Went to the annual Starnes family get together in Crawfordsville, IN (about an hour from Indianapolis). Family, food, and fun all wrapped up together. The nice thing about this year was Daniel, Karen, and James were coming back from Maryland and planned the trip to include Friday and Saturday with Michael's uncle and aunt which is where everyone gathers. They hadn't seen them for about 6 years so it was really nice to have both sides of the family represented (made it more fun for me). Michael and I flew down for the weekend and stayed at a hotel for the night. the only downer for me every year is they are really into NASCAR racing since they are so close to Indianapolis and it's usually going on when we come down for the reunion. That's actually worse to watch on TV than baseball!

Life is Not a Beach, But I'm Pretty Happy Anyway

Way back in 1974 a good friend of mine told me I needed to get a focus in my life since I hadn't done anything with my chosen major from college, I hated my job doing "secretarial" work at a local church and really didn't have any future plans in the works. So I went back to school and after 6 weeks got a job doing nursing aide work and as they say the rest is history. I have been doing temp work for 3 years now. Even though it's been a major learning experience I finally landed a wonderful position with the Healthpartners clinic in Bloomington. God has been so good to me. When I finished school I thought I had learned everything. I learned real fast I didn't know squat if anything more than the basics of the ins and outs of being a CMA in a clinic setting. We never know it all, we never have it all figured out. Life is a true learning experience and we are all constantly reinventing ourselves, all evolving into who and what God wants us to become. Even though I have come a long way I am still growing in my knowledge of the medical field. Even though my dream of becoming a nurse was not achieved I work alongside some wonderful nurses every day. My life's goal has always been to try to make my little corner of the world better, to ease life's pain for those I come in contact with, and to spread His love to others. If I can do that for even a few, I feel I can rest easy, grow old, and die happy but only with His grace and love can I do anything. Thanks go to all my advocates who believed in me and encouraged me to reach for my goals!

This one's brought to you by the economy.

This past weekend we were going to go to Chicago to bike 18 miles on a trail that winds around a lake in the downtown area with a cousin of Michaels. We decided not to due to the long drive (about 8 hours), the motel room for 2 nights (we're not getting any younger) and time spent away (it's valuable, you know) so we stayed home. Actually we heard about the Winona County Fair in St. Charles, Mn. a short 2 hour drive and no motel room to pay for so we headed out for the day. Lots of fun and it cost zero to get in the place (unlike the State Fair). We also took in a drive to Wabasha looking for eagles and ended the day in Lakeville at the Crackerbarrel for supper(the kids gave us a gift card for Christmas). One piece of pizza and a diet pepsi - $5.00, one large glass of fresh squeezed lemonade - $3.00, one sunshiny day with the love of my life - priceless.

4 years to the day

4 years ago on July 3rd my dad died from a massive heart attack. Even though it was very sad to say the least, God was merciful. He died the way he lived: very fast: no hospital room, no lingering suffering, etc. When it happened I was a part of a writing group and decided to write about his life. I didn't know it at the time but it ended up as a very therapeutic tool for me to work through the grief since none of us ever got to say goodbye (easy on the person, hard on those left behind). With that said I would like to share a piece from my journalistic endeavor. I hope you enjoy it.
"As a child I had an intense fear of the dark, which probably was contributed to some evil cousins, hated by the entire family, who locked me in a closet at a family gathering when I was just barely 8 years old. It was upsetting to me to have such an intense fear that I had no control over but I learned very early how to manage life around my fear. Most neighborhoods in the 50s were constructed with alleys that separated the back yards of the homes. Cars parked mostly in the front of the homes on the street so most of the kids in the neighborhood felt free to wander back and forth across the alley to each other’s back yards. My best friend lived across our alley and down a short hill. During inclement weather we would usually spend the day indoors playing board games, cards, or watching movies on TV. Sometimes I would forget about the time and would suddenly realize that it was getting dark which meant that I needed to get home. Usually I would call home and ask if someone could come outside and stand in the back yard and wave me in. Invariably it was my father who would appear in the back yard waving his hand for me to catch a glimpse of him. He was easy to see with his 6 ft. frame and his large white undershirt. I would run as if my backside were on fire but he would always wait never turning around to soon before going back inside knowing my intense fear would only heighten if he did."