If there is one thing that surprises me most about being a mom (well, except for how hard it can be) it is how deeply I admire my kids during their “becoming” stages. Just like within the rows of Monarch chrysalises we used to have hanging throughout our home on bedroom ceilings and in jars lined up along the shelves, there are some wonderfully amazing things going on inside their heads and I’m loving it that I get to be a witness.
Right now my youngest can hardly keep his eyes open (yes, he’s 8, it’s 10 and he should be sleeping by now), but he can’t tear himself away from the latest chapter book he’s reading. Most of my kids are avid readers, but ever since he was a toddler he would beg and beg us to read at night, even when it was way past both of our bedtimes. He’s got a great imagination and it’s fun to watch the way he thinks. I love how he loves to get lost in a good book.
Earlier this evening I watched as my 12-year-old daughter fashioned two new bracelets for herself out of duct tape. She’s had a fascination with duct tape for years now–it’s often on her birthday and Christmas wish-lists. She has recently decorated her book bag with bright green and blue duct tape and it looks great. I’m quite certain that if this love of boldly colored adhesive persists, in a few short years she will be the winner for Stuck at Prom Contest. I love her ability to make something cool out of something ordinary.
Currently Z~ is downstairs teaching himself how to play the harmonica. The summer after 7th grade he decided he wanted to learn how to play the sax. He taught himself, went to summer band and made the jazz band that same year. In 9th grade he heard that jazz bands need sax players who can play more than just the sax. So he taught himself how to play the clarinet. He made Wind Ensemble and spent the next two years playing the clarinet in Wind Ensemble and sax in marching band and Jazz Band. Last spring he tried out for the drumline. He made it and has played ever since. Last night he went out and bought himself a harmonica. What’s next? He’s been looking for a ukele. But he wants one from Hawaii. Anyone headed that way? I love how Z~ just goes after what he wants and is always learning something new.
Last night Luke (yeah, when they’re over 18 they get a real name) was kind of put out at me over something. I knew it wasn’t really about me, so I tried to give him space and wait until he got over it. Later he came in to give me a hug and apologize. Yeah. You heard that right. He apologized. That is a very big thing to do. I know grown-ups who still aren’t comfortable offering a sincere apology. Luke wants to be a better person and sometimes gets frustrated with himself when he can’t see progress every day. The way I see it being emotionally honest with yourself is a challenge at any age. So when I hear him tell me in all honesty how he sees himself and ask me to help him become a better person I am so hopeful for the future. Not just his, but ours. I love Luke’s earnest desire to be a good person and do the right thing.
I’m completely out of the pop culture loop. I’ve maybe been to three movies this year. I didn’t really miss anything during the writer’s strike. And I just realized the Academy Awards are on tonight, only I don’t really care. Is that a bad thing?
I have in recent months, however, found myself highly entertained a time or two over at youtube. Which is exactly where I found this (it amuses me so):
And don’t miss another little gem posted over at Millie’s blog. I got it in my inbox Friday and it completely summed up the day the guy next to me was having (only he showed just a little bit more restraint).
An’ finally, be sho’nuff t’viset Th’ Dialeckizer, link courtesy of i i eee.
It’s official. Diagnosis: Influenza. But I think today is a little better day and so I’m washing clothes, towels and bedding and passing out disinfecting wipes like candy in hopes it doesn’t spread. (And resorting to prayerful pleading that I won’t get sick, too.)
Sounds like everybody’s dealing with something. Flu, inversion, the Feburary blahs, whatever. I’m ready to clean it all out of here. In fact, this morning as I embarked on my quest to chase away all sickness I realized I finally get spring cleaning. Something deep inside makes you just want to open the doors and the windows and shake and wash the germs and the stale winter air right on out of here. Do you ever feel that way? I only wish it were about 20 degrees warmer…
But there’s more. I think spring cleaning is also good for the soul, too. Are there any little naggy things bugging that you just need to get off your chest? A little rant or pet peeve you’ve been keeping pent up inside because you don’t want to sound whiney?
Well, here’s your chance to debug. Just shake it out there into cyberspace through the comments section and let it bug you no more. You can even go anonymous if you’d like. I’ll never tell.
I’ll start:
It kind of bothers me when people who are trifling with a sniffly nose or maybe a touch of food poisoning say “I have the flu” or “It’s the 24-hour flu.” I used to think I had the flu several times a year until hard-core influenza hit me for real one year and I felt like I’d been hit by an extra-long locomotive accompanied by delirium, fever, chills, aching bones–even my eyelids hurt–and big bad dose of utter misery. And believe me, there is no “24-hour” about it. (Now lest any of you think I may be talking about you, I’m not. So please don’t be offended or think I’m minimizing the pain of any kind of illness–I hope you all–and your sweet kids–get better, I really do. I’m just talking about the usage of correct medical terminology, that’s all. It’s like being one of the grammar police, only different.)
But first, lest you think my life is all rainbows, unicorns and fairy tales (see previous post)…
What I didn’t tell you about the trip was that our second bus got stuck behind a terrible car accident on the way home and we waited for them and so I didn’t get home until about 3:30a.m. Monday morning. (I may someday elaborate on the horrific white-knuckle –and no, I was not driving–trip home. Or I may not.)
Which would have been OK, except that early Tuesday morning by youngest crawled in bed next to me with a raging fever and a horrible headache. His tonsils are so swollen it’s amazing he can still breathe. The strep test came up negative, but I suspect it was because the nurse wimped out on getting a good swab. Last night he was delirious so he kept getting out of bed and wandering through the house saying, “It’s so cool!” or “They’re trying to get me!” ??? When I try to get him to take some ibuprofen he just holds his little finger up as if to say “One second.” Eventually after 5 or 10 minutes of my sitting there with the cup of water and meds in hand he gets up his nerve.
Early this morning he was sleeping and he suddenly cried out “Milk.” I tried to talk him out of it–dairy is not so great with an extremely sore throat and mountains of congestion–but he insisted so I got him some. About 10 minutes later he shouted “Ice.” Not ice chips mind you, but an ice pack. Go figure. Apparently monosyllables are all his poor throat can manage unless, of course, he is deep in his delirium. I kindly obliged because my duty as nurse-mom is to be at his beck and call (this does not apply to the only marginally sick, but merely to the very, very ill, lest you worry I’m a slave to my children.)
And now back to our regularly scheduled posting…
I’m not sure whether or not you may have read this. I don’t know that it really matters what your political leanings are and I can tell you with all honestly I certainly don’t have any good solutions for the dilemma of illegal immigration. But I will tell you I am often shocked and horrified by some of the hate-speech that comes out of the mouths of some people from my faith. Their behavior helps me understand why some people question our Christianity, because such disparaging and inhumane talk about their fellow human beings is anything but Christ-like.
I wanted to post a response, but just scrolling through the comments made me sick. I will, however, respond to two of them that caught my eye before I had to move on to reading something more worthwile.
To the guy who is sick and tired of “them” telling us what to do, I just have to say the simple fact that “they” had something to say–and I saw it more about reminding people who they are or ought to be than about dictating legislation–indicates exactly how serious this debate is and how badly things have gotten out of hand. The church leaders were not telling the state what to do. They were, as I see it, reminding elected officials who happen to be members of the church that some of their words and actions are unbecoming of a humane Christian and they should take a closer look at themselves. To that I say, “It’s about time.”
And to the guy who professed to be LDS and went off about “honoring the law” I will just say that it is your job to honor the law yourself, not to condemn, belittle, despise and hate many good people who, perhaps in a desperate need to care for their families, may or may not be. I’m not defending breaking the law, I’m just saying stop with the hating already.
I applaud the call to address this complicated issue with more humanity and even Christianity.
…with decisions hanging in the balance that have such significant consequences, I believe a more thoughtful . . . not to mention humane, approach is warranted.” –Marlin Jensen, Quorum of the Seventy
…but only because despite how much I loved having someone make my bed and prepare made-to-order omelettes for me to eat every morning right next to the Koi pond while I was gone, it’s good to be home!
And now here it is: Disneyland by the numbers
20-25 – the most minutes I had to wait in line for anything.
3 – the number of times I walked right on to Pirates of the Caribbean to pay my respects to Captain Jack. Yo-ho!
1 – people who actually thought they were the real Jack Sparrow. We met up with him on the Sailing Ship Columbia. Nice dreads.
72 – the number of blood-thawing, heart-warming, happiness-inducing degrees it was during the day. Well, it probably was only 70, but it felt like at least 72.
2 – the number of times a main attraction ride was shut down after I arrived at the front of the line.
0 – how often I was annoyed by that because there wasn’t anything else equally amusing to do.
5 – how many people I wish would have helped me eat the turkey leg the size of my head.
8 1/2 – the number of dollars it set me back to enjoy the best ever steak gumbo in a real sourdough bread bowl. Delish!
4 – the number of tracks from different Disney movies our students were able to record backstage. It was so cool! They had a clinic with a director who has done numerous movies and TV shows. First he taught them a few things about playing in an ensemble. Then they sight-read a track, played it and refined it until it was ready to record. After they recorded it they got to hear it played back while watching the animation that went with it and discuss how the music applied to the scene. It was so interesting!
15 – the number of hours I walked around watching people and wearing out the soles of my feet.
3 – the number of layers of clothing that were completely soaked through because I was second rider in the log at Splash Mountain.
5 – how many hours it took to completely dry out.
7 – the number of friendly, polite and articulate children the lovely Jennifer B. introduced me to at Disneyland.
0 – the number of problems we had with two busloads of high school musicians. Remarkable really.
A baker’s dozen – how many times I said to myself “I have absolutely no desire to ever go hang gliding!” whist riding on “Soarin’ California.” I actually kissed the cement floor when we finally landed.
Infinity and beyond!–the number of times I laughed out loud on a wild ride or smiled as I watched the look of awe, amazement and utter joy on the face of numberless children young and old.
One of my favorite moments was during the parade. I was seated by myself (the one thing I understand about teenagers is their need for space–and I’m good with that) on the steps behind a multitude of young families. One family of four had a darling little blonde girl who was wearing her best Alice in Wonderland dress. Of course Alice herself rode right past this little girl during the parade. “Hey Alice!” cried the mother. Alice looked down and, upon noticing her delightful miniature, sweetly proclaimed, “I really love your dress!” And she waved wildly. The little girl waved wildly back and even I felt like a princess myself just for watching the young girl’s dream come true.
But here are some props to the lovely Jennifer B. of Going Barefoot. She took the time to meet up with me at Disneyland and it was purely my pleasure. She is fabulous (but you knew that), her kids are darling–and so articulate and responsible–and meeting up with them was one of the best parts of my day (and you know, it was Disneyland afterall, so that’s really saying something).
I’ll be back later to post about Disneyland by the numbers, but I wanted to take a minute to thank Jennifer B.
So a recent study just came out that proves married couples who fight live longer than married couples who don’t. Who knew?
What about you? Are you a lover or a fighter? Or is it all about the making up?
In honor of the upcoming (tomorrow) St. De Beers/Hallmark/Sees/FTD Day, you get to dish out your favorite dating and/or marital advice today over at Segullah.
So I know this may not be a big deal to a lot of people. I know people from here who have season passes to Disneyland. But I haven’t been in over 20 years. Some of you have been so kind as to offer tips as to how best to enjoy my day at Disneyland. But I want to hear from the rest of you. What’s your favorite ride? Where’s the best place to eat? Where’s the cheapest place to eat? (I know the cheapest thing to do is take in my own food, but on a bus tour with a hundred high schoolers I won’t exactly have a chance to head to my local Safeway.)
What’s the one “Don’t Miss” experience I, well, shouldn’t miss?
One, some of the bigotry has not exactly been subtle. I don’t want to add to the cries of “Poor us” we seem to hear now and again, but honestly, I’ve been surprised at what has been allowed and aware that if that kind of talk had been about many other religions, genders and/or races it may not have gone completely unanswered by the PC watchdogs.
Two, while most of us are already aware of that it’s just common decency to be inclusive and tolerant, there are always a few people who need a little reminder. The church has been very public in recent years reminding everyone to be so. It can be a bit disheartening to make an effort to be more tolerant and then sort of get slapped in the face by the intolerance of others toward you.
Three, perhaps part of the reason we were surprised is that it seems of late (and in most places I have lived) people have generally been fairly tolerant and even friendly to us. You go to school and to work with people and you almost forget people of our faith were once horribly persecuted. It’s possible the level of animosity we have been made aware of through the press caught us completely off guard because in recent years we have, for the most part, been treated well by both the people who know us and the press–until now. We thought people liked us and maybe even understood us a little and now we’re finding out (and it seems to be a bit behind our backs) many really don’t. This flashback to junior high has been more than a little painful.
Next: As much as sitting on a big white fluffy cloud, sipping premium hot chocolate and chatting with friends might appeal to me right now, I’m sort of relieved that I already knew there is a little more substance to eternity than simply that. Whew!
Finally,here is a beautiful and tender post from our dear Sister Pottymouth. It gets a “post of the week” nod from me. Please keep Julie in your thoughts and prayers.
A friend of mine recently learned she needs to have a hysterectomy. I don’t know that I would be at all aware of the implications of that surgery and the types of conflict and emotional distress it can cause except for the candor of another friend of mine who recently had the surgery and had to work through all those feelings herself. (And I know I don’t know the half of it.)
I don’t know that any of you have been there before, but if you have or if you know of anyone who has would you please send them this way? I’m sure it would be reassuring to hear it from someone who’s looking at it from the other side already.
