I Want One

Have you seen the new iPhone? So extremely cool!

Check out the FaceTime app.

Exercise

Walked a 5K today. It was a promotion by Weight Watchers. No fee, no timing, and no tee shirt.

It was a beautiful day and a lot of people turned out. Oddly it was held in a cemetary which really was a beautiful setting with all the Memorial Day flowers and very little traffic.

Saturday

Cloudy and hot and humid today. I went to watch Grady play soccer since it was his last game for this season. He scored a goal but keep in mind these are four and five year olds.

Then to the first farmers market of the season, got some new potatoes and beets and a monster cookie and a kolache. That was my excitement.

Preschool graduation

1978

My son, the one with his back to the camera




2010

My grandson

Pomp and Circumstance

I have big plans for the weekend! I'm attending my grandson's preschool graduation. Each graduate gets 4 guests and I'm fortunate enough to be one of them.

About 32 years ago I attended my son's preschool graduation. He was not one to enjoy group singing and he stood with his back to the audience while the group sang. I have a picture somewhere....

My Favorite Poem

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

When I Grow Up...

I'm trying to blog every day this month, so far so good. NaBloPoMo is offering " writing prompts" to give, we, or is it us, bloggers food for thought. Today's is:

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I never had a clue about what I wanted to be when I grew up until after I grew up.

I liked science in elementary school. I remember having a chemistry set, but most of the experiments required heating something with a candle and my mother hid the matches. I also remember making some type of barometer with modeling clay and ink, real ink like for fountain pens, the kind that stains permanently. It didn't end well.

When I went to college the first time at age 18, all my friends were going to be teachers so I thought why not and graduated with BS in biology, teaching. The best thing about college was all the fun I had and meeting Richard.

We got married, he became a teacher, and I had the kids. Richard was a great teacher, it was his life's work and he was very good at it.

Eventually in search of a "mindless" job to get me out of the house, I got a job as a CNA in our small local hospital. I was inspired by the nurses I worked with to eventually go to nursing school where I found my life's work. Better late than never!

Today I started a new job as a nurse practitioner in public health. I'm excited to be excited about going to work and doing something new. I haven't felt that since Richard died and I guess that's a hopeful sign.