Today was one of those even-keel days where nothing really stands out as a happy moment.
Some good things happened. B decided NOT to go to Atlanta this summer. At first I was disappointed, as I had been excited for her grand adventure, but after talking to her I think she made the right choice. It came down to friends, that she is a sophomore, most of her friends are juniors, so next year will be her last year of school with them. She just didn't want to miss it. So she decided to take the job T got her with Ceva here in the area, which will allow her to live in her college town for the summer and attend school for the fall semester.
D finally gussied up his resume and got it to T so he could get his name out there for a summer internship in his field, finance and accounting. That was good, although still nerve-wracking because the kid is a little behind in the process.
My mother-in-law came over after her art class and we spent some time printing off landscapes from the computer for her to paint. That was fun just because they were beautiful.
R got the day off school after 1st hour because the school lost power. Why is that fun for me? I don't know, but I always love it when he gets any day off, but especially an unexpected one. =)
But for the happy moment of the day, I think I have to go with my Bible study. We were a small group this morning, only three of us besides the leader. And one of the other women who was there is my favorite of all the women who attend. She's a great thinker. I love to hear her thoughts, I love to share my thoughts with her and hear her response. There are not many good thinkers in the world today, there just aren't, and I really appreciate the ones I encounter.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 28
Today's happy moment was an outfall of my own laziness. We had a late dinner, and by the time we were done, 1) I was tired, and 2) L wanted me to go upstairs with her to watch the end of American Idol and (our favorite) Dance Moms. So I put the meat in the fridge and went upstairs with her.
When it was over, my kitchen was still trashed, and I had to help T get packed for his trip to Colorado tomorrow. And I was TIRED. I didn't want to do anything.
T brought me several hangers of shirts he wanted me to fold for him, and my HAPPY moment came when he told the kids to clean the kitchen for me. Here it had been really only my own laziness that it wasn't already clean -- c'mon, I'd been lying on my back watching TV for the past hour and a half! But he said, "C'mon guys, Mom's tired. L, you empty the dishwasher. R, get up. You can clear the table."
Aww, thank you, T! That made me happy!
When it was over, my kitchen was still trashed, and I had to help T get packed for his trip to Colorado tomorrow. And I was TIRED. I didn't want to do anything.
T brought me several hangers of shirts he wanted me to fold for him, and my HAPPY moment came when he told the kids to clean the kitchen for me. Here it had been really only my own laziness that it wasn't already clean -- c'mon, I'd been lying on my back watching TV for the past hour and a half! But he said, "C'mon guys, Mom's tired. L, you empty the dishwasher. R, get up. You can clear the table."
Aww, thank you, T! That made me happy!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 27
Lots of good moments to choose from today. My daughter, B, called and said she got an internship she had been applying for. It's in Atlanta -- yikes -- a long way away, but with Hub Group, who apparently makes a habit of hiring their past interns full time once they graduate. Good news for an English major!
And a friend texted that she was wondering if R would be willing to go with her son to the Christian camp they went to throughout their younger years. And R said yes, he'd go if his friend went! T may put up some resistance because it conflicts a little with the baseball season and overlaps a day or two with our family vacation -- but I'm going to push for this. This camp was a wonderful influence on our sweet R, and I'd like him to experience it at least one more time before his childhood is over.
And D called just to check in and chat. He's not a natural chatter box, so conversations with him can involve me plying him with a lot of questions, sometimes asking things that are none of my business, but hey, a mom's gotta know! But it was so nice to talk to him.
And I found hope a cure for my itchy ears! I had some prescription medicine from years ago which works for a time, but the itchies always come back. And by now the bottle is long expired, so I've been a little nervous about using it. But I learned online that tea tree oil should do the trick! So I bought some today along with some jojoba oil to mix it in, and after only one treatment, it does seem to help. I'm optimistic that once and for all it will kill that fungus growing amungus. =)
But these were not HAPPY moments, were they? They were good moments. The HAPPY moment happened when T and I were in bed, watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond before going to sleep, and Oliver puts his little paws up on the edge of the bed asking if he could jump up to visit. Or maybe he was just announcing his intention, because he jumped up without waiting for permission. T and I were close together on the bed and he crawled right up to us in the middle, with his face just inches from ours, his bright little eyes just looking from one of us to the other, as if to say, "I'm here!" Then he reaches forward and licks T. T is not big on puppy kisses, so while he's recoiling, Oliver turns and licks me right on my lips. Ew! But he is SO DOGGONE CUTE! How can anyone resist him? That was actually the happiest moment of the day. =)
And a friend texted that she was wondering if R would be willing to go with her son to the Christian camp they went to throughout their younger years. And R said yes, he'd go if his friend went! T may put up some resistance because it conflicts a little with the baseball season and overlaps a day or two with our family vacation -- but I'm going to push for this. This camp was a wonderful influence on our sweet R, and I'd like him to experience it at least one more time before his childhood is over.
And D called just to check in and chat. He's not a natural chatter box, so conversations with him can involve me plying him with a lot of questions, sometimes asking things that are none of my business, but hey, a mom's gotta know! But it was so nice to talk to him.
And I found hope a cure for my itchy ears! I had some prescription medicine from years ago which works for a time, but the itchies always come back. And by now the bottle is long expired, so I've been a little nervous about using it. But I learned online that tea tree oil should do the trick! So I bought some today along with some jojoba oil to mix it in, and after only one treatment, it does seem to help. I'm optimistic that once and for all it will kill that fungus growing amungus. =)
But these were not HAPPY moments, were they? They were good moments. The HAPPY moment happened when T and I were in bed, watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond before going to sleep, and Oliver puts his little paws up on the edge of the bed asking if he could jump up to visit. Or maybe he was just announcing his intention, because he jumped up without waiting for permission. T and I were close together on the bed and he crawled right up to us in the middle, with his face just inches from ours, his bright little eyes just looking from one of us to the other, as if to say, "I'm here!" Then he reaches forward and licks T. T is not big on puppy kisses, so while he's recoiling, Oliver turns and licks me right on my lips. Ew! But he is SO DOGGONE CUTE! How can anyone resist him? That was actually the happiest moment of the day. =)
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 26
Today I went to lunch with my mother-in-law. Actually our plan was to go to an art store, Hobby Lobby, to buy her some new paint brushes, but it turned out to be a store owned by Christians so they were closed on Sundays! So we ended up going to lunch instead and talked for hours; then to a bookstore, getting coffee and talking some more.
I love my mother-in-law. She is really a special woman and I loved every minute of our time together today.
I love my mother-in-law. She is really a special woman and I loved every minute of our time together today.
Saturday, February 25
Today was a fun day all the way around, but it also had a special moment I'll tell you about in a minute. To begin with, today was L's mock exam for her Grade IV Cecchetti exam next week. She has such a wonderful teacher, willing to take the time to run the kids through a mock exam just to be sure they're completely prepared for the real thing.
Then my sister, P, treated me to a birthday lunch. My birthday is three months past, and we're only just now getting around to it. I had my all-time favorite, lasagna with a gooey, sinful dessert, and I don't think I'll be hungry again for three days!
When I got home from that, L was already searching out chick-flicks to make the most of our last night home alone without the boys. We found two to watch, The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock, and Life as We Know It, with Kathrine Heigl, and drove to the Blockbuster in the neighboring city to get them. (Our Blockbuster is going out of business!) They were both pretty good, but I don't know that I'd recommend either of them to our most conscientious Christian friends.
L's interest in romantic movies is blossoming concurrently with her interest in boys, not surprisingly, and both are becoming more frequent topics of discussion among her friends. My daughter, B, took a different, more unique, path through her adolescence, always marched to the beat of a different drum, and this was just never an issue; L is more typical. She's silly, and giggly, and from all outward appearances, completely shallow. She's all about how she looks, her hair, her make-up, her clothes, her style. She's also all about celebrity crushes, and more recently, who of her friends likes whom, and most recently, which guy in their small circle is madly in love with her, but too bad, he's ugly. She's a caricature of the American teenage girl! At least she appears to be.
So, as much as I was enjoying my time with her watching these movies, I was also concerned that the attitudes portrayed in these movies about sex and relationships were actually molding her world view, overwriting the values that T and I had taught and exemplified for her.
So when we got up to make popcorn between the movies I took that opportunity to talk about this with her. I knew it would not be easy and I would have to tread lightly. She is committed to her shallow facade and doesn't like her cover blown! (Although truthfully, at that point, I was not completely sure how much of the shallow giddiness was facade and how much was real.) But I did broach the topic. I told her that she had a good ten years of guys falling "madly in love" with her just because she was pretty and dressed the part, and that we as women are responders. It's hard not to respond to attention like that, and that she needs to be careful (prayerful) before she gives her heart away. I repeated in as few words as possible, because L doesn't respond well to too many words ever, but especially when it comes to matters of the heart, that God created that type of relationship between a guy and a girl for marriage, and if marriage is not even in the foreseeable future, then she needs to be careful, it is only wise to not become entangled in an affair of the heart with a desirable guy. In other words, that entire American dating scene is sick. Amazingly, she was able to reassure me that, yes, she did believe that God had a man chosen for her, and until she felt sure the guy she was interested in was the guy God had for her to marry, she fully intends to keep her heart under raps. In other words, she's not as shallow as she'd have us believe! =)
Thankfully, she revealed that at least a couple of her best girlfriends also have the same perspective, and they have discussed it among themselves. At the same time, she has one friend who is headed for trouble, T and I both see it. Poor thing, a real sweetie and a preacher's kid. I love her, but I just don't want her dragging my L down the path she's headed. Her parents seem slightly clueless about some important things.
So, that conversation with L was my happy moment of the day!
Then my sister, P, treated me to a birthday lunch. My birthday is three months past, and we're only just now getting around to it. I had my all-time favorite, lasagna with a gooey, sinful dessert, and I don't think I'll be hungry again for three days!
When I got home from that, L was already searching out chick-flicks to make the most of our last night home alone without the boys. We found two to watch, The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock, and Life as We Know It, with Kathrine Heigl, and drove to the Blockbuster in the neighboring city to get them. (Our Blockbuster is going out of business!) They were both pretty good, but I don't know that I'd recommend either of them to our most conscientious Christian friends.
L's interest in romantic movies is blossoming concurrently with her interest in boys, not surprisingly, and both are becoming more frequent topics of discussion among her friends. My daughter, B, took a different, more unique, path through her adolescence, always marched to the beat of a different drum, and this was just never an issue; L is more typical. She's silly, and giggly, and from all outward appearances, completely shallow. She's all about how she looks, her hair, her make-up, her clothes, her style. She's also all about celebrity crushes, and more recently, who of her friends likes whom, and most recently, which guy in their small circle is madly in love with her, but too bad, he's ugly. She's a caricature of the American teenage girl! At least she appears to be.
So, as much as I was enjoying my time with her watching these movies, I was also concerned that the attitudes portrayed in these movies about sex and relationships were actually molding her world view, overwriting the values that T and I had taught and exemplified for her.
So when we got up to make popcorn between the movies I took that opportunity to talk about this with her. I knew it would not be easy and I would have to tread lightly. She is committed to her shallow facade and doesn't like her cover blown! (Although truthfully, at that point, I was not completely sure how much of the shallow giddiness was facade and how much was real.) But I did broach the topic. I told her that she had a good ten years of guys falling "madly in love" with her just because she was pretty and dressed the part, and that we as women are responders. It's hard not to respond to attention like that, and that she needs to be careful (prayerful) before she gives her heart away. I repeated in as few words as possible, because L doesn't respond well to too many words ever, but especially when it comes to matters of the heart, that God created that type of relationship between a guy and a girl for marriage, and if marriage is not even in the foreseeable future, then she needs to be careful, it is only wise to not become entangled in an affair of the heart with a desirable guy. In other words, that entire American dating scene is sick. Amazingly, she was able to reassure me that, yes, she did believe that God had a man chosen for her, and until she felt sure the guy she was interested in was the guy God had for her to marry, she fully intends to keep her heart under raps. In other words, she's not as shallow as she'd have us believe! =)
Thankfully, she revealed that at least a couple of her best girlfriends also have the same perspective, and they have discussed it among themselves. At the same time, she has one friend who is headed for trouble, T and I both see it. Poor thing, a real sweetie and a preacher's kid. I love her, but I just don't want her dragging my L down the path she's headed. Her parents seem slightly clueless about some important things.
So, that conversation with L was my happy moment of the day!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 24
Well, today was a bit of a dull day. It was good in that we got to have a lazy morning with no homeschool classes, and L got more schoolwork done at home than she normally would on a Friday because of that. And I got a few chores done that made me happy, made easier because T and R were gone.
But maybe the moment I would have to call the day's happiest was after dance, being free to turn the car around on a whim and go to Olga's for dinner with L and her friend, R. No one at home to feel compelled to get home to to care for. That was fun!
But maybe the moment I would have to call the day's happiest was after dance, being free to turn the car around on a whim and go to Olga's for dinner with L and her friend, R. No one at home to feel compelled to get home to to care for. That was fun!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Thursday, February 23
Two happy moments today, one extra special and one just fun!
First the extra special one. My daughter, B, needed me to drop a suitcase and some other miscellany off to her at school because she is going on her church's winter retreat on Saturday. I was going to go on Friday morning while daughter L was in homeschool classes, but we are expecting a snowstorm to come through in the wee hours of the morning, so I decided it would be prudent to get that to her tonight.
Didn't really want to go. I was all ready to curl up in our nice warm house and watch scintillating episodes of America's Funniest Videos and Everybody Loves Raymond. But I also did not want to creep my way down there in the slush and snow in the morning, anticipating at any moment to careen into a ditch with no one to rescue since T is up north with R! So I bit the bullet and went.
What a blessing! She and I went out for coffee at the local Barnes and Noble and talked. We talked the way only B and I can talk. Somehow we were born on the same wavelength, the same brain frequency, and our conversation goes exactly where we both live. It was wonderful and intimate and uplifting for me, but my heart was touched when I got home and L told me B's new facebook status: "I highly recommend my mom to be your best friend." Made me cry!
The fun moment came late at night. L and I were both hoping her homeschool classes would be cancelled because of the coming winter storm, and as I was saying good-night to her she said, "I just wish they could tell us tonight!" (Rather than us having to get up early just to check.) The words were no sooner out of her mouth when my iPhone went "ding!" indicating I'd just received a new e-mail. I looked, and it was from the homeschool people saying they had cancelled classes! Yahoo! We got up and watched an episode of Everybody Love Raymond just to celebrate! =)
First the extra special one. My daughter, B, needed me to drop a suitcase and some other miscellany off to her at school because she is going on her church's winter retreat on Saturday. I was going to go on Friday morning while daughter L was in homeschool classes, but we are expecting a snowstorm to come through in the wee hours of the morning, so I decided it would be prudent to get that to her tonight.
Didn't really want to go. I was all ready to curl up in our nice warm house and watch scintillating episodes of America's Funniest Videos and Everybody Loves Raymond. But I also did not want to creep my way down there in the slush and snow in the morning, anticipating at any moment to careen into a ditch with no one to rescue since T is up north with R! So I bit the bullet and went.
What a blessing! She and I went out for coffee at the local Barnes and Noble and talked. We talked the way only B and I can talk. Somehow we were born on the same wavelength, the same brain frequency, and our conversation goes exactly where we both live. It was wonderful and intimate and uplifting for me, but my heart was touched when I got home and L told me B's new facebook status: "I highly recommend my mom to be your best friend." Made me cry!
The fun moment came late at night. L and I were both hoping her homeschool classes would be cancelled because of the coming winter storm, and as I was saying good-night to her she said, "I just wish they could tell us tonight!" (Rather than us having to get up early just to check.) The words were no sooner out of her mouth when my iPhone went "ding!" indicating I'd just received a new e-mail. I looked, and it was from the homeschool people saying they had cancelled classes! Yahoo! We got up and watched an episode of Everybody Love Raymond just to celebrate! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)