The Year For Rubbermaid.....

Each year, my sisters and I begin our yearly discussion regarding the Christmas lists of each of our children.  Jennifer's boys are the oldest, so they usually want things that the others haven't even thought of yet.  Pam's two kiddos and my girls are a little closer in age, so they often have some of the same interests.  Regardless of their ages, there's one thing they all have in common......their maturing and growing interests.  Long gone are the days of cartoon action figures, push-n-play toys, etc.  Not only have their interests matured, but the amount of money required to fulfill their lists has increased, as well.  Honestly, I guess that's true for all of us.  As I think back to the Christmases of our childhood, Jennifer, Pam, and I have definitely experienced the maturing of our lists, as well! 

A few years ago, the adults in our family decided to begin the ritualistic "drawing of the names" approach at Christmas.  As always, we gave the children a variety of gifts; however, among ourselves, we each drew a name and then purchased something for that person within the parameters of a $50 spending limit.  Interestingly enough, the older we've gotten, the more difficult gift giving has become.  So, this past year, we added the stipulation that each person must compose a 3 item Christmas wish list.  Undoubtedly, this requirement was extremely helpful! 

Probably the most entertaining part of the process was perusing each list.  For David, Brad, and my dad, their lists included a variety of "guy" things.....flashlights, random tools, books, movies, etc.  There was nothing too out of the ordinary.  However, us girls were a bit more creative (if that's what you want to call it!)  Jennifer pined for a specific type of bike rack for her vehicle.  Pam longed for the perfect set of stem-less wine glasses.  Surprisingly, our mother was itching for an iPod.  As for me, I had my sights set high.  (Drum roll please...)  I asked for the ultimate food storage experience..........the Rubbermaid Premier  20 pc. storage set featuring "Flex & Seal" lids and Tritan plastic- designed to resist stains and odors!  ***Cue the alleluia chorus here.***

Yes, as boring as it may sound, that set of modern-day Tupperware completely made my holiday!  My brother-in-law, Brad, came through for me (with a little help from Pam, I'm sure.)  Woo hoo!  As I opened the package, all I could think of was how organized and efficient I was going to feel by being able to use plastic containers that actually had matching lids!  And let's not forget about that awesome stain-resistance technology!  What an added bonus!  I couldn't wait to get home and generate some left-overs so I could test the many outstanding qualities of this fine, elite set of containers.

So now that Christmas is here, we're faced again with what items to put on our wish lists. No doubt they'll differ considerably from what they may have looked like 10-15 years ago. I'm sure there will be a voice in each of us urging us to ask for something totally frivolous.  However, I'm not sure what it is, but something will prevent any of us from wandering too far from sensible.  As always, I'll be interested to see what the others come up with.  As for me, I'm currently leaning towards the super absorbent "Smart Mop", the Betty Crocker Non-stick Oven Liner,  or possibly a few new kitchen towels.  Decisions......decisions.......decisions!

Hope Ceremony at High Plains Relay For Life Summit 2010

I Can Fix Anything With Duct Tape!

Prior to having children, I must have been the most ignorant person in the world.  How in the world did I survive?  I'm pretty sure every parent, no matter the age of their children, has been "informed" of some sort of basic information at some point.  

On a recent fall evening, I decided to go out and wash down our front porch and windows.  It had been a while and the West Texas dust and wind had left their mark.  We keep a garden hose hanging on the side of our house, so I dutifully removed the hose and attached the sprayer to add a little "power wash" effect to my efforts.  As I stood over hose, I turned on the water........ I have never been showered by so much ice-cold water in my life!!!  As I looked to see why in world there was so much water flying everywhere, I noticed several small slits in one particular section of the hose. So, being the handy, resourceful solo-parent that I've become, I immediately went for the number one tool in our house......duct tape.  

Living in a house with two Destination Imagination-ers, we have an ample supply of this magic tool.  As I searched through drawers, closets, and boxes,  I found every color, every print, every style you could possibly think of..........everything except silver!  Oh well, duct tape is duct tape - so I went with the red and the black.  By the time I finished spot-wrapping the yellow hose, I was pretty sure I  had some sort of replica of a massive, poisonous snake stretched out across our driveway.  

Now that I had repaired the hose, I was ready to turn on the water again and finish my job.  While not experiencing one of my "brighter" moments, I (again) stood over the hose while I turned on the water.  Apparently, all of the duct taped spots did nothing but force the water through other near-thin portions of the hose.  Needless to say, by this time, I am SOAKED.  I'm not wet and cold.  I was SOAKED and FREEZING!  However, I'd come this far so I might as well finish the task at hand - no matter how soaked I got!   (Thank goodness it was dark by this time because I'm pretty sure my neighbors would have certainly questioned my sanity at this point.)

So, with dripping wet hair, water logged shoes, and wringing wet clothes, I very quickly worked to wash off the porch.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Addi standing at the front door.  As I moved closer, I could tell she was trying to tell me something.  I kept working - determined to finish.  She kept trying to communicate with me, but I was determined not to stop.  By that point, there was so much water spewing from the hose, she'd surely get doused if she opened the front door - so she stayed behind the warmth and dryness of the glass front door.  As a couple more minutes went by, it was obvious that Addi was becoming more and more desperate to tell me something.  Even though I couldn't hear her, her body language was such that I was sure someone had lost an appendage, was bleeding profusely, or was in need of some other sort of immediate medical intervention.  

Since I couldn't imagine what in the world she was so worked up over, I ran over and shut-off the water.  As I made my way back over to the porch, she threw open the door and (still shouting) announced, "Moooommmmyyyy!  You need a new hose!  That one is squirting water everywhere!"

Really, Addi?  Really?

Here I Go.......

Well……here I go.  Several friends have suggested I start a blog.  My questions to them:

1.  What’s a blog?
2.  Why do people blog?
3.  Why in the world would anyone want to read it?

4.  What am I supposed to “blog” about?

As you can imagine, no one has really bothered to answer the first couple of questions for me.  I guess they figure I can "Google" those and get the answers on my own.  However, they did provide me some guidance on what I should write about.  Their suggestions include my main roles in this play called, "Life":  mommy, advocate, and educator.  At this point in time, I’ve been trying to fulfill both the mommy and daddy roles for our two little girls, Katie Jo and Addi, for the past 5 ½ years.  It was in June of 2005 when their daddy, Jo Paul, grew weary and tired after a lengthy battle with leukemia.  So, I’ve been solo-parenting ever since.  We're also heavily involved in creating a world with more birthdays by promoting the work of the American Cancer Society.  Oh my goodness, I have so many wonderfully inspirational stories to share!  And finally, I've had the joy, pleasure, and honor of working in education for the past several years.  As we all know, children really are our greatest teachers!

In this initial post, I'd like to offer a brief explanation.  Notice I didn’t use the term “single parent” above.  I really do despise that term – mainly because of all the times I hear moms/dads use their marital status as an excuse.  It simply amazes me how many times the "single parent" card is played in our society for not following through on a commitment, for not being able to pay for something, for justifying why their child cannot possibly be expected to follow the same rules of society that everyone else must adhere to, etc.  (Obviously, I have a huge soapbox associated with that last one.  More on that kind of stuff in later posts.)  Needless to say, I choose not to refer to myself as such.

I've included part (yes, there are many more parts) of my "single parent sermon" in this initial post to lend explanation to my overall motto for life.  Essentially, no one has the ability to preplan every detail of their life - both the good and the bad. No matter how hard we try, nothing ever goes exactly as we planned it.  Often times, we end up grateful when things go better than we ever could have imagined!  However, we all experience those unplanned difficulties, disappointments, and challenges in life.  It's how we handle both the triumphs AND the tragedies that make us who we are and determine how well we "navigate" through life.

So...I'll finish up this blogging maiden voyage by reiterating the blurb from my blog description above......Sometimes the hand we're dealt in life doesn't play out exactly as we planned.  However, we have a choice.  We can continue playing our hand the best way we know how - or we can fold.  I've chosen to keep playing my hand and to enjoy all the little "jackpots" along the way!