Some pictures ....

Trent and I took a little trip to way Northern California last fall.  We took Maggie and she got to see the beach and the ocean for the very time.  She met a friend and had a great time.  It was certainly a great trip for my husband and myself as well.  Here are some shots of that trip:

The next  few are on our very first cruise...

 I have some more from Christmas and a couple of more from the cruise, but I have to figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer and then be able to find them!! 

XOXO

A better blog? Do you even know me?!?!

I have kinda in my mind made a decision to write in this blog a little more often and be a little more diligent and eloquent and tell of things that have meaning and purpose. Maybe dig deeper and bring up more feelings. 

However, I don't know that person...so....

Do you remember when you were a kid and you would pass notes in school *gasp*.  Inevitably, someone would pass something with a question with three boxes (sometimes just two) which would indicate a "Yes" response, a "No" response, or a "Maybe" response.  This could be as easy as does one want to sit by you at lunch?  Maybe one that would require your parents' permission as does one want to spend the night?  It could even *deep breath* ask if you liked this particular person.  And by like, of course, it would be "like" or "like like."  We were far too young to know of love or frankly even care about it.  Eventually, the teacher would catch on or perhaps one would be careless in the "pass" and the note would be confiscated.   I wonder how many "eye rolls" the teacher did in a given school year at the nonsense she (sorry, but I mostly had nuns growing up!) had to read.

So, with that, I will tell you a high school story.  I have many of them, but because I really don't want my children to know what kind of a teenager I was, I have kept a lot of them under wraps!!!  But this one shows more of my vindictive side (thank you, Josie Camacho, for that gene!!).  So, geometry (aside note here...duh! Geometry, of course I am passing notes in this class!), 10th grade year, Mr. Hall, forgive me, I forget the hour.  Me and my friend, Michelle Bettis.  We would pass notes.  Stupid things usually, but nonetheless, important to us at that time.  Who was seeing who.  Who was not seeing who any longer *wags eyebrows*...oh yes...that sort of stuff.  Who might be.....*whispers* pregnant?! Ahhhh...remember that one, we will come back to that.  So, Michelle, better known then as Shelly, and I would pass notes, filling the other in on the most important things going on in our lives.  This was an almost daily thing.  Now, remember young friends, texting was not even heard of back in 198*cough*...yeah back then!!  Passing notes was the texting of the 80s!  Anyway, Michelle and I would pass notes.  Michelle and I would get caught.  Usually by something stupid like over aiming in the throw across the room or perhaps even a too-loud giggle of something that was written!  Mr. Hall, he would take our notes and he would read them.   Sometimes to himself, occasionally out loud!  Oh yes...one of THOSE teachers.  So, we, being the 15-year-old smartasses we were at that time, decided to "teach him a lesson."  We concocted a story of one of being pregnant.  (I honestly cannot remember who was the pregnant one).  We had it all worked out before class.  We started the process.  The first line or two asking the other what they were going to do?  Did the father know?  Did her parents know?  Oh, it was fantastic!  Well, indeed, we got caught.  Mr. Hall picked up the note, I believe in mid air!, and took it to his desk.  He opened it to read.  He went white as all the blood drained from his face.

After a few minutes, he called us into the hall (Mr. Hall in the hall...lol...forget it, that just struck me funny).  He was concerned.  He was sad.  He was supportive.  I felt like complete crap.  But we had taken it way too far to go back.  Our "lesson" that we were teaching him, was quickly becoming our "lesson" on hurting people.

Michelle and I never talked it about.  I think we both felt terrible.

A few years later, my senior year, I needed a filler class.  I decided to be a teacher's aide and I went to Mr. Hall.  He gladly took me in.  I would go to his class and grade his papers and put the stuff up on the chalkboard that he asked me to and fill out the grade book (yes, a real book, that you had to write in...no computers in 198*cough*...you get it!!!).  Sometimes I would be ditching my earlier class....I mean, I mean sometimes I would be sick and could not make my earlier class *wink* and go to his class early.  He was cool and let me.  He would ask me to run errands for him that occasionally took me off campus (Coke and a Snicker bar!).  He was actually a really nice man.  We became close in that year (not like THAT!!) and he counted on me and I could count on him and his room for a place to hang for a few hours.  This would have been two years later from the time he read our note (BTW, that was the last note he ever took from us).  Hundreds of students later.  We were talking one day as I was leaving his class and he asked about the pregnancy.  I wish I would have been a stronger person then and told him it was all made up.  I wish I could have eased his conscious a little bit and let him know none of it was true.  But, I couldn't. I could not own up to the fact that we had tricked him and ended up hurting him as bad as we had.  I told him that everything worked out in the end.  I didn't elaborate or fill him in on anything.  But I felt terrible.  I wish I could find him and tell him now.  He might not remember me or the incident any longer, it was nearly 26 years ago that he asked about it, but I saw the deep concern in his eyes and the fact that he loved his students and wished nothing but the very best for every single one of them.  He was one of the good guys that got kicked in the shins by two 15-year-old girls. Sorry, Mr. Hall.

It is things like this and the way we handle them, I think, that make us who we are.  Had I told him the truth, this guilt I had of lying to him would have diminished if not entirely left.  I might not ever remember the story.  I am not sure what the moral is here ... Don't lie?    Don't get caught?  Maybe this is the moral of the story:  When one goes to teach another a lesson, it might end up being a lesson for you. 

XOXO

Missing You....

Missing You
No words I write can ever say
How much I miss you every day.
As time goes by, the loneliness grows;
How I miss you, nobody knows!
I think of you in silence,
I often speak your name,
But all I have are memories
And photos in a frame.
No one knows my sorrow,
No one sees me weep,
But the love I have for you
Is in my heart to keep.
I've never stopped loving you
I'm sure I never will;
Deep inside my heart,
You are with me still.
Heartaches in this world are many
But mine is worse than any.
My heart still aches as I whisper low,
"I need you and I miss you so."
The things we feel so deeply
Are often the hardest to say,
But I just can't keep quiet any more,
So I'll tell you anyway.
There is a place in my heart
That no one else can fill;
I love you so, Dad,
And I always will.

Author Unknown



Happy Birthday, Daddy.  I think of you everyday.  I miss you everyday.  I love you, Daddy.  


XOXO

Just for Daddy

Dear Daddy:

Two things:

First, Christmas has made it's way around...how the time flies.  You continue to be missed.  You continue to be in the thoughts of those who loved you the most.  The whole family, Vernon and his family, Me and my family, and mom, are in Vegas this year celebrating with Natalie and Luis.  You are here....I am positive the minute we all stepped into the same room, you were thought of 100 times.  I feel you on a daily basis and I know you are behind me...  I promise to turn around.

The second thing is better for you than for me.  My father-in-law passed away the other day, Daddy.  My second dad here on this earth.  Bill was loved and will truly be missed by those who knew him.  Go find him, Daddy, and show him around.  Take him to meet Grandpa Mikolajczak, I am thinking they will be fast friends! Tell him that he will see us crying here on earth but also tell him about the days that we are smiling and laughing about the things he did.  Let him know that he will never be out of our hearts or far from our thoughts.  Tell him that I loved him and I will miss him and though he was my second daddy, he held a place in my heart that was made only for him. 

And, I lied...there were three things!   I love you, Daddy.  I miss you every day.  I think of picking up the phone and calling you still quite often.  I talk to you throughout the day, I hope you can hear me.  I love you, my Daddy.

Forever your Velvet

XOXO

Cruising....

Okay...this will be a quick one, but I wanted to record these things before I forget.  I will post pictures soon.

Trent and I went on our very first cruise last week to the Mexican Riviera.  What a wonderful, wonderful week we had.  We thought back and this is the first week-long trip we have ever taken as just husband and wife.  It was just the two of us and it was so fantastic. 

A couple of other firsts we experienced....we both got to use our passports for the very first time!  The gentleman at customs made me take my hat and glasses off, but not Trent...I guess, as a woman, I can change my look a bit more than he can!  I had my first caviar...not as bad as I thought it would be.  It  was with a seafood pate.  We had some exquisite meals abroad.  On the ship, there were two formal nights in which Trent and I had to dress up for our meal.  We have never really had the occasion to be so dressed up for dinner.  I enjoyed that part...Trent...not so much!  There was so much to do while on the ship, we never got it all done.  We did play bingo and Trent won $100!!  Yeah, not that big of a deal, because I won $300!!!  Take that!  We saw some great shows including a comedian and a hypnotist.  There were some singing and dancing shows as well.  Now, I have a better understanding of when Simon Cowell tells people they should be singing on a cruise ship.  They were still good, however, and I enjoyed watching and singing along.

We had two ports of call while cruising.  The first was in Ensenada.  This was a brief stop of just a day.   We took a tour to the "blow hole" which is a phenomenon where there is an underwater cave and if the waves are just right, it will pressure up the cave and water will shoot from a small hole at the top.  This was so fantastic!  The water was just right and the pressure was perfect and the effect of the blow hole was magnificent.  I have video that I will post later!  There was a flea market with many wares!  We did a lot of our Christmas shopping there and bought our children some things there.  I did find out a couple of things at the flea market about Trent and I....Trent will stop and listen to EVERYTHING!!  If the men selling things could get Trent's attention, they could have it for a few minutes.  I, on the other hand, found out that I can walk away!!  I would ask how much something was and after they would tell me the price, I would shake my head and walk off....by the time I had taken 4 steps, we had settled on a much lower price!  I did, however, get ripped off in one instance, but I am far too embarrassed to share the story!  Just know, the next time I am in Ensenada, there is a gentleman (I use that term loosely!) I hope to find and kick in the shins!!!

The second stop was on Cabo San Lucas!  We were there for two days.  It was such a fantastic place. The water was as blue as I ever seen and the beaches were fantastic.  There were two beaches there, one was Lovers Beach and the other was Divorce Beach!  Fortunately, Trent and I never made it around to the Divorce side!  We had the best guacamole and salsa there as I have ever had in my life!  We did more shopping  and exploring. 

We had a stateroom with a balcony which was most wonderful.  We had breakfast served there on our first morning and on our last morning at sea.  Looking out at the open sea gave us some of the best sunrises and sunsets I had ever witnessed.  The sky at night is full of stars and the reflection on the ocean  is mesmerizing.  There were many hours spent out on our balcony, just the two of us, content with just being together and loving each other.  No words were necessary as we sat out there and enjoyed just being with each other. 

We had really very little free time.  Trent maybe read a few chapters of his book.  I never even took out my Nook!  I did take my knitting along.  I only got one pair of sock done in those 7 days!  I did have to work just a little while a few days....but it really worked out okay.  Trent would leave the stateroom and go to the buffet (y'all don't even want to know the amount of food that was consumed!), and I would work.  I think the most I had to type was about an hour, but really, I was not bothered by it and it really did not interfere with any of our fun! 

So, the Wood's are finally settling in and enjoying our emptynesthood.  We have our good days and our bad days.  There were several times that I thought about our children and thought about what fun they would be having right along with us.  I missed being in constant contact with them.  I missed them more then they probably know.  I miss them everyday. 

Christmas is coming up in just a few days.  We will be together, again, as a big family.  The Wood's and the Johnson's and the Cortez's will all be celebrating together.  I can't wait to have my family intact again.  I  can't think of anything better than having all of my children under one roof.  That makes me happy and that gives me so much to be thankful for.  And as my family grows, the more the merrier! 

I will get pictures posted as soon as I download them and file them.  But, life is calling first. 

XOXO