Orange Tide

I watched the "big upset" game of the season when lowly little Oregon State University knocked off USC (number 1 team in the nation) in Corvallis last night during my meeting for the auction.

Yes. we were having the planning meeting in the bar and after the planning was done, several planners got up and started selling the raffle tickets (side of beef, pig, and traeger grill are some of the prizes - let me know if you want any tickets - only $2) and auction dinner tickets to the other people at the bar. (classic Castle Rock!)

So as I was saying. . . . It was a great game (unless you're a USC fan). The visual that was most impressive for me was when the game was over and this HUGE orange wave of humanity streamed onto the field from one side and embraced the football team. It was just cool to see how jubliant the fans were.

Where did it go???

Some where and some how I lost at least a week this month. In my head ,it is only about September 15ish. Not September 25th! So it came a very huge surprise yesterday ,when I figured out that I had misread the calendar and this is the LAST weekend in September, and not the 3rd weekend. I had to call my sister in Portland and tell that "no this weekend would not be a good weekend to pick up C."

Magoo is awesome! She takes each kid for a weekend to have some one on one time with them. She and C have been trying to go camping or do something fun since July, but the timing has been horrible and they haven't been able to connect for one reason or another. Finally, it looked like this weekend would work....until I realized that I was looking at last weekend on the calendar and unfortunately this weekend he was booked pretty heavily. Scouts, football, church, scout hike to Ape Cave at Mt. St. Helen's. So I felt really bad having to tell them both that it would truly be a bad time and/or they wouldonly have 5 or 6 hours to do anything fun. (But maybe Oct 9th might work.)

This oh SH*% feeling came back again tonight. I volunteered a couple months ago to help with the North County Recreation Association Auction. This is the nonprofit group that created the new baseball, softball, and soccer fields. They are very nice. This is one of the major fundraisers North County has to do in order to do the matching funds for a number of large grants they have received. I went to one of the organizational meetings tonight to find out more info about how it is organized since I'll be helping with the checkout at the end of the autcion. At the meeting I found out that the lady in charge of checkout was admitted to the hospital today and won't be around. There are a couple others who have helped in the past, but wonn't available this year. So it looks like I'm it! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'm just supposed to be a little helpful worker bee. I'm not supposed to be in charge of it. (I know the other organizers were so impressed with how my friend Gayle (and I) did the checkout process for the Exhibit Hall auction that they asked if we could help them this year.) Gayle is super committed that weekend and can't. RATS! I guess I will be in charge of it. That's ok I thought - this thing isn't until October 4th - I've got lots of time (at least 2 -3 weeks to figure this stuff out.) Then it hit me.....

While I'm sitting in the bar at the Rose Tree (official committee meeting place of choice for most Castle Rock organizations) at this meeting, I realized I am going to be running the checkout of an auction I've never attended, the other organizers don't know what the other lady actually did to prep (They do know there are receipts - in triplicate for every item bought.) AND there's only a week until the auction. Oh dear lord!! Give me strength!!

Commentary

Thanks Mel...
I had accidentally had the box unchecked that allowed anonymous posting. I have fixed that error so now everyone who is "blogless" can now make comments on my website if they want.
Hope this helps.

Regal Queen Mother

Pretty Princess Birthday Bash....

We got Queenie a year ago last week. Some friends gave her to us after Queenie and her puppies were dumped at their house one day last September. (one of the joys of rural living)

Our friends kept one of the puppies and found a home for the other. I didn't want another puppy but was willing to have the momma dog. The other two kids have owned dogs, but B never had. She had been wanting a little dog for a long time. She spent the weekend with those friends and fell in love with the dogs. A couple weeks later, at one of B's soccer games, I surprised her with the news that Queenie was her very own dog. Everyone has tried to figure out what she is...I just say she's a "Dr. Suess dog" - a little bit of everything.

So in honor of this important date, B thought her dog needed a little present. She got Queenie an outfit that befits her name and imagined station in life. Queenie was so proud and I think really

liked her outfit. She kept it on for about 5-10 minutes without ever trying to take it off. She must have known how cute she looked. B thought it looked so cute that she thought she ought to try it on as well.

A Sonny Saturday

Recently there have been some studies done that show if kids REALLY want something, they should be made to work for it, earn the money by themselves and then be allowed to purchase it. These kids then become very good managers of their personal finances, don't expect everything to be handed to them and understand the value of hard work, etc. . Also quite a few of these kids go on to become successful business leaders.

So with this great idea in my head for teaching fiscal responsibility, I had the solution in place for when my oldest daughter, M, asked for chihuahua puppy again. (I know I know - like we need ANOTHER dog!! which is one of the reasons I've said "no"in the past.) She has been bugging me off and on for over 2 years to get one. So this summer, when she asked I told her that if she raised the $500-$700 (depending on price of dog and start up costs for new pet owner - shots, vet check, microchip, cage, food, fixing etc.) by herself I would let her get one it. (I thought "I am so smart!!") M has not been the best saver in the world. She's kinda like me and loves to buy gifts for others, so she usually doesn't have a lot of money in the bank. I figured that if this wasn't a passing phase and she actually did do it, it would take her at least a year, probably two to raise that kind of money. Shows what I know!!!

M was VERY motivated!!! She worked all kinds of extra jobs throughout the summer and into September: mowing lawns, babysitting, yard & house work, mucking out 22 stalls at a horse farm, digging fence post holes, building fences, painting and any odd job she could find. She found a breeder who was willing to give her a 50% discount on one of the puppies if she did yard work for her. So in less than 4 months, M raised $546 on her own (not counting the discount). I am so proud of her and her work ethic and commitment!!! She showed such responsibility and initiative. Because I wasn't crazy about getting another dog (a puppy to boot) and especially that breed, the hardest thing for me to do was to keep my word and allow her purchase her puppy. (I've tried to follow the policy my Mom has always told me was so important as a parent. Don't lie to your kids or go back on your promises, because then they won't trust you. So since M was able to rise to the very high bar I set, I kept my word.) She becomes a teenager in a couple weeks . From some of my experiences at work, I've seen how critical it is to maintain the open lines of communication, respect and trust with your kids.

M picked up her puppy, Sonny Venti, bright and early on Saturday. (His eyes are light blue and the red eye fixer made them a lovely shade of violet so the picture is kinda weird.) Sonny is a long hair chihuahua. I saw his mother & uncle and we played with all the puppies several times over about a month and Sonny has the best disposition of the litter. Very snuggly and lovey. (I'm not a chihuahua person but even I think Sonny is just one of the cutest little guys.) He has a very nice personality and we've been exposing him to lots of people so he doesn't get too territorial and possessive of only M.

What I've noticed is that M still has that sense of responsibility and purpose and helps a lot around the house. I am very grateful and very proud of her. Way to go girl!!!

Here's the "men of the house" relaxing on the couch and watching some Sunday afternoon football. C was rooting for the Cowboys and Dallas beat Green Bay, so he was happy.

Excitement Abounds

I haven't had much free time lately for a variety of reasons.

I've got so much to say but very limited amount of time to say it.

I've been helping B edit her next mystery story. This one is pretty rough. We tried a different way of drafting/writing (just write it - don't worry about punctuation, grammar or synonyms - just get your ideas down on paper and we'll worry about sentence structure later) so it's about 24 pages and VERY rough. Since she decided to use a class assignment as motivation for finishing it, I type her revisions and offer suggestions. So be on the lookout for the "Case of the Missing Heirloom" in a bookstore near you. She has a classmate who was going to see if his mom who works for a printing company would be willing to print it off.


So M has starting to go to our church's youth religious education classes "Life Teen / The Edge" in Kelso in addition to our parish's middle school classes. (We're so small, we need to keep the attendance and activity levels up or we might become a mission the next priest rotation.) Even though she's in 7th grade and should be in the Edge, she is so mature they invited her to attend the highschool Life Teen classes. On Sunday night, a very nice boy who is a freshman this year, invited M to their Homecoming dance. She politely and very regretfully had to decline since she wasn't in high school yet. (oooooooh! my baby is growing up. Can't believe she's gettting so grown up and mature!) Needless to say, she's been on cloud nine ever since. It will definitely help her social standing in the middle school social mine fields by just the fact that she was asked to go to a HIGH SCHOOL dance and it wasn't even from our school district - all the more exciting and mysterious.

C played his first "REAL" football game with real refs, kicking game and for the full time periods. They did really well. (34-0) The comment "We crushed them mom!!" resulted in acknowledgment of their fine achievements and a warning about good sportsmanship. (especially since it's the other Castle Rock team we played so they're your friends and classmates.) The best part for me was that C played A LOT during the game. He was the center again and got a lot of playing time as noseguard. (I think he prefers defense.) This saturday we play in Longview at 11:30 - because B has a game in Castle Rock at 12pm. (joys of kids in sports.)

Well, gotta go get ready for the day. I'll post the most exciting stuff tonight when I have more time to elaborate.

p.s. Ann - this is a checkmark on my post it!!!

Two Funerals & A Football Game

It was kind of a surreal Friday for me. I attended two memorial services (for people I didn't know) and the high school football game.


This morning we held a very nice memorial service for one of the past Superior Court judges who recently passed away. There were a lot of great stories about him as a judge, a lawyer, friend and passionate golfer. Every single story highlighted his sense of humor.


If the afternoon, I went to Vancouver for my co-worker's son's memorial service. Debbie is the new drug court manager and her son drowned in the Columbia River this weekend. The memorial service was held at the same time Drug Court is so all the judges couldn't attend. I volunteered to represent the office. The judges liked it especially since it meant that I could be there for Debbie if she needed to talk.

They hadn't found Sam's body and the dive teams had stopped because it was too dangerous. So they decided to have some closure and planned a memorial service. The father's mission was to find his son's body and so he bought a kayak and has been searching up and down the river (from dawn to dark) every day since. This morning he found the body. So the memorial service was held up an hour so the Dad could finish up stuff at the coroner's office and then come to the memorial service. It was a very nice memorial service held at a park. Sam went to the VAncouver Arts School so there were a lot of unusually dressed kids, but very interesting to talk to. While standing in a large circle, people told their favorite memories of Sam. It was a nice way for his friends and family to express their love. They also released a bunch of balloons. All in all a very nice service. It didn't affect me much. I was a little sad for the family and the world to lose such a bright young man, but I wasn't overwhelmed with grief.


During the Football game, I worked the hamburger concessions outside. (First time I was out there which wasn't too bad, but then it wasn't cold, windy or rainy.) It was pretty fun and actually "the rush" was pretty evenly spaced throughout the night. We made over $800 in profit just from the hamburger stand and the same amount in the other stand. Sounds like a lot, but by time the school gets their cut and the other nonprofit we share concessions with gets their cut then divided by 8 workers, there isn't a huge amount per scout. (But that;s 40 or so bucks I don't have to pony up.)

Clarification

OK I went back and reread it. It's called DVM - Delayed Visual Maturation.

Prayers Requested

I've been bad and haven't been on the computer for a couple days and so I've been just catching up:

I just was reading one of my sister-in-law's blogs tonight. She has been one of those people that I faithfully follow their blog because I love all the little posts she puts on. (They're just cute little snippets of funny things the kids said or did, or the parenting triumphs / challenges she's facing.) Most are only 4 or 5 sentences. After reading M's blog, I realized that having a blog doesn't mean writing a 1500 word essay every night, it's just creating the habit of putting your recent thoughts or experiences down on "e-paper". I get a lot of enjoyment from reading M's blog for other reasons too. It's so nice to have that family link since they live in UT and I'm 900 miles away in WA. I have to confess that I am always so busy I never remember to call anyone to chat until it's either too late or I'm too tired - so I'm really bad at keeping in touch. So if I haven't called you for a while - it's just me!

Anyway, M has some of the most beautiful kids, but they have medical challenges. (A couple have celiac disease. - This is where your body can't process wheat products and some of the other kids havesevere growth issues.) They've mastered the whole 'wheat free' lifestyle and within the last couple months had received great news about the growth issues. The kids will be really small until they hit puberty then they should grow to a "normal" height.
However, tonight I found out that one of my nephews may be blind. He's only a couple months old and isn't tracking stuff like he should. At mom's insistance, tests were done and they were told that even though his eyes are perfectly formed, he's not able to see out of them now. There is hope, though. He may have DMV (not where you get a license) but a macular ...d...v..... thing - (I'll have to add the full medical diagnosis, but I'm too dazed at the news.) If it is DMV, he may slowly regain his sight within a year. So it's an agonizing waiting game - in the next 3-4 months he may start to show signs of improvement. (keep your fingers and toes crossed)

I feel so much for his parents. They so wanted this baby and the pregnancy was a very difficult one. This baby is just absolutely beautiful. Oh how hard it must be for them!! I don't know if I could have as good as outlook as M does. She says its still her beautiful baby boy - but is in different packaging than she had hoped for. Please keep baby, A, in your prayers that he regains his sight and to give his family the strength to continue with such love and insight.

Bad News

I just found out that one of my nephews (who is the same age as my oldest daughter) was just diagnosed this week with a cancerous tumor in his leg (femur - I think). He's been complaining about his leg hurting for a while now and has been limping around, but has been running cross country. Well, when the docotor saw the results of the MRI, he immediately ordered crutches be taken to school. My nephew, is not allowed to put any weight on his leg because I is so weakened it may break. My brother & sister in law will be meeting with the doctors on Monday and hopefully we'll know a lot more after the more conclusive test results are back.
Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. I can't even imagine the agony his parents are going through right now.

Fatastic Fall

Today I experienced a fantastic fall.... Classic in all senses of the word.
It was an AMAZINGLY beautiful / hot day. (In the 90's and sunny.) After church, the kids picked plums, beans, zukes, cukes, blackberries and other squash. I picked up the cat from the vet and processed the fruits of their labors. I planted my grapes and worked on a couple flower beds, and got the supplies to do a project up in the goat barn / chicken coop and got enough propane that I'll be already to start canning outside on my camp stove. We didn't get as many plums as we ususally do - those freak snow storms in March and April did a number on the blossoms this year. I decided that I wanted more plums and the kids had picked all the easy ones. I just knew that I could get those ones that were "just right there" hanging with the big ladder. I got two small buckets full and then I went for the Motherlode in the middle of the tree high up. I put the ladder up against a big trunk branch and climbed up. I got a bunch of plums and was just about to climb down, when the ladder went crashing to the ground. I was holding on to some limbs so when the ladder fell suddenly, I had my safety plan in place. Yep - I was swinging about 8-10 feet off the ground. Then I jumped and landed on the soft bark chips I used for landscaping. I nearly landed on the ladder which would have been very very bad, so I've made a executive management decision....We're done picking plums this year.

Well, the blackberry pie my daughter B (who is a fabulous cook) should be out of the oven soon and so I'd better go enjoy the fruits of her labors...

Reflection

Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts.

My "reflection" speech during the planning meeting for the hospital went really well on Wednesday. I talked to a conference room of about 30-40 people. Most are VP's or higher for either the local hospital or Peacehealth chain, was the chief of staff / department head, or is a community leader, etc. My speech was sandwiched in between the Regional V.P.'s opening remarks and the kick off 'rah rah' speech by the CEO.

The speech was kinda challenging because: I was to "give voice to the patient experience", showing "an example the typical patient care received at the hospital" and "why I am an advocate for the hospital" through describing the absolute worst day of my life while creating the springboard mood for the new 'goal setting' process we're starting. - This all eloquently said in 5 minutes (or less) and without crying. There were a couple times when my voice reverberated with emotion, but it actually added power and impact to the message. I think I set the stage really well for developing a realistic, viable yet ambitious plan to create a culture / patient experience of compassion, dignity, safety and enabling our customers to be an active participant in their healthcare where people will recommend the hospital to their friends. I had 10-15 people come up to me afterwards and thank me for sharing my experiences and how much it impacted them. It was nice to have that validation after really putting my heart out there for public consumption.

The reason for this planning process is that the administration wants to build on previous strategic plans. (It's been 6-8 years since the last one-so we're due.) Even though we have a great little hospital (one of the top 100 small hospitals in the country), it suffers from what I call "ugly stepchild" syndrome. No one is truly respected and valued in their own home town. We're only 45 minutes from Portland and 2 hours from Seattle, so if it's REALLY serious, the patients are shipped there for treatment. So people think that only healthcare in one of the big cities is really good. That kind of thinking is really dangerous!! (I know I don't want to drive to Portland if my kid has a broken bone or someone was having a heartattck. - not to mention the economic damage that would happen around here if a major family-wage employer went belly up and most of the local medical community had to leave. I really respect the CEO to always be looking for ways to improve and develop good community relations.

All in all, a good meeting. There will be quite a few "virtual" meetings over the next couple months that I'll have to attend. (One of our retired community leaders is representing our patient advisory council since most the rest of us can't get off work to go to the rest of the meetings.)

O'Malley

Just a random thought....
One of my favorite blogs is called O'Malley on the Web. It is by Matt O'Malley from Boston. He is a democrat and probably Catholic (but I could be stereotyping / projecting.)

I just really enjoy his thoughtful (if somewhat biased) opinions. At a pretty young age, he ran for City Councilman and was part of the inner circle for several other successful campaigns. His blog reminds me so much of what the dinner table conversations were when we were growing up. There was a lot of political discussion and analysis. I learned a lot listening to my parents and their friends about local, state and national politics. I get the same feel when I read his blog.

I also enjoy his humor and outlook.... When was the last time you thought about having an Orange Julius, chewing bazooka bubble gum, and playing Scrabble? If you get a chance, check it out...
mattomalley@blogspot.com

Palin Pompadour

I can't decide if its a good thing or not.....

But today, I was told by a good friend of mine that I look good in the "Sarah Palin" hair style.

I told them I've had this hairstyle years before she was ever mayor of Wasilia AK. So in reality she looks good in MY hairstyle.

(Can I yell? "Mom.....It's not fair!! Sarah stole my hair!!!!")

It's funny for me, because I was just thinking how 'blechy' and 'blah' my hair was and how much I wanted to change it to a more "current" and "stylish" cut. But now....I'm styling and staying with the Pali --I mean-- my style and everyone will copy a good thing.

see link for her Vogue interview and photo shoot

news.spreadit.org/sarah-palin-vogue-magazinesarah-palin-vogue-picture-interview

Total Drama Island

I just discovered the funniest show today while processing beans and plums for canning. Cartoon Network was running an "all-day" marathon of one of their shows. We don't usually watch Cartoon Network but somehow it caught our attention and we started watching it.

The show is called Total Drama Island and is a parody of the Survivor shows. It was really funny and well written. (PG-13 rating but a very mild PG-13) All of the shows build on each other because of the challenges and the teams competing with each other to 'stay on the island'. (The goal is to get a "marshmellow of immunity" so that you don't have to walk down the "dock of shame" and get on the "boat of losers" to leave the island ....and NEVER come back.) Some jokes and grudges carry from previous episodes. I now want to watch on Thursday when the "new" episode (both groups combine) comes out.

I probably won't get to, but will definitely keep my eye out for it.

Go Rockets!

Tonight was the first game for Castle Rock Football Season. It was a PERFECT night for football. Warm at kick off and gradually cooled down - very little breeze. Lots of people (over 2800 in fact) people attended the game. (Officially, CR has a population of a little over 2,100 so it was a pretty good turn out in reality. However football is HUGE in this town so it was on the smallish side for opening home game...probably due to opening archery elk season starting tomorrow and the opposing team was from Rochester which is a couple hours away.) The next three games will be much bigger. I expect the homecoming and the game against Kalama -our district rivals will easily be double this gate attendance.

I will have to sometime try and describe the absolute "rightness" of a Castle Rock home game. I fell in love with it right after we moved here. Every time I've sat in the stands, I've been struck with the thought that this perfectly captures and personifies the traditional American Spirit and pride. ~ You know everything that is good and right with this country. It a snapshot of "small town America." The pep band playing, cheerleaders and pep squads doing their rah rah thing, crowds cheering, great plays being made on the fields under the bright lights and in cute a little old fashioned wooden stadium. I wish I could capture the crispness of the air, the smell of the burgers cooking on the grill outside, the roar of the crowd and all the people laughing joking and having a good time catching up with one another.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience very much of the social and game aspects. I am working the concession stand again this year, because the school will give our nonprofit group (Cub Scout Pack) 50% of the profits for the season. This will hopefully pay most of what it will take to send my son to scout camp this summer. (He wants to go to with the pack to two 4-day camps and a week long day camp - which will be about $500.) Plus his sister, wants to be a venture scout and do the 9-day, 150-mile horse riding "camp" (horse trek) which is about $400. So since money doesn't grow on trees, I'm hustling up hamburgers, pizza sticks, nachos, bags of pop corn, candy bars and lots of soda pop for hungry fans. It's a lot of work, but is a lot fun too.

Farm Fresh

This spring, my kids convinced me to get baby chicks. After saying "No" for the last 3 or 4 years, I decided that this would be an OK time (the 'chicken eating dog' died of old age, we had a new barn, and the activities stars aligned so we had extra time on our hands this spring and summer).

Even though I was a 'city kid' from Idaho, every Summer my family had banty chickens, ducks, turkeys, and / or pheasants, quail or chuckars. We never kept the noisy ones and we tried very hard to keep them in our yard. But there were always a couple that would regularly escape, so the neighbors would call and tell us "Your (insert bird name) are up by my house. You better come get them." Nobody ever complained and I honestly think they all got a kick out of it. Every fall, the went to the "farmers" and mysteriously a shipment of 12-20 "cornish game hens" would show up in our freezer. (We never made the connection growing up, because my Dad was an attorney who had arrangements with several farmers. In exchange for legal services they would give payments of various types of produce, a side of beef, a couple pigs or some lambs etc. So we had no reason not to believe that some farmer wasn't dropping off his legal retainer.) I do know that some of the 'special ones' really did end up living on a farm because we would visit periodically.

So this year, I decided my kids could have the experience since we live in a rural area and the neighbors are pretty spread out. (I like to think we have a genteel farm....pygmy goats, cats, dogs and chickens.) They have had a lot of fun with it and have shown a lot or responsibility. They competed in the local fair and each received a champion ribbon - 2 reserves and 1 grand. It was pretty tough and we learned a lot!

Well, once you've ridden a bike you always remember. If you've raised chicks, you remember. I thought we would have a much higher early mortality rate, so I bought about double the number I wanted.... but my expereince kicked in and we did a GREAT job raising the little 3 day old chicks - only 4 have died. So we have 16 chickens. We have "foghorn" leghorns, black and red sexlinks. All three types are good layers. So good in fact, that now we're getting about a dozen a day. (YIKES!! That's a lot of eggs! and egg dishes to eat!!!) It really interesting to see the differences in sizes and colors. The giant ones are pretty impressive!

After Just One Practice

I got such a kick out of my son a couple nights ago. Right after his peewee football practice, he ran up to me and said, "Guess what Mom?" "After just one practice, I already have a position." (I had been preparing him that he wouldn't get to play much because this is his first year and he's only a 4th grader. ) Then he hints, "I heard this position gets to touch the ball quite a bit."

So I asked him, "What position do you get to play?"

"I'm a center!!!" he proudly exclaims.

Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!! My little baby boy is a center? He's going to so get pounded!!! (hope not, but my gut says otherwise.) All the kids who are too big (over the 110 weight limit) to be running backs, wide recievers, safetys and the like, have to play the line. C is about 80 pounds with a heavy winter coat on sopping wet. Man! I hope I'm wrong!!!

What Was I Thinking???

YIKES!!!!
Realization has just starting to creep into my consciousness. I can't believe it's happening again!!! Even after I promised myself I'd wouldn't let it and really made a concerted effort to hold the line. But it's back!!

The crazed scheduling of a single soccer mom.

Yes, I am just now reaping the rewards / schedules of all those casual "Sure, I can help" comments for the last 6 months and all the kids' sports and activity schedules are starting to be distributed this week. Even though I limit them quite a bit - three kids and one mom make for interesting scheduling to say the least.

I really shouldn't complain! It's not nearly as bad as the last couple years. There were many Saturdays where I had 3 kids playing soccer in 3 different cities all at the same time. Tough choices and balancing acts were common. (I am just so grateful for all my wonderful friends and the support of this amazing community. There is absoutely no way we could do it otherwise.)

Anyway.... This year was going to be different. In June, I was nearly giddy with the potential of Soccer-Free Saturdays! HURRAY!!!!! The amazing joy and rapture that I envisioned in my beautiful rose colored glasses was definitely something to behold. World peace would be declared, bedrooms would be cleaned and all would be right in my world. (Sure do wish I could find those glasses again!)

My oldest is playing on the middle school soccer team. My middle child is playing on a U-12 rec soccer team and my youngest decided he wanted to play peewee football. I envisioned lots of family time on weekends and at least 1 or 2 sports free nights during the week. HAAA!!!! Little did I know that football practice is EVERY night for 2 hours and games on Saturdays. B's soccer team practices 3 nights a week with 1 game weeknight game and a game on Saturday. M's middle school is during the weekday, but that means that I'll miss almost all of her games since I work til 5pm. Guess there are trade offs for everything.

I'm just grumpy because it's the second night in a row that we didn't get home until 8pm and then I had to make dinner and then do the nightly school routine. I hate that rushed feeling and not having that family time at home! My plan had been to pick up the kids at their respective practices and fields and be home at 7pm. But one thing after another thwarted me. Well, hopefully tomorrow night and if not...next week!

I will have to sit down tonight and map out all the schedules on the master family calendar with a copy in my purse calendar and on my work outlook calendar. Then I will figure out all the transportation issues and who can help. Making a plan sure helps save my sanity!!!

Tradition Continues

I started this yummy tradition when my oldest daughter started kindergarten. A year or two before she even entered school, I had been inspired by this idea and decided I too wanted to eat cookies with my kids.

This is the story that inspired me: In some women's magazine, I read about a young woman who was graduating from college and she described this powerful bonding experience she had with her mother. Every year, her mother baked cookies on the first day of school and when she got home, they would sit at the kitchen table and eat cookies and talk about her first day of school. This happened even in high school. When the girl graduated high school and went away to college, her mother sent her cookies so that on her first day of school they could eat cookies and talk on the phone about her day. The young woman went on to describe how much of an impact this tradition and the bonding and sharing communication had on her life and how much it meant to her to have this tradition. I decided that I wanted to have that with my kids and I've done it now for 8 years.

It was definitely easier when they were littler and I didn't work outside the home, but I still make it a priority. Every year, I take a half day of vacation, so that I can meet the school bus with a plate of warm cookies, a glass of cold milk and time for my kids to tell me about the start of their learning adventure for the year. I love hearing about all their friends, their teachers, the subjects they love and dread, and all the dramas that arise each year and most of all the excitement and anticipation of the bright, shiny new school year that has just been unwrapped. I've found these talks help set the tone for the year. My kids know that they and their education are a priority for me. They know they can come to me and I am a safe person who will listen to them complain about whatever, cheer them when they excel, or offer advice if needed / wanted and generally 'be there' for them.

This year was a little bitter sweet. My oldest is starting middle school this year as a 7th grader. Since she made the soccer team, she didn't come home on the bus with her siblings because she had practice til 5pm. I missed having our cookie time like we usually do. Luckily, we had a little cookie time later - I brought her cookies and rubbed her sore back muscles while we chatted. (They sometimes cramp for days without releasing which causes nerve problems because they torque her spine out of alignment.) Although not ideal, at least I got to connect with each of my kids with some cookie time.

A Bright New Year

I've been thinking about writing a blog for a while, but for multitude of reasons ~ I never did it. I decided that today would be the perfect day to start since it is the beginning of a new year. Yes, a bright exciting new year brimming with lots of possibilites.

For me, the new year doesn't truly start in January. It truly begins with the first day of school. There is just something fundamental about all the new exciting possibilities and opportunities available at the start of a new school year. My internal clock has been set that way, ever since I was in school and college. Then it was reinforced by helping put my husband through college for nearly 10 years and now I still experience it with my kids.

So with that excitement for all the opportunities, I decided to embark on a journey that I've been wanting to take for a while. Not sure where it'll take me, but should be interesting (and hopefully entertaining).