Traditions Old and New

With the holidays fast approaching (I know it's only August, but you just wait, it will be here before you know it!) I've been finding myself thinking a lot about traditions. They can be as big as who hosts the holiday shindig and as small as the summer reading program you participated in every year at the local library. Some are really special and some you would rather do without. For example, in my own family, I always cherished the tradition of putting baby Jesus in the manger after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Mom's green jello salad at Thanksgiving dinner however, not so much. Funny thing though, it wouldn't have been Thanksgiving without it. So no matter good or bad...I think you cling to tradition.

As my own little family was growing up, we created new traditions along the way. A blending, if you will, between his traditions and mine. And sometimes, you have to create new traditions when you don't really want to: as we did when our parents passed away. I'm coming to one of those crossroads now. As my little family is all but grown up now, I'm faced with the reality that, eventually, they will be blending their traditions with someone else's. And with Sarah so far from home, she has been creating some new traditions of her own. She has spent the last two Thanksgivings back east with friends. This year, Beth will join her there. I'm sad that both my girls will be gone for the holiday, but I'm also so very happy that they have each other and that Beth will provide a little bit of "home" for Sarah.

I'm not sure I like how these new traditions affect me. Since I don't really have a say in the matter, I'm trying my best to forge forward and find joy in the fact that I raised happy, healthy adults who love their family but are independent enough to be able to create their own traditions. It's the age old conundrum of being a parent. You raise them up with all the love in your heart, only to have them leave you. And here's the conundrum part - that's what you want to happen, even though it hurts you beyond anything you ever imagined.

So here we are at the dawn of another holiday season full of traditions and I'm thinking I might just have to create a new one of my own. Not sure what it will be yet but I'll keep you posted.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and an even better week. Talk to you next Friday!

Quote of the Week:

Men can know more than their ancestors did if they start with a knowledge of what their ancestors had already learned....That is why a society can be progressive only if it conserves its traditions.
~Walter Lippmann (1889 - 1974) ~

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

It has been three months since I wrote a post. Needless to say, I'm a blogger slacker. I have several excuses, none which you would be sympathetic to, because lets face it, we're all busy, we all have work or home or kid issues. I have tried to keep up with my favorite bloggers but have failed to comment because, honestly, I didn't want anyone coming to my blog and actually realizing how much of a slacker I am. So, here I am, back after three months with one lesson learned. I am not an everyday blogger...I will not post everyday. My goal now is to try and write a post once a week and I have chosen Friday as my posting day. Let's see how this plan works.....

For my first post back I think I'll just do some random thoughts about things that have been happening lately.

1. I have decided that the car companies are in cahoots with the mechanics of the world and they now make crappy vehicles on purpose so you will have nothing better to do than pour money into them, spend your time in rental cars (they're probably in on it too) and never feel completely confident about said vehicle whenever you drive it. Or maybe it's just that Jeep makes crappy cars....there I said it. I think we have spent almost as much money in repairs as we paid for the thing. I would love to trade it in but can't at the moment. Anyway, I really just wanted to say how much I HATE Jeeps and hope no one ever buys one of their vehicles again. Oh, and they have the WORST customer service ever....on the face of the earth. Ok, now i feel better about that.

2a. My Droid is my new best friend. I can't go anywhere without it and it has caused me to become a Facebook addict. I'm constantly checking the phone for updates. I think I need help.

2b. My husband now has a Droid. Which I find totally hilarious since the man still doesn't know how to use his email and his idea of high technology is a remote control that works the TV, cable box and DVD player all in one. Hearing him talking about the apps he has downloaded just makes me feel like I'm living in an alternate universe. His favorite is the weather app. He now gets continuous weather updates on his phone. He's so proud of this. Really honey? Because we live in Arizona...you don't need a weather app to tell you it's hot outside! Although, it was quite humorous the other night as we were sitting watching TV while the monsoon was rolling in. He says to me, "I got a weather update, storm warnings in our area." My reply, "I heard the thunder, saw the lightening...don't need an app for that." I've lived with this man for almost 30 years and never knew how important the weather was to him. In other weather related news....

3. I'm tired of the heat and ready for fall...which by the way doesn't get here until December.....

4. Every summer I watch Big Brother. Sometimes I'm embarrassed to admit this. It's my guilty pleasure. I don't really care for most reality shows but for some reason I love this one. It got me to thinking....can you have standards for your reality TV? For instance, I would never, ever watch the show about the 3 year old pageant queens but I'll watch a bunch of adults go crazy stuck in a house together for an entire summer. All the while lying, backstabbing, scheming and treating each other terribly and then complaining because people are lying, backstabbing, scheming and treating each other terribly. I think it's a sickness. Big Brotheritis...oh well, it's free, unlike my other sickness, which brings me to.....

5. My obsession with Hallmark ornaments, also known as Hallmarkitis. You can read more about it here. In July I attended the Hallmark ornament premier. I bought lots of ornaments, but was very proud of myself as I did buy less than last year. I made myself feel better about it by telling myself that I was helping to stimulate the economy. I think you have to do whatever you can. ;-) Now the dilemma is to figure out where I can fit that fourth Christmas tree.....

6. We have our 30th anniversary coming up next month. Sarah is planning a party for us. We are having it at our house. I'm feeling very overwhelmed about the whole thing. We were suppose to get some improvements done around the house but the King of Procrastination struck once again, nothing has gotten done, and now it's softball season again, so there goes that..... Oh well, thank goodness all the invitees love us and they all understand the King, so I'm sure it will bother me way more than it will bother them.

7. Last but certainly not least: My poor D-Backs suck big time. I'm very disappointed in this season but have high hopes for next season. Things seem to be moving in a positive direction. I had to take down the baseball theme from the blog....just don't have my heart in it at this point. Thank goodness hockey season is around the corner...something to take my mind off of it.

Alright, I guess I better stop boring you. I promise next weeks blog....oh, whose kidding who, I can't promise anything. I'll be around to reintroduce myself and hopefully you'll remember me. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and an even better week.

Quote for the Week:

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again, Fail better."
Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

April Shower

I've spoken here before about my husband, the King of Procrastination. He is a wonderful man, who I don't deserve, but he has one little flaw. He is a chronic procrastinator. I've learned to live with it over the years. I choose to weigh all the great points against this one bad point. There is one project in our house that has been put off above all others. The master bathroom. This particular bathroom, the shower to be exact, has even found a coveted spot in my annual Christmas letter. I actually update the progress, or lack there of, of said shower just like I update the progress of my children. I've been writing about it in some form or another for the past 15 years. Yeah, you heard right, 15. Here's whats transpired with the shower in the last 15 years:

Our original shower fell apart on me...literally. Standing in the shower one day and the tiles started falling off the wall...fun. We gutted the shower and because of lack of funds and some procrastination, an absence of shower ensued. We went so long without a shower that my youngest daughter didn't even know that's what was suppose to go in that hole in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom. Having 5 people using the tub shower in the kids bathroom for years was not fun. But wait, it gets better. We finally get the shower done and are relishing having our own shower when a couple of weeks later......the same thing happens in the kids bath. So here we are back to one shower again. Several months later we find a leak in the new shower...no joke. We hurry to complete the kids shower so we can try to repair ours. Only to find it was probably leaking the whole time and we have mold behind the shower walls. Lovely. So, we gut the master shower again and here we are about 5 years later and everyone is still using one little tub shower. Now, in my husbands defense I have to say that it has not been all his fault. There are always extenuating circumstances...which translates to lack of funds.

So, how surprised do you think I was when I walked into the bedroom last Saturday to find a fine layer of drywall dust covering EVERYTHING. I couldn't get mad because he was actually working on the bathroom! He pulled the whole ceiling down (hence the drywall dust), put in a pretty new light/fan combo, rewired the light switches and put new drywall up on the ceiling. It's a start and I'm looking forward to actually having a shower in there once again.

I'll keep you updated on the progress. Who knows, I may have to find a new topic of conversation for my Christmas letter......

HELP!!

I've fallen into Facebook and I can't get out!!! Which is why I missed my son's birthday post. His birthday was Monday, so happy belated birthday to the best son a mother could ask for. I'm still working on Stephen's story so I will post it in a couple of days providing I can find my way back here from Facebook. I knew I never should have started with that darn thing........

Quote of the Day:

"Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever."
Samuel Smiles

Never Say Never.....Again

Quite a few times in the last several months I've said something like...."I'll never do...fill in the blank". I was never going to get one of those fancy cell phones. Who needs it? I really don't use my phone all that much, but I do text my daughters a lot. Mostly because it's their preferred method of communication. Well, my little cheap freebie phone was not cutting it for the texting so, it comes time to upgrade and I decide I need a new phone that has a keyboard for texting. What I ended up with is a Droid and now I can't figure out how I ever lived without it. I suppose it's the same feeling my mother had when she said she'd never use a microwave and then we got one. She never cooked vegetables on the stove again(well almost never).

One thing I was always very adamant about was the fact that I would NEVER get a Facebook page. First of all, I felt like it was a "young persons" thing. And then I worried that my daughters would feel like I was checking up on them. But most importantly, I was worried about the time factor. Do you find you lose track of time when you are online? Hours go by and it seems like minutes. So, time was an issue also. As most of you know, I can barely keep up with my blog, let alone manage Facebook. Well, this week I caved (my daughters words). I kind of hate myself for it. But, once again I'm finding myself hooked. I don't think it's as great as my Droid and it's certainly not as useful as a microwave, but it's fun. There's a whole world out there I never knew existed. Who knew you could run a farm, bake bread and serve up food all without leaving your couch? I'm still getting used to Facebook land, but it's interesting and intriguing and I'm willing to give it some time....but not too much.

So feel free to "friend" me and come write on my wall. Now there's something I NEVER thought I'd say!
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Quote of the Day:

"Never say never, for if you live long enough, chances are you will not be able to abide by its restrictions. Never is a long, undependable time, and life is too full of rich possibilities to have restrictions placed upon it."
Gloria Swanson (1899 - 1983)

The Story of Beth

A few days ago I told you The Story of Sarah, my oldest child. Now has come the time to introduce you to my youngest, Beth. She turned 21 in January and I swear it was just yesterday that I watched her walk into the pre-school classroom for the first time. Who knew then that she would grow up to love tattoos, try my patience everyday and fill my life with joy?
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The Story of Beth

The thing I remember most about my baby child's birth is that her father missed it. Oh, he was there; he just didn't find it necessary to change into the required scrubs when I told him he should. Consequence of not listening to me: fast delivery and Dad misses everything. I guess I shouldn't be too critical, the doctor missed it too. Beth came into this world in a hurry and she hasn't slowed down since. I had to heehee/whowho while the nurses pushed my gurney down the hallway to the delivery room, all the while the resident was telling me not to push till the doctor got there. I told him he could say it all he wanted but the child was not listening(that was a sign of things to come!). And with that and one small push she was born. I've always thought she might become a pilot because she came out flying. The one good thing the resident did was make a spectacular catch.

And so the fun began. She learned to crawl early and then to climb. At 6 months she could climb onto or up anything she put her mind to. She wasn't really interested in walking, she'd rather climb and make Mommy a basket case. By the time she was two nothing was out of limits. From the time she could mobilize Beth has gotten everything she could out of every single day. She goes head first(like the bull in the proverbial china shop)as fast as she can at every task big or small. She makes me exhausted just watching her. She has always had this zest for life. But along with that zest comes a small little problem. No time to be neat. We must move from one thing to another as fast as we can so as to get as much as possible into one day. No time for clean up. She can leave a mess in her wake only the Red Cross could appretiate.

She's the child that tries my patience the most. She's the one that feels it necessary to push any issue just to see how far she can get. She also loves to argue and will argue about almost anything whether it needs to be argued about or not. She also needs to get the last word, or should I say sound, in. Even if it's a sigh or a grunt, she must leave the argument having had the last sound. That same determination also makes her a fiercly loyal person. If she loves you, she loves you unconditionally and with everything she's got. She's the best kind of friend there is. She's kind and compassionate, loves kids and animals and makes me laugh everyday. She is just a naturally funny person. I can't even explain it. You just have to know her. But if you're around her……you will laugh.

To Beth, life's a party and the more fun you have at the party the better. Who wouldn't love having someone like that in their life? It's exhausting, but oh so wonderful.
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Thanks for reading about my little girl who's not so little anymore. I used to think it was hard when the oldest did all those "first" things but I've come to realize that it's much harder when the youngest does everything for the "last" time. I'm slowly getting used to the fact that I'm the mom of adults, but it's taking time.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

The Circle Never Ends

It's softball season once again. Dan is on the board of our local girls fast-pitch league. It's a fun league and much more laid back than club ball. Beth played her last season of Spring Ball last year. It was a sad time for her. It's the only thing about turning 21 that she regrets. She loves softball more than anything. I have been going to baseball and softball games for almost as many years as I've been a mother. I was sad that it was coming to an end but quite frankly, I was also ready for it to be over. Then Dan comes home and announces that he will be coaching our 9 year old great-niece this season. I don't know what I expected, he loves coaching and he loves being at the field. It's been a long time since he coached "little" girls. He's learning all over again and Beth is helping so she still gets her softball fix. Today was their first game. I went to the game because I knew it would mean a lot to my niece if I came to watch her daughter. And, because I don't have any grandchildren, I occasionally claim her as my surrogate grandchild ;-)

I forgot just how cute they are at this age. And just how boring the games can be. Many of the girls are just learning how to play. Lots and lots of walks make for a boring game. I still enjoyed it, but it was boring. Oh, and I forgot about the chanting. If you've ever been to a girls softball game you know what I'm talking about. The bigger girls didn't chant so much but the little ones love it. When Beth was little I used to hear those chants in my dreams....oy! It also made me remember one of the many reasons that I love my husband. He is so patient and wonderful with these little ones. He makes them all feel special. He loves them and they love him right back.

So, while I was sitting there, I thought about how things always come full circle. How I thought I was done with this part of my life only to find out that it's come back to me in a whole new way. How my daughter will coach her kids and those kids will coach their kids and the circle never ends.

It's a beautiful thing.