Germs

So last week I was out to the DMV with my husband and my son. The wait at the DMV is always long and you make sure that are prepared to settle in for awhile.
I look around and there is a couple with three children. The two oldest had coloring books and things to do while the baby had grown restless. Before I know it the baby is crawling on the floor. I am a parent and I understand the need for little ones to stretch and move around. As I watched all that came to mind was all of the nasty germs on the floor from work boots, manure, bathroom floors, anyway you get my drift. I just wanted to go pick that cute little guy up and douse him with hand sanitizer! I still shudder at the thought of all of the nasty germs.

Friends and Family

There has been something bugging me so I figured if I blog about it I can get it out of my system.
There are those of us who have friends that are/or have been family. These people now everything about you, things that are private and don't need to be shared. The problem is that some of these people cannot seem to help but share everything they know and even answer questions that are directed to you!!! Not only that but then contradict what you have just said!!! Honestly I don't know how a relationship like this lasts but if you consider a family factor it is a much more delicate situation and believe me I am one to speak my mind so this has been very frustrating. What to do? I am not sure because anything that is said will be taken as an attack, what a mess but it definitely needs to be resolved. Ideas?

Poetry

Recently there was an article about a young man who took his own life. The article said that this was a man who struggles with mental illness all of his life - he was bipolar. The stigma of mental illness is so difficult for those who fit it everyday. This young man had served an honorable mission and had a young family but lost his battle with the illness. I know that I missed National Poetry month but here is an attempt at a poem for those who suffer with mental illness.

The battle I am told is not real,
I have fallen down the dark rabbit hole,
I crawl and I fight,
I struggle to find the light.

Here, take this pill and all will be well.
I don't want to roll out of bed,
I fight and struggle between my body and my head.
There is no light ahead, only the darkness lay before me.

I climb and I fight and search for the light
My view is not like others,
It is distorted, not bright.
I desire to find the beauty and light.

I rise from bed to begin a new day,
"pull myself up from my bootstraps," or so they say.
I go through the day trying to find the happiness I so desperately seek,
searching faces and watching the joy that others can see.

I look forward to the day I will see what others see,
but as of today, I look but can not find what they see.
I crawl into bed and hope sleep arrives quickly to take the pain away,
I will wake again tomorrow and fight the battle of another day.

This is probably not the best thing I have ever written but it was rolling through my head so I thought I should write it down before it is gone.

Scouting Memories

Thursday the cutest scout ever came to my door and asked if I would buy a Scout Expo ticket. At that moment I was flooded with scouting memories and become"vaclumped" for a few seconds. Of course I eagerly bought the ticket and after he left a wave of memories flooded over me of scouting for food, pack meeting, board of reviews, pinewood derbies and finally eagle court of honor.

As I am sure you can see I am not a newcomer to scouts as I think back to all of the jobs of wolf den leader, bear den leader, ward cub scout leader and district round table chair; I was even lucky enough to earn the District Award of Merit!! Having gone threw scouting with my sons I know that this was a very rewarding and fun time of life where the creativity and energy was flowing and the excitement was there. At the time I kept thinking "why don't they replace me?" and when this wish came I had to sit back and watch the program I loved struggle and next thing you know I was asking to help but not as a calling but just an outsider wanting to lend a hand. I had to face the cold hard fact that once you are involved in scouts it is difficult to walk away but there are so many others that need to enjoy the experience.

The tinkering with a simple rectangle of wood and wheels to create that fastest car on wheels! The developing of the car, cutting, sanding, weights, painting and finally the all important graphite to send this once useless block of wood into a speeding derby car; what a rush! My boys may not have had the fastest cars but they were theirs. Jeff won third place one year and Patrick won best of show with his Nimbus 2000 (thank you Harry Potter).

For those of you who have boys in scouting - enjoy these years and pay close attention, you never know when the scouting program will decide to recruit you!!

Dance, Dance Baby

OK, so I know that I am a transplant to Utah but I have never seen so many dances packed into one school year. you would think that by now I would have gotten used to all of the dances but my son is a senior and has two dances back to back!! I know that they are at separate school's but the cost can be overwhelming!

In good old Wyoming we had two formal dances and the rest were after a game or there was a dance called MORP. As I am sure that you have figured out is was prom spelled backwards so it would be similar to Sadies. It was a fun dance and not a lot of pressure.

Dances where just that-an evening dance. Here in Utah there has to be this huge all day date before the dance that evening. I would think that there is a good possibility that you are tired of your date about half way through the evening date!! The need to be super creative when asking and answering your date is also tremendous here.

With the economy the way it is who can spend the money for four dances (minimum).
Tux - $45
Flowers - $20 and up
Dinner - $50
Ticket - $20 and up
Pictures - $20 for single
$20 for group
Day date- $Free up to $50 (estimate from son)
Grand Total $175.00 on up!!!

It is insane!

Wednesday Weigh-in

I have decided to follow a friend's example and weigh in once a week to track my progress. I am not a fan of resolutions because they are so easily broken but I do want to lose weight so I thought that this would be the easiest way to do it.
I have a Wii and have not weighed myself out of fear of what it would be. So, (drum roll please) my official weight is 1_ _. Did you really think I would actually write it on a public domain?!? I will say that I have lost seven pounds from a few months ago.
My starting weight will be today's weight. Hopefully I can shed 2 pounds a week. I figure that is a simple enough goal for me. My son J has challenged me to run a half-marathon but I know my limits so I have committed myself to a 5K in May and an Autism walk May 1st.

I'm a Grown Up!

Every kid who has turned 18 think they have grown up and don't need anyone-especially their parents!! They know everything and can not be told anything. So my sweet eighteen year old was just a little upset that I told him to be in at ten from his date so that he could go to bed since school began again today with a six a.m. morning. Ten passes and by ten after in walks the "grown up boy." There is no punishment just the reminder that he was late.
Patrick comes home for lunch today and once again the topic of being late raises its ugly head and as usually the tired old excuse of "I am a grown up, I am eighteen" rears its ugly head. Patrick leaves to return to school and maybe a minute later the front door opens and a humble little man walks in and says:

"Mom, do you have the extra key to my car, I locked my keys in the car."

I tried very hard not to laugh out loud since grown ups can do this very thing but the timing was priceless. I went to the bedroom and retrieved the extra key and brought it to him with a grin and giggle. My response went something like this:

" Here it is my grown up boy."

He smiled and I giggled and he recognized that there are still times when maybe he is not as grown up as he thinks. I laughed for at least ten minutes after he left.