School starts!

This week our school district finally went back to school. The three month long hiatus is finally over! My daughter is now a fourth grader. Wow, she gets to go to the "big kid" wing of her school. We also found out they get real desks as opposed to tables. All of this has heightened the excitement of starting a new year. Time to reconnect with friends not seen over the summer, meet new friends and finally having structure during the day! This year they have added Spanish to their 4th grade curriculum.
My son starts high school this year. We have been up at the high school every day all summer long for football, so going to the area very early is not the issue. We have just never been really in to the school except for the commons area. He was having all sorts of apprehensions before the big day. Will I be able to find my classes in such a big school? Since there are no more assigned tables at lunch will anyone want to sit with me? Will I get stuffed in a locker? Will I just look like idiot freshman all day? Turns out that none of his worries came to fruition. He was able to find all of his classes and figure out the school layout. His friends from middle school did wave him over to eat with them at lunch. Being 6’2” and a football player, no, there was no stuffing in a locker. As for the idiot freshman, he realized that he has kids from all grades in his classes and he actually has some idea of what he is talking about on most days. In other words, he is just like every other student in high school. Which when you are 14 is a big issue.
On my part, I have vowed to make this as less of a stress-fest as possible. We are going to try the backpacks by the door, clothes laid out type of mentality. I let you know how it goes, but after three days, it seems pretty good so far. We still have 185 more to go.
Here’s to a new school year! May it be sometimes exciting, never dull but always interesting.

25 Things I Learned at the Grand Canyon

This summer my husband talked my family in to camping in a tent at the Grand Canyon. Here is what I learned from such an experience.

1. I am definitely not the camping type (Does this make me “not a happy camper”?)
2. Trying to set up a tent in the dark is rather a challenge
3. Triple A is readily available in the park to jump your car when the battery dies from using the lights to set up said tent.
4. We are not the only ones who need Triple A when trying to set up a tent in the dark.
5. The average low at the Grand Canyon rim at night is a balmy 35 degrees.
6. Tents do nothing to keep out the 35 degrees.
7. Air mattresses tend to lose their air quicker when it is 35 degrees.
8. People who like to sleep in tents are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.
9. When you look up at the night sky in the middle of nowhere, it is a wondrous site indeed.
10. Walking up to the Grand Canyon from the Visitor’s Center and watching it unfold before your eyes takes your breath away.


11. While in the main visiting areas you will be surrounded by hundreds of people, most don’t speak English.
12. Meeting a great many people from other countries is a pleasure even if they ask thought provoking questions such as, “What does Floyd mean in Pink Floyd?” um…
13. If you walk half a mile on the trail out of the main visiting area, there are no people. The only sounds are the rush of the wind in the trees, the Colorado River below and the call of birds.



14. Never miss the opportunity to hear a Ranger talk. You will be surprised at how funny, informative, or both they may be.


15. Just because you go to the Ranger talk on the California Condor, does not mean that you will actually see one.
16. When one does appear right below the lookout where the Ranger is talking even the Ranger gets excited.
17. California Condors are the most beautiful majestic birds in flight.
18. California Condors are really ugly buzzards when close up.


19. When the Rangers tell you that the temperatures climb at least 40 degrees from the rim to the halfway down point and warn you not to go all the way down, one should listen.
20. When you don’t listen to the Ranger and think coming up is probably just as easy as going down, half the trip is miserably hot and you wonder if the buzzards will start circling soon. Cue Western music
21. When you finally make it up to the top, there is an equal amount of thinking “wow, that was stupid” and “wow, I can’t believe that I just did that.”
22. There are people who hike rim to rim in one day. I am in awe of them and wonder how off their rocker they must be, but mainly in awe.
23. In the evenings people flock to the rim for sunset, like waiting for the 4th of July fireworks.
24. Watching the sun set and the ever changing colors is a site to be seen. No words can explain.


25. Spending time with my family, even if we are sleeping in a tent, is awesome.

I hate being sick!

I hate being sick. For the past month I have been battling horrible respiratory sinus stuff. From the top of my head to my stomach, I felt like if someone just ran me over with a bus I would feel better. And yes, when I get sick I turn in to a big baby. I want to lie on the couch and have people take care of me. I want people to feel sorry for me. I want people to go “awe poor baby you’re sick.” But to be honest, nobody really cares when you’re just sick, not in the hospital horrible sick, but just feeling cruddy sick. Your close friends and family take a more than mild interest in the fact that you are sick, asking you how you are doing, telling you to go o the doctor, but overall the world does not care.
I took a few days off to stay home and be sick. Also, I think that my coworkers were beginning to be afraid that I was another Typhoid Mary. Although, well intentioned for my welfare, I received comments like, “wow, I could hear you coughing all the way down in my office”, or “man, you look horrible, should you really be here today?” So that brings me to why people don’t care that you are sick.

So there I was laden down with wonderful drugs, my head no longer feels like it is going to explode, I can actually take a breath without thinking my lungs were going to rip out of my chest and I can finally get some rest. I lie down in my nice soft bed taking Nyquil during the day and am finally dozing off into dreamland, when… the phone rings. No, I don’t have any donations to put out on my porch, thank you for calling. Okay, eyes closing again and… the phone rings, yes I am happy with my phone service, except right now I plan to just rip it out of the wall. Thank you so much, but as of right now, please cancel my phone service so I can get some rest!! Back asleep, doorbell rings. Ignore it. Dogs bark, doorbell rings again, dog barks. Sigh. Get up and go to the door taking my ferocious looking but quite the teddy bear dog with me. A nice looking gentleman was at the door asking if I needed lawn service. He was doing several lawns in the neighborhood and would like to do mine as well. No, thank you I tell him, I have a son and a husband who keep up with all that. At that point I give up and decide to watch a movie. Funny, the phone never rings again. Is it really this busy when no one is home?





Then there are my dogs. They are spoiled rotten, indoor, lay on the bed, have to be petted constantly dogs. The big one, Boomer, tends to be a bit more skittish. I’m guessing since he is somewhat of a German Shepherd that he has that guard dog mentality. The small one, Charlie, doesn’t care what is going on. Most of the time when I am home, he is laying on his back completely passed out on the couch, he couldn’t care less what was going on. So Boomer is watching for everything that is going on. He looks out the front window, and growls at whatever is out there. He jumps up on the bed so he can look out. He growls at the birds, rabbits, wind, dust, I have no idea, he just doesn’t like whatever has come in to his backyard. So now, he wants to go out. I tried to reason with him (if you haven’t noticed in my blogs, but I am always trying to reason with Boomer, he just doesn’t listen) and tell him that I am sick, but he doesn’t care. He goes to the backdoor, then back to my bedroom, then back to the door. I finally get up and let him out and he goes tearing towards the back fence barking his fool head off. I go back to bed. Then I hear him barking at the door. He wants to come back in so he can take care of me. I ignore him. He continues to whine. Then he goes to my bedroom window, and stares at me. If I continue to ignore him, he barks and stares. All the while he has this stupid grin on his face saying, “hey look mom, I’m keeping you safe! I’m a happy dog!”. So I get up and let him back in, just so he can go on guard duty again.

Then there is my awesome family. They try so hard when I am sick. My wonderful husband tells me not to worry about anything, that he and kids will “hold down the fort”. I settle back down in to my bed trying to get some sleep, when I hear a light little knock at my door. “Mommy? I am so sorry to bother you when you’re sick.” Followed by shoulder patting by young girl. “Mommy? Do you know where my other soccer sock is? I don’t remember where I left it. No, don’t get up, I just need to know where it is.” Get up, help young child search for lost sock so she can get to soccer practice. Lay back down to go back to sleep. Light knocking on the door. “Hon? Where is soccer practice today? Are they at the usual place? Sorry to bother you, go back to sleep.” At this point, I’m thinking what’s the point. So let’s try this again. Young daughter and husband have left for soccer practice, going to sleep now. No knock, just door coming open with bright light behind it and older child coming in. “Hey mom? You asleep? Mom? Uh yeah, when’s dinner? Can I get a snack and play on the computer until dad gets home?” I’m thinking, “If you go away, I will let you eat all the junk food you want and juggle knives.” My family tries hard and they do care that I am sick, but life must continue on. I have come to realize that moms, while they get sick, have an internal thing going on that says, the world will not rotate unless I am up taking care of my family.

I finally get better enough to drag myself back to work. I work with a great group of people who came in to say they are so glad that I am back. They are genuine people and I know that they are really glad that I am feeling better. But I walk in to my office and my desk is covered with all sorts of stuff. My boss comes in and says he is glad I feel better, but he didn’t know what to do with some stuff so he put in on my desk. I look through my pile of junk and realize that I don’t think it is worth getting sick. I put in a half a day and decide it was really not worth coming in and looking at the piles and getting depressed. So I tell my boss that I am going to go home and take a nap. He says he was glad that I got to come in for a little while (actually he is probably thinking, wow I’m glad I didn’t have to start digging in to that stuff) and not to worry about anything (because we will just leave it sitting there until you get back). I go back home to the barking dog, the ringing phone and soon the needy children.

But when I think about it, maybe that is there way of saying that I am missed and cared for. I am beginning to realize that people do care (except for maybe the ringing phone people). The dog is all agitated because he knows he has to keep me safe in my weakened state. The family needs me and loves me and they do feel sorry for me. Just another month in my never dull always something life.

My Life

Okay, so my New Year’s life change to write my blog weekly has completely gone by the wayside. There are more than several reasons for that. Mainly writer’s block. I THINK about writing a blog, but then something else comes up. Maybe I’m just way over busy. Anyway you look at it, this idea certainly needs improvement. Thanks to Sheri for hounding me as often as she does. Maybe I’m just the world’s best procrastinator. Hm.. I wonder if there is a competition for that. I’ll have to think about looking in to that someday. So what has caught my attention more than writing my blog in which I know my few readers are on the edge of their seat waiting for a new edition? Life. Plain and simple, it’s the scourge of America. The over scheduled, over worked, my family must do everything and if they don’t then their whole lives will collapse in to one big bowl of jello!! Ooh jello. Oh sorry, back to the subject.

So what has caught my attention? Hm.. Let’s see. First, I changed jobs at the University in January. I actually found out the day before we went on break in December, but with the holiday and the timing of things that are due at my old job, I didn’t move over here until the end of January. So now I am a professional grant writer. Sounds rather impressive if I don’t say so myself. Oh, I just said so. I now spend my days researching companies, writing up summaries on prospective funders, writing grants, tracking trends. It’s actually quite a lot of fun. But it is also something completely different than what I had been doing. That takes some getting used to. Instead of daily deadlines and things, I now have long term deadlines and goals. Makes for a complete mental mind shift. But I am enjoying seeing myself grow and learn. I am also the volunteer treasurer of a nonprofit here in town. Why, I ever said I would do that, is way beyond me. I guess I am just gullible enough to go, why yes, I would be happy to help you, and stress myself out and stay up late at night trying to get your books in order, and stress about getting your bills paid. Oh sorry off the subject. I think one of my new life changing goals should have been to learn to say the word “no”. But I am helping a great organization and that should be a reward in itself, right? Yes, this goes against my life goal of spending more time with my family. But with the support of another friend of mine who has vowed to start doing less and spending more time with family, I am hoping to learn that I can’t save the whole world.

Let’s see… what else. Oh yes. My children. If ever there was an attention grabber it would be them. Or their overscheduled lives. Our evenings for my son have been filled with basketball practice, games all weekend, piano lessons, band competitions, and so forth. Thankfully basketball is now over, but we have started spring football just in time to take its place. My daughter is taking tumbling (gymnastics) but that is in the afternoons, piano lessons and now soccer season has started. Mom’s taxi takes on a whole new meaning when you spend your evenings picking up one child from afterschool and dropping them off at piano lessons, going home to pick up the older child, picking up piano child and dropping off at soccer practice, then dropping of older child at basketball, picking up piano/soccer child and going to parent/teacher conference, picking up basketball child and depositing him at piano lesson, taking piano/soccer/conference child home to eat dinner so they can start on homework, driving back to pick up basketball/piano child and bringing them home so they can have a late dinner and hopefully finish homework in time to go to bed. I figure three hours in a car should get me close to Dallas for some relaxation instead of driving around the west side of Norman. Thankfully that doesn’t happen every day, but at least once a week is a good estimation. This goes along with the whole, my child will not grow up healthy and adjusted if they aren’t doing something every waking moment. But in our household schoolwork comes first, so I am proud to say that they are both making good grades, so it’s not that hard to keep them active. And, by the way, threatening to take away one of their activities turns out to be a great motivator to getting their homework finished.

Then there is your normal, husband working late, two dogs whose greatest worth is for fertilizer in the backyard and a house that usually looks like monkeys have run wild. But isn’t that what makes life worth living? People whose lives are ordered and their house is always clean miss those great moments in life that only chaos can bring. The conversations in the car between siblings that wouldn’t happen otherwise, the small child that comes in with Mom’s shirt on saying, “I don’t think this is mine”, and actually laughing at all the comings and goings. Just another part of my sometimes exciting, rarely dull, but always interesting life.

Not New Year's Resolutions

Okay, it has been forever since I wrote a blog. I kept thinking that I would, but around the holidays life gets so crazy. And in our household it is always crazy.
So here I am at the beginning of the New Year and thinking about the craziness of life. I, as most people, have made resolutions for the New Year. I try not to think of them as resolutions, but as life style changes or goals. It makes me feel better. That way when I kind of go back to old habits, I really haven’t broken a resolution, just had a setback. I can continue throughout the year trying to change instead of feeling guilty about what I haven’t done.

What are these grand life style changes? They run the gambit. One is to eat healthier. Not to go on a diet or anything, just pick up a carrot instead of a potato chip. At the beginning, I thought that sounded stupid. Yes, I was telling myself my own reasoning was stupid. But after about a month, I can honestly say that eating the good stuff is not so bad anymore. Oh, I won’t kid you or myself that I am always eating wonderfully (though the homemade corn dogs and French fries tonight DO NOT count). But when I do choose meals I am getting better to choose more wisely. I consider that progress. I am also hoping to instill in my children that junk food is nice for a treat, but not as a way of life.


Another change I am making is trying to spend more time with my hopefully healthier kids and husband. The house is always a mess, laundry always needs to be done, but I can always do those things when my kids are no longer in the house. We are trying to have more game nights, which slowly my kids are realizing that maybe the television is not as interesting as mom and dad. Okay maybe that will take a while to convince them, but it’s a start. Plus I’m sure my daughter will one day be able to go to Vegas and be able to pay off my house. Okay, maybe not. I just hope she walks away with the knowledge that her parents spent time with her, and that she knew she was loved.

Another goal for this year was to run a half marathon. So far not, so good. A wrenched knee is keeping me sidelined at the moment. Well, at least it’s a good excuse. But I am bound and determined to do this. My husband however says I should be locked in a room padded in bubble wrap so I won’t hurt myself anymore. That one will be a wait and see. Maybe I should change it to cheering on other people who run a half marathon. I think I could do that.

My final goal for the year is to read the entire Bible in a year. One of my favorite stations is the Christian station K-Love. They charged everyone to try to do this. So I signed up and got my list of daily readings. Although it has been only a month, it has been going well. I think knowing that I only have to read a certain amount every day makes it easier. It’s the old adage of how do you eat an elephant – one bite at a time. Looking at the whole elephant would be too difficult of a challenge. And who would want to eat an elephant anyway? K-Love even sent a nifty blue plastic bracelet that I wear constantly to remind me of this challenge. So, I will report back from time to time on how that is all going.


Oh, one more I guess. My final final goal is to write my blog on a regular basis. Don’t know if anyone besides Sherri actually reads them, but at least once a week, is my pledge. Hopefully more, depending on life. But if my kids can pledge to continue to work on their homework, then I can pledge to continue to write my blogs. Hopefully something at least a little interesting.

So there you have it. Who knows what my blogs will be in the coming weeks and months. Football? I’m sure. Summer vacations? Weird things my dogs do? Funny things my daughter says? So we will see what happens in my sometimes exciting, sometimes dull but always interesting life.