QS LEXUS

Last weekend I drove to Butler, PA to visit my cousin. On the way there, somewhere, I don't remember where, I was behind a car with the license plate, QS LEXUS (yes, the car was a Lexus). I remember thinking absent-mindedly as I drove, "Does that mean the person's name or first initial is Q as in Q's Lexus, or are his initials QS or does the QS mean something else?" I didn't think about it too much and moved on to some other off the wall thoughts. Two days later on my way home, driving through Steubenville, I saw the same car with the license plate, "QS LEXUS!" I still don't know what it means but I can't believe I saw the same car two days later and maybe not even in the same city!

So Weird

My "psychic" abilities seem to have been inherited by Alex! Well, I've only had a couple of psychic experiences (see previous blogs!) but my friend John has been teasing me lately about being psychic so let's assume I am! Anyhow, Alex shared an "eerie" story with me yesterday. About a week or so ago he had a dream that a friend of his was moving to Texas. He told her about it and she just laughed. A few days later she came up to him and said, "Alex, you are not going to believe this. Guess where my Dad is today for a job interview? Texas!" So, she isn't moving there for sure but how weird is that? Like the name of a show my kids used to watch .... "So weird!"

The Future is Now

When I was a kid and they described the future in books or on TV, two things stand out in my mind - flying cars and television phones where you could see the person you were talking to and they could see you. Well, it's almost 2010 and we don't have flying cars but tonight, as I talked to Mackenzie at school and saw her face on the computer via a Web tool called Tokbox, I felt that that future was now. I know that video conferencing technology has been around for long time and programs like Skype and Toxbox have been around for awhile but I've never really used this technology for personal conversation like this until tonight. It was so cool. It was magic to a Mom who misses her girl.

A Psychic Experience

I'm very delinquent in writing some of the "Everyday Magic" events of this summer. One I have to document because I truly felt like I had a psychic experience. On July 16, Mackenzie was to get information about her OU roommate. When I woke up that morning I was excited for her and started thinking about it. "I wonder what her name will be?" I kept getting names popping into my head like Kaleigh, Kelsey, etc. Then, I thought, "I wonder where she's from?" For some reason I thought - "I bet she's from somewhere like Wapakoneta." A little while later, we pulled up the info online and . . . her name is Kasey and she's from . . . Wapakoneta! Yes, the hairs on my arm stood up!

903

Today we took Mackenzie to OU. Previously I wrote about how she was born at 9:03pm and I always seem to look at the clock at 9:03. Today I realized that she came into my life at 9:03 and left my nest on 9-03.

Graduation Magic

The high school graduation of your child is magic! It's proud, exciting, happy, exhausting, expensive, and heart-breaking all at the same time. Today, I am physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally exhausted. But, I am so, so, so proud! What a wonderful daughter I have in so many ways.

The ceremony itself wasn't anything extraordinary. In fact, it was probably like hundreds of ceremonies across the country. But something interesting did happen. First, though, I need to explain. My grandma was a watercolor painter and liked to paint birds. After she passed away, I read a story about a lady who believed that her mother visited her in the form of a butterfly. Everytime she saw a butterfly, she felt it was her mother. One day, right after Grandma died, I was sitting in the cafe at work by the window and a little bird kept knocking against the window - like it was trying to get my attention. When I really looked at it - it looked just like the chickadees my grandma used to paint! So, I got it in my head that my grandma was visiting me in the form of a bird. Right before the graduation ceremony started, there was a slight commotion and many people in the audience started pointing to a bird flying around the arena. To them, it was a funny distraction. But to me, it was so much more. It was Grandma. She loved Mackenzie so much - I knew she just had to be there!

Happy Birthday Header

Yesterday I turned 45. There's not much magic about turning 45 or the thought of getting older. As in past years, I spent my birthday on the soccer fields at a weekend tournament. Some people might not think that's a great way to spend a birthday, but for me it is. I love it. There's not much else I'd rather do. This year is especially meaningful because it's probably my last Memorial Day/Birthday soccer tournament and probably my last soccer tournament period. Alex says he isn't going to play soccer anymore. But this weekend he was awesome. He scored 3 goals and two were beautiful headers on a corner kick. One of those was on my birthday and it was the game winning goal! It also gave them the win they needed to go to the championship game! He also played awesome defense. I really saw him grow in confidence this weekend. Now, he says he doesn't know what he's going to do next fall. So, maybe there's an inkling of hope it's not totally over! But, he has to do what makes him happy. Whatever happens, though, his playing this weekend and the championship for the team made my birthday magic!