Just for this morning ...

It is inevitable. I don't care how many times I read this, I cry. Every single time. Hug your children. Tell them you love them. Be thankful for their presence. Be thankful for how truly blessed you are.

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys..

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just! for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore. And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.....

25 Reasons I Owe My Mother

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I'd share the following "Momism's" ...

It is a bit long, but well worth it!

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.

'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.'




2. My mother taught me RELIGION.

'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'




3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .

'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'




4. My mother taught me LOGIC.

'Because I said so, THAT'S why.'




5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.

'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me.'




6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.

'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'




7. My mother taught me IRONY.

'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'


8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.

'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'




9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.

'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'




10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.

'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'




11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.

'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'


12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.

'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'


13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.

'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'


14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.

'Stop acting like your father!'


15. My mother taught me about ENVY.

'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'


16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

'Just wait until we get home.'



17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.

'You are going to get it when you get home!'


18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.

'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.'


19. My mother taught me ESP.

'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'


20. My mother taught me HUMOR.

'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.'


21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.

'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.'



22. My mother taught me GENETICS.

'You're just like your father.'


23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'


24. My mother taught me WISDOM.

'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'


25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE.


'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!'

Mean Moms

In honor of the upcoming Mother's Day weekend, I thought I would post a few of my favorite "mom" related material. :) This one is SOOOO true! Our mom was the MEANEST! :)



We had the meanest mom in the whole world!


While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mom fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Mom insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.


We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds. Then, life was really tough! Mom wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms anymore.

Ola!

Well that's about the extent of my Spanish vocabulary. Except that I can order beer, and ask where the bathroom is. What else is there? Happy Cinco de Mayo! It's a skate night, so maybe we'll hit Taco Bell. "Running for the Border" has such a different meaning when you live in Arizona. I'm pretty sure I'll have a corona or two to honor the day. As if I need a reason. Anyhoo ... The weekend wasn't as exciting as we planned, although it was a most welcome, mellow and relaxing time. Did not hit the lake like we wanted to, we had extremely high winds here. This generally means the wind at Saguaro lake is twice as bad. Not my idea of fun, I hate it when I spill my drink, and certainly not ideal wake boarding conditions. So ... we putzed around here, caught up on some TV shows, watched some basketball, ran some errands, and just enjoyed the sunny (but windy) weather a bit.

My uncle is still in the hospital. The surgery on Friday evening was successful, I suppose, in that they drained a quart and a half of pus from his lungs. I know, sorry, I hope nobody was eating. He is still sedated, and on the ventilator. Unsure of when they will proceed with letting him breathe on his own, they just don't think he can do it on his own right now. His lungs were pretty stressed from the pneumonia and the fluid that built up, and apparently now there is some sort of an infection and he has a fever. So ... the waiting/hoping/praying game is still on.

Hayden is now on his 6th lizard of the season, a bit early I believe. Now these are ones that he has actually made it into the house with. One I intercepted on the patio as he was bolting across the lawn headed for the doggie door. Bryan found one in my shower running around, thank god he took his shower first. That would NOT have been pretty. There's been a couple in the living room, one in my office, and one that never actually made it out of his mouth, as we caught him the minute he came in. It was rather comical trying to catch him and throw him back out before he "dropped" off his gift. Oh, and then there was a bird. I'm thinking this was his way of apologizing to me. Earlier in the day he had knocked over the lamp on my desk, which knocked off several books, which knocked off a report in progress off my desk. Needless to say I had papers everywhere and had to put them all back in order. Wasn't happy, and scolded him a bit. :0) So I guess I could blame myself for that bird. He brought it in while we were all upstairs, and just very neatly had it laying in between a pair of mine and Bryan's shoes. At least it wasn't in the shoes. But I'll tell ya - I walk around the house constantly looking before I take a step, pretty much the same process we take in avoiding dog poop in the backyard. It's gonna be a long summer. And it's not even summer yet.

Cam was very irritated that I hadn't updated his bookshelf. He's been done with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw for a while now, and in fact, for the first time, he had a choice about which book he wanted to use for his report. He read three in the amount of time allotted. This last book he finished in about 4 days or so. That's my boy. I'm so glad he understands what it's like to read a book that you truly enjoy. He is a bit bummed, however, because apparently the next book in the series doesn't come out until August.

Bryan's still working his tail off. Still dealing with $#@& at work and trying his best to leave it before he comes home. I know it's not easy.

Okay - not too exciting, but at least your caught up. Have a great day!

And on another side note ... what a great day to have a BIRTHDAY! There will always be parties, and people ready to celebrate. You sure don't have to look far. Happy Birthday Heth! We miss you and wish we could be with you today! (If it helps, I'm buying you your first drink of the day ... glance to your left there - see that nice frosty margarita? (At least I HOPE it's your first drink ... it isn't even 7:00. Unless maybe you indulged in a little Bloody Mary with a nice buffet for breakfast?) Whatever's clever - it's your birthday and you can do WHATEVER you want! Have a great day! :)

Friday. Finally.

And the news for today is ... TGIF. Seriously. I could stop right now, and that would be enough of a post for the day. It says it all. What a week! I woke Cam up this morning, and the first thing he said was: "Mom. It's Friday. Finally." I'm hearin' what your hollerin' boy! So the week has been full of late work days for Bryan - not sure if there's an end in sight anytime soon. Apparently things are so bad with the equipment and operations of the business that a couple of guys have just up and walked away from their routes. That's pretty bad. When your "office equipment" ain't working, well it doesn't make it real easy to do your job.

As much as he'd love to, let's hope he doesn't act on a whim and "walk away". Honey - if you're reading this, (remember the blog was his way of keeping up with the family this week...) please remember that I am NOT the breadwinner in the family. Okay, that's done. Let's see, Cam's got exactly 15 1/2 days left of school. He's just a tad bit excited about that fact. Today is his last day of another week of assessment testing, we've got one more Book Report due next week, and 2 more Friday's of spelling, language, phonics, and math tests. Geez. Whatever happened to taking it easy on Friday? At any rate, he's worked his little buns off this year and is extremely deserving of that break. Summer Skate Camp has been announced, so of course we're all over that. Nothing new with me. Just working. And trying to keep on laundry. And watering the yard. I'll be damned if all those flowers we planted are gonna die on me.

I suppose the biggest drawback of the week has been Uncle Dave's condition. It seems he went by ambulance to the hospital yesterday morning because of chest pains, and found out that it was due to the fluid in his lungs. Large amounts, enough that a thoracentis wouldn't cut it, they are doing surgery today to drain it. He'll be in the hospital for the next few days or so recovering. Pneumonia is still there, and from experience we know that this is not a good thing. Now is the time for prayers.

To end on a bit of a happier note, dad is clear of his pneumonia, lungs are clear. The anti-fungal medicine for the valley fever is causing the fatigue, so he was very excited about that. Knowing he only has another couple of months of it, and then he'll be on his way back to normal was HUGE!!! A lung cavity developed from the valley fever, and the doctor thought he actually had the valley fever for about 6 mos-1 year before symptoms showed up, This also explains some of his tiredness. He is totally immune to valley fever now, he'll never get it again. They were headed to do some follow-up chest x-rays, although the images might not show any change in the size of the lesion just yet, because valley fever is such a slow "growing" and "going" condition. Other than that it's all good! Yay for good news! He (they/we) certainly needed it!

As of right now, the weekend appears to be clear and free ... of anything. Skate practice is tonight, sleeping in tomorrow, and I'm sure laundry. Who knows? Maybe we'll get the boat out of the garage and clear the cobwebs. It's about that time of year to start hitting the lake again!

One for the Cameron Chronicles: Bryan is on the couch with the laptop, Cameron is leaning over the arm of the couch looking at the screen. Bryan tells me to come over there and take a look at the screen - I honestly still have no idea what it was they were looking at. Probably cars. Or wheels. Anyway, I'm leaning over the front of the laptop when Cameron says, "Excuse me! Your blossoms are in the way of the screen." Oh my god. Thought I was gonna pee. Thought Bryan was gonna pee. I looked at Cam and corrected him by saying that these were in no way blossoms, but more like rhododendrons. Then he had to ask what a rhodoendron was. Never mind. It was perfect timing for me to go back to whatever it was I was doing.

On a happy side note ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my BESTEST friends in the whole wide world! Kerry - I hope your little part of the world is perfect today! Even with our busy schedules, things never change with us. We always catch right up where we left off. I love that about our friendship and truly cherish it. Have fun today - lunch is on me (next week?) I Love you Scary! :)