The 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

One of the realities of raising boys in this sex-crazed-soft-porn-is-acceptable little world is the difficultly that it is to protect the boys of having such images burned into their little brains at an early age.

 I remember reading a story somewhere or hearing advice once about a mom who avoided the check out lines with magazines to protect her children from the sexualization displayed on the covers, opting to have a battle over candy bars now rather than facing other more subliminally ingrained battles later.

I remember there was a time I took that advice to heart, but somewhere along the way I forgot it.

Until today.

Today ISH and I were on our regular Monday grocery run and, after scoping outing which line was the shortest, I pulled into lane 8. And what should be there as a last ditch effort for an impulse buy but this season's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

"Ugh!" I thought.  "Lord please protect my boys."

And as the words were going from my mind to the Father ISH says "Oh."

"Oh?" I replied

"Oh, that-" he said pointing to the SI cover.

"Oh :( " I thought

"-that is really inappropriate." ISH said with as much disdain as can come from a six-year-old lisp-y little mouth.

"Yes. It is." I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why do they want to put that on the cover?" ISH asked me.

"Because some men like her and some women want to be her and they think it's a good way to sell magazines."

"Well I don't."  (Lord keep this innocence about him)

"Me neither buddy." I said as I started to put my groceries on the checkout line belt feeling as though I had somehow avoided a storm.

"Now that-" he said with his eyes getting bigger, pointing the Food Network Magazine cover of a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese tart, "that's what they need to have on the cover.  That's what they need more of."

I giggled.

"Yes buddy, I agree."

 

The Closest I Ever Got to Mardi Gras

***Warning- I am unsure if my mother knows this story but I'm fairly certain the statute of limitations has run out on it. If I happen to be wrong- Mom, please forgive.***

The closest I ever got to Mardi Gras was my freshman year in college.  The Saturday before Mardi Gras my friend A (whose mother hated/hates me for all the crazy things I talked this small town girl into doing in the name of college freedom) and I decided it was perfectly reasonable (okay probably I decided and convinced A it was a good idea) that two 19-year-old girls could drive from Oklahoma City to New Orleans, sleep in their car (to save money of course-- see logical thinking here), and then attend the Mardi Gras festivities the following day.  We would be perfectly safe.

When we ran this idea by A's boyfriend at the time, he was less than impressed with our creative plan for fun.  He, who was the "chaperone" on my roommate's tattooing adventure down to Dallas, decided the plan would be much safer if he was there to at least sleep in the car with us.

Brilliant.  It was decided we would leave Monday morning.

Only then did we check the calendar to realize that Mardi Gras had been the week before.

The Lord protects the stupid that's for sure!

 

Clarification- I've Never Lived in Mexico

While riding in the car on the way home from Sonshine School is begins to divulge what he told the lady who drives the pick up van.

"I told her we use to live in Mexico." He said quite proud of himself.

"ISH! You can't tell people that." I replied

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, it's not true."

He sat there looking a bit puzzled.  So I tried to explain a little better why this might become complicated in case the whole fiction-reality thing wasn't enough for him.

"What if one of the teachers comes to ask me why we lived in Mexico or what about this or that about Mexico. I wouldn't know what to say because we have never. live. in. Mexico."

"Oh don't worry about that." He assured me.  "I listened very well in my World Explorers class when we studied about Mexico. I told her all she'd ever need to know.  There won't be a need to ask you questions about anything."

In Memory of Lisa

Among other things, regular Saturday things, that I spent yesterday doing, I spent yesterday preparing egg salad for the meal of condolences in honor of my friend Lisa.  She wasn't my bestie but she has been in my life for the last 3 years as Geo and her son have attended school together.  We've helped together with class parties and talked as our kids have played together at birthday parties and summer pool gatherings.

Twenty months ago Lisa found melanoma and fought hard to beat it.  But the last time I saw her, on the last day before winter break, she told me all that was left to do now was pray.  She and her husband were researching experimental treatments and trying to see if there were any last ditch efforts she could qualify for (explaining the complications of cell matching and the like that qualified or disqualified her from such treatments).  But in reality, she looked tired.  In reality this once vibrant, ultra-involved mom, sat in a chair in the boys' classroom and said how thankful she was that family was coming in to help do the things she no longer had the energy to do.

Within one month Lisa's kidneys and liver had shut down and she passed away.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I think pale is beautiful, to lie and say I don't like a bit of that "healthy glow" a suntan brings.  Or sit here and tell you that I didn't spend summers as a kid, as a young adult, laying out to get tan.

But I will tell you this- burying someone at 44, seeing a son without a mother, a husband without a wife- it's enough to have me lathering up (and calling my brother the dermatologist at every new fleck on my skin).

It has me hoping that you, or someone younger than you is willing to watch this video and make the change too.

Soccer

ISH has decided to take a break from karate to try his hand at soccer.

To help get him ready for "clump ball"* LK went and got him a ball and they spent time on Saturday practicing kicking and scoring into an old soccer net the previous owners left with the house.

Today ISH asked if I wanted to come and practice.  My job was to try and kick it into the net because, he explained, he enjoyed being goalie best.

But, every time I kicked it towards him he'd shreeeeeeeek and fall to the ground.

"ISH," I said as kindly and as supportive as I could, "I don't think the job of the goalie to scream and fall to the ground every time the ball comes near him."

"Oh," ISH stated rather of mater-of-factly, "apparently it is."

This coach is going to have his work cut out for him that's for sure.


*for all you non-children homes out there clump ball is the act of small children clumping around a soccer ball and following it around the field instead of playing actual positions. For example

In The Beginning

It's 2012. January 1 of 2012 to be precise. It's the time when people wake up and think of new beginnings and all the things they promise to do differently next time.

I'm not sure why people need to make resolutions on January 1- but I do know the gym will be much busier with all the new resolutioners... for at least a month.

I guess that's why I'm not one who's much for resolutions-- they are almost always broken.

And there is such an expectation for them to be made in the first place. Jan 1- must resolve something. And if there is one thing you should know about me from the onset it's that I have the complete and total inability to do what I feel I must do. (This is the same reason I can't bring myself to follow The Pioneer Women-- no offense to her but everyone's "oh you'd looooove her. Really- you should." And it makes me not be able to do it. I'm sure this offense her greatly. Comply- who? she'd say.)

So no resolutions. No me saying flat out here is what will or won't be done this year. After all, on any given day I could have a child placed with us and then all those thoughts of what I will or I won't in 2012 will likely be out the window or at the very least forgotten from being thrown back in to the world of sleepless nights.

Instead, I give you my list of things I'd like to see what this year or for some of them, things I'm beginning to think I might want to do this year.

1. Continuing running. Me running comes as a huge shock to anyone who knew me before 2011.  I use to say I would only run if someone was chasing me with a knife.  And it had to be a knife because if they had a gun I might run and then they'd shoot me and so it'd be all for not.  But in 2011 I started running.  First to try and encourage the teenager who was living with us to a healthier lifestyle but I continued running when Geo decided he wanted to run a 5k in April.  As the mother of boys, I need know it will be important that we have something we can connect through as each year he gets a little older.  At his pace the 5k will take 40 minutes.  This month we'll be up to running 25 minutes.  Running is still difficult for me in that I normally don't want to go out and do it.  I have to make myself do it.  But as Geo said in our last run of 2011, "It's always hard when we start, but by the end, it's so much easier."  Good life lesson Geo.
2. Figure out my new sewing machine.  When my grandmother passed away in October, I got her Bernina sewing machine.  And on Pinterest I've found lots of lovely sewing projects.  I want to actually do them this year and not just pin them for some day (though some of the kids clothes will have to wait until we know what gender is coming our way).
3. Play the guitar more. I just flat didn't make time for that in 2011.  I'd like to change that in 2012.
4. Grow out my hair again. (This is the one I'm only beginning to think I might want to consider doing) This is probably a pretty funny thing to say from someone who shaved her head by mistake this summer.  But I've had short hair for 5 years running now and that's a long time for me to do anything the same. (I can't even keep my furniture in the same room for 1/5 that time).  The last time I grew it out was to donate it and maybe that's where I'll go with this again.  And maybe I won't grow it out at all.  What do you think- to grow out? Or not to grow out?
5. Read the Bible. I was raised in a Christ-centered family and have attended church my whole life (minus a few less than wonderful years in college).  This has been a true, full-on resolution in years past and true to resolutions, I've never done it.  But I think it's pretty pathetic that someone who has been in a faith community for as long as I have has not read the Bible all the way through (even the slow parts like Leviticus and the Chronicles).  I used the Blue Letter Bible app this morning and it let's you save notes from the read.  I might post them here- not because I'm a Biblical scholar and what I think will change the world.  But posting what I think may firstly keep me more accountable to following through (ugh- "accountable" stated on January 1- that sounds like a real resolution doesn't it.) and secondly- I'm interested to know what you think on the notes.  Interested in guidance from others and your thoughts as I work my way through book by book.

So there they are.  Five things to aim for this year.  Four and 1/4 if you take my whole hair growing thing to it's proper place in importance.  Pretty manageable it seems. And there are a few personal ones not listed.  If you'd like to know them, you'll have to call me up for coffee.

So what about you- are you a resolutioner?  Do you have any for 2012?

Or are you a bit more like me- no resolutions, just "aims" of where to head.  Where are you heading in 2012?

Game On

For those of you keeping score-- we're back to a "Game On" stance.

Heal Thy Self

I once sat with a friend as she, in complete frustration, was discussing her ministry. She told me how this was the ministry she felt God was leading her to do. She knew in her heart that this was where she needed to be. She told me she had prayed and how she had asked other to pray that God show her how to go. And yet... it seemed like every door closed in her face as she tried year after year to make her way down the road she thought she was suppose to be on.

Tired and confused she asked me- if this is where she's suppose to be, why isn't anything working.

I just sat there unable to say the thoughts that were really in my mind. Unable to look her in the face and tell her that maybe if you've prayed for guidance and asked others to pray for you so you can have wisdom in the decision as well and it's all that difficult, maybe you're not really suppose to be on this road. Maybe these road blocks are here for a reason.

I don't mean that it's time to give up at the first sign of rough roads ahead, or the first time there's a bump. But I wanted to tell her maybe the road blocks are there to answer her request for guidance.  To answer her question of how to go about it.  Maybe the road blocks are telling her where to go and she doesn't want to listen.

Maybe this time, I'm guilty of the same thing.

This Time Last Year

This time last year I was way better at blogging then I am now. But then this last year wasn't exactly what I had expected it to be. ... But I guess to understand what I expected from 2011, you have to understand 2010.

The beginning of 2010 found me in a "me" period. While I was still working and growing my business, and while I was still a full time mom and wife and involved in church ministries, the beginning of 2010 came with lots of extra time. Maybe it was that I had reached that lovely age with my children where they could get Pop Tarts on Saturday and hang out with cartoons by themselves, that age where they could dress themselves and help out around the house -- leaving a little more time for me each day.

Or maybe it was like a mentor of mine once told me that these times are gifts from God- periods of peace that he gives us before "it" comes. And while we can't ever know what "it" will be- she once encouraged me to use these times and enjoy the gift.

And so I started to learn guitar. I began taking classes in aerial silks. I started cooking more and hosting more friends in our home. I spent two weeks traveling in South East Asia … It was an enjoyable time of peace.

But while talking with my dad one day he said the words that would forever change it all. He said he was glad I was having all this time on my hands and glad that I'm enjoying it. After all, he is a strong believer that God wants us to enjoy what he give us. But then he encouraged me to ask God if perhaps there is more he would also like me to be doing with this time.

And so I did.

And soon God began to stir within me the desire to have more children in my life. But strangely, he didn't simultaneously stir the desire for them to be biologically mine. This desire for children clearly came with a lack of wanting to carry or deliver anything.

In June we sat in church holding a friend's one year old little girl. And from out of nowhere, I commented to LK, "well, you know, we could always adopt." With this comment, this one little phrase, a deeper conversation began between LK and me. Would we not take a child if someone left it on our door? Yes! And in that we realized there hundreds children waiting to be taken- they just don't know where our door is.

Within a week we were on the phone with Christian Services. We decided that perhaps jumping head first into adoption might be a bit much, but fostering, and interim fostering- the people who care for babies that are in the phase of no longer being with their biological family but not yet with their forever family- that would be the best way to test the waters.

Then a foster family told us that their foster child would soon be available for adoption and that because the child was going to have to be placed with a sibling, they could not do it.  Yet again, another phrase that lead to 500 conversations.  Could our home be the place for them? 

These conversations led us to put our house, the house we deeply loved (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) but that would not hold two more children, on the market and move in to a house that would better suit the growing family we felt we could soon have.

The entire process with these children was a difficult situation and our lack of having any say in anything that happened stirred up within me the need for control I thought I had conquered.  And one day in August as I was ranting to God asking why on earth would he put this desire in my heart only to have me not get to do ANY OF IT!  I felt him call me to a time with him.

I can't explain it in words that don't sound like some crazy out of body experience- but I know, in that moment, the God who Sees, was asking me to ask him- seek him.  And so on August 3 I committed to the Lord to have 40 days of prayer with him.  To wake up early and spend 30 minutes in the morning seeking him and asking for his direction.

There were several stops and starts.  Surely God would understand that I am tired, that I am traveling, that I was up late with a sick kids, etc. Surely he's okay with me sleeping in today.

November 1, 2010 the gloves came off and I decided for real this time- no excuses- I needed to carry out my commitment to the Lord.  And so for 40 days I got up early and spent time with the Lord.  Asking him to show me what he see for me this all of this.   I began with a study of Ecclesiastes then Proverbs, and ending my 40 days in Job, asking that I can know the Lord, and be known by him.

As I ended my 40 days we had moved into a new house, but still had the old one and the sale of it was quickly falling apart.  Four days after I ended it the contract fell apart.  And we were left with two house, 10 days before Christmas.  One staged with all of our furniture and the other with card tables and blow up mattresses.

Twelve days after I finished my 40 days, I received an email about a teenage girl who had no where to go and said the one thing she wanted in life was to have a family.

LK looked at me and said- we need to do this.

We were certified interim-foster-parents but no children had been in need yet.  And while our heart was still pulling towards the sibling pair, that situation wasn't moving at all.  And so we made the call- and learned that if she could come, it would at the end of January.

As we learned more, I began to pray.  I first began to pray that God help our house sell.  I told the Lord I can't have DHS come into a home with no furniture and try to convince them this is a suitable place for anyone to live.

Our house went back on the market right before Christmas, the time when no one looks at let alone buys a house.  Between Christmas and New Year we had one showing if not more almost every day and the Monday after New Years we had three offers on the table all eager to have our house.  In a down market, in the winter the Lord delivered full price, no closing costs and close at the end of the month.  He had kept his end of the bargain and now it was my turn to keep mine.  And so my prayers became:

"Lord! We may have a [teenager] come to live with us.  Be with her.  Thank you Father for all the situations in my life that you have given me up to know that have me fully capable to minister to someone like her.  Be with her and bless her."

"Lord, I see clearly how all that happened before can be of good use now.  In ALL THINGS.  Thank you for times of trial.  Thank you for redeeming me when I've fallen so I can show the same love and redemption to another."

Our furniture arrived January 26.  C moved in January 28.  And through God's power she was baptized on March 23.  Fully becoming a member of the family of God.
 
And I would love to stop here and tell you everything since then has been wonderful.  But that's not life.

Throughout the remainder of 2011 we pushed for the siblings only loose them over the summer... as if they were ever really ours.

And in September, C moved out- deciding she no longer wanted the life we were offering.

It felt confusing and sad.

But I believe God had us in the lives of the sibling set in a way that is hard to explain in a venue like this.  But trust me, things happened, God and moved.  And while we showed up thinking we knew how God was moving-- he ... well to quote a good friend of mine... he said "Gee.  Thanks for showing up.  Now, let me try to explain what I'm really trying to do here."

And I believe that God sees C.  That he has his spirit in her life now and if she was with us for no other reason than that, I am thankful for the role we could play.  And I know he is still interweaving her story in with others.  I know he is there for her, should she want to accept that.

The day C moved out we received a call about a two-year-old girl who needed a foster home.

C being with us allowed us to move quickly into full on DHS foster care and so, C moved out on Friday and A moved in on Saturday.

She stayed for four days when DHS called and said she was moving to a kinship home and oh by the way could be take a six-day-old.  S moved in as they were picking A up.

S lived with us two and a half days before moving on to her kinship home.  (And on my but that is a blog post in itself.  God was so visibly at work there and it was beautiful).

We had what ISH would call "our four-person family" from Saturday to Tuesday and then R (age 4) and J (13 months) moved in.

From there the months blur- by Friday my grandmother was dying and within 10 days of R and J coming, we had closed our home to DHS and R and J were being placed elsewhere so that I could be with my family following my grandmother's passing.

I know- it doesn't make sense and believe me it didn't really then either.  But it- them being with us- foster care- all of it.  It wasn't right.  In a way I couldn't put my finger on at the time, but it. just. wasn't. right.

Again I stood there confused.  What did God want from me?  I asked him what he wanted me to be doing with all of this time and I felt the call of more children.  I felt the call that my family wasn't yet "done."  And there was interim care... but that wasn't the answer.  And there were the siblings... but that wasn't the answer.  And there was C... but that wasn't the answer.  And there was DHS foster care... but that didn't seem like answer either.  And now 18 months removed from that prayer I was more upside down in what I was "suppose" to be doing than ever before.

I tried to make myself want to get pregnant.  That would be the easiest answer (well easy in one sense at least).  But, well to keep from getting to medical, let's just say that in 2009 certain steps were taken to make that not really something that could just "happen" like it had with the boys, and when I thought about having to undo that.  And when I thought about being pregnant and giving birth and the biological aspect of it all... I just really didn't want to be pregnant.

And so by the end of October I looked at my dad and said- I don't get it.  I prayed and I feel lost.  I feel like I am in a fog.

"Ah" he said.  "Maybe that's where God wanted you.  Maybe now he can lead."

And so one year later and several hundred blogs short of 2010, I can't really say where the next year is going.  In some ways I feel like I'm seeing some sort of a path through the fog.  In some ways it seems like the path of formal adoption is opening for us-- but so much of that remains out of our control.

And maybe being "out of my control" is just where God wants me to be.

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely time at my parent's for Thanksgiving. It was quieter this year with only my parents, my family and Grannie- a whole lot calmer than the Thanksgiving of my youth with me and my cousins running through Grannie's house, eating all the good nuts out of the mixed nuts bowl. But it was good all the same.

One of the sweetest moments came when my dad and ISH put on a concert for us (at ISH's request). ISH has been in piano since September a he combined his two memorized songs to make one lovely piece. The first video is their first run at it. The second is when Dad figured out a better way to play his part.





What was your favorite part of the Thanksgiving break?

365

We're somewhere outside of Dallas. Somewhere that 365 days ago I was researching beds so I could redo our master bedroom when I got back home. 

365 days.   It doesn't seem very long ago. And yet ...

365 days ago I never thought I would have that bed in a completely different house. 

365 days ago I never would have thought I would have a daughter (and a teenage one at that!). 

365 days ago some very important people in my life were completely unknown. 

The journey of how I got from there to here began as whispers three months before, but 372 days ago there was a vital turning point- propelling those whispers into a full speed freight train. And 365 days ago I had no idea how one little comment made one week later would completely change the face of my family. 

A Night of Twisters

I'm an Okie. Born. Raised.

I remember times when Mom would give us a bag and tell us to go upstairs and grab what we wanted to keep.  Times of sitting in my parent's closet, listening to the weather broadcasting from my brother's Transformer radio.

Every time we emerged from the closet- house in tact. With tornados far from us.

And while, when I was younger, there were close calls like the May 3rd tornado, I have never been scared of tornados.

But then I had kids and a house. And somehow my outlook changed.

So today when the sky turned green and began to churn like an upset stomach- I knew that doesn't mean anything good was yet to come.

So as I went through the house taking pictures for photographic proof should we need to file insurance claims, LK packed the car with our dog, the kids, the hard drive and my dad's guitar.  And then we all went to safety.  But in the end, we piled it all back in the car and went back to our home. With tornados far from us.

And here I sit, in my undamaged house, viewing pictures of all that others lost.  Hearing the story of people who's bathtub safety plan didn't work. Hearing stories of the missing child in Four Corners.  Seeing houses leveled.  And I think how blessed I have been that in 30 years of living in Oklahoma,  I have never had to experience what people are experiencing tonight.

Tonight I am thankful for the shelter Oklahoma Christian provided for us- such a calming thought to know we had somewhere safe to go.  Tonight I am thankful for the excellent forewarning we had.  And I am thankful that everyone I know is safe.

My heart and my prayers are with those who cannot say the same.

On the Off Chance They Are Right

LK and I are spending time in B'ville at the Price Tower and surrounding area.  I'm such a fan of architecture and this has been one of those places I've always wanted to experience.  Given I grew up only a few hours from here it's hard to see why it's taken me this long to come.

(And if you're a Frank Llyod Wright hater, keep it to yourself. I know the design flaws of the lit-from-within-fireplace that has no way to change the light bulb, but that doesn't discount the harmony of his designs)

So here we are, kid-less and enjoying a vacation in our own state.  And if the world does in fact end today, I can't think of a better person to be with.

10 Years Ago Today

10 years ago today.... It was raining cats and dog just like now... But 10 years ago today you had less hair.... and I had more.

10 years ago today we had a blind-fold lunch so we could enjoy the company of our out-of-town guests while still upholding the tradition of not seeing each other before the wedding.

10 years ago today we were having ourselves a great time at the reception party ...

walking in to Son of a Preacher Man, of course!

10 years ago I made one of the best decisions of my life: to marry a man who is now ...

 just as much fun as he was then.

 Happy anniversary.

FOOD FIGHT!

Today is C's 100th day with us! What blessing to have her with us... though after today ... she might be having second thoughts.

But then... what else is there to do on a sunny Saturday in May but have a food fight.  Yes, you heard right.  Food. Fight (and yes, I questioned my sanity going into this whole thing).

But it all came together as a result of the seed the Diary of a Whimpy Kid books planted in Geo's mind.  And so I went with it.

A full on ...

Baked beans and chocolate sauce ...

Whipped cream and mustard....

Flour and tomato sauce ...

Mashed potatoes, strawberry syrup, and cereal FOOD FIGHT!

And in the end, we had a group of very messy people...

And one excited boy, ready to mark "Have a food fight" off his list of things to do before he's old.

Click here to check out all 151 photos (we put the camera on a timer and went to town)

Random Thought Thursday: Earth Day

What time is it: 625P

Where am I: OK Gold Gymnatics. Squeezing 30 minutes of watching Geo in before running to pick up C ... I am officially a "stay-in-the-car-mom". What would that be? SITCM?

Last ate: Home-made chicken and rice soup. I'd planned on chicken salad but the cold front required an audible.

Listening to: the hum of parents comparing children and lives as they, like me, "watch" their children

Thoughts: Tomorrow is Earth Day. I can perfectly remember Earth Day of my 5th grade year. I am standing by the water fountain ... The night before I hadn't put away my shoes and thus couldn't find them in time for school ... Mom was not happy... Sent me to school wearing the first pair of shoes she could find.... So, I'm wearing one size too big, bright blue rain boots ... Paired nicely with dark leggings and an oversized, long sleeved white shirt ... It has a duck or some strange cartoon creature on the front ... Standing their wishing I could spend the day in the bathroom (yes, even I can actually be embarrassed by "fashion"). ... But you know ... I don't remember losing my shoes again after that.

Happy Earth Day

Random Thought Thursday: Gifts

What time is it: 1007A

Where am I: standing at the kitchen counter, trying to fit a blog post in at least once this week

Last ate: Hmm... I think I ate breakfast. That or the Altoid is holding me over well. So let's go with breakfast

Listening to: the electricians in the dining room-- new dining room light goes up today!

Thoughts: ISH is a very thoughtful child. Should he choose to marry, he will certainly be a good catch one day.

 Why is this? He knows the way to a woman's heart is thoughtful gifts. He's forever brining me treasures from the outside to brighten my day.

"I brought you this leaf because it has some black on and and I know black is your favorite color."

So sweet.

However.... last night's gift left on my bedside table might need a Mulligan.

Thanks for the effort though little one.

If Life is a Highway

What time is it: 618P though my eyes tell me they think it should be later

Where am I: Oklahoma Christian University library while C has tutoring; realizing I have likely spent more time here in the past month than all four years of school combined... though... in reality I was hardly on campus those four years which is a prerequisite to being in the library

Listening to: a girl desperately trying to explain to dad how to send a file to her school email since mom is not home to do it.  It's like that scene out of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Thoughts:  I've been spending a lot (A LOT) of time in the car lately and have two very odd thoughts to come of all this driving.

1- I honestly don't know what the speed limit is most of the time.  I don't know if space out between the stop light and the sign or if I'm checking the mirrors to change lanes or messing with kids or whatever (and no- I'm not texting, that's been saved for the long waits at the the stoplight) but whatever the time warp situation may occur, most of the way into the stretch of asphalt and I realize I have no clue what speed I should be going.  None.  And I have begun to think that they should put a courtesy "Hey Moron" speed limit sign somewhere in the middle of the mile for people like me. So as it stands I aim for 40.  Most of the time in Edmond that's either 5 over (and I pray for grace from the police) or 5 under (and I pray for understanding from the drivers around me).

2- When people are walking on the sidewalk near the road and I'm driving in the right-hand lane, I have this fear that they will trip and fall on to the road and I will have to suddenly swerve to miss them.  Which is why texting is relegated to stoplights.

Random Thought Thursday: Thankful

What time is it: 115P

Where am I: the lobby of a local business

Listening to: a person applying for a job speaking with someone about positions open. Getting the ins and outs of the business.

Thoughts: I'm waiting in the lobby while one of the kids has an appointment. Over the last month the main thing I've learned is to grab time as it comes. I'm still working (and working full time) but instead of sitting in my office to work, many times these days it's done from the front seat of the car as I wait in carpool lines or, like today, in random places when I'm able to pick up a wifi signal. Today, I'm thankful for unprotected wifi.

I woke up this morning thinking the day would be a series of one appointment to another. But my 10 o'clock (that was 30 minutes away and schedule exactly 30 minutes after ISH went to school) had to reschedule. Today I'm thankful for unexpected time.

I left piles of dishes used in preparation for dinner in the sink as I ran from home to this appointment. Today I'm thankful for LK who helps around the house making so much of my life possible.

What are you thankful for today?

Transitions

Pardon my last few weeks of silence.  I have, in some ways, felt as though I've been standing on quick sand lately.  Moments of ever shifting, readjusting, trying to keep from sinking deep.  But the transitions are worth it for moments like the one I overheard yesterday as I was out with C and ISH.

ISH (to the kid playing with toys next to him): See that girl over there .... she's my sister.