"I've Got A Secret" $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Oh My, do I have a secret.  And I am not one who doesn't share...but I have to wait a few weeks to make the final announcement..."no", I'm not pregnant.

I am so excited that my heart is fluttering^^^^^^

Let's have a contest.  Please comment to this post and give me your 'guess' as to what you think my secret is.  You have thirty days from today.  The first person to guess the secret (and the secret actually happens) will receive a check for $50.00 from me.

No clues.  Just use your intuition

How can your heart be full........

How can your heart be full
and breaking at the same time?

Answer:  When you have lived, truly lived
and loved deeply and completely
as an imperfect person

"TODO, We're not in Kansas anymore!"

Oh my, it was a good tornado made out of a swirl of grandchildren:  Philip; Timothy; Isabella; Joseph; Martha; Maria; Brian; Brent; Brenden; Nicholas; Matthew; Xavier; Isaac; Malia; Alex; Molly; Patrick; MaryElla; Augustina and Celeste Noel!

It was a 'lovefest', a laughfest' and a 'hugfest'.

If I shall not live past tomorrow, I shall have had all that God blesses us with here on earth!

Cool in Kansas Today

It's almost noon and I have yet to get dressed or see the sun.  Today is 'Theresa Day'.  We will walk the three or four blocks to her home.  We are now at Brians (headquarters).  The neighborhood sits on a hill.  The homes are pretty much all built around the 40s. Really looking forward to spending the day with Theresa's five boys.

Bleak Possibilties

Growing up in Kenmare, North Dakota came with 'bleak possibilties' as far as I was concerned: not enough clothes; not enough money, just 'not enough'.  I wanted to matter, make a difference, be 'in' with the 'in crowd'.  There was a heirarchy in Kenmare:  The biggest farms, the nicest cars, the prettiest houses, the most money; the children of those families were popular. Period.

My mother was sensible and wanted for nothing.  Not because she had it all but she didn't want for anything special.  My dad was extremely hard working; he was a mechanic (the best) and farmed his family's farm on the week-ends.  We went to the Lutheran Church every single Sunday.

I was the second oldest and my older sister Colleen and I would lament:  Why is she having another baby?  Five more came.  Then we moved to California and my world changed: Lot's of friends, dancing, there was no heirarchy that I knew of.  My biggest problem in life was my little brother throwing his toys at my dates!

Now today we are in Kansas.  I think that my husband wants to move here.  The midwest gives me claustrophobia.  My children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren live in CA, NV and AZ.  I'm thinking 'bleak possibilities'.

We're Still In Kansas

So wonderful to be here in Kansas with Frank's six children and their familes.  Everything taken care of:  Transportation; where we shall sleep; eat and drink; plenty of grandchildren to treat and to love.  Weather is good. No snow.  Bright and clear and sunny.  Not missing the Nevada high desert

Connections

I look to connect with my family; those I knew in the small town of my birth and childhood in Kenmare, N. Dakota; people we met in Greenacres when we moved there for a couple of years from Kenmare.   The kids from Fremont/Newark area where I lived out my teen-age years; friends from Electronic firms I worked at in the 60s; the great real estate community of Silicon Valley I worked in in the 70s, 80s, and 90s;
Home Savings of America in the mid 90s; and last but not least The Santa Clara County Public Administrator/Guardian/Conservator's Office where I worked until the end of 2000.

WHY?   I don't know

"Put another leg on the Big Board"-For my California Realty Brothers

California Realty
Blossom Hill Office
San Jose, Ca
1970's

 TO THE TUNE OF  "PUT ANOTHER LOG ON THE FIRE"

Put another leg on the Big Board
Write me up some listings and some sales

Go out to the homes and knock some front doors
Write those deals and keep me out of jails

Come on baby

You can write those deals
And work for 50/50
Then boil me up another sale or two


Now ain't I kinda nice to your good buyers
Don't I take 'em showin' every night

So come here by my feet
Cause I love you when you're beat
And you know that it ain't ethical to fight

So put another leg on the Big Board Babe
And come and tell me why you're leavin' me!

her Daddy lives today

           what really can I say
            her Daddy passed on
            he lives today
         
            at our age
            born in the 40s and 50s
            we pretty much know
            what it is like, for us when a
            a parent passes away

            but what do we feel
            when we have a friend
            who's also a best
            sister-in-law
            and her Daddy passed today

            I want to tell her
            how much I love her
            and how good she's been
            to me

            I want to tell her that
            her love shines brightly
            for all of us to see

            I want to tell her that the love
            she gave to her parents
            was wonderful and free
     
            I want to tell her that although
            his love was quiet and steadfast
            it was no less there
            for her now and in the past
      
            her Daddy was extraordinarily loved
            blessed with a long marriage
            and a long long lfe.

            his children lived near him
            and graced his entire life

           be comforted my dear Linda

           that he was a very blessed man
           because he lived a decent life
           and was surrounded by a
           large and decent family
           and now he joins his wife
          
         
           and because he had his family's prayers
           his entire life
           her Daddy lives today

OMG-Halloween!!!!!!!!!!

I remember two very distinct memories of halloween as a teen-ager:

ONE:  Attending some sort of open house where we were instructed to stick our hands in a bowl, it was very,very dark.  As my hand slid in to the bowl, I felt slimey smallish, round 'thingies'. A MUUUHAHAHAHA voice then annouced that they were EYEBALLS!!!!!

TWO:  There was a Halloween Party at our local teen club in Newark, CA.  We were to all dress up as the Mayor was going to be there to judge our costumes and choose a 'King and Queen'.  It was circa 1959, I probably weighed all of 115 lbs and being of Scandanavian decent (in a Portuguese settlement)I suppose I stood out. I had the requisite long, naturally blond hair and blue eyes.  I wore black tights and I don't know what else but I know I was snapping my fingers because I was a Beatnik! I know that as we paraded around in a circle for the Mayor, he choose me as Queen! He chose David Milstad as King. David had a red convertible and would take 'us girls' cruising.  He was a stone fox!
You would think that would have been enough for me but 'noooooo', I had to invite the entire teen club and the band to my house.  We didn't have a telephone so we just showed up!  My parents and six sibs all disappeared to the back of the house.  I'm sure they must have commented,' What is SHE doing now"?

It was a great party.  I only remember the name of one guy in the band: Lenny Valles and another guy with the last name of Medeiros.  Medeiros was the singer....he was so cute....he did Elvis impersonations and he sang "Three Little Pigs".  Our living room was covered with kids laying on their bellies, legs up and crossed, resting their heads on their elbows!

Food?????   No we didn't need or want food in those days, just dancing, laughing, talking and listening to music.

A Footnote:    I had not really known Lenny Valles back then or remembered him.  Strange as life is, about five years ago (2005), after I married Frank and moved to Nevada, a knock came at the door.  It was Frank's neighbor whom he had known in Newark.  Needless to say Lenny Valles, Frank and I sat around our kitchen table and sang:  "Three Little Pigs"!     That's Halloween for you!

BLUSTERY COLD!!!!!

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!!!!!

'SCARY' A LOVE STORY

Right now I feel the way I did the day I went to school in a homemade skirt with the hem stiching on the outside; or after the day I was told at a County agency where I worked that after 14 requests I would never be promoted because I showed too much empathy for the 'losers' in the office; or when I sold real estate and I really cared and I was completely forthright and honest...and if the buyer and seller fought over who would pay for a a bad dishwasher, I did........and the other Agents would chide me.

Because I had to, with three little daughters and no child support, I worked seven days a week,   I was 'snarkily' called a 'women's libber' by the men in my office.  ( Oh by the way, I ended up being the #1 salesperson out of 5 real estate offices)

This could go on and on as well as the extraordinary things I've accomplished in my life....but

I should not be afraid to take a stand.  There will be a lot of attacks and criticism once again:

I HEREBY STAND BEHIND OBAMA, MICHAEL MOORE, DEMOCRACY, THE POOR,  THE IMMIGRANTS & THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST.

I HEREBY STAND AGAINST CORPORATE GREED,  WALL STREET AND MOST BANKS, THE OPPRESSION OF THE AGED AND THE POOR AND EVIL ITSELF.

I Love the Movies!

There is something about the big silver screen that envelopes me and carries me away!

We have been so busy here at the homestead and being oh so frugal in preparation for becoming the
'Traveling LeSages' that we didn't even realize we had gotten one of our retirement checks!

Whoopee!  We're going to 'our' theatre in Reno...sits on the Truckee river downtown....the Riverside 6.

We'll see two movies....It's a 124 mile round trip from here.

First, Capitalism with Michael Moore
Next, Bright Star--about the life of Keats with lots of poetry; fashion, love and art

I'll let you know how wonderful it all was~!

Rejoice!

"This is the day that
  The Lord hath made,
  Let us REJOICE
  And be glad in it!"

It could be of interest but it's nobody's business

The post I wrote a few days ago obviously got under more than one skin.  If you haven't read it, it may still get under your skin and it's really none of your business.  It's mine. It's my thoughts filtered through my particular personality, my personal religious experiences over the last 65 years.  We're all different, we all have a different ego strength and a different intellect.  We all accept things differently.

I, and my husband (I think I can speak for him) look at religion as to "what we can do for the other guy who is in need.  Now Purgatory (if there is such a place), and if people are suffering there and can be relieved of their suffering by those of us on earth who can offer our suffering up to replace their suffering......well that's pretty wonderful for me to have that opportunity.    AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT FLOGGING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, HA!

Ahhhh, if more people could just strive to be like Christ.  If more people saw the bum on the road  and could hear the word's of Christ:  "What ye do to the least of these, You do to ME"     

If more people could not only quit hating their sisters and brothers and those that look or think different than them.

Christianity to me is not about hitting each over the head with the Bible, rather:

"Judge not; that ye not be judged"
"Taking the log out of your own eye before you try to take the speck out of your brother's eye"
"And always walking in Christ's Love"

POETRY IN MOTION!

1973-  I wrote a poem
1983- A copy of that poem was brought to me at the the real
          estate office I worked in by a fellow realtor.
          He said: "Did you write a poem in 1973 called "Like a
          Flower Wild?"
         
          I said: Yes".
                   
          He said: "Oh Man, my girlfriend left a copy of your poem
          in my home after she left me. She said that this was exactly
          how she felt about our relationship!"
                                         

Turns out I had worked with his girlfriend at an electronics company in Silicon Valley in 1973 and I had given her a copy.

         Like A Flower Wild

          Like a flower wild,
          Free and full of color;
          Linger there, she'll touch you,
          The fragrence is she;

          This flower's not for picking,
           Enjoy her, let her be;

           Long ago while dancing,
           She fantisized anew;
           His handsome hand did pluck her,
           In the morning dew;

           He tore away her wild roots,
           Her colors then did fade;
           She sold her soul and lost her mind,
           No identity had she;

            Rush away to freedom,
            An inner voice did urge;
            So like the mighty pollen,
            She rode the train called wind;

            A life so new found she,
             Like a flower wild;
            This flower's not for picking,
             Enjoy her! Let her be!

1993 these last verses          
         arrived the way            
         poetry does-               
         from the soul               
                                           
                Now that she has risen,
                A wise and weathered soul;
                She realizes there's more,
               Than living with-in ones's soul

               So to the heavens,
               She beckons;
               Lord, fill me,
               Set me free!

               Connect me with,
               Your souls on earth;
               Until we reign,
               With Thee!


                                                                

      

  

Designer Metallic Copper Hobo

I want a large Designer Metallic Copper Hobo Bag.

We are starting to prepare for our trip to Kansas for Thanksgiving. I like to pack my bag with lots of goodies for our 20 grandchildren who live there.

I'll also take a pair of Uggs and a good wool three-quarter length trench coat, lots of leggings and ear muffs.

LIFE IS EITHER A DARING ADVENTURE.............

OR IT IS NOTHING.

                     HELEN KELLER

My cousin (Vinny) aaaaaaaaahhhh JIMMY!

Ever since I fixed up my cousin Jimmy with the woman next door....who's been married seven times before!  ONLY YOKING!  Point is, Jimmy comes over for a cup of Joe each morning.  He and Frank and I have quite a time.  We're all retired, we talk about everything under the sun (and sometimes above it).  We crack each other up a lot...really funny stuff!  I proposed today renting video and audio equipment and doing a reality pilot called 'Morning Coffee'.

I Love Company!

Frank's brother Gene and his wonderful wife Linda will be here for dinner November 8th.

I'm going to make 'Filet Mignon' homemade chili.  I'll serve crousants and real butter.  The salad will be prepared on individual plates.  First a couple of 'hearts of romaine lettuce'. Secondly one fat slice of the best tomatoes I can buy. All topped with marinated artichoke hearts.
We'll offer a nice red...probably Pinot Noir.

For dessert, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and some pumpkin spiced coffee.
'Bon Apetite' for sure!

Cool & Crisp

It's a cool, crisp and sunny morning here in the high plains of Nevada.  I've having my coffee strong and black.
Want to join me?

Predictions

I like to predict. It's one of my past times.

I painted a wall in my living room 'Tiger Eye' nine years ago.  Everyone that entered winced!
With-in a couple years EVERYONE was using designer/accent colors.

When I moved to Nevada to marry my husband I was going to 'double dip'...retirement AND a new job.  Instead of a job I got Fibromyalgia!  We really struggled in those first years.  We were in KMART and I was reading a decorating magazine in line.  We couldn't even afford to buy the magazine.  But there was an article that said a cool way to give your floors a new look was to paint them with deck paint..I went home and tore the old worn carpeting out and eventually painted every single floor in the house.  Now deck paint is labeled 'Deck and Floor Paint'.

I PREDICT that the 40s hair styles are on their way back!  I saw Paris Hilton wearing a very 40s look on the 'Really Awards'. I told Frank, "I can do that"!  I'm now sporting it!

Sufficient

"SUFFICIENT UNTO THE DAY IS THE EVIL THEREOF"
The Bible tells me sooooooooooooooo..........................................

The Ultimate form of Expression

Retirement is the 'ultimate form of expression'.  Yes, indeedy!  I find that I can be and do anything I want to do...minute by minute, hour by hour.  Want crisp sheets on my bed? linen sheets? even those flannel sheets....anything that pleases me.  Do I want dessert for breakfast or a popsicle for dinner...well...whatever!

I want to go inside...I want to go outside...I want to talk for hours on the phone, I don't want to talk on the phone at all.  I want to go to the movies, I want to do some volunteer work, I want to call my mother one more time.  I want to love my mother, I want to honor her, I want to make her laugh.  She's 87 now, good health, good sense of humor.  I want to continue to give her what every mother deserves, RESPECT until the day she passes and WAY BEYOND that.

My husband has doubts as to whether I really converted to Catholism.  Well, I tell you, he had me at "PERGATORY".  When I found out that 1500 years after the death of Christ and the birth of Christianity, the PROTESTORS (better know as the Protestants) turned against the Church formed by Christ and His Apostles, The Universal Church---in the Greek CATHOLIC means UNIVERSAL!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?????? At that time in history, the PROTESTORS including my guy Martin Luther, who was a Roman Catholic Priest....left and turned against the Church. They pulled out, among other books in the Bible, the book that tells us about Purgatory, it's called Maccabees.  Purgatory is the place we go to be purged and become 'as white as snow' so we can enter heaven.  It is said that we suffer there for sins we've never asked to be forgiven of or didn't understand.  BUT THE KICKER IS AND THIS IS WHAT CONVERTED ME TO CATHOLISM:  WE CAN OFFER UP OUR OWN SUFFERING HERE ON EARTH FOR THE SOULS IN PERGATORY SO THAT THEY CAN SUFFER LESS AND GET IN TO HEAVEN SOONER.  I THINK THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!  So to make a long story short I can still do something for my mother after she passes. Yes I believe that some go straight to heaven because they are as pure and white as the driven snow.  I just do not get to know who they are!

Well, getting back to retirement and being able to express myself anyway I want to:  I can preach, too, if I choose to.

May God Bless us all!!

it's a CHOICE man!

In the 70s as I started the long journey to "be" whoever I was. I attended a 'Transactional Analysis' group in Northern California.  It was lead by the wisest woman that I had ever met.  She had to have been in her 70's then.  She was a tall, thin woman with really long grey hair.  She looked a bit like Eleanor Roosevelt.  Her name was Vivian Baldwin.
On one particular week-end I attended a TA Retreat.  Man, it was heavy.  I had a lot of fears in those days, being alone with three little daughters and no child support.  However, I always did what I needed to do to take care of my  family,   (these values were much instilled in me by my parents).      It was part of my character, part of my fiber.

On that particular week-end Vivian told us that as we drove back from her home in the Santa Cruz Mountains to our homes in the Valley to remember this:   "We always have a choice; we can look at the dead cats on the highway or look up at the beautiful trees;  it is always a choice!"

Another saying my children will also remember:

"There were two men behind bars;
They both were looking out their small
jail cell window;
They had a choice as what to look at;
One chose mud;
The other chose stars!"

Reality Rocks!

Well, yes, reality does rock AND I love the following Reality shows:
Gulianna and Bill; Hollywood House Husbands; Master Chef; The Nanny; Housewives of New Jersey & Atlanta;   Rachel Zoe.  I know these shows are probably scripted and acted but I don't care.
Favorite talk show:  Handsdown, Inside Actor's Studio
Love Dancing with the Stars.

Now....I've got Frank hooked on most of these but he likes ETWN; The Science Channel; The History Channel and all of those the most.  We spend a significant amount of time with different TVs in different rooms...oh the joys of being married to a man that is not only your husband but a good friend.

Joy abounds!

There was a time when I couldn't eat, couldn't get out of bed, couldn't quit crying!
When he left me with three small children I felt as though he took my soul with him.......but because of him I found the 'Real HIM'. So I thank him..Thank-you Jim
.......and now all I want to do
is laugh and play and sing!
and thank the Lord above
for everything!

'The Friendship Weave'

Different Colors
Taking up different Spaces
From Long Ago
And Some So New

Some Brilliant Whites
Some So Blue

Some Misses, Some Tears
And some so worn

It's a warm Blanket
The Friendship Weave

'SCOTCH & SODA"

Scotch and Soda
Gigger of Gin
Oh what a spell you've
got me in!
Give me lovin'
Baby, I feel high!

People don't believe me
They think
That I'm just lyin'
 How could I feel
The way that I do
And still be on the wagon?

All I need is one of your smiles
da da da da dadada
Give me lovin'
Baby, I feel high!

Actually I strive to be a wine
CONNOISSEUR

Inch by Inch, it's a cinch, Yard by Yard, It's Hard!!!!!!

I'm sitting in my office looking out the window at the most beautiful lavender plant.....it's my 'only' lavender plant.  You see....I live in Nevada. It's like living on the moon.  I've planted dozens of lavender plants since I married my husband and moved 'up here' nine years ago.  When a plant lives and thrives here it's worth an entire field of them!  Somehow living in these harsh circumstances makes one so appreciate, sometimes 'one little blooming flower'.
Inch by inch it's a cinch, yard by yard, it's hard.......more later...I'm going to make some homemade lavender tea!