Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Supposedly..............

When I hear the word "supposedly" pronounced "supposubly"every other word that surrounded those four mangled syllables disappears and I have to bite hard to not correct the pronounciation. Can I let it go-of course! In the time I would waste being irritated , it's past and forgotten.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Letting things go................

I've decided that every time I add a blog I will also include an example of something that makes me-a little crazy, irritated, stressed, raises the hair on the back of my neck, etc.....I will also pledge to let it go in the future.....when possible.

Land of the free, because of the brave.

Yesterday, I attended an event, "Walk to Remember." It was a walk to honor the memory of Sergeant Bryan Hall who was killed exactly one year ago yesterday by a suicide bomber in Mosul, Iraq. My friend, his sister Kristi, put the event together and as sad as the symbolism of the date was, it was also an amazing day as well. Bagpipers played along the parade route. There was a color guard kicking off the walk, as well as renditions of The Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace. Outback Steakhouse provided a huge lunch for everyone-at their cost. Talking to the store manager later, he said, "It's just the right thing to do." At the start of the planning, Kristi was afraid there would be few people attending. Half of the money raised will go into an account to fund the education of Bryan's toddler daughter, Addison. The other half will go into a scholarship fund to be given to a graduating senior from the high school Bryan attended. Interested seniors must submit a paper explaining the importance of freedom and what it means to them. People attending the walk numbered almost 1,000. There were of course family, friends and coworkers of the Hall family, but there were also law enforcement, veterans, veterans from Vietnam and Iraq. There were groups, mothers of soldiers currently deployed as well as families of fallen soldiers.
There were people walking in honor of their loved ones. I was honored to be a part of it.

Friday, April 9, 2010

What a thrill!

The Fed Ex guy came to the door. I knew what it was before I opened the door. I was so excited to open the box. It was ten copies of a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, "Thanks Dad," that comes out on the 20th. My story is in the book; a story I wrote about my husband and the dad he turned out to be. My husband is not my boys' biological father, but no dad, connected by blood or DNA has ever been more committed to his family as he has proven himself to be. Isn't that what it comes down to? Proof.....Lip service is so easy and yet so worthless if it isn't proven by sincere intent, compassion and committment. I had to share it with the world.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Deadline!

It's amazing what I can achieve simply by procrastinating........just a little. Deadline is Wednesday night. I give myself a headache. It all comes down to the lead. How do I start???
Once that first sentence is written, the rest is a breeze. Do I have the discipline to stay with it start to finish? Nope.....there's Death by Chocolate ice cream in the freezer and I'm still trying to find a particular Heart song on the internet that I want to download. I'm not cooking tonight.
Plenty of leftovers though and my husband's on a diet. I LOVE his diets. If nothing-it's good for a laugh. He goes to work. His lunch box is filled with fruit, cottage cheese and the little envelopes of powdered sugarfree drinks. I pack chicken from the night before in a tupperware for him to heat up in the microwave in his office. He leaves the chicken. I call and ask him why. "I'm not eating today," he tells me. "I've been eating too much." He gets home and makes a sandwich-holding the mayo of course. I make dinner, he only wants a small salad. I'm in bed by 10:00-so is he, until midnight or so, then he quietly disappears out of the bed. The next morning there are suspiciously empty tupperware containers in the sink. I take his car to run across the street to the post office. Empty stuffed burrito wrappers litter the floor of his car. I point and raise the brows. "Damn, I left my window open when I was at work yesterday and somebody threw their garbage in my car," he tells me. I can tell you that the pig that litters the inside of my husband's car, does so a few times a week and has a thing for Taco Bell and KFC......

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The color pink...

It's quiet...........Even Daisy-the pitbull-is sleeping. Perfect time to sit and work. I have a story to write for the paper. State budget cuts, slashes to education, teachers pink-slipped, where do I even start. It's a little overwhelming. Ok, how about the library. I'll start with the Librarians or
what appears will be a possible future without them. Those pink slips............such a stupid color for a notification that is like a sock in the gut of the recipients. Some talk about losing their homes, but it's no less painful for those who aren't financially paralyzed by the pink slip. Others are just devastated, it almost seems like a betrayal for those who are so much a part of the community. They have watched the children grow and grow up. I'll approach this with the angle of how it will affect the children of this community. Librarians do so much more than just check out books. Children are required to produce their first research paper in fourth grade. At least one source must be something other than internet. The Librarian steers them toward the book they require-at their level. If it's not available, the Librarian knows where to find it. The closer a student is to college-research is a constant, study hall, study groups. The library has to be a constant as well. The school district has no back up plan. Parents need to rally. Ok, get to work.

Monday, April 5, 2010

All I wanna do is write..............

It's what I want to do, but I'm a wife, I'm a mom. I don't suffer from writer's block. I suffer from writing blockers. Can't sit down with the lap top until everything else is done. It is always put off till the end of the day. Then way too tired or the half a Benadril I've taken to help me sleep is kicking in. My creativity pouts in the corner, disgusted by my neglect. It's funny because I feel more guilt if I neglect the laundry or the bathroooms then if I neglect to take the time to sit and write. I know why. Clean house, laundry done, it's something visual, my family gets it. Mom is tired, look around, she worked all day. They don't get the whole writing thing, but maybe that's partly my fault. When I have to sit down and put together a story for the newspaper, I'm busy. Not doing the dishes busy or throwing dinner together busy, so I guess they don't see it. Again, my fault maybe? Oh, it makes me crazy when my husband comes in and asks me some inane question about whether I remembered to mail the letters he gave me that morning. That's after he left a note next to the letters and called me from work to remind me. "Working," I answer without looking up, hoping he gets the message to go away. Fat chance. He recognizes the irritation in my voice and will challenge it.