HONK

This could be a pleasant, annoying or angry sound depending on where you hear it and who is doing it, right? I totally know this as I have been both the Honker and the Honkee.....hmmm, well you get the idea. Who better to make a loud noise than a less than attractive member of the community. And of course if you can't live up to the expectations of those around you, the best thing to do might be to just disappear. Or maybe not. Often those impulsive or angry decisions are the absolute wrong thing to do. I would even move to say that 100% of the time those are the worst decisions.

So for a very ugly quacker, following a mortal enemy kitty cat seems a better solution then living where no one sees or at least talks about your good points.  So we have all done this at some point, talked ourselves into a "relationship" that is at best a disaster. Eventually realizing he is lost, afraid, lonely, missing even the mean eggs that made fun of him, he found that returning home was starting to sound really good. Then that is when it happened, a morph of such magnitude that even he could not recognize himself.  

Ugly became de-uglified. He became something no one expected. He was not the biggest, ugliest, loudest, oddest duck in the pond. He was a SWAN, royalty with feathers unveiled, smooth, striking, totally cool. Then the others had to admit they were wrong, apologize for their horrible remarks and error in judgement. They had realized that nothing was as it seems, but may have an entirely different reality than the one they see. They had said "ugly" but found "beauty". HONK!!

It is a great play with music, dance and many of Cody's dance friends on stage. We had fun watching with even more dance friends in the audience. GREAT TIME!! We love our friends who, no matter what the appearance, they have this incredible beauty, a heart of gold! And wings........they all have wings to fly. HONK!

What A Week It Has Been

I love the ability to run in circles without hitting the wall. Hmmm, wait, I have hit the wall before. BUT if I recall that was my sisters fault, she was chasing me after all.....or my parents fault for buying a house where you could run in a circle. I will have to ponder that in another post:-)

Now that I am old, I can usually avoid the walls, but the pillow, man, I can not seem to miss that. Hits my head every night! Oh well, if I have to endure it I will. In any event, I am able to rise every day, God willing, and enjoy the constant motion of work and home. I am never bored, which is good, as that would be devastating to my waistline. So here is a glimpse of life in the hood.

 Greatest Birthday Party! We joined some of Cody's dearest friends at the park to celebrate Kaleb's birthday. Great weather, excellent food and a lot of fun watching these teens enjoy each others company.

It would be safe to say that the grown ups had as much fun watching as they did playing that is for sure. 

Then there was a fun excursion to see our cousins in Tucson. They have moved into a lovely first home. Such a nice neighborhood and the views in Tucson, wow! In Peoria we see mountains as they surround the smog which blurs the view of the daily commute, UNLESS we have a great storm to clear the mud from the sky. Anyway, great fun catching up. The kids had fun and of course I took ooodles of pictures:-) And Evangeline took some too. She takes after cousin Cody I think.

I have been so grateful to get to spend time with our Tucson cousins and get to know their family. Cody really loves having "cousins" to talk about. He was even more excited to have a real story to tell at school Friday. He usually has to make something up to tell his teachers about his weekend as apparently we are BORING and don't do any fun things like parties, fllying to the beach, going to the movies and so on. Of course, if you are one of his teachers you are convinced we have 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. He has names, ages and where they go to school. And he has it hardwired. Who knew!!

My dear dad turned 84. We have so many real stories to tell, and we learned the gift of telling "the rest of the story" from the master himself, DAD! That always came with a finger pointing up and a grin with the eyebrow lifted. He doesn't really remember that now, but I think now we are telling "the rest of his story!" He is happy and loves goodies. He received LOTS of goodies for his birthday. Cookies, candy, pretzels, and so much more. I had to remind him not to eat it all at once.......or I would have to put elastic in the waistband of all his trousers. He won't remember, but it is okay. I have lots of elastic:-)

Track practice. We are preparing for the State Special Olympics track meet. It is in May and I will share dates as soon as I get his for sure. We were excited to see our favorite coach there. He has been ill and the kids (term used loosely as they are 8-50's) were so excited to see him. Wonderful with the kids, a genuine heart for helping them succeed. 

So there you have it. A few pictures to enjoy and now you know what I know or at least think I know:-) And if you know what I know then you know that it is not that much! As you can see I am a bit TIRED or punchy despite the pillow time last night. Just need more, or more coffee or more.........time:-)

Have a beautiful day and hug someone you love just because.

Judy24-25

 



Wednesday ..... I have some thoughts

So I have been enjoying the new job. A great time of adjustment, learning a new role, identifying the players, learning the rules, getting into a new routine, changing the wardrobe, driving endlessly, writing, reading and arithmetic! All true you see, you have to be able to read, create, speak, budget, present, schedule, plan, yada yada yada!

What have I learned is the next thing......I know you were going to ask because that's what you do. You are curious or nosey or bored or living vicariously through my exciting life in the desert. Ha. That's good!! Anyway I spent the past two weeks in situations where I was forced to breathe deeply often and ponder WHY I went into management! Well here are the nuggets from the first three months:

I love working with almost everyone almost all of the time. A colleague sent this to me today and suggested it would be a great "visual" to let those who need it know that they have ....... well....... ya know!

I love creating things. Arts, crafts and party planning are things I love. I should really take my reports to a much more creative level and "dress" them in such a way that NO ONE can say a negative thing! Bows, ribbons, fancy paper and perhaps a basket of chocolates or baked goods. Who can get mad with muffins in the room, right?

I am a very patient person. Really!     ............  sigh   .............  um   ........You  know, if you are done with this sentence you can move along already.......

I DO want to retire some day so that I can choose the projects, people, place, subject matter and schedule. Will I be a lay about? NOT! I would be able to do daily things like, vacuum, underwear shopping (don't ask), taking a bath, hygiene. You know, those things that get "comped" in order to complete more pressing tasks like creating a proposal to impact 11,000 employees or dealing with misbehaved  employees (ADULTS) or deciding which of the three meetings scheduled at the same time and day in three locations all marked "priority high" to go to. I would instead perhaps have one thing to do during the day, like well, find "relief"! Ha. Sounds silly doesn't it, but do you know I did not do that today until just a bit ago. I understand there are people in the world who get to find relief more than once or twice a day. I would like to be one of those people. It is near the top of my retirement list. Then I would volunteer, visit family or friends, clean, vacuum and definitely change out the underwear drawers. Day two might take more time to plan for, but it sounds like a great start.

Seriously, I do love my job, I love the challenge and I do love the people. I am reminded of how unique each person is and find each person has specific gifts and talents, and yes, irritations. But face it, I am irritating. I must be! We all have something and it is learning how to draw out those positive things in order to overshadow or change those things from the "dark side" of each person. I am inspired by the kids that accept and mentor Master Gates. They take him completely, whether he is cooperating or not, whether he gets it or not, they take him along for the ride. Sometimes I think grown ups need that. I have not always seen that done, but I think it is a great skill for us to learn or regain from our youth when we had more tolerance for differences in ............... everything.

There it is, my thoughts for today. Hope you had some good thoughts today too! I know I am ready to face a new day. And if I need it, I will send out the monkey. :-)