My girls have been pushing each other lately, putting each other down, smirking and rubbing in when they get to do something and the other does not, that sort of thing.

We've been working hard on the message that we need to work on saying NICE things, and on strengthening and supporting each other. These talks work for the very immediate term, but they ultimately slide back into angry voices, and cutdowns. The reminder of using nice words and manners for the interactions seems to be working overall, but the smirking and put-downs were still popping up.

Finally, the other day, I told them that I had a song to dedicate to all of them, as sisters, and I played "You Raise Me Up" for them and told them that it was because that's what I always wanted them to do for one another - to raise each other up. So now when they're getting snarky at each other, I just put on the song, and they all start working together, helping each other, praising each other...

It's magic. I love you Josh Groban!

There is something strange about being intimately involved in the world of memorials. They ALL become more personal, and the degrees of separation become fewer.

We thought about going to the Ryan's Ride for the kids during the Burlingame criterium in past years. This year, though, with our friends, the Tserns, knowing the Phua family, we definitely went down.



Megan and our girls all wore these "Riding in Memory Of" tags.

Makes me want to get more involved before I have personal family reason to be more involved.