Olympic Gold Medalist Nastia Liukin

As with Carly Patterson four years ago, Nastia Liukin is from a small town just north of Dallas (she and Carly both trained at the same gym). Yesterday a local parade was held in her honor and although she is not from Plano, the parade route went through Plano and thus the police department was involved in the procession.

Here is a sign along one of the freeways celebrating her gold medals:

Thought for the Day

I mooched this from Luci. Not sure where she got it, but the sentiment definitely is true...

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some move our souls to dance and embrace our silent dreams. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same. For the ones that leave the footprints, they could have left in good faith or left simply because they were not true in heart. They left not only in body but also in spirit and emotions... sadly because they were unable to endure little trials in life or had the patience to hold on. What mattered to them more was their own self indulgences. Nevertheless, they have left footprints on our hearts... footprints that may remain for life....and for this, we are never the same. Know this though - true love, true devotion is when your heart and body is meant for that special someone only. A rare gift that anyone could give to another....rare...yet true for eternity. For those that have been blessed to have this in another, one that has decided to hold on and endure all else to wait..... then you are blessed with the highest of blessings and one very fortunate person rich with a love so pure given to you. For the ones that left in good faith.....they are our true friends too, for they left to give way to our happiness which they foresaw. Love is sweet and painful all in one- true love that is. And the ones that were strong enough to give a pure devotion of body and heart, no matter what.... they are the ones that truly know what pain is, for they are the ones that have it for eternity and not just temporarily like all the others."

Cher's Grandson

I hadn't seen Cher, or her grandson, in several weeks but had the chance to see both today. It's amazing how much babies grow every time you see them! Christian is 2 1/2 months old now and has already started standing up (albeit with some help balancing). Since Dave is up in Denver and probably won't see his great-nephew for another month or so, I took some cell phone pictures and sent those to him.

Courtney (with blond hair!), Christian and Cher (in the background):

My Sister-in-Law

While visiting Luci last month, we had lots of opportunities to catch up on each other's lives. As I have, she has met a really great guy who treats her like a million dollars. He currently lives in Eastern Washington (about 300 miles east of where Luci is in Tacoma) but they each have been able to visit the other on a number of occasions.





Yay Luci!!

More Pictures

I know it's been a couple weeks since I got back from Tacoma, but between working way too hard, and getting pretty sick in the process, I'm just now downloading pictures from both Tacoma and from flying to Denver the weekend before (I flew up one way so I could drive back with Dave to Dallas when he moved down here - - boy, is it a long day's drive!). I did my part in supporting the local economy on both trips by flying Southwest (based out of Dallas) when I went to Denver and by flying American (based out of Ft. Worth) when I went to Sea-Tac :=)



Colorado with no snow!





And, my "advertisement" for American (although it says 'Denver', it just happened to be my layover city between Dallas and Seattle - not my final destination)...



Just prior to landing at Sea-Tac, we came in over the city and flew past the two stadiums of Seattle's Major League Football and Major League Baseball teams:



While I was in Tacoma, I had the chance to drive by my old high school. It doesn't look all that different from when I was there 20+ years ago. And it certainly didn't feel that long ago as I sat & looked at the buildings.





I walked to/from school each day my junior & senior years. While not a very good picture, here is the house I spent the majority of my growing up years in...



More Jinx, Zeus and Hermes pictures :=)





Mt. Rainier (this was the view as I walked out of a Barnes & Noble in Tacoma - about a 2-hour drive from Mt. Rainier)...



Luci's friend Vasi...



Aside from being my sister-in-law, Luci is also a kindred Starbuck's coffee drinker :=)



And, last but not least, my friend Wendy (whom I unfortunately did not get to see on this trip) and her long-time boyfriend have gotten engaged. She said they're going for the long engagement! In true Wendy style, she was very mum on details, but did send me this picture from a recent trip she and Terry had taken.