She would have been 94

Yesterday would have been Al's Mother's birthday. Since she died after her last Year's birthday, this was a difficult"anniversary." She was a wonderful mother, and I miss her greatly too. She had a full life with such a strong constitution and will to live! She seemed to bounce back from the brink of death just like a cat with "nine lives." I' m so thankful to have had such a loving and caring mother-in-law. So many women don't.

R of B - 7B Death Valley Lane, part 1

Garrett moved to Death Valley a month ago, and Jill told Evelynn that her perverted brother's "time" had come.Jill insisted that Evelynn could have no part in her older brother's demise. Alibis and secrecy were necessary. Evelynn was content to know the S.O.B. would get his, and she gave up her long held fantasy that she would be able to torture him. He'll be dead; good riddance. The " quartet " would be taking a road trip, avoiding any airline connection to Evelynn's town. Evelynn is giddy; she has waited many years for justice.

Excellence -speech rough draft for keynote address

Why, when given options , would you ever accept mediocrity for yourself? Choose excellence! Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." According to Oxford Dictionary excellence is: The state of surpassing ordinary standards, having extreme merit,or diligence and perseverance to excel in any given pursuit." Decide to be excellent!Tonight, you have been chosen for induction into the National Honor Society, because of your well-rounded excellence which distinguishes you from many of your high school peers.You have demonstrated that excellence in the four pillars of NHS- academics, leadership, service and character. To me the striving for continued excellence not only is to be valued but is a virtuous, lifelong endeavor.Someone once quipped that "excellence is not an event but a lifestyle.Continuing to execute one thing at a time excellently defines who you will become." Foster that excellence.Continue with your proven academic commitment and determination, and you will reach your goals with excellence.Excellence is not a skill but rather an essential focused attitude which develops the skills you seek.[insert anecdote] Strive to do better and to be better.Have high expectations for yourself, but be humble. Thank your parents, teachers,coaches and others who have nurtured that excellence; you would not have gotten this far ,so successfully, without their support and encouragement. Don't forget that! I want to close with a poem by Brian Tracy entitled "Change Your World." [insert poem]. Congratulations on this prestigious accomplishment, and continue to choose excellence. Thank you. 0ver 45 years ago I sat in a venue similar to this awaiting my NHS induction too. I 'll never forget that the speaker talked about how important it is to always strive for excellence, that it should be the mettle we are made of.For instance, Everyone expects excellent service when needed. If you were to get surgery would you want a doctor who had the reputation of getting average results? This prestigious rite of passage has been steeped in tradition and honor since 1921,and it is not outdated because excellence never goes out of style.It is always relevant.Cal Ripkin, Van Cliburn, Katie couric, Meryl Streep,presidents and many other extraordinarily talented and excellent people in their respective fields began their " most excellent adventures" with this accolade. Good evening inductees and guests.

Lent

I have given up meat, bread and TV on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent, which began only two weeks ago. Now you might not think this would be difficult or " sacrificing" ,but it definitely has already proven to be challenging for me. These three items' absence has already shown how obsessed with them I am ,but I am persevering. I am also giving up clutter, so to speak. ( 40 bags in 40 days). Yep, I have a lot of excess stuff. All of this is rather humbling for me. Self - improvement isn't an easy job.

Vernal equinox

The first day of Spring and everything is in bloom. The Bartlett pear trees, daffodils,and crocus all make me smile. If I were in Michigan, it wouldn't look like this beautiful, sunny, warm day. Atlanta truly follows the seasons unlike the unpredictable Michigan springtime. The weather here makes me happy. It is my favorite season in Georgia. My favorite season in Michigan is the early fall. Different strokes....

3/17-3/18 "Graim thu"

I love St. Paddy's Day.Yes, I like Reubens and Guinness, but it was the day Alfredo and I met 40 years ago exactly, and we often go out for lunch instead of the craziness in the evening. This year we won't be together because Al is in St.Louis for a sales meeting. He started a new job 3 weeks ago, so he has quite the learning curve right now. The 18th would have been my parents' 65 anniversary - Al and I met the day before my parents' 25th anniversary and party. So these two particular dates are especially meaningful.Not a day goes by that I don't think about my mom and dad; I was lucky to be their daughter, and I'm lucky to be Alfredo's wife.I always wanted to be at least half the wonderful woman and mother my mom was. Sometimes I feel like I've achieved that, and other times I feel like I 've failed miserably. One certainty remains.I have been blessed with unconditional love most of my life - because of my parents and husband- and many people cannot say that. "Slainte!Graim thu!"( Irish for cheers! I love you!) Btw, I started writing my blog on 3/17 last year, and I've stuck with it pretty well. The four leaf clover....

R of B- Lily

Jillian stared at the small blue juice glass, remembering the joy of watching her amazing young daughter Lily drink from it, and when Lily spilled the pineapple juice, as she often did, they would laugh and clean it up, and pour some more. This morning ritual on the back terrace was treasured time to Jillian, and she wished she had more precious moments recorded such as this.Lily's shiny thick black hair style and dark eyes often had people commenting that she would make a perfect "Dora the explorer" or Buttercup,the power puff character. So Lily wanted to watch both shows frequently, and even named her dog "Dora" and her pony "Buttercup". Lily loved the color green and always wore it. Her adorable smile and dimples disarmed people, and Jillian's friends frequently asked to take Lily places such as the zoo, circus, park, etc., because Lily always seemed to enjoy wherever she went and never gave anybody any problem. Why didn't Joffrey like Lily? Jillian couldn't figure it out. Lily resembled her father greatly , and she adored him, but Joffrey rarely hugged or kissed her, and never played with her.Lily was indulged but wasn't a brat.Her nanny and the other estate employees really enjoyed her , and she was a bright light in everyone's day, everyone except her busy, aloof daddy. She swam like a fish, so the drowning " accident" confused and traumatized the whole household.Joffrey had agreed to sit by the pool and watch Lily, because the nanny had the day off ,and Jillian was in town at the salon.Joffrey had done this before and didn't seem to mind because he only had to keep an eye on Lily and not interact with her. When Jillian returned from the salon, there was an ambulance in the driveway, and an EMT trying to resuscitate Lily to no avail. The funeral and investigation were a blur for Jillian, and her already tepid marriage disintegrated.The blue glass and memories... Today is Lily's birthday, but there won't be any party.

R of B- Jillian's obsession

Jillian had long harbored the secret desire to exact deadly revenge on her arrogant, philandering husband, Joeffry Alexander,even before the media exposed his torrid affair with an underage model, who later killed herself after becoming pregnant with his child. Joeffry's lack of remorse infuriated her, and the unrelenting, salacious publicity shamed and humiliated her. Her subsequent divorce proceedings became tabloid fodder, but she triumphed with an astronomical, historic financial settlement. She decided to keep the last name of " Alexander" , not because she still wanted to be connected to Joeffry, but to piss him off. Jill always believed that their young daughter's "accidental" drowning death five years before the divorce had Jeoffry's fingerprints all over it, but the long, ugly investigation turned up nothing, and the coroner 's findings stood. She planned and waited, and escaped into heroin. When Joeffry and his new girlfriend decided to hold their engagement party at " the Caboose", Jillian chose that dubious celebration for the doomed nightclub's bombing. All that was left was to make the phone call. 23 people died in the apparent terrorist explosion. She didn't care.

"mobile homes"

I'm going to see " trailer trash- the musical" this weekend. It should be a hoot. I never minded living in a mobile home back in the 70's (five years when I lived in Michigan). I saved enough money for a down payment on my first house that way. In fact, many of my neighbors were widowed women. But in Georgia, I must say,trailer parks here are very sketchy and seedy -lots of drugs and many illegal immigrants.I am glad and thankful that we could help Adam get a town house in a nice neighborhood. If he lived in a trailer park, I would have a lot of sleepless nights.

Eutony

Perspicacious, ebullient,sapiosexual, scripturient, Selcouth - aren't these obscure descriptors lovely for their specificity? I wish I could be defined as such, but, at least, my closest friends have these qualities.

Uninspired

I haven 't been blogging because I have felt uninspired. I decided that I would catch up on some of my to- read - books on Kindle, hoping to get some of that inspiration that is eluding me. Reading is good for my soul and mind.

Migraine mind mush

I've had a migraine for two days, and it 's finally gone. If you have never had a migraine,it is quite the uber headache. I see spots, have blurred vision,can't stand light or noise, and I vomit. My sister has migraines so bad that she has a presription for shots. I'm not at that point I suppose, but I literally can't think or do anything when I have one. Sometimes they will go away in a few hours, but two days seems like an eternity. That is why I haven't been blogging.