The Good in a Drought

Since my kids were very little I've always told them to see the good in a situation. If you lost a race, you may have still had a personal best time. If you didn't get the part you wanted in a show, it may be because you were better suited for another part that would allow you to "steal the show" night after night. If you made a bad grade on a test it may have inspired you to work a little harder so you made a better grade in the long run. If someone was mad at you, it may have resulted in personal changes that made you a better person. Ages ago when they were little, and their problems were much littler as well, I started preaching this philosophy to them. At eighteen JB came home with a tattoo - it said "bonum vide" which he says means "see the good" in Latin. Since I have never studied Latin I have no way to know for sure, but I think it was his way of trying to make me okay with the fact that he had gotten a tattoo. (I really didn't care one way or the other - it's his body, not mine.) The sentiment is a part of life in our house. It was required training as far as I was concerned. I'm not always perfect at doing it myself, but I try...and so do the kids.

I'm not sure how long it has been since we had any measurable rain, but I know that things are dying all around us. Our house is shifting so that many of the doors won't close. Fires are cropping up along highways. And to add insult to injury the temperatures have been over 100 for weeks it seems. Any water that we put on the plants during the day evaporates before it gets a chance to soak into the ground. As a result, a good part of our yard is dead. Some places we have dirt; some places we have dead grass, but very few places are the lush green yard we've had in the past. I've done a pretty good job of seeing the good in the high temperatures - I don't like the cold, and if this is what it takes to have a warm winter, I can deal. The humidity hasn't been high, so it hasn't felt as hot as it could have. Some places are less crowded because the wimpy people won't come outside, so I don't have to deal with a bunch of people. It's been a little harder for me to see the good in the drought, BUT this morning I found something!! When the grass is dead and gone you can find the dog poop much easier! Poop scooping was the easiest it's ever been. There was no Easter egg hunt going on. No finding it when I stepping in it because it was hidden by tall green grass. I just stood and looked around and lo and behold there was all the doggie doo. Now it's in the trash.

I'm glad I was able to see the good!

Ch-ch-changes

My how time has passed. Spring and summer have flown by without a word in this blog. There's no point trying to "catch up" because I know I'll leave out something important. JB is in his own apartment (that we'll be paying for, but still...). DA and DB are now upper classmen (or will be in another week and a half). John has started a new job. Our lives continue to be filled with changes. I'm still at the same job, teaching the same thing, sweeping the same floors, feeding the same pets (with some additions), washing the same clothes. On the outside I don't seem to have changed like the rest of the family. On the inside, I feel like I'm a totally different person than I was a year ago - or even 6 months ago. In some ways I'm much more uptight. For the first time EVER I find myself being concerned about having enough money to cover our expenses. I don't have the faith I once had. I feel kind of lost and insecure. I don't feel the least bit entertaining or witty. I just don't feel like my usual sassy self. I don't like this new feeling. It's uncomfortable. But a friend I used to work with once told me that sometimes God puts glass in your rut to get you to move out of it. Glass is uncomfortable!!  Is that what's happening to me now? If it is, what am I supposed to be doing? Do I keep doing what I'm doing now and add something new? Or do I dump all this and totally start over? I'm trying to look within and find some answers. I'll let you know if I find any. In the mean time, I'll try to update more often with the goings on of our kinda crazy family.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoEYXEz94Io

February

Wow! Where did the month go? Yesterday I wrote that post on Zumba, and now it's the end of the month and I haven't been back (shame on me). I haven't posted anything (shame, shame). Obviously, February was a busy month for us. I don't really like February. It's always tedious as far as weather is concerned...We missed a day and a half for snow and ice at the beginning of the month on a Thursday and Friday. Then on the other side of that weekend the kids were off from school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a teacher's conference that actually had some useful information for me. So essentially they got another winter break. Especially since many of my students took the Thursday and Friday of the second week off, too.

Then came Valentine's Day - YUK!! My number 2 least favorite day of the year (only to be beaten by Thanksgiving). I managed to avoid a Valentine's party because John was so busy and didn't get off work until late. I think I'm going to try to arrange an unValentine's day party sometime in March or April. Or maybe we'll just do a St. Patrick's Day party. Anyway, I dumped all the candy (or gave it away), and it ended up not too bad either.

We've had our usual swim practices and rehearsals. JB has been pledging a fraternity (PKA) at Texas State, and is learning all that that entails. DB is working whenever she can babysitting and working the concessions at the auction house down the road. DA is singing and dancing - but not always for fun. John is working his hiney off... and thankful for the jobs.

I promise more entertainment next time - for now, just the news.

Zumba!

Back in the summer we joined the YMCA. The original purpose was so that DB could have a second swim workout if she wanted to, but didn't have to feel bad about not going to club practice when she was pooped and thus wasting money. By spending a little less money the whole family has access to the Y. At first I was going to yoga classes from time to time and took advantage of the free services of a personal trainer, but I got slack and wasn't too consistent. DB swims from time to time but, again, not too consistent. DA isn't much on exercise of that type, and she's had one rehearsal or another almost daily since we got the membership, so she hasn't really been much either.

Toward the end of the year John started going regularly to swim or workout and then sit in the hot tub. Then he found this class called Body Pump. He loved it, so I decided to go with him. It's a lot like some of the P90X workout videos that the neighbor and I did together for several months, and to be honest I hate it. I'm really not all that interested in building up my arms, and I am very interested in working my legs and abs which are almost ignored. I went to the class 4 times to be supportive. All 4 times I wanted to walk out before it was over, but I didn't want to be a quitter or let John beat me.

This past Thursday (after 2 Body Pump classes this week) the girls and I went to a Zumba class. It was one of the most fun exercise classes I have been to in my life. It's Latin dancing with some added umph to make it an exercise class - though not too much umph is needed to make it seriously aerobic. DA and DB stood behind me in class so they could laugh at me. I'm sure they had trouble keeping up with the instructor because they were spending so much time critiquing my skills. When I would get a glimpse of them in the mirror or as we turned around, they always looked pretty good. And even if they didn't DA puts on her musical theatre smile which she claims makes it so you can't see her feet mess up. (It must work because she never looks like she's messing up.) I, on the other hand, was having some serious trouble getting my arms, legs and hips to do all the right things at the same time. I could manage the basic hand and foot combos, but adding in those wiggly hips about did me in. How can a person vibrate and bend that way? What is it going to take for me to avoid looking like an idiot? I've decided I'm going to continue with this until I can get it right and look half way decent doing it. It may take me the rest of my life. And if DA and DB are going to laugh I may just drive away and leave them there. The up side is that I'm laughing so hard most of the time that the class has to be good for my health even if I don't get any actual exercise done.

Transitions

JB left to go back to San Marcos for school a couple of weeks ago. The house seemed empty at first after having him home for a few weeks, but I've gotten accustomed to it again. In some ways I don't like him being gone, but then I remind myself that until I've worked myself out of a job I haven't succeeded as a mother. Or at least that's what my mother said. He's matured so much in the semester he was "on his own". I can't believe my little boy has turned in to a man. During his break he took the opportunity to talk with John about career choices and majors. He decided that anthropology wasn't for him. He may end up in marketing and public relations (hmm, that's sounds a bit familiar). Watching the two of them talk about real and important things like peers rather than father and son is incredible. And I'm sure it will only get better with time.

Last weekend was DB's district swim meet. John and I went to Killeen to watch her swim. She had personal bests in her events and went to finals in the 200 Freestyle. Unfortunately, she didn't make it to regional, but she did improve her prelim time by a full second during the finals. I think she's amazingly fast considering she didn't start swimming until she was 14 and most of the kids she competes against started at 7 or 8. She's already got a plan for how to train for the next few months while others are slacking because it's off season. By the time district comes around next year she'll be kicking some swimmer butt!

HOME!

Wow! Time has passed, and I haven't updated things. November and December were really busy months. Finishing up on the acupuncture for DB, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for DA, finals and the end of the first semester for JB, and the most exciting part of all... I GOT NEW WOOD FLOORS! After three months of wavering about what we wanted on the floor in the living room after the flood, John and I finally decided to put in wood laminate. We actually agreed on a flooring! (We seldom agree on anything regarding decorating our house.) We ended up with something called Bahimian Teak. It's beautiful - a mixture of dark and light browns with a high gloss. And to top it all off it's on the diagonal so that a long line goes from the farthest corner of the living room into the kitchen tying everything together. John put it in for me (with help from JB). He even took out two posts in our entry that made the room seem smaller. That required several hours in the attic to reinforce support. After the job was finished he told me that he wasn't sure he could do it when he started. That was not something I ever thought of. He's always been able to do anything he sets his mind to, so I didn't even consider he might be intimidated by it. Nevertheless, it looks better than professionally installed. It was done with immeasurable love.

When I look at our house now compared to the way it looked almost 17 years ago when we first moved in, it's hard to believe it's the same house. Little by little we've been turning this so-so house into my dream home. We've moved walls, added a bathroom, made our bedroom and the dining area bigger, added another opening between the dining and living areas, put in new countertops, stove top, oven, and dishwasher, added a pool and covered patio and a practice room. I can't imagine living anywhere else. This house that I didn't think much of in the beginning (we actually just bought the yard and the house came with it) is now a place I love to come home to. It's the place where many wonderful memories have been created. I can't imagine living anywhere else. There are still a few things I'd like to change. And some that will be changed as the kids leave to build their own lives, but all in all - I'm glad we're here in our small but cozy house with our wonderful family and our wonderful neighbors.