Things to Do

The end of the school year is approaching, and with each passing day, the to-do list seems to get a little longer: 4 sets of firefly wings for 3rd grade musical, VBS supplies, summer Sunday school curriculum, plant tomatoes in garden, hoe the garden, mow the yard, flower beds, attempt to schedule time to visit family over the summer....the list keeps growing and growing.

So am I stressed or panicked? No. Rather than be overwhelmed, I've decided to tackle this one item at a time. Each task, when looked at individually, is really quite simple. We'll just keep plowing away, one thing at a time, until the list is completed.

Unfortunately, I've found out that a mother's list is never completed. Items just keep getting added to it.
Anyone want to come fold and put away laundry???

An Evening with Maya Angelou

UPDATE: Go to my friend Christy's blog to see her thoughts on the event.
Last night I had the privilege of enjoying a lecture given by Maya Angelou. Her message was inspiring and her stories, songs and poems were entertaining. What made the evening even better was attending it with my good friend and some of her students.

Angelou challenged the audience to "be a rainbow in someone's clouds" and to remember and appreciate those that have been rainbows in our clouds. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have attended what I would call a great cultural event. And, I only had to travel 15 minutes to the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon to do it. The Panhandle offers numerous cultural opportunities if we'd just take the time to seek them out. (I'm attending CATS on Sunday--yay!)

When Roosters Fight

The roosters have been fighting a lot lately. I'm sure it has something to do with trying to impress the hens and the pullets. (All of which are laying now--seems the fighting started when the pullets, who are in the adjacent pen, started laying.) Needless to say, the girls are not impressed.

T.S. and I, on the other hand, are impressed. Notice how they make the feathers around their head go out and how they puff up their whole body. I'm assuming this is to appear larger. I googled "why roosters fight" and mainly came up with real rooster fights. I also found some male enhancement products, but we won't go there.

Here are some pictures to show how the fight goes. Usually they bow down to each other, fluff feathers, then jump at/on each other. Then the whole process starts again. The hens continue to go about their business scratching and pecking like nothing is going on.

Still on my mind...

This story about the 100-0 blowout is still on my mind. There was even an editorial about it in today's Amarillo paper. I posted about it here. Rather than dwell on the negative, I decided to share this story with you.

Here is the headline for the story: "There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning." It's about a football game played between Grapevine Faith Christian School and the Gainesville State School this year. Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas.

It's a story about a Christian school going above and beyond to make a difference for some boys who are living in what could seem like a hopeless place. It's a story that should make you feel good and should restore your faith in coaches, kids, parents and sports today. It might even make you tear up.

Resolutions

It is that time of year when everyone makes resolutions. My sister has a great list here. My blog-friend Amanda has a fabulous one here. We have a new year and a fresh start, so it only makes sense to resolve to do things differently. I've never made resolutions. I've never said, "I'm going to...every day. "

I'd like to exercise every day, I'd like to be a fantastic wife and mother every day. But, I know for me that "every day" is unrealistic. It seems to me that when we put terms on like "every day" we are setting ourselves up for failure. I am in no way knocking those of you who have made daily goals, nor am I saying they aren't achievable. I'm actually rooting for you, I want you to be successful with your goals. I'm saying that for me, if I put the words "every day" in, that when I miss a day or two, I'll use that as the excuse to drop the whole goal. So, I'm making my resolutions in broad terms. In 2009, I'd like to:

• Be a better person.
• Be more positive towards myself and others.
• Exercise more.
• Laugh more, worry less.
• Have fun with my kids and husband.
• Make a difference to one person.
• Read a few "books of substance."
• Spend less, save more.

Those shouldn't be too hard, should they?

How to Tell if Your Church is "Kid Friendly"

I am very thankful that our church is "kid friendly." We don't send the kids out after children's time and for the most part, the low rumble that comes with the numerous kids in our congregation is not only accepted but welcome. Here are some signs that your church is "kid friendly." (in no particular order)

• No one minds that your 4 year old son takes off his shoes and socks five minutes into the service.
• Peppermints are provided in the foyer and no one stands guard over them limiting each kid to only one. (Although sometimes I wish we did, but I don't want to be the peppermint guard.)
• It is perfectly acceptable for your child to run up the aisle (barefooted) to children's time and "slide" into his spot on the floor. It is also acceptable for him to run up the center aisle and slide into his pew. (We did discuss this today and T.S. promises not to make a habit of it.)
• Your preacher stops in the middle of the sermon to acknowledge the child (usually his granddaughter) that is waving/talking to him.
• Members of the church tell you that you are being too hard on your kid (when you take them out to discipline) and you should, "just let them be kids." These are the same people that would have never let their kids get away with what you are trying to stop your child from doing.
• When you get a new preacher, he is often confused about which kids belong to which parents because babies are handed off and kids take turns sitting with their friends regularly.

Is your church kid friendly?

Fire-Safe Cigarettes????

While watching the news the other night, I was surprised to hear that Texas is now a state that requires the sale of "fire-safe cigarettes." I immediately thought, "Isn't that an oxymoron? Is there such a thing as a fire-safe cigarette?"

Apparently there is. They are cigarettes that have special paper that is designed to let the cigarette burn out if it is not puffed. You can read the AP article here. Some smokers say they taste bad. That made me wonder, "If they taste bad, they are probably treated with a chemical. If they are treated with a chemical, that means they probably cause cancer. If they eventually cause cancer, there will be huge lawsuits in the coming years."

This is apparently a big deal. There is even a Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes. (I'm thinking that anything that has its own coalition is a big deal.)

I don't care for smoking, but I think if someone wants to make that choice it is his/her choice. I think it is interesting that people are trying to make cigarettes "safer." (another oxymoron) I also understand that fires caused by cigarettes are a big problem. I'm not trying to take a stance on smoking or start some heated debate.

Two things made me find this topic interesting: 1. the thought of fire-safe cigarettes and 2. the government is regulating one more thing.

Does this seem to be a little crazy to anyone but me?
I'm thinking about forming a coalition--The Could Someone Leave Us All Alone and Let Us Make Our Own Decisions Even If They Are Bad Coalition.

212 Degrees

I had the opportunity today to be a part of a youth entrepreneurship fair. There were about 25 interesting ideas represented at the fair by youth in our area. The motivational speaker was very good. She spoke about our attitude and how it affects so many aspects of our lives and the lives of those around us. She gave some startling statistics, which I didn't write down. One I do remember was the average child hears "NO" or "you can't do it" around 148,000 times by the time they turn 18. (and we wonder why the world is in the shape it is in) She demonstrated how much better kids respond to positive feedback than negative.

The most important thing she spoke about was going the extra step or the extra degree. She used this video to really drive home the point.

Are you going the extra degree?

Kudos to Maci and Wesley from Happy for their outstanding job at the fair. Maci won 2nd and $750 and Wesley won 3rd and $500--all for going the extra degree. You can see more about Wesley's project and his family's business--The Happy Toymaker.

What I've Learned...so far

Before I begin, I need to add one more to our compilation:
I've learned that 'it' is going to happen, so you might as well smile and make an adventure of 'it'.

This has been a really hard list for me to come up with. I really like what everyone else had to say (all three of you). When I read them, I thought,"yeah, me too." So here's what I've got so far.

• Life is all about choices. Your choices determine what happens, from your attitude to your income--so choose wisely. Don't be afraid to admit you made the wrong choice, you can always choose again.
• Dishes, laundry and the house will wait; your kids and family will not. When I die, I want my family to say, "Boy, we sure had some fun times." Not, "We had the cleanest house in town." (not that the latter would happen.)

I was really hoping to come up with something profound. I think it all boils down to:

Life is as simple as you choose to make it. Love freely, laugh a lot and share that love and laughter with everyone around you while you can.

What You have Learned

After an overwhelming (thanks you two) response to this blog post I've finally compiled a list of the top 8 things you guys have learned so far in your life. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Nothing is too big for God.
2. You never know where life is going to take you and what you are going to find once you are there.
3. Life is never how you pictured it.
4. It's a small world.
5. Life is too short to try to please everyone.
6. Sometimes you get what you need, not what you want.
7. It's easy to hold a grudge, and a lot harder to find a way to forgive and move forward.
8. There's no place like home and no one like family.

I'm working on the list of things I've learned so far. Feel free to comment and let me know what you have learned. I hope we are all learning something every day and that we can learn from each other.

What Have You Learned?

UPDATE: October 13--The last few times I have tried to go to the website mentioned in this post it has been unavailable. Sorry if I've led you on a wild goose chase!


Yesterday I ran across this website titled "Things I have learned in my life so far." You can illustrate the thing you have learned and send it to this site and they will post it. Very interesting and hard to stop looking at all of the things people have shared. (a few, but not many, were a little weird and not really for young eyes)

My favorite was, "My attitude, my choice and I'm choosing happy."

The sight got me thinking/wondering--what have I learned in my life so far? (have to check back for a future post for that nugget of wisdom)

What have you learned in your life so far? Please leave it in a comment or email me (to do that you must know me and already have my email address). I'll try to compile our own list of things we've learned.