It has been a while since I wrote something here. The weather was getting warmer and then last week it became quite cool again. Brrrr.... I should be used to this kind of weather. My daffodils are really blooming now and soon my tulips will bloom as well. This summer I must take time to post pictures on this blog so that you can enjoy the colors as much I do. I did a crazy thing this past weekend. I painted my kitchen countertop bright yellow (with Disney paint for kids). Wow! I had so much fun while doing it because I kept thinking, "if I had a husband, he would not let me do this!" My yellow kitchen countertop. I am going to put orange spots on the edges as well. Another wow!

I am off to Boston this coming weekend to take a workshop on leading class discussion at Harvard Business School. I wonder how that will go. I have to do my homework before I go as well. It is fun being a student again.

The university is facing budget cuts. People are going around with long faces. However, the state of Michigan is facing huge deficits and the Governor must balance her budget every year. Oh, well, I am glad that I still have a job.

I am trying to get my fed income tax done before April 15. Definitely must keep better records. I can do my own taxes but it certainly would be easier if I am meticulous about my record keeping. Oh, well.... My boyfriend's elder daughter has a job with Target once she graduates. She is happy and he is happy. I am happy for her and so is her mother. Can you believe that her mother has the same birthday as I do? What a coincidence!!!!!!!!! The weather is definitely getting warmer when it remembers that this is April and spring is supposed to be here. Instead, we had snow at Easter, and the poor Easter bunny is having its buns frozen. I read an article that reported that a church group tried to convey Jesus's crucifixion by beating a stuffed bunny and breaking easter eggs. The poor young kids wanted to know why the Easter bunny was being beaten. Really amazing.
Life is too busy but definitely stimulating. Next weekend, Tom is coming down again to go to his niece's wedding. I am invited! Amazing. My head is spinning because I am not ready for all these commitments. Just joking. I can handle it. I just like being independent and so does he. He would never admit that he likes to have company. I will have to learn to shake up his life a little although he claims that he just wants to be left alone. What a boring life.

My younger daughter has a new Honda motorcycle. I am just worried stiff about her riding on those deadly Texas highways. Mmmm... I guess I will have to get used to seeing her in leather boots and chaps with metal-studded jacket. I wonder if both my daughter and her husband would pull the baby carriage behind them just like the way bicyclists pull their babies behind them!!! What a sight that would be. I wish J. would not use her blog to tell me what she is doing when it is something as important as this. Perhaps she can just write a note and mail it to me if she cannot tell me on the phone. After 25 years, she should be used to my reactions. Being brave enough to call me and tell me something unpleasant should be easier as the years pass. It is only natural to avoid conflicts and easy to choose an indirect way to say something.

My older daughter wants a sportcar. I suppose she has visions of driving off in the sunset in dark glasses with her long hair streaming in the wind. I am sorry to have to tell her that usually it is the older generation that can afford to drive expensive sport cars. The streaming long hair would frame a wrinkled face unless plastic surgery has been used to enhance the facial muscles. Also, older men may find it harder to just leap into the sportcars! hehehehe....

Oh, dear! My anak bunsu wrote on her blog that she is buying a Honda motorcycle to ride. My heart drops into my pants! I am glad that I have the time to think about this and not say too much too fast. After all, she is 25 and as long as she is willing to be responsible for herself, I am okay with it. I just think that motorcyles are so dangerous, especially in the U.S.

Just returned from Chicago and had to try and catch up with work. Grrrr.... The weather is also getting warmer here and the asian beetles are out in my house. They look like orange ladybugs but they are not the regular lady bugs. The asian beetles were imported to eat the aspids on the soy bean plants but it was later discovered that they do not hibernate in the winter like the ladybugs. The asian beetles get into the houses during the winter and then begin to come out when the weather gets warmer. They are quite harmless except that they do bite if you pick them up in your hands. They also give off a nasty smell if you squash them flat! This is so typical of what industries do. They find something to battle an ailment and they use it extensively without finding out the consequences. Now these asian beetles are a pest inside the house. Oh, well.

I am thinking of flying to San Francisco after the spring semester is over and there is a one-week break before the summer session begins. The airlines have good promotions right now. San Francisco is a nice city to visit.