Never Ever Dull
With every conversation, I always seem to end with "Never a dull moment"....our lives are rich, complex, and beautiful stories. Join me in laughing about everyday things and appreciating life-bumpy roads and all.
Track coach: Your son will be racing on Saturday. Since the bus is in the shop, we were wondering if you could take some runners? I sat there a bit google-eyed. I get that my Tank can haul a bunch of athletes. That wasn't the problem. It had been quite a week and I had planned on Saturday being a time of total rest and catch-up-on-life kind of day. No thoughts of heading to a day long track meet were on my mental radar. I just nodded my head while glimpses of a staycation drifted away. I was definitely google-eyed. It all started when I moved into my new home. All was going remarkably smooth I did notice those colorful little flags spiking out of my yard. Sometimes, I found myself staring at my front yard. So many of those flags! They reminded me of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics as it finishes for the night and all those countries have proudly displayed their flags. I knew those flags marked every possible utility that could have lines in my yard. My yellow flags were there to show Banks his new invisible fencing. We were waiting for the ice and snow to melt so that we could start training him, but we have a lot of shade and the ice was taking its time to melt. On Tuesday, I awoke to trucks, men talking, and construction equipment drilling holes into my front yard. No worries. Google Fiber had sent out crews to start laying down their big orange cable. I waved good-bye to them as I headed off to work. It was upon the return that I definitely became google-eyed. You see, while installing the thick cable, Eddie, my Google Fiber friend, got a bit confused. He had pulled up the yellow invisible fence flags and laid them around the yard since he needed to dig. However, while digging, he sliced through the wire for the invisible fence line. This caused all kinds of alarms to go off. Since the flags were no longer in their original place, Eddie couldn't figure out where the cut may have been made. He promised me he would find it. So, he began digging everywhere in the yard. After an hour of futile scooping up the grass-now-red-clay, he said it might be best to call the fence company and have them do it. My head was spinning. My yard was now a red clay mess. I saw mountains of red and only sporadic patches of green grass. I thanked him and headed into the house. It was late. I was very tired. Not even letting my foot land inside the interior of my home, my boys shared quietly that we no longer had wi-fi or cable. Ugh. I returned to my friend, Eddie, and gave him the sad news. It's now about 9:30 p.m. Eddie and his crew begin digging to find the cause of the problem. They shine flashlights and I hear them mumble, "Oh, no." I look. I sink a bit. The guys hold up a cable that had been cut. It reminded me of a bad 80's hairstyle that was so frizzy and flinging in all directions. I'm not a techie person, but I knew this was all going south. Eddie rushes to Home Depot to buy something he thinks might fix it. He returns about 10 p.m. It doesn't work. We all look at each other in google-eyed wonder at how all this happened. My son and I head in after we said our farewells to our new friends who stood in holes in my yard. Just before turning in for the night, I notice orange footprints throughout our house. My son had forgotten to take off his shoes. Understandably, he had only stood on the road and driveway and stayed clear of the orange, red muddy yard. But mud prints were everywhere on our light carpet. Yep. One of those weeks in which you really just want the weekend to get here....fast! It did and I'm thankful and no longer quite so google-eyed.
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In the last 8 days, I've packed boxes, closed on our new home, unpacked boxes, watched how paint can transform six rooms, and completed report cards. During all that hustle and bustle, I forgot to purchase dog food. So, I headed to Target. It was a simple errand. Just dog food. Then, my boys added on index cards and some favorite snacks to have around in case we did get any freezing precipitation. I hadn't paid much attention to the weather, but apparently, everyone else had been glued to those snowstorm reports. The lines at Target reminded me what it was like the week before Christmas. I waited and waited. I was so thankful when Alton arrived at his cash register and opened up #12. As I stood with my cart, I glanced around to see what other folks were buying. Behind me, one mom looked so composed like she had it all figured out: a couple of sleds, healthy snacks, and thick, waterproof gloves. The two college girls in front of me had huge baskets. I struck up a conversation with them and learned they wanted to make muffins from scratch in their dorm kitchen. They didn't realize all that they needed until they got to Target: muffin pan, flour, butter, measuring cups, measuring spoons, bowls to stir the batter, something to stir the batter with, oven mitts, Tupperware to store the muffins, etc. They practically needed a U-Haul for all their stuff. All because they wanted to make something from scratch if they got snow. (They were nervous because neither had ever baked and were very concerned about starting a fire!) It made me wonder about my own girls. I checked in with my Oldest in Nashville. They were told to prepare for 6-8 inches of the white fluff. She reassured me she was good. She had her preparations ready. I was thankful and proud that I had raised such a sensible and resourceful kid until she stated, " They were sold out of milk and bread so I got the next best thing: a Nerds Rope and some Coke... I already ate the Nerds Rope." Great. Stranded in Snowmageddon 2016 with Coke and a Nerds Rope wrapper.. I think my forehead is permanently flattened from the number of times I slap it going "What were they thinking?"....Oh, well. My Oldest survived. And I learned everyone needs something different to fill their comfort tanks.. * If you're in Nashville and notice someone bouncing around and going down hills on sleds borrowed from little kids, that's probably my Oldest. =) It was Thursday in Room 3126. You could feel the excitement. My students entered wearing their Sunday best. Boys had on their button downs, some brought along a suit coat, one even wore his tuxedo from two weddings he had been in recently. The girls wore matching outfits and came in beaming with smiles. This was not a normal day for these kids. They were about to be in front of the "sharks". You see, I got kind of bored teaching the economics unit outlined in our Common Core curriculum. I checked off the boxes of what I needed to cover and I had some time left before the quarter ended. I really wanted the kids to think. I desired to make it more applicable than just regurgitating words on a page. I asked a simple question: Do you have an idea of a product you could sell? They pounced on the idea. They begged to partner up with their business connections (buddies in room 3126) and come up with an idea to "sell". I was good with that and asked if they had ever heard of "Shark Tank". I found a YouTube video showcasing young entrepreneurs. Then, I mentioned kind of under my breath, "Wouldn't it be fun to go on that show "Shark Tank"?" One student mentioned that we could do our own "Shark Tank" and it spread like wildfire. My class decided to send invites to school administrators and others to be "sharks" and they set a date. It mushroomed. By Thursday, Room 3126 was filled with adults, nervous children, and one furry rodent (one child had created a guinea pig mansion to sell and needed "Mango" to demonstrate how wonderful his product was!). Some of my favorites from our Shark Tank experience:: * The "company" that created a Robo-Addick. This is for people who have a problem with smoking or drinking. When they feel the urge for a cigarette or a drink, they push a button and out pops something healthy...like broccoli! * The Meal Processor. Don't feel like cooking? Just tell this machine what you want to eat and it just shoots it out...on a plate...no stains! * The Tool 3000.. All your tools put together into one tool. The Sharks asked why the student invented this product. His response: "My dad uses tools all day for his work. It causes him stress when he can't find a tool. This will help him." Precious and thoughtful. * The Eraser Ear Rings. Did you know you can make ear rings our of those erasers that can be placed on top of pencils? The girls who produced this item brought the sharks samples to try.. I so appreciate the principal for wearing a neon pink eraser ear ring. He was the toughest shark but was kind to wear it. {Now, I know why all my erasers are missing!). It sounds like it was a breeze, right?! However,when all the adults entered the room, my students got the jitters. One had to exit the room twice feeling the urge that he might throw up. The Sharks fired questions at my little owners of fictitious companies. Often, my students got stumped, but they would pause and then respond the very best that they could. Every student walked away with a bit more green in their pockets and that made them smile. The money was important but at the end of the day, the students were proud that someone acknowledged that they had a great idea and that no matter how big the challenge, sometimes you just have to go for it. It turned out to be a great economics lesson but an even better life lesson. * With less than a week to go before we move into our new home, I find myself tackling the chore I really dread;: clearing out the attic. The attic always, always ends up as the land of things-that-you-don't-know-where-to-store-them. Sigh. I breathe in deeply and pull the rope. Climbing the wooden pull-down attic stairs, I pass down boxes, containers, and random objects to my Blonde (my faithful assistant). She complains about the amount of stuff everyone has up there and adamantly tells me that she is going to be a minimalist. ***Side note: The Blonde also decided during break that she will finish school, go to Wales, grow her dreads, raise a German Shepherd that will have much better manners than Banks,, maintain a sustainable garden, and study whales (it's what people do in Wales, right?!). Thus, when she tossed in the comment about being a minimalist, I didn't let it bother me too much. I kind of had to agree. Some of these boxes went from Virginia to Tennessee to North Carolina...all unopened.. So, we did the unthinkable: we ripped them open. Yep. We unpacked box after box instead of building the pyramid of boxes stacked along our family room wall. But it was amazing. I now know what it must have been like to discover the ruins of Pompeii. Seriously, it was like stepping back in time. Back in the day, I asked my kids to help me pack. They packed everything that they deemed as "important"...very carefully with mounds of tissue paper and bubble wrap. As we unearthed these treasures hidden inside all of these protective coverings, we wondered why these things have traveled with us across three states:: empty gum packages (think shoe boxes filled with those empty cartons! One anonymous child liked the smells!), stuffed animals that took us awhile to recall their names (I honestly think stuffed animals multiply somehow some way), lots of swim ribbons that say "participant" =), random Lego pieces, furry boots from Kazakhstan, etc. Probably the one that surprised me the most was this find in my Oldest's box (actually the Oldest has 8 boxes of memories....she believes they'll all go into her museum and archives once she becomes famous).. She threw away absolutely nothing. Who knows when one might need that empty Chapstick container? I leave you with the note I found: "Ewwww. Ummm. What is that item on your night stand?" I stared at the mahagony heirloom that had been passed down to me from my favorite great Aunt Dotty. Was that one of those things that I had to go to a sporting goods place to get? I remembered walking into that store searching for the appropriate aisle and then encouraging my son to go down that aisle to figure out which protective guard equipment he needed. I pretended to be interested in the football gloves while he made his decision. "You placed that jock strap cup thing on Aunt Dotty's furniture?" using my best motherly tone to show that I didn't approve of this. "It's not that. It's a chin strap." Of course, of course...I knew that. I try to smile, hiding my embarrassment I've learned much being the mom of two teenage boys. For example, it's really not cool to drive into the high school parking lot with the windows down blaring Taylor Swift music. Your son might ignore you. It's even more uncool to do doughnuts in the lot while your son ignores you....Yep, Not a good idea. Learned that the hard way. However, I have adapted my parenting skills. Now, I drive up and slightly nod my head once. I may even lift one finger off the steering wheel to acknowledge the boys waiting for my pick up. I don't complain about their horrible smell...I simply turn up the heat and push down all the windows to get a lot of air circulating. Sports Febreeze is a great investment. I've learned that it's normal to get those one-word responses: good, yep, no, uh-huh. For a mom who loves to talk, dig deep, and understand people beyond the surface level, that's been quite a challenge. But I've grasped that these boys aren't the chatter-boxes my girls are. If I get a complete sentence, I just do that one-nod thing and wait....hoping that more words will follow. Raising teenage boys is new territory for me....I'm so not perfect.. Thankfully, we can all laugh at my mistakes..well, let's hope....eventually! =) |
AuthorFun-loving mom to 4 kids and 1 big puppy. Fifth grade teacher of amazing little people who have never ending things to share with me. Love to discuss Jesus, diy projects, and life. Trying to keep it simple: Love Jesus, love people. Archives
December 2021
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