Gabzmom

I just want to share that I am so happy with the choices my daughter has made thus far with the relationships she has fostered into friendships. She spent the night with a friend last weekend and both girls learned from each other that the other had lost their dad. Earlier in the day, I met a couple of her other friends at a vocal competition for school. Each came up to me to introduce themselves to me. For me, that is what I call being "raised right." Her grades are stellar and I am thrilled because it's a 360 from last year! Finally, I am so proud of her can do spirit. She had been in the school play and then went to see her grandmother during mid-winter break. As a result her rowing coach said she would have to cox the B boats (second string, basically). I asked her how she felt about it and she said she wasn't happy. I told her it may not feel fair, but it was equitable because the coach is responsible for the entire team. I told her it was an opportunity for her to show her coaches what she was made of. I told her that we don't always get dealt the best hand - our coaches, bosses, others will be watching to see how we respond to "set-backs." I told her to do her best and to teach the new kids how to kick butt and turn their B boats into A boats -- she can change the course. I told her that a coach won't hold a champion back. Well, we found out this week, after she competed against a mail coxswain, that she was placed into the women's 8, men's top 4, and women's top 4. She's coxing the A boats after all. So so proud of her.

Wow - some crazy upsets with 1 point losses. And my women's bracket - man, they are all rocking it except for UW.

DH loved Monty Python and your post made me smile. It is a BRAND NEW DAY!!!

Love both of those! I watched Julie Andrews and Diane Sawyer return to Austria last night. Sigh...

I was thinking of playing quarters or beer pong...

That is exactly what I needed, K-REBat! I like to roll like a local and have no problem with trains. When a group of us were in NYC this past September, two of the ladies would not take the subway and one wanted to eat at a chain restuarant! This trip we are going with my BFF and DD and she has the same adventurous bones! And you are right - as much as my BFF is my person and gets me more than anyone else I know, she doesn't get why I want to get together with a bunch of wids. She thinks we are getting together to cry in our coffee.

OKay - I think I need to make a list of the shows I am going to stream. Planning to see If/Then when it comes to Seattle later this year as it ends this weekend. Love "Les Miz" - saw it many years ago. I don't understand a lick of opera but watched some of the kids in the Regional Solo & Ensemble competition. A young girl sang a beautiful aria. Just beautiful and it made me want to cry... Just saw the additonal posts in the thread, Just Jen. We have all the movie versions of Rogers & Hammerstein - my DD got a box set when she was 4. Their version of Cinderella with Leslie Ann Warren is my absolute fave! Purchased a vinyl album at the Goodwill for my daughter - Auntie Mame. Looking for more because she is so into musicals and shows.

I love musicals. My daughter does as well. Two years ago - soon after DH passed, she played this song over and over again. I ended up surprising her with tickets to "Wicked" for her 14th birthday.

I was wondering about Uconn!

If I'm coming from midtown, do I just take a taxi? Or Uber?

Dancing with our girl at a wedding: HS senior

It's really nice to read how everyone is working together to make this happen! Sounds like so much fun!

Carey, I still have Rob's cologne, too. A few weeks ago, we were doing something and my daughter asked if I smelled his fragrance - I did. I can't remember what it was but we could smell his cologne and neither of us had gotten into anything. We couldn't figure it out.

I have been a bit melancholy this weekend and tonight I read through my old blog posts (it's a private blog that I kept - sort of like a diary). They are pretty sporadic because I fought my grief - in a sense, I am pretty sure I still fight it? Anyway, I thought I would share what I wrote in January of 2014 (about 19 months out): We are cleaning today. We are sorting, and pulling, and piling, and removing, and taking, and releasing. Taking a ton of things to the Goodwill today. It's somewhat ironic. I opened the closet door and found the bag. I call it the "Crazy Woman bag." These are the shirts that were unlaundered - the ones I sat and cried over as I folded and refused to have my mom launder them. Gabby and I sat and folded them so we could smell him. Keep him with us. I gave her a shirt and I put one on to sleep in. They sat at the foot of my bed for a few weeks. Occasionally, I would walk by and I would catch his fragrance. One day I picked a shirt up and I couldn't smell him. After frantically going through the shirts and placing them in a giant ziploc bag in hopes to preserve his essence, I placed the bag away in the closet. Today - I stared at the bag and looked at Gabby and asked, "Do you think it's time to wash Daddy's shirts?" She said, "Maybe." I unzipped the bag and smelled the collar of one of my favorite Ralph Lauren button downs. I told her I couldn't smell him - she said it smelled like the bag - plastic. We decided to launder the shirts. We'll put them with his other shirts - the ones for the quilt. Each step forward is bittersweet. We are moving forward, we remember him. We are letting him go. Hope unfolds.

Aw, Tweet. Hugs to you!

My bracket is done - I am going for pure emotion: Gonzaga! Ugh! And I want KU to kick Kentucky's arse!

And Boz Skaggs - Harbor Lights - this song reminds me of a midnight sail in Tampa Bay with the dolphins chasing the sailboat. We were newly married then. I can feel the breeze, warm and cool, all at the same time. This one - I wrote about it in my private blog about 5 months out. I think it signified my trying to push the grief away - to tell myself to stop thinking about my love?"Heart of Mine." https://youtu.be/UcGRxHKlEz0

Thanks for copying these, MrsTim85. During the last couple of years, music gave me the permission I needed to allow myself to be sad - I fought the grief because I had work to do and a kid to take care of. SWilson linked Kathy Mattea - I love bluegrass (well, I love just about every genre of music) and used to listen to these: And then just about everything by Eva Cassidy, especially: "Fields of Gold; You Take My Breath Away; Danny Boy; Autumn Leaves; and I Know You By Heart."

My picks are in - totally based on emotion. No logic whatsoever? Go, Gonzaga Bulldogs!

I am in! And, most definitely, Go Zaggs!

OMGosh - I want to reach out and hug you. I feel so helpless that I can't offer you consolation. Wishing you peace.

My DD had her 16th birthday last November. We had talked about a party but her big gift is our trip to NY this Spring. She didn't really want a big party but we celebrated the entire month! We had dinner with friends one evening, dinner again with family, she got to go to a concert with her BFFs, and so forth. We kept it low key and no fanfare. She loved it.

I should not post when I am dog tired and my brain is running a million miles per hour. I meant to add that I am really looking forward to meeting everyone.

Hugs - I can't say anymore than that. I remember too well how mind-numbing the first year was for me.

I love history. TooSoon, I hope you can make it. I don't know what is on the docket for us that day other than I set aside time to meet up with you all.