Thankful...

for little guys...

for big guys...
for my Buddy...
for friends...
for little girls...
for a place to sleep at night...
for kids that play together...
for cousins...
for old dogs...

and yes, even new ones...

Happy

I reconnected with an old friend today! Yay! I saw her son was on Face book so I sent him a message asking if, indeed, he was her son. He answered back and then I noticed that his mom requested that I be her friend! There were a lot of women with her name, so I wasn't sure who was who when I did the search.

I knew this woman when I lived in Wisconsin with my first husband. She is originally from Paris and her husband is from the south of France. Anyway, she would have these wonderful dinner parties and we would have the best time. They moved to Prague and then to Dubai. I did visit her once in Prague. I spent a week with her. It was between marriages and I took a friend with me to Prague. He hated traveling so it was a good thing we went together. We found out we were not for each other. I mean, I would almost rather travel than do anything else. Then they moved from Prague to Dubai one summer. It was the summer Kendall was 11 months old and my in-laws were taking us to France. I knew that Sylvie visited France every summer so I called her in Prague to see if we could set up a rendezvous in France. Yes, they would be vacationing in the French Alps for a couple of weeks. So, at the end of my trip with my husband's family, Kendall and I stayed a few extra days. My in-laws put me on a train in Paris and I took a 3 hr ride to Geneva, Switzerland. I sat by a woman who spoke no English and I couldn't speak French. I relied on the kindness of strangers to help me with the stroller, luggage, etc. I was so naive when I planned this trip to see Sylvie and her family. I had no idea how hard it was to travel by train with an infant. So, Sylvie and her daughter met me at the train station in Geneva and we drove an hour to the Savoie Region. They had rented a chalet. It was magical being there and seeing Sylvie and her family again. I was there for Bastille day. Three days later, I headed back to the train station and on to Paris. My in-laws met me at the station and we stayed in the Hotel Luxembourg. I flew back to the U. S. the next day.

I am a people person. I feel like I can never have too many friends. And then there are those people I never want to lose touch with. And when I do lose contact, I feel sad. I thought I had lost contact with Sylvie forever.

Fun Weekend

I love having house guests. And to go to the football game, too, made this weekend a nice one. Pete's old friends from school (he's known one from even high school) made the trip to Happy Valley this weekend. Chris and Anh Schluep and Mike Skoglund arrived Saturday afternoon. The traffic was heavy coming into town so they arrived later than they had planned. We did make it to kick-off, however.
It was snowing at the beginning of the game. Above, they are using leaf blowers to move the snow during a time out. This is something that one must only see in the north! HA!


It was so cold! The lady next to me gave me some hand/toe warmers. I stuck them in my shoes because my toes were numb! We had great seats--on the 45 yard line.


This picture was taken right after Penn State won . They are Big 10 champs. I think I am still thawing!

Indiana Connor and the Quest for Candy

I have some clever friends. One of them is fairly techy. Her kids were bored one day so she decided to make a video. I thought it was so funny and she said I could share it here.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. She is 70! She doesn't see 70 to me (whatever a seventy year old is supposed to be like). She loves Razorback sports, especially basketball. I can remember when she turned 40. She didn't like that birthday but I think she has been OK with all the other big ones.

My mom is one of the wisest women I know. I have learned a lot from her example and I'm blessed to have her. She made sacrifice after sacrifice for us kids growing up so that we never felt like we were missing out. If she was having a bad day, I never knew it. She was brave and strong during her time with breast cancer and became stronger for it.

When I was a kid, she was the softy and we walked all over her. I think I only saw her get mad a handful of times. I wish I could be more like that. I'm not too old to try to be more like my mother. I know that to this day, whatever I need, if she can do it, she will without complaint. Happy birthday, mom! I love you.