So how was YOUR holiday weekend?

Quite frankly we’re amazed it took this long for Nicky to break a bone.
Heck, Jordie had 4 by the time she was his age, and one since.

She’s a little pissed off that we took Nick to the ER on day one; further proof she tells us, that he’s the favorite child.
If it were up to me though, he’d probably still be holding his arm and whining about it this morning. But when it happens at someone else’s house and those parents make that fateful call, you kind of have to step up to the plate and take the kid in. I mean, “What would they think?”!!!

I still catch grief from friends and family for the time it took me 3 days to get one of Jordan’s broken arms looked at.
But in my defense, this is the kid who I had to limit her “Ouch’s” to three a day a few years back. If I ran off to the doctor every time she yelled “Ouch” the state of this country’s healthcare system would be even worse. As would my wallet.

So we got to spend yet another Friday night in an emergency room.
We got lucky though, Nick was about the biggest emergency they were handling that evening thus far.
They wheeled a guy in a little later who was passing a kidney stone, note to self: that is not how I EVER want to spend my time.

The funniest moment of the evening was when Nicky announced he had to pee. Two nurses and a female doctor all turned around and looked at Mike. Without missing a beat, Mikey turned to me and said, “Two shakes down and one to the left. No more.” The expression on Nicky’s face was priceless as the rest of us all bust a gut!

Nick will get a real cast put on next Tuesday; in the meantime he’s vacillating between KU blue, or Husky (his FB team) purple. I’m just trying to find a Sharpie that works!

Happy Labor Day!

“You Just May Start a Chain Reaction”

Rachel Scott.
The first person killed at Columbine High School, April 20, 1999.

Yesterday after Jordan got home from school and VB practice, she excitedly tried to explain a new program her high school is getting involved in this year; one she volunteered to participate in. She was having difficulty however articulating to me exactly what its purpose is. But she was so fired up about it she insisted we go to their website so I could see for myself. It’s called “Rachel’s Challenge” and by the time we got through just the video portion, we’d gone through quite a few tissues.

Today at school, Rachel’s father, Darrell Scott, came from Colorado to introduce the program at an all-school assembly. This was followed by a peer training session for about 50 kids who have committed to the program.

Today’s assembly will quite possibly go down in our school history as the most spellbound and inspiring presentation ever attended. I’ve heard from several people who were there today that you could literally hear a pin drop. That’s quite uncommon in any high school gym, especially one filled to capacity with 1600 kids. But even more relevant is that Rachel’s message, that kindness and compassion can and will replace violence and rage, made an immediate impact on these kids. By implementing their program in schools across the country (and the world), the goal becomes to turn those traits into a lifelong mindset, and in Rachel’s words, “maybe start a chain reaction”.

I went to the parent presentation this evening with Jordan, and I also can’t seem to articulate in this small space tonight’s experience. I was simultaneously overwhelmed with grief and hope. Grief, as this man shared his personal and tragic story about the senseless death of his daughter, 12 other young people and a courageous teacher nine years ago at Columbine High School. Yet hope, because of his daughter Rachel’s ethics and codes of life, which ultimately resulted in a challenge to the rest of us; Rachel’s Challenge.

If you live in the KC area, Mr. Scott is doing another presentation at Blue Valley West High School tomorrow evening (8/28) at 7p.m.. If you can… please go! It’s an incredible story about a beautiful girl whose simple and logical outlook on life, has begun to change the world.

If you aren’t in the area, and especially if you have kids in school, check out their site and invite Rachel’s Challenge to your school. It’s a beautiful message but more importantly, “it inspires, instructs and enables students to bring positive change to their own school atmosphere”.

Tramps like us... Baby we were Born to Run

That’s the T-shirt I bought at the Bruce Springsteen concert Sunday night in Kansas City.
There were several to choose from, but come on… there was only one choice for me. And I wear it proudly!

The “anticipation music” as I refer to it, (I’m sure it has a real name… instrumental music that they tease you with right before the band appears on stage) was what you would hear play on a carousel at an amusement park. Fun and whimsical, the mood was set. Then out he came dressed in a warn black shirt and his signature Levi’s… the crowd went wild.

This is the third time I’ve seen Springsteen and in my opinion it was his best concert yet. And yes… that does include “Born in the USA” which I never ever thought could be topped. Maybe it’s because I’m older and more appreciative of his lyrics than ever before. Bruce Springsteen is probably one of the most socially conscious mainstream artists out there, and his lyrics, old and new, are as relevant today as they’ve ever been. But more than that even, simply put… Springsteen and his E Street Band outdid themselves. They were on fire, clearly into it, and we in the crowd gave it right back to them. It was a truly magical, rockin night.

The song set was incredible too; apparently they mix it up pretty good from show to show, often performing basically on the fly. Bruce and the band responded to signs held up by the crowd which is a refreshing change from most strictly choreographed shows. It’s just incredible to me that they could play something from their repertoire with little notice (or practice), with such precision that the crowd never knew it wasn’t on the original song list. I’ve got to believe having this sort of flexibility is a key element in keeping his shows so fresh and exciting night after night. Well, that and his “arse” in those Levi’s!

Case in point… I read about a guy who was at the Charleston show a week or so ago and had the good fortune of staying in the same hotel as Bruce and the band. Further good fortune caused their path’s to cross around 4:45 in the afternoon. This guy took advantage of the opportunity and asked Bruce if he could put in a plug for "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)." Bruce leaned back toward the guy and said, "What?" The guy responded, "You're in the home of Carolina beach music, and I wanted to put in a plug for "Double Shot." Bruce stroked the hair below his lower lip for a few seconds and said as he looked at the guy, "It's not impossible." Five hours later he opened the show with “Double Shot”. Wow.

At nearly 60 years old, Bruce Springsteen sounds as good live as anyone out there, and it’s a good bet he’s still better than most.

My only regret of the evening?
That I didn’t splurge on that second T-shirt I really liked.
It too was black and printed on the front of it…

“Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims and strap your hands across my engines” …

Anytime Boss, anytime!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah!!!

The little darling’s are back where they belong.
I had nary a blog entry all summer long and that is a direct result of what kind of summer it was.
In a word… “Speedy”!

Toward the end of June, we lost a very, very dear friend of ours, Bobbi.
She and her husband Doc were (are) basically surrogate parents to Mike growing up in Beatrice Nebraska. Bobbi truly loved Mikey as one of her own and her passing was a difficult time for all of us. It was, as services go, beautiful and fitting for such a grand lady with several services and Rosaries said from Dallas, to Beatrice to Omaha. Bobbi was the kinda gal that when you left her and Doc’s home, you couldn’t help but have a little more spring in your step than before your visit which was always filled with food, drink and an abundance of laughter. The family home is quiet now; we vow to do all we can in the coming months to help bring life and laughter back to it.

Most of the summer was a blur of volleyball camps and lessons for Jordie as well as trips to the lake with friends. She attended the University of Nebraska camp which really opened up her eyes to big-time VB. Today begins a week of tryouts for High School so it will be a bit tense around here for a few days. As a sophomore, the hope is to make JV; as a parent, the hope is to just make it… period!

Nicky is playing football for the first time; the coach sure liked it when he sauntered up. He has grown over 3 inches this year and is tipping the scales like he’s been corn-fed. The issue however is not size, it’s aggression. He has none. Think “Gentle Giant”… that will be him. After the first full practice in pads and helmets the poor kid came home with some other kid’s jersey emblem embedded in his arm, that’s how hard he got hit. When I asked him how he was, all he said was, “I’ve got to get down lower Mom”. I hope not “stretcher” low… my old heart can’t take this! He did however take first place in the Skeet Shooting Finals at a 3 day camp he attended. I’m not quite sure what I should be hoping for here… gun accuracy or the ability to pulsate people. God knew what he was doing when he gave my Mom all girls; she would never have made it through the “boy years” and I’m not too sure I’m cut out for them either.

Mikey went back to work for B&V last winter, his travel is way down and we are all so much happier. (Well everyone but that “other” family I was convinced he had in New Orleans!) He’s all ours again with just the “right amount” of travel sprinkled in. One of his jobs is in Hawaii… so we don’t feel too sorry for him when he has to go although he whines about it pretty bad. I suspect that’s for our benefit, like we’re really buying it!

One of the highlights of our summer was the new addition to our family. “Murphy” is a hybrid… half Bichon Frieze, half Yorkshire Terrier. (Remember in the old days when dogs bred outside their breed and we called them “mutts”?) Murph is actually Mom’s dog… we have shared custody of him. When Mom travels, Murphy will come live with us. He is an absolute joy, Mom has just come back alive caring for and playing with him. He’s our newest blessing and we love him. As for Tucker, let’s just say he’s “practicing tolerance”.

As for me, I spent most of the summer building my Real Estate biz. I am under the umbrella of Keller Williams, but I am an independent contractor. I named my business “ChrissyCan” because TC always told me that. She always had incredible faith in my abilities from the time we were little girls. One time before her cancer came back, she, my Dad any I were having lunch together and I was lamenting that I had no idea what I wanted to do now that I was no longer working in Corporate America. It was a scary time for me and TC, having just been through what we thought of at the time as the battle of her life, basically dismissed my doubts. She looked at my Dad, rolled her big blue eyes and said to him… “Chrissy can do anything. Always has, always will”. I wish I could say that was an “immediate” defining moment, but her confidence in me at the time was clearly much higher than my own. It has caught up to me however and I appreciate those words and her undying belief in me more and more each day. Before she died I shared with her my intention to donate 10% of the profits from each transaction to the KU Endowment Fund in her name. Specifically, 100% of these monies are designated to the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute. KMCRI is coordinating the designation plan for the University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Kansas Hospital to achieve National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. With this designation, Kansas City will join 39 other cities in the United States as home to an elite research, treatment and education center. This goes beyond breast cancer, one of the most highly funded cancers there are. These monies will help every one of us who sadly, the odds say, will be affected by some form of this monster disease.

TC cried and cried when I told her and showed off my new business card which states my donation intention; I will never forget that moment as long as I live. I have 4 closed transactions since January when I started and nothing excites me more than cutting that check to KU. It is my single biggest motivating reason to be successful; TC is proud of me and that’s enough for me.

Just last week we finally snuck a quick family vacation in, we headed to the mountains in Aspen and did all that “good-clean-living” stuff. My “arse” still hurts from our 5 hour trail ride, but not as bad as my heart from pounding. I had a stubborn horse named Tucson who was the horse-version of Tucker. He did what he wanted when he wanted, including stopping to graze on a 14 inch wet and rocky path which offered very little security between it and the canyon thousands of feet below. Between that and Mikey driving us over Independence Pass in a rainstorm, Jordie and I have decided unequivocally that we are “beach gals”. Plant my feet in and on the sand, give me a drink with a little umbrella coming out of it, a good book and sunglasses…voila’… that’s a vacation!

Jordie drove herself to school today for the first time (feel free to fill in your own interpretation of my thoughts on that!), the sound of Nicky’s bus is just a faint memory already, I just drained the last cup of coffee out of the pot, and I have a welcomed calm and quiet enveloping me at this moment. I’ve got to hurry up and enjoy it though… school gets out in a mere 4 1/2 hours!

I hope your summer was free of heartache, filled with fun and did not pass by near as quickly as mine. But I know there's fat chance of that last one being the case! At least we've got our memories... for now!