Joy

I remember on Oprah, several years ago, she talked about Joy. What I mostly remember is that we need to find Joy and purpose. At the time, she talked about how so seldom find true JOY!! I knew at the time, and I still do, that I do know Joy. I know happiness, as most people do. Millions of things make us happy, but what gives you true JOY?

I know that growing up very poor, I found true Joy, in a reversible purple/purple floral patterned spring coat that my mom bought me when she worked at Scudder's Dept. store. It wasn't that I didn't have nice clothes, because mom was, and still is a professional seamstress. If there was anything I needed, mom would make it, better than what could be bought in the stores. But getting something store bought, was such a joy, esp. a beautiful coat like the one I got. To this day, the thought of that coat, makes me beam.

I also know that when you are 9 years old, and you have gotten to see your grandmother, grandfather and your 10 year old aunt, every single day, and all of the sudden, you don't know when you will see them next, is the most devastating thing that can happen to you. I knew my parents were divorcing, which didn't happen in Roland, Iowa, in 1957. That was fine, because I knew mom and us kids would be safe, finally. I wasn't afraid or worried about that. But not seeing my grandparents and my best friend every day was horrid. I do remember the JOY I felt every time I got to see them, after that day we moved away. That joy was felt every time I saw my grandmother, until her death, in 1998.

Yes, I have known JOY, many times in my life. My wedding day, the births of both of my girls, the births of my 5 grandchildren, and I could go on.

Joy is truly what I felt this past weekend. Spending Sat. with Cindy, was pure joy. Cindy was engaged to my brother, Gerry, when he was killed in 1974, in an auto accident. I have always loved Cindy, but we had lost touch. We have gotten back in touch over the last month or two, thanks to the internet. She came home this past weekend, and what a joy to be with her. It has been around 18 years or so, since we have seen each other. It sure won't be that long again.

On Sunday, my daughter Joan, two of her kids and I, went to Muscatine. Joan's childhood best friend, had the ceremony to receive her Habitat for Humanity house. Val was always my other daughter, and still is. Her boyfriend and Joan had been communicating and pretty much set up the whole surprise. It was the most amazing secret/surprise I have ever been a part of. She was in total shock. Spending the day with her and her family was total JOY! Seeing her face when she realized it was us, was so priceless.

Yes, I know JOY!!! I thank God that I know it. There is so much in this universe to be thankful for, and joyfull for. It won't fall in our laps, we have to look for JOY, and we have to make JOY. When you do, nothing will ever be the same. You will never look at anything the same again.

Life's ups and downs

We went to see Jackson on Thursday. I got to hold him, and kiss him. Omg, it has been so long since I have gotten to hold a small baby, and this is the smallest I have held. He is doing very well, for as little as he is. Could he be any cuter. I don't think so.
Mommy is doing great also. She is staying at the Ronald McDonald house, so she can be close by Jackson.

Friday morning I got a call from my dad that my mom had been admitted to the hospital, again. She was complaining of her neck hurting, and just not feeling well. She is very anemic, so had to have a couple units of blood. Apparently she also had a mild heart attack. Some changes in the meds, and hopefully she will be fine. If not, then she has to have an open heart, by-pass surgery. Gosh I am a big baby and just want my mom all better.

Talked to Don's mom and she is doing great with her prosthetic leg. Able to stand for a while with no pain, a little tightness, but no pain.

Just want everyone healthy, and home.

Some new layouts

For the past month or so, I have been visiting a site, Visual Designs by Chris . Chris has files for sale for my cutter, the Craft Robo. She also gives away an awful lot of files, with your purchase. In the above layout, aren't those the cutest cupcakes, ever. Yup, one of the files I got at her site, and the work Cupcakes. These are pictures from a birthday party we had at my in-home daycare, a few years ago.



This one is Mhikealy's 6th grade picture. The stars and star frame, the number jumble, and the numbers at the bottom are all files from Chris' site. Did I say that I really love her site, and I love my Craft Robo. I have had my machine for 2 years, or more. It is fun to be using it again.

Jackson Gerrald

My nephew, Kenny, and his wife Heather, brought little Jackson into the world, yesterday. He came 6 weeks early. Heather had been having some complications, and was taken by ambulance to DM, and he was delivered last evening. He was a little 4# 7oz., and 17 3/4" long. He has lots of hair. I can hardly wait to lay some kisses and hugs on this little guy.

BTW, Gerrald was my brother's middle name. My brother was killed in a car accident Nov. 8, 1974. This is so special that this little guy carries his name.

Feb. so far and pretty long!!!

The month has been pretty hectic with lots of ups and downs. The first weekend in Feb. we have our annual Scrapbooking retreat, in Des Moines. We get to stay at the best hotel. Fabulous beds with lots and lots of pillows. Just feels so wonderful to lounge to your hearts content, and not worry about laundry, meals, or anything else.. Then there is the bonus of spending time with some of the most fun women I have ever known, wait, not some, THE MOST FUN WOMEN I HAVE EVER KNOWN. There is never enough time with these women. Oh, and then there was the scrapbooking, yeah, we did scrapbook. I got 13 pages done. Here are some of the two page layouts I did.



All of these are for Katisha's albums. Since she is a Sr. want to get all of hers done. The two above, were of pictures taken this past Thanksgiving. The first one was done using a page kit I received from a friend, Gina. We had a page kit swap in our group, and this gorgeous kit was her contribution. The second one was from lots of stuff I had on hand. I don't recall who made the paper.

These last three were done with some of her senior pictures. The first one of these is from a page kit by Autumn leaves. The second one is part of a sketch challenge we did at the retreat. The third is a page kit from Heidi Grace. We played some games, and had tons of challenges to keep us motivated for the weekend. It was a very productive weekend.

The second week of Feb. was spent running lots of errands, and whatever, but mostly recouping from the late nights at the retreat. I'm thinking at 60, I just may be getting too old to stay up past midnight, and get up before 8. I think the body requires more sleep.

That week also brought on a lot of pondering. I started my group in Sept. 2001. I had met a few scrapbookers in our community, and just happen to have access to a place where we could get together. So I started doing a monthly crop. We started out with probably 6 or 7 of us at the very first crop. At one point we had 19 attend, which was actually way too many. The group had gotten to where we had 17 members, and usually had around a dozen in attendance In 2003 I started a yahoo group, just to help us better keep track of things, and to talk back and forth. We have had lots of ups and downs. Since this was my group, I was the one that everyone came to with complaints. There were several members that always made it a point to thank me for what all I did for the group. There were also some members that never bothered. Whenever I tried to take care of the complaints, then people would complain for trying to make things better for the group. Like people have said, "You can never make everyone happy".

So, as on Feb. 17, the Ames Area Croppers, no longer exists. About 1/2 the group, have let me know how sad they are that the group ended. I guess it didn't matter to the others. I know that I have sure felt much better since ending the group. A really huge weight off my shoulders. There are a few that I will miss like crazy. There are several that I will continue to see frequently, which I guess was a big problem for some.

Now for the saddest thing we have had to deal with for quite some time. On Friday the 13, some very dear friends of ours lost their beautiful 21 year old daughter. This family is one of the most beautiful families I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Ashlie's parents and her sister will be in our thoughts and prayers forever. This young woman taught something to everyone she ever came in contact with. Yesterday was her visitation, and it was truly one of the most moving events I have ever attended.

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab5.cfm?newsid=20262925&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554450&rfi=6

I really want to say, live every day as though it were your last. No matter what a small deed someone does, don't forget to say Thank You, and Smile. Whenever you hear the mundane, "Have a nice day", don't forget to say, "You have a nice day, also". It just might make the difference in their lives, and might be the only smile they get all day. If you want a friend, you first need to learn how to be one. Be thankful every day, for all you have!!!!!

Tagged

I just got tagged from a super talented lady named Tiffany. If you haven't seen her work yet, you must check it out! For the tag, simply go to the place where you keep all your photos, scroll down to the 6th folder and choose the 6th photo.

Post the photo and describe it. That's it! Have fun!

This is a photo of me and the daughter of one of my bestest friends. I was in the delivery room when Jillian Jean was born, which of course makes me a little more partial to her. To be honest, this was one of the funniest experiences ever. Amazing what women in labor will admit to their best friends.

One of the greatest joys of my life is being a labor coach. Jillian was the 9th baby I have had the pleasure of watching come into this world. It is the biggest high in the world, to watch God's greatest miracle. I do have one question that I will never figure out, as long as I live. How can any man witness this, and walk away from this creation. BTW, Jillian's daddy is present, and a fantastic daddy.

Oh, I need to tag someone. Hmmm, Rosalie , Janalee , Gina and Joellyn . Sorry girls.

Seeing is believing!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, do you believe this. Never in my life did I think that this would ever happen. I really feel I have never had a racist bone in my body, and believe me, I am thrilled. I just never even thought this is something that might happen. I even thought a woman would run our country, before a black man. OMG, when a Catholic became president elect in 1960, my Lutheran family members were all in shock. Holy Cow, what would my ancestors think now?

My first encounter with people of color, were in the early 50s, and my cousins pointed out a "colored" person, in the grocery store, across from Welch Jr. High School, here in Ames. Since I lived in ALL WHITE, Norwegian Roland, I had never encountered such. I was told that if I said the "N" word, they would cut my tongue out. Imagine my fear, a year or so later, when my mom stood on main street in Ames, and actually talked to one of them. I remember being scared to death.

My next encounter, that I recall, was in the late 50's. Like I said, living in "white Roland", it was just a subject that never came up. My parents divorced in 1957, and my biological father moved to Des Moines. I recall him talking late at night, with my stepmother, about a "N" family moving into the apartment building, and how horrid that was, and it would mean all sorts of problems. The next time I went to see him, he had moved.

At the age of 11 or so, on one of our visits, my step sister and I walked to the Hinky Dinky store, and there was a little black girl outside the store, and Randy started playing with her. I remember distinctly thinking, "Why is my Daddy afraid of her?" Those were my exact thoughts. It really seems like a grown up thought, but I realized that she was no different that me and Randy.

There were very few encounters growing up in Story County, but I do remember never feeling fear, superiority, or anything negative. I know there was a curiosity, but I wanted to learn. I wasn't taught anything in school about the struggles of African Americans. The only teaching was briefly when talking about the Civil War. That was it. I graduated from high school in 1966.

I do remember an incident in the early 60s, where we had a gospel group of African Americans come to our school, and they told us they weren't allowed to stay in either of the two hotels we had in town. I found that appalling that they could come and perform, but couldn't spend the night.

In 1994, we went to Gulf Shores, Al. and stopped at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. The shock we felt when we realized that there were still killings of innocent humans, whose only "crime" was being born the wrong color, going on in the 60's. On our way home we drove through Mississippi, and faced one of the most fearful events of my life. My beautiful, gorgeous 4 year old, African American granddaughter stated she had to go to the bathroom, at the very same time we drove by a barn, with "KKK" spray painted on it's side. We found a restroom, separate from any other building. We whisked her in and out, and were on our way. I just never want my grandchildren to ever know fear and hatred because of the color of their skin. With this beautiful man holding the most powerful position in the world, hopefully they never will.

Thank you America, WE DID IT!!!!!!