God is Good.

Each day I wake up I know that God is good. It doesn’t matter that we are stuck in a hotel room for a month. One of the things I know is as long as you keep dreaming all is well. When I breathe in the spring air it feels like home. Mayberry life appeals to Fred and me too. Fred is very happy so far with his new job.

Annie is a tutor at lunch several times a week and I get to watch Ellerie for a short while. She used to sit with her dad in his classroom. Today she said she loved me more than “April showers bring May flowers”. We spent an hour playing with Polly Pockets. She also said I like when you watch me because I have to be quiet in daddy’s classroom.

Abbie is growing into quite the young lady. I promised her a room she does not have to share at my new house. She has been planning out furniture placement and colors with me. On my birthday I wore the outfit she picked for me last year and she was so tickled.

Ethan has baseball. Watching the team play is like a real life “Bad News Bears” There was a time out called because left field had to go to the bathroom...kids were afraid to slide into home and some booing at the umpires. It brought back memories of the many games I watched my brothers play.

While I do not know all that God has planned for me, I know that it is all-good.

Not My Fault

Today I received a letter in the mail that my license was suspended. Of course, the driving school where I went to class last month did not send my paperwork into the Clerk of Courts. This was another case of “Murphy’s Law” for me. The letter said I had to pay $60 to have my license reinstated.

The Clerk of Courts is at the DMV in the Court House so when you get there you must pass through a metal detector and they X-Ray your purse. Fred was with me and he had not prepared me that this would happen. At least when I go to an airport I can prepare.

The guard told me I had tweezers in my purse. So I struggled to find them fishing in this pocket and the next one. When found, she said there were TWO more tweezers shown on the machine. Fred was patiently waiting but I immediately saw his eyes roll when I rummaged once again finally dumping the whole bag on their table. Three tweezers, an eyeglass screwdriver, rosary beads, tape measure, paper clips, and metal ring later they let me pass through.The confiscated the tweezers. Maybe they know how irate people get waiting at DMV and how tweezers could be lethal.

The rest of the trip turned out OK because I didn’t have to pay $60 for my license. They said it wasn’t my fault. Finally, something that was not my fault.

Things I Pondered on Vacation.

Fast food joints, restaurants, hotels, resorts ... GET RID OF YOUR SILK FLOWERS most of them are faded pieces of crap.

There are too many trickle down cuts because of economy. Hotels used to automatically give you freebies, clean towels and other amenities. Now you get the toilet paper left over from the previous customer but it has a fancy triangular fold at the end. You request the razor you forgot and you make your own coffee.

Consumers are made to feel guilty if they want clean towels, sheets daily. Little cards promoting “green” choices make you think twice about requesting water at your meals for fear you will get a server “eye roll”.

Restaurants make people wait for over an hour. When they finally are able to go into the restaurant it has many empty tables. The real reason for the wait is they do not have enough help to handle the people.

Parking spaces are limited. If someone parks in the condo garage without a sticker there is not enough help to enforce it. Consequently, one wastes a lot of vacation time riding around the block.

But the thing I “pondered” the most is none of these things matter when you are sharing time with family you love.

Embrace Your Nerdiness

Latin II, Mr. Cameron’s class was my first challenge in my high school academic path. There was about seven of us in the class. Latin was required when I went to the catholic high school so when I switched over to Public HS they just put me in Latin II. I remember David P. turning around one day in class and saying... “How did you get in this class?” His inflection was clear, I wasn’t as smart as the others. I never forgot that.

At that time in my life, I was in charge of our house, cleaning, cooking and working sometimes on school nights in the kitchen at my dad’s bar. Not to mention the on going drama in my social life with my cheating boyfriend. LOL ... There was not enough time for studying so a “C” and even my first “D” reflected my little effort.

Throughout high school, I maintained a B average and managed to graduate in top quarter of class. Still, my self-image was always poor. I dropped out of college in 1971 because I believed my goal was unachievable and out of reach. It took years of my perceptive husband Fred’s constant affirmations and you can do this and then at last a turn around.

When I returned to college in 1981 to finish my last two years I gave 100%. Like the scarecrow in Oz, I had a brain. As an education major, the courses I took made me realize for the first time there were reasons for my rough road in some courses besides the overall lack of effort. It became very clear I had ADHD. I recognized some of the clues in my Ed psych class. It was easy to see I was a tactile & visual learner not auditory. Some call it “Right Brained”. The hands-on college courses had me charged up.  Gardner’s Seven Areas of Intelligence was an inspiration and I vowed I would include all seven areas in my lessons. I have kept that promise.

My colleagues see me as an “out of the box” creative thinker. My style of dress has me a candidate for “What Not to Wear” wearing my collection of “94” converse shoes. Yes, I play in my classroom; I make up for the years of working in my youth when I color or dance with my students and my 50 marionettes. I embrace my nerdiness. 

You Were Right

What is it about these two words that are so difficult to say?

About a year ago we purchased a new adjustable bed and my kids went on and on teasing me about it. They called me old and visualized all kinds of scenarios because I do not do well with remote controls.

Well, it happened. Cappy rolled over during the night and set off the remote. The bed started to shake and vibrate. I pushed every button and could not get it to stop. Funny, Fred couldn’t see any humor in the situation and that made matters worse. He was then wide awake and took the remote from me. He started pushing the buttons. It would not stop. Even with my snickers he didn’t laugh. The dog was going crazy in circles.

Finally, I climbed under the bed and pulled the plug and then it was stuck in the up position at the head and bottom. I got back in bed and kept my mouth closed. Maybe he would see the humor in it later.

Anyway Annie, I just wanted to tell you. You predicted the whole scene. You were right.

Fred still doesn’t think it was funny. LOL

What time is it?

It is time to make changes. It is time to dream. It is time to live and be in control.

This week is my spring break. I have cleaned, moved all furniture and pictures in my house, an OCD trait that I have always had but in last four years it has been quite apparent it is compulsive. Control is the big issue here. What is it that can be controlled when you think your life is spiraling out of control?

Last summer we took one week off to go to Myrtle Beach. Sadly, one of the reasons was to have time with Fred’s brother Chuck who was dying of cancer. He lost his battle in the fall and we were all so thankful for that summer together. But I came home different. Life is too short.

The first thing about my life that I decided I could control was what I ate, my weight. Getting healthy became a priority. Visualization is something that always worked for me in the past. Putting pictures on the fridge of cars, furniture, vacations etc have always been part of my repertoire. I decided to do this again and started to surround myself with pictures of me smiling with me grandkids, family and friends.

Another first is deciding to comply with the doctors and take the pills I need to shake my depression and also sleep at night. I did not want to go this route but with the encouragement of those around me and also my doctor’s concern and lecture I said OK. His genuine fear I was going to hurt myself made me feel embarrassed like a scolded child.

My personal visualizations included mental images on my bicycle again. This escape was one from childhood. When the wind hits my face, it is exhilarating. Riding is not exercise it is freedom. I ride almost every day weather permitting. Roller-skating gives me the same feeling but no courage to skate again. After my broken wrist last year, I am not so sure.

Having a short vacation break is the needed boost it is meant to be. I feel like the “energizer bunny”. I am even looking forward to returning to work with all the ideas I have been cooking up in my head this week.

Take one day at a time. Savor each day. Accept what you cannot control, God is in control.

What I learned.

New Year's Day is my mother’s 88th birthday and the fourth anniversary of when she came to Florida. Most of you know that health issues turned a short visit into an extended stay and then a permanent move.

In the last four years I found out a lot about mom and about myself:
She does not like to make new friends but is loyal if you are her friend already.
She is actually shy.
She likes her clothes to match.
She folds clothes perfectly (even the underwear)

She loves sweets, ice cream and pastry.
She loves shrimp cocktail and hot sauce.
She will not try any new foods.
She loves pasta and would eat it every day.
She can sit in the sun for hours.
She has zero short-term memory.
She is cold when it is 90 outside.
She has been brainwashed by the “right” side of the Catholic Church. EWTN 24/7
She thinks she is going to die if she doesn’t go poop every day.
She would never say the word “poop” or “fart”.
She thinks everyone is going to hell.

Her stroke disabilities have caused her to reverse things; if she is talking about a white dog, I know it is really black. If she says it is 3:00 o’clock, it is 9:00 o’clock. I realized the problem with numbers when she was trying to write a recipe.

Her stroke also left her with no peripheral vision in both eyes so if she does not turn her head she does not see things. She is VERY stubborn and refuses to turn her head even though it would give her twenty-twenty vision if she did.

Mom is very childlike at this stage in her life. It is hard to believe that she was once the feisty, strong assertive businesswoman. She has so much trouble remembering what her life was like except for what it was like the year before she came. I like to make her happy and have found that she loves to get presents and cards.

I have tons of patience with my own kids and my students but sadly very little with mom. Which is why I think God sent mom here to stay with us. He wants me to learn patience, kindness, tolerance, and acceptance.
Happy Birthday Mom. I Love You.