Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July!
Mr. Soldier, I have a prayer for you
I sent it to God, late last night
He put it in your pocket, and in your heart
And may it get you, to morning’s light
You may not know how much we care
Cause we’re not there to ease your pain
But just the same, Mr. Soldier, I have a prayer for you
I pray for your strength, I pray for your safety
I pray for your momma, I pray for your daddy
I pray for your sisters, I pray for your brothers
I pray for your wife, your husband your sons and your daughters
You may not come home to accolades, you may not come home to parades
But just the same, Mr. Soldier, I have a prayer for you
Mr. Soldier, I have a prayer for you.
You’re the one I sent it to late last night
"Mr. Soldier"-Brandon Rhyder
The scrapblog was a family project across the country that we made for Jeff who is currently in Iraq, and JD who is currently in Ranger training.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Wine, Whining, & Stress
Topic #1: Wine
New favorite chardonnay: Cakebread
Topic #2: Whining
Marc is definitely in a whining phase right now and it is KILLING me! I don't want to know how many times a day I have to get him to repeat something "in his big-boy voice". After about the 3rd time that day, I no longer am patiently asking him to repeat whatever it is that he wants. I'm sure it comes across as more of a growl, but my goodness, it is painful to hear a child whine so much! Any suggestions for how to deal with this???
Topic #3: Stress
The summer months for a school teacher are supposed to be relaxing and calm-I mean, this is what we work so hard for during the school year. This summer has been anything but. From being gone from our house for over 3 weeks now and traveling abroad with two small children in an already dramatic vacation to anxiously waiting for Dad to come home on leave, I think this has been the most hectic and stressful summer I've ever had! This stress unfortunately makes topic #2 more difficult to deal with and topic #1 occasionally makes topics #2 and #3 more bearable. In any case, I wish for the rest of the summer that we are able to live stress-free and only focus on the fun that is left in the 37 days I have left before school starts once again.
May God bless you and keep you.
Countdown:
Jeff's R&R: 16 days
Back to work: 37 days
New favorite chardonnay: Cakebread
Topic #2: Whining
Marc is definitely in a whining phase right now and it is KILLING me! I don't want to know how many times a day I have to get him to repeat something "in his big-boy voice". After about the 3rd time that day, I no longer am patiently asking him to repeat whatever it is that he wants. I'm sure it comes across as more of a growl, but my goodness, it is painful to hear a child whine so much! Any suggestions for how to deal with this???
Topic #3: Stress
The summer months for a school teacher are supposed to be relaxing and calm-I mean, this is what we work so hard for during the school year. This summer has been anything but. From being gone from our house for over 3 weeks now and traveling abroad with two small children in an already dramatic vacation to anxiously waiting for Dad to come home on leave, I think this has been the most hectic and stressful summer I've ever had! This stress unfortunately makes topic #2 more difficult to deal with and topic #1 occasionally makes topics #2 and #3 more bearable. In any case, I wish for the rest of the summer that we are able to live stress-free and only focus on the fun that is left in the 37 days I have left before school starts once again.
May God bless you and keep you.
Countdown:
Jeff's R&R: 16 days
Back to work: 37 days
Monday, June 28, 2010
My Brain Analogy
A series of events have led me to bring out the inner English teacher in me and create an analogy for how my brain works in comparison to other people's (in case you were wondering).
When a situation arises in my life that I have to make a difficult decision or is emotionally challenging, my brain says, "Fix it!"
Here's my analogy:
There's a leak under the kitchen sink. I, immediately noticing the issue, turn off the main water line and clean up (do a little damage control). I get a flashlight and look under the sink to see if I can figure out what has caused the leak. If it looks like a fairly easy fix, I go to the hardware store and get the parts to fix it. If I can't fix it at this point or it is a major plumbing disaster, I get help-I call a plumber to come fix the sink. This makes sense in my brain because I will eventually need the sink and there is no point in putting off the inevitable of having to get it fixed. The sink gets fixed and I move on to the next thing that needs to be accomplished.
I imagine other people's brains to work like this (this is not exclusive to anyone else whose brain does not work like mine):
There's a leak under the kitchen sink. Instead of turning the water off at the main water line, this person turns on the faucet (thus exasperating the leak). Instead of taking the initial steps to identify the source of the leak, this person goes and sits down on the couch. The leak continues until it is soon lingering around this person's ankles-this person perhaps thinks there are no worries, there's still time left. So, they continue to sit and do nothing. Before they know it, the water level has reached their knees and small furniture starts to float around the house. Although a little disconcerting, still, no effort at a remedy for the problem is made. It is not until the water is pouring out the windows that this person realizes the extent of the issue and has nothing left to do but completely freak out. It is at this point that the leak becomes real to them, but it is nearly too late to save anything.
I go no further in elaborating on the analogy, except to say: I would much rather deal with rational and neurotic than irrational and psychotic.
May God bless you and keep you.
When a situation arises in my life that I have to make a difficult decision or is emotionally challenging, my brain says, "Fix it!"
Here's my analogy:
There's a leak under the kitchen sink. I, immediately noticing the issue, turn off the main water line and clean up (do a little damage control). I get a flashlight and look under the sink to see if I can figure out what has caused the leak. If it looks like a fairly easy fix, I go to the hardware store and get the parts to fix it. If I can't fix it at this point or it is a major plumbing disaster, I get help-I call a plumber to come fix the sink. This makes sense in my brain because I will eventually need the sink and there is no point in putting off the inevitable of having to get it fixed. The sink gets fixed and I move on to the next thing that needs to be accomplished.
I imagine other people's brains to work like this (this is not exclusive to anyone else whose brain does not work like mine):
There's a leak under the kitchen sink. Instead of turning the water off at the main water line, this person turns on the faucet (thus exasperating the leak). Instead of taking the initial steps to identify the source of the leak, this person goes and sits down on the couch. The leak continues until it is soon lingering around this person's ankles-this person perhaps thinks there are no worries, there's still time left. So, they continue to sit and do nothing. Before they know it, the water level has reached their knees and small furniture starts to float around the house. Although a little disconcerting, still, no effort at a remedy for the problem is made. It is not until the water is pouring out the windows that this person realizes the extent of the issue and has nothing left to do but completely freak out. It is at this point that the leak becomes real to them, but it is nearly too late to save anything.
I go no further in elaborating on the analogy, except to say: I would much rather deal with rational and neurotic than irrational and psychotic.
May God bless you and keep you.
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Struggles of a Working Mom
So I was in a precarious situation yesterday afternoon when I realized that Mason (who has been sick for 3 days now) was not getting any better but I was supposed to leave for a three-day conference in Austin at 2:30. Should I stay or should I go? It's not as easy as the song makes it sound (a la The Clash).
This is the challenge of a full-time working parent. Compounded with this is the fact that a major portion of the equation to raising children (sick or healthy) is ~7528 miles away. Sprinkle in a lot of love for education and wanting to know everything I can do to make me a better teacher and you get a recipe for self-inflicted guilt for not being able to make an easy decision. Because this should be an easy decision, right...?
It was about 12:30 Sunday afternoon when all of this hit me (T-minus 2 hours from departure) and Jeff called. It was not being able to get everything done (this is yet another personality trait that is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse) that manifested itself in tears over the phone. I immediately felt horrible for crying on the phone (I don't want Jeff [or anyone for that matter] to think I am overwhelmed) and didn't want him to feel bad because he wasn't here to help. So, I did my best to squelch my emotions.
After we got off the phone, I made a few phone calls and Mimi and Morgan were there to save the day! (Side note: I could not have made it through this year without either of them being available to help with the boys on a moment's notice! You two are my angels!) We were able to set up doctor's appointments (Mason's eye drops were not working after 3 days and he was still puny [he also ended up having an ear infection]), pick-up/drop-off times, and I was able to drive the car-pool lead for the conference.
Even driving out of town and halfway to Austin, I still felt like a "bad mom" for leaving my sick child at home. I knew (and Jeff reaffirmed) that he was in good hands and I was able to realize that I was only 1.5 hours away and if I needed to, I could drive back to Austin/Houston pretty quickly. This helped ease my stress about the situation. At the same time, I kept questioning myself: "What mom leaves their sick child at home and goes to work?"
Last night and today, he has been in the back of my mind and I was able to get updates via text throughout the day with his progress. He is much better today and all of his meds seem to be working now.
Looking back, it is crazy to see how it all worked out when I was so stressed about which decision to make. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will not be the last time I have to decide which route to take, but all I can hope is that I have learned to take a deep breath and not stress too much (God will provide a way, one way or another!). And I remember that jobs don't last forever-families do!
May God bless you and keep you.
Countdowns:
Barcelona: 4 days
Dad's R&R: ~45 days
This is the challenge of a full-time working parent. Compounded with this is the fact that a major portion of the equation to raising children (sick or healthy) is ~7528 miles away. Sprinkle in a lot of love for education and wanting to know everything I can do to make me a better teacher and you get a recipe for self-inflicted guilt for not being able to make an easy decision. Because this should be an easy decision, right...?
It was about 12:30 Sunday afternoon when all of this hit me (T-minus 2 hours from departure) and Jeff called. It was not being able to get everything done (this is yet another personality trait that is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse) that manifested itself in tears over the phone. I immediately felt horrible for crying on the phone (I don't want Jeff [or anyone for that matter] to think I am overwhelmed) and didn't want him to feel bad because he wasn't here to help. So, I did my best to squelch my emotions.
After we got off the phone, I made a few phone calls and Mimi and Morgan were there to save the day! (Side note: I could not have made it through this year without either of them being available to help with the boys on a moment's notice! You two are my angels!) We were able to set up doctor's appointments (Mason's eye drops were not working after 3 days and he was still puny [he also ended up having an ear infection]), pick-up/drop-off times, and I was able to drive the car-pool lead for the conference.
Even driving out of town and halfway to Austin, I still felt like a "bad mom" for leaving my sick child at home. I knew (and Jeff reaffirmed) that he was in good hands and I was able to realize that I was only 1.5 hours away and if I needed to, I could drive back to Austin/Houston pretty quickly. This helped ease my stress about the situation. At the same time, I kept questioning myself: "What mom leaves their sick child at home and goes to work?"
Last night and today, he has been in the back of my mind and I was able to get updates via text throughout the day with his progress. He is much better today and all of his meds seem to be working now.
Looking back, it is crazy to see how it all worked out when I was so stressed about which decision to make. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will not be the last time I have to decide which route to take, but all I can hope is that I have learned to take a deep breath and not stress too much (God will provide a way, one way or another!). And I remember that jobs don't last forever-families do!
May God bless you and keep you.
Countdowns:
Barcelona: 4 days
Dad's R&R: ~45 days
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Sneaky little boogers
I arrived at school to pick up the boys today. As per the norm, I stopped in Marc's classroom first. I walked in and the first thing he says to me is, "I snuck a toy in school today!" My first thought is: how in the world did you get it past me? And my second thought: is why in the world would you tell on yourself?
At that point, I was really trying to figure out how all of this happened without me knowing about it. I asked Marc where the toy was right then and he ran over to his backpack in his cubby. Then, it hit me. That sneaky little booger casually brought his backpack in to school today acting like it was no big deal. The backpack has stayed at school all year in case of an accident and we brought it home the other day so his teachers could deep clean his classroom. I vaguely remember Marc telling me we needed to take his backpack back to school "in case he had an accident" and me thinking "why would you have an accident?"
Clearly it didn't seem like a big deal because my brain continued on whatever track it was on and thought nothing more of it. Until precisely 4:27pm this afternoon. His teacher explained that she was having a hard time figuring out how he could have worked anything past me (which honestly made me feel like a pretty good mom!) and said that he pulled the miniature Harley motorcycle out of his backpack right before lunch. And to make things worse (if you consider this bad), he thought he was hilarious!
After getting over my complete shock at his craftiness (courtesy of his very skilled father), I managed to have a discussion about why there are rules about bringing toys to school and what it means to break rules on purpose. He was able to repeat back to me the basics of the conversation and then bounced away like nothing ever happened on our way to pick up brother (who, by the way, has pink eye-again!) I'm thinking another conversation is in need before we leave for school in the morning...
Countdowns:
Barcelona: 8 days!
Dad comes home on leave: 50ish days!
May God bless you and keep you!
At that point, I was really trying to figure out how all of this happened without me knowing about it. I asked Marc where the toy was right then and he ran over to his backpack in his cubby. Then, it hit me. That sneaky little booger casually brought his backpack in to school today acting like it was no big deal. The backpack has stayed at school all year in case of an accident and we brought it home the other day so his teachers could deep clean his classroom. I vaguely remember Marc telling me we needed to take his backpack back to school "in case he had an accident" and me thinking "why would you have an accident?"
Clearly it didn't seem like a big deal because my brain continued on whatever track it was on and thought nothing more of it. Until precisely 4:27pm this afternoon. His teacher explained that she was having a hard time figuring out how he could have worked anything past me (which honestly made me feel like a pretty good mom!) and said that he pulled the miniature Harley motorcycle out of his backpack right before lunch. And to make things worse (if you consider this bad), he thought he was hilarious!
After getting over my complete shock at his craftiness (courtesy of his very skilled father), I managed to have a discussion about why there are rules about bringing toys to school and what it means to break rules on purpose. He was able to repeat back to me the basics of the conversation and then bounced away like nothing ever happened on our way to pick up brother (who, by the way, has pink eye-again!) I'm thinking another conversation is in need before we leave for school in the morning...
Countdowns:
Barcelona: 8 days!
Dad comes home on leave: 50ish days!
May God bless you and keep you!
Friday, May 21, 2010
My brain hurts...
A few months ago, I got asked to be on a team for my school to help implement strategies and plans to take our school to a Texas Recognized school. My school, Davila Middle School, won a grant from the state to train our teachers & staff how to improve their teaching skills. It is an honor to be asked to join this team and I'm excited to be a part of it!
Part of the commitment for the grant team is attending several meetings and conferences in Austin. I had one such conference today and my savior, Morgan, was playing Mommy while I was away. I got back home to my beautiful babies tonight and Morgan told me this funny story:
Yesterday they were leaving school and Morgan noticed Marc staring out the window with a pouty face. She asked him what was the matter and he replied, "I'm sad." She asked him what was making him sad and his response was, "I'm sad because I want to love my Mommy more but my brain can't figure out how!"
Is that cute or what? I am such a lucky Mommy!
Countdowns
Spain: 21 days
Daddy home: 8 weeks(ish)
May God bless you and keep you!
Part of the commitment for the grant team is attending several meetings and conferences in Austin. I had one such conference today and my savior, Morgan, was playing Mommy while I was away. I got back home to my beautiful babies tonight and Morgan told me this funny story:
Yesterday they were leaving school and Morgan noticed Marc staring out the window with a pouty face. She asked him what was the matter and he replied, "I'm sad." She asked him what was making him sad and his response was, "I'm sad because I want to love my Mommy more but my brain can't figure out how!"
Is that cute or what? I am such a lucky Mommy!
Countdowns
Spain: 21 days
Daddy home: 8 weeks(ish)
May God bless you and keep you!
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