And the winner is...1292 and counting

Thank you to all who thought of us, whether you sent cards or not, it still meant a lot to my family. I had the perfect song picked out for this blog, but couldn't record it like I wanted to.

So the best that I can do is give you the lyrics below and reference the artist:

The Last Song: Terri Hendrix
written by Bill Mallonee and Julie Miller copy right 1997

May your peace be an anchor

In stormy times

May your hope run like a river

That'll never run dry

May your burdens grow light

May your worries subside

This is my prayer for you
May your soul grow deep

May your joy run wild

May your heart know the face of mercy has smiled

May your faith come to let you believe like a child

This is my prayer for you

This is my prayer for you

One of the best songs ever written, and sung beautifully. Find it, play it, buy it. Great artist and great song.

Okay, with that being said, let me discuss my weekend with my mom on her birthday. Let's just say that there were so many sound bites and moments, that I can't possibly include them all in this blog. Instead of focusing on my lessons so much, I will dedicate this blog to what everyone wants to know: how is she, and how many cards did she get. The following picture is of my mother and cousin sorting through the photos in an attempt to get a final "official" count. We had a running bet somewhere between 800 and 1500. Here is Patricia and mom sorting cards. We had only been out of the car and off the road 10 minutes when mom put us to work. I was cooking and Patricia was assigned the task of sorting:

And the aftermath scene played out as follows:

Mom really loved the cards from the elementary students. Most were sent from the Freeman school district in the Dallas area:

And finally here she is amongst all 1292 cards that everyone sent! Thank you everyone! You have no idea how much this meant to her and our family. Read beyond the pics for further updates.

My mother has become someone I never knew her capable of being, loving, humble and spiritual. I am blessed to have this opportunity to rediscover my mom, and for the opportunity for her to get to rediscover me. If you haven't had this opportunity with your own parent(s), this is my prayer for you.

This one, I choose to keep

I was going through some old photo's that my mom gave me a couple weeks ago during my last vist and discovered some of my sister's and I's old school yearbook photos. All I could do is laugh and say to myself "Wow! Who thought that was a good idea???" I have no idea who was dressing me or how much hairspray I went though in the late eighties and early nineties.

However, what I can say is that one of life’s great shared injustices is the yearbook photo. We all had to get them. And — unless they’ve somehow magically found a cure for awkwardness, geekiness and general dorkitude since I was a teenager — most of us dreaded them. For whatever reason, be it bad skin, bad clothes or the steadfast yet ultimately misguided belief in the transformative properties of big bangs, many of us look back at our school pictures and cringe. Or, at the very least, giggle. Celebrities had to get them too, just like us mere mortals. Now that is what I call justice. As I believe that strong and intelligent women should support one another (or at least agree to share previous bad photos of each other), I thought I would share some photos of some strong and intelligent famous women in their less than flattering yearbook photos and engage in a bit of fun guessing who they are. Please know that in a future episode, I will give a chornological history of my sister and I as well as our mother in a similar trivia fashion. I am collecting the photos as you read this.

Below is a mosiac of the yearbook photos. Take a close look, as I will quiz you in a bit. No cheating.

So, let’s play a little game called I like to call "Name That Teenager". It’ll be fun; like being back in high school, but already knowing what everyone will look like at the class reunion. Let the games begin:

First, look at the top four pictures in the top left portion of the mosaic. Among them you have a "Rock" star, an Alien hunter, a Flash Dance model and the possible next president of the United States of America.

Next, look at the four pictures in the top right corner of the mosiac. This is a group that clearly spared no expense on the Aqua Net.

The next group makes the quadrant comprised of the bottom left corner of the mosiac. This group kept it cropped short. Just goes to prove that a tom boy's can be glamourous too!

Finally, the bottom right corner of the mosiac and all the possible stumpers. I’ll give you a hint: Three of them have almost the exact same first name. Also, can we please savor the fashion genius that is top left hand corner’s pencil themed T-shirt? Are those No. 2 pencils? She is so ready for her placement exams.

As a precursor for future installments, here is one of my favorite pictures of my mom, my sister and I about 3 years ago at my sister's graduation from Vet School. This was one of the happies memories I have of both of them.

Going through those old photo's, and those of the celebrities above, I have learned that, despite the fame, fortune, or opportunity, and despite the lighting, imperfections and weight gain/loss, life is short, photos live forever, but memories breath life to the moment captured in both. We do not define relationships or ourselves by our photos, friends, or family, but by the memories we create and those we chose to keep.

This one, I will chose to keep.