I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME (but it isn't) - read-along hits the newswires!

The READ-ALONG I've been doing with Dr. Brene Brown and her masterful I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME (but it isn't) book has hit the newswires ...

HERE:

http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/551619/

and here:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/print/article/272463

Check it out !!!

-- Davielle

Commencement at USC, Part Two

FIGHT ON !!!!

Sierra with her Diploma !!!

Sierra with her very proud dad {my partner-in-parenting} and step-mum {me!}

Sierra with her brother Luke and her mother, Jennifer

{my other partner-in-parenting}

Mark's parents, Marion & Gene ... with the first Huffman grandchild to graduate from college, Sierra Huffman !!!

As a postscript to my blogpost of Thursday, I want to offer up a couple of links that will take you to either a YouTube video of California Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER's commencement address at USC on Friday, May 15, 2009 ... or to the LA TIMES blog page, where you can read his speech - they also include a link to listen to his address.

Mark and his mother, Marion, very much enjoyed hearing Arnold address the new graduates, especially our Sierra.

While Mark and Marion were attending Arnold's address, Mark's father Gene and I sat in the Annenberg School of Communication TENT, holding seats for our entire "Sierra Huffman Cheering Section". I have to admit - it was cool and quiet in there ...

So here you go:

http://tr.youtube.com/watch?v=i5ZeIVPe5dg
link to arnold’s COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS to USC

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/05/arnold-schwarzenegger-usc-graduation.html
the LA Times blog story includes a transcript of his speech, as well as a link to HEAR his commencement address

Let me close by saying, once again, how very proud our entire family is of Sierra and her accomplishments. She not only received her Bachelor's Degree in Communication, with a minor in Business -- she also earned a spot in the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society (the nation's oldest scholastic honor society, established in 1776 to honor scholarly excellence in Letters, Arts, and Sciences) AND a spot as a Lambda Pi Eta National Honor Society member (Lambda Pi Eta is the official communication studies honor society of the National Communication Association. Lambda Pi Eta represents what Aristotle described in his Rhetoric as the three ingredients of persuasion: Logos (Lambda), meaning logic; Pathos (Pi), relating to emotion; and Ethos (Eta), defined as character, credibility and ethics.)

Congratulations again, sweet Sierra.

Sierra with Chase ... at their alma mater's TOMMY TROJAN

With love,

Davielle {your step-mum}

Sierra Noel Huffman

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future."

-- Charles F. Kettering

Today we head up to Los Angeles, Mark and me, along with Mark's parents, Marion and Gene, to spend the evening celebrating Sierra's biggest accomplishment to date: her graduation, with highest honors, from USC (University of Southern California). We'll have dinner together tonight, and tomorrow, we'll all be there to see her receive her diploma.

From the time Sierra was in the 4th grade, her mind was made up: She was going to attend USC. She worked diligently at her grades all through elementary, junior, and senior high school, and she made it. She worked to make her dream come true.

Four years ago, we all sat together at my alma mater, Torrey Pines High School, to see her graduate. Tomorrow, we'll gather again to see her realize yet another one of her goals: To graduate from USC.

Sierra, we are all so very proud of you.

I hesitate to "speak" for everyone, but I do know that your mother Jennifer, your father Mark, your "co-parents", John and I, and Jack and Michelle, and your grandparents, Marion and Gene Huffman -- are ALL so happy to have supported your desire to attend USC. You have made us all so proud.

In addition, Sierra, your relatives from my side of the family send their heartiest "congratulations" with much love: Kristina and Cara, and your nephew Trevor, and your nieces, Kiara and Kaia; Poppi; Jay and Haruko; and Francie and Darryl.

WE LOVE YOU, SIERRA !!! Fight on ...

-- Davielle {aka, your wicked stepmother :-) !!}

A Belated ODE TO MY MOTHER(s)

So Mother's Day has come and gone, and it's now Tuesday. I'm taking some time this morning to look through other people's BSM (Best Shot Monday) images, which means visiting the Best Shot Monday page ( http://traceyclark.squarespace.com/best-shot-monday/ )

and clicking on all the links -- scrolling through to see if they have, in fact, posted a BSM photo lately, making a comment here & there, etc. You get the picture {pun, intended!}. sorry it's grainy, but this is

Francie-me-Jay and our Mom - 1984

I came across the blog of someone in my adventure and it has inspired me to "borrow" her ode to her mother / the mothers in her world. I hope you find it as lovely and as powerful as I did. I've deleted her answers, and entered my very own.

My mother, Edith, died 5 years ago, and sometimes it feels like it's been 20 years, and other times it feels like it happened last month.

I have been blessed, however, with many wonderful "other-mothers" in my lifetime, and to them all, I dedicate this ODE TO MY MOTHER(s).

"In my lack of preparedness I have a lack of inspiration and I thought a meme would do the trick. I read some questions from this months REAL SIMPLE magazine and adapted my own from there. Leave a link if you participate I would love to read what you answer and if you are not a mother, still participate because you are an aunt, sister, cousin, friend and you fall in the mother category too.

My life has been blessed by MANY mothers: my natural mother, Edith (who raised me); a sometimes-wicked but sometimes wonderful (now ex) stepmother, Emilie, who taught me how to cook; a stand-in mother named Sandy, who with her entire family, took me in from Jr High on whenever my mother was in hospital; my other other mother, Melba, the mother of my high school sweetheart and the grandmother of my oldest daughter, Kristina; and my mother in law, Marion, my husband Mark's mother, who has become quite dear to me. They all, each and every one of them, have taken a role in molding me into the woman I am today.

1. What are some traits that you have picked up from your mother (whether you like it or not)? My mother (Edith) was very imaginative and creative, and her creativity sparked and inspired something in me for as long as I can remember. I eventually went into Interior Design, and now that I am somewhat retired, I am following my original passion for ART. My mother Edith was also a writer, and I do love to write; hence, my two blogs. I was also fortunate to have Sandy in my life, because she, too, is very artistic and creative. I like to think outside the box, and I owe that to them both. I do have to admit that the ONE TRAIT I got from mom, Edith, that I am not so crazy about - we both detest house cleaning with an enormous passion. And she was never a TIDY person - more of a "collector", esp as she got older - and I fight that battle all the time.

2. What is your mothers favorite flower? My mother Edith loved a fresh pink Stargazer lily. We shared a passion, too, for hyacinth blooms. I believe that Melba's favorite flower is the rose. And I believe that my mother in law, Marion, favors lilacs - although I am not sure.

3. What is a memory of your mother that you go to often? What, only one?! :-)
Mom – the time she was in the bath in the afternoon, where I was "never" to disturb her - and she got quite angry with me when I tried to let her know that our backyard was on fire. It wasn't until the firemen were running down our side patio with their fire hoses (and the bathroom window with no shades!) that she finally "got it" !!! And I always think of her setting me up with a TV tray and a box of scraps of ribbon & tissue paper, glitter & glue, and stacks of fresh white paper - so I could make a collage. And that she took me to New York City on several occasions, to see the fashion designers' new lines. What a treat!

4. What is your favorite feature about your mom? (scent, eyes, skin, smile, personality trait)
Mom – her strength and her courage; she was a fighter, to the end. Her sense of style.

Sandy - her kindness, her graciousness, her welcoming heart. Her intelligence.

Melba - her loyalty to family and her ongoing love & support of me.

Marion - her laugh !!! and her faith.

5. What is your favorite meal your mother made? treat that she baked?
Mom – my mother's spaghetti, and especially her lasagna - heavenly. And ONE TIME, she baked a fresh peach pie, totally from scratch - and Mom did NOT bake, as a rule. It was to-die-for and I talk about it all the time - to this day.

Sandy - any and everything Sandy made, was delicious. her SHORTBREAD is yum!

Emilie - her apricot turnovers and her prune turnovers. DEE-LISH-US. And she taught me how to roast the perfect turkey ...

Marion - her Christmas cookie "collection", especially her Toffee.

6. Is there any mother other than your own that you honor or think about on Mother’s day?
Aside from the MOTHERS I have mentioned & remembered above, there was one other woman in my life that had an enormous impact on me - my mother's dear friend, Dorothy Smith. She was my biggest fan, my loyal supporter, and being childless herself, she took me in as the daughter she never had -- she taught me how to polish silver! :-) And one other - Elizabeth Kitson, who was my godmother. Losing Dorothy when I was in 10th grade was a blow; losing touch with Elizabeth around the same time was doubly so.

All in all, I am so very blessed to have had ALL these great women in my life.

If you would like to see the original of this mother's day missive, you can visit it here:

http://simplyblogged.wordpress.com/

All the Good

our back yard, several days ago - I just love the morning light ...

"Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."
-- John Wesley

Thanks to my friend Ann, who had this quote on her blog, I was inspired to use it as the lead-in for my Mother's Day post this morning. And really, that's about all I have to say on this overcast Sunday morning.

Wishing everyone out there a BEAUTIFUL day to celebrate being a mom - or a child - or a sibling of a mom - or married to a mom - or the neighbor of a mom - just remember to wish ALL the mom's in your world a "happy mother's day" today and you will surely brighten their day.

Blessings,

Davielle

Friends, if you are so inclined and moved after viewing the video clip, please support A PLACE TO BARK animal rescue ... every bit helps the cause.

Bernie Berlin, founder of A PLACE TO BARK, is a remarkable young woman. If you scroll down the left side of my blog page, you will find, near the bottom, a place where you can click on a video about A PLACE TO BARK, and a button there where you can make an on-line donation.

This time last year, donations (including grants) were at approximately $40,000. This year, they are down to about 1/10 of that. Bernie contributes everything she has to her amazing rescue efforts ... her time, her boundless energy and spirit, her whole heart ... and her personal financial resources.

It seems that in Tennessee, there is a high "kill" (ie, euthanasia) rate in the shelters. It also seems that a spay or neuter for your dog or cat in Tennessee is priced so high that most folks just can't afford to do it ... hence the need for A PLACE TO BARK.

Here in California, we are very fortunate to have low-priced spay/neuter clinics and "events". It just doesn't happen like that in Tennessee, where A PLACE TO BARK is located.

Please, please -- every dollar helps.

Thank you ...

-- Davielle

Best Shot Monday

If you haven't visited my other blog {ever, or lately}, do click on over there to see my posts for BEST SHOT MONDAY.

Best Shot Monday is a weekly post of a photograph one has taken {I try to post only those which I shot the prior week ... I have yet to go back into my photo archives for one, but intend to soon}, and there's a whole list of individuals who participate.

It's a very cool community of people.

Please do take a look - at mine, and at the posts of the others as well. To see the list of who is participating, click on the BEST SHOT MONDAY button {on my other blog; this image is NOT an active link}.

To see my images, just visit my Princess Magpie each week.

http://iamprincessmagpie.blogspot.com

Thank you!

-- Davielle