in one weekend...old friends & a new streak

This weekend i returned to my hometown to attend my 30th high school reunion. (Okay, you can stop doing the math in your head...i'm 48.) The first night we gathered on the grounds of the high school to picnic/tailgate with our families before the homecoming football game. The game was cancelled which was a blessing because we got to socialize and eat for hours longer. ...maybe getting to eat that long was not a blessing.

I did not have a huge number of close friends in high school, therefore, i only knew a few of the faces or names of many of the folks attending. The folks i spent most of the evening with were gals i had known since elementary school. We attended the same junior high, high school, college, and girl scout summer camp. The husband of one of these gals was such a doll. He played and raced with my boys so that i could manage to hold uninterrupted conversations. A blessing, indeed!

Saturday night, the class of 1981 gathered at local hotel for our evening. (sans children--Okay so most folks have grown children. Only a few of us have children who are not yet teens.) This is the type of situation, upon which i would have relied on andy to carry the socialization impetus. Socializing, unless i know folks very well, feels more like having a root canal. I do not seek out these types of opportunities.

My mom kept the boys saturday evening. She is 85 and lives in a retirement community. Prior to this, she was apprehensive about being alone with the boys due to their normal energy level. As it turned out, the boys charmed their way through the dining hall. These boys are "stinking cute" and charmers like their dad. My youngest worked his magic on another elderly lady who tried to give him any and every dessert his heart might desire. In the end, she made him an ice cream sundae about the size of his head. He tried, but could not eat the whole thing. ...making a mental note---make sure the boys know how to use their looks for good, not for evil. lol

One of the disappointments from this weekend was i (it was all my fault) broke our reading streak. I forgot to read to the boys on saturday night before i went to my reunion party. Our streak ended at 106 days. figures, that i blogged about it....sort of like when you wash your car and it rains. The first thing my eldest said to me upon rising the next morning was, "you broke our streak." Oh yeah, no guilt there, sigh. I know, missing reading is not a life shattering thing by any means, but it did mean a lot to him. I know this not only because of his reaction to the my lapse, but also because he is writing about it in a paper he is working on for a fourth grade assignment. The assignment is entitled, why my family is special. It is for a contest with a monetary prize (hence, his burning motivation to write), so he told me i am not allowed to help him. In fact, he will not talk to me much about it or let me read any drafts. He gave me a few teasers---he thinks his family is special because we have family night and because of the reading streak. I am eager to read his paper and i am straining and struggling to hold back that overzealous, type a, overbearing, meddling mom side of me. I wonder how he perceives his world and his family.

Nevertheless, last night we continued reading from prince caspian (we are very near the end) and i reset our streak count. We made it 106 days before I broke our streak. My goal remains to read aloud to my boys for as many days as i can (even if it is not an unbroken streak). It has just occurred to me as i write this post, raising boys in the boy scout world means they will probably go to camp and other events with many days away from home. Days far away from telephones or technology, therefore, i do not know how we will maintain any unbroken streak through these. Oh well ...thoughts for another day (channeling my scarlet o'hara)..."i'll think about it tomorrow, after all tomorrow is another day."

currently listening to:
the dog snoring

dinner: (last night)
deli leftovers

currently reading:
prince caspian
buying & selling the souls of our children
the apostolic ministry
daniel, 1 peter, isaiah

today grateful for:
my boys
my mom
God's presence & mercy
morningstar ministries
old friends
provision
a working automobile

our streak and my pet peeve

Today, the boys and I reached the 100th day of our reading streak! I have read aloud to them every day for 100 days. We are two thirds of the way through our fourth book, prince caspian.
Thus far we have read:
the magician's nephew
the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe
the horse and his boy
At this point my youngest (5 years old) appears marginally interested in our nightly readings. My eldest(nine years old) has stated on several occasions that our daily read alouds are one of his favorite things that we do together. He has pleaded with me frequently to continue reading... "just a few more minutes." I love our reading time together.

We have worked around some obstacles in our schedules so as not to break our streak. This summer when the boys were staying out of state with their grandparents, I spoke to them each night and read via phone or skype. On some of our busier nights, I have read in the car before attending an evening event or taken our book into a restaurant to read to them as we waited for our meal.

I am grateful to alice ozma for sharing the story of a 3218 day reading streak sustained by her and her father, a librarian and single parent. From this single parent, librarian to another-thank you, mr. ozma.

Okay, switching gears...today while listening to NPR I noticed a trend...it seems modern American society has lost touch with our mother tongue-English and rules of proper usage. Do we no longer value proper speech, much less ADVERBS?! My boys look at me oddly when I rant at the those speaking on the television and radio. I have heard teachers, news anchors/reporters and well educated speakers using bad when they should have used badly, quick instead of quickly, etc. Today, I was annoyed while listening to NPR. A man who proclaimed to be the president of a writers' guild, more than once misused adjectives when he should have used adverbs. Arrgh!

currently listening to:
college football

dinner:
pork
potatoes
various veggies

currently reading:
prince caspian
getting things done
martha stewart living
wall street journal
daniel

today grateful for:
my boys
God's mercy
friends
my sitter
my hair stylist and a great paul mitchell salon(it's always a joy to go there! today i went in stressed and came out joyfully refreshed)
fall
provision
a working automobile
cell phones with texting

Life

In my last blog post, I promised to write of M’s coming to Christ. I now wish I had stopped that night and made a few notes. These days my memory often fails me. I do recall the basics, just not every detail. I am so thankful that both of my boys know Christ. I want to live to see my boys grow up, live happy and full lives as God wills for them. Yet, I feel that I have carried out one of the most important missions God has given me.

In the days leading up to M’s decision, he had been consumed by the thought of death. My guess is it may have begun on our discombobulated trip home from Boone when he accidentally got his right hand slammed in the car door. For several days following, he would repeat, “I don’t want you to die.” I don’t want T. to die.” I don’t want Franklin to die.” (our dog) Before December 2008, I would probably had told him not to worry about me, his mother, dying. But I cannot say that, as any moment might be my last with him on this earth. I hugged him each time and told him I loved him. I told him about his Daddy being in heaven because Andy loved Jesus and had asked Jesus to live in his heart and be his savior.

As I watch the documentary programs recounting the events of September 11, 2001, I recall my thoughts of that day and that week. I was 32 weeks pregnant with our first child. I was at work that morning and I remember a parent coming into our school to tell us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. It was up to me in the library to tune the cable channels for our school’s closed circuit system. I spent the morning, in between the times I taught my library classes, watching the monitor. As many others, I called the person who I loved and meant the most to me, my husband. I thought, what kind of a world and situation are we bringing a child into? We had tried for one and a half years before conceiving this blessed child. In a conversation with my mother-in-law, she reminded us of the beautiful hymn, “Because He lives.” That weekend was the baby shower. Five months later at the baby dedication, Andy and I sang, "Because He Lives" and my mother-in-law accompanied us.

This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

In the ten years since that day…
…our first child was born
…my father died
…our second child was born
…Andy’s grandmother, my mother-in-law’s mother, died
…Andy, my husband, their father, a son, a brother died

What does our future hold? As I look at all of the natural disasters and freakish weather we have had not only in just the past month but in the past 2 years, I do not know.I do know...

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives.
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!

~ William and Gloria Gaither ~

currently listening to:
9/11 broadcasts

dinner(last night):
omelets
home fries
chicken bacon

currently reading:
prince caspian
getting things done
ezekiel
ecclesiastes

today grateful for:
my boys
God's mercy
salvation through Christ
our lives
the days I had with Andy
my country