Accidents

Here is my story from the past and the present for today:

Once upon a time, I had a 16 yr old daughter--a new driver who was involved in an accident. It was not at all her fault, and witnesses said that if she hadn't responded as she did [jumping the curb] it would have been a three car accident rather than two, and probably much worse for the two as well. I was always proud of her.

I made a huge mistake, though. My theory being "get back on the horse" the next day or so I sent her on a quick errand to the grocery store for one or two items. She drove past her turn and decided to cut through a bank drive through to get back on track. Unfortunately, the vehicle she was driving was a mini-van with a truck chassis [they're no longer made] and it had a wider than normal wheel base. [I drove off the edge of the road in it more than once.] She hit the bank drive-through. She called home and Dad went to the rescue. The bank manager was yelling at her when Dad arrived, and any anger he might have felt was totally directed at the "adult" bank manager who apparantly was acting as though my daughter drove into his bank on purpose! [Stupid people--it was an ACCIDENT! definition: not on purpose!]

Today I was riding with my new driver son. We were: 1] in Dad's car--Richard usually drives the CRV--a very different feel from the Crown Victoria! 2] on a sharp curve with traffic coming the other way [not really room for two vehicles at that spot] 3] the road narrows right at the curve and 4] the speedometer doesn't work in Dad's car--and Richard does not yet have a "feel" for how fast he is going, so he was approaching a little faster than he should have been.

And stupid me, I chose that time to look down and turn on the air conditioning! So I was not doing my job of telling him to slow down more going into that curve. Had there been no other cars coming, though, we'd have been fine. But he was overwhelmed, and unfortunately ran off the road. All I could see at that moment was the electric pole looming ahead, but he wrenched the car to a stop by hitting the wire fence instead. So the mirror broke off, the license plate came off the front, and there is a tear in the front bumper. several scratches on the passenger door, but we were able to drive away. Actually, I had the 20-something young man who stopped to help, manuver the car out of the fence and back on to the road, and then I illegally drove home as Richard was visably shaking.

I think now that most of the shaking was from fear--how mad would Dad get? He didn't. We've been here before.

When the daughter had the accident that totaled the car, no one was seriously hurt, but we got enough money from the accident to pay off what we owed on the car and to purchase our "new"[to us] van we really really needed at that time. I don't know what good will come from this accident, but I'm sure that something will. It always has before.

Sometimes it is good to be the youngest kid--your parents have been through it before--even if you haven't. Poor Richard.

Family History

I love family history/genealogy. I am blessed to be descended from a prolific family with many available records. John Herenden brought his family to Boston in the early 1600's, then drowned in Boston Harbor. His second son escaped to Rhode Island with Roger Williams for religious reasons, and met a Quaker family en route. He married the daughter--it is quite a romantic tale. The name morphed many times, but eventually settled on Harrington. It is a very common name, but all are related through 1] John who came to Boston, 2] his brother who went to VA, or 3] a cousin/possibly brother who went to Ireland. Following just the New England Harringtons is a course in history. They were deeply involved in King Philip's War, Queen Anne's War, the French and Indian War, the Revolution, the War of 1812 or Second War for Independence, and the Civil War and on down through the modern wars. They are judges and doctors as well as farmer and shopkeepers. They are always represented on the frontiers--wherever they push west. It has become a real joy to add to my "Collection of Harringtons" which I hope to publish one day through the Genealogical Press.

It gives me a sense of connection to history. It gives me the sense of being part of history in the making. I will add our generations to the anals of this family, for I often go far afield adding the collateral lines down a new name a few generations, up a line married into [such as the Browns in early RI--think Brown University].

Newell K Whitney's mother was a Harrington. Truman O Angell who was the architect of the Salt Lake Temple was a third generation down Harrington, and a fourth, and probably more as the Angells and Harringtons intermarried for generations.

History =his story [and hers, too] = my story :D

Challenge: Write down a favorite family story[preferably one from previous generations. Maybe "scrapbook" it. If we all did this once a week, or once a month, think how our books would grow!

Invitation: hare a family story here. Length doesn't matter, nor does time period, but lets try to collect some interesting stories from our families' past--it is our collective past as a nation.

Mourning the Cup

The stages of grief are manifest here over the Stanley Cup. Chris Pronger has speeded up the process by allowing it to be bandied about in the press that he wants to be traded to a US team [he's Canadian, wife is Amreican.]
Richard is past denial and firmly in anger now. I forget what the other stages of grief are...

Disability

I feel so guilty at times that I am on disability. I generally feel pretty good, have lots of energy, and bicycle mt way around town--up to 9 miles on any given day, thus far. I've a friend who is trying to get disability, but not using an attorney, she has been turned down twice and her latest appeal is stuck in red tape. She can barely walk. She has a myriad of other problems. Compared to her, I am the picture of health.

I've even wondered about going back to work...at least subbing.

Then I have a day like yesterday...We, the production staff for the Nativity Pageant our ward is sponsering, went to three wards to give our presentation in Relief Society, Prieshood and Young Woemen. When you include the choir perf on our own ward, I gave 9 performances yesterday. Today I went with Erica to the local Comm College where she is going to [hopefully[ take a summer course]. Upon returning home, I put my nightgown back on, took the icepack and went to bed. I've been up now for about 3 hours, and am heading straight back to bed.

Maybe going back to work isn't such a good idea after all. Hmmm.

Mourning

What is the proper period of mourning over a Stanley Cup loss? It's been a week, now, and I think that is long enough--but aparantly not for my son--He could go on for years!

Scientific Truth

Scientific truth is a changing body. I've lost count of the switchbacks on the good/ill effects of coffee. Ditto alcohol [specifically wine]. I remember the Alar scare of the late 1980's. Alar is a chemical that used to be sprayed on apples to keep them fresher longer. It did absolutely NO harm to humans, but the news story splashed the headlines. Small orchard owners went under that year. Today the big arguments include global warming [yes, we are, but we are also still coming out of the "Little Ice Age" and should be warming! Remember your history lessons--they used to have vinyards in England, and in Nova Scotia!] and evolution. The newest information is often overlooked while old, disproved info continues to spread through outdated textbooks and outdated teachers who teach what they were taught without staying on top of the new discoveries. I remember learning about the moths in industrial England...the story goes that the white ones used to thrive, but after the industrial revolution, because of all the soot, now the black ones tended to live, and the species over time turned alsost exclusively black. It made so much sense to me, that I bought it, hook, line and sinker. Problem: Untrue! Or how about Piltdown man? He has been taught as the missing link between man and monkey for a century almost. Unfortunately after the event of carbon dating, it was found to be a hoax. A man's skull with an orangatang's jaw attached. Still it is taught.

The same holds true medically, all too often. Erica got to teach first aid at Girl's Camp. She was most unhappy with some of the materials they were given with out of date info. She specified NOT clearing someone's mouth before using the Heimlich manuver--it is a good way to get bitten, plus, you run a very real risk nowadays as to what ilnesses the person can be silently carrying. My personal favorite dates way back, but is often still taught to put a spoon in the mouth of a person having an epileptic seizure--particularly grande mal. NOT TRUE! Never in the history of man has there been a verified case of someone swallowing his own tounge. However, he can choke on the spoon, or whatever. If we are going to teach anythin scientific in nature, or read about such, we need to be sure our source has the mst up to date info, or find it!
Real truth does not change, but since scientific truth is based upon previous knowledge, it can and does change as we change and learn ever more.

Plus, we need to be aware of the consequences. DDT was banned were once it had been deemed the salvation of mankind because it was wiping out lage mosquitoe poulations. No more DDT. Lots more mosqitoes, and a greater spread of disease [including West Nile--nothing to sneeze at!] What we really need is lots more common sense. :)

Correspondance: New and Old

I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post or to read posts or comments or to comment. Whew. I sometimes feel guilty about how much time I'm spending on the blog sites. Then I got thinking...when I was a young girl, we all received pretty stationary every birthday etc. Why? To encourage us to become letter writers. Pen pals were encouraged [I had one in Germany and later in Poland.] Writing distant cousins, aunts, uncles etc. was fully expected. So...I figure that blogging is part of the modern world's way of writing. Therefore, whether we write on our own blogs or comment on another's, we are following the age old traditions of a literate society in writing to our friends, and in carying on a written conversation in this manner. And yes, e-mail counts, too.

The other night, Erica, who is again working at a movie theater, took me to see "The Lake House." It is the new Sandra Bullock movie. It uses the theme of Jane Austin's "Persuation" in the film. I felt so smart because I remembered the book really well [having read it for book club just a few monhs ago]. But it was not neccessary to know it as it is all explained in the film. This is a quite lovely story [OK, so you could call it a "chick flick" but it is really more of a character study and a correspondance story.] The main characters actually write to each other. If you get the chance, see the film. It is worth it.

I used to write to cousins of my grandparents when I was in my early 20's and they were in their 80's. In several cases I had to figure out they'd died when I heard no more from them, but it was worth it in each case. I got to know these elderly relatives as "real people" and didn't feel so divided by age as we wrote. Two were seasoned and retiring teachers as I was preparing to become a teacher. One was a retired priest and I was just getting immersed into my new religion. One was a newly wed [to husband #2] as I was in the dating towards marriage stage of life. We had so much more in common than not.

I discovered that my mother and grandmother had been correct: writing letters is an art, and one which despite the enjoyable immediacy of the telephone, must be kept alive.

Thank you for being my correspondants, keeping writing alive, and at times keeping my spirit alive!

The OILERS Won

Richard wants the world--or at least my mountaintop's denizens to know of his joy! Yay OILERS!

Parallel Journeys

This is the name of the book we are reading this month for book club. It came about through speaking engagements. The woman grew up during Hitler's rise in Germany. She is Jewish, and, of course ended up in the camps. She now crisscrossses North America speaking and educating in behalf of those whose lives were lost and/or broken during the Holocaust. The other speaker is a younger man. He was raised as a German youth in Nazi Germany. While his twin stayed at their grandparents' farm, and so developed quite differently, he remained in the city and rose rapidly through the ranks of the Hitler Youth. Their parallell stories and the careful juxtaposition is an inspiration as well as an education. She was a loyal German, who happened to be a Jew. He was a loyal German, who happened to be a fit young man. How their lives went forward is of great interest. I am especially fascinated by his story--how he led the defenses at the end with young boys and old men...all the while believing in the myth that was Hitler. It wasn't until he went to the trials at Nurembourg that he began to realize what a horrible thing he had had part in. Eventually, he hit the speaking circuit, and was frequently paired with this woman, they became, not friends, but wary aquaintances who were speaking out for the same reason--to stop such evil from recurring. I read this book initially a couple of years ago, but it has stuck with me. It showed me how so many Germans, even Jews did not understand till quite late what was really going on. Today I ran across this article about a man in Wisconsin who is building a museum to honor Hitler. For this reason, I believe we need to keep alive the stories and the knowledge of the holocaust. Here is a link to that story:
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0%2C1518%2C421345%2C00.html truly astounding! Our exchange student from Berlin told me how they are taken frequently to the camps on field trips so that the memories remain fresh. I remember my uncle telling me about liberating one of the camps. The people were skeletons--and those were the live ones! We were able to visit the holocaust museum in Richmond, VA. The DC one is patterned after that one--only bigger and better! We must remember. We must apply those lessons to our times: Hitler = Saddam = Darfur? Where does it stop? When does it stop? It stops first when good men do nothing--the easiest way to have peace, but at what cost?! So what must we do? I believe the answer was given by Captain Moroni when he rent his cloak and wrote upon it," For Liberty!"

Weekly Anamnesis # 27 part B

While postage stamps and the exotic travel of such came first to mind, I also think of green stamps.

Green stamps were collected throughout my childhood. A trip to the gas station? X amount of money spent = x number of green stamps received. Ditto almost any purchase anywhere. My Mom would toss the odds and ends of green stamps into a box in her desk, and every couple of weeks or so we would sit in the kitchen at the counter with a plate holding a wet washcloth and put the green stamps into their books. The books would be bundled in fives and go back into the desk until shopping trip time. As youngsters in rural So. Calif [inland] we would go into Riverside on a family shopping trip a couple times each year. Pure agony for me, a reluctant shopper at best. But then we would go to the green stamp store. Of course we had pored over their catalog at home, but that was just to whet our appetites for the real thing!

Choosing what to get with our green stamps was always great fun. I still remember the dishes with the wheat pattern [what would they be worth in today antique shops!?] The sets of glases, our first beach towels, the long saved for punch bowl set. The purple plates which were set aside for our Jewish "family" so they could eat Kosher. Dolls, toy trucks, something for everybody.

Sometimes I miss those days of green stamps...they were a very real part of the American experience, the American culture, for decades.

Weekly Anamnesis # 27

I'm into escapism right at the moment. That's what my childhood stamp collection meant to mer. I had a really great start, 'cause my Dad handed his onto me. I had all the US stamps I had lots of Italian, German Japanese and Korean stamps. From there I was able to expand, with various Asian countries--curtusy of an uncl'es trip, and the exotic stamps allowed me to travel as well. Then my father went to the Carribean and Mexico on business, and my mind followed right along. Stamps show people and places that must be researched. My exchange student sister from Argentina sent a wonderful letter--and stamps before she ever arrived.

My stamp collecting evolved into picture postcard collecting, and still I feel I've been able to travel--even if just for a minute--whenever I receive a new picture postcard to add to my collection.

I've never been outside of North America, but in my mind I've been to most parts of the world curtesy of those who have done the actual physical traveling. Thank you to parents, relatives and friends who have shared with me their experiences, making me the true aremchair traveler.

And it all started with pretty scraps of paper used to raise funds for various countries. Stamps.

Again With Names!

This was so much fun to read others, I just had to "join the band" [a variation of jumping on the bandwagon...

1. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your father's side, your favorite candy):

Fontina Caramel

2. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name followed by "izzle", first two or three letters of your [middle] name followed by "dizzle"):

Vizzle Andizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):

Cranberry Cat


4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your name- last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your [former] pet's name repeated twice):

Val-ipe Tod-tod

5. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, the automobile you drive):[NOTE: I ride a bicycle!]

The Cranberry Huffy

Mine aren't as good as Sariah's or April's, but it was fun. Oh, and, yes, my grandmother's name is a cheese, so #1 is awfully food-ish!

Promise Me!

I already talked to Lura--but I want promises from ALL my kids! Promise me!!!

I love my husband, but there is much about his raising I simply do not understand. I respect, but really do not know my mother-in-law. Her visit is, as was the last 12 yrs ago, a bit strained. I don't know what to do! There is nothing much to talk about. [I showed her all the pictures on Flicker...we walked around town and then the 2 mi home again...] She doesn't play games. [we tried that]

Promise me that if you ever dread my coming to visit...you'll tell me. I won't come then. Gosh, maybe that's why she hasn't come for so long. But that's why we don't know her. Catch 22? But promise me if you feel that way, you'll tell me! I can entertain myself. [read, sleep, watch TV, do crossword puzzles...] I talk to you. I play games. I love to sight see. I love to play at the park with grandkids. Anything. I want to always be part of your lives, but even more I do not want to be in the way of your lives. I don't mean to say that she is in the way, no, its more that I feel in the way and so do the kids, and my husband. It is just too awkward--don't ever let me be like this. Promise me!

Partners in Crime

Today R and I saw his two "partners in crime." J received NO punishment [I think she was toobusy with s son graduating and youngest bro leaving on Mission and tons of family around] and RD received a curfew. He also came over and apologized to me for getting R into trouble. He is very upset. He also has to call home every three hours from now on when he is out. Until further notice. My R still thinks I am the meanest Mom of all. So does Sariah apparantly. :)

Hey. S do you remember the nigt of the dance I let you spend the night elsewhere so you could stay out the full time...and go to the after dance party. Your curtailed curfew would not have allowed for that, but I felt that in that one case you deserved leniency. :) I can still do it--take things case by case!

Random Friday

Its almost no longer Friday, but...

One worries more about ones childrens' employment status than ones own. I guess 'cuz you just want things to be easier for your kids.

Ditto schooling and student loans.

Lesson learned: Your kids are always your "little ones" no matter size or age. And you [OK, I] always will worry over them. And that is part of loving them.

I guess that is how our Heavenly Father regards us in many ways, too. So I guess I'd better not forget to "call".

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Community Involvement:The traffic light fight winds down...We will lose our light, but they are at least looking at the timing. Also we get 1] increased signage from the two exits showing how to find our historic downtown. 2] to keep the road open for emergency vehicle crossing, 3] get right on, right off turn lanes. 4] we might get bike lanes on the two overpasses two miles either side of our road,[a 'new' idea I put forward] and 5] funding is actively being saught, and they are trying to get our High/Bowen overpass moved onto the fast track. So all our work did accomplish something. An excellent experience. [But I'm glad its winding down--it took total consumption of time, energy and thought.]

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The house: Boy, does a house ever become a mess when you're busy with something else. So this week I've been trying to recoup and regroup! I finally "finished" the dining room today. The plate rail looks good, and the decorative curtain rod went up fairly easily, as did the curtain, well, they are like tie-backs, only mounted metal U's turned sideways on the wall. Anyway, all done. Now I just need to finish paying for the silk flower arrangement I had made for the table, and the antique chair. Whew, it feels good to have accomplished it. I will post pics when I learn how to put them onto the computer from the camera. [I think we're missing the cord.]

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My mother-in-law arrives tomorrow for a 5 day visit. I'm really nervous. If it were my other MiL, I wouldn't be, I'm really relaxed and can be myself without worry around her. We've been friends for over 30 years, having married into the family only a couple months apart. But my husband's mother...her last visit to us was about a dozen years ago. She moved herself to a hotel after Day 2. When we have visited her, it is only for a few hours at a time when staying with my family members relatively nearby. So I'm nervous. Rediculously so. I just hope my daughters- and sons-in-law never feel this way when I'm coming to visit!

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Last week I missed my Thurs am class, and this week, I [along with my partner] went to work at the Family History Center, even tho it wasn't our week. I need a regular calendar. I have one that lists the days in a column. Doesn't work for me very well. Obviously. Almost 54 yrs old, and I still can't read a calendar! Pathetic.

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Got to talk to Jesse the other day before he went to work at his Unit [army]. It was the day the news about al Zacari [phonetic--no clue to the spelling] hit the news. It seems odd to be so happy at the news of someone's death. I know that there are many more terrorists, but his "spot" will not be completely filled for some time to come. Listen up, World: He was Jordanian, not Iraqi. His most likely replacement is Eygptian, not Iraqi! How are they "insurgents"? They are invaders, just as we are accused. And yes, we were invaders. But we were invaders in Nazi Germany. too. Then we stayed to help the country rebuild. [And in fact still have troops there. And in Japan. And in Korea.] Let's notice how things are going right!

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I'm talked out, so I can go to bed now. Good night my friends, :)

Crime and Punishment

Make the punishment fit the crime. That was one of the best pieces of parenting guidance I ever received. However, I'd like to pass it on with an addendum: Make the punishment fit the perpetrator of the crime as well.

We had a "crime" in our family yesterday. I thought and thought about my response to the situation. I think my response was and is correct. It is a month's grounding with certain exceptions of MY choosing. It is serious enough for the "perp" to understand the seriousness of the "crime" but tempered with mercy for the "perp" does not often get into trouble.

As I have, in essence, "two families"--a set of older kids, and a pair of younger kids, I am often assailed with, "You are so easy on them! You were so much stricter with us" complaints from the older kids. Imagine my surprise when today I received a phone call from one of the older kids seeking leniency for the current "perp"! Seems I still can't get it right!

Just you wait...you'll get your turn to wait up and worry! [Not a "mother's curse" merely stating a fact :) ]

This Week's Lessons

Last Sunday seems so very long ago, it was such a full week. It has been determined that a week this full is detrimental to one's health. One needs must have some down time, especially at my stage of life. This week that didn't really happen. Highlights:
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Sunday: Richard had his friend, Bryant over after church. We actually played Castle Risk! Rule # 1 states, "Do not play with Vinnie or Erica." We played with Erica. The unwritten rule is to avoid Mom playing this game as it usually results in a meltdown because I really, truely do NOT "get" this game. But I played. Our home teacher came over. [For our non-LDS friends...see Sariah's blog about visiting teachers. Home teachers are men, and are responsible to visit certain assigned families in our congregation each month--in lieu of pastor visits as we do not have a full-time paid ministry. They are to report any needs to the Bishop--the current leader of our ward--kinda like a priest in a parish, except that he is married and has his own family to care and provide for as well as seeing to the spiritual needs of the congregation.]

Anyway, he presented his lesson, and was happy, I think, to escape--it was just a little silly around here... As soon as he left, I deserted the game and kids to go with 'hubby' [that's for you, Erica!] to visit one of the families for which he is responsible. I asked Erica to play my turns, but they decided to let my armies build up while I was gone, so upon return, I was not only still in the game, but at a level I had never before reached. Two turns later I was out. I really do not understand that game--nor do I want to--I'll leave the world domination to FF! It gives me a headache!

But I did learn how to place my armies. So ha! and they say you can't teach an old dog... After dinner, the boys left for Bryant's house where Richard spent the night. It quieted down here rapidly.

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Monday was Memorial Day. Our ward had a pancake breakfast at a pretty good park. The kids really enjoyed it. Richard was on hand early to set up etc. Erica and I got there in time to eat, and after a brief but poignant program, the teens disbursed to play ball, the little children had a wonderful playground, and the adults visited. It felt like Memorial Day. Growing up, my family and most of the "crowd" of St. Hyacinth's families [my grade school] gathered at the Lypps' Farm for the anual Memorial Day picnic. When I was single and returned to live in my hometown with three children, we went the next Memorial Day to "The Picnic" and I knew I was a grown-up because I had my own children there.

One year--I was probably about 15 or so--Dr. Zhivago was playing at the drive-in movie theater. We teens decided that we all wanted to go. It was a very big deal to get permission from both parents. We all piled into a car with a maybe 17/18 yr old driver. As we got down the road a few miles towards town, we came upon a young couple with a gas can walking along the road. Of course we stopped. After mashing them in somehow, we took them to get gas. I remember them asking us, "What is this? A family reunion or something?" And we all answered "yes--or something" At that moment I recognized that the group of families had, over the years, become a family, my family, not by blood, but by choice. We knew each other better than many of us knew our own cousins. One of the other Dads was my Dad's "best friend" and they even traveled to Italy together! Another Mom was my Mom's "best friend" and it was she who really helped me through Sariah's "Starving Time" when I learned that my milk didn't have enough calories to keep her alive! Another of the Moms was the one who helped me through the birth and death of my youngest sibling--my Dad was totally enwrapped in Mom, and she was hospitalized. Yet another Mom helped my sister. We were all "family."

As we've gone our seperate ways, I miss that I can't take my kids to "The Picnic" but we are much too far away. Yet when I was home when my mother died... it was the members of this "family" who were there. I see them seldom, but I know that if I needed their help, or if they needed mine, we, the St. Hyacinth's Academy Family, would pull together.

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Mon continued after the breakfast, so we 3 went to a cavern. Not only was it cool [we saw lots of fossils etc.] but it was cool [I happily needed my jacket!] on a very hot day.

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>>>>Monday's lessons:
Always keep a jacket in the car
and take a flashlight when you go to caves. <<<<< *** Tues. I went to the Bishop's Storehouse. [non-LDS aside: it is a church-run welfare program, and the storehouse is like a grocery store, but volunteers fill the orders and a truck delivers them to the individual congregations. The orders are coded, so those who are volunteering have no idea who the recipient is to preserve privacy.] As always, it was a lot of fun. This time, though, I got to learn something new--I got to help someone do some drypack canning. It was easy and fun. I am no longer afraid to go do it! >>>>Tues. Lessons:
How to drypack/can <<<<< *** Wed. I went back to being Paul Revere on a bike. We now had a meeting date with ODOT and needed to spread the word. So I did. Until it started really raining--and I hurried home to get dry! >>>>Wed Lessons:
I should have printed more signs up sooner.
Manufactoring businesses are also anxious about the light
--and have lots of people to sign petitions.
Keep a poncho in my bag in case it rains. <<<<< *** Thurs. a.m. I was so exhausted from the previous days that I missed my class at church--I just plain forgot it was this week. I continued phone calls, picked up petition sheets and tried to prepare as best I could for the 5:00 traffic light meeting. It really went fairly well, I think. A great turn-out, and lots of big wigs with ODOT who were even taking notes! Arrived home a few minutes after 7:00 to find 3 people waiting on the porch--in the rain. Richard had missed hearing the doorbell no less than 3 times! So they were waiting for me--it was book club night. We had a great discussion [more another time on the book] and everyone else arrived after me, so it all worked out. >>>>Thurs. lessons:
When the first of the month falls on Thurs, it means that it is the first Thurs and we have class [Duh!]
The squeaky wheel really does get the grease--we got ODOT's attention!
I only have "teacher" clothes, not "business" but that's OK.
Never leave a teenage boy to answer the doorbell, and allow him to be on the computer!
Book Club is really worth while when you are pushed out of your comfort zone and read something you would not otherwise have chosen.<<< *** Fri. I collapsed. I figured I deserved to sleep in [Didn't know about missing class on Thurs yet! But I did need to clean the house and do lots of laundry! Erica has a new job and had to have black dress pants. I needed summer jeans [clamdiggers] for cooler bike riding--shorter, but covering my knees for the inevitable falls. I had success on the first try, Erica took three stores. >>>>>Fri lessons:
Even when you are busy doing good and important stuff, the house needs attention, too.
For every teen added into the household, the attendant mess multiplies expotentially!
Shopping is lots less onerous when clothes fit decently <<<<< *** Sat. I overslept, so missed hockey [sorry, Richard, but I cannot get out the door that fast anymore!] After showers & food, Erica took me to check with the pharmacy because one of the meds I picked up the night before looked different. It was made by a different company. We also picked up some stationary for a girl I visit teach who had a graduation reception. After dinner, we went to the reception--it was very nice, but almost as soon as we arrived, so did another family, and it hit me that not only did I not get their daughter a gift, but I completely forgot her reception the previous evening!! After leaving the reception, we went directly back to the store and I got the missed gift and gave it to her with apologies today at church.

>>>>Sat. lessons:
Set my clock on Fri nights so as not to disappoint my son by missing hockey.
Always check your meds--but different companies do use the same name for the same med and they can look different.
You can look up your meds online and see pictures to check, but you have to know that there may be another company...
Look at the calendar during the week so as not to miss other stuff!
Buy gifts all at once so as not to have to return repeatedly to the store. <<<<

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At least I do continue to learn :)