Grandchildren getting married.

Our little "Bobbers" is getting married!  When I met Bobby, he was a skinny twelve year old boy.  Thick coke bottle glasses.  A little nerdy.  But there was one unmistakable aspect I learned early on. 


He loves his Mom-mom.  No question.  Undeniable.


We haven't seen him for about five years now.   The last time we saw him he was graduating from high school.  Since then he has gotten a job, found a girlfriend, had a baby, gotten his own place, and is finally getting married.  Maybe not the best order to do it all, but he is doing it.  It is his own path.


I am so happy for him and his new family.  His soon-to-be bride, Keri, sounds wonderful.  When we get to Baltimore for the wedding will be the first time we have met.  Keri has been regaled with how wonderful Rita is by Bobby and his mom, I don't see how Rita can live up to it!  I am afraid Keri will be expecting a halo, angels, stars, orchestra music, and butterflies and bunnies all lined up to see her.


On second thought, that will probably happen.  Rita is amazing.  Maybe not the butterflies and bunnies, but the rest is possible.  I am certain they will get along.


Rita is just hoping Keri likes her.  I don't see how she could not. 


I can't wait to see the rest of the clan.  All the grandkids, and that new great-grandchild, Kyleigh.  We have a picture of her at the beach on the desktop picture on our laptop.  See that everyday.


I am rambling a bit.  That is because I have so many mixed emotions.  I hope it all goes well.  I want Rita's kids to like me.  I am pretty sure the grandkids will like me.  I want to have fun.  But I want to look to the future and see what it would really be like when we move.


I don't want the kids to know right away that I can be a curmudgeon.  When I get tired I get cranky.  Sometimes I am picky.  But I want them to like me. 


I do have an ace-in-the-hole with Bobby's mom, May.  She loves us.  Undeniably.  Guess that's a pretty good place to start.


Weddings can be so messy.  Usually, everybody puts on their happy face, and is cordial and pleasant.  I am the outsider there.  I will try to stay in the background and just watch everybody.  But it is hard for me to do that.  First of all I am 6' 6" tall.  Kind of hard to hide.  I will do my best.


There are so many wonderful things that can come out of this trip to Baltimore.  We will meet Bobby's new bride, his child, and see their wedding.  We will re-establish ties.  Maybe even meet the realtor we have been talking to.  Grandkids.


The best part?  Maryland crabs.  I have been Jonesing for those for five years.  Gonna be fun. Mmmm

Its time to move.

December 4, 2004 I was innocently playing on line Scrabble.  I loved that site.  I could play with some incredibly good players that challenged me.  There was usually some fun dialog in the chat room.  That day, there were a couple of people that were arguing about the gulf war.
As is per my character, I decided to stir the pot.  You can't go around making empty claims and using those to bolster your side.  So I went in and challenged them.  Both sides.  I was having some fun.
In the middle of that, someone I had never heard of sent me a message, "you want to play a game?"
That was the end of my life as I knew it.  Gone were the days of being lonely.  Gone were the days of not feeling wanted.  We played, she was good!  We chatted a little.  Found out we had some things in common.  A couple of days later we were on the phone.  Talked for hours.  I mean hours.
Well the rest is history.  We eventually met, sparks flew, and some time later we were married.  Life has never been the same.  My soul mate.
It has been ten years now.  Rita came to be with me in California.  She left her grown children in Baltimore, and we visited several times.  Our intent was to go back every year. 
In 2008 I had a triple bypass open heart surgery.  I was forced to retire.  There went the ability to visit. 
Since then, we have built up a relatively successful home based business "Little Darlins Nursery" of which this blog is named.  I am so very proud.  We have paid the bills and we have survived.  Had some fun, met some wonderful people.  All in all pretty good.
Rita and I have been planning to move to Baltimore for some time now, but with my job loss, real estate values in the toilet, the economy faltering, it has been really tough.  I am beginning to see why it is so very hard for businesses to pick up and move.  And we don't even have employees.
But we have found ourselves struggling to be able to visit Baltimore.  Our grandson "Bobbers" is getting married.  Hard to imagine.  I am so proud of him.
Getting out there to see all the grandkids has become of vast importance.  We have to be there.  Have to.  We see pictures of the grandkids on facebook and it is hard to imagine they have grown that much.  I can't wait.
So, the goal of moving to Baltimore has become paramount in my mind.  Rita has been out here in California with me for ten years away from her family to be with me.  She helped me raise Kyle (who is now pretty much grown and happily with his mom in Michigan).  It is past time for me to return the favor and bring my bride back to where she came from.  Back to where her heart is.
I look forward to the change.  And it will be drastic.  (What IS all that white stuff on the ground they call snow?)
I have never shoveled snow.  Ever.  I have never seen it snow other than when it melts as it hits the ground.  I have never made a snow angel.  I have never built an igloo (I may let the grandkids do that).
I am looking forward to the adventure.  But I know it will be hard as well.  I will miss my family, though most are spread far and wide now.  I will miss my home with the forty foot back porch. 
But, it is time.  Past time.  Can't wait.  But I worry.  David

A wonderful evening. Sublime.

Last night, Rita and I took my brother Mike, his wife Linda, and my sister Susie to our "special" restaurant, Centro Basco in Chino, Ca.  This is where I wooed my wife.  Whenever we go there we are treated special, and made to feel welcome. 
Great food, warm inviting atmosphere, friendly staff.  I have never had anything there that wasn't wonderful. 
But last night was just special.  We all had a blast.  I must admit, I was a little worried that I may have hyped the place too much.  I brag about it all the time.  I wasn't sure if they would like it as much as I do.
Turned out everything was perfect.  The night was one I will not forget for a long time.  A once in a lifetime experience.
We were lucky enough to get our favorite waitress Olivia.  This girl is sweet, friendly, and sharp.  She is good at what she does. 
I guess I am bragging a little too much.
If you are interested visit their website, check out the menu, read a little about their history, and get a feel for the place.  If you go, I promise, you won't be sorry.
http://www.centrobasco.net/index.html
David

a flower bursting forth. a joy.

What a beautiful day!  I get to spend it with my sweetie. 
Each day, each of us chooses what we will do with our lives.  Some of us let life dictate how our day will go. 
You DO have a choice.  Do you choose to be happy?  Do you choose to let little things get you down?  Do you choose to make the best of each day, face problems head on, and yet still be happy?
Does the past haunt you?  Mistakes.  Heartaches.  Loneliness.  Work.  Children.  Job.  Bosses. 
Did you take the time to see this day as a blessing?  Or is it another day of toil and trouble?
This may come as surprise to some, but we all make choices every day. 
This is not to make light of those very hard times in life.  Pain, heartache, despair, sometimes agony.  That is real.  But what also is real is the light at the end of the tunnel.  Hope.  Its real. 
If you are in that spot in your life and all seems hopeless, I can tell you it is not.  I have been in the deepest of pits.  I have been shunned by many.  I have had my darkest days.  But hope was always there.  There were days that seemed so very hopeless.  But each day I tried to find my joy.
A therapist told me that.  Its a way to cope.  I would have a very rough day and I would get a smile from a store clerk.  I would see a pretty sky.  A flower would come forth in the yard.  Even if it was a dandelion.  It was still a joy to me.
After facing down my many demons, taking responsibility for my bad choices, making amends, and asking for forgiveness, I began to reclaim my life.  Its a slow process.  But it had to be done.  It took me about eight years. 
It was worth every minute.  Every minute of heartache.  Because when I reclaimed my life, reclaimed my right to happiness, made the choice to be happy, made the choice to be myself, not what others wanted, my head was a little higher, my shoulders were back, a determined smile came upon my countenance.  People noticed. 
I quit being a doormat.  I am strong and I am still standing.  I love life and all it has to offer.
So.
This day, I choose to spend with my Rita.  And she chooses to spend her day with me.  She doesn't have to.  But she does.  And I am grateful. 
Thank you Lord for this wonderful woman you have given me as my wife.  I will NOT take her for granted.  This day, this wonderful Valentines Day, I choose to spend it with her, and honor her.
I am grateful.  David

The winter olympics and fear

Holy cow.  These winter Olympics (2014) have been inspiring to watch.  Young people showing grace, perseverance, hard work ethics, and fearlessness.  Throw in some God given talent, and you have a competition. 
First are these very young girls skating in an international arena, doing spins, axels, toe loops etc.  These look incredibly difficult.  And dangerous.  Some of these skaters have had very serious injuries, and the surgeries to fix them.
And they come back out, retrain, face the pain, and do it again.  Hard to imagine.
Then come the skiers.  Long distance stamina.  Down hill slalom, finesse at seventy miles per hour facing God knows what pain if they fall.  Biathlon, taxing every muscle in their body to its limit, then having to calm themselves to shoot a rifle. 
Finally, those crazy half-pipe snowboarders. zooming up a straight wall of snow, reaching as high as they can go, and THEN doing all kinds of tricks, hoping they will be able to land gracefully back here on earth.
These young people amaze me. 
In an interview with one of the figure skaters, she was asked about performing her stunts on such hard ice, knowing she could reinjure her previous surgery.  Her response was she was reading Phil Jackson's book.  Learning to let go of fear and giving it all she had.  Her goal was the only thing in her mind.  Fear would hold her back.  Letting go of fear was the answer to success.
I have seen this question before, but it fits here:  "what could you accomplish if you knew you would not fail?"  
When Rita and I take a risk in business, the worst that will happen is we don't sell a doll.  Or it sells for less than we want.  Putting it in context of what these young people face, the hard work, the dedication, the pain, etc. our risk seems inconsequential. 
For myself, my fear is that I won't be able to pay the bills, heat the house, fill the pantry.  But I have an insurance policy.  I know that even in VERY tough times, Rita and I can tighten our belts, collect firewood off the side of the road, eat some soup, and get through it.  We have the Lord on our side.  In my 58 years, He has never let me down.
Another fear is the fear of failure.  This is part of my ego.  It is a part of me.  When asked what I do for a living, I say with pride, "my wife and I have our own business.  We make dolls and sell them all over the world."  It would hurt very deeply to fail.
This fear of failure can hold me back.  But business is nothing but taking risks.  Trying new ideas.  Keeping fresh and new.  All businesses must grow, expand, evolve, or they become stagnant.  When we get into a rut, its time to change and shake things up a bit.
So, to summarize, my risks are nothing like those Olympians.  But there are risks, there are real fears, and those fears have meaning, but they must be faced.  They must be conquered.  What can we accomplish if our fears don't hold us back?  The worst that happens is our dolls don't sell.  But we might succeed!  I know God wants us to do well, to succeed, to share our success with others, and spread His word. 
I think I can do that.  I think I can.  Yes, I think I can!

Busy-ness and stress. Love it.

Its a great day!  Pretty sunrise, cool air, fire in the fireplace.  Things to do.
We have been blessed with some dolls to make and some orders to fill.  Two are ready to ship out this morning.
I can't imagine having a life with nothing to do.  Yes, my life has stress.  Money, the business, worrying about the economy, waiting for supplies to arrive in time, etc.
But I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I look back at my parents lives.  Dad had a heart attack and angina.  It knocked a vital man out of commission.  He went through bouts of depression.  But he looked for interesting things to do.  He looked to gardening, wood carving, traveling, etc.  It helped.  He made friends along the way. 
But I am certain he longed for being able to go back to work.  I am certain of it.  It was who he was.  He WAS Norco real estate.  It was his identity.  He died way to soon.  Twenty-three years later and I still miss him. 
Mom, was a vital active woman.  She was professional in every sense of the word.  She truly enjoyed making a difference in the many jobs she had.  Medical office manager, Executive secretary, and eventually working for the Board of Supervisors in Riverside County.  She loved it. 
Eventually mom retired.  But, she didn't really.  She was active in her Senior Mobile Home Park.  She was secretary to the RPEA, she worked with the executives in Red Cross, she was active in her church. 
Retired?  Hah.  I don't think so. 
Eventually, age began to catch up to her. 
After she married Keith, they were still active, travelling, working, enjoying life. 
Eventually Keith had a stroke and it shut many things down.  Mom was still active in the park and church, but it just became too hard.  They did their best to keep things active, but it was difficult.  It took a toll on both of them.
There is a reason I am reciting this.  I believe their lives were better and more interesting in their "golden years" as a result of staying active and vital.
I see Rita's and my business as a means of enjoying life.  We are looking forward to many years of helping people all around the world find that special doll.  Sounds silly.  But there are many women out there that need that in their lives.  It seems to fill a hole.
Yes, my days have stress and worry, but its the good kind.  It has taught me much about relying upon the Lord for my daily bread.  I am grateful for the stress.  I am vital and I love this life He has given me.  I choose happiness!  David

Mom's up! Gotta go!

Time to see my sweetie.  Sorry guys.  Maybe a post tomorrow!  David

Often, I blog about daily events, things I appreciate, etc.  Today, I have to brag.

During the Christmas season, Rita created Daimy, pictured above.  She turned out gorgeous.  The dress, the complexion, the birthmark, the hair, all worked together for this one.  We listed her before Christmas and she sold to a new mommy in St. Petersburg, Russia.  We knew we had a special doll.

In January, we reworded the listing to make it into a custom made doll.  This means the buyer chooses many of the details for their doll, to be made to their specifications.

Since then, we have sold four more.

Now and then, we stumble upon something special.  There are very few Daimy's on the market, and buyers are interested.

It gives me pause, when I realize how special Rita's talent is.  I am in awe.  David