Giving Thanks - Days 4 & 5

I was away for most of the weekend at a scrapbooking retreat, so I didn't get to post what I was thankful for on Saturday or Sunday. I started to write this last night, but was too tired to finish. So, since I missed two days, I'm going to cover a big subject -- I am thankful for family!


Yesterday was the naming ceremony for my great-niece, Hannah. It was held at my sister's home where we hold most family events. What a beautiful ceremony and celebration it was! The house was filled with over 50 people, family related to both of Hannah's parents and many, many friends. My quartet was even invited to perform as part of the ceremony and for entertainment afterwards. We sang "I Hope You Dance" (originally recorded by Lee Ann Womack), a perfect song because it speaks about the future and how you should make good choices in life. It was filled with good advice for a young girl as she grows up, even though at 3 months old she was a little young to understand it.

I enjoyed the time spent with my family -- my dear sister and her wonderful husband, my brother and his wife (whom I hadn't seen in five years), my older son, my nieces, and all of my close friends, who are like an extended family to me! My only regret is that my younger son wasn't able to join us because he had no way to get home from where he lives almost 200 miles away. I know he wanted to be here, but just couldn't arrange it.

I've found that as I get older, family becomes even more important. Like I said, I hadn't seen my brother and his wife in five years. Somewhere along the way -- especially during the past 20 years -- he seems to have drawn away from my sister and me. We've never understood why and he's never really been able to explain it. My sister is the oldest of the three of us, so she has made many efforts to reach out to him and close the chasm between us. I think she may have finally gotten through to him this last time. She told him that we are all at that point where more of our lives are behind us than in front of us, and life is too short to continue to hold grudges. He accepted the invitation to Hannah's naming, and I spent a lot of time wondering how this reunion would go. I've been angry with him for a long time, but also hurt and longing for a real relationship. After all, he's my big brother and whether he knows it or not, I always looked up to him when we were growing up...at least, when we weren't fighting, as kids often do.

It took him a while to warm up to us yesterday and I was feeling snubbed once again. But after most of the crowd had gone, I had a long chat with his wife and was very open about my concerns. She said that my brother wanted to reach out, but didn't really know where to begin. After we talked, I think she spoke to him and urged him to just start a conversation and open up. He came over and started telling me about how his son sang in an a capella group in college. We got to talking about my singing and comparing stories about being in chorus in high school, and before long, we were all laughing and joking and hugging each other. It was wonderful!

I hope this was the start of a new beginning and a new relationship, but only time will tell. We've been through moments similar to this in the past, but then things have gone cold between us again. This time, though, it feels a little different. He seemed like his old self again and I felt at ease and comfortable, instead of anxious and afraid of saying the wrong thing. My sister-in-law promised to have us all out to their house when their children and grandson are here for Thanksgiving. That would truly be a great gathering! I haven't seen my niece and nephew in more years than I can remember. And it would be wonderful to have the chance to meet my new great-nephew, who is almost a year old.

Let's hope we have finally put the past behind us. It doesn't matter what caused our paths to separate; it's water under the bridge. Only the future is important, and I hope that our future with my family will be even better than the past ever was!

Giving Thanks - Day 3

Well, today's thanks may bring a smile to your lips or even a giggle or two, but the way things have been this week, it has to be said: I am thankful that I am technically savvy!

I'm no computer genius and certainly would not be considered anywhere near being a geek, but I can use most of the common software programs that many of us use in our daily lives. Now, that may seem like a silly thing to be thankful for, but this week, I spent most of Wednesday afternoon helping my friend/chorus director, Karen, set up her new e-mail and learn how to record a show using her new Verizon FIOS DVR. Today, I was on the phone helping my friend, Sue, load music onto her iPod. I'm the Communications Chairman for my chorus, mostly because I know how to send out e-mails to everyone, with or without attachments.

I know not everyone is comfortable around computers, especially people of my generation or older. We didn't grow up using them like our children did. We lived through the days prior to remote controls, calculators, VCR's, DVD's, PC's, etc. I'm just lucky that I used computers a lot at work and had the opportunity to take formal training on things like Windows, MS Word, Excel, etc. I'm also not afraid of my computer and know that I really can't make it blow up by doing something wrong! That's what I try to teach my friends as I'm helping them.

I'm lucky in another way, too. I have great resources to turn to when I get in over my head or when something isn't working quite right. My older son, Paul, works in the field of computers and has for about 10 years. He's been a member of Geek Squad and can fix just about anything related to a PC or laptop, as well as video games, video recorders/players, etc. And if he isn't available, I turn to my brother-in-law, Ed, who is just as knowledgeable. I've learned a lot from both of them over the years.

There are lots of things about computers I'd still like to learn, like how to design a web page, how to put together a Power Point presentation (I've played with it a little, but need to learn more), graphic design, etc. At least, I'm pretty comfortable these days with Facebook and blogging, so that's a step in the right direction. I'll learn the other things sometime in the future. In the meantime, I'm thankful for what I'm able to do now and that I can help my friends when they need it.

Giving Thanks - Day 2

I've been giving a lot of thought all day to this concept of saying what I'm thankful for each day. It's easy to come up with what I think of as the "standard" things -- family, friends, good health, etc. I will address all of those in the coming days, but first, I'm trying to dig a little deeper and think about things that aren't quite so obvious. I'll save the easy subjects for days when I'm suffering from writer's block or don't have any fresh ideas.

So, today I want to say that I'm thankful for rain. I know -- if you live in the DC area, you're probably starting to sprout webbed feet because of all the rain we've had the last few days. Today was miserable to most people -- wet, rainy, windy, cold -- a good day to snuggle up in front of a roaring fire with a good book and a hot toddy. I agree with that and admit that it's a little bit difficult to actually admit I'm thankful for rain on a day like today. However, that having been said, I decided to look at the positive and think about all of the good things associated with rain.

First of all, it's better than snow! If all this rain had come down when it was 30 degrees colder, we'd have over a foot of snow, so I'm thankful that didn't happen. Of course, the most obvious positive is that rain is necessary for the plants, trees and grass to grow. Everything will be green and lush for the next few days, so that's a good thing. Rain shows that Mother Nature is still doing her job by providing the water that we need for survival, too.

The best thing about rain, though, is that sometimes, if you're very lucky, it's followed by sunshine and a beautiful rainbow. Not today...but last week, when I was taking a tour group from Arlington National Cemetery to the Jefferson Memorial, we had a quick storm and then the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. We saw the most magnificent rainbow (see my post "Stop the World" for a description). Times like that seem almost magical and we can't have the rainbow if we don't also have the rain!

Finally, there are times when you really do want to snuggle up in front of the TV or a roaring fire and just give in to being lazy and rainy days are perfect for that. I wish I could have had one of those days today, but maybe the next rainy day I'll be able to give in to it.

So, enjoy the rain, if you can. Splash in the puddles...bundle up your children and take a rain hike...or sit in your favorite chair, open the curtains and just watch it come down as you sip your tea or coffee. It's a good thing!

Giving Thanks - Day 1

My friend Jenny had a great post on her Facebook page today. It said:

Let's see how many people can do this. Every day this month until Thanksgiving, think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it as your status. "Today I am thankful for..." The longer you do it, the harder it gets! Now, if you think you can do it, then repost this message as your status to invite others to take the challenge, then post what YOU are thankful for today.

I love her idea, but I want to take it even one step further. I'm going to try to write a post every day between now and Thanksgiving to say what I'm thankful for. Yeah, it's kind of corny, I guess. But the truth is that we all get so busy in our lives and so often get dragged down by the things that go wrong that we really don't spend enough time thinking about the positives and being thankful for them. I've always tried to be a positive person...a "glass is 1/2-full" kind of gal, so this shouldn't be too hard...at least, not for the first few days.

So, here we go! A new adventure....a new focus for my thoughts.


Of course, today is Veteran's Day, and I am so very thankful for all of the Veterans who have served our country and all of the men and women in the Armed Forces right now, whether in harm's way or safe at home. Where would we be without them? I'm proud to say that I thank Veterans whenever I get the chance and, as a tour guide, I get plenty of opportunities to do so. If you see a Veteran or active-duty serviceman/woman walking buy, take a moment to say thank you to them, too. Also, check out the Gratitude Campaign by following the link on the right side of my page.


More tomorrow....

Stop the World! I Want to Get Off!

Has it really been more than a month since I last posted? I'm not really sure what that says about my life. It either means that I don't have one or that the one I have is way too busy and complicated to stop and take time to write about it. In reality, it's probably a bit of both.

I feel like I've been on a merry-go-round for the last six weeks and I can't get it to slow down long enough for me to step off of it. It started with preparations for our chorus annual show on October 3, which went very well -- one of our best. As co-chairman, there are always things to do towards the end to get ready. However, I'm also the Section Leader for Basses, so I was inundated with last minute quality control tapes to listen to and approve for the other singers in the section, and that took a tremendous amount of time.

I kept telling myself that once the show was over, I could relax, but of course, that didn't happen. At that point, I was busy putting the finishing touches on the plans for our "Tennessee Road Trip with a Little Alabama on the Side". For those of you who don't know about this...the Sweet Adelines International Convention/Competition was held in Nashville Octoberr 20-25. A group from our chorus decided to attend and enjoy the competitions (we were not competing). Since I had never been to TN or anywhere around there, I put out a plea for travel companions to spend a few extra days exploring the area. We ended up with a group of five fun-loving women who flew into Memphis the Saturday before International, rented a minivan and spent four days on a road trip through Tennessee, Mississippi (just passing through), Alabama and back to TN. It was fabulous!

We spent a day in Memphis visiting Graceland and getting a private city tour from a local guide. We ate the best barbecue I've ever had in my life at the world-famous "Rendezvous" in downtown Memphis -- a place I highly recommend if you're ever in town. The next day, we drove through MS to Huntsville, AL, where we visited the NASA Rocket and Space Center. Awesome! On Monday we hit the Unclaimed Baggage Store in Scottsboro, AL, then headed to Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, TN. Finally, on Tuesday we headed for Nashville....with a slight detour to Lynchburg, TN for a tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery!

We met up with the rest of our chorus buddies in Nashville on Tuesday. We spent some time watching the preliminary quartet and chorus competitions, but also took some time to see Nashville. We went on the General Jackson Showboat for lunch on Wednesday and took a tour that included Opryland USA and the Grand Ole Opry on Thursday. Unfortunately, my friend and roommate came down sick on Thursday night and I ended up spending all day Friday with her at the hospital and Saturday in our room taking care of her (mostly, watching her sleep 'cause she was knocked out by the medications). I didn't mind; she would have done the same for me. Aside from that, it was a great trip and one I'll remember for a long, long time!

After I got home, I figured that now life would settle down a bit. Not! The next weekend was the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and I had yet to do a single thing to raise money. Unfortunately, a dear friend and my niece, Rachel's partner, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy on the Tuesday after I got home from Nashville. The news is good -- doctors believe they got it all out -- so that's a big relief. I used Fay as my inspiration to raise money for ACS and wrote an e-mail asking for donations to send to my friends and family. In two days, I raised $500! There's still more coming in, too. I did the walk with my friend, Sue, and we had a ball. Since it was held on Halloween morning, we even dressed up with pink boa-covered bras!

Now? NOW? Did I finally get a bit of a break? Nope! I actually had a tour coming up the following week and had to prepare for it. A LARGE group of 8th-graders from Connecticut -- 7 buses/over 300 people -- arrived last Wednesday and I was one of seven guides to show them around through Friday. It was a wonderful group and I had a lot of fun with the students and adults on my bus! But it had been over five months since my last tour, so I was a little rusty, both physically and mentally. All went well, though, and we were blessed with three days of beautiful weather! We had a little rain on Thursday afternoon, followed by the shining sun, which created a gorgeous double rainbow that arched over the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial! It was so clear that we could actually see it all the way down to where it "touched" the ground on each end. I looked hard for the pot of gold, but couldn't find it. Rats!

So, maybe NOW things will slow down and the merry-go-round will stop spinning, right? Wrong! This week, I'm scrambling to update my resume for a big job fair for tour guides tomorrow...working on music for chorus because we have a coach coming to our rehearsal tonight...putting together the monthly newsletter for the chorus...completing a take-home exam so I can finish my requirements to move from Associate Member to Full Member in the Guild of Professional Tour Guides...getting ready to go to a scrapbooking retreat this weekend...working on quartet holiday music (including a new song) because we have a whole bunch of gigs coming up starting with Black Friday...looking forward to the naming ceremony and celebration for my great-niece, Hannah...still attending class at the Library of Congress....etc. You know, for someone who is "retired", I sure am busy!!

Maybe -- just maybe -- once we get past the naming, I can get a breather....at least, until Thanksgiving rolls around. My dear friend, Karpe, has offered to have the whole family to their place for dinner and I agreed to help her cook. We're both so busy lately (see above!) that we haven't seen much of each other, so I'm looking forward to it. It that's what it takes to get to spend time together, so be it!

The moral of the story is this: I wish I could post more often, but I'm doing the best I can. Thanks for reading when I do put things up and please check back frequently. I'll try to do better!