P.S.

Let us pause for a moment and remember DH and Stuntman in our prayers, as they are on a mountain on the previously mentioned pack trip and we would like them to return down the mountain, unassisted by stretchers, helipcopters or any other means that mean they were injured or otherwise unable to walk. We thank you for your support.

summer blues and greens

Are you like me? Do you see the end of school/beginning of summer coming and brace yourself against having to entertain bored children (that's all my kids seem to say during the summer - "Mom, I'm so bored. This house is so boring") while simultaneously making lists of summer projects, things you want to teach your kids (because now you'll "have time"), vacation plans, academic instruction periods (because we can't let their brains turn to mush, now), etc.? Why yes, you're right - that IS a long list of to-dos for one summer, and NO, of course I won't actually DO all of them. I just make the lists. That's my point.

Along with the green of summer - the newness of being with the kids all day, the vision of doing worthwhile, wholesome activities without having to worry about school - there come the blues: the realization that making such lists also creates the possibility that the little box next to each item may remain unchecked because my list is too long (and let's face it, a little unrealistic - at least for me).

But don't worry about us; we're cool. Everything's cool. This week, instead of focusing on all the things I feel like cramming into the next 3 months, we had a "just for fun" week. DH and Stuntman are on a High Adventure pack trip with the scouts in New Mexico, so Flip and Miss Bee have set a goal: one "fun" thing every day (after swim practice and a few chores in the morning). Monday was a trip to the craft store to use our 50% off coupon on some projects, which we took home and worked on, yesterday was bowling and games with our summer bowling pass (check it out here, but only if your kids REALLY like bowling; I found out too late that 2 free games every day for a whole summer wasn't really Flip's idea of a fun summer activity), and today was lunch and a swim (and a sunburn on Bee's nose) at the pool. I'll admit, it has been nice not only not worrying about schoolwork, but also not worrying about The Summer Activity List. Isn't summertime when the livin' is supposed to be easy? This week is all about easy. Okay, so the dog chewed up Flip's orthodontic appliance, which we only just got Monday to replace the one he lost at cub scout day camp - that was definitely a blue; not a green - but we're cool, we're cool.

file under "what is this world coming to?"

"I know this is stupid, but I really need help...have you ever taken an ACT for somebody, my friend that graduated from my highschool bak in 2008 had somebody take his test for him and he got a good score...I have football scholarships and I need to pass my ACT in order to get me scholarship, I dont want to have to go to junior college I already tried taking the test 5 times the highest score I got was a 12 i tried studying for it and iv'e had no luck...So at this point i'll do wat ever it takes ,I can provide the fake id for you and $400 for you if you would take the test for me and get a score of 18 or higher for me...Im sorry but I need my scholarship and IM willing to do wat ever it takes to get my football scholarship, so if you can help plz email me bak. the test is on 6/12/10"

This is a direct quote from a post on craigslist.com in our area I found while looking for possible editing/writing gigs. I want to write this poor guy a note and tell him how the fallout from this would be much worse than losing any football scholarship - worse because he'd have to live with the knowledge that his college career was built on a false foundation (no, not on his amazing football skills). He sounds so desperate. It makes me sad!

you're gonna stand

So I went to a spin class today - so far the only weekly gym activity that is justifying my YMCA dues this year. The instructor was new to me, since she had a baby recently and took some time off (of course, she looked nothing like someone who'd had a baby recently), so I've only seen her substitute the past couple of months. Anyway, she was kind of a nice change from the sub, who I liked, but this girl has a different approach that I liked more. She had a way of preparing you for the changes in pace or tension that were coming up in the routine so you knew what was ahead of you: "Here's a hill - we're gonna increase tension on the way up, then sprint at the top and coast down." "You're gonna do 30-second sprints at a 7 on a 1-10 scale; we're doing 3 minutes; go!" (Or something like this. Like I said, I'm a once-a-week spin class attendee.) It got me thinking.

(Oh, and lest you think I'm morphing into one of those athletic types who uses sports metaphors for everything, don't worry. "Athletic" definitely does not describe me. And I rarely wax contemplative on exercise equipment.)

Actually, I was thinking how UNlike life this is. We don't usually get heads-ups when changes are ahead. Major changes, I mean. What I wouldn't give for a "Warning: back surgery ahead for husband" or "Caution: possible layoffs" sign. Then whatever shoring up of resources (sorry for the Sarah Palin quote; it does fit) had to be done would be done, and I'd be prepared for anything.

Of course, this is not how life works, and our mettle is truly tested with the unexpected. I mean, if someone were to even suggest that something like a struggling kid in school or a car-totaling accident might be in your future, even if you just what-iffed those possibilities, your first thought might even be Wow, I don't know how I'd handle that. Or That sounds hard. A reaction of self-doubt. But sometimes, it's not till you're in the middle of one of these that you suddenly find yourself handling it. There's just no other way through it. And you may find out that you're made of tougher stuff than you thought.

Here's one more thing that spin class instructor said that I liked. Preparing us for a climb, she told us to "gear up" (increase tension on the bike) and added, "Okay, you're gonna stand" (to pedal harder). Now there's something I can use, even with the unexpected. Because even when you don't know what's coming, it's good to think that - no matter what - you're gonna stand.

*thanks to www.vecteezy.com for use of header image*

things we learned in 2009

• Lift with your legs, not your back
• A puppy's diet doesn't stop at dog food
• Our living room can hold 44 people in folding chairs at a piano recital
• All the laundry CAN get done when all 3 kids are in school
• A puppy's diet doesn't stop at kids' shoes
• Mom is the Bop It! champion of the house
• Girls seem to learn how to tie shoes earlier than boys in this family
• Car pools for swim team in the hot Texas summer are a good idea
• A puppy's diet doesn't stop at the living room couch
• Getting to stop at Sonic on your way home from middle school is fun
• Watching your kids perform at something they enjoy is such a pleasure
• Kindergarten isn't the end of the world (for Miss Bee or her mom)
• A puppy's diet changes a little bit for the better when the puppy turns into a dog (but still doesn't stop at piano benches)
• A 12-yr-old gets to be considered just a little bit manly after surviving a 2-night scout campout in the rain/snow
• Hopefully 2010 will be a great year!

Happy New Year to all!

saturday morning blues

Yesterday morning, I didn't sleep in.

Big deal, you say.

Well, let me explain. No - to quote one of my favorite movies - there is too much. Let me sum up.

Those of you who know me know my husband is a cyclist and burgeoning triathlete. He has several 100-mile bike races and 2 half-Ironmans (Ironmen?) under his belt. What this means is that he goes on early morning bike rides on Saturday, his only free day (Sunday is the Lord's day, not the cyclist's, in our family), and Mom stays home and faces the Saturday morning chore arguments solo. So no sleeping in.

The significance of the no-sleep-in yesterday? I'm getting to it.

Here's how our family spent this past summer: in and out of the hospital. DH herniated a disc in June, had minimally invasive surgery for it in July, got a spinal fluid leak 2 weeks later as a complication from that surgery, had a procedure done to try and fix it in August which didn't work, had a second surgery to stitch up the leak which did fix it but was NOT minimally invasive, and has been recovering ever since. That is a big, long sentence which tells you what our summer was like while leaving out a lot of the pain, emotional/physical suffering, hardship, service from friends/family, prayers, and little blessings in between. Needless to say, there was no bike riding (or much walking, for that matter) for dh during any of it. But I got to sleep in on a few choice Saturdays. This really isn't about me, though.

A few weeks ago, dh went to his follow-up visit with the back surgeon. He gave him the okay to resume normal activities, which he has begun to ease into. Yesterday marked the first bike ride with his buddies he has been able to do for over 4 months. He may not have kept up with the guys the whole time, but he returned home sweaty and smiling in his Arizona State University bike jersey, and you could tell his heart was full. So this time, I didn't mind getting up a little earlier to get started on my day. There will be plenty more Saturdays to come when I have to get up before I want to, and I will probably not have this good of an attitude about all of them, but this time, I am counting my blessings.

there's always more flab

I was running with my friends the other morning and we were all talking about weight we'd like to lose (cliche, no?) when I mentioned I thought my legs were the biggest part of me. (They are an inheritance from my mom's side of the family.) My companion said, "So? Mine are bigger. And someone else's are bigger than mine, and someone else's are bigger than hers, and so on and so on....There will always be worse." I think her point was that no matter how bad you think you have it, someone somewhere is in a worse spot than you are.

I think I'm going to try to remember this whenever I feel like complaining. Maybe take a second look at what I'm about to gripe about, and decide if it's really worth the gripe. DH and I discussed that this afternoon, and he mentioned a PBS show he watched last night that gave him food for thought. See, DH's company has been in some financial troubles over the past few months (it's a small company) and its very existence is currently in jeopardy, so it's looking like he will have to find another job in a field where lots of other people are in the same spot - out of work, I mean. He is understandably worked up over this, which is why he was watching PBS in the middle of the night.

Anyway, he was all full of butterflies over his employment situation and turned on this show about 2 women, roommates, who are middle-aged and both living with disabilities. One has MS, and the other, who must act as caregiver, has Down's Syndrome. (Wow, right?) Anyway, they both are on Medicaid or Medicare (DH couldn't remember which) and some sort of their disability coverage was threatening to be discontinued. Apparently they were claiming that they were homebound (probably true, for the most part), but under some law, "homebound" means that you really can't ever leave your home if you want to be considered as such. These women heard about some group that was lobbying for this law to be changed, and decided to go to Washington to join in the lobby. Medicaid (or Medicare or whoever) somehow found out that they left their home, and promptly began an investigation into whether they really needed that coverage. (Wow again.) So then all this then made DH rethink his situation and realize that okay, he has a few contacts with acquaintances in his field who have gotten him interviews and names of recruiters, his boss and coworkers all have good things to say about him, and maybe we could be grateful for what we have and not pull out our hair just yet.

The whole job question and the accompanying what-ifs (what if we have to move? what if there's nothing out there? what if we do get an offer but it's really low and it's the only one?) aren't resolved yet, so I don't know if a moral is a little premature, but here it is: there's always someone with fatter legs.