Female in Motion

The Hubster says I apologize too much. Maybe I do...but maybe if more people apologized more often, this world would be a nicer place to live. I made my daughter mad this week. I didn't mean to, and I had the best of intentions, but it happened. Sometimes when you try to spare people's feelings, the end result is that you hurt them. And for that, I am deeply sorry. It is irrelevant that I don't feel like I did anything wrong, what is very relevant is that she is hurt. How about you? Do you need to apologize to someone? What would it hurt if you just said "I'm so sorry?" It doesn't matter if they were wrong or you were wrong, what matters is that you can do something about it. Go ahead, give it a try! Apologies are good for the soul, too. You feel so much cleaner and lighter when it's done. Like the moment you step out of a hot bath...renewed. I try to practice what I preach, too. I do apologize often. Maybe I just screw up more than everyone else! It s...

Rachel is trying to teach me how to text message on my cell phone. Umm...old dog, new trick...you know the drill! I'm slowly building up my speed, but my main problem is the English! I just can't bring myself to use all the abbreviations and initials for terms that are so familiar in texting. Thus, it takes me forever to write a complete sentence, with punctuation, and then send it. Face it, I'm a Grammar Nerd! Yep, I grew up in that time when English skills were prized. I was also a voracious reader. The more you see words in print, the more familiar they are to you; almost like old friends. I'm getting some practice in while watching Gilmore Girls. It's on at 10 a.m. on ABC Family. Rachel and I both watch it and then text the silliest lines from the show to make each other giggle. No, we're not goofy at all! I am wearing a jacket AND a long-sleeved shirt while typing this. It sure feels like winter today. The change of seasons is taking longer than usual this ...

My mom gave me a great gift last week. A video set of my grandparent's memories is being passed around the family. My Uncle Don and his oldest son, Jeff, videotaped my maternal grandparents telling stories of their childhood. I immediately forced The Hubster to burn copies of them to keep! This is a golden treasure...in their own words. What a treat to see my grandparents, sitting in their favorite living room chairs, laughing and talking about growing up in Missouri, and meeting each other in high school and falling in love...it's amazing! It made me think how important it is to save the stories of our lives, so that we can pass down this heritage to our kids and grandkids. I really want to make this a priority. My mom has already started a project similar to this. She is having all of our family photos, slides and reel-to-reel audio tapes transferred onto DVD's. Some of them are from the early 1950's! This type of photography and sound will be obsolete in a few years,...

My mom is jetting her way to Europe today. She is taking a much-needed vacation. After all the hard work she did on Dad's auction for the last six months, she really needed it. She and her buddies will hit four countries in two weeks on a Danube River Cruise. I'm really excited for her, and more than a tad jealous! I am working on a family cookbook this week. I got the idea from The Hubster's Aunt Squeeky, who just got done putting together a fabulous family cookbook. It was such a cool project, with not just recipes, but old photos and family stories, too. It's going to be a great treasure in the years to come. That has given me the impetus to move forward with our own book. Looking through all my old recipes, cards, slips of paper and books, it's going to be a daunting task! Now that the girls are on their own, they call often with questions about how Dad seasons his roast chicken, or Grandma's famous cake recipe. I'm so grateful that they both enjoy cooki...

Hey, we survived it! Yes, this last weekend was a doozy! My family hosted my dad's two-day estate auction in Wichita. Dad had a rather unusual hobby after retirement...he collected and traded antique spark plugs. He and Mom had so much fun, traveling all over the country, going to swap meets and auctions and meeting lots of cool people. Dad passed away two years ago from cancer, and after that his collection stayed in storage. We all knew his collection was pretty big, but we had no idea just how large it was until McCurdy Auction Service researched it. Dad's was one of the largest spark plug collections in the nation, totalling over 80,000! And that doesn't include any of the memorabilia, accessories or manuals. It filled a gigantic warehouse and spilled out into the parking lot, as well. My mom's a local celebrity now, too. Did you see the article about the auction in the Wichita Eagle local section on Friday, or watch the 10 p.m. news piece by Anita Cochran on KSN Th...