me realize that I had left out some info in my Christmas letter. I totally left out the show Steve and I did last February!





In the middle of "A Little Princess" and planning for our wedding we did the three person show "Oh Coward"! It's a wonderful review of Noel Coward music and readings from his shows. Google him and see what an amazing guy he was. An Englishman born at the turn of the century, he was most prolific and was quite the celebrity in the theatre and movie cirlces. He knew EVERYONE and was quite a raconteur. We did the show with my dear friend,Phil, who walked me down the aisle. That's him in the other photo, up in the choir loft with my honey.

Stephen did a tremendous job singing fairly difficult music and I fell in love with him all over again. He is a bass but did a great job on some of the tenor numbers as well. It was a great performance and it was great fun to "tread the boards" one more!

Now it's off to do the laundry and get the house un-holidayed - a bit at a time! I do so hate to see the tree go. Perhaps that can wait till the weekend!

I'm off like a prom dress!