Celebrating Life and another day older

It appears that the blog has taken on a new life of it's own. Here I am, ready to complain about every aching joint, gray hair, lost tooth, wrinkle, sagging body part, loss of senses, loss of financial status, and whatever else there is that I was not prepared to face, and with one sentence, my lovely daughter in law, Lili, changed the course of my thinking. As she is celebrating her 39th birthday, celebrating the completion of 2 triathalons, she says, "Sorry, was I supposed to complain?" I must say, this blog is not really about complaining, it is about sharing and learning. It is about living the life! It is about celebrations of life, of which aging is one.

I must admit that when I think of where I am now, aging, with it's gray shadows of death looming ever too near, I can only remember the good times with the decadent birthday cakes and homemade icecreams, gawdy Christmas trees with their luring packages, expensive weddings with ice sculptures, prime rib and more champagne than is legal, weddings with just a keg of beer and only a wreath of flowers to adorn the bride's hair. I remember the gentle baby shower gifts for our growing families, a baby's quilt comes to mind. More than anything, I remember the friends that have come into my life along this short and joyful road. Some of my friends are gone, too many to be quite honest, but many remain to tell the tales.

One of my most favorite friends is Olivier Bourgoin. He has been involved with my family for about 30 years. He gave my oldest daughter, Sandra, her very first paying job when she was only 14! As friends, we have shared our ups and downs...we won't go there now because I am trying to keep this short and enjoyable for all.
Olivier, at 54, is a wonderful father, an amazing business man, and a very competitive hockey player. He travels the world, fluently speaks 3 different languages, and is very knowledgeable on just about every aspect of celebrating living on this earth. Olivier has agreed to join me on this blog. He is the very celebrated Wine Guy in San Antonio. His website is http://thewineguy.alamodining.com. Please check him out. I promise you will not be disappointed because he is so much more than the website. I will be starting a blog page for him right here so you will be able to talk to Olivier about wine, hockey, music, Paris, traveling the world, parenting multilingual children(he has 2 of those), the Olympics...whatever...he's the man.

Hurricane Ike has slipped into the Gulf of Mexico. Since I drive a school bus, I have been asked to be on standby for evacuations, if necessary. Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers. Not only do they stand to lose every possession they own, they also will be without very important creature comforts, like water, bathrooms(toilet paper), refrigeration, clean sheets, and the list goes on, until they can return to some sort of normal life in their own homes.