Friday as I walked down a hall at my daughter's school I overheard a frustrated adult voice saying, "Robert, it is not possible to bite someone accidentally!"
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Peer Pressure Of The Best Kind
Andrew came home from school Monday concerned about one of his friends. He hadn't been in school that day, and Drew had heard some rumours. He called this friend and found out that he (C) had decided to drop out of school.
Andrew fussed at him. He tried to persuade him. He reasoned with him. Still C said he'd already made up his mind. He'd talked about it before, and I knew from things Drew had told me that he was unhappy with school, and in my opinion, kind of depressed.
Well Andrew got on the phone with other friends in their circle, and they discussed it and what they should do. Then at about 8 p.m. Andrew patched another friend in on a three-way call to C, and after the conversation was over, Andrew told me that this other friend had just about convinced C to stay in school. C is not 17 yet, so Andrew said, "We have 6 months to convince him to stay in school." (In our state you have to be 17 to drop out.) I asked him why he'd had the other friend talk to C. He said that he knew that this particular friend would be able to do it if anyone could. This friend started out by yelling at C, telling him how stupid he was being, then he laughed at him and made fun of him for making the plans he was making, then he talked to him quietly and reasonably and actually got him to say that maybe he'd try to stick it out after all.
Andrew said, "In this kind of situation, V knows how to talk to C to make him pay attention and take it seriously. I guess we've got six months to convince him."
Sometimes I am just so proud of my kids. The fact that Andrew's circle of friends, a) thinks it's dumb to drop out of school, and b) cares enough about a fellow friend that they will consult one another and then put a plan into action to help him out, tells me a lot about their characters. Sometimes it's really good to be a mom!
Thank you Donna for the wonderful, and timely, graphic above!
Monday, October 9, 2006
Beautiful Fall Weekend
I am up -- again! -- in the middle of the night. My days and nights are completely out of whack!
We had a full weekend; I think we packed in as much as we could, and today I felt it. I was so tired, had a little headache, and napped off and on all day.
We had our yearly Camperee trip this weekend, with a group of friends and friends-of-friends; there were about 130 of us in total. We had a wonderful time. The campground was beautiful; it's secluded, clean, and quiet. The kids went down Friday evening, and we joined them Saturday morning.
We grilled, visited, met knew people, and joined in on impromptu music fests. Andrew had brought his keyboard and wowed a group with his musical talents. Seriously, he is quite good, but isn't used to performing in front of a lot of people and getting applause. It made him a little uncomfortabe. He has several friends who play guitar and one of them joined in with him on a lot of the music he was playing. This particular friend hadn't played with him before and was thrilled that Andrew played the type of music he favored, which none of their other buddies do. So they're making plans to get together again soon, make some music and put it on a CD.
There were games for the kids. The couple who organizes this each year really outdid themselves on the games and prizes. For one game they divided everyone into five teams. Each team had a loosened bale of hay, and the object was to find the needle in the haystack. The lady who organized it (I'll hereafter call her D) had put a dulled, three-inch long, gold needle in each pile of hay. Only one team found their needle, and the girl who found it was so excited that she dropped it! They never did find it again.
Another game they had was to take their pile of hay and make a scarecrow out of it. Each team was given a pair of boots, a pair of overalls, a hat, and a bandanna. There was a prize for the one that was completedfirst. Then another game was pumpkin bowling! That was fun to watch! Every child there got a prize of some sort, and they were really cute and fun prizes.
We had a large chili cook-off in the evening, and lots of great food. Someone had made some mulled cidar, and I drank three cups of it. I haven't had that since I was a kid. My mother used to make it every winter. I need to call and get her recipe, because now that I've been reminded that such a tasty drink exists, I plan to make it once in a while.
The fishing was only so-so. But the creek that runs through the campgrounds is beautiful, as is the surrounding countryside. The trees had started to change a little, but I really don't think we'll have a full burst of color this year. It just hasn't been cold enough yet. We heard a screech owl Saturday night; it called and called for about five minutes straight, and sounded like it was up in the trees right where we were. Our noise and campfires must have been messing up his hunting. Then early Sunday morning we could hear coyotes barking.
Anyway, with volleyball, badminton, frisbee, horse shoes, after dark games, like "Capture the Flag", and other fun activities, we spent a very nice weekend. I really look forward to the next one, and I think D and her husband are already planning things for next year. We got some pictures, but not a lot. I was too busy most of the time. At one point on Sunday Eler Beth and her friend S took off on their bikes, each with a fishing pole in her hand, headed to a spot on the creek where they were just sure they'd seen some big fish. That would have been a cute picture, but I was too late to capture it!
On the way home we stopped at this little drive-in type diner; back home when I was a kid we had one like it called the Dairy Dip, if that gives you an idea of what it was like; you know the kind with the two windows in the front, one for ordering and one for pick up. I had a burger there that was out of this world! It was exactly the way I like them to taste, grilled bun and all!
So, we had a wonderful time, and I'm so glad the weather cooperated. It was sunny and warm during the day, and a little nippy at night. Just right for big campfires and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows; which we did as well. The kids had a blast!
Today, though, like I said, I've had a slight headache and spent the day resting up. I guess tomorrow it's all back to normal, laundry, cleaning, running errands, and catching up on journals! I think the weather is supposed to stay warm for the next day or two, and then turn a little bit nasty/cold. Ah well! It has to come sooner or later, I guess.
CAME HOME FROM OUR TRIP AND....
guess what I found in my in-box? This:
I am very surprised! I enjoyed the tournament very much. My score for the first task was 40 out of 50; and my score for the second task was a perfect 50; but the third task was a lot harder, I thought. I had forgotten about the deadline and remembered just in time to submit the answers, but it was a rush. I really thought I'd missed a lot of them. But my score was 40, making my total score 130.
Guess who was fast on my heels at the end of the tournament? Guido. I actually thought he or Mastersblynn would come out the winner.
If you click on the medal above or in the sidebar, it will link you to Kellen's tournament site. I think the medal was very well done, and I appreciate the hard work expended creating it; also the hard work on digging up all those very hard questions. I like a challenge, and they certainly gave me that!
Friday, October 6, 2006
Up Late and Updates!
Hidey-Ho good people!
I napped this afternoon, then napped again late this evening, and now I'm wide awake. I think it's this cool weather. I have to be up early in the morning, so I just made myself a cup of coffee, and I'm just going to stay up and play on the computer until time to get ready.
We are going on a camping trip this weekend. The kids actually have already left. They rode up last night with friends who are going to the same place. They left right after school, so Thomas and I had the house to ourselves all afternoon and evening. He's snoring away now, but my eyes won't close.
We're going to a yearly Camporee, hosted by some friends of ours. Their family owns a campsite about an hour away from here, rather a large one, and once a year they have a big shin-dig there with friends and family; by invitation only. There are shower and bathroom facilities, sites for pitching tents and sites for campers or RVs. No one except our group will be in the whole campsite. We actually know most of the people there, and when a new family comes, well, it doesn't take long to get to know them, too.
Tomorrow there are a lot of activities planned for the younger crowd with games and prizes, including a scavenger hunt. Eler Beth will enjoy that. She is with one of her very best friends, "S", whom I've mentioned before. Andrew is with two of his very best friends, as well. Tomorrow night is a big chili cook-off, and there will be a lot of music being played, card games going on, and who knows what. The only thing there will not be is drinking. Not allowed!
There is a nice creek that runs through the campgrounds, so Thomas will probably be fishing most of the day and night tomorrow. Eler Beth, I'm sure, will be joining him after all the games are over. I plan to sit or lie in the shade with a couple of good books, take some walks through the woods (I hope the leaves are changing!), and visit with whomever I happen to happen upon!
So I guess it's just as well that I'm up now, and catching up on journals.
My friend is out of the hospital. She is staying with her mother for a few days, until she is able to get up and do for herself. She is still in good spirits, and feeling fairly well, considering. The doctor said she will have to have about 18 months of chemo. The first series will be by IV, but the ones after that will be by pill. I've decided to make myself her own personal little Chemo Angel, and send her cards and/or goodies every week when she starts her rounds of chemo.
Since a lot of people haven't been getting alerts, it's just as well that I haven't been making any entries lately. I've been busy with getting ready for this weekend, and setting up the school store at Eler Beth's school, which I've managed for about 7, going on 8, years now. We usually have it going earlier than this, but because of the new building, we're a little behind.
Well, so long for now. I'm off to visit some more journals.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Update on Julie
Julie had her surgery today. Her husband, sister and daughter were there, and my oldest sister, Dee, was with her as well. Dee called Mom a while ago to say that Julie is in recovery. The surgery went well, but they were not able to get all of the cancerous lymph nodes. I do not know why. They removed all that they could and removed the cancerous breast. She was still asleep when Dee called. In six weeks she will start chemo. I will call to get an update on her tomorrow. I am curious to know why they couldn't all the lymph nodes.
Taking A Coffee Break
Yesterday I got two sample packages of Christopher Bean coffee in the mail. I have no idea why, but I'm happy to try them out. One is Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend/Rasta Blend, which I'm trying out right now. It's okay. It doesn't grab me by my taste buds and scream "Buy me! Pay any price for me! You have to have me!", but it's drinkable. The other one is French Caramel Creme. I'll save that for another day. I'm not much on caramel flavoring in my coffee.
The description of the one I'm drinking is "Medium Body, Bright, Smooth and Balanced". (I told Thomas that described him!)
It's another beautiful, sunny day here in Kentuckiana. The temps are just right. I didn't get on the computer until around noon; I whisked through some emails, wrote some letters, and had lunch. This morning I managed to clean the dining room, and I did some yard work before it started getting too warm.
Last night I made chicken noodle soup, with the wide egg noodles. I think it's the best I've ever made. I also made some snickerdoodles. I'm not sure what we'll have tonight. I'll probably pull something quick out of the freezer.
The reports I've heard so far on that shooter in Pennsylvania is that he was enacting some kind of revenge that had nothing to do with the Amish. He chose their school because it would be easy to get into. I also heard that he'd told his wife that morning that he'd molested some young relatives. It wasn't clear to me whether that was recent or from his past.
I don't pretend to understand the mind of someone who has decided to take his own life. I've known two people who have committed suicide, and in both cases, they went to some remote spot and did the deed. In one case the lady had battled with depression her whole life; in the other case, it was a complete shock to family and friends. I don't judge anyone in that circumstance because I can't know what is going on. Only God knows the heart. I hope that I would never find myself at the point where I felt I had no option but to take my own life. It is, as Thomas always says, a "long-term solution to a short-term problem." But when someone who has reached that kind of desperation decides to harm or take the life of others who have nothing to do with his/her situation, it is hard not to judge. How would killing those young girls have made any kind of sense to this man? Was it just that he had to kill someone, anyone, besides himself? I wonder if we'll ever get any kind of answers?
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