NANA TRIP 2009

Well, after a two year hiatus, I'm glad to announce we had a successful family outing to the Mall of America. This is a trip that we started in 2001 in honor of Nana, who passed away on April 9 of that year. Her birthday was on April 27, and Julio took Harrison and me to have a weekend of fun and celebration to honor her memory. It's been sort of an annual event ever since then, with Mom and Dad joining us the next year and ever since, and John and Jason and their families joining us whenever possible as well.

We didn't make the trip the last couple of years, first due to Bobbi's illness and passing, and last year because we were getting married on "Nana weekend". But this year, we're back to our tradition, with Mom and Dad traveling North with us, and John and his family meeting us for a late lunch on Saturday.

We had a great time but are still exhausted and have our sleep schedules completely turned around! So the following photos aren't well edited, but if I don't post them now, I'll never get them posted!

Plants v. Zombies

There's a new computer game (or something?) coming out on May 5. They have a "video" out, which appeals to children of all ages. For some reason, the song makes me smile (and Harrison LOVES it, as he is currently in a Zombie-fanatic phase, thanks to this summer's "let's make a movie" project). Maybe it will make you smile, too:

Best. Set. Ever.

Well, we made it through You Can't Take it With You this weekend, and for the first time since I took over for Bobbi, I'm not so emotionally and physically exhausted that I'll be out of commission for two solid weeks before I can think about anything else.

This is in spite of the fact that we lost 9 cast members and 7 crew members during the course of rehearsal - several actors quit because they didn't like the role they got, three of our techies were yanked by their parents as punishment for unrelated grounding-type offenses (only one set of parents contacted us about yanking their child from the show), and another one dropped out 3 days before the show opened, because his track coach said he couldn't come to our mandatory rehearsals, so he kicked himself out of the show. On Monday a girl from the senior class died of cancer, so our final rehearsals and preview were scheduled around memorial activities. She was a dear friend of many of our cast members, so there were some seriously dramatic dynamics engulfing our final week of production.

Yet with all that, it was the least stressful experience I've had with this school so far. How can that be? It must be thanks to my awesome Tech Director, who built a set that is being lauded as the best one ever. The principal and superintendant were among his fans, who came to me at intermisssion and told me how much the kids enjoyed working on the set and how much they love my Dad. I had to agree. Here's a sample of his work:

Now if I can just convince him to come back next year!

The Godfather Effect

Harrison has managed to save quite a bit of money lately. He is a few weeks away from parlaying his $7/week allowance (with a boost from birthday money not spent on video games) into $100. He is trying to figure out a way that an 11-year-old can get a job that pays well enough that he won't need allowance.

He's also come up with a plan for his money. For every $100 he saves, he's going to buy himself a video game. (What are you going to do with the rest of the money? I asked, hoping he didn't mean there are $100 video games to be had) He's going to save the rest so that in the event he comes across something he really wants, he doesn't have to wait to purchase it.

Hmmm....Jason's sense of fiscal responsibility and enterprise, combined with John's Renaissance Man zest for life (and let's not forget Karen's knack for diplomacy and Jenny's gift for organization and keeping track of everything).

I guess it's not in how you raise your child; it's all about picking the right Godparents.

Big Plans

Julio & Harrison were having a chat before bed last night (I was at rehearsal, so this is a third-hand report on the conversation). Apparently Harrison is going to be very busy once school gets out. He already has the first half of summer break all mapped out.

First, he's going to take a couple weeks to just play. Then he's going to take two or three weeks (however long it takes) to work on his science experiment. (What science experiment is that, Julio asked with some trepidation) He's going to work on finding a cure for the common cold.

After those few weeks are over, depending on how the cold cure is coming along, he's going to either get a job or start his own business, and then plant a garden. He'd like to plant some trees, but was sketchy on the details about how he would go about doing that ("do they sell tree seeds in stores?"). If they don't, he was thinking he would find a way to get fertile tree seeds and maybe sell them for his business.

How is it that Julio and I have ended up raising this Renaissance Boy/Johnny Appleseed? Must have been that first few months of his life, having Uncle John take care of him.

I just hope he doesn't get discouraged if he doesn't meet all his goals for this summer, but rather learns the value of research in establishing and pursuing such goals...

Susan Boyle - Embedded

Never Judge A Book - UK's Susan Boyle

Embedding to this YouTube entry was "disabled by request". But click HERE - you will not be disappointed. It will take seven minutes of your time, but it will remind you of a lesson you think you have already learned, and it will do so in such a way that you'll be thankful for having spent the time.

Happy Easter...Ya, Sure, Yabetcha

Judy Judy Judy

Friends and family! Take a moment out of your lives and real issues of significance and counsel me! Please!

Falling under the category of "in the scheme of things, a truly insignificant issue", is my frustration du jour.

I have a church friend who is also on my Facebook friends list. We'll call her Judy (for the record, Judy does not track this blog, so this is not a passive-aggressive attack on Judy - just me seeking counsel from my loved ones).

Judy has really been a great friend to me since we reconnected at church, and Julio and I enjoy doing things with her and her husband. Judy is not a completely happy person, and she is overly frank and honest about that. She complains in writing and verbally about her husband and children, often in their presence. She yells at her children in the hallways of church, not for misbehaving, but for "annoying" her (by doing things like trying to get her attention with a picture they drew for her).

For the record, Judy has a wonderful husband and kids, and most women would envy her (not me - I've got mine!). It has grown increasingly difficult to stand witness to what I believe are abusive attitudes and behaviors toward her family. I try to "gently guide" her with my own observations of the privilege of motherhood, and pointing out what a great family she has, but in the end it is not my place to step in, and her husband is strong and brilliant in his own right, so I am hoping he does mitigate things "behind the scenes".

Judy recently posted a "note" on Facebook, extolling the virtues of her "Favorite Child". I know I only have one child, so can't possibly understand, but my blood ran cold when I read the rambling account of her heroic youngest child, who has won her heart over the other two because she cares more about Mommy and Mommy's feelings than the other two do. (I coudn't resist making a comment, warning her that she'd better hope her other kids never read that, because it's never the favorite child who winds up caring for Mommy when Mommy becomes old and feeble!)

Lately, Judy has taken to harrassing me at church. She seeks me out, we exchange some small talk, then she asks me what I think about something. I fall for it every time. Whatever opinion I express, she immediately disagrees with me and starts listing examples of why she thinks I'm wrong. I've tried everything to keep from ending up in a debate with her. When I agree with her, she starts to nitpick the semantics of however I agree with her, absolutely refusing to allow me to see things her way. When I say something to the effect that she may have a point, I don't really feel strongly one way or another, she will go into a diatribe about why I should care strongly one way or another. When I just walk away from her, she follows me through the halls, badgering me until the church service starts. Even if I act like she's upsetting me, it doesn't slow her down or give her pause. Nothing helps.

It's gotten so bad that I don't even go to my Friday morning bible study group anymore, because I can't avoid an encounter with her - whatever we try to discuss, she has to point out the flaws in what I say, even when I try to agree with her. And it doesn't matter the topic - we could be discussing gay marriage rights or whether to wear your hair in a ponytail when you exercise. I've even tried taking the other side when she brings up a topic we've already "debated" - no avail. Whatever position I take, she takes the opposite.

Now she's started stalking my comments on Facebook. If I make any editorial remark about anything, she jumps in to attack whatever point I'm trying to make, and seems to be trying to discredit me personally.

I don't think she realizes how aggravating this has become for me. She is a frustrated would-be intellectual who never outgrew the collegiate "quest for knowledge" mindset which requires that you play devil's advocate under any and all situations.

How do I continue to give this person the benefit of the doubt? She has demonstrated a very deep-seated lack of self-awareness combined with an equally deep-seated narcissism and insensitivity to others, which I think is compounded by the fact that she believes she is living a life "beneath her station", so she is fundamentally unhappy. I can understand why she behaves the way she does, and those who know me are right now thinking (rightfully so) that I can be called out for behaving the same way on occasion (I hope just on occasion!?).

That's why I don't want to dismiss this friend out of hand. I'm certainly not the one to be casting the first stone, "without sin"-wise. And for all the faults I'm focusing on in this rant, I do care about this person and cherish her friendship.

But I find myself cringing internally when I see her at church (if I see her first, I try to avoid contact) and I'm on the verge of hiding her (and maybe un-friending her) on Facebook, because she never seems to have anything kind to say - it's always something argumentative.

I miss looking forward to talking to her, and I'm not sure how to fix it. *sigh*

Thanks for reading! Your comments are welcome and appreciated...

(I guess it might not seem like that from this rant, huh?)

Link to Ben's Story

My nephew, Ben, now has a profile on the Cure CMD website. He's such a brave young man and has been an inspiration to all who know him. Keep your prayers going for him.

Click HERE to see his profile.

Do-Re-Mi

also not mine, but again...

Dippin' Dots from God

Golly gee, what weather we're having!

Why I Fly Southwest

Not my video, but still...

Palm Sunday

Every Palm Sunday, as they begin to tell the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem amidst cries of "Hosannah!", the music from Jesus Christ Superstar starts running through my head. Luckily, we've already Netflixed the movie for our traditional Good Friday viewing (we alternate JCS with Mel Gibson's movie Passion of the Christ. This year it's JCS.

Alex spent the night last night and came to church with us this morning. He seemed to enjoy the service, and going to Sunday school with Harrison. I was going to recruit the boys to help me make masks (props for the spring play You Can't Take it With You; Dad is doing a great job as Tech Director - we open in two weeks) but the weather is supposed to turn nasty this afternoon, so I'll wait until Deedee picks Alex up, then make it a family project - it may give Julio a nice break from doing our taxes (if he's able to stop and join us).

I continue with my bouts of insomnia, which makes it very difficult to type a coherent sentence...hence this bizarro posting. Ah well!

VARNUM v BRIEN -- WOOHOO!!!

Today is a wonderful day to be an Iowan. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the Iowa Supreme Court has taken us one step closer to being an enlightened community where civil rights are extended to every citizen of our state. Congratulations, Kate & Trish! And on behalf of all my friends who are now legally entitled to share the same privileges of marriage that the rest of us have never had questioned, THANK YOU for your courage and fortitude in continuing this ongoing battle. I'm very proud of you and feel blessed and privileged to be your cousin!

Click here for KCCI coverage of the landmark decision.