Landmark: Blog

Happy Birthday, all you October babies! I love October. When I was a little girl, I looked forward to the end of the month, which was not only the coming of Halloween, but my Dad’s birthday, as well, on Halloween. All month long, I got excited for the costume I would choose and prepare (actually my Mom prepared it and saved the stickers for me to place on it.) I also planned and hoped I would receive my Dad’s favorite candy from trick-or-treating, so that I would be able to give him the present he wanted most. He loved the Hershey’s almond bars and the Payday candy bars. After we returned from trick-or-treating, we would dump all our candy on the table and let him pick out his favorites. It was such a fun time, as a kid, because we were too small to think of real birthday presents. We just knew we were able to give him, on our own, the birthday present he really wanted most - all from our own stash of collected candy. At least, his “excitement” convinced us this was the [...]

What a wonderful time to be in London. I wish I were there. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' UK website chronicled the last-minute scramble of hundreds of volunteers to answer the call from the Mayor of London's Office to help in the city clean-up. It was a smashing success & evidently, a good time was had by all who participated. http://www.lds.org.uk/news/article-view/archive/2011/september/article/mormon-helping-hands-launches-the-london-mayors-clean-up-appeal-1/
Actually, I always wish I were in London - ever since I went to Europe, after my first year of college. My sister and I, along with our two cousins, Randy and Tom, bought EuroRail Passes and we road practically everywhere that train would take us. We would plan our sights by day and then plan our trains by night so that we could sleep eight hours before arriving at our intended destination. As you can imagine, this rendered a lot of dirty, cranky teenagers. Then every two-three nights we would break [...]

School is back in town for many of the private ones and after the holiday next weekend, public ones, as well. When I was growing up, this was the death nail of summer time. Even though temperatures could remain summer-like for another month, days were getting shorter and homework/music practice squashed any time for swimming and playing. In Illinois, theme parks, clubs, and pools all closed after the Labor Day weekend and it was a very sad time for a kid. Of course, I am not in school anymore but, psychologically, I still feel the drag of the Labor Day weekend, triggering the end of summer and the beginning of fall.
However, now that I am an adult, it’s ok. After all, life would be boring without seasons and, in fact, life is one big classroom, anyway, isn’t it? We never stop learning and half the fun is accomplishing goals for which we have been working. At the moment, I am trying to figure out the editing tricks of the music program. I wish I could learn how to edit [...]

Tonight was an evening of parades, salutaions, music, and fireworks - a celebration of America's independence 235 years ago. The Original Founders were not stodgy, old Englishmen (as some have alleged) but were well-educated, community leaders, who were among the most brilliant thinkers of all time. They studied governments and societies, financial structures, political systems, and human nature. They proclaimed a Declaration of Independence, participated in an American Revolution, and constructed a Constitution, the supreme framework for the organization of the U.S. government. The Constitution defines the relationship government has with the states, it's citizens, and all people living within the United States.

To quote GlennBeck.com:
"When those 56 men gathered to declare our Independence on July 4th, 1776, they weren't just saying no to British rule. –They were saying no to all rulers. They were declaring the beginning of the great American experiment, which sought to answer [...]

This past weekend was the first in a month I have been home. With a graduation, two concerts, and a long weekend trip back home to check in on my folks, I haven’t pulled a weed or done a load of laundry in a month! What a lot of work has awaited me. Luckily, I have the best housekeeper in the world. She takes care of the place and she keeps two blue and green parakeets alive and well! When I was a small fry, I thought I would have the normal life that everyone seemed to have in the early ‘60’s - the house, the husband, the 2.5 kids, the white picket fence, and the “happily ever after” I dreamed about. But, I guess I never sat still long enough for that dream to materialize. Just give me a plane, train, bus, boat, or automobile and I’m ready to take off on another wild ride to adventure land. For whatever reason, I turned out to be an fearless wanderer.
Actually, it’s not quite as exciting as those last two sentences imply. It’s really a lot more practical [...]