Only 24 more days....

Until spring that is

Thoughtful Thursday......

Thanks Em, I loved this!!!

An open letter to all the Mom's in my life.....

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay honey, Mommy's here."Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted. This is for all them mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.
For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.
This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.
This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.
And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars.
And that when their kids asked "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.
This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead.
This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand)mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.
This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.
For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again, "Just on more time."
This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.
This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even thought they know their own offspring are at home--or even away at college-or have their own families.
This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.
This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.
For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.
For all the mothers of the victims of school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting. For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who came home from school, safely.
This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.
What makes a good Mother anyway?? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it in her Heart?? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time??
The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 AM to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?
The panic, years later, that comes again at 2AM when you just hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?
The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation.... And mature mothers learning to let go.
For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without.
This is for all. For all of us . . . . .
Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can. Tell them everyday that we love them. And pray and never stop being a mom.

Happy Mother's Day

and thank you to all the mothers out there who are such an influential part of my life.

I love you all!!!

2010 Review of my ramblings....

Just a few of the random thoughts I wrote about over on facebook this year.

It's begining to look alot like....

Thanksgiving!!!!!

It is so sad to go into the stores and see Christmas everywhere. Halloween wasn't even over with and there was Christmas, Christmas all over the place. I was in a store today and they had Christmas music on. I realize that everyone is in such a hurry to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ ( Right???) Everyone is on such a rush for Christmas that they forget about what we should be thankful for. We should not forget to stop and give thanks for all that we have in our lives and all that we have been given.

I for one am going to remind people to stop and be thankful. Instead of Christmas wishes, let us remind people to have a Happy Thanksgiving. Christmas will have it's own time and maybe then they won't be in such a rush for Christmas to come and be gone.

To be private or not to be private, is there really a question....

I was having a debate at work today about whether blogs should be private or not. It seems to me that if you go to all the effort to create a blog, why not share it. I am more then happy to share my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs with others. I am not afraid to share them in person and I am not afraid to share them on the world wide web. I have had a few blogs that I follow go private and I am sad to say I never read them anymore. I believe that you can easily protect your anonymity in other ways then going private. There are so many strong, wonderful people out there that should take the opportunity to share their happiness with others. I think of it as a way to share my testimony, my beliefs, and my wonderful family. I do this in the hopes that maybe someone could be uplifted, edified or just have a better day from something I wrote or shared. I know I have had my attitude changed, my day brightened, or a smile brought to my face just from having the opportunity to read someone elses thoughts, feelings, or beliefs. So to all of you wonderful people out there, thank you for sharing.

When did that happen ...

I was driving down the road in Orem today when I came across several signs out on someones lawn. I do not know why but it really rubbed me the wrong way.

The first sign said:

This one didn't bother me.

The next one had a display of homemade earrings with a cute sign that said "Earrings for Sale."

That didn't bother me.

The last sign on this lawn was:

This sign really bothered me.
I do not know when I became such an animal activist. But someone will sell Lemonade, sell homemade earrings, yet they will give away a living creature to any Joe schmo off the street. I realize that sometimes those "FREE" babies go to good and loving homes. But sometimes they go to cruel, mean people. That is what bothers me. I think anyone willing to give away animals should have some sort of screening process to make sure these sweet animals go to a good home. Where they are loved and cherished as one of the family.

A Few Random Thoughts About Me...

I have been sent this four times and when I received it a fifth today I figured I should share.
1. What is your occupation right now? Super Mom (JK) - I am a Program and Services Director for Vocational Rehabilitation and Department of Workforce Services Contracts
2. What color are your socks right now? No socks- I hate them
3. What are you listening to right now? Mason composing songs on his computer
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Teriyaki Chicken and rice bowl
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes.. but would rather not.
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Eric, He is at the old house packing and wondered if I needed anything.
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Adore each and everyone of them
8. How old are you today? 21 and some months(:
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Not a fan
10. What is your favorite drink? Jamaica Tea
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes... but am happy to say I am back to my natural color
12. Favorite food? Sushi
13. What is the last movie you watched? I don't remember, I would rather read the book.
14. Favorite day of the year? First day of spring.
15. How do you vent anger? Talk it out or walk it out.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Any book
17. What is your favorite season? Fall
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
19. One of your pet peeves? People who are ignorant to the trials of others
20. Are you done having kids? For the moment
21. How are you trying to go green this year? Using canvas instead of plastic when shopping, using reusable water bottles
22. Living arrangements? Live in a new home in a fabulous neighborhood.
23. When was the last time you cried? This morning when I was thinking about how much I love and miss my husbands family.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes- of coarse
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? I haven't decided
26. What did you do last night? Read Scriptures, un-packed and slept
27. What are you most afraid of? Bees
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Veggie
29. Favorite dog breed? Labs
30. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
31. How many states have you lived in? 3
32. Diamonds or pearls?Pearls
33. What is your favorite thing to do by yourself? Read
Ladies- I hope you enjoyed the answers. Sorry I am such a slacker.

3 months included...

When we began looking for our new home I was looking for one special feature. You probably would think it would be lots of bedrooms, a big kitchen, a garden tub. Nope! The most important feature to me was having a place for food storage.

I never really realized how important having a good food storage supply was until this year. I challenged myself to be creative and actually utilize my storage. I did that for two reasons. One to get into the habit of creating a good rotation schedule and two to see if I could do it. I did and have been very proud of myself. I recently had 16 people over for dinner and only had to spend 7 dollars because I used items out of our storage to create the menu and the meal and believe it or not there wasn't a ramen noodle to be seen.

As I am packing and getting ready to move my sister, sister-in-laws and I had this discussion. We have decided that it should be a law that when you buy a home or sell a home the food storage stays. There should be a stipulation that if you do not have storage you have to supplement it in the selling price of the home. What a deal. No moving huge water containers, no moving bags of rice, and no moving cases of peanut butter. Wouldn't that be great.

I can keep on dreaming. I will get back to packing up my food storage and be thankful that I have it.

What might have I been thinking...

Since becoming a parent I feel like I have become somewhat stagnant in my musical taste. I was driving down the freeway last night when a song came on by the group the Violent Femmes. You may have heard them, one of there songs has been made into a commercial for Wendy's. I remember laughing about it when the commercial came out. I told Eric that if people really new the words to that song they would freak.

Anyway, listening to that song brought back so many memories. I have seen them twice in concert and the adventures of both of those concerts are great stories for another day.

Listening to that song made me wonder what the heck I was thinking. The rythm and the music is good. But oh my goodness the lyrics, those catchy, disgusting lryics. I guess I must be getting old or maybe I am just getting some musical taste.

Nothing feels better...

I used to have a huge phobia of going to the Dentist. I can remember as a child having a dental assistant hold me down while a dentist pulled out two of my teeth. The teeth needed to be pulled because the permanent teeth had grown in and the baby teeth were not even loose. So yes they needed to be removed but that removal cost me many years of anxiety and fear.
I went for years without ever going to the dentist but I paid for it. Physically, emotional and of coarse financially.
I chipped my front tooth when I was about 10 and had to have a crown put on. I remember that visit like it was yesterday. The anxiety I had made me barely able to breathe. That dentist did a horrible job and I was so self conscious about my smile I would usually try to cover my mouth when I was talking, laughing or smiling.
When I got pregnant with Mason my teeth began to fall apart. I had to have one pulled, a root canal, and my wisdom teeth all began to bother me. Because of the anxiety I had they felt I shouldn't have any work until after I had the baby. I had the one tooth pulled and continued to suffer.
I suffered for several years until I couldn't stand it anymore. That's when I found Dr. Bret.

The Sleep Doctor.

I was sedated and had a cleaning and an examination of work I needed done. The list was long but I began to chip away at it tooth by tooth. I also began to not be as fearful. I would let them clean my teeth without having to be sedated, but still needed it for the work.
Although I have to say I haven't had to have any work done in over 5 years.
Mason and I faithfully go together every 6 months and he sits and watches while I have my teeth cleaned. I usually leave nail marks in the arms of the chair because I am squeezing it so hard but I do my best to try not to let Mason see my fear.
He loves to go to the dentist. He hasn't had a cavity in four years. On Monday when went they gave us our goodie bags. In them are some referral cards for a free cleaning and exam. Mason goes " Cool can I use this for a free cleaning, nothing feels better then having your teeth cleaned."
After all of these years of stress and anxiety, I actually now have to agree with my boy, he is such an amazing role model for me.

Straight from the devil...

I am usually not a chocolate fan. My candy of choice is licorice or something gummy. Except right around Valentines Day I begin to get this craving and as they begin to put out the Easter candy, the chocolate demon surfaces.

Now don't get me wrong. I love peeps and Starburst jelly beans are the bomb. But the thing that I am speaking of, the thing that is worse then crack, are these babies...

Cadbury Mini Eggs!!!

The most amazing chocolate that there is. As heavenly as these are, there is nothing heavenly about the addiction that they cause. Someone needs to create a twelve-step progam and support group. I promise I will join right after Easter.

Rule - What Rule???

I made a very interesting observation at Mason's school on Friday. Mason had called me to tell me that I was going to need to come and pick him up as the school was on lock-down, and no children where allowed to leave unless their parents personally came and picked them up from school. So I told him I would be there in a minute or so I thought.
As I began to make my way towards the school it was bumper to bumper on a two lane road. About a mile from the school I noticed cars being parked along the road way. I continued towards the school but turned down a side street in order to go in through the back of the school. That direction was no better as it was jammed with cars of parents who had just parked wherever in order to get to their child or children.
Then I saw the line wrapped down the front stairs and clear down the length of the school full of concerned and upset parents waiting to get into the front office to check their student out. Now I also was upset of coarse, as any parent would be. Luckily the school was locked-down just as a precaution and not that the kids where in imminent danger. But I didn't know that at the time.
I parked about a mile from the school on a back road and began to walk. As I was walking another parent asked if I knew what had happened, I said no, and she proceeded to tell me that her daughter had called her from one of the two Elementary schools that had been locked down and said that there had been a shooting in the school. My heart skipped a beat and I began to try and call a friend of mine who works at the high school. When I reached her she told me the real story, which although a terrible tragedy, was a relief and then gave me some very useful information. I just had to go directly to Mason's classroom and the teacher would release him to me. No waiting in the huge line. I called Mason back and asked what classroom he was in and where it was. As I got to his classroom, the teacher was standing outside the door with the doors locked, all the students safely tucked away inside. So we began to chit-chat, she asked if I knew what had happened since she had also received the misinformation of the shooting having taken place in one of the elementary schools. I told her what I had been told. We then got talking about the kids and my observation. Posted around the school are numerous NO CELL PHONE signs. She had one hanging beside her classroom door. She said that initially when the Principal told the children the school was locked-down and they would have to call there parents, all but five out of the thirty-five students whipped out their cell phones and called their parents. (This did include my own child I am sad to say) I told the teacher about an experiment I did one time at one of my group homes. The manager had posted a sign in the home that said, "Do not forget to sign the medication log after assisting with medications." After numerous write-ups for people not signing the med log and actually having to terminate someone over it. I decided to see if the sign even helped. So I wrote on the same type of paper in the same ink. "I do not know why this stupid sign is even hanging here no-body bothers to read it anyway." This sign was posted until the next staff meeting which was about a month away. At that meeting as we were discussing the numerous medication errors. I talked about the sign and asked someone to go grab it and read it. They of coarse were rather embarrassed upon reading it and we figured out another way to remind people to document there medication. So I told the teacher it might be a good time to change up the signs, move them around, change there color or maybe even get rid of them. Obviously the weren't working. The students proved how much they observed the NO CELL PHONE rule. Although Mason and I had a talk about the importance of said posted rules and that they are meant to be followed not just for decoration.
Interestingly enough Mason said he noticed his teacher had taken down her NO CELL PHONE sign on Monday.

I think I see a light...

I was so excited to see President Obama sign the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. What a wonderful way to support the entire country. I hope things will go in the direction they need to go.

Initially I was thinking of it the same as Mr. Bush's bailout plan and was very disturbed and disappointed by it. Dump a bunch of money into bank systems that have been mismanaged and not even hold them accountable for what they are going to fix with it.

With the current budget cuts going on in this state something has to change. I was talking to a friend of mine. Her daughter has significant physical disabilities and needs assistance with EVERY aspect of her life, feeding, personal hygiene, mobility, etc. She receives services during the day and has some funding for respite care, (which she has to pitch in 4 extra dollars an hour to make it a competitive wage.) Yet the state, in there effort to make things work has been having to ask families like this what services they can do without. WHAT SERVICES THEY CAN DO WITHOUT !!! These are people that can barely keep it together with the services they are barely receiving and they are being asked to give up what little they have.

As I began to study this new bill. I was impressed by the accountability that has been built into it. If you go to recovery.gov you can see the ins and out of the bill. Where the money is being spent, accountability timelines etc. The possibility that 15% of all budgets in this state wouldn't have to be cut seems like it might be a good thing. That thousands of jobs could be saved and thousand's more created, would be a great thing. Especially as unemployment creeps to an all time high and every day more and more people are out of work. I think President Obama should be commended for doing his best to make a horrible situation better. Thank you Mr. President.

I pray that there truly is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not just a train.

Spring Fever

Yeah, for seeing his shadow!!! Today the groundhog saw his shadow so there is six more weeks of spring. According to my countdown clock it is actually 45 days. But, I really don't need the clock or the giant vermin to tell me spring is on it's way. It is on its way! The days are getting longer and the snow is melting.

I get spring fever so bad. I love the longer days, and working in the garden, and warmer days, and the flowers blooming, and everything becoming green. I love it! I love it! I love it! and best of all no one yelling at me for wearing my flip-flops.

So what if it's only 22 degrees, what is wrong with wearing flipflops...

, I have this big issue with shoes. I do not know if it stems from some hidden childhood trauma, but my feet feel claustrophobic in shoes. Now I have had some serious injuries to my feet. Things that would make many people never want to go barefoot again, ever. I have stepped on a hot charcoal from a barbecue, ripped off my pinky toe, ripped off my big toenail, stepped on many nails, had the assorted cuts from glass, several broken toes and splinters from numerous objects. But I hate to wear shoes.
If you were to look in my closet you would think very differently. I have heels of all colors and heights, the same with boots. I have running shoes for the street, and the trails. I have hiking boots and hiking sandals and do not get me started on on my sandals and flip-flops. I love to BUY shoes!!! That however is where it ends. The buying of the shoes not the wearing them.
I only wear said shoes for as long as I have to, which means in the floorboard of the backseat in my car you can usually find at least five pair of shoes at any given time. I have flip flops on the front passenger floorboard, and running shoes and socks in the trunk. People think I am so strange because the second I can take off actual shoes they are off. When the ground is warm you usually will see me walking barefoot with a pair of heels in my hands. If I am not at work, church or exercising. I am either barefoot or in flip-flops.
So you are probably wondering what started this shoe tangent. An elderly women at the grocery store is what. I dropped Mason, and his friend off at Karate and thought I would run to the grocery store. There was a gentlemen in front of me with a huge cart full of stuff (Macey's is having their huge cereal and case lot sale) but I thought it was no big deal because he had cases of stuff. Anyway, I unload my cart and am just waiting . An elderly women gets behind me and unloads. So I am now stuck between these two people. All of the sudden this women starts going off. She is like " Sweetheart are you crazy it is 22 degrees outside. Are you heading to a barbecue." For a second I am thinking okay lady I wouldn't be calling me crazy I am not randomly yelling at someone in line about the weather and barbecuing. She then said " Aren't your feet freezing, I cannot believe you are wearing flip flops. She continued to go on and on and on. But I just let her because she reminded me of my grandfather.
When I was a teenager I did have one pair of shoes that I loved to wear. They were a pair of white keds and they where trashed and holy from all of the bleaching. But whenever my grandfather would see me wearing them he would give me money. He would say "Jenny, I can't believe you don't have any shoes better then that. Go to the mall and get you some new shoes. He would then give me anywhere from $20-50 to go and replace said trashy shoes." Which of coarse I would oblige and go buy a new pair. He never caught on to the fact that I never threw those tennis shoes away. (Actually, I had these shoes several years into my marriage. Our dog finished them off one day while we where at work. I cried and almost got rid of the dog over it.) Maybe that is where the shoe buying came in!!!
So my question is. Does anyone else out there wear flip flops in January or do I need to seek out some professional help?

Who would have thought...

I suffer from plaque psoriasis which is a build up of skin caused from the body not naturally sloughing off dead skin cells. Mine is on my elbows, my knees and sometimes on my knuckles. Luckily, I have a mild case with less then 1% of my body covered. Whenever I get really whiny with my doctor about it, he reminds me of the people with 60 and 70% of their bodies covered. It stops my complaining every time.

UV light is one of the "cures" for psoriasis so winter is the absolute worst for me. One because that lack of sunshine and two the lack of being in said sunshine. To replace this lack of sunlight I go to the tanning bed one or twice a week to compensate for not having the sun. I know it sounds crazy but this is something my Dermatologist tells me to do, he actually can tell when I haven't been going on a regular basis. I also go in for my "fix" as Dr.Byron and I call it every three months. this fix is a series of injections directly into the patches that typically clear up any break outs for several months. But during the fall and winter it seems harder to get the entire outbreak to disappear, this year has been no different.

However, for Christmas I received some homemade Salt Scrub. I normally wouldn't use it but I had read an article about how people with large areas of psoriasis go to Israel to soak in the Dead Sea and scrub themselves with the salt. So I gave the Sea Salts a chance and I have been amazed. I scrub every time I shower and it seems to be helping. I cannot believe that something as simple as salt would help so much. I have also started using bath salts in my baths and it has seemed to speed up the effects.

I am excited about the prospects of maybe not having to receive the painful injections so often, what a treat that would be. If you happen to know someone with this condition as well, spread the word. It might work for them as well.

Back to school, Back to work, Back to normal

Yeah! Today has to be my next favorite day to the first day of school. I absolutley love when things can get back to "Normal."

Mason told me this morning that the past two weeks felt like two months. I have to agree with him. I do not know why this break felt so long but really it felt like it was forever.

So over the weekend I thought about my New Years Resolutions or lack there of. But this year I am going to forgo the promises made to be broken and just be normal.

I will love my family,

I will love my friends,

I will love my Lord,

I will smile just because,

I will make a difference in someones life,

I will continually strive be a better person,

I will do all of the things that I "Normally" do and when 2010 arrives I can look back over the year be satisfied that I did everything I set out to do in 2009.