IS IT JUST OLD AGE?

Last week on March 26th I would have celebrated my 43rd wedding anniversary with Eddie. I have been through 11 now without him and even though I don't shed as many tears any more on that date I can't tell you that the hurt is not still there. Losing one half of yourself is not an easy thing to adjust to but time does make it somewhat easier. For a while I just made myself stop the tears, stop the sadness and just pushed it all down butI have come to realize that it's OK to let myself feel whatI feel when I feel it and that helped the healing. I have so many beautiful memories of my time with Eddie (yeah there were some not so beautiful ..... we did have a normal marriage after all) but those memories make that date still very special for me.



It has been a hard two weeks for me at work. Three more people have lost their jobs and two of them are close to my age, thus the title of this post. One of them is a really good friend of mine for over 33 years. She and I have worked together, here and there, for many years. We have gone through raising our daughters together, cried over losing friends and family, laughed a lot, and shared so many experiences that she feels like a sister as well as my friend. I know she is going to be OK but I am really sad about losing our daily relationship. It is hard to imagine our office without her there. On the other hand, she earned a great severance package and maybe will be able to pursue something fun to do with her time instead of working as hard as she has for the past 18 years at our office.



As Scarlett so aptly put it, tomorrow is another day. Life is good and we all should strive to make it better.

The Busy Month of March

Where do I start? It's always busy this time of year at work and I usually compound all that with personal stuff and this year has not only been no exception it has been the ultimate.



First there was the trip to Fort Deposit to introduce my newest little grandson to all my family. He is a great traveler and was so good the whole time we were in Alabama even with being passed around from person to person. I am so glad he was able to visit my family while he is still so little otherwise he would be almost a year old and probably walking before they saw him. Babies grow up so fast.



The next week included a trip to Fort Lauderdale for a renewal proposal meeting with a large client on a Thursday, back that night and then an early morning flight on Friday back to Alabama to spend a weekend with my sisters. What a great time we had @ Neva's house in Fort Morgan and what a great place. A little bit of quiet beach heaven. I had forgotten how different the coast looks in north Florida and Alabama compared to south Florida. And I knew we would have a good time but didn't realize what a GOOD time we would have that weekend. It was so much fun talking about all our memories and making new ones. I am blessed to have my sisters also be my good friends. There was no TV (thank goodness), no phone (who needed one?) and plenty of gourmet food thanks to Neva....good gosh who knew she could cook like that? Looking forward to the next "SLUTS" weekend already.



Then the next week Easter arrives and I traveled down to Fort Myers for the weekend. I had not seen my grands for 2-3 weeks and they all have gotten way older since I saw them last. At least that's how it seemed. It is such a treat for me to spend time with all my kids.....the big ones and the little ones. Zane was christened on Sunday @ a beach on Sanibel and Phil's family came down/up to be part of the day. What a treat to get to meet Marlo, Marlene and Rochelle. And I enjoyed spending time with Karen (PG's mom) and talking about grandmother stuff. The weekend was just packed with fun happenings including a cookout on Friday night, brunch @ the Green Flash on Saturday (after the christening) and brunch @ Paige and PG's house on Sunday, topping off Sunday with dinner @ Ashley & Kevin's house. It is so hard for me to say goodbye after a weekend and I look forward to moving there permanently.



April looks like it is building up to be as busy as March but I am not going to turn the calendar until I just have to. I need to get through with this crazy month first. The Tennessee folks will be out of Quiet Water on April 1st and I will be going down to the Keys again. I surely miss my home when I have been away this long.

Winds of March

It has been a typical March day today except for the 80 degree weather. Beautiful blue skies with lots of fluffy white clouds and WINDY. I guess tomorrow is going to be rainy with a little cooler weather just behind.

This month is going to be a very busy one and as usual this time of year I will be happy when I get past April 1st. Not because of April Fool's Day but because that is the day my largest account renews. I hope that we are smiling after 4/1 this year. We have competition for the first time in a while and the market is iffy. The bright spot in this month will be the weekends with lots of fun plans in place.

It will be 3 weeks before I get to visit with "the Longs" again but I certainly had fun with them last weekend. We went to Kyle's ballgame on Saturday then Ash and I were off to lunch and some shopping. Kevin & Ashley had a date night with a dinner @ Cru and I got to keep the boys. Sunday after church we went to the Greek Festival for more fun and food.

I did get to see Paige, Peegie and Zane before they all left for Tallahassee on Saturday. I travel to Tallahassee this weekend and then Paige, Zane and I will travel on up to Fort Deposit to introduce the Z man to all the Alabama folks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and having them meet my newest little grandson.