Morning!

Good Morning! Hope you are all well.
Just for openers, here are two shots of my garden. The first is of a corner where we planted this Hydrangea about a year or two ago, and don’t remember it blooming before. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love Hydrangeas. We have planted many over the years, and I never tire of seeing them bloom.

The next is a newbie to our yard. It is so tiny and so cute!

Well, it’s the last day of school for me, and I have little goody bags waiting by the door for my crazy school children. They have been equally as frustrating as they have been fun. Still though, overall, it was a pleasant experience for me. For one thing, I met a couple of really nice women whose lives and mine probably would not have crossed if it weren’t for this job. We are having lunch together today, and not for the first time, but who knows if we will meet again in a social situation. We have this job in common, and we all have kids, though mine are the oldest by far. So am I for that matter! I am glad to have met them though. “For each and every relationship that we encounter throughout our lives is giving us an opportunity to reach deep inside and grow…” who said this? I don't know!

I haven’t spoken about my kids in a while. Heck, I haven’t done anything here in a while, but here goes…
My two sons have been home from college for over a month, settling in again, under their mom and dad’s roof, following the rules of the house, etc. They each had a great year at their respective schools.

The one son (on the right in photo) who plays hockey for his school had another great season,

and the other (in Rhode Island and wearing the white tee) had a good time hosting a radio show for his school’s radio station.

My daughter who has been living in California for the past 10 months and working at a clinic for the homeless, is leaving there tomorrow, flying to PA with the other Augustinian Volunteers, and will be there till Saturday when her program officially ends. There will be a special closing service and luncheon that includes families of the volunteers. I am so looking forward to her arrival, though I can actually feel her pain in saying goodbye to everything that she has grown to love in San Diego; from the patients at the clinic, to her co-workers; from her five roommates, to the new friends she’s made outside the clinic and her home. She has even stated that she will miss the weather. She now understands that statement that she has heard me make throughout her life when the weather is fine, and the sky is blue “wow- this is like a California day.” This daughter will be home a week, and then she will be going to Haiti and meeting up with a group of like-minded medical people. She is going with the expectation that she will be nursing children. It is a 12 day trip. When she arrives back here again, she will be continuing her search for a (paying) job. She is hoping to work at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, or Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC, but she will go almost anywhere for a job, especially if it involves kids.

Here she is (white tee) with her CA roommates.

My California Girl (the one actually born there) who lives in AZ is coming home the same day that the one above leaves for Haiti. It would have been wonderful if the flights were somewhat closer in time to one another. (Best yet if there was an overlap of a couple of days so that all four could be home at the same time!) As it turns out, one flight is at 6 in the morning, and the other is at 7 p.m. on a Friday, on a holiday weekend, when people are driving ALL DAY(!) to get to their destinations, and at 7 p.m., most people are headed to the shore (which is where we live, give or take a mile or two.) But I figure, we will have that much more uninterrupted time to spend together. Her significant other will be flying in on Monday, then they both will be leaving the following Saturday. It will be a quick trip, but I will take any amount of time I can with my child. This is her vacation time, and I am thrilled that she chooses to come home.

So that’s it in a nutshell. Except that I have been trying to walk at least three or four times a week. I challenge myself by either mapping out a route through http://www.mapmyrun.com/ or walking first, and then mapping to see how I did. I am just under three miles in about 45 minutes, so it is about a 16 minute mile. I am hoping to be able to keep up with my girls when they want to go out for their runs. Of course they really run, but if I can run for a short time with them, I will feel good. I think. I don’t know. I will see.
My doggie is asking for his walk, and I just noticed the time. I do have to get to that school, for that final lunch period!

Enjoy the day!