Before there were hand held hair dryers.....

Facebook has made alot of us, reminisce about the old days....reconnect with old friends and make new ones.  I know when we were living through our youth, we never realized just how great it was.  I grew up on a farm near Tippecanoe IN.  My summers were filled with playing outdoors and taking care of my animals.  I had lots of baby calves to love and always a litter of baby kittens to cuddle.  Right down the road on the next farm, lived the Baileys and I enjoyed playing endlessly with them.  Who wanted to stay indoors, we had NO air conditioning and cartoons were only on Saturday mornings.  My teenage years were truly like Happy Days...didn't know that then, but looking back, they sure were.  The Root Beer Stand played a big part in my life.  It was my first job and where I hooked up with India, my best friend.  I loved going to the Roy house so much.  It was a place where I always felt welcome and had so much fun.  We might not have had cell phones, computers, fancy cars, hand held hair dryers or all the other things we have now, but what we did have, was simpler times and any kind of a future we wanted.  I kinda feel sorry for the younger generation now, they will never know what it was like to have their very own hangout, where everyone, knew everybody and a quarter bought the best french fries ever and you could listen to all your favorites on the juke box.  They also never got to experience real "parking" on a dirt road listening to the Doors and The Carpenters.  I know that is a weird combination, but I liked both of them.  Our little town of Bourbon was very pro-kids back then...we had dances in the street quite regularly and dances after football and basketball games weren't just at Homecoming.  The Firestation let us have the upstairs of the Firestation as a Youth Center, where our local bands could play every weekend.  If you were bored, it wasn't because of things to do.  I remember sitting on the console of my current boyfriend's car, thank goodness, he never had to stop real quick, because I would have been on the hood.  And how cool was it to wear your boyfriend's huge class ring all wrapped in angora....These were the best of times and even though I'm not too excited to be getting older...I wouldn't want to give up my past to be young again. 

Forever and a day....

39 years ago I married a boy who became an amazing man.  We started dating in the fall of 1970.  I knew after our first date, that I was going to marry him.  The chemestry between us was instant and I felt like I was home.  Rich was so handsome and so smart, I just knew we were going to make it.  We both wanted the same things out of life.  We were both 19 yers old, but we waited to start our family for five years.  I am so glad we did that.  We grew up together, so when I found out I was pregnant with Regan, we were ready.  Rich is such a great Dad.  He was always so active in their lives.  He was their coach on their teams and helped teach them everything that he knew.  They both took after Rich when it came to their athletic ability.  I had to wait until Regan had her little girl before I got someone more like me.  No marriage is perfect, we have had our ups and downs like everyone else, but the one constant that always trumped our problems, was our love for each other and our family.
   So on this 39th Anniversary of our marriage, I want to tell Rich that I love him more today than ever before.  It might be a different kind of love, the passion isn't as intense as it used to be, but the deep love is stronger than ever.  I know I was the luckiest girl in the world when you married me and I am still the luckiest woman in the world to have a partner that has always been there for me and I know always will.
   When we first started dating I got you a little figurine of two people kissing and I wrote on the bottom of it "Forever and a day".  I still feel the same way I did way back then....I will love you forever and a day....

Family...being a part of something special

This weekend was our Montague Family Reunion....it was such a special weekend.  Not quite as many people as usual were here, but it was still a big group.  Aunt Sara was with us and she was our Mom for the day.  She is Rich's Mom's youngest sister.  Tom and Val from Colorado were here and that is always special.  I consider myself so blessed to be a part of this big, huge, wacky, wonderful family.  I am so glad that my kids can be a part of this.  I hope as all our kids get older that they will always continue this tradition.  I remember when we started this reunion.  It was held at the Plymouth Park.  We played vollleyball that day and a tradition of togetherness started.  Rich's Mom and Dad loved the reunions so much.  They were so proud of their family.  I know when they were growing up, times were hard with so many kids, but they had each other and that is all they really needed.  They created a bond with each other that will last their entire lives.  As we are getting older, I think the need to be together is getting stronger.  Our trip to Alaska was a dream come true for everyone and I hope and pray we can do something like that again.  There is a trip to Gatlinburg in the making right now for next year.  Friends will come and go in your life and most will dissappoint you, but your family will love you no matter what.  I only have one sister.  I wish so much that we were closer, but we are so different and I think she has always been a little jealous of my happiness with Richard and being a part of Rich's family.  I have eight Montague sisters and I love them so much.  I am proud to call them sisters and my friends. 

Menopausal thank-you notes

I was watching Jimmy Fallon yesterday and he wrote a book on his Thank You Notes, it made me laugh and think about all the things that I am thankful for.  The older I get, the more thankful I am.
 1. Thank you little brown spots that are appearing on my hands...you make me remember my Mom everyday.
  2.  A big thank you goes out to my brain....I love to search endlessly for things and besides, it gives me good exercise.
 3.  Also, thank you to gravity....I finally have the bigger cup size in my bra that I always wanted...
 4.  Thank you little black hairs in my chin...it has become an obsession to me now and I look forward everyday to our little ritual.
  5.  How can I forget to thank my knees for all the sounds that they are making...it keeps it real.
  6.  Thank you slow moving vehicle in the left hand lane...with you leading the way, I hardly notice the people behind me honking and giving me the bird.
  7.  I'm thankful I still like Steven Tyler...it makes getting older look cool
  8.  A big thank you to the little clerk who offered me the Senior Discount...how sweet....grrr!
  9.  Thank you to my granny panties, I don't have to pretend I like the thong anymore...
10.  And thank you to old friends, your faces have as many wrinkles as mine.

I'm sure there will be more thank you notes to come....it is always good to be thankful...because growing old is a privledge and I am living a very "privledged" life right now.  Have a good one peeps!

If I could turn back time...

I had the opportunity to spend the evening last Saturday night, with alot of old friends that I hadn't seen in 40 years.  Through Facebook, I feel like I know them better now, than I ever did.  We have all changed physically, but our spirits were the same.  That is what is so funny about growing older, if you never looked in the mirror, you would think you were that same kid, accept you had been hit by a truck and hurt all over....LOL  Fred Watkins made me feel good, he said I didn't look a day over "fabulous".  At this age, compliments get fewer and fewer, so thank you Fred.  If you keep in mind that right now, you are as young as you are ever gonna be.  It makes me not feel so old and since growing old is a privledge, I'm thankful for everyday of good health I have.

   I wish that my grandchildren could have grown up during the same time that I did.  We were all really blessed to have grown up in those golden decades of the 50's and 60's.  Things are just so complicated now.  When we were children, we could really just be children.  Our kids now a days, are so busy with so many activities and sports, that it leaves very little time to just be kids.  It also complicates the parents lives too.  Being that I am older, I have lived through all of it and I hate to admit it, but we did all the sports with our kids too.  You think it is so important and that if you don't do it, they will fall behind.  What you don't realize is, they won't make their living doing this and just a very small percentage will even make their High School teams and fewer than that will play in College.  Our daughter and son did play in High School and College, but when it was over, it was over.  Nobody in the work force cared at all what sports you played.  Experience and grades was all that really mattered.  Everything in moderation is the best way to go, just let them be kids first.  If they are gifted in sports or whatever it is, cream always comes to the top.  Whether you start them at 4 yrs. old or 8 yrs. old, it doesn't matter, they will be good if they are gifted.  I always said playing sports is like singing, either you have a good voice or you can't carry a tune.  If you are good, it will happen no matter what, but if you aren't, no amount of practice is really gonna make them a star.  How I wish for the simpler times of my youth.
    Growing old has its privledges, knowledge and experience, the only problem is, our kids still don't think we know anything...but that's ok, I didn't think mine did either.
   

I am my Mother...

It has been awhile since I have blogged, but with Mother's Day approaching, lots of thoughts are swirling around in my head.  I have been without my Mom now for 24 years...I was 34 yrs. old and I was a young Mom myself when Mom passed.  I wish I could have had the opportunity to have been older and not so busy.  There is so many things that I wish I could ask her.  I had to assume the role of the one that had all the answers, way too early in my life.  Because truth is, I didn't have a clue.  When you still have your Mom, you always have someone to ask, but when that is gone, you are the one that has to know what to do.  I wonder if my Mom ever felt like that when she was younger?  It always seemed that my Mom always had the answers.  I not only lost my Mom, but I also lost my Dad at the same time.  Shortly after they died, we moved our family and our lives to Indianapolis.  When I look back on that, I just wonder how we ever did it.  We moved everything we owned to Indy and stored it in a storage unit.  We moved into an apt. and we put our kids in a new school.  For the next year, we built our new home.  It was challenging, but we made it.   Our kids emmersed themselves in sports and our lives and our friends were a part of each kids team.  They excelled beyond our expectations and even though these were very busy times, they were the best times of our lives.  I wonder now, if our grandkids will love sports like their parents did.  I am looking forward to those thrilling moments watching them achieve.  Whatever interests they choose, will be a joy to see.  I know my kids look to Rich and I to have all the answers now, but in reality, we are still struggling with that ourselves.   Do you ever feel wise?  I know you feel old, but when does that wiseness come?  When do you feel accomplished, that you have done what you wanted to do and that you are happy with who you are?  I guess, I always felt like my parents knew all the answers and that they didn't feel insecure, but now that I am getting close to their age when they passed away, I realize that they probably felt the same way I do...If Mom was still here...I could ask her these questions...it never occurrred to me to ask her before she died....
   On this Mother's Day...I want to honor my Mom and thank her for the life that she gave me.  If you are lucky enough to still have your Mom, ask her some questions....she will be glad that you did and so will you.  Never pass up a moment to find out what she is feeling....for someday....we will be there....feeling exactly the same way.  Happy Mother's Day all you beautiful Moms!

Things that I love...

It's been a while since I have written a blog, but I thought I needed to remind myself of all the things that I love.  Regan and Joe have just found out that their little Nickolas has got a bit of an ordeal to go through.  When he was born, we knew his right foot/ankle didn't look right, but the Dr. thought it was positional and that it would get better over time.  It did improve, but when they took him back to the Orthopedic Dr. he told them the bad news, it wouldn't get any better on its own and that they would have to put him into a cast for 6 weeks and then have surgery.  Regan did a little investigating on her own on the internet and found out it will be alot more involved than what he had originally told them.  He will have to wear shoes with a bar for about a year.  I am hoping it will be just at night.  How can one little bone in his ankle be that difficult to fix?  I know once it is all over and done with, and he is a perfect little boy running around, we will forget this, but I know it will be so hard on Regan and Joe to watch their little Nickers in this predicament.  Like Pa said, "in 2025 when he's trying out for the NHL, we will have long forgotten about this little set back".
   Today, I am thinking about all the little things that I love...I love when Seanie and I are shopping in the grocery store and he grabs my arm and kisses and hugs it.  I love when Karaline makes us pictures and writes Mimi and Pa I love you on them.  I love when Nick looks at me and I get him to smile and his eyes twinkle and he makes a cooing sound.  I love Rich's face when he comes home from work and sees his kids. Karaline runs to him and grabs his legs and Seanie says hi Pa.  I love when Seth comes to pick Sean up and his face lights up and all the stress from the day melts away and he says," How's Scooty?"  I love when Regan is nursing Nick and Max is just all over her, nudging her and loving on her.  I love when Amber comes to pick Sean up and Sean goes running to her and they fall to the floor loving on each other.  I love watching Joe show Regan that he loves her and I love how he loves Karaline and Nick.  These are the little things, the every day things that you take for granted, but are cherished the most.
   I also thought I would list some of my favorite things that I use, watch and do.  I love to hear about things other people do and use.  So here are a few of mine: 
1.  Oil of Olay Regenerist and Serum
2.  Oil of Olay Pro X advanced cleansing system
3.  Natural Instincts hair color
4.  Philosophy tinted leg make-up "The Big Skinny"
6.  Vinegar and water to clean my granite counter tops
7.  Maggie London dresses
8.  Crest 3-D White strips
9.  Chipolte Restaurant
10, Chick Filet
11. Clinique powder blush "New Clover"
12. Von Maur Children's dept and any clearance rack in the store.
13. Cool Creek Park
14. Soma Intimates (we have a store coming to Clay Terrace, I can't wait to buy a bra there)
15. Pandora bracelets and Kohl's charms
16. Parenthood and American Idol
17. Panko bread crumbs
18. Sally Hanson green tea and olive Growth nail polish
19. All You Magazine
20. Shutterfly
These are my top 20 things that I love...try some of them if you like...a quality of life comes from the people that you share your world with, but also with the little things that you use that make your life a little easier and more enjoyable.

   Today is a day that I need to concentrate on my sprinkles and all the things that make me sparkle....