Thoughts on the upcoming holidays

I've been feeling good lately although I know some stressful times are coming. Thanksgiving is a stressful time for me as it's always at my house. I am so glad that Kerry is coming home for the holiday this year. Last year Pat and I packed up Rigby and went up to Gainesville to spend Thanksgiving up there with Kerry up at UF. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the 4 of us (Rigby included) and then went to the UF/FSU game. We had such a great time and it was good to get away from the stress of having Thanksgiving dinner at my house.

Kerry will be arriving on her birthday Wednesday in the morning and then Frank will be coming in later on in the day. They are planning to spend the holiday split between us and Frank's parents who live about an hour away. I don't mind sharing. I'm just happy to have them here. Jon and Cousin Stevie will be coming over for dinner and to meet Frank. It'll be Turkey for the carnivores, Tofurkey for the vegetarians and birthday cake for everyone. :)

Frank and Kerry

Kerry is going to spend Friday with me. We will be going shopping!!!!! Yay!!!!! It's been way too long since we have combed the malls for bargains. I'm sure we will be getting a very early start. There is nothing better in the whole world then Black Friday with the kid. :)

On Saturday we will be going to an engagement party in the morning and then I'm sure she will want to spend time with Frank before he goes back to Gainesville on Sunday. Kerry is flying out on Monday but she will be back in a few weeks to spend some more time with us during her winter break from Notre Dame.

The Grotto at Notre Dame

The three of us at Notre Dame Football Stadium

The golden dome at Notre Dame

I miss her. I can't help it. I just miss her and I'm so looking forward to spending some time with her.

It's been too long.

I was just fixing up Juliana's blog to reflect the teacher training that will be starting on March 19 and it made me realize that I have been neglectful of my own blog. It's amazing how quickly time passes. Here it is February 19 already. It really seems as if time is going faster as I get older. I remember my mom telling me "you turn around once and you are 65" and I see it's true. Well, almost true. I'm 58 not 65. :)

OK, let's see, what's been going on with me? Kerry came home to spend my birthday with me last month and it was the best present that I ever could have gotten. I am so in love with that child and I feel lucky every day to have her in my life. She has grown up into a wonderful, caring young woman and I couldn't be prouder of her.

Today she starts the interview process with the Masters program acceptance committee at UF. Her advisor, Charlie, has already made it very clear that she will be accepted into the program but she has to go through the process anyway. I think it will be pretty stress free for her. I would be thrilled if she decides to stay at UF.

Next week she goes to Notre Dame for her PhD interviews there. They want to meet her so badly that they paid for her airfare, hotel and food for the interview weekend. I know she is very excited about the prospect of starting her PhD at such a well known school but it's in South Bend, Indiana which is far away and VERY cold. I'm sure she will go there and knock their socks off. I'm still hoping for UF. I'm Mom. What can I say?

I start my yoga teacher training on March 19th and I am extremely excited about it. I finally will be learning to teach yoga from my guru, Juliana. Anyone who knows me knows about Juliana. She has changed me in a profound way. It's going to be about 4 months of learning about yoga philosphy, anatomy, asanas and teaching classes. I'm also thrilled that my very good yoga bud Ruth is doing it with me. I love Ruthie and it'll be nice to have her with me to study and practice with. I've started reading the required books and I am ready to go. I feel as if a new path is opening in my life and it's a very good thing.

I am also very excited about some upcoming things that I'm not ready to put in writing yet but I know about them and so do the people involved. I can't wait until March 24th.

Last month I decided to cut my hair really short. Now I know that this may not be a big deal to a lot of people but it was HUGE for me. I was upset about it until Pat came home the day I cut it and told me that he loved it. After that people started telling me that I looked 15 years younger and asked me if I lost weight. That was when I realized that I finally had the right haircut. LOL I will post some picture once Kerry brings my camera back from Gainesville.

As you can probably get from this blog entry, I am very happy and excited about life. I've got the most wonderful family and friends in the whole world. I am brimming over with joy. How lucky can one girl from Long Beach be? :)