Daffodil Principle

This message is so right on....
The Daffodil Principle. Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead . "I will come next Tuesday," I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carol yn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carol yn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carol yn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this." " Carol yn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carol yn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.


It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "Who did this?" I asked Carol yn. "Just one woman," Carol yn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carol yn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory . We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ... "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carol yn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"
Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting... Until your car or home is paid off. Until you get a new car or home. Until your kids leave the house. Until you go back to school. Until you finish school. Until you clean the house. Until you organize the garage. Until you clean off your desk. Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get married. Until you get a divorce. Until you have kids. Until the kids go to school. Until you retire. Until summer. Until spring. Until winter. Until fall. Until you die... There is no better time than right now to be happy Happiness is a journey, not a destination . So work like you don't need money . Love like you've never been hurt, and ,
Dance like no one's watching .

In Memory....

In memory of Sgt. Todd A. Singleton who was killed in the line of duty one year ago today. He died a hero defending freedom. His ultimate sacrifice has not and will not be forgotten.

My heart cries out to the family especially today as you mark the one year anniversary of his death. You have my thoughts and prayers always.

The "Mottley Crew" Bikers

What a beautiful weekend, I think spring has finally arrived. The weather could not of been more perfect. We spent almost the entire weekend outside, and even got the bikes ready to go and everyone went for a ride. With the set-up we have I think you can seriously see us coming for a mile.

The picture really doesn't do our entourage justice. Poor Brian always gets to haul the trailer with the two 30 lb toddlers.

"Kenda-roo"

"Mr man"

"Buggy"

Like me, some of you are going to need this down the road!!

APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO DATE MY DAUGHTER
NOTE: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, lineage, and current medical report from your doctor.
NAME_____________________________________DATE OF BIRTH_____________
HEIGHT___________ WEIGHT__________ IQ__________ GPA_____________
SOCIAL SECURITY #________________DRIVERS LICENSE #________________
BOY SCOUT RANK AND BADGES__________________________________________
HOME ADDRESS_______________________ CITY/STATE___________ ZIP______
Do you have parents? ___Yes ___No Is one male and the other female? ___Yes ___No If No, explain:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Number of years they have been married ______________________________If less than your age, explain:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ACCESSORIES SECTION:
A. Do you own or have access to a van? __Yes __No
B. A truck with oversized tires? __Yes __No
C. A waterbed? __Yes __No
D . A pickup with a mattress in the back? __Yes __No
E. A tattoo? __Yes __No
F. Do you have an earring, nose ring, pierced tongue, pierced cheek or a belly button ring?__Yes __No
(IF YOU ANSWERED 'YES' TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, DISCONTINUE APPLICATION AND LEAVE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY. I SUGGEST RUNNING.)
ESSAY SECTION:
In 50 words or less, what does 'LATE' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'DON'T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'ABSTINENCE' mean to you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES SECTION:
Church you attend ___________________________________________________
How often you attend ________________________________________________
When would be the best time to interview your:
father? _____________
mother? _____________
pastor? _____________
SHORT-ANSWER SECTION:
Answer by filling in the blank. Please answer freely, all answers are confidential.
A: If I were shot, the last place I would want to be shot would be:______________________________________________________________
B: If I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my:______________________________________________________________
C: A woman's place is in the:______________________________________________________________D: The one thing I hope this application does not ask me about is:______________________________________________________________
E. What do you want to do IF you grow up?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
F. When I meet a girl, the thing I always notice about her first is:______________________________________________________________
F. What is the current going rate of a hotel room? __________________
I SWEAR THAT ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED ABOVE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT, NATIVE AMERICAN ANT TORTURE, CRUCIFIXION, ELECTROCUTION, CHINESE WATER TORTURE, RED HOT POKERS, AND HILLARY CLINTON KISS TORTURE.
_________________________________________________________Applicant's Signature (that means sign your name, moron!)
_______________________________ ________________________________Mother's Signature Father's Signature
______________________________________________________________Pastor/Priest/Rabbi State Representative/Congressman
Thanks

Easter......without me =(

Unfortunately Easter fell on my three day weekend this year. I am lucky in that I only have to work one weekend a month, which is very rare working in a hospital because most people work every other weekend. The weekend I do work is Fri. Sat., & Sun. nights from 7pm to 7am though, so I pretty much do nothing but sleep and work. This is actually the first time I have had to miss Easter Sunday though. When I got home from work Sunday morning we did Easter baskets with the kids and I helped get the kids ready for church since Brian was taking them. I also did the girls hair, because that would of been a total disaster if I would of left that job up to Brian. Try as he might he just can't figure out how to get a hair tie in that is tight enough to last five minutes. I finally got to bed at about 10:30 that morning. I turned over the camera to Bri on the way out the door and made him promise to take lots of pictures of the days events since I would have to miss out. On a day such as Easter I would of probably taken about 40 or so pics at least so needless to say I was a little disappointed when I downloaded my pictures from the camera and had a grand total of about 7-8 pictures. The kids had a great day and had tons of fun though. They got to meet their new "cousin" Stella, Uncle Jared & Aunt Cathy's new puppy who is a 12 week old Boston Terrier. Here's a few of the pictures I did get.

Randy Pausch- Last lecture

This video is a little long, but definitely worthwhile to watch. What an amazing man.....

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

Thankful

Kendall didn't have school today, so I decided to pack up the kids and meet Brian in Muskegon for lunch and then stop to Meijers to pick up a couple of things on the way home. So anyway we all went to Pizza Hut, which was an experience in itself. ( Note to self: don't try to take 3 tiered kids out to lunch at nap time when they all decide to wake up at 6 am) Afterwards the kids and I were headed to meijers. What happened on the way will be one off the events that I will always look back at and know that someone was watching over me and my kids. I was getting off the highway and waiting at the red light to turn Left onto M-120. The light turned green, I looked and all the traffic going the opposite way was stopped. I started to turn and all of the sudden there was a car coming straight at us going at least 50 MPH. I knew that this car was going to go right through the red light and right into the back drivers side of my van where Ryleigh was sitting. What happened next I really can't explain, it's like my body responded before my brain even had time to think. If I would of tried to stop, by the time I would of been able to stop I would have been right in the path of this car, so I just stomped on the gas. All I could hear next was tires squealing as I accelerated and the car behind me hit her brakes. I barely made it through before this car went speeding through the red light without even slowing down. Somehow I held it together until I made it to Meijer's parking lot, where I just broke down. Even to think of it now makes me start to shake. If I wouldn't have looked that way at the exact moment I did I know that the car would have hit me. Like all mothers, one of my greatest fears is something happening to one of my kids, so to think of what would of happened if we would of been hit makes me sick to my stomach. It was the weirdest thing because I was standing outside my car bawling my eyes out and hugging Ryleigh, when the lady who was behind me at the red light pulled up beside me and asked if we were alright. She was also very shook up. We did end up going into Meijer's to do our shopping. The whole time I was shopping I just kept thinking about how different things could of been at that very moment. Needless to say, two little girls got very spoiled at Meijer today. They ended up talking me into just about everything they asked for, which included, among other things, Bratz Pez dispensers, these Hanna Montana Yogurt drinks, and a new cage for their gerbils. I walked out of there with about 3 times the amount of things that I went there to get, but it didn't matter one little bit, I was just so thankful.

Kendall & Ryleigh after we put the new cage together

Lizzy checking out her new pad

Goldie checking out the place.