Graduation Day

To the gentleman (who really wasn't) sitting behind us on Graduation Day, I wanted to tell you a few things.

When we took our seats, we didn't see you sitting there behind us. You must have come in later. But surely you noticed my young grandson sitting with us. He was there before we arrived, as was the little boy in front of us. If you thought it might be a problem, why didn't you sit somewhere else? Since you didn't I can only surmise that you were either neglectful in choosing your seat, or you thought you were a member of the noise patrol.

I too am very sensitive to noise and other distractions. I find it especially difficult during church with people moving around whispering and the occasional crying child. My solution is to sit in the 1st or second pew. When I sit up front I don't miss a thing and distractions are rare.

I'm pretty confident that when you saw the movement of my grandson, that you assumed he was an undisciplined, ill-behaved child. He is tall for his age and often mistaken for a boy of 6 or 7. He will be 5 this summer. Ethan (that's my grandson,) was very patient through the ceremony. He sat in my lap for most of the first hour and a half. Yes, he squirmed a bit, but he was mostly quiet. He was very well behaved.

I'll admit, right before the graduates walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, he did get down from my lap. He interacted with each of my children, smiling and grinning at each one. Occasionally a little giggle escaped. I think it was those giggles that you found so annoying.

Maybe you couldn't tell that Ethan is a special needs child. He doesn't talk yet and his only form of communication is gestures and noise. His giggles are music to our ears, it says he is happy.

Was this graduation not a happy time for you? Were you not there,as we were, to celebrate the joyous occasion of seeing our loved ones receive a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry? These graduates are ready to begin pastoring churches. They've spent many years preparing to be ministers of the gospel. The Gospel.

I wonder what Jesus would have thought as you so loudly hissed a shuuuush. I do believe the entire sanctuary heard you. I recall another time when some men were rather annoyed with little children in their midst. A wise man said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Jesus. I believe He is the author of the Gospel.

And just in case you didn't know: the pastor of the very church we were celebrating in was also sitting behind us. In your same pew. He is a wise man. He once said the sweetest sound ever heard in church are the sounds of a happy, young child. I do hope our recent graduates remember the wise words of Jesus and not some angry man from their graduation.

Can You Guess

Can you guess what my family is doing? (Yes, they are in my kitchen throwing something. Sorry it is such poor quality. It was taken with my phone, as I couldn't find the video camera.)

Congrats

Congratulations Christina

My lovely daughter graduated on Sunday with her Bachelor of Arts in Ministry. We are so proud of her hard work and diligence. One day I just might be announcing we have a Pastor in the family! (Of course, we already do.) Congratulations Christina, you are amazing!

Yes, my kids are goofs.

My Brother

Greg

Can you all stand one more video? Several years ago I heard this song and immediately thought of my brother. He was a tough little boy but has become a wonderful father to 2 little girls and a step-son. Oh the stories I could tell you about growing up with him. (Hmmm...that gives me some ideas for blogging!) Anyway, here it is-and if my brother didn't have dial-up, he could see it too. He will have to wait for the DVD I will send him.



A side note: Greg didn't get married until he was 42 years old. He wed his high school sweetheart and has 2 beautiful girls with her and I am their godmother~

80

Happy 80th Birthday

Life At 80

Life At 80

(No, I'm not 80)

When I turn 80, I'm going to sleep in or take naps whenever I want. When I wake up, I'll lounge in my silk pajamas.

I'll sip coffee that someone else has made and soak in the beauty of the morning.

At 80, I'll do my hair once a week, and look lovely wearing silver locks.

By the time I reach 80, I will have learned to appreciate the little things in life. I'll be surrounded by kids, grandkids and great grandkids to enjoy and love.

By my 80th birthday I'll be kind and wise. I will have learned when to speak and when to listen and I will do them both well.

I will celebrate every chance I get. I'll attend Happy Hour with friends and laugh a lot. I'll keep my sense of humor. I'll be friendly and generous to those around me-maybe to the point that some might think I'm a crazy old lady.

At 80, it won't matter how good my health is, I will choose to be joyous. I'll work on puzzles, take walks-maybe in the pool, and look for the good in every situation. I'll forgive others and not be bitter.

I will laugh and cry. I'll read good books and keep my mind sharp. I'll keep my weight even, but will find a way to enjoy dessert every day. I might have chocolate cake before dinner.

And at 80, I'll probably still love Mexican Food and have it served for my 80th birthday. And if I do these things, I will be just like my mother-in-law. Her birthday is today.

Happy 80th Birthday!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Time Travel Tuesday

Time Travel Tuesday

I was visiting Barb of A Chelsea Morning. She is participating in Time Travel Tuesday. It sounded like fun, so thought I'd join her.

For today's TTT, we are supposed to post our very first blog entry and tell how we got started blogging. So here it is:

So, my cardiologist wants me to "do the Zone Diet." According to him, it is a good, heart healthy diet and my whole family can benefit. I won't have to eat differently or prepare separate meals for myself. Sounds too good to be true. But I was willing to give it a try. If I am not successful, he wants me on meds. I haven't told him yet, that I won't take them even if this diet doesn't accomplish what he wants it to.

I went to Barnes and Noble to purchase two books he recommended. It sounded like it was a workable. We could live a normal life on it. Well, the first week life was too stressful to try it; A high school graduation, graduation party the next day...so the diet would have to wait a week.

Anyway, you don't want to hear about my procrastinations to start this new, incredible diet. So last night I began cooking one of these wonderful all-in-one dish meals. Sounded way too easy.

I am used to cooking for at least 7 people every night. Everyone living in this household is a teen, young adult, or full-fledged adult with the exception of one almost 3 year old. With teens and young adults come spontaneous invitations to dinner. So we often have extras, which translates into 7 to 10 people. I've learned to stretch meals by adding fresh fruit, bread, etc.

This is the meal I decided to create: Chicken Zucchini Italiano

Mmmmm...fresh basil, onions, chicken, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, garlic...sounded delicious! It quickly became quite a chore, though. I did not have a pan big enough to cook all of the ingredients...I don't think my stove is big enough, and I did not have a serving dish big enough.

I cut up the chicken just fine. Then came the mushrooms, zucchini and onions. The orginal recipe called for:

4 cups zucchini
3/4 cup onion
2 cups mushrooms
2 tsp garlic

That is for 1 serving. So am I supposed to mulitiply that times 7??????? For those like me who don't like math, that means:

28 cups of zucchini
5 1/4 cups of onion
14 cups of mushrooms
1/3 cup garlic

You've got to be kidding! I figured I'd make less...but then was it ok to serve bread as a filler if that wasn't enough??? Of course there were other ingredients too. By the time I finished chopping and dicing and preparing small batches at a time, I was in tears.

The good news is, everyone pretty much liked it. The bad news is it was a lot to clean up, I didn't have the patience to prepare that much, and I was overwhelmed at the sheer volume of veggies. I don't have that much room in my 'fridge to store this much for daily consumption. I would have to shop every other day to cook like this.

So, do I call my cardiologist and tell him I can't follow the diet because it is too much work? Or tell him that I don't care if my family eats "non nourishing food" and gourges on bread and the likes and I will just prepare separate meals for myself?

For tonight's dinner? The doorbell just rang. It's pizza.

I'm trying to recall just how I started blogging. I have always kept a hand-written journal, so enjoy writing my thoughts. I believe I was on a message board when someone shared they were blogging. I had no idea what it was, so perused hers. She had a list of links to others and I became hooked. The rest is history.
(Update: I'm not very good at Meme's. This was not my first post, but my 3rd or 4th. Here is my first post.)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I'm still working on my Mother's Day post but my kids made this CD for me. Thought I'd share it.

Sights & Sounds Saturday

Sights & Sounds Saturday
(Things seen or heard around Colorado)

Conversation that took place on my porch last night.

"Ooooh, this girl at school found a dead snake. She was carrying it around on a stick after school. It was so disgusting."

"Well, at least it wasn't a dead squirrel with bubonic plague."

"Why would a dead squirrel have poop on its leg?"

Laughter

"A squirrel with BUBONIC PLAGUE!"

"Poop on its leg?"

"Haven't you heard about the squirrels and rabbits that have tested positive for bubonic plague in town?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I keep hearing poop on its leg."

Sigh. And the poop part from a girl in high school.

Laundry

I think the laundry must have a mind of its own. How else does one explain the disappearing socks? I wish the rest of the dirty clothes would follow the socks. Instead of coming up missing, they multiply. I kid you not. The longer clothes remains in the hamper, the fuller it beomes. You throw a load in to wash, but the pile never gets smaller. Well, except for those socks. What's with the socks anyway? If this keeps up, I'm going along with the socks to sock heaven. (If I could just figure out where that is.)

Hey Heth, From Under The Laundry Pile, if you ever crawl out and find sock heaven-let me know!

Congratulations

Just a quick CONGRATULATIONS to Elisabeth for making the Cheerleading Squad for college! Go Red, Blue, & White!!!

Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Any occasion for a celebration, especially when it includes Mexican food. We celebrate Cinco De Mayo every year. Only 1 of our invitees is actually from Mexico, but it doesn't stop us from having fun and enjoying great food! We had:

Chicken Enchiladas

Chili Con Queso

Beans

Cerveza

Homemade Salsa & Chips

Guacamole

Lettuce & Tomato

Flan

A somewhat mild celebration. (And no, we didn't shoot off any guns in the streets.) I believe we must have all been tired, There was no Mariachi band, or Spanish music, & no dancing. (Unless you count the former cheerleader who is trying out for college cheerleading, and the pom pon girl.)

Religion

There has been a religious discussion on a board that I post. It is a place that I care deeply about the other ladies. I do not wish to offend them. We come from different places, different religions, etc. But the board is not a religious board, but a large family one. I want to maintain a place where discussions revolving around large family life is discussed and moms of many can feel comfortable with one another. But when one of the posters began asking another about their particular religion, how does one stay quiet? So I wrote an analogy as to why it is impossible to not seem contrary. Here it is: (and these friends are of the Mormon persuasion.)

Let me see if I can give you an analogy. Suppose you had a dear friend who couldn't swim. Your friend has purchased a Life Boat for the purpose of going on a rafting trip. Now you have seen this Life Boat. It is built out of raw wood, complete with a raw wood life preserver. You can see that this boat may stay afloat for awhile, but once it is water logged it is going to sink. Since your friend can't swim, she will surely drown. So you try to point out to her that her life boat is actually not going to save her, but she will sink and drown.

Your friend tells you that you just don't understand that she purchased this life boat from a legitimate source and it is indeed a life boat, complete with a life preserver stamped right on the boat. She has other non-swimming friends that begin to ask her about this boat and express their desire to go rafting on her life boat.

Now you, as her friend who cares deeply about her, would you choose not to say anything so as not to stir up strife amongst friends?

Here is another analogy. You and a friend decide to move to Hawaii. You don't need to take any belongings with you as you will be able to purchase everything once you arrive. So you make plane reservations to Hawaii. Your friend instead buys a canoe. She plans to take off from the coast of California and canoe all the way to Hawaii. What do you do? You have other friends who want the same thing. Some have also made plane reservations, others are talking about following the canoe route. Since you all enjoy being friends where you are at, and once you arrive in Hawaii are you going to bother to point out that your friend in the canoe is probably not going to make it to Hawaii? Afterall, most likely the worst that is going to happen is your friend will be in the canoe for awhile, but then go back to living in California. California is not Hawaii, but certainly not the worst place to live.

So, where am I going with this? You wonder why I seem a bit argumentative when you are explaining your religion to someone else. You believe most of us who are decent people will be in some level of heaven and only the truly evil people will land in hell. You don't like it when you think others misunderstand the road you are on to your destination, so you try politely to help them understand. But it isn't a big deal if they don't quite make it to the same destination as you as long as they are going to make it to some level of heaven.

I on the other hand don't see it as such. I am in the first analogy. I see a heaven and a hell and nothing in between. I care deeply about you, but the path I see you on does not lead you to destination of heaven that I am on. I see it leading to a place of eternal torment. So while you might see me as mean-spirited by pointing out what I see as fallacies in your leaky boat, my true desire is that you end up in eternity with the One True God. I can't not say something when I see your destination as not just a lower level of heaven, but in an eternal place of fire.