Miscellaneous items of note

So, did anyone watch American Idol? Neil Diamond was the mentor!!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was to see him there! David Cook, of course, was the bomb. Little David A. totally ruined "Sweet Caroline" and Brooke did a nice job on "I Am, I Said." Although, I'm not sorry to see her go home. Anyway, I cannot tell you how much I love Neil Diamond! If I was a groupie, I'd probably be his. I know, I'm pathetic.

I found some blogs today of my cousins. Most of you are aware, but for those who aren't, I have more than 50 cousins. On one side. Keeping up with them can be difficult and the blog world is really helping. I visited one cousin, Dalene, and discovered that her boys were old enough to go to Prom. What?? I remember when they were, like, five and chasing lizards. I also visited the blog of my cousin Robert and his wife Bonnie. Don't you love that name? He remains one of the few cousins who maintain the Western tradition of the Rex family. By that, I mean they own horses and actually ride them. I also read my cousin Jenny's blog and was comforted to know that she is still indeed Jenny. All of this catching up made me realize how much time has passed. And I'm not just saying this because I'm totally obsessed about getting older. We don't keep up with each other a whole lot. I mean, with more than 250 people (I think Olivia's #268 or something...I'm #68...Aubrey's #204, I think) it's almost impossible. However, we're still family and that means a lot to all of us, whether we see each other once a year or not. It feels really good to have ties like that.

Another item of interest...my friend Tracy is pregnant. Hooray! I can't tell you how excited I am by this news and the fact I can now talk out loud about it. When I think about all the people in my life who have really contributed to who I am, she's one of them. It's true, we don't keep in touch faithfully, but the bond is still there.

Also, of less importance but full of sweetness, I'm putting pictures of Olivia on my sidebar. A lot of people come to the blog looking for pictures of her faster than I can put them up. So, I'm putting her Easter pictures slide show on the sidebar. Maybe I'll update it soon. Maybe. But probably not.

Oh, and another thing, I started teaching piano lessons about a month or more ago. I have two students and I absolutely love it! They are both really fast learners and I have a good time teaching them. The opportunity kind of came up out of the blue and I'm really grateful for it.