I got such a rare and wonderful gift yesterday and I just couldn't wait to tell you folks about it.  It's something that happens for me about every 2-3 years, so it's pretty special.  I didn't want to say anything in advance for fear of jinxing it.

I actually had every single one of my kids and my grandkids in one house at the same time.

Joe flew in from Canada last Thursday.  David and his girlfriend, Amber, drove up from Sacramento with her little boy, Davin and Josh and Valerie came up from Georgetown with the grandkids.  I was in pure matriarchal bliss.  I happed to have a turkey in the freezer from the big sale Albertsons had around Easter, so I fired that sucker up and we had the full dinner. 

Best of all, my wonderful daughter-in-law stood right up from the table when she was finished eating and washed every dish!  I can't remember the last time something like that happened to me.  The only person missing was Joe's wife, Sandra, who had to stay in Canada due to work obligations. 

We took lots of photos, but the ones I particularly wanted of me and all my kiddies are really bad and Joe has to work on them a bit in photoshop.  I really, really could have used Andie for some quality photos, but she was away doing naturey things in Yosemite.

For now, here are the best of them, which are still pretty awful:

Click the photo to make it bigger.  This is me with my babies.  I somehow managed to grown an 8th chin by being forced back into the couch under the weight of a 7-year-old.  Left to right:  David, Josh, Delena, Me, Nathan, Joe and Dylan.

This is a shot of my children and grandchildren:

David (on the left) wrote that big ol' book on the coffee table.

Backlit, crappy photos aside, it was a really great day.  Everyone got along just fine and there were lots of smiles and hugs, which makes me really happy.

The night before, Eric got a fire going outside for a few hours and heated up rocks for a good sweat in the sweat lodge.  He'd just gotten new rocks from the river and those "stone people" were definitely ready to speak!  We'd been using the same rocks for a few months and I guess they were just all petered out because wow, these new ones really heated it up in there!  When I come out of the little door into the cool night air after sweating in there for a half hour or so, it's like being born all over again.  I always feel so purified and cleansed that I can't imagine putting chemicals or anything but water, really, into my body for a good, long time.  I just love it and it's not something that I thought I'd ever even want to try, much less enjoy and eagerly anticipate.

I took a couple of years and applied the theme "demand more of yourself" from my life to get me to step out of my comfort zone and try things I would not normally want to do (whether I wanted to or not).  That definitely gave me new confidence and made me much more adventurous. I think that especially as we get over that 40 hump, we tend to get set in our ways to the point that we figure we already know what we do and don't enjoy and are hesitant to try out new things.  I was really surprised at all of the doors this mindset opened for me and all of the rewards it brought my way.  I hope I don't ever block myself off from trying new things out of fear or lethargy.  I know when to say no, but I do want to push myself to say "yes" more often.

The sweat lodge is a really good example of a time when I would absolutely refuse to even try something because I anticipated that it would be uncomfortable or "not my thing."  As it turned out, it was a very spiritual and wonderful experience. 

This week is our Appreciation Week for the staff of Grizzly Pines school, so we are doing a number of things to pamper them and let them know we wuv them.  Today, we bring them lunch, so I'm thinking I ought to get in there and start cooking some cornbread so I can be there in time.

I dearly hope all of you have a marvelous week. 

Be particular,