A hero among us

So many people are wrapped up in their day to day survival that they forget to take a step back and examine their life for what it is.  For me I chose to find something I am thankful for each day.  I do not want to become a person who is blinded by what I think I should have vs. what I do have.  There are so many in this world that have so much less then myself, how can I not give thanks for the most simple aspects of my life?  Watch this video.  This is a man who has chosen to help others.  He is a true hero. 


Today I am thankful for those people that chose to give of themselves.  The ability to give and not expect in return is a true gift. 

Must get back at it....

This Sunday I find myself well.  All of the sickness that has plagued me for the last 5 weeks has gone and I am ready to get back at it.  This week I have a goal of getting myself back to the gym.  I need to start preparing for summer.  Even sooner then that will be our trip to southern Utah for spring break.  I need to be ready to ride my mountain bike, hike through the canyons and keep up with my kids.  So back at it this week.  Wish me luck, as I told myself I would begin last week and failed. 


Today I am thankful for a warm house.  It is nasty cold out and my family is lucky enough to be snuggled down, warm and dry.  If only everyone was so lucky.

So frustrated

I believe in the power of the vote.  I believe that it is my duty as an American to stand up a let my voice be heard.  Today, as many in the past couple of weeks, I am beyond frustrated.  I know where I stand on most issues.  I know what I believe in most instances.  Sure, there are things in my life I question.   I wonder if I am right.  I wonder if I should chose to follow.  But when it comes to education I know how I want my kids to be taught.  I know what kind of teacher/parent I am.  I am frustrated today because I can't make things better for my state.  I wonder how a group of money hungry individuals have gained so much trust by other Idahoans that they were elected in to a position where they get to choose to take away my rights.  Today the Idaho senate voted through 2 of the 3 education bills we have been fighting to get rid of.  The third bill was not voted down, but simply set aside for another day.  Are people really such sheep that they would follow this lunacy?  That they would put teachers last?  Don't get me wrong, I believe in accountability.  I also believe in fair pay, benefits and retirement.  What happen to a middle ground?  What happen to making an educated choice?  I can tell you in one word what has happened to not only Idaho, but our entire nations, GREED. 




Today I am thankful for teachers.  You are under appreciated, under paid and over whelmed.  Our country should stand beside you and I am sorry that so many have chose to walk ahead.  Keep fighting.

Rally

By now you all should know what Tom Luna is trying to accomplish with our education system here in Idaho.  I am totally against his proposals and would love to see our great state come together to fight them.  Some are trying and to a degree it has worked, but we need more.  I went to a rally this weekend.  We were to stand up for teachers and students rights.  I was ashamed at how few teachers showed.  I realize that their weekends are important, but so are our children.  So are their jobs.  Wisconsin has the right idea.  I am so proud of what I see the people of Wisconsin doing.  They are coming together for the better good of their state.  They are putting up their fists and fighting for their future.  I hope they stand their ground and keep what they have earned.  I hope states like Idaho follow their lead and banned together to protect workers rights. 


Today I am thankful for UNIONS.  Without unions workers would have no rights and the middle class would be no longer.  Support our unions:)

Don't be offended

I have such a hard time blogging.  Not because I have a lack of something to say, but because I feel I have to sensor what I do say.  I have very strong opinions about this world we live in and  would love to get a conversation going about different subjects, but don't want to offend those of you who are required to read what I write.  So, from here on out I may write about some issues I am having with this wonderful world.  Please don't take offense and feel free to respond.  I am open to good conversation.  I am open to changing my mind if persuaded to do so.  There is just too much going on in this world right now to not talk about it.

Today I am thankful for the family time.  It was so nice to have all four of us home for two days.  It doesn't happen often.

Better!?!?

Funny story about my vertigo.  Yesterday I was subbing.  I was sitting on this stool watching the kids.  One of the kids was upset and put his head under the table.  I didn't think and leaned over on my stool to look under the table.  The vertigo hit and I felt like I was falling off the stool.  I wasn't falling and the only moving was coming from my arms and legs flailing around trying to catch myself (even though I wasn't moving).  If anyone saw me they had to be wondering what the heck, oh well.  That was my last (fingers crossed) serious dizzy spell and it was one to remember.

It has been exactly a week since this miserable thing called "vertigo" entered my life.  Today was the first day that I have actually felt like myself.  I can still feel the remnants of a week of dizziness.  My mind is still foggy and I am still having trouble reading for long periods of time, but I am upright.  And it feels good.  My husband and I went for a nice long walk between rain storms and had a nice lunch out.  It is so good to be getting back to normal.

Today I am thankful for long walks.  We had a nice time chatting together and watching our pup explore.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

In honor of this lovely day I thought I would express my appreciation for my Valentine.  I have mentioned my husband before, with great admiration, but here is a true look at us.


We met in high school.  It was pretty close that old cliche, our eyes met across a crowed room, only he was the only one who was looking and we were in our high school gym.  Close enough.  He was a senior and I a freshman.  He started asking around and soon found a connection through my locker partner, of all people.  They had this elaborate plan all worked out to get me to go to lunch, thus leading to the grand introduction.  The plan only succeeded because I am a person who can't turn down free food and (if I am honest) had know idea what my friends were up to. 


Here I sit in our bedroom, almost 18 years later, unbelievably thankful for going to lunch that day.  I can honestly say that my husband is my best friend.  He is an amazing husband and father.  He is funny and kind.  He is smart and is constantly challenging the way I look at the world.  I know that one day we will be the little old couple holding hands that everyone looks at with envy.


Today I say thank you to Tim.  You are a wonderful man.  You make me proud.   I consider myself the luckiest person because you chose me.  Thank you.

Writing

My oldest son has always struggled with writing.  Not because he isn't capable of the work, but because he has never been drawn into the subject.  He has tried all the little tricks we've all tried.  He has wrote extra big to fill the whole page,  tried to write way inside the margins so his words go farther on the page, etc.  We have been good parents and guided him, we have been mean parents and thrown his assignment away until he produced work worth writing his name on.  Well tonight he had to write a essay.  He had an outline completed, so he whipped out this essay like it was nothing.  When I read his essay I had that parenting moment where you think his teachers are failing him.  His essay was his outline wrote in paragraph form.  This is when I decided we needed to have a writing lesson.  To my son's credit he took my criticism like a man.  I explained what he was missing and how to organize his essay to make his reader want more.  We then sat down together and he told me what he wanted to say and I helped him say it so he told his story.  His finished product was his topic, in his words.  You could feel his voice coming through his writing.  It was so cool to watch him discover how easy it is to turn his ideas into a story others will appreciate.  Now to his credit, not only did he work well with me, but his original essay was neatly printed, indented in the appropriate spots and each line went from margin to margin.  So, although he needed help with the content, it was nice to see that the formatting was spot on.  Nice to see that some of those tears from the past have lead to success for him.
The other thing I have noticed is that he just doesn't enjoy writing, so he doesn't have stamina for it.  Funny thing is I have discovered that I don't have the stamina I need to write for long periods of time.  I have never been drawn to writing either, but I have never minded it like he does.  It is a little easier to understand him as a writer now that I am discovering who I am as a writer.  


Today I am thankful for the sunshine.  The boys were able to go out and play in 60 degree weather.  Yea!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

Well it is official...I am the mother of an 11 year old.  Crazy how time flies.  It just doesn't seem possible that Ryan is already 11 years old.  5 more years and he will be driving.  7 more years and he will planning what college he will head off to. 
Yesterday we did our annual pizza with the grandparents.  Everyone met at Fazzaris for pizza and pasta.  Ryan had his favorite, rigatoni.  Today he took cupcakes to school and then had dinner at the fire department.  Another one of Ryan's favorites was served, fettuccine alfredo.  Tomorrow he gets to purchase his new Halo game, which he is so excited about.  He also gets to go to lunch with his grandparents and birthday shopping:)  Hopefully we will find sometime soon to have a couple of his buddies over for the night and some Halo playing.
Check out the cupcakes Ryan picked out.  They look like sliders, but they really are cupcakes.  I am very proud of how these turned out.  So was Ryan!!!

 Today I am thankful for Ryan.  He is turning into an amazing young man.  A young man any mom would be proud to call her own.

Virtigo...

So...yesterday morning I went to get out of bed and this overwhelming feeling of dizziness sat me right back down.  I tried to stand again with the same results.  Then I became sick to my stomach.  I have never felt something so awful.  I tried to get up and function, but I was sick to my stomach and so dizzy I couldn't even stand.  I finally got a shower, got dressed and called my parents to take me to urgent care.  This is big for me.  I never go to the doctor.  I don't think I have been in at least three years, so you know I was feeling miserable.  The doctor said I had a inner-ear infection and gave me so medicine to take down the inflammation in my ear and something to make me not so sick.  The medicine that she gave me for my ear makes the rest of me feel terrible.  I already quit taking it.  The medicine for the sickness makes me so sleepy that I am out cold within 15 minutes of taking it.  
I am feeling better today.  Forcing myself to be up and moving.  The dizziness is only now and then and the icky feeling is starting to get better.  The doctor said I was lucky, most people stand up and fall right over.  I was able to sit back down.  Some kind of lucky:)


Today I am thankful for medical insurance.  We went a few years without it and were lucky we didn't need it then, but I made use of it yesterday. 

Happy Anniversary To Us:)

14 years ago today I married a wonderful man.  I can honestly say that we have only become closer, better friends over the years.  We started out as teenagers and now here we are an "old" married couple with two of the most wonderful boys.  How could life be better?


Saturday we celebrated our way.  We got away for a night.  It had been a long time since we left the kids behind and just spent time together.  We drove the Spokane, checked in at the Davenport and ate dinner at the Melting Pot.  After dinner we watch "The Kings Speech", which is awesome I might add, and then drank a couple of beers at the Ale House.  The next morning we did a little shopping and the headed home.  Back to the boys we were already missing.


Tonight I am thankful for my relationship with my husband.  There is no one I would rather spend my life with.  I love you honey:)

Speak Out

Tonight I attended a rally and signed a petition to hopefully stop Tom Luna. He is attempting to restructure education in Idaho ultimately eliminating jobs and risking our kids futures. If you have not been following the news I urge you to become educated on this issue and speak out. We can not let our kids futures ride on this plan.

Today I am thankful for those people who use their voices to fight for their beliefs.

Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is such an interesting day in our country. Masses of people flock to the grocery store to buy snack food, hourds of pizza is delivered and thousands of people gather around their TV's to watch football. What is interesting to me is the togetherness this sporting event brings. So many friends and family gather to watch the game and cheer on their team.


I feel I am a minority on this day. I have no desire to watch the Super Bowl. I do enjoy the commercials, but don't feel a void in my life if I miss them. Tonight the Super Bowl was playing on our tv. For the first quarter my family, minus me, watched the game and laughed at the commercials. By the third quarter some of us were napping others were playing Angry Birds on the IPad. Nobody was paying attention to the game. I will say, I enjoyed Will I Am. There it seems I am the minority as well. 


Now I can happily say good bye to football season. And HELLO baseball. Maybe the Mariners will be worth watching this year.


RANDOM FACT:  The Super Bowl--it was named after the Super Ball.  

Tonight I am thankful for old recipes. Dinner tonight was an old standby. The boys had never had it. It was yummy.

Grandparents

I was one of the lucky ones in life. When I came into this world I had more grandparents then most ever dream of. I met them, spent time with them and even have memories of them. My kids were as lucky as me. I am always telling them how special it is that they have such a good relationship with their great-grandma and grandpa. Today I was reminded how lucky I am to still have my grandma and grandpa.


My grandma wanted someone to run her around town today. Since I wasn't working this afternoon, I took her. We went everywhere she needed and treated ourselves to coffee. We weren't gone to long, but it was nice to have time with just grandma. She told me more then once how much she enjoyed going with me.


This afternoon was a great reminder of how lucky I am. To be my age and still spend quality time with my grandparents.

Today I am thankful for my grandparents. All of them. They are all wonderful people who I admire.

Choices

A few years back my husband and I made a choice for me to go back to school and for him to support us.  Our thoughts were that when I was through I would get a job and life would be good.  Well, I am still subbing.  I enjoy subbing on most days, but I could never make a career of it.  The pays just isn't there.  So while I work as much as I can and help as much as I can, my husband picks up the slack.  

He is simply amazing.  Tonight, like many nights, he is working overtime.  The oil companies hired paramedics to follow them as the move their mega loads from Lewiston to Montana.  So tonight he will follow behind a mega load at ten miles per hour for 8 hours.  When they stop for the night he will be 100 miles from home and will have to turn around and drive back.  He has class in the morning, and a transfer (taking a patient by ambulance to another city) in the afternoon.  I could go on an on with examples of what he has done and does every day.  Always putting us first. 


So tonight....

I am thankful for my husband.  He is amazing.

February 1st....

I noticed everyone was blogging about it being the first day of February so I thought I would check out the history that went with the day.  Here is what stood out to me.


On February 1, 1865 President Lincoln signed the resolution outlawing slavery.  This resolution would later be ratified and become know as the 13th Amendment.  A former slave, Major Richard Robert Wright Sr., felt that there should be a day when freedom of all Americans was celebrated.  He started the National Freedom Association, made up of local and national leaders, which intern "proposed having a memorial date to call attention to the continuing struggle for freedom for African-Americans." The first commemoration of National Freedom Day took place on February 1, 1942 at Independence Hall.  That year and every year since National Freedom Day has been celebrated with the laying of a wreath at the base of the Liberty Bell. 

According to americaslibrary.gov National Freedom Day is defined as:

"[t]he purpose of this holiday is to promote good feelings, harmony, and equal opportunity among all citizens and to remember that the United States is a nation dedicated to the ideal of freedom."

I am so glad that I took the time to look up this day in history.  I had know idea that National Freedom Day even existed.  This is one of those days we should all stop and take a minute to reflect on all we have in life.  It is so easy to take for granted what we have because we are disconnected from the struggle that took place to get us here.  We must remember that we are still part of the fight to keep moving forward.    



Today I am thankful for our freedom.  I am thankful for those that chose to stand up and fight for what is right.