Surprise!

I can't believe it... I am going to have a surprise party. So, why do I know? Because my family is goofy, that's why!

My brother and sister-in-law decided I needed a surprise party for my 50th birthday. Now, I am not a big party fan. They know this and don't care. I love them.

Actually, I haven't had a real party since I turned 18. See, my birthday always falls right around Thanksgiving, plus my dad's birthday is the day before mine, so we've always kind of shared all of it at once - Thanksgiving and the birthdays.

But, my party-planning sis-in-law (Jana) can't control herself. Do you have one of those in your family? The one that decides all holidays will be at her house, decides the menu, and organizes every detail? That's Jana. At first, it used to bug us, but now it's so easy to let her run with it. She LIKES it. So, we all bring things, help her clean up, but we don't have the stress of, "is my house clean," "where will we find extra chairs at the last minute, " "who's getting stuck at the kiddie table," and all those nerve-wracking items.

Okay, Lynda... you still haven't said how you found out. Alright already. My stepmom called and asked if we wanted to do Thanksgiving at the ranch on Friday instead of Thursday because my brother was picking up my mom at the airport on Thursday. Mom? She never comes for Thanksgiving and always comes for Christmas. We do Thanksgiving with Dad (birthdays, etc...).

So, I ask Jerry if he knew my mom was coming for Thanksgiving...he squirmed and pretended like I was speaking Chinese. Like I could just wake up and order fried eggs in Beijing. This meant I had only one option. Call my sister.

Now, my sis, Susan, can't not tell. I say, "Why is Mom coming for Thanksgiving and why didn't I know?" She says, "Okay, but you can't tell Jana I am telling you....blah blah blah." And there you have it.

They were good, though. They got the email addresses of all my friends and sent them Evites for the Saturday after Thanksgiving (my actual 50th birthday). It's going to be an open house, so people can come and go as they like. Quite frankly, I didn't think anyone would come during the holiday weekend (understandably so), but Susan assures me more than I think are coming.

For the first time, I am really looking forward to a party.... I think some of my friends that came to my 18th birthday party will be there. I can't believe I am going to tell you this, but on that cake, this was written: She's a woman now! (18 was the legal age in Texas way back in that other century)

So, I guess this one will say, "She's an old woman now!"

I can take it... why? because I embrace it. I am happy to be 50. I feel really blessed to have such a loving family and caring friends. Life really is good!

What Do You Want?

The holidays are rapidly approaching and I want to start shopping. But, (another BIG "but")I am stumped. Now, have no fear when it comes to the 16 year old - I have thousands of ideas - all provided from the source, so that's not an issue.

How about for parents that have whatever they need and want?

How about for the husband who doesn't really have a specific hobby, so there's no buying golf stuff or fishing stuff, etc...?

How about for sisters? brothers?

I can't spend a ton of money, but I would like to get these people nice things or things that mean something more than, "here's a gift because it's Christmas" gift.

So, I'm not asking you for ideas for my peeps in particular, but what have you received that you treasure or what have you given that was a big hit? Or what do YOU want this year??

Help a gal out, won't you?

Starting Over

Well, what do you know? You CAN lose your blog. I had a blog that I maintained for over a year (same name) and left it unattended for about two. With a little inspiration (thanks, Kerrie) and reconstruction (thanks to free templates), you can reblog.

Why am I calling this Art On A Limb? You can read all that in my profile. I'll share some of my art at a later time.

Why did I abandon my first blog? Easy! We became parents... of a teenager! Our daughter came to us at age 13 and we adopted her ON her 14th birthday. She's 16 now and life is finally settling into some sort of routine. We have issues, lots of them, and we're all learning as we go, but we have some really good experiences as well. Over all, she's a fantastic kid and we feel blessed to have her. She is, however, a teenager, so we are discovering how much into the fire we jumped. Send good vibes, thoughts, and prayers our way.

If you've ever considered adopting an older child, I'd be happy to discuss it openly and honestly with you. Before you think I will be negative, let me assure you, I encourage it! I will, however, not sugar-coat the experience.

Since this is my second first blog, I'll share a little about myself and see where life takes these posts.

I was employed at a major auto finance company for (almost) 24 years when I got laid off this April. This meant losing a lot of perks - a decent salary, five weeks of vacation, and good friends acquired over a long time. The friends, of course, remain, but we just don't see each other on a daily basis anymore.

Anyway, my job was so industry specific (auditing car dealerships), I was afraid I would have to go into general administrative work. I wasn't against that, but loved what I was doing.

God is good - all the time! Before I was through at the first place, I was offered an amazing job by one of our contractors. This isn't a contract job - I am a full time employee doing similar work for what may be the best people to work for. They are headquartered in California and have no full time people working anywhere out of that state - until now! At the exact time I was being shoved out one door, my current employer was opening a satellite location right here in Houston. So, now I have my own office overlooking a beautiful parkway that I share with one other employee, the marketing manager. I couldn't be happier in my work situation.

Jerry and I will have our 19th anniversary in November. We've been together since 1981, so we've shared half our lives together and we're still best friends. That's a really good thing.

Our daughter, Nicole, will be a junior this year. Unfortunately, she thinks school is strictly a tool for socializing. We're hoping she'll buckle down a bit this year, but we'll have to wait and see on that one. She recently got her driver's license and now we don't see her too often.

One thing we've required of her is if she is to have a car (she has my old one), she is responsible for the gas. Gas is at $3.90 a gallon here in Houston as of today and that's a lot of money to a teen. She has a summer job babysitting for her aunt and uncle four days a week. She's making $120.00 each week - saving $30.00 to savings and $30.00 for the new Sprint Instinct phone she wants to buy, so that leaves about $20.00 for spending and $40.00 for gas. We're finding she's needing to do extra "work" around the house to earn more spending money, but that's good for her.

We have two dogs who are members of the family, Gordy and Georgi, so they may be mentioned from time to time as well. They're really very funny.

Nicole and I attend the local Unity church and Jerry is Catholic. We have a spiritually diverse home, but it works for us. I am certain I'll be writing more about this over time.

I intend to also include some lists of favorites - books, movies, etc.... later.

Yep, it feels good to be back and I look forward to cultivating regular reads.

Thanks for reading my first new post. I will return the visit.