Halloween

Forever, Halloween has been an event for my girls. Primarily because their dad made such a big deal about the holiday that it burned it in their souls! This year was no exception! J’Amy and Eric had a Halloween party to beat all Halloween parties! The decorating throughout was over the top, both inside and out! The.food.was.amazing.and.the.party.was.phenomenal.


The whole event started out with a bang. Three years ago Halloween night, Drayton proposed to Ashley:

Then on Saturday we all gathered to take a family picture, in costume, when the camera was ready to snap, Drayton said “one, two, three, Ashley’s pregnant!!!” Wow!!! There is going to be a Bailey baby…. Please see the photographic proof below:

Hosting was the beautiful witch and wizard - - the Winters ….

Also there was the Auntie and Uncle witch and wizard… and of course Oz the Owl

Woody and Bo Peep showed up…. Whooa there Sheriff….

Shrek and Fiona stopped in on their way back to the Swamp

And of course no Halloween party is complete without a vampire!

What a great party! What great news! There is going to be another baby! Yea, yea, yea…what a party that will be!

Fishing Stories

Well it kind of went like this.  Once upon a time there was this:

 That wrought this:

 And this:

That became this:

 And then here:

 To here:

Then this:

To Finally this:

 The End.

Oregon

It sure has been a time since my swiftly flying fingers found their way to my blog.  So much going on, so much to do, so much to NOT do, and even more that I want to do.  So, here I sit, Orange Spice Tea in hand, reflecting.

Just a couple short weeks ago I was here:

Doing this:

With:

And:

And:

And I learned some things, relearned a few more, and came to realizations about others.  The most important "not so new" realization is that time is precious.  The time spent with my family making memories that will last me my entire lifetime - - is precious.

The beauty that surrounds us is just phenomenal.

I am an ocean girl right to the inner depths of my soul.  I don't think I could survive without that occasional fix.

I learned that fishing for albacore tuna is not for sissies.  And I ain't no sissy.

My mother is the most beautiful, genuine, incredible loving, sweetest lady on this planet.  She just is.  Period.  My dad is a fighter; a trooper; my hero.  My baby brother is an amazing man, gentle, kind and a great husband.  My sister (in-law) tickles me right to the bone.  She is genuine Oklahoma, and I love it, and her quick smile. And my man.... what a good, honest man.

Oregon was, as always, a lovely time filled with laughter, fishing, bridges, loverboy, cheese, Mo's, salty air, fog, and fun.

Volunteering

My mom has a tender heart. She always has. She is good at so many things. One of the qualities I admire the most is her organizational skills. I love that she reorganizes my utensil drawer every time that she comes to my house. Or that she loves to fold the socks in the sock basket. But one quality of my mom's that I have always adored is her tenderness toward elderly people. She connects, she engages, and she loves them. I remember being somewhere around the age of 8-12 (those years are somewhat of a blur...... I think that is about the time that I had my Mrs. Brady haircut) and my mom was a part of the church ministry that went to the senior convalescent home. She was always had a heart for loving them.

Last November I was presented with an opportunity to volunteer for Salt Lake County delivering Meals on Wheels. It has been a wonderfully rewarding experience for me. I have met Donna, the sweet little blind lady who faithfully reads her braille National Geographic and can't wait to tell me about the Aborigines of Australia, and how much she would love to visit and "see" that country. Donna is 83 years old and has been blind since she was 2. I love her chuckle, it reminds me of my sweet grandma. Precious little Jerry passed away last week. He always had a smile and was excited about the weather, being the weather geek that I am, we loved to visit about it. I will miss him.

On my last MOW run, I was right in the middle of a project, but it was my day to deliver. I thought I could get out, get it done and get back to work in a record 30 minutes so that I could get back to my project. I was just about done with my route, two deliveries on Elgin Ave. I pulled up to Glen's house, ran in with a quick hello, smile, and asked how he was doing. He said "Fine, have you seen my tree?" All I could answer was "Golly, Glen, I rushed in so fast, I didn't see. But I will sure look on my way out!" This is Glen's tree.

The tree was so beautiful. I spent time just looking at it, and took a couple of pictures. I walked back to Glen's door, and showed him the pictures I took of his tree. I thanked him for making sure that I took time to look at his beautiful tree. Thanks Glen for bringing me perspective.

I thought that volunteering would help fill a need at the County and would be something that I could easily do. But what I have learned is that it really has helped me. I have learned to be grateful for my eyesight; to dream - - vividly; to take time to see the beauty of pink blossoms on a tree despite the pouring rain. This has been a beautiful opportunity. In some small way I may be helping these seniors, but in a larger way - - they are helping me.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. O, Donna, Glen, Betty, Cliff, Kathryn, and Jan.

Morning People

Some people are morning people. Some people are night owls. I guess on the other hand there are people who just like to sleep. I don’t happen to be one of those people. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am a morning person, but I also know that I don’t like hanging out in bed when I know there are things to be done, or when the solitude of morning and a cup of good coffee is calling my name.

Some people wake up in the morning, and hit the ground running. My big brother has always been a morning person (sooooo much like my mom.) I think this started by him working at Vons in the middle of the night… from then on he had a killer commute in California (anyone who lives in California has a killer commute), right up to now he gets up at the crack of dawn to get to work. His wife and my dear sister in law, is a self-proclaimed-non-morning person. They now carpool together to get her to work at the ungodly hour of somewhere earlier than 6 a.m. This means that they have to get up right around 4 a.m. He has learned that he shouldn’t talk to her on the ride in, or at least for the first 30 minutes. Some people don’t wake up like chatty Cathy.

Friday was one of my favorite days of the year, the Gem and Jewelry show. It is on this day that I rise early and get to the show right when the wholesale opens. And the wonderful thing this year - - - my best friend/sister has moved back home and we got to go together. So we met at Starbucks at 7:15, so we could be first in line. Backing into that equation meant that I needed to leave my house at 6:45, which meant that I needed to get up at 5:45.  Yes, it's true, they really do let people out on the road at that time of the morning.   And here a few reasons why:
You get to see this
And this
And when you get there bright and early you get to see this
And these
And pay a lot less for them. See…. All really good reasons to be a morning person! Especially after a really yummy cup of this

With

Adversity

Dealing with difficulty has seriously been IN MY FACE these past few months. By nature, I am really rather non-confrontational. And I have found that approach works well for me in most aspects of my life. I am a live-and-let-live sortofagal; I try and maintain a cup three-quarters-full sort-of-a-view on my life. However, faced with some incredible adversity lately, life hasn’t really tasted like the tangy feel on my tongue of a Matsumoto shaved ice, but more like an unsalted batch of mashed potatoes.

Recently a customer in one of my shops informed me that she had lost her bracelet. She wanted a refund because she lost her bracelet. Huh? She created such a stink that I decided I would remake the bracelet for her at cost. I dreaded it. It was a huge undertaking. Finally,  I ended up just refunding her money (for the bracelet SHE lost) and regaining my sanity. Sometimes just doing something that is contrary to what all society would have thought was "fair" was the very thing that kept my sanity. And not fighting for "fair" was certainly worth the $51 it cost me. Was settling for something that didn't seem fair really worth the possibility of heading right straight to the Utah State Hospital in Provo? I answer with a resounding Ab-so-lutely. Thank goodness that is behind me.

Understanding my boundaries, creating meaningful relationships, and keeping my tribe close is such a juggling act. In the midst of all of it – my daddy, my fighter, my role model, my hero continues to fight the battle and he continues to keep the faith. What an amazing man. This is the man who has taught me that anything worth having is worth working for; faith will bring you through everything; there is no love, repeat, no love like the love of a daddy to his Cinderella.

Life Lessons

I have learned some very good lessons of late. This is definite proof to me that we never, ever, no not ever, stop learning. While some of these lessons have been some of the most beautiful and profound moments of my life, others have been some of the most difficult and borderline tragic. The following bullet points my newest AHA moments:

1. Life is fragile. This was demonstrated acutely in my dad’s cancer diagnosis.


2. There are always new beginnings, even when you don’t think that it will ever happen.


3. Inner soul reflection helps to heal old wounds that were paralyzing for the past 25+ years.


4. You never know how many people your life touches and influences. My family has been flooded with love, care and concern, from directions I never would have imagined or guessed.


5. Friends, true friends, stand by your side right through to the end. They take the bullet with you, and sometimes for you. But they never ever leave your side. I have been blessed with a couple of those in my life.


6. Love comes when you least expect it. You can be in sweats, and love sees you in your ball gown.

I usually try to see the good in everything. I am a cup half full sortofagal. I am a “find the lesson” in each experience kind of a person. And each one of these things noted above has taught me an incredibly valuable lesson - - - I cannot be in control of all things in my life. I cannot control that my dad has cancer. I can’t make it better. I can however learn that love pours out all over you from places and people you didn’t even know, to lend comfort and teach you that life is meant to be shared.

I have learned to let go of survival conditioning behaviors that have impeded my ability to love fully. I have learned what a true friend is. This was a very painful lesson, but one necessary to understand and recognize that truth comes in several forms. I will never forget this lesson. And finally, and most importantly, love. True love. Love that sees you in your ugly but views you in your perfection. Having found that, maybe for the first time, I want to hang on to it. I think I will hang on for at least forever.

An old boss of mine told me that these types of experiences are opportunities to build character. I remember at the time telling him, “But Kent, I already have a good character!” He was right. He was right indeed. My character, my moral fiber, my spirit, have all been built, shaped, and influenced significantly over the past few months. My life, my heart, my spirit will never be the same. And you know what? I am glad.

Cinderella

In this whirlwind ride of challenging times ahead with my dad, it is difficult to keep my head and wits about myself. While I want to believe I really have my finger on the pulse of my every waking moment I, unfortunately, do not. And I may think I behave or react or respond in a certain way because of certain things, perhaps that isn’t at all why. I think that sometimes as much as I would like to think I have it all together, there are times when it feels miserably broken. I am not good at broken. And it is in those moments wherein I feel like a 6 year old; vulnerable, lost, and scared.


I have only then to look at this:


And then I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my life is good. My life is happy. I may be turning the big five ohhhh, but my life is not over. I realize that I am not Cinderella (as much as my dad thinks that I am), but I really do want to live happily ever after.