Kait has now crossed the threshold of schooldays. She marched off to school on her first day with very high hopes. Her expectations were higher than her eyebrows and it does seem like her eyebrows are very high most of the time as she raises them for effect when she pronounces each syllable of a word. That's only about 70% of the time but it's not what this blog is about.
So, Kait had her assessment the third day of school and came out exclaiming that she thought she did very well and that she liked her new teachers. A couple of days later she told me that she had learned something very important about math during her assessment. I showed the proper interest and she continued while KLOVE blared in the background and I'm sorry to say I temporarily tuned out but came back with a snap when she said "and that's what it means to 'predict', so now I know what the word 'predict' means.
On Monday the kids had the day off and I was out of whole milk so I asked if they'd like me to make some oatmeal and eggs. Kait replied "well, I'd rather have pancakes... that is IF you know how..."
I tried not to smile and said "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that."
She got quite a bit of mirth out of that and smiled rather triumphantly.
I asked if she thought they'd like to have the oatmeal pancakes I occasionally make and she said "well, not really... you see... those don't really.... um... agree with my taste buds." (while tapping her tongue with her finger for emphasis)
Alright so she won that round, and got her pancakes but never told me if they were up to snuff with the holy grail of Daddy's pancakes.
Now, yesterday she got home from school and had been here for a bit and then said "Mom, I need to talk to you about something." I said "really?" She nodded and said "I am disappointed with Flagstaff Academy." I nodded and said "why?" She said "well, I thought it was going to be harder but it's not, and they made me sit and color for 30 minutes. It's just too boring." I told her I'd let Ms. Millane know she wanted harder work (just humoring her, I mean they have to do a lot of boring remedial stuff for the first few weeks of school.) She had similar conversations with every member of our family before the night was over, the last one to her Daddy ended with a bit of moisture in her eyes. Her "school honeymoon" had already ended. Today she got in the car and immediately said "Mom, do you have Mrs. Millane's phone number? I want you to call her and tell her that school is not hard enough." I pulled forward and waved Mrs. Millane over. She came over and I reiterated everything to her within Kait's hearing. She smiled and she reassured Kait that it would get harder. Kait oversaw this with her eyebrows raised, I suppose to show us the gravity of the situation. When we got home she told me we had better go downstairs and find some hard school work for her to do. And she did. LOL!
And finally, there's that bit about finding it necessary to use five syllable words in most sentences as Poppy put it. Sunday, Kait told Jody that she didn't know the names of the children in her class at church. He said, "well, their names are right on their shirts." Her voice got an edge and she said "well Dad, I can't just read their names immediately, like you can."
Ah, Kaity Kat. Someday, I will cry with laughter when I read this again and I'll hug you and be so glad I know you. You three are the biggest stress reliever a Mom could ever have. With you guys around I don't have to find things to laugh about, rather it seems I'm always trying to not.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
When will she be baptized?
So tonight we had a wonderful night. My friends Jen and Dan left their kids with us for the day while they did the most hair raising race up Copper Mountain I've ever heard of. It included crawling under barbed wire through pits of mud, jumping over fire pits and crawling up and down piles of hay bales. Very entertaining in the retelling but it's not my story. After the race, they showed up with Mexican takeout from a great little restaurant in Erie and I made margaritas. We had a great night.
When the party was over, I'd had two margartias and Eden was missing the stone from one of her opal earrings. I decided to show them the special item from my jewelry box that had somehow survived for 26 of my 30 years. I showed them the ring my dear Granny gave me when I was four. I told them of how it was lost and then found again in the emergency room after my arm was broken when I was twelve. Then I showed them the charm from my first Mothers Day and told them it had at one time been lost for two years only to be found in the final clean out of the Durango before we sold it. Eden and I had a great connection through these stories and she felt more hopeful about finding the opal but then I showed them the single earring from the pair Jody had bought for me to match the ring they've seen me wear every day their entire lives. It devastated Eden but it showed her that sometimes thing turn out well, but sometimes you deal with disappointment.
Somehow, despite my slightly impaired state, the subject turned to my faith. And in a rare and completely open moment Eden said "Mom, part of me wants to get baptized but part of me doesn't." I said "I am so glad you told me that! I want to know when the day comes that you completely believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. When you know that and you are completely sure, you'll be ready to get baptized. It's kind of like when you get married, you put your hand in the hand of a man and you promise that you will love him for the rest of your life and you'll never deny it to anyone. When you are ready to put your hand into Jesus' and make that promise Him, you'll be ready to be baptized." She looked at me with a dead serious stare and said "Mom, when you say it that way, I think I do believe it. But how are you sure that the Bible is the oldest book in the world? Have you read all of the old books to be sure?" I felt like I had just been hit between the eyes. I thought "okay, why did I think tonight was the night to drink two margaritas? How did I not consider that tonight might be the night that Eden reaches out to me for true faith and expect exceptional answers?" I looked into her luminous eyes and I said, "Eden, I have read old books, and yes I am sure the Bible is the oldest and I have just read alot of books in general, but do you know what? I'm going to find out what the oldest books are and be sure we find out all about them." She smiled with her pure simple confidence in me and said "what if they found a really old Bible? Wouldn't that be cool?" I said, "do you know what they did find?" She said "what?" I said "they found the dead sea scrolls, and they were written on papyrus" (I thought her eyes were going to pop out her head) and do you know what they found?" "What?" They found that the words on these ancient scrolls were the same as the Bible ours is translated from today. The words are verbatim, exactly the same!" I saw joy spring into her eyes and I knew, she isn't easy, she won't just believe what a person tells her to, but Eden will find her way to the truth and she'll have an unshakable foundation. So, to anyone wondering, no Eden won't get baptized this Sunday, but I'm pretty sure that when she does, she'll mean it with her heart, soul and mind. She has the most analytical mind I could ever imagine and she's amazing, simply amazing and wonderful.
And to anyone wondering about my emotional state, I cried several times tonight. The girls gave me several kleenexes and even took my glasses away at one point which was really a struggle because Kait temporarily lost one of the pieces of jewelry I was using as an example. LOL!
When the party was over, I'd had two margartias and Eden was missing the stone from one of her opal earrings. I decided to show them the special item from my jewelry box that had somehow survived for 26 of my 30 years. I showed them the ring my dear Granny gave me when I was four. I told them of how it was lost and then found again in the emergency room after my arm was broken when I was twelve. Then I showed them the charm from my first Mothers Day and told them it had at one time been lost for two years only to be found in the final clean out of the Durango before we sold it. Eden and I had a great connection through these stories and she felt more hopeful about finding the opal but then I showed them the single earring from the pair Jody had bought for me to match the ring they've seen me wear every day their entire lives. It devastated Eden but it showed her that sometimes thing turn out well, but sometimes you deal with disappointment.
Somehow, despite my slightly impaired state, the subject turned to my faith. And in a rare and completely open moment Eden said "Mom, part of me wants to get baptized but part of me doesn't." I said "I am so glad you told me that! I want to know when the day comes that you completely believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. When you know that and you are completely sure, you'll be ready to get baptized. It's kind of like when you get married, you put your hand in the hand of a man and you promise that you will love him for the rest of your life and you'll never deny it to anyone. When you are ready to put your hand into Jesus' and make that promise Him, you'll be ready to be baptized." She looked at me with a dead serious stare and said "Mom, when you say it that way, I think I do believe it. But how are you sure that the Bible is the oldest book in the world? Have you read all of the old books to be sure?" I felt like I had just been hit between the eyes. I thought "okay, why did I think tonight was the night to drink two margaritas? How did I not consider that tonight might be the night that Eden reaches out to me for true faith and expect exceptional answers?" I looked into her luminous eyes and I said, "Eden, I have read old books, and yes I am sure the Bible is the oldest and I have just read alot of books in general, but do you know what? I'm going to find out what the oldest books are and be sure we find out all about them." She smiled with her pure simple confidence in me and said "what if they found a really old Bible? Wouldn't that be cool?" I said, "do you know what they did find?" She said "what?" I said "they found the dead sea scrolls, and they were written on papyrus" (I thought her eyes were going to pop out her head) and do you know what they found?" "What?" They found that the words on these ancient scrolls were the same as the Bible ours is translated from today. The words are verbatim, exactly the same!" I saw joy spring into her eyes and I knew, she isn't easy, she won't just believe what a person tells her to, but Eden will find her way to the truth and she'll have an unshakable foundation. So, to anyone wondering, no Eden won't get baptized this Sunday, but I'm pretty sure that when she does, she'll mean it with her heart, soul and mind. She has the most analytical mind I could ever imagine and she's amazing, simply amazing and wonderful.
And to anyone wondering about my emotional state, I cried several times tonight. The girls gave me several kleenexes and even took my glasses away at one point which was really a struggle because Kait temporarily lost one of the pieces of jewelry I was using as an example. LOL!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Circuitous Path
As I turned onto our street, my eyes were glued to the 100 inch long sofa in the back of the truck. The rope had slipped down to the legs and each small bump was giving me a jump. Suddenly the bump of my life hit and I realized that I had hit a large curb with the van and shot the front tire. I oozed the car over to the curb and got out and walked home. My shoulders slumped and I trudged up the driveway to make my confession to Jody. He didn't say much which made me want to kick myself or put an icepick through my hand, I wasn't sure which. We headed up the street and he looked at the tire. We went back down the street to grab the jack and all of the kids. I looked at the couches I'd just purchased to hopefully net $300 profit. "Well, I wish I hadn't bought those couches" I said. He looked up surprised and asked me why. I rambled on about how if I hadn't bought the couches I wouldn't have popped the tire and blah blah blah. He still didn't say much and was about to go in the house. He paused and looked back at me with a twinkle in his eye and said "well, I don't think we'll be able to salvage the tire!". My eyes almost bugged completely out of my head. "Well, of course not, the side wall is shredded Jody!" He gave a chuckle and said "oh they were just about shot anyway!" And then I really did want to put an icepick through my hand just because I was sure I didn't deserve a husband like that.
I spent the next three days mulling over what we should do. Should we get two new tires, one new tire, four used wheels with tires so we could switch winter tires easier or just used tires in general? On Monday Jody and I hunted through Craigslist and I called every tire dealer in Longmont and Boulder. While on the phone with a tire dealer I realized that the rear tire had a huge bubble and was about to pop. I guess I grazed the curb with it too. UGH. We decided to buy four used tires from a guy down in Centennial for $100. I drove down during rush hour, threw them in the truck and flew up to Erie for Kaitlyn's meet the class party. It was easily 3 hours spent in the car and $20 or more for gas. I got them home and Jody pointed out that one was bald and the others weren't in the greatest shape. I beat myself up about that for awhile and then went to bed. The next day we took the tires over to Discount Tire and I asked a nice guy named Josh to please pick out the four best tires and put them on the van. He went back and forth examining and finally stood in front of me with an apologetic expression. "Ma'am, those tires aren't going to fit your van." All of the air rushed out of me. I said "they're 16s aren't they?" He nodded silently. "My husband is going to KILL me for not double checking the size" I knew it was a lie because Jody is a saint and for some reason he loves me in spite of every idiotic thing I do and he'll still just pull me in for a hug and tell me he loves my legs or that I'm cute in those pants. The nice tire guy said "did you buy these here or did they come on your van?" I said "my husband bought them here" rather miserably and without expectation. He said "can I check the mileage? We might be able to work something out." I figured best case scenario, this was going to be a $10 discount on new tires or something but hey, I wasn't going to dick around anymore, it was time for me to lay down some cold, hard, nonexistent cash. He held the door open for my ragtag crew and I stood at the counter while all three children sat on high stools swiveling themselves around at dizzying speeds and Josh typed and typed. Finally he looked up at me and smiled "Ma'am, I can put two new tires on your van for $48. The room tilted and for a second I swear I was going to hug him... then I briefly considered telling him that I would hug him if I wasn't so sweaty... then I just said "you're kidding me." He shook his head and said "your husband got road hazard and they're fully covered. You just have to pay to renew the hazard and $15 per tire to have them mounted. You think that'll make him happy?" Here he was actually thinking I had a mean husband. LOL! I guess it served me well to make Jody out as a monster. I nodded and blinked. I said, "so are they the same tires?" He said, "well, actually you had 50,000 mile tires and we're going to put 85,000 mile tires on because that's what we have on hand." I thanked him several times and left.
I called the craigslist man in Centennial and he agreed to take the tires back because he had sold them to me as 17s and they were 16s. I just had to drive back to Centennial.
I told Jody later that it seems some people take direct routes to accomplish things and some people like me, consistently take the longest hardest path possible to accomplish basically the same thing. Rather like the process of identifying Jody's cancer and removing it. Did it really need to take 12+ years? Perhaps that's why it's so hard to sell our house. Once we have completed our very long and arduous route, we'll arrive at basically the same conclusion as everyone else. And maybe, if nothing else, we'll appreciate the result more than someone who put their house on the market and sold it in one week. I can't say that I can see a greater benefit from the long hard route, but it's a life. Maybe the lesson is patience. Patience is, after all, a virtue. And I can't think of a single person who's ever said "Jody and Elizabeth are the most patient people I know".
I spent the next three days mulling over what we should do. Should we get two new tires, one new tire, four used wheels with tires so we could switch winter tires easier or just used tires in general? On Monday Jody and I hunted through Craigslist and I called every tire dealer in Longmont and Boulder. While on the phone with a tire dealer I realized that the rear tire had a huge bubble and was about to pop. I guess I grazed the curb with it too. UGH. We decided to buy four used tires from a guy down in Centennial for $100. I drove down during rush hour, threw them in the truck and flew up to Erie for Kaitlyn's meet the class party. It was easily 3 hours spent in the car and $20 or more for gas. I got them home and Jody pointed out that one was bald and the others weren't in the greatest shape. I beat myself up about that for awhile and then went to bed. The next day we took the tires over to Discount Tire and I asked a nice guy named Josh to please pick out the four best tires and put them on the van. He went back and forth examining and finally stood in front of me with an apologetic expression. "Ma'am, those tires aren't going to fit your van." All of the air rushed out of me. I said "they're 16s aren't they?" He nodded silently. "My husband is going to KILL me for not double checking the size" I knew it was a lie because Jody is a saint and for some reason he loves me in spite of every idiotic thing I do and he'll still just pull me in for a hug and tell me he loves my legs or that I'm cute in those pants. The nice tire guy said "did you buy these here or did they come on your van?" I said "my husband bought them here" rather miserably and without expectation. He said "can I check the mileage? We might be able to work something out." I figured best case scenario, this was going to be a $10 discount on new tires or something but hey, I wasn't going to dick around anymore, it was time for me to lay down some cold, hard, nonexistent cash. He held the door open for my ragtag crew and I stood at the counter while all three children sat on high stools swiveling themselves around at dizzying speeds and Josh typed and typed. Finally he looked up at me and smiled "Ma'am, I can put two new tires on your van for $48. The room tilted and for a second I swear I was going to hug him... then I briefly considered telling him that I would hug him if I wasn't so sweaty... then I just said "you're kidding me." He shook his head and said "your husband got road hazard and they're fully covered. You just have to pay to renew the hazard and $15 per tire to have them mounted. You think that'll make him happy?" Here he was actually thinking I had a mean husband. LOL! I guess it served me well to make Jody out as a monster. I nodded and blinked. I said, "so are they the same tires?" He said, "well, actually you had 50,000 mile tires and we're going to put 85,000 mile tires on because that's what we have on hand." I thanked him several times and left.
I called the craigslist man in Centennial and he agreed to take the tires back because he had sold them to me as 17s and they were 16s. I just had to drive back to Centennial.
I told Jody later that it seems some people take direct routes to accomplish things and some people like me, consistently take the longest hardest path possible to accomplish basically the same thing. Rather like the process of identifying Jody's cancer and removing it. Did it really need to take 12+ years? Perhaps that's why it's so hard to sell our house. Once we have completed our very long and arduous route, we'll arrive at basically the same conclusion as everyone else. And maybe, if nothing else, we'll appreciate the result more than someone who put their house on the market and sold it in one week. I can't say that I can see a greater benefit from the long hard route, but it's a life. Maybe the lesson is patience. Patience is, after all, a virtue. And I can't think of a single person who's ever said "Jody and Elizabeth are the most patient people I know".
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