Anniverary of a Sort

Today is Palm Sunday. The beginning of Holy Week. I cannot come to this day each year without remembering 17 years ago to the day, a young 13 year old girl came into our family and stayed for 5 1/2 years. Her family had disintegrated around her and no one was there to help her pick up the pieces. What she had seen and experienced in her short life most people don't see in a lifetime.
That particular Lenten season I had been praying that God put before me what he wanted me to do and to allow me the courage to do it. Then Palm Sunday came and there was his answer.
I have to tell you it scared the pee out of me. I had not handled teenagers to that point and did we ever get a crash course!
I have prayed that prayer again this season. I had been talking via email and Facebook with that same girl, who is now a beautiful woman, for about 3 months or so. This last Thursday I heard voice again on the phone. This was not a cry for help (except her 2 year old boy is in his terrible twos and who doesn't want some help there). It was just a phone call so very long in the making. I talked with her the next day and the next. I have seen pictures of children. She has called me mom again.
Thanks be....
Where is the need that needs to be met. I know the answer will be coming and it will probably scare the pee out of me again. I just hope I will be allowed the courage to meet it.

Niagara

My husband and I traveled to Buffalo, New York this past weekend. His sister had passed away and we were there to celebrate her life with her family. Beryl had been suffering and when she died, the sons and daughter knew a healing had taken place. Beryl was better.
In making the arrangements, I went through the different websites, explored all the costs and finally arranged a package deal for flight, car and hotel. I congratulated myself on getting a good deal and while we would be flying at ungodly times of morning, the trip should go off very smoothly.
I maintained that feeling until I went to pick up my car. That procedure went without a hitch. It was when I went to look at the address of the hotel that I felt as though I had been punched squarely in the solar plexus.
You see, George had recommended we stay at the Holiday Inn on Niagara Falls Avenue in Buffalo. The funeral dinner would be there. Family from out of town and state would be staying there. It was also one of the hotels offered as part of the package. I clicked, hit submit and away we go.
Then comes the oh poop moment.
I saw the address. It was a Holiday Inn alright. On Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls. See the difference? Yeah, I did too. It was 15-20 miles down the road from the one preferred. Are you thinking I should just try to change the reservations? George did. So did I. Until it dawned on us that at the same time we were there, the NCAA BB Tournament for the Northeast was taking place in Buffalo for the weekend. Throw in the mix a little league hockey tournaent in town and switching reservations became problematical. Actually, switching became down right impossible.
So on to Niagara Falls we went. I felt really bad. I felt like I had let my husband down. He would not be able to spend as much time with his family, it would be more mileage and time spent....
We checked in and went to our room. There was a huge picture window in the room. George opened the curtains, looked out and said "I think we are staying."
There they were. The Falls.
They were and are so incredibly beautiful. And that was our view morning, noon and night.
It was a good trip.
I think Beryl made my hand choose that hotel. She knew.

Thank you Beryl.

In passing...

My husband's sister passed away yesterday afternoon. She would have been 90 on April 1st of this year. The death was a blessing for her. She had been in an extreme amount of pain and this is the healing that was needed.
After learning of the death and while George was on the phone with his niece, I went to work getting the plane tickets, hotel and car reservations.
Did you know booking at the last minute can mean big profit for these entities. Yikes!
But... The arrangements are made. We are leaving everyone here and flying to Buffalo.
We will see family and George will be able to say good bye. This was his oldest sibling. He has never known life without her and this brings mortality a little closer to the front door.
This type of thing always does.
Pray for him.
As a side note, point of information if you will, I will be concentrating very hard while taking off, flying and landing. I see it as my duty to all passengers on the plane to help keep the plane in the air. Physics be damned, it does not "look" like that plane should stay in the air.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning has begun, God help us all.
I started with my middle child's room. Since the floor had not been seen in quite some time and there seemed to be some questions as to whether or not a dresser still resided in the room, it needed to be first. Add in to the mix she is gone until late Wednesday night, so I have free reign....
Well, you get the idea.
I went into the room yesterday afternoon and have through the day, today. Still some word to be done, but a great deal has been done.
I could not believe the amount of trash taken out of her room! Plus the clothing she will never, ever wear again. Amazing!
But it was the beads. The beads. The blankety blank beads!! Fi and her sister had gotten into making jewelry, hemp, beads and the like. A nice hobby we had encouraged. Creativity is something we really push in this family. Anything that causes a person to think beyond the ordinary. But the beads....
There were some big ones, but it was the itty, bitty ones that stick in your feet or escape when sweeping. They were everywhere. I tried picking up most of them. Really I did. I got to the point where it was futile and I just did not give a damn anymore. Everything got swept up and dumped into the growing trash pile.
Fi does not know what I have done. I figured she will find it soon enough.
I will let her thank me later on.
After the screaming has stopped.

Seasonal

I just viewed my blog. Something a person should do once in a while. Just to remind themselves of what is going on. Scanning the screen I came to the bottom. A link I had put on the blog sometime ago stated there was nothing in season in Kansas at this time.
This struck me as funny. Irrationally funny. The type of funny that will crop up throughout the day.
Nothing in season in Kansas in the middle of March?
Is that even applicable anymore given the produce you can find in the grocery stores? Oh, nice garden stuff in the summer and early fall is wonderful, but "seasonal"?
Hmmm. Brings me to the next thought. Have the perpetuators of this link seen the amount of skunk road kill on the side of the road lately? The skunks are in "season" and they be thinking one thing and one thing only. Maybe they should be listed as seasonal.

Spring Break

It is Monday morning of SPRING BREAK!
That needed to be put in caps. This is an important time of year and for anyone involved in education in any way, a very necessary time of year.
So, while many are in their cars hurrying to some far away destination, I am sitting in my favorite chair, about to drink my third cup of coffee and a dog at my feet (insert sigh of contentment here).
My husband wanted to make a to do list for the week. His thinking is sound in this endeavor. If we don't make the list, things won't get done.
But what is wrong with this picture? I was not long up and only on my first cup of coffee. I was reading the paper, primarily the editorials on education funding, and I was not in plan mode. Not one bit.
For that matter, conversation seemed to be rather unnecessary to me as well. I give George a lot of credit. He wrote several things down and was able to elicit responses from me on some of them. But he knew when to give up with a sigh and go on to something else which did not need my input, in another room, on another floor.
It takes me a while.
So for those of you scurrying hither and yon to make the most of your time off... Good for you.
My third cup of coffee is calling me.

House Divided

My husband and I just finished watching the Big 12 championship. We are not real big into sports. I realize this comes as no surprise, but the Kansas teams (note the plural) were up against one another. Both teams are really good and it promised to be an excellent game and boy, did they deliver.
So, in watching the game, we cancelled our going to a jazz concert. We opened a very nice pinot noir and popped pop corn. We just don't fit the round balling stereotype.
My husband, having sent 4 kids to K State, rooted for the cats. I love the Hawks.
My team won.
We toasted the winning team and vowed to watch periodically through the legendary "March Madness".
I believe we have a lovely petit syrah to accompany at least 2 games. And an absolutely wonderful reisling for the final game, match, set.... whatever.

Letters

I just did something I have never done before. I wrote to the President of the United States.
I asked for help for our school system. The state does not seem to listen, maybe someone else will.
As of today, 7 teachers have been notified they will not be back next year. These are good teachers. These are friends. They have families.
Our students will suffer from these cuts. We will suffer from the holes created.
So I wrote. And I will continue to write. I will make calls.
Will you?

Scholarships

My middle daughter is applying for scholarships for college. She is not having a good time.
Having to read all the instructions and follow them at the same time is not her idea of fun. Add to the good times the fact the deadlines are fast approaching and governmental forms need to be filled out.
Again, she is not having a good time.
Now, she hits me up with all this after I get home after a 12 hour day including Parent/Teacher conferences. My patience unnecessary frenetic deadlines is not strong anyway. Today the patience quotient is pretty low. As in zero.
Fiona is in her room weeping and filling out forms. I am in the living room waiting to see said forms and refraining from saying all the mean non parent of the year type things floating through my brain.
Eventually she will come out and I will be nicer.
We will get through this.
By God!

Chocolate may not solve, but it sure helps

A friend of mine called me from the road tonight. Now, put aside the fact she was talking on a cell phone while driving, and follow me.
She told me she called because I would understand.
L said it had been a long day and before getting on the road for home, she needed gas and chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.
She got the gas and most importantly, the chocolate. Once on the road, the chocolate needed to be unwrapped. Here lies the problem. Once unwrapped, and while the woman was driving, the chocolate escaped her grasp, bounced off her belly, and fell on the floor of her car.
Here is where I come in.
L called me, knowing I would understand. Knowing of my belief that chocolate can make the world a better place in the time of turmoil.
The chocolate was on the floor. A car behind her made it impractical to put on the brakes and to pull over. There was also the possibility if she bent over to get the wonderful substance she might spur an abdominal charlie horse, and , well, L was having none of that. Just wasn't going to give that a second thought.
As we chatted and laughed, the car behind finally passed. L was able to pull over and get her chocolate.
Life was a little better.

I should be...

I should be grateful, really I should.
I came home late Saturday night and found a kitchen full of dirty dishes. Keep in mind, I left a clean kitchen after cooking Saturday afternoon for a reception. A heavy sigh and decision to do the dishes before church in the morning, I went to bed. The dishes bred like bunnies in the dark and there were even more Sunday morning. But I did them, left clean kitchen and went off to be holy. Or something like that, but there was definitely a clean kitchen. I returned home and found more dishes. Arrrrggh!
Now, I had to do more dishes before cooking for yet another function, and then clean up after myself. Another heavy sigh, a look toward heaven and on I went to said function.
When we arrived late afternoon, our oldest was creating a dinner masterpiece. George and I were not going to eat, but everyone else was and there was much chatter and laughter. Can't argue with that or even remotely grumble. I looked at my kitchen and then at my kids. I stated the amount of times I had done dishes over the past few days and that alot of it was due to their grazing. I wanted the dinner and prep dishes done and my kitchen clean.
The directive was repeated and met with groans of understanding. I descended to the basement to be out of sight.
I could hear throughout the evening, my son and daughters in the kitchen bargaining with one another who would and could do what. I did not, repeat not, intervene.
This morning I found a relatively clean kitchen. Oh the floor is sticky from making juice and the thought that some of it went on the floor obviously escaped whoever made it. The table and stove were overlooked and there were still some items left from the night before. So, I should be grateful they did the overwhelming majority of the dishes.
I should be...
But, man! When will they see all of the kitchen and not stick to letter of the directions? When will they see or feel the sticking to the floor?
Stop it! Take a breath.
It will happen.
I just I hope I will live to see it.