Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We're leaving to go out of town for Thanksgiving and I just wanted to give a big shout out to you all and say....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm thankful for you all!!

(Seriously!)

Alphabet Soup

Carly came to me tonight and said, "I'm making alphabet soup, Mama."

"Oh really?" I said

"Yes. Would you like some?"

"Yes! I would love some." I say.

She runs out and comes back with a pie tin full of wooden alphabet letters from her alphabet puzzle and a big mouth spoon and says, "Here you go, Mama."

PRECIOUS!

Class, Style and Grace

Alice Mary Cosby was Mike's paternal grandmother. I didn't know her very well, but yesterday I got a real sense of who she was.

Yesterday we met some of Mike's family at Alice Mary's condo to go through her things (she passed away a couple of months ago). I've done this sort of thing before when my sister passed away. When doing so I tend to separate the things from the person. In other words, all the furniture, dishes, clothes are just things. They aren't the person. I don't know, it just seems to make it easier to go through. However, yesterday was different.

Maybe it was because I didn't know her very well, but I was so interested in everything. I almost wanted to take everything because it was a part of Mike's heritage. So, I just kept looking and looking at things. Not really knowing what I wanted (except the two wood screens. I knew I wanted those). I just kept looking at everything. I ended up wandering from room to room just looking. I came to the room where she kept her clothes and began sifting through her clothes. What I found there didn't at all surprise me. Alice Mary was a very classy lady. She reminded me of a San Franciscan Socialite full of class, style and grace. She had Ann Taylor suits and beautiful cardigan sweaters of all colors and styles. As I looked at those clothes I got a sense of who Alice Mary really was. In fact, I felt her for a brief second with me, because I KNEW who she was for one brief second. She was no doubt one classy lady. I teared up and was so sad I missed the opportunity to get to know her better while she was alive.

Carly found a bag of stuffed animals and with the assistance of Rebecca (Mike's cousin's girlfriend and her new found friend) she pulled them out one by one. There were so many of the same Teddy Bears and a few of the same rabbits and koala bears. All adorable and soft. But I imagined Alice Mary buying these with the full intent of making little children happy - more specifically, her great grand children and perhaps her friend's grand children. There were so many that they would have well covered her family and then some. However, for whatever reason she wasn't able to fulfill her wish.

I may be wrong, but I do believe that Alice Mary was completely misunderstood while she was alive. She was a private woman and no doubt very strong (to be married to a Cosby man you would have to be). She loved her husband so much that she was lost without him when he died. I'm so happy she's with him now.

She was so proud to be a Cosby and if she were alive today I would want her to know that we will do our best to honor the Cosby name and carry on her legacy. But, I think she knows that.

Eleven Years Ago

We met on September 20th, 1996 at a Mobil gas station on the corner of Sepulveda and Sherman Way. I was coming home from work and was in dire need of gas. I had actually passed the gas station and was contemplating on turning around because I really was running on fumes. However, I didn't want to. It was one of those days that I just wanted to get home and I didn't want to stop. I was so tired, but I knew I really should stop, but I really didn't want to and so I was having this internal battle with myself (or an angel who was trying to convince me to turn around. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it was an angel. Anyway....) I finally decided to turn around after having assessed my situation. The nearest gas station wasn't for a few miles and I really didn't think I was going to make it so I reluctantly turned around. I pull into the gas station and began pumping gas.

I wasn't there for 5 minutes when this green Explorer pulls up to the pump behind me. This guy gets out (he was wearing Calvin Klein jeans, a USC sweatshirt and a USC baseball cap on backwards) and I get this distinct feeling to go and talk to him. In fact, it was more like a voice in my right ear that said, "Go and talk to him." Without hestation, I thought, "I'm not going to go talk to him". Now, let me just say that at this time in my life I was so (and I do mean SO) done with guys. I had just ended a very LONG relationship and was not interested in meeting anyone new. In fact, I was thinking about moving to Seattle. So I just stood there waiting for my tank to fill up.

The next thing I know this guy says to me, "You drove that little car all the way from Utah?" (I still had my Utah plates) I said, "Yep, and I had two big dogs with me." From there "this guy" starts asking all kinds of questions about me. I barely was able to get his name, but he was able to get my whole life story within about 10 mins. However, he never asked for my phone number and I figured that after having found out all about me he must want my number. So since I really wanted to go home, I offered him my business card and told him that this was my voicemail number and to leave a message on that and that I check it every few days, blah, blah. (I was so not interested at this point. I just wanted to get out of there. Sorry, Babe. But its true.)

I get home and later that night I decided to check my voicemail. And low and behold there was Mike. He left me a message as soon as he had gotten back to his office and left about 5 numbers for me to try to get ahold of him. I saved the message and went on with my weekend.

I decided to call him back that Sunday right before I left for church. That way, if it turned out I didn't like him or whatever, I had an out. We ended up talking for two hours and I skipped church entirely. We made a date for the following Wednesday and hung up the phone.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much. After all, as I had mentioned before, I was so done with guys and I really didn't care if this was going to work or not. So, to me it was just something to do. We didn't do anything spectacular. We just went down to Third Street Promenade and had dinner at Trilusa (not there any more) and walked down the street. But it was so easy and so comfortable like we had known each other our whole lives.

At dinner, we were talking about what our interests were. We discovered that we both like mountain bike riding and realized that we both liked riding off of Kuehner in Simi Valley. Once we realized that, we both stopped ... looked at each other... and BAM! We realized that we had met before. The image was so clear and precise we talked about it as if it were yesterday. Wierd!

The date ended and Mike was the perfect gentlemen. He took my hand, shook it, held it for a brief second and said "Good Night." and turned and left. I was so impressed. I didn't realized it then, but I fell in love with Mike that night.

After our first date, we were inseperable. And on November 1, 1997 we were married. Two years later we were sealed in the St. George temple.

To say the least, it has been one hell of a ride. We've had our ups and downs and our, "I'm out of here!" moments, but I would do it all over again just to be with Mike. He is undoubtedly my knight in shining armor and the man of my dreams. He is my strength where I'm weak and my sanity when I'm insane.

Here's to another 75 years, Baby!!!!!