Tales of the Ordinary Days

Selfie attempt at Hy-Vee to memorialize Matt's last purchase as a Nebraska resident (note that Matt was supposed to be in the picture) My brother, Matt, moved out of Omaha this morning. He began his 20 hour road trip to Kingman, Arizona at about 5:30 a.m. With car loaded to the hilt and fresh off of a going-away party from last night, there were few words between us. Just a quick hug and wave. And then he was gone. Life changes just keep marching on in my life and this is another biggie. My brothers and I grew up close in age and close in life. Matt is the oldest and I am the youngest. There is only 28 months between our birthdays with our brother, Mark, born in between. Being so close in age, we shared friends, teachers and experiences through our childhood years. I have often said that birth order rules don't apply to us. There is one thing the three of us share and that is a sense of humor. We fought our way through childhood, constantly trying to outwit each o...

Sorry about the cover picture. It's the best I had from our Top 10 day in Flagstaff. And in all honesty,  I had to Google "Snapchat Filters" to figure out how to create this picture. Then...wahlah... I am a deer or a dog?? Garrett and I are in Flagstaff, checking it out. I am feeling like a senior in high school, touring schools and narrowing down final decisions. We are going through the same decision process.  Kind of. No school, though. Basically trying to figure out commonality in where to live post-kids. What we have found is this is an easier decision for Garrett. He has a master spreadsheet that lists comparison of cities in the US listed by major categories of importance to us...days of sunshine, inches of snow, recreation, cost of living, median home cost, etc... Easy, peasy for Garrett. We can narrow down by a spreadsheet. Sandy...not so much. Our breakfast conversation was a nice point of clarity as we visited our city #2, Flagstaff,  on the spread...

Enjoying the Oregon Coast I vividly remember being asked as a child to describe what I hoped to have accomplished by age fifty. This thought was inconceivable to my young mind. "Fifty? That's ancient!" or something close to that was my roadblock to answering this question. So I answered with the stereotypical; married with children and grandchildren, living in a comfy home and....knitting by the fire?? But here I am almost to this milestone. The big one. So what are my thoughts now with my more mature forty-nine-year-old mind? "I made it!!!!! YES!" Yep, I'm thrilled. I can truly say that I have never dreaded a birthday or wished to be young again. Every wrinkle is earned and with every new ache, a reminder to enjoy the good health I have today. Reversal is not an option. A wise person once told me that getting older was much better than the alternative. I have always held this thought close to heart. Every day really is a blessing. This birt...

Today was not an ordinary day. In Dr. Seuss' language, my thoughts on the day would go something like this... "You have a brain in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Unless someone truly cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Well, I will just sum it up by saying that today certainly wasn't an ordinary day, but I will accept that. Life is full of changes, good and bad. Sometimes the toughest part is figuring out if life shake-ups are truly a good or a bad thing. Personally, I have found my biggest life challenges have turned into opportunities. Doors opened to new people and adventures. A new chapter in life. I am bullish in my view that this will be the case once again. When the unexpected creeps into the door of normalcy, the best response is not one of self-doubt, anger, or fear. The best response is gaining perspective and self-awareness. As of late, I had been thinkin...