Happy Monday?

Got the foot shot on Friday, heck, that didn't feel good, but not as bad as pushing out a 10 lb baby boy with a 15" head, drug-free, with a migraine headache. It's all relative.

He suggests another in a couple of weeks. Hmm....guess maybe I will. Why the heck not? I'll plan on smacking myself in the head for a good 10 minutes with a wooden plank so the foot pain will seem insignificant. Not much result yet. I stayed off it, and then worked in the yard yesterday...but I didn't "stand" or put all my weight on it. Still hurts. A glass of wine seems to help.

Oh, well. I must push forward. Lots to do. I've been feeling good, and it's like a person who wakes up from a coma. Hey, feel great! Look at all the paperwork and dust.

Awaiting bloodwork that was also done.
In a funky mood. Can you tell?

How's about you?

Check out Missy's blog It's like she has a cool index of what's happening on everyone's blog! :-D

I must be crazy

I put thought and prayer into it and applied for the job at the elementary school that I subbed for! I have to be out of my mind.
However, I really enjoyed the team and the kids; it will work out car-wise for my youngest and I between his school and my work. If I continue to sub, we'll need to get him a car--one more car in the drive and street will not make me happy. Oldest will be busy with internship and school.
The money's not great, but the hours and only working about 180 days out of the year, having a few weeks off for holidays, well that all sounds ducky to me. I actually got a lot of MY art done when I was doing the sub job, so it helps justify and fund my own art. I can always do jobs in the evening and weekends. I'm also looking into a website and installable, shippable murals. The school is also less than 3 miles away. Gasoline-wise, great deal.
We'll see if they hire me. If not, it'll be another car in the drive. . .
Now, if I can just get this freakin' foot healed. I go to the doc on Friday and am seriously considering the shot in the foot.

Happy 21st Birthday, Kyle!

We're so proud of you!

Dean's List/Phi Theta Kappa

Eagle Scout

Always there when needed.

A listener, a thinker, a friend.

Here he is with sweetie, Abby.

We're pretty proud of her, too!

Heroes

Check out my friend Joe. He's joining the Peace Corps., awaiting their response.
Go Joe!

Keepsake boxes

...posted on my Art Pages

Must have put my foot in my mouth one too many times. . .

Anyone out there have plantar fasciitis? My left foot is giving me fits. It's such a little thing, but I was really enjoying my walking. I walked at school, I walked around the neighborhood with the dog, I walked at the rec center. I NEED to walk, I CRAVE it, but I'm grounded right now, and I'm hopping (literally) mad. My overall pain had decreased considerably with exercise. Now, pain is all focused on one freakin' foot.
I have excellent walking shoes, I buy ol' granny SAS shoes, etc. I have orthotics, and still the dang thing is flared. I'm rigging up a night splint, but guess will need to order a "real" one.
Any advice other than rest, drugs, splinting, orthotics?

Happy Father's Day!

To all you blogbuddy dads out there! You guys rock! :-D

Let's see, that's :

Chappy, Don, KB, Matt, Mark, Kevin, Dave, Brian, Bruce, Gary, Mike, Joe, Chris, Michael, Pete, Chad.
Oh, and, Barbara, too, cuz she's mom AND dad.
Hope I didn't miss anyone. . . .!!!

This week. . .

I was born in Omaha, Nebraska and grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I've also spent 15 years in Boy Scouting, so this week has been kind of emotional for me. I can't imagine the pain of the 4 sets of parents who sent their scouts off on a fun adventure--never to return. Please keep them in prayer.
Seeing my hometown and familiar places under water was a shock to me last night. I'm proud of the way the city is pulling together. It was a great place for me to grow up.

This photo is of the town of Palo--a woman (who I used to babysit!) lives here. She has 5 feet of water in her basement.

Am I patient, or stupid?

For the most part, in my 23 years in my home, my neighbors have been great. The one to the east of us has been here almost as long; the four closest to us on the street as well. We've all talked and no one is planning on going anywhere in the future. Our most yuppie, non-childed neighbors have just added on a beautiful addition because they want to stay. It's not like we all party or anything. We're just kind to one another, and if anyone needed anything, we'd be there for each other. It's a good situation. My neighbor to the west, well, you know the story. Still, I've never been rude to him, and now he waves at us, smiles, etc. Of course, he's very happy the trees are gone, but I did that for me, not him. With the 50 mph winds that have kicked branches and trees down around here. . .I'm so glad I did that.

I have two neighbors in the back, though, that are trying my patience. One on the left has her sprinkler adjusted so it pounds the fence and rots it out quicker than normal. She doesn't want her spa house to get wet. She lost a couple of moon flower vines and lamented to me that she missed them. I imagine it was because they got too wet. Anyone have any experience in successfully getting neighbors to share cost for a shared fence section?

Neighbor to the right moved in, gutted the house and has a screaming toddler. She is cute, but obviously rules the roost. I went over one day and asked him to check his sprinkler system because our yard was being flooded all the time. He never did, because the problem went on for a month or more. . . .until he sheepishly said he got a $4oo.oo water bill. See, he wasn't going to do anything til it became a problem for HIM.

Now, he's installed a bug zapper. I can't believe people still use those things. Isn't it common knowledge that they are more harmful than helpful? I just don't want to say anything. Maybe there's something we do that annoys him as well. Maybe my dog bugs him or something. She is very quiet out there, rarely barks, but maybe there is something. I sat out at 4:30 this morning--it's a ritual for me to sit out in the a.m. and the zapping noise was very annoying. I imagine I'll get used to it. The purple florescent light is unnerving, too.

Come to think of it, he used to have a house light that shone in our faces for a bit, but I know my testy neighbor didn't like that either. That's probably why it went away. This zapper will affect his outdoor experience, too. Testy neighbor spends time in his yard and pool. Zapper neighbor never goes outside.

Hmmmm. I'm not planning on saying anything to zapper neighbor, but. . . .
having a testy neighbor may turn out to be a blessing after all! ;-)

The empowering of today's victims. . .

Well, school is over, thank God. I must say, I got physically stiff the last couple of days since because I wasn't walking as much. The job was great for my health! So, must continue walking more and more.
The child did have a big blow up the day before the last day. However, because the women, all of us, got after him strongly, he recovered quickly and regained his status. For a while, in the beginning, he would always say thinks like:
"I have anger issues, so I can't control myself."
"I have a bad homelife, so it's too hard for me to control myself."
He was so used to parroting these things he has heard from the school psychologist. I hope I don't offend, but psychology is not much of a science and I have very little respect for the practice. I always seem to find that psychologists are mostly people who are trying to figure their own problems out. Growing up, one of my best friend's mom was a psychologist. Her secretary committed suicide. She had no idea her secretary was suffering. That is just weird to me.
Anyway, I'm sure there are good psychologists, however, every one I've ever seen in action seems to empower people to continue make excuses for their behavior and act as victims. The child was parroting excuses that he was given by the school doc. Luckily, this guy doesn't come around very often. The child's teacher was very much walking on eggshells in the beginning, following all the procedures laid out by the psychologist. In the end, she still was, but she added something else to the mix, with our support and. . .encouragement. She added a firmness, an insistance on personal accountability no matter what was happening. 3 of us always spoke in a no-nonsense way with him, and I think she garnered strength and confidence from that. In the last few weeks, whenever he pulled the victim act, none of us fell in with him on it.
"No, it's not my fault. You made the choice to kick the chair and scream in so-and-so's face, no one else made it for you. That's why you're not in class."
"If you choose to do your work for the next few hours, you can go back to class. If you choose to act out, no class. Period."
"Yes, you have a bad home life, but that doesn't mean YOU have to be bad."
He made significantly more progress when he was held fully accountable. He was also given encouragement, kudos, and love.
How many times do WE make excuses, hold grudges, carry unnecessary baggage? In all of our hearts, I think we already know the answers to those nagging questions about who we are, if we are honest with ourselves. . .letting that stuff go, taking responsibility, and just getting on with living a good life.
We have to teach, and learn, to PUSH through the pain of whatever it is that is holding us back. It's hard! I've had my own moments, believe me. Our energy flags, but we have to gather strength. In order for us to help kids (and adults!) like this, we have to tell them we expect nothing less than their success--no excuses. I remember telling my "son" Robert that, yes, he had some pretty crappy parents in the beginning. Yes, his childhood was bad. Yes, he had some obstacles to overcome. But it was HIS responsibility to overcome them. I sympathized with his plight, but I did not pity him. I was there for him, but I expected nothing less than he was capable of...and now he is a contributing member of the US Army, a mechanic soon to go to Special Forces. Before he left for the Army I told him I was proud of him. He got angry at me..."I haven't done anything to be proud of yet!!"
When he came back for a visit in February, well after basic training, and having worked on big machines, I asked him, "Can I tell you how proud I am of you now?" He answered with a big grin, "Yes." :-D
He pushed through. I think everyone can.