Learning to Live

Arch of Titus at the Roman Forum . . .

Columns at Ostia Antica

View of the Arch of Constantine from inside the Colosseum . . .

Chains that bound St. Peter in Palestine . . .

Standing on the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) in Florence . . .


Heated round of Taboo in Florence . . . games are so much fun with friends!

An overly religious gal having religious items blessed by Pope Benedict XVI at the Papal Audience . . . wonder who she is? hehehe
You know what this is!

Statue outside Galleria Borghese . . .

Trevi Fountain at sunset. It was very difficult to take a photo of this fountain. My camera does not take very good photos after dark. When you have such a massive fountain, with tons of people . . . throw in a little rain and this is what you get!

View of the Roman Forum from above . . .

. . . of course I am proud!

Ah, the fairy tale has ended . . . how surprising since the show has a terrible track record!

So many of you have donated to the scholarship that was established at Texas A&M in Sean's memory. I am so very pleased to let you know that the scholarship is getting close to reaching permanent endowment. AMAZING! Thanks so very much for all the generous donations . . . know that some young cadet will be receiving this to help pay for his/her college education and hopefully be commissioned in the US Army.

I went to the scholarship donor reception on Saturday and was hoping to meet the first recipient of the Sean P. Sims '94 General Rudder Scholarship. When I arrived I was told that no one had been assigned to the scholarship since it was newly established and not completely endowed. I was surprised since I had been given a name months ago but thought maybe it was a mistake on my part. No problem, I understood. I grabbed some punch and snacks and sat down. I loved just watching the old former cadets meet their young cadet. I also listened to many tell "Old Army" stories. For two hours I just sat there . . . a little bored but so proud that so many had given to this scholarship and knew it was a great thing to do. What a great way to honor Sean's life and something that he truly loved. He thought A&M was the best place in the world. It came time for the informal program. They had current students, donors, and some other big boys from the university speak. One of the donors graduated from A&M in 1935! He was at least 90 and in rare form. He was suppose to talk for a couple of minutes . . . 20 minutes later he was still going strong. Two things he said stood out in my mind. He talked about how he had seen the Corps go through many changes. The first was when they let women in the university . . . he said there were more cons than pros but it happened. Mind you there were many female cadets at the reception. Second, he talked about the hippie movement . . . how they were so strange . . . he said, "none of you probably remember this but you probably know what a hippie is." I started laughing; these kids were born in the 80s! He was so happy that the hippie movement never came to A&M.

As I was about to leave the lady from the A&M Foundation told me that they had made a mistake. She said a cadet was assigned the scholarship the day before but they did not enter his name in the computer. She looked for him but he had already left. I had just sat there for two hours and missed my chance to meet this kid. I asked his name, but they could not remember but promised to email me. Oh well, maybe next year . . .

When I left the Quad, I walked by Sean's old dorm room . . . memories sure are great! It is a little sad to not see the L-2 shield hanging on the side of Dorm 6.

If you would like to donate to the scholarship please make checks payable to the
Sean Patrick Sims Scholarship Fund and mail them to:
Texas A&M Foundation
401 George Bush Drive
College Station TX 77840.

My mind is constantly doing something. So many times I find myself role playing "what if" situations. While Sean was deployed I would wonder how I would act if the worst had happened. It did and my role play was nothing like I imagined. Another situation that I play in my mind is if I were to walk upon a stranger in our house. I had imagined I would just pretend to not see them and walk away. Well, again exactly not how it happened. I woke up around 3am to go to the bathroom . . . someone's feet kept kicking me . . . of course I was half asleep and did not bother to turn on the light but when I turned the corner and saw my mom it really freaked me out. All I saw was a person wandering in a house at the crack of dawn. My poor heart almost jumped out of my skin. I had to go lay back down for a long time before I could get the nerve up to return to the bathroom. Maybe I need to stop role playing in my head.

So my absolutely favorite show came on this week, The Amazing Race! Of course, I role play what I would do . . . some day I will either sign up for the show or do my own race around the world but for now I will keep watching and enjoying through others. Here is my impression of each team:

Lake and Michelle: What an idiot he is . . . he reminds me of a shady used car salesman and who the heck doesn't read the entire clue! He deserved to be kicked off! By the way he is a dentist . . . maybe a shady one off of a Lifetime made for TV movie . . . maybe that explains why he jumped on the phone to reserve a ticket.

Dani and Danielle: aka the double D . . . I don't think we are talking about names . . . so I wonder which boy team will try to hook up with them?

BJ and Tyler: If you watched, need I say anything? I swear that BJ looks like Chris Martin or Mr. Gwenth Patrow

David and Lori: aka the nerds . . . how many times is she going to ask him to kiss her? She must be insecure or something. They are funny though.

Fran and Barry: Get some glasses! Oh my . . .

Lisa and Joni: How did they make the cut? I know people from Texas who would have done anything to get a slot on this show! Not all Texans have an accent . . . these two will keep us laughing.

Joseph and Monica: Wonder if they will be like other dating couples and fight the entire time? I wonder what happened to all those past couples . . . did they split? Marry?

Wanda and Desiree: mother-daughter team . . . Oh my, mom is going to drive her crazy and needs to calm down! Hey, they seem to have an advantage with the language.

John and Scott: I liked them . . . they would have provided drama! Sad to see them go! Were they a couple or "just friends"?

Ray and Yolonda: I like this team. How on earth did she put that bike together with all the cat calls! She is awesome. I hope they continue to work hard.

Eric and Jeremy: Here is the pair to hook up with DD! They are probably the favorites at this point just because they are both male and strong . . .

Phil K. has a blog. It is good to see his side of the race and how he gets news of what is happening! I wonder if he needs someone to hold his water bottle? Sign me up!

Today is Dr. Seuss's Birthday so that means it is Read Across America Day! It is never too early or too late to start reading to a child . . . if I had a penny for every time I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Colin, he would have a good start to his college fund! I found him wedged in his new plastic wagon reading his favorite book . . . I am sure he has it memorized by now.



If you have not taken the time to read to a child lately . . . you should . . . you are shaping their mind for the future! Since the weather in Texas is so hot (should be 80 again today), I think we will read outside . . . I am sure Colin will have a different agenda if we are outdoors though!

PS: The boy needs a haircut really bad.