» Four Surprises in ONE Week Yellow Jeep Blonde: What do you do AFTER the kids grow up? I COOK!

One day last week, my oldest boy comes into work (he works with me part-time as a Jr. whatever I am). I was in the middle of something with my immediate boss, DeWitte, who had JUST got back from vacation. But Chris walks into my office careful not to interrupt and sets down a pot of BEAUTIFUL tulips, then walked out. STUNNED. I was stunned into speechlessness for a second. (Sshhh it. It CAN happen!) But WHAT a nice surprise!

My boy has watched me at work and he knows what ALL I’ve been dealing with (especially in DeWitte’s absence) and my boy, my sweet child, brought me a surprise that would surely bring a smile. (One not accompanied by rubber bands and paper clips either) My office was much brighter for the rest of the day.

THEN after yet another “challenging” day at work, I came home and ran through my regular routine [grab a cold beer, watch The Young and the Restless (the best soap EVER), make dinner, eat while watching The View, then turn on the computer]. I realize that I need a life, but for me, it works. Okay?

My computer time is when I catch up with what the rest of the world is up on while I’m consumed in databases, reports, meetings, emails and bombs dropping during the day. And first, I need to preempt this by saying that I don’t watch a lot of YouTube videos. I really don’t. But something told me to click on this particular item on my homepage. And OMG! Can I just say that I AM A TOTAL AND COMPLETE SAP!!! I was totally crying by the time I was at the end of it. I had to get up and blow my nose and wash my face. It’s crazy!

Most of you are light years ahead of me and have probably already seen this lady. Apparently she’s been all the rage this past week. Her name is Susan Boyle and she was trying out for Britain’s Got Talent television show. She looks so ordinary. . . so unassuming. . .says she’s almost 48 years old (that’s ME!). . .so NOT “TV’s version of Star quality”. . . and then she started to sing. OMG! I don’t even like that kind of music, but it was captivating because she sang it so beautifully. It was perfection. People that can sing like that BLOW ME AWAY. Animals run when I sing. So it’s no wonder that I marvel at people with such phenomenal talent. It moves me.

If you’ve been under a rock as I’ve been, go see her here. And if you’re sappy like I am, grab some tissues first.

And my third surprise of the week. . . my mother-in-law’s diagnosis was not as horrible as indications were leading. She recently was diagnosed with breast cancer (a type that only 10% of women get that isn’t detected on mamograms, but she PUSHED . . . well, because she always has. . . and because she has a history), had a radical mastectomy, found cancer in all her lymphnodes, removed those too and then waited for the tests to see how far it had spread. That was last week . . . and the news was good. Apparently, it hadn’t spread throughout her entire body. She will still have to go through chemo for 16 weeks (and I realize that that ain’t no picnic), but it’s the BEST news we could possibly get. I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!

This is me, my boys, my mother-in-law and my father-in-law. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE! I’ve been divorced for 18 years, but never have they treated me like anything other than family. In fact, they said, “HE divorced you. WE didn’t.” I love my ex’s whole family! And SHE is a rock, the matriarch. She’s got a rough road ahead of her, but the news could have been much worse. We can thank all the prayers that went out for her. I just knew they were going to act as a big warm blanket shielding her away from all those nasty cancer cells.

My last surprise may seem like not much of a surprise, but those who know me will appreciate it. This past weekend, THIS is was we saw.