I am a Virginian

To be a Virginian,
Either by birth, marriage, adoption,
or even on one's mother's side...
Is an introduction
to any state in the Union,
a passport
to any foreign country,
and a benediction from
the Almighty God.
Anonymous

I am now in Phoenix, with just 6 days to go until wedding time! Last night my nephews and my mom threw a surprise party for my sister and her husbands 25th anniversary...it was too funny. For some reason everyone was waiting for them to come in the front door...which nobody but the most infrequent visitors use....and focusing their cameras on it. Of course, they came through the back door...the normal entrance for them, and we all had to do a bout face...
We had about 70 people in my parents' home, which gets warm even with 4 people in it. it was HOT. But lots of fun...Karen and Dan (the guests of honor) were very surprised and touched at the turn out. Food was great...G'ma and Wayne made sure of that! And Wayne's experience, schooling and training paid off last night. The food was tasty, beautiful and wonderfully presented.
It will be a busy week, but am SO GLAD to be down here and getting closer to wedding day. I loved the role I had in my step daughters' weddings and always wished I could have done more. This has been so fun!
My aunt mary is also visiting from South Carolina this week...what a great time to spend with her, my mom and the other women in my family. She is a beautiful person, has such strength, faith and love..talks fast and smart, too! And loves a glass of good red vino....
My love left this morning to go back home, until this Thursday. Wish he could be here, but he doesn't like Phoenix very much and it's SO hot here right now, he'd be miserable. When he gets back later this week, we'll have moved out to my sister's home, where the wedding will be and be able to lounge (between cleaning and prepping) in the pool or by the pool or somewhere near the pool....
Last week after Rob, Mandy and the kids left, we moped around a while..missing the kids running around and the noise. I found little finger prints Hallie left on the glass of the entertainment center, the junior ranger badge Jonah left behind and the shells Mackay was so kind to leave for me (will probably use in my garden, great for the soil!) "It's way too quiet here," we said to one another a few times. The week BEFORE that, I'd moved my son to the big city of Phoenix and when I returned from there, it felt the same. I miss the guitar playing, the friends visiting and even miss waiting up for him! Well, kind of....have to admit I am now getting a good full nights' sleep, good for the body and soul!

I live at work

Monday- 8am to 5:45pm
Tuesday-8am to 5:30pm
Wednesday-8am to 5:30pm
Thursday-8am to 6pm
Friday-8:30am to whenever I want darn it!
Robert, Mandi and the kids came in last night for Rob's 10 year reunion. I couldn't be there to receive them, so I asked Gary to come by with the boys before they headed out to the lake. So he brough Mackay and Jonah in, and they were all wide eyed and cute, very proper and quiet! Jonah showed me his kung fu panda picture he was carrying and a figurine of some little rat with a kung fu outfit on. He reminded me of Josh at that age, carrying around his favorite toys all day, either in hand, a bucket or something. Apparently Mackay is a big fisherman, baits his own hooks, casts really well...Tata was having a ball. They hit the sack at 10:00 and slept comfortably through the night.
Poor Hallie, on the other hand, was up frequently throughout the night, pulling on her ears, croupy cough and miserable with an ear ache. Luckily, our visiting ENT took a peek in her ears (hallway consult!) and was kind enough to write out an rx for her. She was smiling and playing a little, but looked a little peaked. But better days ahead, she'll be good in no time.
Today is Kim's last day with us....I am so sad to see her go! She is very on the ball, has really grown as a nurse over the past several years, and is fun to work with. THings seem to run more smoothly with her presiding over cases and recovery. But she has to do what's best for her and her daughter. We'll miss her!
Wedding plans have taken on a life of their own! It's all coming together beautifully and I cannot wait to start decorating, setting up table and chairs, see what cake Wayne has in store for us...

Long day

Actually this should be titled long week! Wow....have you ever seen those cartoons where something gets rolling and picking up stuff on the way and the whole thing keeps getting bigger and bigger!? That's how my week has been! Not in a bad way....but snowballing to the finale which is tomorrow, when I return home to good ole Page and begin another week of action and adventure...my lovely step daughter and her family will be visiting with us a few days, giving Gary (husband, dad and Tata) ample time to play with Mackay and Jonah, and be sweet on little Hallie...who turns one on Tuesday! Hard to believe it's already been a year since that sweet little one was born.
Today was Sophie's bridal shower up at the mother in law to be's home...fabulous food, gifts and women to share the day with! Sophie looked so beautiful, as expectant mothers can (right Tricia!?) and I realized that in exactly three weeks, the youngest of our daughters will be a married woman...and by the end of the year, we will be grandparents x 5! Holy hannah.....but itss a blessing to have Mike in our family, along with Rob & Justin.
We just returned from the movie theater after watching Sex and the City...what a fabulous story, actually pulled my cynical heartstrings....even with the raunchy sex scenes (at which I actually had to cover my eyes)..I loved the story and the characters, but especially the strength these women found in themselves in their 40s. Of course, it's just a story, not real life...at least not here! This sure ain't New York City.

My blog name

Beachbum wanna be is exactly what I aspire to become. Besides being a good wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, etc....
I first fell in love with the ocean before I can even remember. But for some reason there is a little niggling in the back of my mind from when I was a toddler and my parents took us to the coast in North Carolina for vacation, when we lived in Virginia. The next beaches I visited were the Pacific coast beaches in California, Oregon and Washington which were beautiful, mysterious and crowded. And a little dangerous, with the strong undertow and agressive, hungry sea life.
Then I got to see more of the Atlantic coast...Maine, Nagshead, KittyHawk, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Pawley's Island, Charleston, the Outerbanks...and was hooked. The east coastal beaches are regal even when they are inundated with hotdog eating flipflop wearing locals and vacationers. The waters are calm and eddy around you in a welcoming caress; sand dollars & starfish are easily found and either kept to dry or given back to the sea; the sea life is more curious than anything and beautiful to behold. The calm that pervades the eastern coast -especially the southeastern coast-is such that it stayed with me for months after my last visit...and now, my whole being is screaming and yearning and aching for the east coast.
The past year has been a bevy of excitement, disappointment, love, hate, excess, denial...we "became" parents again after 4 years; my son had decided to move back in with us last May after his junior year ended. Thus began our most trying months yet. I learned what NOT to hide and what I should be pushing off on my husband, his step father. And realized he can take a lot more than I thought he could. But that is another story for another day.
Welcome to my world.