Summertime

It is 6am and the thermometer is reading 80 degrees. Summer has arrived. This is the last week of school and the teachers are more excited than the students. I can't believe how fast this year went. Last year at this time, I was getting ready for my son's wedding. I had a laundry list of tasks and didn't know how I would do them all. But I did. This Saturday, my friend's son is getting married and she is reliving my life from last year. I think the year went fast because we did not have to contend with snowstorms. It felt like Summer, Fall, Fall, Spring and Summer. It is supposed to reach over 90 degrees by this afternoon, so I am getting ready for my patients to cancel their appointments. They do not like to come out if it is too cold or too hot. Our office policy is that if you cancel on the day of your appointment, we charge you anyway. I know I will be arguing with a lot of people today. I just hope the air conditioner is on full blast.

Hats Off

This morning, on Yahoo, I saw a picture of the British Royalty at an event. All of the women were wearing hats. Not the type that keep your head warm in the cold weather. The kind that are a fashion statement. I always thought that the hats that English people wear are almost outlandish. The three hats in the picture looked like 1) a Frisbee 2) a dessert plate with a few small cookies and 3) the flower arrangement I used to have on my dining room table, before it got too dusty and had to be thrown out. The other ladies at this event wore similar monstrosities. I began to think about what my circle of friends and I would look like in those type of hats. I couldn't bear the visual. I would never leave my house. I am glad that when America became independent from England, we also distanced ourselves from the hats.

Happy Birthday B

Thirty one years ago, at 1:34am, my life changed forever. My first son was born. I was hoping for a boy, as I am not the type of person to be a frilly, girly mom. I am a mother of boys. There is a difference. I got my wish and there he was. Sky blue eyes and light blond hair. So handsome. He looked directly into my eyes and there was an immediate connection that has held strong all of these years. Even though he lives three hours away, he is always with me. He is an extension of me. He is quiet and does not say much but when he does say something, everyone listens. He has grown from a great son into an even better husband. In a few months, he will grow again, into a loving father. To me, he is one of life's miracles. I still have the same feeling today when I look at him, as I did in the delivery room 31 years ago. I am so lucky he is mine.

r

A few weeks ago my computer crashed. A computer hacker type of program attached itself to my hard drive. It was a type of program that mimics an anti virus screen and will not allow you to exit it unless you buy the software. There really is no software, they just want your credit card number. I am smart enough to know a scam when I see it, but I did not have the IT skills to remove the pop up screens. I needed to call Dell and have them enter my computer via remote and redo everything. It took three hours and cost $89.95. It was well worth it. After the entire mess was over, my desktop was left with an "r" on it. For some reason it just stayed there. I have restarted my computer many times since the "mishap" but the "r" is still there. It will be there for ever. I am getting used to it. It is a reminder that nothing in the world is perfect and we just have to learn how to live with certain things.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's! Happy Father's Day to all the Mom's, too. Yes, the Mom's. The other day, after I held my lecture, one of the participants came up to me to say goodbye.  She shook my hand and said "Have a Happy Father's Day". She then explained that she is a single mother and has raised her family alone for many years. She has been mom and dad, in good times and bad. She feels that today is her day, too. Most people enter parenthood with the expectations of doing it as a team. Unfortunately, the number of parents going it alone is higher than ever. Maybe society has relaxed its rules so much, that single parent families are slowly becoming the norm. I wish everyone a good day, whatever your plans are!

Top 10 Days

There are certain days that the weatherman would describe as the "top ten" days of the year, weather wise. Today is one of them. As soon as I opened my back door and went outside to walk Shelby, I smiled. The sun is bright, there is not a cloud in the sky, it is 60 degrees and there is a slight breeze. Just perfect. In about 2 hours I will be setting up a booth in my local park to discuss the benefits of Life Coaching. I was hoping for a beautiful day. After that I will come home and have my family over for an early Father's Day celebration. Father's Day weekend is always special to me, as it is when my older son was born. This weekend always doubled as both celebrations. Even though he lives 200 miles away, I still feel that this party is for him. A beautiful day, a fair at the park and a family party. How could anyone be happier?

Little Sprout

It is the time of the year for planting gardens. In my neighborhood there are quite a few nurseries to choose from. We have the private ones that have their greenhouse in the back and we have the Home Depot kind that imports from various places. Years ago I had a vegetable garden that had 13 varieties of plants. We grew plentiful vegetables, too much for my family, so I had to give a lot away. One year I grew a zucchini so large that it was the size of a baseball bat. I have a picture of my older son swinging it over his shoulder. There is one fond memory that I will always remember.The last day of kindergarten, my younger son came home with a styrofoam cup and dirt. He said that he planted a sunflower seed in it and the teacher told him to water it daily and watch it grow. After a few weeks it got too big for the cup so we replanted it in my vegetable garden. We watched it grow and soon it was taller than him. Then it was taller than me. By September it had reached over 10 feet tall and the sunflower was 2 feet in diameter. It had grown into a giant. I took a picture of my son in front of it. Later that month it dropped all of its seed and we ate them. It is still one of my best memories.