A Good LONG Day

This top picture is of Danielle and her wonderful Aunt Amy at the party today for Danielle finishing therapy at the Sheperd Center. We had a nice turnout, about twenty people came and there were another twenty people that were already there working. We had tons of good food and friends that all had one common interest..."Supporting Danielle." These are some random shots...the first one is Danielle with her FABULOUS Aunt Amy. The second is of Larry...one of her BFF's and Morgan a fellow hostess.

The third is one of us all cramming down the food and just socializing.

The next is me and Jen "D" a fellow server who transferred from a Florida sister restaurant after a hurricane and has slipped right into our little niche perfectly.

The pics aren't too good, my son Zach made them and I told him after viewing them he was fired...but you get the gist. It was a good turn out of good friends of Danielle. This girl has come from a near death experience and made it back in a miraculous manner. "She is WOMAN hear her ROAR."

Getting to know and love this young girl has been an amazing journey for me and one that I am grateful I joined.

She has had a tremendous support team and her Aunt wins the Gold Medal in my book. An incredible woman that has been Dani's surrogate mom ...my sister would do the same for my kids (God bless sisters.)

It was a good day...and I needed one.

Day fifteen of working and six more to go. Giving Danielle something to smile about will make those upcoming days seem easier...think about what SHE has been through.

I added a small video (I found out how to upload again, Amy) and it is just a glimpse of the people that have supported, visited and loved Danielle along her journey back to us and back to herself.

WELCOME BACK GIRL, WE MISSED YOU !!!

Here Comes the Bride !!

I gave a co worker a wedding shower at work on Monday.

She is biting the bullet on Saturday to marry her "baby daddy". I wonder if that word will make it into the dictionary soon? It seems to be a pretty commonly heard word these days...but at least she is turning him from that in into the REAL daddy!

She is a dear sweet woman who has made her life into something good and has turned a hard childhood into a working adulthood ...adding a college degree and working on another.

I can't go to the wedding on Saturday because I am working and took too much time off to go to Biloxi to play with my husband for our anniversary (hence the shower).

I must say I outdid myself... Lasagna, garlic bread, caesar salad, champagne punch, spinach dip and a cake. (Do I know how to get out of feeling bad about missing a wedding or WHAT)????

I call her my chubby little friend... but of course with me weighing 105lbs that means most of my friends are "chubby". She has lost a lot of weight and is looking and feeling good about herself and her future.

Getting married is NOT going steady. It is not just living in the same house. It is making a life long commitment... as they say "for better or for worse". In my opinion, too many couples seem to miss that part of the vows.

It won't always be a bed of roses...well maybe for the first year, while you are still unpacking wedding presents and loving your "honey moon" stage.

I have been with my husband for over twenty years. We have had good times, great times, okay times and really bad times. I will admit that before he took me on this last trip, I had fallen into a funk. I was tired of doing everything around the house, taking care of the kids and house...all the while working six days a week. Of course he never demanded that I do those things, I just naturally took it upon myself to try to be a super woman.

After we came home from Biloxi...we had a fight. Not a fist fight...my husband would never raise a hand to me in a million years. But I spewed off with my big mouth. I felt that although we had gone on this trip, it was with two other couples, and I felt that for one time in twenty years, I just wanted something to be JUST ABOUT ME! I wanted to be the princess...I wanted to be in his spotlight. I wanted to feel special. The weekend had been spent in the casinos and partying with the other four people, and I just wanted to feel like he hadn't given up on me as being the focus of his heart and soul.

Our actual anniversary was on Monday after we returned from Biloxi on Sunday night. After replacing the screens on the house, and fixing the garage door that the kids had torn up while we were gone...doing all the laundry, cleaning up after the kids and falling into bed, I instigated the argument.

Little known to me, he came home early from work on Monday (our actual anniversary) and took me to our favorite Italian restaurant. He gave me a beautiful gold bracelet with tiny sand dollars and starfish on it (he knows how I love the beach). And then he dropped the bomb. He gave me a card that simply said Happy Anniversary on the front....and on the inside he had written "I never gave up on you, You just gave up on me".

It was the most poignant thing he has ever said to me... and he was exactly and totally right.

I thought he had just had a good time in Biloxi, and that was the end of our anniversary.

But taking me out...giving me that bracelet...and giving me that card made all the difference in the world to me.

Marriage is a long road, filled with many ruts and potholes. It is a commitment for life.

Sometimes you have to evaluate and sometimes you have to make adjustments.

But it isn't something that you can bail out on or give up on.

After that lovely dinner, and that special gift and card... I felt renewed.

I felt special...I fell in love with my husband all over again.

I could never imagine being with another man. I cannot imagine being without my husband. I cannot even think of anything that could make me happier than being married to Tim.

It hasn't all been roses, and there have been many ruts in the road.

But after twenty years....I feel a satisfaction that I made a wise decision in marrying him, and with staying with him.

Marriage is a lot of work... but if you both work at it, it is so tremendously rewarding that you can not possibly think of your self without thinking of your spouse. You are forever intertwined and I mean this in a good way.

I look at him and I feel so blessed to have a man that loves me with such depth and devotion. (and trust me...it takes a LOT to live with the likes of me)!!

So I wish the same good fortune on my very dear friend. I hope that her future husband realizes what a wonderful woman he has, and treats her accordingly. Because if he doesn't...he can always just be "baby daddy".

But to be man and wife is a blessing that is all too often taken for granted and thrown away at the first sign of trouble.

To work through the problems, seek out answers and solutions, realize mistakes and make up for them...it is all a process that is called "MARRIAGE".

If you stick it out, if you love each other totally and completely... you will find the greatest bliss that you could ever imagine.

There will be bumps in the road, there will be trials and tribulations... but there will be a satisfaction at the end of the day when you realize that you have a partner in your life and someone that loves you just as much as you love them.

Good luck to my dear friend and may she have the wonderful wedding and marriage that she so tremendously deserves.

You have to be in it for the long haul...for the good, the bad , the ugly....and whatever else life may throw your way.

Just remember that now you will always have someone to turn to and someone to lean on and depend on... and in my book that is a pretty awesome thing to have.

I hope that twenty years down the road you are still in love with your husband like I am with mine... TRUST me...it is an AWESOME and powerful feeling to have, and I feel extremely blessed to have it... and to have him love me as well.

Good luck my friend... enjoy the ride and make the most of every moment and day.

Life is short...


Til next time.....COTTON

"Scotty...Beam me up!"

One of the most important and influential people that I have ever met in my life, is my BIG boss.. Let's call him "Scott." He is probably the most important person that I have ever known in a workplace environment. He is an absolute mentor to me , and an addition to the store that I work for. He is probably the most attuned, consistent, professional boss that I have ever had the honor to work for. He is almost as obsessive as me in regards to the store that he tries to run on a daily basis. His label system, his notes on the wall, and his constant verbal direction; often and frequently fall on deaf ears... I am assuming that a lot of twenty year olds have severe hearing problems. To be an 48 year old woman in a store full of twenty year olds, is one thing.... to try to make them do their job is another. But my boss never waivers, or gives up. He is constantly at the helm, trying his best to influence a bunch of bratty kids that we CAN make a difference, CAN make a profit by being the BEST that we can be. Unfortunately only the Old farts listen or care... But isn't that what is wrong with the entire Nation as a whole? Where is the concern.. where is the conscience... where is the commitment? I know that I am just a server, just an employee, but when have American's forgotten to appreciate the fact that they are living in the greatest Nation in the world, and could always be super-sizing it at a drive through window? All my co- workers... (at least the slack ones) think that he is way too strict... but that is where they differ with me. He is an amazing man of integrity, and a man that actually WANTS to make a difference. Granted he has a small and limited number of employees that feel the same way... But it only takes a spark to ignite a fire... and as long as he has me as the lighter fluid... baby... it is going to be a bonfire. I take my hat off to him , my other managers, and the people that CARE. It truly is a DOG eat DOG world, and if you don't take care of the person that fills your food bowl.. you will surely go hungry.. and the collapse of the whole food chain will certainly NOT work to your advantage. I am so grateful that I have the boss and the managers that I work for... We are all working for the same goal... consistency, value and the greatest output of service that can ever be expected from anyone walking through our doors. "Thanks Scotty" I couldn't love or respect you more Till Later COTTON