Really enjoyed celebrating the career of one of the closest family friends we have.  Linda.

We've known her since year 1 of Jen's teaching career.  The "Fairy Godmother" to the girls, our wedding planner, and close friend for around 23 years.

All the dinners, parties, excursions over these many years has allowed me to see the amazing, honest, intelligent, caring person Linda is.

When you go to one of Linda's parties, you see the around and variety of people that show up for Linda.  People who love Linda.

At Bink's graduation dinner at Bocalli's, she was there.  I asked her what she's going to do with her retirement after her BTS tour. :)

She said she's going to go through her list of friends that need help, and she's going to stay for 2-3 weeks at each one's house just to help them.

It could be aging parents, or a difficult breakup, or whatever.

Just shows you what value she puts on friendships and people.

She made a short speech where she pointed in a circle to all of the people gathered and said how much each and everyone one of us has had a profound effect on her life, and how grateful she is that we are all in it.

It was quite an emotional moment for many of us, and Linda.

And then, to see all the pictures on the walls of her garage - of all the students she connected with over the years.  The amount of lives she's touched in a positive way is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Her retirement party also  got me thinking about my own new journey into the land of never having to work again.  What do I want to do?  What do I want to be? How do I want to make a positive impact?

I talked to Ed (Nancy's husband) about what he does with his retirement.  Then I talked to Dan (Elektra's husband) about being "done" with working.  He said to go out and "do something good with it".  Those words stuck.

The journey has begun.  It will not be easy.

And, time is ticking.

Life is oh so short, and it's the people that matter.

Linda knows that.

It's likely one of the important lessons to learn from her.

In my opinion, none of her other talents (gifted educator, corporate technology powerhouse, etc...) hold a candle to her ability to connect with, and value other humans.

My, how we love Linda. <3

My random thoughts on a hodge podge of things that went on this weekend...

Kara is really getting more comfortable driving the Tacoma! Almost every time she drives it, someone in a car pulls up and said, "Wow, are you learning to drive a stick?  Good for you!". The last guy said, in closing, "You'll be able to survive the apocalypse!" 

She comfortably making her way through the neighborhood next to the Buena High School parking lots.

She's smart and is picking it up quickly.  Will it stick?  Will she keep the truck as hers?  Or will I have to sell it and get something else?  Time will tell...

I also did a short Hall Canyon hike with Walt, Jen, Sheila, Kari, and Barb Zerbe.  We went up about 2 miles and then hiked back.  It got a bit hot for Walt, but I really enjoy the hike here.  We saw a lady who used to work at Ventura High who I've talked to before in the stands at a football game.  She volunteers there, and was showing me an app called "Merlin" that will listen to sounds in nature and tell you what type of bird/animal is making the sound.

It's pretty awesome.  I'll be testing that out soon, along with the one my mom uses called "Seek'.

Next up was the Cinco de Mayo + Mother's Day celebration at Encanto Living - the residential care facility that cares for my dad.  All of the mother's had a plaque filled with pictures and a little biography of each.

We had a catered lunch, and Miriam planned a game that uses cards as prompts to create group discussion.

Spike, one of the residents, went on a rant about how he doesn't "understand the women of America", because he's been divorced 4 times and he just can't understand why or how that has happened to him. :)

Ah well, he's got dementia and is in pretty bad shape.  It was hilarious because Miriam had to distract him and move on to the next person.  Everybody was laughing.

The was also a really good Mariachi singer.  She was great and really did a good job and holding everyone's attention for an hour.

Couple final things...

During Jen's admin leave from VHS, she "re-did" our entire stairway banister.  She found a YouTube video that taught her how to remove the finish coat, do minimal sanding, and stain the top of the banister, and then pain the vertical poles white.  It looks great!  She finished that this weekend just in the nick of time for going back to school.

And finally... Walt has been at it again, destroying the "drip system" sprinkler spickets AGAIN!  I had to go to Green Thumb and buy some chicken wire plant root protectors to put OVER the little spickets (after fixing them).  Now he can't easily destroy them. He could if he really tried, but I don't think he knows that yet. :)