May Daze

It's been a weird month all the way around. Time seems to jump to warp speed when the calendar pages turn to May...but this year, I'm glad to see it gone.

I'm back to battling diabetes again--watching my carbs, testing blood sugars, exercising (walking, jogging) every other day like I should have been doing all along. So far, I've dropped 12 pounds, but I've hit a plateau--must increase water intake. So, that's on my list of priorities for June!

Mother's day was awkward this year. My good friend, mentor, and supervisor for the past 3 1/2 years passed away the Friday before. He had been sick for a long time, but I had no idea how bad it was. Working side by side all this time, you get to know a person pretty well--and their family for that matter. Although I knew he was gravely ill, I just didn't expect him to pass when he did. Truth be known, he was my inspiration for taking better care of myself. I want my kids to have put up with me past my 59th birthday. So, we spent Friday getting everyone notified of Dennis' passing, since the funeral was Saturday, it was all very quick. With the worst day being Monday, of course. There's nothing more heartbreaking than watching a widow and their daughter clean out your supervisor's office of all his personal affects. I'm just grateful he had time to get things in order and didn't suffer unduly. God was definitely watching over and helping the family through this.

Sunday, Mother's Day, I found out my family doctor's wife had died as well. 53. She helped me through some really rough times--mostly convincing me that I didn't have to be all things to all people and SuperMom too. I've always had a lot of respect for her & her husband--they're the kind of couple that inspire you to be better together. I'm going to miss talking to her on a personal level and sharing scrapbooking ideas. She was a wonderful lady.

Tonight, we have family coming in from out of town. I'm heading to Graduation ceremony tonight at our school; the first event to be held in our brand, spankin' new gym. And thank God for that gift--it's still raining!! I'm excited to see it, since we were supposed to have an open house Sunday and couldnt--the floors had to be stripped and refinished because the second coat of finish went on before the first was dry (or something along those lines). So...exciting to see the new facility completed and to see one of our best classes in years round out their high school careers.

We're in the process of remodeling the house--new carpet, tile, paint. Lots of elbow-grease, but it's kind of cool to see everything come together and know you had a hand in making it so nice. Must take pictures and post...

So, with Memorial Day fast approaching, I just thought to check back to see how long it has been since I updated ye ol' blog...boy, I'm a slacker!! I'll have to add that to June's priorities too, I guess! We'll see... :)

Opportunity to Make a Difference

I work for a state agency, but my job usually does not result in contact with the general public. Yestereday, however, I opened the door and headed out to lunch when I saw a young man frantically walking towards me with two young girls, ages 4 & 2. He asked if I could let him in the building through an employees-only entry, and I directed him to the public entrance. Extremely aggravated, he shouted back at me that these two girls (no shoes, no bath in weeks, lice infested, and obviously terrified at this point) were not his kids, and that he found them playing in the busy street between the building and the parking lot. The kids were too little to provide anything but first names.

I had a co-worker join me so we could walk the man and the two kids down to CPS, which ironically, is in the same building. The man didn't want to turn them over to CPS because he didn't want to get the kids taken away from the mother. Fortunately, this is standard procedure when we see this situation come up in or around state facilities.

When we got about half way down the hall, a woman came running from behind us screaming at her kids for getting out of the car. We explained that we had to walk them down to CPS because they were found by a stranger playing in the busy street outside. She said that was fine, because she was headed there anyway for her appointment about her brother's case.

After CPS investigators took our statements, we all went back outside to leave for lunch. The man was still upset about "causing" the mom so much trouble. I explained that this was not his making, and that if she was this comfortable neglecting them on her way into the CPS office, imagine what it must be like at home--especially considering what physical condition the kids were in when he found them in a busy street. Anybody could have picked up those kids, and she is so fortunate, in so many ways, that it was someone decent like himself and that her kids are safe.

I'm sure most everyone's been in similar situations, although maybe not as extreme, and I just hope there is never a hesitation to step up on behalf of someone who cannot speak up for themselves, no matter the consequences. Hopefully, the man will officially call to report what happened so it can be dealt with appropriately. The future of those little girls depends on it.

People need to understand that neglect is abuse. Could this have been a huge misunderstanding? Maybe, but when we're dealing with children, especially small children, we have to err on the side of caution. This one instance could be a symptom of a much larger problem for these kids. I send up my prayers for the whole family so that something positive will come to them from what happened yesterday.

What We Really Need Is a Story!

You know, I just didn't realize how much I could be blogging about until I got a Kat call. So, I am going to try to do better from this point forward.

The lastest update, which has been weeks in the making already, is Bryan's role in our church's first ever spring musical, Eye Witness News--Live from Jericho. The church has worked hard to establish one of the best after school kids' clubs in the area. They have invested their time, effort and money into being the church by involving our kids in missions to help the community. When I first brought Bryan to kids' club, I fully intended on dropping him off and coming back later to pick him up after it was over. However, when I got there, after opening prayer, the kids broke into groups and Bryan happened to be in the group that began working on music. They teach the kids lyrics to songs and how to use sign language as they sing. While that may seem like a minor thing to some, I thought it was awesome and couldn't tear myself away. For this reason, among others where I have seen how they have helped the vulnerable in our community, I've been volunteering and helping with classes and whatever else is asked or mentioned when I can.

I'm particularly excited about this opportunity for our kids to step up and into the spotlight with our musical. We have kids from the 1st - 6th grades participating either by singing, dancing, and/or acting. These children are practicing atleast twice a week for about an hour and a half, and are learning their parts at home as well. We will soon be working on costumes and props. Our fearless leader, Tina, has bore the brunt of organizing everything and has done a superb job thus far. Her husband Jim, one of the most genuinely soft-hearted people you'll ever meet, has also been working with the actors group. One parent has been helping with the dancers. I've been working with the actors on lines and blocking.

I must admit--it's kind of fun to get back into this again. I did, after much cohersion from Mr. Cooper, participate in One Act Play--even managed to earn All-District cast member. The whole OAP was really alot of fun in the end, and I learned alot about myself. I finally realized that it's good to take risks and not worry so much about looking "stupid" or silly in front of other people. Too bad that happened in my senior year!! Or maybe that's a good thing?

Anyway, to the cool part--my boy Bryan is going to be acting the part of "Jack" the news editor. He will also have a solo in one of the songs at the very beginning, "What We Really Need is a Story". Bryan has always been an top student, but he almost missed this opportunity because we were trying to get the older students involved. We didn't get enough committed kids to sign up for speaking parts, and we needed a few good men--young men for the male characters. I mentioned that Bryan could probably handle a speaking part. He cold-read Jack's part and nailed it to the T. I was, and am, very proud of him for doing such a great job. We've had alot of fun already with it, but I know it will just get better as we continue to practice and pull it all together.

Anyway, we'll be practicing alot between now and showtime. The show is scheduled for Sunday, March 4th at 6:30PM. We'd love for family and friends to come out and see what we've been working so hard for!

Also...I've finally decided that Jayce is going to join kindergym gymnastics. Granny has graciously volunteered to take him to classes during the week so he can have some little kid interaction. After seeing him clothesline two little girls his age this Christmas, James & I decided he probably did need more time with kids his own age--seems big peewee football players are not the only kids he should probably be playing with. So, we're all very excited about his new activity too.

With that, I'm going to stick a fork in this one...

Let 'em Ride!

Yes...I got my first prodding from Kat today. I just didn't realize it has been almost 4 months since I created this. So, here goes!

2007 has to be better than 2006...just has to be. This past weekend, we took off for my favorite Aunt and Uncle's place in the middle of nowhere (kind of a recurring theme in my life...). They have the perfect grandkid/grandparent oasis of entertainment setup. Their grandkids are a little spoilt--seems to run in the family too. Anyway, they have these little baja mini-bikes. Their youngest grandkid, I think he's 5, can't fully touch the pedals, but he was zipping around all over the pasture on this minibike.

As soon as we got there, Betty scooped up Jayce and all I heard was "Bye Mommy!" He spent all day riding around on the minibike and the gocart. Bryan went for his first ride and came back no less than 30 seconds later with a bleeding cut on his throat, ripped t-shirt, and scraped hand--on his first motorized adventure of his little bitty life, he managed to locate and lock onto the only barbed wire fence on the property. On his way back to camp, he actually crashed (again) into the driver side front fender of James' pickup.

I know what you're thinking, and so was I. He was done--no more, pack it up. He knew it too--but Aunt Betty came to the rescue, "Make him get back out there, he's got to learn one way or another". So back on the bike he went. He did much better after that, but I know I cringed everytime I looked up and didn't see him for more than a few minutes. James was just as nervous too.

We had more fun (good, dirty, goofy fun) than we've had in a long time. Alot of it has to do with Betty & Morris (a.k.a. the "ol' buzzard", "Uncle Buzzard"). They are so much fun and really involved with making sure the grandkids know how to have a good time playing together.

So, even though I had joked with Betty & Morris about doing this, on the way home, we stopped by Tractor Supply to find out if they still had those little bajas. Bryan still had money he's been saving since Christmas, so we ended up pitching in a little to get him one yesterday--not a bad deal for $400. Needless to say, he's very excited about getting to play on it again. Jayce hasn't yet seen it, but I'm sure he'll be excited too.