Two decades

Two decades ago, at 7:50 am, the world gained another person. Granted, probably more than just one, but the one I know about it the most important person born that day! In honor of my intelligent, beautiful and funny daughter's 20th birthday I will list 20 interesting facts/quotes about Becky.

1. Her full name is Rebecca Elaine, she is named after her maternal great-grandmother Roberta Elaine.
2. Her first smile was at 3 weeks :)
3. Her first word was at 11 months, it was "kitty".
4. At the age of 3 she put on play shoes and lipstick and then said "now I look like a real woman".
5. At 2 1/2 years she talked to Santa at Wal-Mart and then saw him again the same day at Santa's Castle, she refused to talk to him again because she had just told him what she wanted and he should have remembered.
6. When she was almost 3 she would close her eyes and ask "who turned out my eye lights?".
7. Three years old she proudly exclaimed "you are the best mom and dad and I won't ever buy another one!".
8. At 3 1/2 she was asked "what are you good for?" She answered "loving!" (She was right!).
9. Also at 3 1/2 she said "Santa's reindeer are magic if you just use your imagination!".
10. The day before she turned 4 she was a flower girl and when she was 14 she was a bridesmaid.
11. Brian made her mad when she was four and she came crying to me saying "Brian made me lose my temperature!".
12. Looking forward to joining Girl Scouts she wondered when she would be old enough to be a "cupcake"...i.e. Brownie.
13. When she was 4 1/2 she decided that when she was 7 she would know everything there was to know about being a mommy, but she would have to wait until she was MUCH older to be a real mommy.
14. At the age of 5 she got a book about learning to read but she was concerned that she would never learn how. When asked why she thought that, she said "I just have a feeling".
15. Once said "Christmas is not for presents, it is for sharing joy and laughter with your family" She was right and we remind her of what she said to this day.
16. When she was in 1st grade she asked me what "estimate" means. I said "guess", meaning that to be the answer. She said "But I don't know!"
17. She graduated high school number three in her class.
18. She works full time while going to college full time and gets good enough grades to be on the Dean's List.
19. She has had her hair colored at least four different colors...blonde, brown, red and whatever her natural color is :)
20. She is the most intelligent, funny, beautiful, kind, compassionate, loving 20 year old that I know :)

date April 9, 2011
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Tuesday (Friday) Tootsies

I know it's not Tuesday, but these tootsies were too cute to not post!



date April 8, 2011
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Boohoo

Last night at Swing Show Kayla gave me flowers. I cried. Kayla played a trombone solo in a jazz band song. I cried. Kayla sang a solo. I cried. Kayla sang in the senior song and they showed a video of pictures of the senior kids. I cried. Kayla presented gifts to the band directors. I cried. Kayla sang back-up for a friend. I cried. My final time to watch a swing show and I saw most of it through watery eyes. I am just a big crybaby...it gets harder to let go with every child that goes.

date April 2, 2011
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Things that make you say hmmmm

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and not even try to figure people out. Some people just do whatever they want to do, whether it is right or not, even whether it is legal or not. Then when they get caught they have every excuse for why they did it. They don't confess that they made a mistake and offer to redeem themselves or the damage they did, they just make excuses. "I was told I could take care of that anyway I wanted to" or "I thought that was junk so was getting rid of it" or my favorite "Oh I destroyed your property by accident". When something like this happens it makes you wonder what kind of history these people have. Then when you check into it it is even worse than you imagined! I guess that is a life lesson for everyone...check backgrounds before you rent someone your property.


Live and learn. It is what it is. S#*t happens. All good platitudes to live by. But save yourself some grief and do the homework. Check strangers out that will be involved in your life, call the past people who dealt with them. Most importantly, don't be afraid to handle the issues that come up as they should be handled...DON'T. BACK. DOWN.

date April 1, 2011
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Woot!

Excitement at our house yesterday! Kayla was a participant with the LM jazz band at the USD Coyote Jazz Festival. Previous years they have gotten II and III ratings, in fact last year they were the only ones in their class (1A) to get a III rating. This year was a different story! They got put into the A class, where their small group of musicians should be, and came home with the first place trophy!! The bus had to leave because some of the kids had to be back for work, so Kayla asked me to stay and see if they placed. I sat and sat until they finally did the awards ceremony, not really expecting anything for LM. The announcer awarded the third place trophy, then the second place and I thought to myself, well this was a waste of time. Then he announced the first place winner as Laurens-Marathon! I looked around, no one was getting up and going down to take the trophy so I figured I must have heard it right...and went right on down and grabbed that big ol' trophy =) It took all my willpower to wait until I got to the car to call Kayla on the bus and tell her...she announced it to the rest of the band and the screaming began! They were so excited...but after we hung up Kayla called back a few minutes later to verify that I had actually said first =)


Last night we moved Brian into his apartment in the big city of Marathon. It is freshly painted and has a really nice little kitchen with new cabinets and counters. We got all his furniture moved in and his bed set up, he was very excited to actually get to sleep in his bed instead of on the couch! He still has a few little things he needs to get...like a shower curtain!...but nothing that can't easily be found at Walmart. I had forgotten what nice little apartments they are, his living room is good sized and he has friends right next door. The last tenant even left a nice grill outside his door, so he can barbeque this summer =) Kind of weird not seeing him on the couch this morning when I got up, but happy he is in his own place!

date March 18, 2011
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Newsy news

Quick update...though not much going on.


Brian is loving his new job...yay! He is still dealing with the landlord at the Marathon apartments and trying to get in there. He calls her and she says the place needs to be painted before he can move in. He says he doesn't care if it is freshly painted, she says ok I will call you to meet me so we can look at the apartment and see if you want it. She never calls so he calls again and she says a faucet needs to be fixed before he can move in, but she will call him to come see the apartment. She never calls...this is getting old! He keeps bugging her...eventually she will let him move...just a question of when.

Becky decided work wasn't exciting enough, so instead of just cutting the sandwich for the customer she hacked off part of her thumb! She tells me it was gushing blood and ruined the sandwich. Of course, she felt compelled to text me a picture of the bloody thumb...bleck!

Kayla just competed with the show choir at a festival in Emmetsburg and they won first place out of four! Woot! Of course, it was because their "home room" was the Josephson room (it was the room of sister-in-law Kelly, and said Mrs Josephson above the door). There was even a personalized note on the board to Kayla when they got there...she was quite famous for the day.

Nothing new with Dan and me...no surprise there. The four kitties aren't doing anything new either :p


date March 8, 2011
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Stolen

I totally stole this from the internet, but I love it...


"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

date March 7, 2011
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