I guess Kristi has decided to wait for awhile before contacting Sara. From what we can tell, Sara's having a tough time right now and Kristi doesn't want to disturb her world right now.

Mother in law is doing fine. Should be leaving the hospital in the next couple of days.

My darling husband bought me a new (old) salt and pepper shaker set for my collection. It's really cute, and "Made in Taiwan, Republic of China". I've never seen that designation before. Will have to investigate that further. I think it's pretty old though.

Someday, I'll figure out how to post pictures here :)

My mother in law had a heart attack this week. Very fortunately, it was mild and she survived it. They did an angioplasty on her today and found 80% blockage in her right cartoid artery. A couple of stints later, and she was back in her room, looking better than she had in weeks.

Fortunately...I don't do funerals well at all.

So, I've spent the largest part of this week sitting in a hospital room, trying to be amusing and witty. That's not a large stretch, but there's not a lot of wittiness in a hospital room.

Ah...but then today, a most wonderful event.

In the course of a conversation with Kristi, she told me that she had recently developed a whole new respect for me. She said she knew how hard it was for her, working part-time, raising one child, and having a husband who worked full-time, and that she couldn't imagine what it took for me to get through it all...I had worked full-time, raised three children, fed and clothed them, and that there was always a roof over their head, no matter how tough times got and Lord, they got tough sometimes!

When she finished - I was crying. I felt revived though :)

I think every mother waits for this day!!

All the way through school, I sang in the choir. But I had no self-esteem back then and didn't think I was very good...so I never really worked at it. A singer's throat, like any other muscle, has to be trained and exercised, to build it up, and I never really learned that. So for years, I only sang in the car with the radio. And at that, my daughter Kristi told me, "Mom, don't sing!". That didn't help me much :(

When I met Scott, he loved to sing karaoke. He sings a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Allman Brothers. That's his range. It took about 3 months for him to convince me to try to sing and I practiced for a month...leaning a lot towards Patsy Cline songs, because I love her music. Then one night I broke out in public...and I'll leave that story for another time.

I began working on other songs, strengthening my voice, and building my repertoire. I'm now working on an Alison Krauss song - When You Say Nothing At All. I have always loved this song and I just got the music for it...and it's completely within my range. I just need to practice it a few times to get all the notes and timing down. Like anyone, I hate to pratice, but I've got that rush that comes along with finding a song that you can make "yours". If you've never gotten into karaoke, you probably wouldn't understand that and I'm not sure I explain it other than it's a total adrenaline rush. I can't wait to get it down and sing it publicly! :)

I love my husband. I really do. But he's a man, like any other man, and has his bad points.

One of Scott's bad points is that he tends to rant about anything that he gets passionate about. Passionate does not begin to describe his feelings about the election. We watch Bill O'Reilly every night....well, he does. Fox News is the gospel around here. Scott rants constantly about politics. Me? I know who I'm voting for (and no, I won't tell you), and that's all I need. I certainly don't need 12 hours a week of political news.

I have a "forum friend" - a woman I've actually met live and fed in my home, she and her husband even attended our wedding. This woman has actually been hostile with me, because I don't agree with her choice of candidates. She's now cut off another "forum friend" for the same reason...this is nuts!

I just can't wait until the election is over, and there is the occasional discussion about politics and how and what the President is doing. That much I can live with. Right now, I wish I lived in Canada :/