Take it Like a Man

I am blessed with healthy kids...we don't catch the flu, rarely have colds, and have, thankfully, outgrown ear infections. So, we rarely go to the doctor. In fact, we have even gotten out of the habit of annual check ups, or well visits. So, being a mom, I figured it must be something we should take care of and made appointments for all three boys...probably mostly to allieve my conscience.

Well, I was telling the boys about their pending medical rendevous, and someone asked if there would be shots involved. Trying to be positive ( because noone here has outgrown their adamant dislike of injections and the pain they cause) I said I wasn't sure, but if we have to get them, we would grin and bear it and "take it like a man." That was last week sometime.

Yesterday in the car, we were discussing our plans for next week, and I reminded them that we had Dr. appts next Wednesday. M, in a kind of small voice from somewhere in the back seat asked "Could you tell them to keep it turned to child, instead of man, until I get just a little older?" I was confused...turn what where? What was he talking about? Then I realized...when I told him he was going to take the shot like a man, his 7 year old brain conjured up a man-sized needle! So, I explained to him what I meant, and that he wouldn't have to take a super-sized shot. Needless to say, he was much relieved.

Now, let's just hope that between the three of them, noone needs a booster shot......but chances are, some one will be taking it (somewhat) like a man when the nurse comes in with the needles and bandaids next Wednesday.

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

5 1st graders + 2 big brothers + cookies & ice cream + 1 scavenger hunt + 2 toilet paper mummies + 1 bottom-busting ballon race + 5 hours of sleep = a happy birthday sleepover for M.

Boy sleepovers are sooo much different than the girlie affairs I remember from long ago. No make up or beauty pagents ( weren't Stephanie S.'s parties always the best, though??), no one gets their feelings hurt, no one locks himself in the bathroom. Boys can entertain themselves for hours with a few cars, a deck of cards and some video games ( no matter what age, right guys??). Hide and seek is always the favorite at our house - but the blue glow sticks kind of gave away everyone's hiding place.

Rites of passage are synonomous the world over. Every culture has those events that are anxiously anticipated, and which bring about a greater respect for the certain individual by his peers. The big birthday sleepover must be at the top of the list for 1st grade boys. However, I am happy to report that this rite of passage has been successful and no lions were killed, no wolves skinned, no vision quest completed...just a bunch of 7 year olds having fun and keeping me on my toes.

Happy Birthday, M! - we love you

Too Soon

"Come away, come away, death

And in sad cypress let me be laid"

Twelth Night (II, iv)

William Shakespeare

He will always be a smile on our face, a story in our mind, a love in our heart and a wisdom in our soul. We love him always and miss him already.

1935-2009

Historical

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865.

Today is a very significant day in the history of our country. Despite obvious situational differences, Lincoln's words from his 2nd Inaugural Address seem very fitting for today and the promise it holds. Our nation is poised on the threshold of opportunity and optimism. Let's walk through that doorway together as citizens and neighbors.

Good Luck, America, as we do what our new President has asked of us:

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. ..We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom...Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America...All this we can do. And all this we will do." President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009.

Now, let's go and be the doers, the risk-takers and the makers of things. We all have a stake in this chapter of our nation.

pennies on the sidewalk

4 days in a row....4 miles :)

We all need to appreciate the small things in life...like small steps being taken to reach larger goals, or a penny on the sidewalk. I know my four days of exercise are not really impressive to many, but I am pleased with them. I have begun my shift, and haven't stumbled...yet. In the meantime, I will continue to smile at small accomplishments...like my daily mile.

In her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard speaks about simplicity in life, and finding pleasure and wonder in the small, unexpected corners of life. She tells of hiding pennies when she was a child, just to see if anyone would stop to pick them up. Her childhood imagination presumed that all who picked up the "lost" pennies would be stumbling upon a windfall treasure, a golden fortune. She then comments on those who did not take the opportunity to pick up the pennies, "It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnurished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get."

My penny today? - - a continuation of my quest for a healthier me.

What is your metaphorical penny?

Resolutions

Day 1 - 1 mile

OK - - I need help sticking to my routine. The last time I was diligent about exercise, it took the force of hurricane winds to knock me from my habit ( literally, IKE came and went, and the workout went with him and I have been idle since then). So, new year, new resolutions...I've been back in the school routine for a week now, so I think I have been generous enough in giving myself time to ease into the new year. I am going to start slow, but slow and steady wins the race, right?

So, here I am turtling into my resolution - a habit of exercise. But, if I do happen to stop and put my head in the shell, hopefully it isn't because another storm is brewing in the gulf!!

Yep, Its Official

I guess when you live in the south, it is only inevitable. It is bound to happen sooner or later. It is part of our worldly personna, our identity to the rest of the human race. I'm sorta impressed I have lived,umm, 37 years in the deep south and never experienced it before. Intrigued yet?

Well, Saturday night we went to the Monster Truck Rally - one of the most redneck occasions I can think of attending. Today is P's 12th birthday, so to celebrate we took him, his brothers, and 3 friends to the Truck show to see GraveDigger, Maximum Destruction, El Toro Loco and the rest of the monster truck superstars. (Aren't you impressed that I can rattle off their names like I am talking about Hollywood who's who?). I was pretty skeptical, and the only reason I decided to go (silly me, thinking big trucks were only for boys) was that it was kind of P's birthday party.

Anyway - was I surprised. I wasn't engulfed in ta'bacy spittin', no teeth smilin', mullet combin', dropped out of the third grade, low-rider '83 Camaro drivin' crowd. In fact, we sat next to several families...most of whom looked a whole lot like us. The boys - all 6 of them - had a great time. They loved when the trucks smashed into old cars or jumped over ramps. And, I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool, too. Most impotrantly, P had a great birthday celebration, the last one before he hits teenager-dom....that's a whole new post topic, I'm sure.

So, I guess it is now official - I have embraced my inner red-neck...do you think I can surpress it again for the next 37 years?
Before the big event...eating pizza.
GraveDigger - the star of the show (that's 3 cars underneath there).
Texas' own, El Toro Loco -check out the long horns!
Maximum Destruction flying through the air (no pun intended).