Return to Cabo

I'm writing this week's blog from Cabo San Lucas. Tamra and I went out here for a few days to celebrate Eddie's and my birthday and the resort that we filmed at, Casa Dorada, had a huge birthday party for us. We actually ended up doing a photo shoot yesterday morning at sunrise, which will end up being on the cover of the Cabo Social magazine in May. It was a "bathing suit" photo shoot, and although I don't claim to have a body like the models that are in Sports Illustrated, I think for 49 years old it will hopefully turn out OK.

This week you see my family all together cooking dinner. It was hard for me to watch this, because it seemed like there was so much tension in the kitchen that you could cut it with a knife. When my family talked about me not being home a lot, it made me sad to see and hear it. My entire life raising my children, I always worked from home and always had dinner on the table by 6 or 7pm at the latest. Our dinner time was always my favorite time of the day. We prayed together, always had the TV off, and put the dogs away so we could have each other’s undivided attention. When Mike and Briana got older and moved to college, I ended up moving my office to an outside location, and this is when I feel my family time with just Donn started to fade away. I found myself staying at work through the dinner hour and not coming home like I used to which made our family time very few and far between. If I could change anything in the past, it would be to remove myself from my office at the latest 6pm every day to be sure that I was home in time to make dinner. I enjoy cooking, and I am a really good cook. One of my family's favorite desserts growing up was angel food cake with homemade chocolate frosting. It was fun teaching Briana how to make it and how to remove it from the pan so it's perfect. She loves that dessert and whenever I do make desert, that is always my family’s favorite.

Seeing Tamra clean out her garage with Eddie made me cry. I have the same type of boxes from my marriage with Mike, and I have saved it from our divorce in 1992. I don’t believe it throwing memories like that in the garbage. They are our past, and our past is something we can never take away. It has made us who we are today, and I don't think throwing it in the garbage will eliminate the feelings or experiences we have. My vote is to keep it, Tamra.

I think it was great that Gretchen decided to plan a 40 year anniversary party for her parents as my siblings and I did the same thing for my parents. What I didn't understand is why her father didn't design and buy her mom the wedding ring, and why she used her first marriage's diamond. I think a diamond is very sentimental, and I would never use my diamond from a previous marriage for a ring for my mother. Especially for an event like a 40 year anniversary which is such a huge milestone.

On a sad note, this past month two of my clients died in separate instances. One was a 43 year old man that died in a car accident, and the other was a 64 year old man from heart attack. When I spoke to the spouses and family members, they were comforted to know that due to their husband's life insurance policies they were able to maintain their homes and continue to raise their families without a financial burden. For those of you who haven't secured a life insurance policy on either yourself or the breadwinner of your family, please visit my website at www.cotoinsurance.com for a free quote. Either myself or one of my staff members will be able to provide you with options to either look at starting a new plan, or seeing if we can save you money on your current policy. My son Michael is continuing to work at Coto Insurance and consistently one of our top agents. We look forward to hearing from you.  

If you haven't read my book yet, I would highly recommend it. I have been receiving emails from people all over the world saying how my book More Than a Housewife (www.morethanahousewifebook.com) has inspired them to change their life and to focus on finding a purpose and career that they are passionate about. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Have a good week.

Warmly,

Vicki

www.vickigunvalson.com