Parental Pride v2

My 11 year-old daughter recently rented a book from the library and when she finished it she told me I might like to read it.  I was skeptical at first because she had picked the book from the young adult section, but the summary sounded good, so I gave it a try.

I am happy to say that I loved the book.  I am humbled and thrilled.  I never thought I would enjoy the same book as my 11 yo.  I am impressed with her reading prowess.  She has been an avid reader for years; she would be happy if she could read for 10 hours a day, every day.  In fact, I often have to tell her to put her book down when we need to get something done or leave the house.

The book she picked out was Golden by Jessi Kirby.  I love the messages throughout the book, as well as the Robert Frost quotes at the start of each chapter, such as: "Into Your Own", The Courage to Be New", "A Boundless Moment", and of course the famous "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence.  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.". 

My favorite quote from the book is a thought-provoking one: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?".  The quote is from a poem (The Summer Day) by Mary Oliver.  In the book, a teacher has his students spend the end of their senior year journaling about their present lives as well as their dreams for their future lives.  The teacher collects the journals and then mails them out to the students 10 years later.  (I love this idea and wish I had done it my senior year.) 

This book makes me want to seize and treasure the moment.  It makes me want to get so much out of this one life that we live.  I passionately love books, quotes, and thoughts that inspire me to do more, to be more.

Near the end of the book, as it reaches toward its climax, the main character has the following thoughts:
"True love, meant to be, fate, destiny, serendipity, kismet.  They're all big, romantic words.  Words saved for movies and books and fiction.  Not for real life.  In real life parents get divorced, and people live unfulfilled lives, and love goes unrequited, and there are no second chances, or do-overs, or perfect moments."  While I do believe that some people live unfulfilled lives, I also strongly believe that there are second chances and perfect moments.  I love the romantic notions of fate and destiny and serendipity.  All of our lives revolve around love, in many varied roles, shapes, and sizes; we all need it for survival; it increases our enjoyment of our time here on earth.

On a side note, I thought this book was an older one as the pages seemed yellow.  I was surprised to see the copyright date was 2013; and of course, serendipitously, my local library had a date stamp for receiving the book on July 8, my birthday. 

Thank you, Jessi Kirby, for writing this book.

Thank you, my fabulous daughter Cori, for recommending this book to me.  May you always keep your passion for reading and perhaps one day become an accomplished writer yourself with that creative imagination of yours.

Passionately Yours,
Me

Motivational Moment:

May you live your "one wild and precious life" to the fullest; may you be challenged, inspired, and impassioned throughout your life.

"...what is it YOU plan to do with your ONE wild and precious life?"

Back To School Lament

Well...it's that time of year again...back to school!  I realize, as I was completely dreading this change to our relaxing, summer routine, that this viewpoint is such a relative experience.

I would imagine that if you were a teacher and you actually had the summer's off, you would dread having to go back to work after enjoying the summer vacationing.  But as I write this, I think that perspective really depends on if you have kids or not.  I guess my fantasy is that I am a teacher with the summer's off and I get to travel and go to the beach and pretty much do whatever I would like with my days.  However, if you throw a houseful of kids into that picture, particularly if they are young and rambunctious, well then, that time off would not be enjoyable and I would be counting the days to the return of the school year. (Hmmmm...I am thinking this is making me sound quite jaded considering I am a parent...or lazy...or a little of both).

Another perspective is that if I was a teacher who was completely passionate about my job, I would look forward to another school year as a new adventure with a fresh group of students who's lives I could positively impact (I am happy to say that I have actually had the pleasure of knowing such a person).  Whereas, if I was a teacher that completely hated my job, I would certainly be in the dread category (I am not so happy to say that one of my daughters had such a person and it was not a good year).

If I was a stay-at-home mom, I would be SO siked for the return of the school year (and my peaceful days).  In fact, two years ago, I was in between jobs and boy did I feel such elation at the start of the schoool year, such that I was dancing and singing up at the bus stop that first day.  (Ironically, the elation eventually faded when I realized my days consisted of doing laundry and cleaning and figuring out what to make for dinner and after school snacks, etc.  I will note that bed time was a lot more peaceful since I was not out of my mind exhausted from having a stressful day at work and then trying to cram all that stuff into the evening and then be falling asleep before it was my kids bedtime.  I actually was a better, more patient parent.  Go figure.) 

If I was a kid who loved school, whether due to a love of learning or a love of seeing my friends, I would relish the return of the school year.  On the contrary, if I was a kid who hated school because of the homework or the hassle or the classes or the kids, well then I would be in the dread category.

Being a full-time working mom, all that the return to school gives me is earlier, more hectic mornings, and much more busy nights with homework and clubs and dance classes, etc.; I dread all of this added stress to my days (being the serenity seeker that I am).  And compound that with the fact that I am NOT a morning person, it all adds up to one colossal dread of this time of year.  To make matters worse, I think about how I have 9 more years of having kids in school and 9 more years of getting up early and 9 more years of this hassle...but this is where I stop with this trainwreck of thinking.  We are not supposed to wish our lives away.  We have to enjoy each moment; carpe diem; live fully for each day; relish each season...yea, yea, yea, I know what I am supposed to be thinking.  Maybe one day I will get there. 


Already dreading that alarm going off in the morning,

Me


Motivational Moment:

Here are some quotes (taken from this site: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/high-octane-women/201205/50-quotes-help-you-live-you-were-dying) to help those of us who are not morning people or who aren't living for the here and now:

1."To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions." ~William James
2.  "I'm less interested in why we're here. I'm wholly devoted to while we're here." ~Erika Harris
3.  Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons. ~Ruth Ann Schabacker
4.  Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is the special occasion. ~Author Unknown
5.  The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there. ~Monica Baldwin
6.  "Why be saddled with this thing called life expectancy? Of what relevance to an individual is such a statistic? Am I to concern myself with an allotment of days I never had and was never promised? Must I check off each day of my life as if I am subtracting from this imaginary hoard? No, on the contrary, I will add each day of my life to my treasure of days lived. And with each day, my treasure will grow, not diminish." ~Robert Brault

And my favorite one:

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake." ~Marie Ray

May you spread your brilliance and shine today!

And as this new school year starts, I wish the absolute best for all students and teachers and parents!

Equal Rights...in Clothing

Today's blog is a Random Rant.  I am not about to delve into a deep, heated debate about a very controversial, hot topic.  No thank you.  I like to keep it simple and light (at least for today's blog).  There are enough serious battles in life without needing to conjure up extra one's for mere sport.  Hence, this little rant is about laundry.

I was doing laundry for the family this weekend and became very frustrated with an observation.  I would love to know why is it that men's clothing is made superior than women's?  What I am specifically referring to is 'Wrinkle-free' pants.  Men's wrinkle-free pants come out of the dryer - completely without wrinkles (smooth and beautiful)!  Women's, on the other hand, come out a complete wrinkled mess.  This is not some new phenomenon; I have noticed it throughout my 12 years of being married.  You can't tell me that they can't make an equally fabulous wrinkle-free pant for women.  It appears to me that men's clothes are made sturdier and frankly overall better than women's.  Is this some little sick joke on us women?  As if we are the ones who have all kinds of extra time on our hands to iron our wrinkle-free shirts and pants.  Ha!

Now, on the other hand, THIS would be a controversial topic between men and women...my daughters are of the age to start their 'time of the month' (by the way, growing up, I NEVER understood why people referred to them as your "friend"!  I always felt that it was my enemy, not my friend; I was never happy to see this monthly visitor...that is until I was 41 and it was late...then I was ecstatic - let alone happy - when my "friend" finally arrived!).  Anyways, I was discussing this wonderful topic with my daughter and she said, "Life is not fair!  Boys have it so easy!", as she stomped out of my room.  All I could do was laugh out loud, for I have had that exact same thought, every single month of my life, since my "friend" started visiting.  :)


In Search of Equality in my Closet,

Me


Motivational Moment:

 For Today's Motivational Moment, I wanted to share an exchange that made me laugh.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been trying to eat healthier to feel better.  Non-GMO foods are finally making more of an appearance here in the United States (apparently we are way behind Europe in demanding healthier food) and I have been saying it is a goal of mine to try to purchase more non-GMO foods.  When I was discussing this with someone (who shall remain nameless for the sake of peace in my life), this person said "is this one of your surgically modified foods"?  So I laughed and said, "People are surgically modified, not food; food is genetically modified (unfortunately).   ;)

May you laugh out loud today and enjoy it!

Bugged by Bugs

I know that we are supposed to love all of God’s creatures, big and small.  But truthfully, I would love for bugs to not invade my personal space.  If they could just stay off of my person, I could live in harmony with them. 

As evident, I am not a lover of the great outdoors.  Actually, that is not true.  I love a beautiful sunny day.  Wind blowing.  Weather in the 70s and low 80s.  That is my perfection.  Whether at a beach or in a park, or even my backyard in mid-summer with the grass a lush green and the sky a brilliant blue.  But these idyllic moments get ruined by bugs.  I hate them.  Particularly when they crawl on me, bite me, or sting me!

We have had beautiful weather this past week and I was ranting to my family that we have to spend time outside on these days because winter will be here all to soon and we will be indoor hermits.

So, after dinner, we headed out to shoot some hoops, swing, jump on the trampoline, etc.  We were only out for a half hour (this is what happens when you don’t get home from work until 6:30pm, eat dinner, and have to run to the store, so you only have a half hour of time allotted for the great outdoors in the busy schedule that is life).  I come in the house to head to the store, and notice that my hand is bothering me.  Some bug had the audacity to invade my personal space, and inject some part of its being, into the palm of my hand.  It wasn’t a mosquito bite nor a bee sting, not sure what it was, but the redness around the invasion of my being, was about the size of a quarter for a few days.

 A couple of days before this bug bite, we were at an outdoor concert for the evening.  At one point, I was thinking about what a nice night it was for the outdoor venue, when I thought I felt something hit my neck.  I right away put my hand up to brush it away, but all I felt was my hair and my necklace.  So I figured it was just the wind.  Well...about a half hour later, I felt something in my shirt, right under my bra.  I felt through my shirt and at first I thought I was just feeling the embroidered design on my shirt.  Then I realized that the design was on my upper left shoulder, and this was below my right breast.  So I immediately balled up that part of my shirt and start squishing the intruder in my shirt.  I was completely freaked out, so I squished the bug like crazy!  Then I lifted up my shirt and realized I had nothing I could use to get rid of the bug guts from my shirt.  Disgusting! 

This leads me to the previous weekend when we spent a couple of hours outdoors visiting with some out of town relatives.  Unbeknownst to me, my 11 year old (daughter A) was bit/stung by something Friday evening.   She showed my husband her arm that night and said it was itching.  He said it was the size of a pee and was not concerned.  The next day we had a very full schedule with my niece’s 18^th bday spa day and a graduation party.  We were driving home at 10 pm (after all of the med clinics are closed for the day) and daughter A says in frustration, “Ugh!  This arm is driving me nuts!!”  And I say, “what happened to your arm?”  And she says, "Something bit me when we were out last night.  I showed it to daddy.”  I glance at the arm (it was night and I was about to pull out of my parents driveway to head home).  The entire bicep looked red and swollen.  So I said, "I need to look at it better when we get home, because maybe it just looks (really) bad in the car."

I look at it at home, and indeed, her entire bicep region, from her elbow to her shoulder is one big, red, swollen, warm oval.  What looked like the size of a pee the previous night, was now the size of an avocado.

My natural born gift is that of a worrier (a very accomplished one, thank you very much).  I immediately think of all of those horrid pictures of someone who has a flesh eating disease or a brown recluse spider bite (have you ever googled a brown recluse spider bite??  Absolutely horrific how it eats through your flesh and requires surgery to remove the infected, rotted flesh as well as antibiotics).  So I asked her if it was horribly painful.  She said no, it only itched badly, occasionally.  It was warm to the touch and red and raised (all bad signs of infection) but due to the fact that she was not in bad pain – or even any pain at all – and was not bothered with symptoms, I deemed it acceptable to give her some Benadryl and put her to bed for the night.  The next morning, you could still see the shape, but it was less red and warm.  Within one more day, it had completely disappeared.  What the heck was that, I ask you?  Thankfully, it resolved quickly and did not require any treatment.  But of course it freaks me out in wondering what it was...since it is apparently lurking in my backyard.

The previous night this same daughter had a tree thorn puncture her foot through her flip flop and then the next day she had a pencil puncture her thigh when she kneeled on one.

It is no wonder why daughter A and I do not love the great outdoors.  We are bothered by bugs.  It is ironic, because being outside it supposed to be so calming.  Communing with nature...Absorbing Mother Earth's calming Alpha Waves...It all sounds great in theory.  A beautiful day, warm weather, sun shining, looking forward to a picnic or just hanging out or laying on a blanket and reading a book...until the bugs destroy the serenity.

Entomophobically Yours,
Me

Motivational Moment:

"Don't ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."  Howard Thurman

May you know what it is that makes you come alive and be able to live it!