Filling Back Up

My sugar bowl is filling back up. I went to church yesterday and it seemed like everything about the service was directed right at me. Three of my four favorite aunties were there. I missed Barbo. They all had hugs and smiles for me. They knew that my heart was hurting. I had been listening to my iPod with all my Radio Singers music. I really love all the songs, but some of them just speak to me a little louder than others. Yesterday, coincidentally? -- I think not -- the Radio Singers sang all my old favorites. Ones that give me encouragement and make me feel good. Then when Tommy gave the sermon, I was encouraged even more. My sugar bowl got heaping spoonfuls from church on Sunday.

An encouraging call from Nan and being with my family last night put another spoonful in. Being with the kids can't help but make me smile. Eli, with all of his energy. Alayna, with her graceful spunk. Reid, with his quiet observing ways. Ethan, with a smile to melt your heart. Joseph wasn't there, and I missed him. Yes, indeed, it was a big spoonful of sugar!

This morning as I sat down to blog, my eyes caught a verse of scripture that I keep beside my computer. It's Psalms 121:2. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. More sugar.

Before I blogged, I wanted to catch up on some of my daily reads first. What a huge blessing that turned out to be. I started out with Kelly at Kelly's Korner. Her entire last post was about how the scripture is speaking to her in real life. It was a really good post and I enjoyed it very much. Kimba over at A Soft Place to Land had this scripture from Matthew 11:28-30. And Leah at Bloggeritaville encouraged me by reminding me to "Be still and listen." From Leah's, I then went and visited one of the blogs she follows, Teresa at Grammy Girlfriend. She had scripture from John 14:27. Joyce, a/k/a Mam at Mam's House, always has scripture posted. As I read today what she had posted yesterday from 1 Peter 5:7, I knew that I must cast all my cares upon the Lord. Thanks for the reminder, Joyce. And thanks to my blogger friends, my sugar bowl is nearly full again. I should be able to make lemonade from the lemons life's been throwing my way lately. Thank you all for your hugs! I didn't let myself feel them too much Saturday, but I'm feeling them big time now!

Because of family and friends, my sugar bowl is running over!

On to other things. The Parks kids started school today. Eli in kindergarten. Alayna in 5th and Reid's first day in middle school. Gulp. I've talked to Suz and she was tearful, but I think she's gonna be fine. This is the first time in 11 years her house has been empty during the day. She's always had a little one at home with her. It'll take her a few days to get used to her new found freedom, but she's a lot like me, and I know she's gonna love it!

I need to ask y'all to pray for a friend of Cam's who was in an accident over the weekend and was Life Flighted to Grady badly burned on his face and arms. The only details I can get are that rubbing alcohol was involved. Jeff went to high school with his dad and his grandmother is Ms. Clark, the school secretary at Fairview Elementary forever. I'm sure Crystal and Suz know exactly who I'm talking about.

My Blackberry is on the fritz. I've got to go to Verizon and stand in line with all of the other 438,000 Verizon customers. They've got people, you know. After that I'm taking Cam's truck to the body shop to see what they think it's going to cost to be fixed. And I'm going to stop by Shane's Ribshack and the grocery store to get stuff to make enchiladas for supper. If it's a recipe worth keeping, I'll share. I'm trying to pamper myself a little today and not take on too many things that will stress me out. Although, after reviewing what I've just posted, I'm not doing so good. Verizon store. Ugh. Body shop. Ugh. Grocery store. Ugh. Cooking. Ugh. I guess I'm seeing through rose-colored glasses today. And that works for me!

Till tomorrow.

All Out of Sugar

This time I seem to be out of one of the key ingredients to make lemonade from the lemons of life. The sugar. The second most important ingredient. The one that makes it sweet and bearable to drink. I'm out. I'm empty. I have none.

Cam was in a car accident yesterday, and everyone is fine. No one had even a single scratch. For that I am so very thankful. Truly. It happened at an extremely busy intersection not a mile from his school. This one involved three cars, including his. The front car had stopped to turn left into Subway. A girl driving a smaller pickup truck evidently didn't see him and she slammed into the first car. Her sudden stop caused Cam to slam into the rear end of her truck. All three cars were pretty messed up. The girl's truck had to be towed. Cam and I drove his home. I don't know if it could've been prevented on Cam's part or not. The girl had evidently taken her foot off the brake, since her car wasn't running, and Cam said he never saw her taillights. I don't know. He got a ticket. She got a ticket. All three have wrecked cars and stressed out parents, as they were all students at Union Grove.

Last night my spirit was broken. I had a meltdown from it all. I had truly hoped that today I would feel better. I don't. As I'm typing this, I'm as choked up as I was last night.

I know things could be so much worse. I could've spent a sleepless night at a hospital with my son. I could've spent a sleepless night comforting a son who had badly injured or even killed someone with the truck he so dearly loves. I know all this. Yet still I'm broken. And I'm going to experience every second of the brokenness until it goes away on its own. I don't want to sweep it under a rug or pretend I'm fine. I'm going to feel it. Allow myself to cry, allow myself to frown. Allow myself to have an overwhelming feeling of dread for Monday when we have to deal with the insurance, police reports, and all the other things that go along with having an accident. Then when the feeling is done with me, I'll live, love and laugh again.

Till tomorrow.

Shoes Versus Feet

As I sat down to blog today, I had quite a few things on my mind. But at every turn I was brought back to the subject of shoes.

Y'all remember a couple of weeks ago I fell down my front porch steps. I missed the bottom step
and sprained my ankle.
I'm sure that I injured all 26 bones, 33 muscles and each of the hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments in my foot. Now, I know from previous ankle injuries that it takes months for healing to occur. And even then, your ankle just isn't the same as it was before.

Y'all also know that I'm short. Very short. About 5'1 standing tall. I tell you, there's nothing funnier to a short person than having someone say, boy, you ARE short. Well, almost nothing. Remember I'm short and I have a funny name.

Tuesday when I worked, I attempted to wear my wedge heels. They're normally a very comfortable shoe and I wear them with no trouble. Well, as I mentioned before, I was lost most of the day on Tuesday. I went to the wrong office for my first job. I realized this only after I had walked down several steps and walked a block in the middle of the street because the sidewalk was closed. When I got back to my car, to hopefully go to the right place, I was in pain. Not gut-wrenching pain, but just that nagging, achy pain. If you've ever sprained an ankle, you know what I mean. The kind of pain that feels like an elephant stepped on you. It hurt.

But I didn't sit down today to gripe about my ankle, which is never going to get better if I keep trying to wear shoes like the ones I wore Tuesday. When I was scrolling down my daily reads, I came to hers. Missy always has the funniest posts. When I read this one I almost fell over. On Wednesdays, she posts about wacky or wonderful inventions. The shoes that were pictured on that post were hilariously ugly. I guess Crocs has come out with a new style. Click on her blog and check them out. They are similar to these.
And I think I need a pair. Even though they're horrifying to look at, I bet they're super comfy. If you think they're the ugliest shoes you've ever seen. . . You've obviously never seen these.
Then as I was having my morning chit-chat with Suz, she was telling me about her day yesterday. She had to go to the DeKalb County Courthouse for a depo. The elevator in the parking deck was broken. She had to walk down -- and then back up -- four flights of steps, carrying at least 50 pounds of equipment wearing these!
By the time she got back to her car when she was finished, her legs were burning and her blouse was wet with sweat! Beauty before comfort. She did look nice, I'm sure. And she did get several compliments on her shoes.

Did any of you play with these when you were a little girl? I know I sure did. Mine were always cheaply made. I would wear them a couple of times and the strap would break.
I'm thinking that we women are born to want to wear high heels. And now a shoe maker has made it so that little girls can wear high heels sooner than ever. Crib high heels.

They're made for baby girls starting at age six months! Unbelievable. Let's ruin her feet 19 years sooner!

Now, it's not like I'm so vain that I want to continue wearing shoes such as these.
Although, those are pretty interesting, don't you think? I mean, wow! Check out the detail carved in the heel.

And even though I've heard acupuncture is good for lots of things, I don't believe I want to go at it by wearing these.
These shoes remind me of something a kid -- probably a boy -- made out of K'Nex toys.
I'm more into shoes like these. High enough to give me some height, but not high enough to kill me if I make a wrong step.
I really like these a lot. And, if fact, just may order myself a pair today.
Those aren't too bad, are they? I mean, they look comfy. They're made by Rocket Dog and I know they make very comfortable shoes.

But I think these may be better suited for me right now. Or maybe these for days when I really want to look my sexy best.
I'm only 43. Can't I wear young-looking shoes a little longer, please?

Give a girl the correct footwear and she can conquer the world.
~ Bette Midler ~

Till tomorrow, may all your heels be high and comfortable!

What Next?

Do y'all ever have times when you just throw up your hands and ask, WHAT NEXT? I am having that kind of time at my house right now. While I know these are minor things and nothing catastrophic, when you have several days in a row of minor things, it can get pretty darn frustrating.

You remember we had to buy a hot water heater last week, right? It ended up costing a couple hundred dollars more than we expected due to some changes in the building code or something like that. The TV went out, so we got another one.

Over the weekend, Jeff's debit card info was stolen. The thief had a pretty good time at Walgreen's somewhere in Michigan. I wondered what in the world someone could find at Walgreen's to spend a thousand dollars. After going to Walgreen's, I see that they sell gift cards to all kinds of stores and restaurants. Ah ha. I bet they just treated themselves to a bunch of gift cards. You may be interested to know that we've kinda tracked it down to have been stolen from the Mexican restaurant we go to a lot. Other people we know that were there last weekend had theirs taken too.

Tuesday caused me to raise my arms a little higher toward the "What Next" position. Yesterday morning we discovered there is a chance we're going to need to do some termite treatment in our garage. Ugh.

I covered a job yesterday morning and the attorney told me at the end of the depo that he needed it today. Got that worked out and headed to my 3:00 job in Austell, which was about 30 minutes from Atlanta where the first job was. I want y'all to know that I was lost the entire afternoon, except for the hour the depo took. I wanted to throw my darn GPS out the window and jump out behind it myself.

I don't mean to complain, but, you know, sometimes you just gotta vent.

So far today, we seem to have escaped the bad news bug that has been biting the crud out of us lately. Keep your fingers crossed.

Till tomorrow.

15 and School Supplies

Today's Joseph's 15th birthday! Big birthday shout to Joseph! Another driver on the road. Crystal's taking him to get his learner's license this afternoon.

Here's me and Joseph the day Crystal brought him home from the hospital. You can see two-year-old Cameron in the background.

What birthday post would be complete without a picture from his first birthday? Look at that gorgeous blond hair and two little bottom teeth.

Here's Joseph now. He's very special to me. He was my first nephew. Of all the grandkids, Joseph is no doubt the most easygoing of them all. When the kids play, Joseph is usually the referee or the judge. He's definitely a moderator. I could see him becoming a diplomat or judge or something like that. He doesn't like all the arguing. He's a peacemaker. That's a very good trait, don't you think? He also has a very good sense of humor. I think those are things that will take him very far. Humor and peace.

He started 10th grade yesterday. It just doesn't seem right that all the kids are growing up so darn fast. Before you know it, I'll be dancing at his wedding.

And I bet that scares the bejeebies out of Joseph!

Happy 15th Birthday, Joseph! You hold a place in my heart saved just for you.

~~~~

Okay. So we've had another crazy day at the Kelly house. Some thief got hold of our debit card number and has gone to another state on a little shopping spree. Jeff's got to go to the bank to take care of that. Luckily, our bank uses a detection service that monitors their account holders' debit card usage. They caught it. We won't be responsible for the charges, but will have to get new debit cards and so forth. I hate thieves. Why don't they just get a job?

Have y'all had to spend a small fortune on school supplies? WTCrap? Eight dollars for a three-ring binder. I mean, I know these are tough times, but come on. And Cam needed four of them. Then after going to three stores last night to find them, I bring them home and he says he doesn't need them. The teachers just put them on the list year after year. I go to two stores looking for notebook paper. When I give it to him, he tells me it's not the kind he likes. Say what? Oh, boy. I'll keep all of it because I'm sure he'll be asking for it in a day or so. That boy would rather give his mama a hard time than drink when he's thirsty. And I'm surprised that no one has come up with a notebook/spiral notebook for lefties. Poor Cam has to rest his wrist on those metal thingies. I remember when he was younger, his teachers would complain to me that his papers were always so ragged and the holes always torn on the left side. I had to inform them that wasn't exactly his fault, since he had to put his hand somewhere. Hmmmm. Now, he says he just tells them ahead of time. I'm sure he's not the only lefty in the class, but, you know, he's the one I care about.

Gotta work today, so better run. Hope y'all have a marvelous Tuesday!

Till tomorrow.

Happy 21st Birthday, Ross!

Twenty-one years ago at the exact minute that I'm publishing this post, I became a mom. I was 22, almost 23. Ross came into the world via C-section. He weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and he was 21 inches long. I was happier than I ever imagined I could be.

He had a head full of black hair. I will never forget the first time I held him. He was all cleaned up and smelled deliciously of Mennen Baby Bath. Sometimes I'll take a smell of that baby bath and it always takes me back to the days my boys were babies. And being sore from the surgery, I remember he felt heavy.

We brought him home from the hospital and we quickly settled into a new and very good life. He was like a doll to me. I dressed him up and made his picture constantly. He was photographed more by the time he was six months old than I have been in my entire life. He wasn't a very good baby, though. He cried a lot. We learned lots of tricks, one specific one comes to mind. We'd put him in his car seat and sit him on top of the dryer with the dryer on. The humming of the dryer would lull him to sleep.

This is me the day we came home from the hospital.

After having only girls in my family, and with him being the first grandchild, he quickly became spoiled rotten. My sisters rarely let a day go by without stopping by my house to visit. He was their toy too. And my parents, oh, my goodness. Let's just say that he was the apple of lots of eyes. Especially my dad's. He gave him the nickname "Main Man." He still calls Ross that today. Those days were so special and so wonderful.

I always did my kids' birthdays big. My mama always had us girls big birthday parties, so it's just natural to me to do the same thing. I always invited all the family, then later when he started school, I invited all his friends. The year he turned five, I'm not exaggerating to say that he had at least 20 kids at his party.

Here is Ross on his very first birthday. Twenty years ago. Crystal is helping him blow out the candle. As you can see in the picture, Ross is reaching for the candle and she's telling him ooooh, it's hot. He's always been pretty fearless.

And here is my little hunter guy at his fourth birthday party at Auntie Theresa's house seventeen years ago. Even that young, he loved to hunt with my daddy and loved his toy guns. Notice the cap pistol in the holster around his waist.

Now, fast forward seventeen years. Here is me holding my baby now. He thought he might hurt my legs, but he'll never ever be too big for his mama to hold.

The little boy Ross is so much the same as the young man Ross. That insatiable curiosity. The love of spending money. Loving the outdoors and all animals. Sometimes it seems he can figure out the thoughts of the animals. It's really pretty amazing. And that smile. Oh, that smile.

So this morning at 8:27 a.m., my son became a man. He can now do all the things that men can do. And I'm so proud to tell all of you that what he's most excited about is not going to a bar for a beer or going to the store to buy alcohol. But he's excited that he can now carry a pistol. That might not make some moms proud, but it makes this mom very, very proud.

It really is so true that your children hold your hands a short while, but they hold your heart forever. He's sure got a strong hold on mine and he always will. So even as we celebrate his passage into adulthood, I still see him as my baby Ross. My firstborn. And my heart is so full of love and pride, it just may burst from the joy of it all. Much as it did twenty-one years ago.

Till tomorrow. Live. Love. Laugh.

School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days

We all know that tune well. My dad always sings it before the first day of school. All the kids grimace and the parents just laugh. I guess we laugh because we've already been there and done that and because we know how much harder life as a grownup is. We know what they don't know yet. That school days are the easy days.

Wait a minute. Who am I kidding? I HATED school. I hated it from the very first day until the very last day. I didn't enjoy one single thing about it. Not recess. Not snacktime. Nothing. And I'm pretty sure my mama has the report cards to prove it. Maybe I did enjoy getting new school clothes, but that is the ONLY thing I ever liked about school. My sisters and I always got a new fall wardrobe. We got five outfits and new shoes.

I can close my eyes and take myself back to the night before the first day of school. Sleeping in the bed of my girlhood. Listening to the sounds that were burned in my memory so I'll never forget. The attic fan desperately trying to cool the house. The muffled sound of the television while mama and daddy stayed up late watching it. The sounds of the crickets, the katydids and all the other bugs that sing so loudly on hot summer nights.

I would lie awake the entire night. Sick in my stomach at the thought of going back to school. Then the morning would come and the dreaded big day was there. Unlike it is now, you didn't get your schedule or know who your teachers were or if you had classes with friends until the very morning you got to school. You went blindly. Fearing the unknown.

The smell of Crayola crayons reminds me of kindergarten. They were in my little school box along with Ritz crackers and peanut butter for snack. Then kindergarten was just for a few hours and that was plenty long enough for me. I'd come home and mama would make me a tuna sandwich on toasted bread. I'd eat it while watching Bewitched.

My elementary school was pretty small. Lots of kids I went all the way through school with. People didn't move around much then, I guess. There was hardly ever a new kid. I remember playing on the playground. The swings and the merry-go-round. And there was a big area that was wooded and we'd play Gilligan's Island there. Nowadays, kids barely get a recess. And do they even get free time at recess to just play pretend with their friends?

When I was in junior high -- what's now middle school -- it started with the 7th grade. Nowadays around here, it starts in 6th. Back then, they put you in homeroom alphabetically. I can still see my 7th grade teacher and still remember being so unhappy that none of my friends had last names that ended with H.

And then there was the locker. How could they expect little old me to remember a locker combination? I still fear lockers and locker combinations. I sometimes would just carry all my books and notebooks to avoid having to go to my locker. Mine was always on the bottom. I don't think I ever had a locker that was on the top. Maybe they did that because I'm so short, but it was terribly hard to get to your locker with someone standing right up over you.

High school started with 10th grade. I was quiet and shy. Lots of kids were driving to school, but not me. I had to ride the dumb bus all the way through school. My dad wouldn't let me drive, nor would he allow me to ride with anyone else. Can you imagine how that would go over these days? My dad never knew that I heard the worst possible language and witnessed countless makeout sessions while riding that bus.

Truly, I think I should've been born in the Laura Ingalls time period.

When you would walk to school. Or maybe Pa would take you in the covered wagon. Your teacher would smell like lemon verbena and come to your house for supper. The worst you had to fear was Nellie Olson. The class would be small and you'd know every person. Your books and chalkboard tablet fit under your desk and you'd never change classes.

Indeed, I think I could've thrived in this school setting. Oh, but wait. Hold on.

Have any of you ever seen or heard of this exam before?

EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.

GRAMMAR (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza, and Paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of do, lie, lay, and run.
5. Define Case. Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

ARITHMETIC (Time, one hour)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 feet deep, 10 feet long, and 3 feet wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 pounds, what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at 20 cents per sq. foot?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. HISTORY (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates:
16071620180018491865
ORTHOGRAPHY (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Ball, mercy, sir, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences,
cite, site, sightfane,fain, feignvane, vain, veinraze, raise, rays
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
GEOGRAPHY (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall, and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess these were the type things Laura Ingalls studied. Looks pretty hard, doesn't it? And this exam was for kids finishing up the 8th grade in 1895. Wow. But don't worry, Ms. Beadle would've had you well prepared.

Some things never change. Kids going back to school with sick stomachs. The smell of Crayola crayons. Lockers. The big yellow bus. And the smell of school. That surely never changes. The crickets and the katydids will be singing tonight just like they did when I was in school.

But the good thing is I won't have to lie awake with a sick stomach listening.

Till tomorrow.