If You Can't Beat 'em You Better Learn to Swim

A lot of the kids who come to live with us don't know how to swim. I rarely have to teach them, they just learn by being in the pool every day. Last year Troy was a little timid, but this year he really really wanted to play with the sisters in the deep end. He did it! Go Troy!

Finger Wagging Gone Bad

I was driving my son Steven to work yesterday and he asked about how he could earn back a privilege that he had lost. It was just the kind of question a mom loves to answer while she has her son captive in the car for 15 minutes. I started out discussing the original transgression that had caused the suspension of the privilege which led to another area in his life that needed some fix ups and then transitioned perfectly into reminding him of two or three other of his faults that he may have forgotten about. I informed him of all of this in a nice gentle voice but at one point when I looked over at him, this boy, twice my size, had his head down and was staring at the discouragement puddled under his feet.
I said, "Now of course, we could start on me. I would love to be so patient and kind with people like you are."
His first look up was to check and see if I was being sarcastic (our family's favorite past-time) and when he saw I was sincere, he said, "I love you Mom, I know I need to work on things."
Me too.

Just Waiting

Grace's surgery to put in a cathater to start dialysis has been postponed until sometime next week. Which means that she has another week to swim and have sleep overs with her best friend Jessie. Her kidney functioning is down to around 12% but her back dive is still a solid 100%. She was terrible in our volley ball game yesterday but that had nothing to do with kidney failure, she just stinks at it.
Our daughter Kirsten, who lives in France, has some thoughts on the entire kidney issue. Read them here on her new Blogspot blog.
Be sure and check out the movie called "Charlie's Testimony".

Over heard...

She Did It

Our daughter Kelly has often been timid about situations and her first day of school 13 years ago was no exception. I sang her a song every morning as we waited for the bus and she put on a brave little smile and off she went.
Yesterday, 13 years later, Kelly got on the school bus for her last day of school. She's a senior now and looking at her I couldn't help but think of that little girl from so long ago. Kelly has taken her timid self, climbed on that bus, worked hard all these years and will graduate in a few weeks.
We couldn't be prouder of her.
With her Ipod in her ears she didn't hear me singing her song.

Out of Shape but Under Control

I was running this morning and was approaching the last hill. Unfortunately I had run completely out of steam, so to encourage myself to keep going I started making deals with my body. "If you can just make it half way up the hill to the big tree then Grace's surgery on Tuesday will go well." I did it and looked up further. "Okay, if you can make it to the driveway at the top of the hill she won't need the surgery and her kidneys will be miraculously healed." I was making it! I had about 5 feet to go when out of the corner of my eye I see the owner of the driveway flying toward the road in a little tan pick up truck. At the last second he threw on his brakes and I threw on mine. I walked sadly the few more steps to the top of the hill.
Then I heard God speak as clearly as I hear my friends talking (when they actually walk with me.) He said, "Kate, do you think YOU are in charge of the way things will be with Grace's health? You're job is to do your best, but remember, I hold the unknowns - the pick up trucks that you don't even know about. And by the way, Grace may need the surgery, but I stopped the truck from hitting you and I have her too."
I said, "Sorry for that God... and about this extra five pounds I need to loose..." He said, "Get running."

Bad Hair Life

While shopping for shampoo in Wal- Mart today I noticed that almost every hair product on the shelves was about frizz. There were anti frizz creams, de frizzing gels and frizz away and frizz be gone, etc. Having frizz is obviously very very bad. Frizz is the modern day leprosy or something. In, is straight and silky...think Jan from the Brady bunch.
I resent that! Some genetic code said "curly and frizzy" when I was being made and I will never have straight shiny frizz free hair no matter how many products or straightening irons I use. And I have used them all. My bathroom is a virtual treasure trove of bottles and tubes that promised to fix all my inherited kinks and steel wool hair woes. They lied. The few times I've come close to defrizzing, I've only had to walk near a body of water and as if by magic my hair grows...not down, but out. My hair is hopelessly not cool and I'll just have to wait it out till the afro look comes back.