Mom’s Musings

Today was one crazy day.

I worked at the middle school until 1pm, dashed home, said “Hi,” to my husband and warmed up a quick lunch for the two of us. Then it was time to dash off to pick up my elderly mom to go to a couple of appointments in Bellingham, one to see how her Pacemaker is doing (It is doing fine.), and the other to meet her new cardiologist. (He had a good sense of humor. When he asked, “What may I do for you?” my mom started telling him what was wrong with her feet. He listened sympathetically, then took a model of a heart and asked, “You know what this is?” When she answered in the affirmative, he said, “I am only a doctor of the heart. You would be in big trouble if I tried to figure out something about your feet!”).

Next we had to go to Option Care to straighten out a billing misunderstanding between Option Care and my mom’s insurance company. After that we went to another office to sign papers changing her health insurance carrier. Keep in mind that my mom cannot really get into or out of the car on her own, and usually doesn’t even do much walking at her assisted living home. She is going to be one tired old lady tonight, because she got into and out of the car many times this afternoon and evening.

Our final stop was at Taco Bell for dinner. My mom has always enjoyed Mexican food, including the Americanized “Mexican” food served at Taco Bell, so this was a treat, and a necessary stop also, since dinner at Meadow Greens is served at 4:30pm, and it was 6pm by the time we stopped to eat.

I dropped her off at her place, and called home to let my people know my whereabouts. Thankfully the girls had started cooking some dinner for everyone already. I picked Seth up from basketball practice, and finally drove up to the house, just in time to say, “Bye!” to my husband, who was leaving to help our son Michael move into his new place close to the college. Whew!

Kayla was here and knew how to settle me down. She asked, “Shall I make a pot of decaf, Mom?” You know what I answered, and so here I sit, typing my blog post for the day, too tired to do anything else, enjoying that coffee.

Have a good night, y’all.

(P.S. - Yes; we received a little more snow last night, but the roads were fine by this afternoon, so that wasn’t part of the stress of all the errands. I will hope, for the children’s sakes, to report a heavy snowfall soon. What is winter without a few days off from school because of snow? We want it!)

Today was a lovely day.

This morning was a rush, as it was my first day back to work at the Middle School since Winter Break. I was so hoping that we would receive a veritable dump of snow so that school would be cancelled and we could continue to enjoy our days, wide open with possibilities, and less full of structure. But, that is spoiled of me. It was great being back at school, dialoguing with students about their math thinking, and giving their thinking little pokes now and again.

After a quick, late lunch at home with Rick, I was off again to pick up Rebecca and Debra from the high school. Reb had an appointment to have the post-wisdom-teeth-removal stitches removed. Debra wanted to be dropped off at the library, which was on the way. Afterwards we three gals enjoyed a rare treat, stopping at Woods Coffee (think local version of Starbucks). My current favorite is a seasonal drink called a Brown Sugar Macchiato. We swung by the school where Lydia was finishing up basketball practice, and brought her and a team mate home. Then I threw together a quick dinner, using the last of the slow cooker barbecued beef to make a Spanish rice dish, topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream and salsa, with tortilla chips on the side.

A short time after dinner, Rick, Reb and Seth headed off to the high school to cheer on the boys’ basketball team. As they left, Rick said I should try to pre-write about five blog posts to increase my efficiency! Funny guy! I have to have an idea or an inspiration or something funny has to happen or someone in the family has to take photos before I can blog. To oblige him, however, I am sitting here, telling you what I did today, which is NOT AT ALL my usual style.

A short while ago I noticed some headlights shining through the blinds behind me, and, sure enough, it was Kayla coming home for the weekend. I believe this was her first day back to work too after the break. This evening she and her roommates had a sushi party at their place, and then she headed home. Upon her arrival, I took a little break from reading email, reading blogs, and typing this little entry, to make us a pot of decaf. So warm and comforting on a windy, chilly evening! Now I hear cards being shuffled, which I think means that Lydia and Kayla are getting ready to play Skip-Bo. I want to play, too! So, I bid you Adieu! Have a good evening.

The internet is down at home. Once our youngest son gets home from school, I’ll have him take a look at it to see if we can get it up and running again.

In the mean time, I’m on my lunch break here at the middle school, so want to get at least a little post in to fulfil NaBloPoMo requirements to post EVERY DAY for the month of November. (I joined a bit after the first of the month, so may be disqualified already, but I’m doing what I can.)

Last night we had our first snow! So beautiful, and it did remain overnight, but, to the children’s disappointment, it wasn’t sufficient to necessitate a snow day. My husband took the camera with him so I have no pictures to post. So sorry.

This morning I overcame my natural antipathy to all things mechanical in order to read the Suzuki Grand Vitara owner’s manual regarding changing the vehicle over to four wheel drive. This was a pleasingly simple operation. I was thankful for four wheel drive on our long driveway and our steep hill, but beyond that it wasn’t necessary. On the way home this afternoon, I won’t need it either. The surrounding foothills still look as if powdered sugar has been sifted down upon them, but the roads are melty.

My break is about over. I’ll hope to do a longer post once I’m home, if we can get the internet connection back.

I haven’t been able to post in quite some time due to Clear W’re being so unreliable and temperamental. We are on the very outskirts of being able to receive their signal. Also, rainy weather, which is frequent here, seems to interfere with the signal. I find this a source of frustration and disappointment, since we are paying to be connected to the Internet, after all, but so be it. So . . . I will sneak some postings on at some opportune millisecond when Clear W’re is operable.

I’ve been so serious, people. Here’s something a bit silly to offset that:

Your Psyche is Yellow

You have a ton of energy - both physical and mental endurance. You are rational and logical, and you can help almost anyone think clearly. Optimistic and bright, you also have a secret side that’s a little darker. When you are too yellow: You will do anything to get your way, and no one will be the wiser When you don’t have enough yellow: you lack confidence, drive, and humor

You Follow Your Head

You’re rational, collected, and logical. Generally, it takes you quite a while to fall in love. In fact, you’ve even been accused of being very picky. While you’re cool, you’re not ice cold. You just know what you want, and don’t mind waiting to get it.

I would say that is true of my husband as well. When we were introduced by mutual friends (Rick and I were both about 26 or 27 at the time), Rick said something along the lines of, “I’m meeting you to see if it might be the Lord’s will for us to get married.” Matter-of-fact. Honest. I was a bit shocked, but appreciated his forthrightness. Something came of it, eventually. We married when we were 29.

You Are a Realist

You don’t see the glass as half empty or half full. You see what’s exactly in the glass. You never try to make a bad situation seem better than it is… But you also never sabotage any good things you have going on. You are brutally honest in your assessments of situations - and this always seems to help you cope.

I agree! How right-on is that?

From the left, going around the table: Michael, Debra, Lydia, Rebecca, Seth, Joyce, Laura, Sarah, Kayla and Philip. Picture being taken by Rick.

As our children grow and move toward independence, we and they think much about future work for them. Through the years we have hopefully been noticing unique talents and abilities, and have been encouraging them to work diligently to develop those talents.

Children are not *one-size-fits-all*, but differ from one another in gifts, abilities, interests and challenges. We as parents should certainly focus on our children’s moral and spiritual development, as is stated in the following Bible verse.

However, this verse also seems to indicate that the child should be trained up in the way he should go. He has a specific way that is best for him to go.

The following article is one about discovering one’s gifts and interests, and pursuing them. I really liked it, and hope you do, too:

True and Real

By Mac Anderson

You can’t fake passion. It is the fuel that drives any dream and makes you happy to be alive. However, the first step to loving what you do is to self analyze, to simply know what you love.

We all have unique talents and interests, and one of life’s greatest challenges is to match these talents with career opportunities that bring out the best in us. It’s not easy — and sometimes we can only find it through trial and error — but it’s worth the effort.

Ray Kroc, for example, found his passion when he founded McDonald’s
at the age of 52. He never “worked” another day of his life.

John James Audubon was unsuccessful for most of his life. He was a terrible businessman. No matter how many times he changed locations, changed partners, or changed businesses, he still failed miserably.

Not until he understood that he must change himself did he have any shot at success. And what changes did Audubon make? He followed his passion. He had always loved the outdoors and was an excellent hunter. In addition, he was a good artist and, as a hobby, would draw local birds.

Once he stopped trying to be a businessman and started doing what he loved to do, his life turned around. He traveled the country observing and drawing birds, and his art ultimately was collected in a book titled Audubon’s Birds of America.

The book earned him a place in history as the greatest wildlife artist ever. But more importantly, the work made him happy and provided the peace of mind he’d been seeking all his life.

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This article was excerpted from The Dash Gift Book by Linda Ellis and Mac Anderson reprinted here with permission. You may share this story as long as you do not edit the content and leave all the links active. http://www.SimpleTruths.com ~ Thank you ~
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