Why I Will Go To That Hot Place When I Die

When Jared got hit by a car last week, I was so thankful that he was not hurt more that he was. He was rather proud that he had survived being hit by a car with only a few bruises and might have even thought it was a great way to start the day!

When I talked to the lady on the phone she offered to pay for a new tire. I hadn't seen the bike yet so I told her that I would have Gary call her after he looked at the bike. Well, after we looked at the bike and Jared showed us what happened, we had a dilemma. The bike was totalled just as Jared had said. The tire was bent, the brakes didn't work, the frame was bent, and the gears didn't work. Also the lady hadn't told the story exactly how it had happened. Jared was nearly across the road, when she rounded the curb and SPED UP! She said the sun was in her eyes, but the next day Gary was there at the same time and said the sun wasn't bad enough to cause her to not be able to see. He thinks she may have been distracted. She also left the school without telling anyone that it had happened and Jared said there was no one around to see it. I was kind of upset that she didn't atleast walk with him to the office to tell them what had happened so that we could have known earlier. She is in the police academy, so I think she should know that she kind of committed a hit and run!

Gary called her over the weekend to tell her the situation with the bike. When she heard that we needed to replace the bike, she actually said that she didn't even think her car had hit his bike! Then Gary said "well that's fine, if you will just give me your insurance information I will give it to my insurance company and let them handle it." She said she didn't want to get her insurance involved so she would think about it and call us back. When Gary told me that, I was fuming. There may have even been smoke coming out of my ears. Her car didn't hit Jared's bike?! Well, then how did it get bent up the way it did?! My red-headed fiery temper came out and I was mad! I usually try to avoid confrontation, but not this time, I was ready for a fight! I was ready to report her to the police, her insurance company, and then I was going to go and yell at the principal at the school!!

She called back in a few minutes and her and Gary talked for a while and came to an agreement that she would pay for 1/2 of the bike and we would pay for the other half. What?! She ran into Jared, totalled his bike and now we are paying for it?! So he explains that she is a single mom of three kids, doesn't have alot of money, is going to the police academy, was scared that if we talked to the insurance company that they would raise her rates, and that the police would find out and it would jeopardize her standing in the police academy. As he is telling me this, he starts to get a little emotional about her situation. So I complain some more and then he says "well you asked me to take care of it so I did what I thought was right." Now, my husband is the cheapest most frugal man on the planet. He is always worrying about money, so I just thought he would be the best person to handle it. In what was probably my finest hour, I said "well I thought you would take care of it, not start crying on the phone with her. Did you give her our house, too? Did you give her access to our bank account? Did you invite her to our house for Thanksgiving and tell her she could take whatever she wanted out of our house?!" Yes, me being most charitable in this season of thanks and gratitude!

Later, as I was cleaning and putting away all the things that we have been blessed with, I started to feel ashamed of myself. I married Gary because of those traits. He is very compassionate, always looks out for the ones that are suffering, loving, patient, is very faithful and firm in his beliefs, and I felt that I had those same traits. Gary and I thought we would make a great team (his analogy, not mine), because we both wanted the same things. Boy, did he get the surprise of his life!

I apologized for my rant and sarcasm yesterday after church. Did you notice all those talks on gratitude?! I let him know I was grateful that he had handled the situation the way he did and grateful for his example. He accepted my apology and then he told me about the ride home from church. He had all the kids, I got to ride home by myself. Usually, I'm the one with all the kids. He said "now I know why it is hard for you to be grateful. It's hard to be grateful when you have to drive home with all that noise and contention." He sent all the kids to their room as soon as he got home with them and was reading to Carson when I got home. Carson fell asleep, the house was quiet... it was like heaven on earth!

We had a nice afternoon walk (just the two of us), held hands, and while I was gasping for air, I even felt grateful for the cooler weather and all the blessings that we have been given. Hmmm..... maybe I won't have to go to that hot place after all. Phew!!

Why I Will Die An Early Death

I worry A LOT so I have been trying to ease up on the worrying.

Someone told me that "they" (whoever "they" are) were predicting 90,000 deaths from swine flu by Christmas this year. Did I freak out? Nope. Remember my swine flu freak out in April?

Obama was elected president and I heard all of the gloom and doom from people who know better than to tell me these things (Gary). I didn't even bother making plans to run away and find a safe place to live. I have heard that Texas can get out of being part of the United States if they need to. So my plan is to stay here and hope that if things get really bad Texas will decide to part ways with the USA. No freak outs, though, I just made a plan!

I have been letting Kinsey go to the bus stop even when there is no one to go with her. Yes, I have visions of kidnapping and other horrible things, but I try to let those things go and just think happy thoughts. Here's hoping that is the right thing to do.

I am about ready to let Chris drive a car. I say "NO!" to those thoughts of car crashes, drunk drivers, and his lack of a long attention span. I might even let him drive without one of us in the car with him (once he's legal). I have put my foot down about being the one to teach him, though. That will be up to Gary and the State of Texas. I know my limits!!!

I let Carson ride the school bus, even when Emily isn't on it. That is a hard one for me because he can't tell me if someone is mean to him. I am hoping I will have mother's intuition if something isn't right. I still let him ride though because he loves it and it gives him a little bit of independence.

I let Emily go play with friends in the neighborhood. I even told her it was okay to ride her bike around the neighborhood. That was before she decided to ride her bike to Sonic without asking for permission (which I would not have given her) and then stopping at the Jack-in the-Box drive-thru to ask for a cup of water. She was in lots of trouble and I did freak out a little then.

I started letting Jared ride his bike to school. It has been a very difficult thing to not worry about, because he very rarely comes straight home. He always has to stop on the way to hunt for rocks, sticks, pecans, and turtle shells. I have quit freaking out when he isn't home on time. I realize that he has this need to hunt for things that annoy his mom.

See how far I had come? Well, all of that improvement just disappeared today.

Today I got a phone call from my husband at around 12:30. It was very bad reception so all I got out of it was: Jared...everything okay.....hit by car........call schools.....need current phone numbers...bike messed up...will get it later! WHAT?!!!!! He was hit by a car? When? Where? I knew he was okay or I would have wanted to know that too! This accident happened around 8 am. I have been in car line before so I know that there are lots of teachers and parents around, yet no one took him to the office. The lady that hit him asked if he was okay and then left after getting Jared's home phone number so she could finish him off contact us later. She didn't bother to take him to the office to be checked out or even tell him to go to the office to get checked out, so he just went to class. She went home and tried to call the office, but they had their after hours recording on until after 10:30. The nurse called him in to get him checked out sometime after the principal heard from the lady. They did not get in touch with us until 12:30. Now I have to admit that I forgot to contact the school after we changed our home and cell phone numbers, but they had four numbers (three of them had changed). Instead of calling Gary's office they called our emergency contact and she told Gary (she works at the same office). Am I the only parent that has a thirteen year old that doesn't know what to do when something like this happens? Yeah, don't answer that. What happened to the village? Is it too much to ask for someone to step up and tell the boy to go to the office to tell them what happened or at least call his mom? Am I expecting too much?!! I have been nauseous since 12:30 and now my heart is racing and I have a headache. Back to square one. I think I need therapy or relaxation techniques or chocolate.

He came home with a smile on his face, excited to tell me all about his latest adventure and that his new bike was totaled (his words). I think that boy is going to kill me.

So, to all those kind people that have told me not to worry so much...

SEE...I TOLD YOU IT WOULD HAPPEN!!!

I am sooo grateful that he did not get hurt more. Just a few scrapes and bruises. I'm thankful for the prayer that Gary gave this morning asking that all of our children be kept safe. Now if my heart would just calm down.

Oil Painting 101

In the midst of my depression, I was encouraged to sign up for an oil painting class. I wasn't really enthused about it, but signed up hoping that it would atleast encourage me to get out of bed, take a shower and leave the house atleast one day a week. I am actually starting to enjoy the class and have found out that I don't stink at painting (much).

I will now unveil what I have painted so far since so many of my blog followers asked to see them (well it was really only one follower and she is my sister so she had to request it). I hope you enjoy them and are not scarred for life.

This is my very first painting. I kind of like it, but I think it needs a little improvement.



This is my second painting. It is my favorite so far. I even signed it (don't look at the signature though, it looks like a toddler did it).



My third painting. I can't decide if I like it or not. I love the way the fence and sea oats turned out, but the waves bug me. If you stand far away from it, it looks better.



This is the one I am currently working on. It is a long way from being finished. I love the old tuscan buildings. I can hear everyone saying "It's a building? Oooohhhh...now I can kind of see it!" I know it looks like this one should be condemned, but in the original picture it looks beautiful. I am trying to do the bricks right now and as you can see it is not going well. Hopefully it will be nice when I finish it.



So...which one is your favorite? I would put one of those fancy poll things on my blog, but I don't know how to do it. Remember, if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. I guess if I don't get any comments I'll know everyone hated them. So sad :(

Well, ta ta for now! I must go and practice painting my signature for when I'm famous.

Thou Shalt Not Covet

I have a confession to make. I am a blog stalker follower. I love to read blogs, even those of people I don't know. They make me laugh, cry and break one of the 10 commandments. You know, the one that says "thou shalt not covet".

I do not covet my "neighbour's house, nor my neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his a**." What I covet is their seemingly perfect life. I want to be the loving, energetic wife and mom. The mom that inspires her children to choose the right. The mom that loves to read the Book of Mormon and is so excited to share it with everyone she meets. The mom that loves to serve everyone and always thinks about taking in a meal, babysitting for others, and cleaning a house for someone in need. The perfect wife and mom that exists in the blog world. These women are amazing. They plant a garden, harvest their veggies, plant fruit trees, can everything they grow, have their year's supply of food and water, sew, craft, decorate their home, home school their kids, plan fun activities, keep the house clean, plant flowers and still have a smile on their face and love their husband and children. Who wouldn't covet that?!

I have to confess that sometimes I can be a little bitter too (which is probably breaking another commandment) because I don't do all those things. Then I am hard on myself, so I start yelling at my kids to clean their rooms, do their homework, be perfect! When that doesn't work I start yelling at Gary to clean the kitchen, cook dinner, get my list of projects done, be perfect! Then I start yelling at myself to keep a clean house, get the laundry done, be nicer, make dinner, go to the grocery store, BE PERFECT! I think I have finally figured out why that's not working for me. My kids aren't perfect, Gary's not perfect, I'm not perfect and......that's okay. I just have to do the best I can.

So excuse me while I pat myself on the back for the good that I have done. Here's the list:

1. Today I decided it was time. My hair was greasy, I hadn't showered in days, and had worn my pajamas until I had to get dressed to meet the bus...in the afternoon...at 3:00 PM. I had to do something with my hair soooooo I put powder in it to soak up the grease. Ha Ha just kidding. I did something even more fantastic....I TOOK A SHOWER, WASHED MY HAIR WITH SHAMPOO, SHAVED EVERYWHERE THAT NEEDED SHAVING, DRIED MY HAIR, PUT ON MAKEUP AND GOT DRESSED!!! All before 10:00 AM. Wow, I am superwoman!

2. I did not do "fend for yourself" dinner every night. Two days this week I...wait for it...prepare to be amazed....COOKED DINNER WITH REAL, UNPROCESSED FOOD! One night I made BBQ chicken, baked potatoes (baked in the OVEN), and we even had a veggie! The other night I made beef stroganoff, from my food storage and everyone liked it! Wow...I am woman hear me roar!

3. I walked around the neighborhood with my husband, we held hands, I only complained a little, and I only insulted Gary a few times. I didn't even yell at him while we were walking! We walked 4 TIMES last week! I bet you're wondering "How does she do it?!"

4. I got myself up, dressed, made up, Carson dressed and to the doctor's office. ALL BEFORE 8:30 AM ON A MONDAY MORNING! I didn't even have a meltdown in the doctor's office. Poor Carson has strep throat so I have been nursing him back to health AND I have been patient! I only got a little annoyed with him once! He was annoyed with me to. That's how we roll, people!

5. I made it to my oil painting class ON TIME! I worked hard painting bricks (those are hard suckers to paint) and I didn't get annoyed with my painting abilities! I will have to show you all of my FABULOUS paintings sometime. I know what you're thinking...SHE PAINTS TOO?! Now, now don't get jealous. Remember, "thou shalt not covet thy friends artistic abilities!"

6. I went to the SPHS football game, in semi-formal attire, to help recognize my senior in high school. Can you believe it...he made it to 12th grade without me strangling him or locking him in his room for 12 years? I'm even considering letting him DRIVE A CAR! Oh, I also didn't tackle the announcer, take his microphone, and tell everyone to BE QUIET! I let the crowd scream! Look how far I have come! Please, please, hold your applause until the end of my post!

7. I helped cheer up a friend that was having to clean up 6 year old crap. Her word not mine I always call it the proper term...poop! Now if you are wondering if the poop was 6 years old and why she bothers cleaning it now...after 6 years, and why she doesn't just throw everything away that was ruined, you might be embarrassed when you find out that the poop was actually from her 6 year old special needs girl. Don't be embarrassed, that's what I thought too! When she heard that, she BELLY LAUGHED! While she was cleaning poop that had been spread everywhere (carpet, walls, bed spread) and trying to not flip out, she belly laughed! I'm so glad I was there in her hour of need to cheer her up! I know...it's just a gift I have!

8. I am going to go show my children how awesome they are by eating the cookie dough they just made. I might even go so far as to say yum! I have to be careful though because they can get vicious when they are feeling like someone is going to steal their cookie dough! They are so cute when they are slapping my hands and yelling at me. Bless their hearts! How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful children?!

Well, I should stop now before you start to covet thy friend's awesomeness!

You may now applaud!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

My Love/Hate Relationship With Fall

Okay...I admit it! I am a debbie-downer, a glass half-empty kind of girl, a party pooper, a negative-nellie....I'm sorry!!! I think of the negative, although I have to say that it feels like the negative found me a long time ago and won't let up (just sayin')!

So anyway.....is anybody out there still reading this?

Fall is a very beautiful time of year. I want to love fall. Really, I do! The cooler temperatures, the leaves changing, walking hand-in-hand with my dreamboat husband. The exciting holidays coming! What's not to love?! Then, just when you start to think that maybe this year will be different...BAM...Halloween preparations smack you right in the head and you suddenly remember why you don't like fall or winter.

*Warning* This post contains some violence and may or may not be based on a true story.

The costumes! There's the costume decision, the mind-changing, the crowds at party city, the expensive, cheaply-made costumes, the crowds at party city, finding make-up, the crowds at party city, the fake hair, and did I mention the crowds at party city?!

Halloween comes. You start to get them ready for some fun while they are kicking and screaming! Nooooooo...I don't want to be Batman!! I want to be Superman! At this point, you, being a perfectly reasonable mom, are quickly approaching the raving lunatic stage of Halloween. The insane person who starts yelling "YOU WILL PUT THIS COSTUME ON RIGHT NOW!!! YOU WILL LIKE IT AND YOU WILL HAVE FUN, BY GOLLY! IF YOU DON'T STOP THIS BEHAVIOR THIS INSTANT, I WILL BEAT YOU AND THEN SELL YOU TO THE CIRCUS!" Just for the record, I don't beat my children or sell them to the circus!

You are now sweaty, but you have to recover quickly because the doorbell starts ringing! You open the door, murmuring under your breath something like "who the heck goes trick-or-treating at 5:00?!" You take a deeeeep breath, smile sweetly to the little ones at the door, tell them how cute they are and then give them candy and tell them Happy Halloween. The door is not even closed before you are screaming at your little demons to come here! They look at you with their little red, watery eyes as you tell them to SMILE(!) for the camera so mommy can take their picture as the doorbell rings again. Before you can get them to pose again, the older ones are running out the door to go trick-or-treating with friends as your smiling husband comes home and says "who's ready to go trick-or-treating?!" At this point, the little one is so traumatized that he is willing to go anywhere that his crazy mom is not! So they happily go off, but you are not allowed to go with them because "well, honey, you are scary and you frighten him." So, once again, you stay home and pass out candy. As the night goes on, the older tricksters (you know, those young parents with the newborn) come by and look offended that you only have the cheap stuff.

After two cul-de-sacs, the little one is ready to call it a night. He can not take one.more.step! So, you head inside to get all of the good stuff out of his stash before someone else gets it. You know, the kids that are too cool for trick-or-treating but not too cool to eat the candy brought home by the little brother. At this point, you leave the bowl of candy on the porch and write a note "please, don't ring the doorbell just take what you want! Also, please do not plaster our pumpkin all over our house, yard, driveway, or street! We are sorry about the cheap candy, but we couldn't buy the expensive stuff because of the expense of costumes (and have you seeeeen the crowds at party city?)"

Soon the ones that are "not too proud to go trick-or-treating as long as we go with someone besides our parents" start to trickle in. They have loads of candy, but can't share because, well you know, they hardly got anything. What? These two pillow cases? Well, yes, they are full to the brim, but that will only last until tomorrow! If we share, it will be gone tonight! Oh, and can we have this out of little brother's stash?!

You finally get them to go to bed 5 hours later after the candy high wears off! Just as you are laying your head on the pillow, you realize that you never did get a picture, and as if on cue, you hear the pumpkin smash against the front door! Wasn't that a fun night your sweet husband asks as he drifts off to snore land. You seriously think of smothering him with your pillow, but luckily are too tired to follow thru. Yeah, great fun...I can't wait for next year you say as you drift off to sleep. For some reason you dream about that movie groundhog day except in your dream it is Halloween that you have to do over every day!

The End

No.....I'm not bitter. Why do you ask? Do I sound bitter?

We managed to get costumes, we braved the crowds at party city (and target and walmart). We even managed a trip to the salvation army for an old prom dress. Some of my kids used their imagination and came up with a costume on their own.

We went to the trunk-or-treat at our church on Friday night. It was loads of fun. They had a yummy soup dinner with rolls and a pumpkin dessert. Carson shed his costume as soon as we got there. He wanted to get his picture taken with the Great Pumpkin until he got up close and realized that the GP was a little scary. Here is Emily and Elizabeth with the GP trying to coax Carson up on his lap. Hats off to the GP who sat there a long time with a pumpkin on his head!



Carson was a firefighter (see...nothing like the story above)



Look! We managed a picture with the hat!



Carson enjoying the other activities offered. No costume :(

The best part though was visiting all the trunks to get treats. I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the back of our van. I would show you a picture of it all scaried up with fabulous Halloween spookies but I don't want you to get jealous or anything. Okay, okay...no, we didn't decorate our van. We did have candy though and that seemed to be enough. What a great night! The activities committee always does a fantastic job!

Saturday night was the real trick-or-treating night. The kids happily and willingly dressed up in their costumes.....except Carson, who did not see the point in dressing up AGAIN! Then we reminded him of the candy and he was dressed in a split second.

Chris has dressed like a teenager too cool to go trick-or-treating for the past couple of Halloweens. He was spot-on...he even added a few good eye-rolls for effect. This year, since Halloween was on a Friday night, he was dressed up as a member of the Stony Point HS Marching band performing in the special Halloween half-time show. That seems to be the favorite performance of the season. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEsAzE5d3cU (sorry I don't know how to do one of those link thingies)

Kinsey and her friend Lauren were dead prom queens. They created a storyline that involved two girls wasting each other because they both liked the prom king. They tried really hard to get someone to play the prom king but didn't have much luck. They still went as dead prom queens, I can't remember what happened to the prom king. Maybe they wasted him before wasting each other? Kinsey had the best halloween since she's been in Texas. The first two years were sad because of that pact she made with herself "hmphf...I will go with you to Texas because I have no other choice, but I will not like it and I will NOT have friends for atleast a year!" She didn't have friends to go with so she had to go with her parents and little brother! How embarrassing! This year she found a friend to go with and didn't even have to be in the same neighborhood with her parents. Yes, life is good for Kinsey right now!



Jared came up with a very clever costume this year...without buying a thing. He was a nerd. It was really a stretch for him because he is a football jock you know! He was thrilled to be able to go out with his friend Josh. Josh dressed up like an old man. He even had the walk down. They were so happy that they could go without a parent and that they were in the same state this year!



Emily and her friend Elizabeth were witches. They scored a trick-or-treating spot with friends and their parents. They would "check-in" once in a while because they are responsible like that (or they wanted to get more candy from the home front). They had a great night and ate most of their treats before the night was finished.




Carson had to go with dad. He loves his dad though so that was okay by him. He didn't really want to be a firefighter that night, but he is really into the Halloween thing! He is amazed that all he has to do is ring a doorbell and people tell him how cute he is and give him candy! He really likes to walk right on in to people's homes to have a looksy. You know, just to get a feel for the neighborhood. Sometimes he even gets another treat on the way out. He knows how to work the system!



I stayed home passing out candy again. I thought I was better this year, but I guess not. We gave away all our candy and then shut out the lights. We got "booed" this year (someone leaves a treat on your doorstep and leaves a little ghost to hang on your window. You are then supposed to hand out treats to two more families.) Shhhh....don't tell anyone, we never did get around to that! This is the first year that we did not carve pumpkins. We even used white pumpkins several years before it was the "in" thing to do. We used to be trend setters! This year, though, we were just tired. No Halloween decorations except for a little ghost that my friend gave me. Good news, though, with no pumpkin there was no pumpkin smashing!

It makes me a little sad that all of my kids (except Carson) prefer to go trick-or-treating with someone else. They are getting older and their parents are soooo yesterday! Sigh.......

We had a wonderfully fun night, though, and no tears were shed. Oh, and Gary escaped death by pillow yet again because this year he was home for the prep work and he remembered to take pictures! What a dreamboat he is!!