Trying Too Hard?

I signed my daughter up for a weekend event this weekend. She had attended last year and we had two out-of-town girls stay with us during the event. So, this year, I naturally signed up again, and requested the same girls. With good intentions, it bombed from start to finish -- no kids her age at the event and a mismatch of a house guest.
As your kids get older, you don't know what to do or what not to do. But, you do know that you love your child more than it could be imagined, and you are willing to sacrafice your weekend, for better or for worse. And, as she reminded me, "you are treating me like a child."

"Stalking Awareness Month"

Arizona is one of only three states acknowledging "Stalking Awareness Month." One of every 12 women will be stalked in her lifetime according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. The Governor called on the state to increase awareness of the issue and for stalking victims to know the resources available to them. It became a crime in Arizona in 1995, with increased penalties in 1998.
And, to that, we say Amen.

Reading

In the past week, I have read two books for my book lovers club. I love to read and I read quickly, but I cannot control my reading time. I always read longer than I should, and it then cuts into time I should be doing something else. It results in some serious procrastination for doing minutes, working on taxes, and of course, housecleaning.
I would go to the library every Friday when I was in elementary school and carry home as many (or often, more) than I could hold in my arms. I woke up at about 5:30 am, reading until it was time to wake my father up at 7 a.m. I mostly read Dewey Decimal 921., or biographies. As I grew older, I still liked to read, but, in order to manage the time and not be so compelled to keep reading, I began reading the last chapter to see what happened. Then I could read the rest and not have to find out the ending; it kind of took the pressure of the "needing to know" now. The last book I remember staying up and reading straight through to the end was "Kane and Abel".
I admire people that can read a book in manageable amounts of time or have several going at once. It requires much more self control than I must have.

Caretakers

It occurs to me that I know three people who are daily caretakers for others, not to say that we all don't do some caretaking for other people or our planet each day. But these three folks have their lives significantly impacted by the need to manage another person. They are different -- one has a sick husband, one has an elderly, ill mother and the other a Downs child - but each do what they need to do with incredible grace, forethought and love. I am honored to know each of them and have tremendous respect for the burdens they carry daily, and wish them each some joy each day. That is really what love is, I think.

The End Of A Day of Cleaning

I spent the day cleaning, my most unfavorite activity. I get crabby, irritable, and generally unpleasant. I worked most of the day, getting the house neater for my daughter's friend's birthday party. An impromptu sleepover has sprung up -- and I am now folding laundry, hanging clothing, and dusting my bedroom. I have trouble staying in one room and retaining focus, but a good radio talk show or favorite TV show will keep me from wandering. Tonight is the return of "Monk", my current favorite, crazy show. And, for the entire evening, until a new episode at 10 p.m., there is a "Monk" marathon. That's a great ending for a day of cleaning. I have a big smile on my face -- it's so quirky and I love it.

Under The Weather?

I am certain my husband thinks I am under the weather in order to avoid "The Pirates of Penzance," but, the truth is, I don't feel 100%. I won't go into detail, but we have been passing a cold or flu around our house for the past few weeks -- but, then, who hasn't been? The Arizona Theatre Company is really accomodating in needing to change tickets for season subscribers, even at the last minute. Twice last year on the day of the show, (once with an illness en route to the theatre; another with a traffice diversion that had not been announced on the Dept. of Highways website) they changed our tickets for later performances. Hats of to them for being so nice! And I will try to get to the play next weekend. Really, my fingers are not crossed.

Evening Activities

Since retiring from a real job, I have tried to contain my activities and obligations to the daytime hours, to be available to do things with my daughter and husband in the evening. Over time, the number of evening obligations have increased. I really like only to have one such event per week, but this week, I ended up with two events, making it a busy week. My husband has a rare evening event as well this week as he is attending a college alumni party, in addition to driving to my daughter's evening dance classes and her other various religious obligations.
Once each month, I have Bunco, an HOA Board meeting and a Committee meeting, but rarely do they fall in the same week. This week, I also have a CPR class required for teaching my exercise classes. I joined a Book Club, but have only gone once as I did not read the last book. There is another politcal Book Club of interest, but I also did not read that book as it sounded boring. We are also getting appointed to be Precinct Committeemen this month, which will yield another meeting to attend.
So, all in all, something's got to give, but not sure how or what.

For My Next Trick

I am so embarrassed. I signed the family up to volunteer in a booth for the SHADE Foundation at the finish line of the P.F. Chang's Marathon. We woke up today under the weather, so I called and said we were sick and couldn't come. The Volunteer Coordinator said "it is tomorrow." Oh goodness gracious, how did I do that? I originally put it on Saturday in my calendar, when I signed up, and, despite all the articles about the race, traffic congestion, road closures, etc., never noticed that it was on Sunday. How did I do that? I do know that the last race I walked in was on a Saturday. It worked out better to be home today for the beginning of our exterior house painting, but I will be continuing to wonder how I made such a silly mistake.

Things Always Take Longer Than You Think They Will

Today's lesson is that things will always take longer than you think they will. For example, today I had an appointment at the car dealer for some warranty repairs. But it took 3 hours, longer than the 1.5 hours as promised. It is a lovely place to wait, with food, good coffee, magazines and a desk to do all the things I carry around to do while waiting, but I just wasn't wanting to sit still that long. Doctor appointments, errands, shopping, etc. always take longer than planned, leading to procrastination. I try to only plan one such thing per day to allow for the expanded time needs, but somedays it is just frustrating. Minor, compared to life after the tsunami, having to do two or three jobs in order to support your family or being in a battlefield in Iraq...but annoying nonetheless.

I Feel A Little Sad

All the holiday lights are down and the New Years fireworks are finished at Rawhide. The streets are quiet and dark again, and for some reason, I feel a bit sad as we enter the New Year. Our house did not get as cleaned and organized as planned and we missed several of the movies we had hoped to see. On the other hand, we had a few special days of vacation in San Francisco, just making us want more of that kind of time. Our daughter is getting older and, with that, harder to understand, making parenting more of a challenge.
I look forward to many things this year; I dread just as many. But I am appreciating being alive, healthy and will do my best to experience the full range of emotions in the year to come.

Let Me Be The First To Welcome You To....

A new little catchphrase emerged for my husband and I in the past week, borrowed from the airlines upon landing in the airport of your destination: "Let me be the first to welcome you to ..." At midnight, the beginning of 2005, my husband wished me "Happy New Year" and said "Let me be the first to welcome you to 2005!" To a year of good things, good health and some time to laugh, as well as healing for those struck by the earthquake and tsunami in Asia. Our midnight was capped by the final New Year's fireworks at Rawhide. We will miss them in 2006.