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 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!
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