What I Do and Do Not Miss About High School

This one is kind of tough for me. Sometimes I can hardly remember last week, or yesterday, and they want me to remember high school? Yikes!

I miss some of the people (both students and teachers). I think it's kind of strange that some of my classmates have grandchildren that are the ages of my children (yep, I was an older first-time mom). I miss the feeling that I had more days ahead of me than I do behind. In my senior year, I was on the school paper staff...that was fun.

I don't miss being overweight and painfully introverted.

However, something happened in high school that probably overshadowed anything else "bad" that may have happened. About four months before graduation, my father came home sick from work one day. That was unusual because he was so type "A". A week later he passed away (stroke/heart attack) at the age of 47. I was in a play called "Lazarus Laughed" by Tennessee Williams (I think?) at the time, so the whole theme was like, 'there is no death'. Even in our church community at the time, social invitations kind of dried up after that...like people were afraid death was catching or something.

Yup, I could've done without most of that.

I'm not usually this maudlin, so I'm going to close out this post and go think about my daughter's 8th birthday on 2/2.

Hey, Younger Me!

February 1, 2011

Dear Younger Me,

I'm you from...oh, a couple years in the future. Thought I'd pass along a little information and some tips I've picked up over the years. I just hope it doesn't screw up the time line, KWIM? *lol*

Have a good relationship with God. This is probably the single most important and far-reaching thing you can do to have a good life. The sweetest peace you will ever know will come to you after accepting God's will the morning you think you are having a miscarriage. BTW, the child resulting from that pregnancy will be 8 years old tomorrow. (It's really a coincidence that her initials are TAO.)

It's ok to step outside your comfort zone every once in a while. It will not kill you. I am living proof of that. I'm not saying it won't be scary and uncomfortable but the rewards are great. Being the only non-line officer to compete in the MUJD contest in 1980 and winning, finally auditioning for a play and getting a role, going to the lawyer and finding out that MIL really did not have standing to try and get custody of the boys...you'll be walking on AIR that day.

Appreciate your Mom and Dad more. They won't be with you forever.

You are a valuable, talented person. It is possible to believe in yourself when others don't, and to show them you are right. To quote Shakespeare, whom I know we both love, "To thine own self be true, and then it follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." It's ok not to follow the herd.

Love yourself, your family and your friends.

Oh, and brush your teeth. And floss,

Love,
Me

I Guess I Chose "Truth"

Sorry, just my little attempt at being punny. I joined Bloggy Moms' Blog Dare group around the middle of the month and posted about a week ago. They have a prompt for each day of the month and all I managed was one entry. But I'm counting this round as a win because it ended one of the longer dry blog spells for me of recent memory.

I find the daily prompts extremely valuable for a couple of reasons. Everybody has dry spells. And with my recent surgery, etc, sometimes my motivation lags more than usual. I am also looking forward to February and more consistent blogging.

As for my knee, there is more soreness than pain now, and rather limited range of motion. I can neither completely straighten nor bend my knee very far. But I start pt tomorrow, 3x per week for 4 weeks.

Blog Hopping Weekend!

I'm kind of new to the world of blog hops, so when I found the "Fun Weekend Blog Hop" hosted by Raven of "Pumps, Pacifiers and the World" I had to get my hoppin' shoes on! WAHOO!

I've had 3 children and pumped for all of them. I nursed the first two. My daughter was born at 32 weeks and they tube fed her for a while...long enough so that she never took to nursing, but I still pumped, so she got breast milk. Her 8th birthday is next week...and she is VERY excited! *lol*

Like Joanna of "Figuring Out the Small Stuff", I hate having to give something a numerical rating as a measure of value. It rates right up there with the questions "Does this make me look fat?" and, "So what do you think of my new boyfriend?" ;)

Another new bloggy friend I made today is Jacqueline of "Chez Mukweto". Like me, she educates her children at home. She is also my new crafting idol.

I'm a bit jealous of MizReviewLady at "Mommy Reviews and More" because of her new socks. You'll have to visit her to find out why! *hahaha*

So...what's new in my life?

At the end of September, I was kicked in the knee at work (a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD). A week ago Monday I finally had an operation and I'm recuperating from that. I'm sore and grouchy...but my family has been great, picking up the slack and all. A lady from church even brought over supper one day last week to help out.

So while the pain and lower income kind of, well, suck, I have had more time to spend with my family. I went to work the week after DD came home from the hospital and with one or two exceptions, I have been working since she was born and feel like I have missed so much. So this time is very, very precious to me.

Blog Dare - How I Use Social Media

So the bloggy dare for today, January 22, 2011, is "How do you use social media?"

I use social media mostly for social reasons. I've done some outreach to other mom bloggers, but have not really made a "business" use of it...yet. Maybe if I reversed the percentages of time I spend playing FarmVille et al and the time I spend blogging and developing business, that would change. *lol*

My main reason for looking to change blogging to more of a business is that in the past year, I have been on medical leave from my job at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD. The first time was 1/24/10 to June 2010 for an elbow/shoulder injury (that is still hurting) and the 2nd time was/is from 9/28/2010 to the present for a knee injury. In fact, I just had surgery on my knee on Monday. I still don't know what the outcome will be. I doubt I will be able to return to similar work. Right now, just standing up for more than 15 minutes is a challenge. (Oh yes, I have consulted an attorney, who tells me that while related medical bills can be covered for as long as the condition exists, there is little hope of any other monetary outcome. I'd like to think I'm not greedy, but my family has lost our health insurance due to the length of time I've been on medical leave.

Any tips, etc, would be welcome. Thanks for visiting and reading! "O)

List of 100 Ways to Give - Part IV

31. Take a cart from the parking lot to the store on your way in.

Next time you are on your way into the grocery store and pass one of those cart corrals clogged with buggies, take one with you into the store. You'll make someone's job a little easier, and you're going that way anyway.

32. Always return your shopping cart to a designated return location.

Ever had a cart run into your car? Well, neither have I. *whew* But I see carts left every which way in parking lots, even when the corral is not that far away and there isn't a cloud in the sky. At a grocery store on a hill, I once saw a cart roll downhill through the entire parking lot, across a fairly busy road and finally go off the blacktop on a side road. There was nothing I could have done to stop it. Thank goodness it didn't hit anything. You can give back by putting a cart where it is supposed to go.

33. Donate a handmade item to a raffle/sale/auction for charity.

Are you good at crafts, cooking and the like? Non-profit organizations are always looking for funds. Why not donate a good which you have made so that the group can sell it? You give to the cause and get the word out about your talent. There is nothing wrong with receiving sometimes ... it's a very important part of the cycle.

34. Get certified in CPR.

For my last job, I had to get certified in "Heartsaver First Aid". Every two years, you get re-certified. Thank goodness I never had to use it outside of the class. And thank God I would know what do to if an emergency occurred.

35. Pass on your knowledge of CPR on to another person.

Imagine if even 5% of the general public were certified in CPR and/or first aid, imagine how many people could be helped after an accident or natural disaster. Imagine if your loved one(s) were one/some of those helped.

36. Volunteer at your child's school.

How can one instructor teach 25 children? With help of the kids' parents! When my boys went to public school, I volunteered in the classroom once or twice a week. Their classmates called me "Mrs. B." Even years later. I still smile thinking about it. You can help a child understand a difficult concept, make copies, help put up or take down displays. I loved every minute of it.

37. Adopt-a-Highway.

Don't go running across freeways to pick up a cup someone thoughtlessly threw out the window. But anyone can pick up an empty bag that blew up to a yard. Get together with your neighbors and "adopt your street". Start to think (if you haven't already) about what you put in the garbage in the first place. Every little bit helps!

38. Walk/play with animals at the local shelter.

The reason most shelters are faced with having to euthanize animals is because they can't afford to keep them. Help reduce their costs. You can donate money or food or accessories. You can volunteer your time to care for the animals. You can get a youth group to get the word out about an adopt-a-thon. There are groups around the country who will transport a pet from one state to another if there is an animal that can be rescued.

39. Teach basic cooking skills to youngsters at a shelter.

My kids are fairly independent an like to do some things by/for themselves. Teaching them kitchen safety and basic cooking skills (dependent on their ages and abilities) was a win-win situation. It freed me up from going into the kitchen to get someone something every 15 minutes! And learning a new skill was great for their self-esteem.

Kids from struggling families have enough in life with which to be concerned. Having an adult who cares (and has time) to teach them a skill that makes their lives better is a God-send. It doesn't have to be in a shelter...you could show a scouting or youth group. Get your kids involved too...nothing helps cement your knowledge of a new subject as teaching it to someone else.

40. Put a dollar in the Salvation Army red bucket.

A couple of years ago we started a little tradition. When we went to WalMart on payday, each of the kids got a dollar to put in the bucket on the way out. It got to be where the kids would start asking for their dollars when we checked out. Two years ago, my daughter (then 5) even got to ring the bell herself when she put her dollar in. It brought a smile to every bell-ringer's face. The way I figure it is if I have a dollar for a soda (and that's cheap for a bottle of pop these days), I have a dollar to put into the bucket for an organization with the connections already in place to do a lot of people good.

List of 100 Ways to Give - Part III

21. Join and participate in coupon train.

Do you clip coupons religiously? Join a coupon train! I had never heard of one of these until I joined several "Mom" sites on the internet.

There is a list of people in the train. You get an envelope of coupons from the person before you on the list. You clip even more coupons. Keep the ones you use and mail off the others to the next person on the list. Giving and saving is great!

22. Shovel a neighbor's sidewalk.

As my mother got older, and my brother got busier (I had moved away with my family some years before), a neighbor took it upon himself to bring his snow-blower over and get the snow off my mother's driveway. This is quite a job because snows where Mom lives often put down a couple of feet at a time. What was his connection to my Mom? Both his wife and my mother were born in Switzerland.

23. Give a cold drink to your mailman during the summer.

I suppose in this day and age, it would be better to have a bottled water of juice or can of soda around. I've seen some mail trucks where the air-conditioning consisted of a little fan attached to the dashboard. Can you imagine riding around in one of those for 8 hours? Ugh!

Back in the summer, when I would go to work in the afternoon (and the car windows had been up until that point), I had to use a shirt to operate the steering wheel until my hands got used to the heat. I always had something to drink with me.

24. Give a warm drink to your mailman during the winter.

Now there's nothing wrong with giving a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate to your mail person. But in this day and age some might not feel comfortable accepting or drinking it if they don't know you well. You be the judge.

25. Make a special supper for each member of the family once a week.

Some people say charity begins at home. Where better, then, to start giving? And what a great example to set an example for your children! It doesn't mean you have to eat 'high on the hog' (sorry, I'm country, those are going to slip out now and again *lol*) every night, but cook a favorite dish, put their food on a special plate, have each family member tell a good quality of the family member du jour. Help your kids see that each person has something special about them. Do this less than once a week...just do it.

26. Read a book to a child.

Moms and Dads should be doing this anyway. Schools suggest at least 20 minutes per day of reading with your child. I know the idea of this is to get the child reading to help improve his or her skill. Every now and again, though, it's nice to be done for instead of to do oneself.

27. Read a book to an elderly acquaintance.

My husband's Mamaw is 89 years old. She used to get out and go, putter around her house and kitchen. A couple of years ago she broke a hip. She can get around on her own, move from chair to chair etc. But most of the time she just sits in her wheelchair. Now, she's hardly ever alone. She's in her home, and two of her three remaining children live within 5 minutes of her. We always visit when we stop by the in-laws'. Come to think of it, this would be a great chance for the kids to practice their reading!

28. Read a book to a visually impaired acquaintance.

I tutored a visually-impaired Greek exchange student for about a year, at a time when I was doing several plays. She enjoyed going to "see" the plays...I know, at first I didn't get it either.

We don't do this (give) because someone is someone has less than us. We give because every person is worthy of "being seen", being connected to others.

29. Drive someone to the grocery store who does not have other transportation.

One of our neighbors recently lost his apartment and his girlfriend in one fell swoop. He has no transportation. Well, our common landlord is letting him stay in one of the apartments that is being renovated in exchange for some work. And once in a while we drive him where he needs to go.

A twist on this one is to call up a neighbor when you are going to the store anyway and see if there is something you can pick up for them.


30. Join and be active in your local school's PTA/PTO organization.

The PTA meetings at my sons' primary school (when they were in public school) were always packed. But few people were around when it came to organizing programs or fundraisers. Take the next step. Do more than you have to. Just don't wear yourself out. They are our children too.