Hello!  I can't believe that Thanksgiving is in 3 days.  This fall has gone by so quickly.  It looks like now that things will slow down a little bit for me.  Believe me, I'm not complaining.  I have had a wonderful fall.  I've been too busy to do much of anything but work but I have the best job so it's really been great!  I think December will be kind of easier in many ways but everything will crank up again after the first of the year. 

For all that I have been through in my life I have to say that things have really come my way.  I'm truly thankful for all the blessings in my life. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Quote for the day:  Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner

Life is good!

Hi!  I know it's been awhile.  My live has changed in so many ways over the past 2 months. 
1) We sold and bought a new home. 
2) I got a new job.
3) I began my term as president of Executive Club.  It's been such a good time. 
Oh, did I tell you that the is the coziest home that I have ever lived in?  We're still getting settled.  We basically gutted the basement and it's finally taking shape.  And did I tell you that this is my dream job?  I feel very fortunate.  Did I tell you that it is a great honor and privilege to be president of this terrific club?  I've been working hard to take care of myself because of all these life changes.  Anyway, life is very, very good.  I'm blessed. 

Quote for the day:  Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns  have roses.  ~unknown

Fam...

We had a lovely wedding last weekend. My nephew, Greg and the lovely Stephanie got married last weekend. It was a beautiful day. I had a good time but I didn't get to take as many pictures as I usually do or talk to as many people as I usually do. Here is a picture of me and my siblings. It's really kind of amazing that we have this picture. Some days I think this will be the last time that we are all together. I'm sure that sounds ominous but financially this could really be the case. Anyway I'm glad that we are all getting along now, it's been a long haul.

Quote for the Day: Our siblings push buttons that casts us in roles that we felt sure we had let go of long ago-the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider...It doesn't seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we have traveled. ~Jane Merky Leder

Life is Good!

Bella is sitting with me right now. She's doing just great after having her teeth pulled. I could not be more proud of her and her recovery. She took most of her medicine and I have spotted her eating hard cat food again. :) She's just so presh. I would take 5 of her if I could! She had to take the wrath of her sister Lola who, by the way, was a total and complete yachy...she hissed at Bella for days. Thankfully things are better.

Things are going good at work. The days are so productive. I can't wait to begin this campaign and make plans for a fall trip. I'm a little bummed that there is no trip planned. It always gives me something to look forward to. We'll probably have to wait until October. I'm good with that.

Not much else is new...my previous disappointment may have been premature. But I'm still focusing on the positive.

Quote for the day: The trouble with life isn't that there is no answer, it's that there are so many answers. Ruth Fulton Benedict

Bellz

My little Bella had two teeth extracted yesterday. I think she's mad at me and in a bit of pain as well.

Get well soon sweet Bella!

I'm headed up to give her a kiss now. :)

Family Reunion

We just got back from a family reunion. I have never felt as much love in my life as I did in the rooms that we shared at our reunion. I know that Mom, Dad, W.C. and Dot were smiling down on us the whole weekend. :) I share them all with you! :)

Quotation: A good way to love our relatives is to spend time with together in well planned family reunions. A family reunion can be a very personal and priveledged gathering. If you have never organized your family for a reunion, start now-you will receive joy far beyond your expectations. ~Alma Heaton

Disappointment

I'm disappointed. I can't even write about it here specifically but I'm very disappointed. And I know that everything happens for a reason but this is the second time I (or should I say someone else) has gotten my hopes up about a life change and it hasn't happened. I guess there is a possibility that I am jumping the gun and maybe it's just my defense mechanism kicking in. Anyway, that said, I'm grateful for everything I have and I need to focus on the positive things going on in my life.

June

It's been nearly a month since I have finished school. I've been so busy traveling, maybe selling this house, maybe buying another house, trying to schedule a garage sale and getting things in a good place at work.

Mr. That and I went to South Carolina. We had a really nice time. We did a bunch of nothing and just generally had a great time together. :) It's just the way vacations should be. The one thing that I know is that I want to live on the water someday. It doesn't matter if it's a lake or the ocean, I just need to be near water.

We received an offer on the house and after much negotiation, everything is on hold. The folks who are buying it are on vacation for many weeks so we'll see what happens when they return. We have found a house that we like as well. It's also on the water and does need a little bit of work to make it our own. So we'll see what happens.

I'm putting a lot of stuff together to have a garage sale. I have much to get rid of.

Not much else is new really. I've been absent from here for a long time. Of course, I'll do better. :)

Freedom!!

Hello! I finished my first semester of grad school but it was not easy or fun or anything. But...I did get an A and a B. So now I'm in a quandary. What should I do? I think I might just be able to get through this. So I'm going to think about it and check into other programs and see what happens. But bottom line... honestly, I want it.

It's been a long semester. I almost quit. I tried to quit and my teacher convinced me not to. I appreciate that and I owe her a big "Thank you" for encouraging me to stay.

I went to Orlando last week for a United Way conference. It was fun. I had never been to Disneyland or Epcot before. I'd like to go back and take Peter sometime. I think he would especially like Epcot although I think the fireworks at Disney were the best I have ever seen and I've seen some good ones.

Looking forward to the family reunion next month!

Not much else even though I've been gone for awhile...I'll be back. :)

Florida is my friend... :)

I went back to Florida again. I really like it there. I'm so bummed when I have to leave. I'm happy to be going back in fourteen days. I'll only be there 2 1/2 days but really, who cares, it's still Florida! :)
I'm feeling better about school but I have learned that from now on, no more than 1 class a semester. I'm just too busy with work to do more than that. I feel good about the future and the path that I'm taking.
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. I'm not giving up anything for lent but I'm going to stay on WW for 40 days and try to get to my goal weight. I have a bet going with two girls from work. Is this bad? I mean placing a bet on something for the Lenten season? I know...I think it might be a little...not right, but oh well.
Things are going very well.... ttfn. :)

Quote for the day: “You can't stop loving or wanting to love because when its right, it's the best thing in the world. When you're in a relationship and it's good, even if nothing else in your life is right, you feel like your whole world is complete.” ~Keith Sweat - And my friends...I'm in a good relationship! :)

Time is a ticking...

I've been busy. Everything is good but all my free time is spent studying and doing homework. So I don't have time for much else. Our annual meeting is next week and I can't wait for it to be here. We have a special Community Report that we are putting out to the community. I'm glad it's over soon and hope we can get back to the business of getting on with the campaign.

I almost quit school this week. I did have a major meltdown about school yesterday. I'm working my ass off and I'm not getting some of this. Seriously, I took the train to Chicago this past weekend so that I could get 6 hours of homework in (I ended up doing about 10 hours) and still don't get some things. So I left work yesterday, drove around, called Peter, had a meltdown about school. I called my teacher for my intercultural communication class, Dr. Gill. She's pretty awesome, I had sent my paper to her early to get feedback and she was very nice to do that for me. Anyway, I had gotten a note from Dr. Rod with my paper that I had submitted and he asked me what theory I was going use to do my research and I'm like...I don't have a frigging clue. And I wasn't getting why I didn't have a clue...I mean I'm reading and writing and working my ass off. So I call Dr. Gill a few hours later yesterday and told her that I'm working my ass off and I don't get it. Then she said to me, well of course you don't, Ellen. You haven't had your core classes yet... and besides that, this is your first semester and you're coming in the middle and everyone else has the advantage. She said you don't have the background of theory in communication because you come from a journalistic background. I seriously wanted to cry tears of joy. I don't get it because I'm not supposed to. This made me feel so much better. She's going to help me and I'll get Dr. Rod to help me with the theory and I should be fine. So I'm staying here for now. I brought a good book from Amazon about communication theory so I'm going to try to get myself up to speed. Not sure if I'm going to take a summer class or focus on the communication theory for the summer. So,we'll see. I'm anxious to get it done and get on to the task of teaching. --I'm committed to kicking ass to get this done...

More later...


One of my most favorite quotes that I shared at Rotary last week. "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

My little girl is engaged!!

Christina and Mike got engaged last weekend. I was kind of surprised because when Mike talked to me, he indicated that he was going to ask her this weekend. I think that ring was burning a hole in his pocket. Anyway, I'm thrilled for them. I think it will be 17 months from now so we have plenty of time to plan things. These are exciting times and I wish them all the joy and happiness that planning this wedding gives them. I look forward to doing what I can to make this their best first day as husband and wife together. :) I can't wait!

Quote for the day: Success in marriage does not come through finding the right mate but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner

MLK Day

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. There are two things about this day that I think of each and every year.

1. The first time that I heard Kent Redmon from Parkland College give his "I Dreamed a Dream" speech. It is something you will not forget. Moving...
2. One of my favorite Dr. King quotations: "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

We have made a lot of progress but it seems like it will never be enough.

A moment of silence...

for the shooting victim's in Tucson Arizona. ... ... ... ... ...

I've been glued to the TV this weekend about the unfortunate events that occured yesterday in Tucson Arizona. My thoughts and prayers go to each of the victim's and their families as they struggle to get through these trying times.

Bad things happen. There is no understanding why they happen. I think that Congressman Tim Johnson made a good point today in the News-Gazette. He's not going to change his life. He's not going to change the things that he does or the way he conducts business. I agree. I think it's good to be aware of your surroundings. I also believe that this was an isolated incident and that this one incident should not radically change the way congressmen and women do business.

Still it's been a very sad weekend. Good thoughts for a rapid recovery to those that survived.

Quote for the day: "What is critical is that we stand together at this dark time as one body," "We need to rally around our wounded colleague, the families of the fallen, and the people of Arizona's 8th District. And, frankly, we need to rally around each other." John Boehner

Other exciting news!

As exciting as Bobby's life has been this past week there are other things going on out in the world. Kristen, Bobby's girlfriend, was recently named editor of 'Foundations and Perspectives'. This is primarily an internal publication for Architect of the Capital employees but I want to share it with you because first, it's great writing and second, it has great historical information.

Here's the link: http://www.aoc.gov/aoc/magazine/index.cfm

If you click on "Read the full Winter 2010 issue..." then it will open a PDF of the entire magazine. Kristen's stories are "Restoring Luster to the Lantern" (pg. 8-9) and "A New Home for a Capitol Treasure" (pg. 18-19), but really they are all interesting and all are worth a look. Congratulations Kristen on your first edition! :)

Quote for the day: If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams. ~Terri Guillemets

Living my life through my son's eyes.

My number one son just started a new job this week. He's just taken the position of legislative director for R-Congressman Bobby Schilling from the 17th Congressional District. There have been a lot of firsts for him this week and he's really enjoying his new role in this administration. He's gotten more air time this week than I have in my life. (btw - I'm totally okay with this.) I'm so darn proud of him. He's doing great things and helping Bobby around D.C. This week a visitor dropped by to see Congressman Schilling. This was not just any visitor. This was a person that I have long admired for over 10 years since I began watching her on TV. I'm a news hound and I followed her closely for many years. Her name? Christiane Amanpour. Anyway, I share this picture with you. If I knew my way around photoshop, I'd photoshop myself into it. ;-)

Quote for the day: And I believe that good journalism, good television, can make this world a better place. Christiane Amanpour

Is it okay to judge people by who they hang out with?

How many times when you were growing up did your parents instill in you the importance of hanging out with kids of good character? Stay away from the bad kids...guilt by association...you're judged by the company you keep...you are who you hang out with. But what happens when bad kids grow up to be bad adults? Some adults are so much better at masking their imperfections because they have had years of experience.

The test of what a person is really like is to observe them when they don't get their way. You learn all you need to know when you observe someone behaving badly when things don't go their way. The real problem is that if they are good at hiding their bad behavior, you might not know until something bad happens.

I used to be a pretty trusting person. I believed that everyone deserved a chance and that just because someone said something against another person didn't mean that I would experience the same thing. Remember in my post of a few days ago when I mentioned that I had gotten smarter? Well it's been my experience that there is a little bit of truth in what people say. And it might be a good idea to stop, look, and listen. You might have been lucky to have long time friends who are of good character and have proven their character and loyalty over and over. You might be very lucky to have made good choices.

I'm learning to be a bit more cautious and part of what I have learned in the past few years is that I'm grateful for the good friends that I have. I think I have learned the hard lesson that perhaps I should have been a little more cautious in who I hung out with. I think part of my history includes wanting to be around people all the time and to that detriment, I made some bad choices by hanging out with some people. Sometimes hanging out alone can be a good thing. It's one of the good things that I learned.

Remember that old saying 'Birds of a feather, flock together'? If we hang out together now, know that I treasure our friendship. I'm lucky that my circle, although it is smaller, includes the best of the best! Thank you, dear friends.

So to answer my own question...maybe not to judge them but maybe a better word is to be cautious of people who hang with people of questionable character.

Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them. ~W. Clement Stone

Grad School...here I come! :)

Today I went to EIU to get my books, parking pass, pay for classes and generally figure out where I'm supposed to go next week. I think I'm ready. I'm a little concerned that there are no books for one of the classes I'm taking, that is a little unnerving. So it will be what it will be. I'm very excited about going back to school. I'm even more excited about where this will all take me. I know that the possibilities are endless. I'm thankful to have this opportunity and to be honest, I never in my wildest dreams think that this was possible for me. Let the good times begin! :)

Quote for the day: The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings. ~Dave Weinbaum

It's my birthday

I really believe that I didn't start living until I turned 50. I feel like it all started to come together when I turned 50. Today, I'm 53. My body sometimes tells me that I'm 50 but my mind never does. But something has happened. I feel wiser. Wiser without going to school or anything like that in the past few years. I just feel like I'm beginning to figure things out. I might even be slowing down a little bit but really, for me, that's a good thing. I usually exceed the speed limit in everything that I do. I'm more content and I want more down time and I want the most out of life that I can get. This year brings a lot of promise for me. I've made some decisions and this year will be challenging and yet very rewarding. I'm not going to make any resolutions (sure) but I'm going to strive to do a few things that I have in place.

1. to continue working out to keep myself healthy.
2. to go to school.
3. to save as much money as I can for one whole year.

If I am to be honest though, I don't know if it will matter how much money I save, I don't know if I will ever get to a place that I think it's enough. I'm excited about trying this little exercise though and I'll let you know how it's going.

I'm still on track to participate in the half marathon in the spring also.

Not much else here...I'll figure it all out. I'm just too tired to do it tonight.

Quote for the day: "We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce