Carlsbad + Wilkinson Reunion

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The Enterprise is still flying at warp speed.

Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to go and see the new Star Trek movie. I have to say that it was great! I give it four big stars. Seeing it on the I-MAX screen was the best, and I would highly recommend this movie to most of you.


Kevin and I went with a couple of friends named Bonnie and Mark. These two friends must have been born on the same planet as me. Science fiction is what brought us together, and it has taken us to places beyond the bounds of this earth, where we have cheered for the heroes and prayed for the destruction of the evil-doers. Every time they cancel a Sci-Fi show we mourn and then start watching the re-runs.

it started for me with those cheesy but great Flash Gordon shows that were made in the 1940s or 50s. Flash Gordon's ship was a little model that was lowered on a wire and had smoke that floated straight up when it came out of the engine. it was cool, and I loved it.

From there I went to My favorite Martian. Bill Bixby was the hapless human with Ray Walston as the long suffering Martian stuck on earth. You guessed it. I loved it.




The show that really phaser burned Science Fiction into my heart was Star Trek. I was so caught up in it that I recall having a major tantrum when my grown bother Pete had the audacity to bring his friends down into the basement to turn on the STUPID High-fi, thus making me turn off Star Trek.

I know this is shocking but we only had one sad TV and it was in the same room with the Hi-Fi. I was so mad that I threw my eye glasses on the floor and broke them. I think that might have been what started the great eye glass destruction war that is still going on with me today, but that's another story. I'm happy to say that due to reruns, I was able to see every single episode of Star Trek, including that fateful broken spectacle episode, I've even forgiven Pete.

My love of Science fiction still goes on, from Herbert's Dune to



Azimov's Foundation and on through Star Wars, Firefly and Gattica, just to name a few. I see worlds without end and stories without number. I'm currently listening to Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns.



Live long and may the Force be with you.

Why the World Needs Good Fathers

In the last year I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit all of my children. It is so fun to see them in their natural habitat and to watch how they interact with the other wildlife in the vicinity, especially when it's their children. As I watched all of them with the little ones, I was reminded once again how important a good mother and father are to a child. Right now I'll concentrate on the Daddy portion of the family.



In our home it started with a really great father my husband Kevin.........



What a great father he has been to our children. Always putting Myself and the kids before his own needs and wants. A sense of humor, and a quiet nature have made him an ideal dad. It gave our girls an example of the type of man they would marry, and it gave the boys a prototype to follow, and follow his example they all have.



When it comes to Dads, it's hard to beat Jayson. My respect and love of him has grown in direct proportion to the number of kids he has. His kindness and patience with all his children, boggles the mind. When he walks in the door of his home he is surrounded by a group of adoring fans. If ever love was spoken it is here in this home.

Mike, my daughter Alicia's husband is really FUN. When I see him with his boys it makes me wish that I could be little and play around with him the way that they do. His love of his kids just radiates from his face when he's with them, and you can tell that they are secure in the knowledge that they are loved by their father.

Joel, my youngest son has sacrificed much of his time to care for the needs of his children. As a soldier in the army he has spent long hours away from the people that he loves most. I know for a fact that the 15 months that he spent in Iraq were the hardest of his life. Because of the times when he has been gone, the moments
that he does have with his children are more precious to him then to those of us who see our kids every day.


Alex, Megan's husband isn't a dad yet, but I've seen him with babies and his younger siblings. From what I've seen, I have no doubt that he'll be one of the great ones.

The common thread with all these fathers is the unbounded love they have for their kids. What a difference these children will make in the world when they grow up, and in a big part, because of truly great fathers.

Twilight Night

Yes, I went to to see Twilight last night. I went with a group of what seemed like 2000 14 year olds. Just the thought of all the texting possibility in that place was enough to make my head spin. Before the movie began we were shown a few previews that filled all of their hormone-filled teen hearts with lust and desire, and then they brought on the Harry Potter trailer, and all them cheered. I have to say that I pretty much wanted to cheer with them but thought that I might embarrass my date, who just happens to be my husband. I kept wondering if I was the only Grandma there, and I still think that's a possibility. But there are some things you just want to do, and it was worth it. All through the movie the teen girls giggled, and sighed over Edward. I'm just glad that I'm not as silly as those girls. I didn't giggle at all. I only sighed.

I enjoyed the movie. There are a couple of things that I wish they could have done different, but all of those things would have cost more money than the movie makers had to spend on Twilight. Some of the special effects were a bit lame, but I thought that the acting by Robert Pattenson and Kristen Stewart was pretty good. I also really liked Bella's Dad and felt that he nailed the part. I'm hoping that they will make a ton of money on this film so that they can sink more of it into the next one.

Well that's all folks. Have fun at the movies.

The Last Walk

Ten years ago our third son Joel went away to college, leaving a distraught and lonely Megan stuck with two of the most boring humans on earth (Mom and Dad). As the days went by, and Megan was not coming out of the depression, Kevin and I then made a decision to find a friend for her. Around that same time, Megan and I became volunteers at the Humane Society, where we would go every week and help clean out the cat room. As we did this, we would check out the dogs. We looked at several different dogs, but none of them seemed like a good fit, until we saw the little tri-colored beagle. Undersized but enthusiastic, she won our hearts in an instant. Her name was Sara, and in a couple of days she had adopted us. An immediate change came over Megan. Every day when she came home from school I'd send the dog out to great her, and who can resist a happy, tail wagging dog? The first year of having Sara in our house Megan claimed that she still liked cats better then dogs, but after a time her allegiance shifted, and now I'd say she's a hard core dog lover. I'm writing as if this was all about Megan and Sara, but this is really about all of us and Sara.

I was the kid that dragged home every stray animal that I came across. All I ever wanted was a dog. With a sister having sever asthma this was not a good idea. That didn't stop me, I persisted until Dad and Mom broke down and gave me a dog for Christmas, and I have to say that I would rank that gift as the best Christmas gift I've ever received. He was a little brown mutt that I named Barney. I loved that dog and he followed me everywhere, sometimes that wasn't so good. If I wanted to go to my best friend, Karen's house, I would have to sneak out of my house and run fast to her house, to get away from Barney. About an hour after I had successfully dodged the dog, he would track me down and be crying at the Swenson's door. I loved the dog anyway, and was devastated when he disappeared. For weeks after he was gone I would search the neighborhood and countryside calling and whistling for him. He never came back.

Along came Megan's dog, Sara. She and I became fast friends and I loved how she was so happy to see me every single time I walked in the door. We spent many hours walking, reading and napping together. If I lay on the sofa she would lay on my feet to keep them warm. Soon after she arrived in our house we discovered that she had a marvelous singing voice, and I loved to hear her bay, (most of the time) at the bunnies, squirrels, and anybody who rang the doorbell. She was smart and easily learned a boat-load of cute tricks that she would perform for anybody that came to the house. She loved the next door neighbor Pauli, and spent time laying next to her on the bed when she was dying of cancer. Every night when Megan went to bed Sara slept next to her like a little sister. When we walked past the bus stop every morning all the girls would want to pet Sara. In other words she was a well loved dog.

You may be wondering why I'm writing this post. Well, today was Sara's last day with us. A couple of months ago we noticed a change in Sara. She was having some problems of which I will not detail here. We kept hoping that it was just a faze and would go away. After some time we realized that it wasn't a faze and we would have some difficult decisions to make. Yesterday I called the vet and made arrangements to have her euthanized. This was a heart wrenching choice to make, and even now I can't stop weeping. This morning we took her on her last walk, fed her, and that was it. When I look back on the ten years she spent with us and the pain at the end, I'd still do it all over again. When I walked in the door from work today, there was no Little Buddy to greet me, and it seems a bit lonely. Here are some of the things that I learned from Sara.

1. Always show friends how happy you are to see them again.

2. Every day is the best day of your life.

3. If you have a tail, wag it a lot.

4. Forgive people for angry, harsh words.

5. If you feel like singing, let loose with all your might.

6. Don't be afraid to show bullies that your not afraid of them.

7. Don't be afraid to back down from a fight if you think you might get hurt.

8. When you itch, scratch.

9. Getting dirty isn't a bad thing.

10. Snuggling is good.

11. If a friend is hurt, give them a kiss.

12. Take long walks as often as you can.

13. If you eat your dinner you'll get a treat.

14. Don't ever turn down a really great meal.

15. Most car rides are great.

16. If you love someone, let them know.

17. If someone pulls your tail, bite back.

18. Cats are a lot scarier then they look.

19. Take every opportunity to chase a bunny.

20. Love without expecting anything in return.


Farewell Little Buddy. I have no doubt that if we meet in heaven, you will greet me with tail wagging, happy face, and dragging Barney behind you.

Kirk

My parents have seven children, I am the middle child. I guess that would make me Four of Seven. For six years I enjoyed the honor of being the youngest child. Perhaps my parents couldn't stand the thought of having another little person after they had dealt with me, or maybe I was so adorable that they wanted time to enjoy every minute of me. This is one of those questions, never to be answered, because it doesn't really matter. The real story follows:

The great day came when I was six years old, my mother gave birth to a baby boy, his name was to be Kirk. When Dad went to the hospital to pick up my brand new baby brother, he asked me if I wanted to go along. Curiosity and excitement to see this new little stranger was voiced in a big "OK". When Mom came out into the car they placed this little bundle in my lap and my first response was "What's wrong with his face?" Years later after the birth of two other sisters, four children of my own, and twelve grandchildren,I now know that babies are toothless, wrinkled little people, and all of those things are perfectly normal. In other words nothing was wrong with his face.

From the very first I thought having a little brother was great. Not only was he a fun and very cute little boy, but he gave me something I had been wanting for a long time, someone to boss around. Kirk was a boy through and through. We have legends of Kirk and his friend Davy. My favorite story is about the time they started a fire in the basement so that they could dance around it. I also remember the day he found a jar of Vaseline and covered himself in it. Another time I was home sick, and I heard my Mom laughing, she carried Kirk into the room where I was. He had fallen into a drawer where we kept flour and was completely covered with it. He looked like Casper. Mom and I had such a great laugh together over that. All of us adored Kirk. His happy disposition, winning smile, and beautiful hair won everybody over.

Almost from the very beginning Kirk was an unbelievably driven worker. I can remember that one of Kirk's jobs as a boy was to weed the hill in front of our house. Dad would have him go out, and clear that hillside every so often. Kirk didn't like it, but his thinking was, "the sooner I do it, the sooner it will be over". This was a horrible, hard task and I was glad I didn't have to do it, but Kirk stuck with it until it was done. That's how he does everything.

This week Kirk found out that he has to tackle the biggest hill that he's ever faced. He has been diagnosed with Mantel Cell Lymphoma. Like that hill of weeds, he has decided to give it all he's got. Scores of us are rooting for him. He and his great wife Julie, their daughters Liz, and Amanda, are in all of our prayers. We are praying for a miracle. To my dear brother, Keep on weeding that hill! I love you.

A great laugh

This made me laugh so hard that I thought you should all see it.

Time for Some Campaignin' | Funny Jokes at JibJab