Bliss

"OH, I don;t believe it! I would like to thank the Academy........"

Oops, wrong opening! I didn't win an academy award but I DID win the happiness lottery. Some would say it is not winning at all but simply by design. I could agree with that by most measures but I also think there is fate, timing, destiny, Kharma and yes, luck. It is rarely by one circumstance that something spectacular happens. At least that is true for me and what I observe around me....so many things usually come together to make great things happen. With that, let me tell you that things are wonderful with Dave, Mason and I. I feel a lot like I am living a storybook life. My marriage is more than happy, my husband is incredibly loving, my son is healthy, gorgeous and funny, we have a dog that is a hoot and a cat that is, well a cat.

Tonight, we had this magical, romantic experience in the hot tub with a bottle of champagne and an ice cold rain pouring down. It was very exhilarating to be in the hot, hot water with ice cold, really big drops of rain falling on your head, face and shoulders. It may sound cliche, but it just don't get any better!

I passed my Real Estate Principles test yesterday so I now have my cert. to apply for my state test date. I am hoping to have a date and have my license by early April. I am ready for Easter in the Woods here in Auburn and can't wait for Wednesday to come when we can leave for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. That means no Monday Motivator next week but a good one for the week after with pictures!

I hope you like this Motivator, I do. Have a great week and Mexico, here we come!

Lots of love,
Kathy

Choose To Feel Good

Choose to feel good and your actions become more effective. Choose to feel good and you'll see opportunities that you otherwise would have missed.

Choose to feel good and you'll attract positive, helpful people into your life. Choose to feel good, and events will work in your favor.

Choose to feel good, and you'll find a reason to persist through the most difficult of challenges. Choose to feel good, and the problems will not be able to overwhelm your spirit.

Choose to feel good, and your creativity will flow. Choose to feel good, and your days will be purposefully productive.

When you choose to feel good, it costs you nothing and it causes no harm to anyone else. In fact, when you choose to feel good you create much more value for yourself and for those around you.

So whatever life may send your way, choose to feel good. The joy you give to life cannot fail to make it better.
Ralph Marston from The Daily Motivator with permission www.thedailymotivator.com

Home And Gone Again

Yes, it is Tuesday and what a week it has been!

Dave has been home, in San Jose, Alameda, Clayton, home again and is currently on a plane headed for Washington state. He will have a week or so of medical tests and evaluations before he will be sent home to start therapy and treatment. It looks like he will have 6-12 weeks of medical leave and then his terminal leave will start before he returns to the everyday work world we all know and love....okay, don't love but it is how the saying goes. We leave for PV, Mexico on the 2nd and I cannot wait! We are all in need of some sun, sand, rest and relaxation. It is funny, Dave is excited about our trip but thinks it is funny how excited I am to leave home when all he wants to do is BE home.

Mason and Dave are just the cutest pair. Mason cannot get enough of his dad and is even taking to schnubbin the mama. That's gratitude for you! I'ts okay, I would much rather have Mason want only Dave than to continue to be saddled with full responsibility.... while this way, I get the much needed break from Mason's every need. I love feeling like I have such a successful marriage and family. I am sure it is a good combination of luck and determination.

I am sure in the coming weeks you will be hearing from Dave. He has lots to say and tell with regards to his experience as a whole and with hindsight perspective. I hope you are all well and are taking the time to appreciate the good people you love. I know we are!

Love to you and have a Successful week!
Kathy

Real Success

There are as many definitions of success as there are people who pursue it. Real success is what feels right to you, what you know in your heart that it is.

If you have to compromise your most deeply held values to achieve success, that isn't success. If you have to make yourself miserable to achieve success, that isn't success.

Real success comes from bringing to life the best of who you are. It has nothing to do with acquiring trinkets or exercising power over others.

Real success comes when you use each moment to express a purpose that is uniquely you. Success is a gift you work to give rather than a position you strive to attain.

You can never be happy by accumulating things you don't truly cherish, no matter how many of them you may have. Happiness is yours when you simply let it be, with no conditions and no requirements.

Move on past the disappointment that comes from following a dream that is not yours. Be the best of who you are, and live the joy of real success.
Ralph Marston from The Daily Motivator with permission www.thedailymotivator.com

Reunited!

Happy Valentines Day! Or, if you are single, Valentines Day Sucks! Laughing.

Mason and I went down to Paso Robles to see Dave and welcome him home. It was a long drive and the National Guard didn't make much easy. As it turned out, we got to see Dave the evening we arrived but only for a very quick hello, kiss, hug and back to the base. The good news is that Dave was off at noon so we got most of Friday and all of Friday night.

Dave looks good but is still on "Go Fast" mode. I asked him if he was nervous and he told me no. I then pointed out that he had not sat down or stopped moving for what seemed like an hour. It probably wasn't that long, but he had ants in his pants for sure.

We went out toodling around a Wal Mart and then went for a nice steak dinner. The most fun for me was watching Dave and Mason get reacquainted. Mason just adores Dave and Dave is amazed at Mason's level of understanding and his ability to communicate with signs. It will be nice to be a complete family again and I most look forward to the mundane tasks of life. BBQing on the grill in the back yard, making the bed together, knocking on the bathroom door asking Dave if he is okay because he has been in there so long! All you women are laughing and you guys are nodding!

Mason and I will be off to Fresno tomorrow and then will be at the Armory on Tuesday morning for briefings and to greet Dave and the others to bring them home!

So on to some other good news. I have been toying with the idea of a new career for several years now. It has been tough because I am not as career minded as I am mommy minded. In any case, I have listened to my closest friends encourage me to get my Real Estate license and I am doing just that. I picked up the ball to run with it in Alameda and found it just too overwhelming while trying to close Missing Link, get married and move away from home. Now with some settlement and Dave home, I am embarking on a career as a Mortgage Broker. I have started my on line study and am finding it not only very interesting, but not as difficult as I thought it would be. I like the stimulation of studying and it makes me feel good just to be exercising my brain in a way that is not, "If it is glass, he cannot play with it." I am also incredibly lucky to have Lisa Anderson as a Mentor. She is a gem through and through. Needless to say, I will be marketing to you in the coming weeks and months! Laughing!

So I am off to do some housecleaning, laundry and tidying of the play spaces. Love to you all and I hope to see you at one of the homecoming parties. If you did not get the info, let me know and I will send it out to you.

Lots of love,
Kathy

Dave's Out Of Iraq!

Hi guys,

This is going to be short and sweet today...Dave is safely out of Iraq and in Kuwait. By the time you are reading this, he will be on a plane for the USA! Whoo-Hoo! All information from here is not only subject to change, but WILL change so let me just say that he should be back in CA by Wednesday and will likely be tied up with demobilization briefings for up to two weeks. From that point, we think he will be coming home and finished with this deployment!

Thank you all for listening to me be happy and sad through all of this and thanks to many of you who were there for me in ways I didn't even know I needed you to be. I made some really great new friends in some of Dave's fellow soldiers wives and ultimately made the ultimate pitcher of lemonade from an overproducing lemon tree!

Love to you all!
Kathy