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