Right and Wrong

When I was a child, my parents tried to teach me right and wrong when it came to polite behaviors. I think they succeded quite well in teaching me to "Be Nice", and to say "please" and "thank you". I don't see much of that these days in children. I also don't see parents correcting the behavior of their children. I sometimes wish that the adage "it takes a village to raise a child" were taken more to heart. If it were, I might feel that I could make the corrections necessary for these young people to learn right from wrong. As it is, I am afraid of being rebuked by the adult because "who do you think you are correcting MY child" is the attitude of many people these days.
This brings me as well to a message I saw on another blog today. On Facebook, there has been a status copy and paste, over the past few days, that has to do with Mary having a little Lamb. The Lamb referred to is Jesus. The rhyme goes on to say that it is said that children can't pray in school. Someone took it upon themselves to write a message to the blogger, via facebook, and give him a hard time for his beliefs. I don't think that he was advocating forcing religion on anyone. My opinion on the matter is that we have gone so far away from the beliefs this country was founded upon, that of freedom of religion and of choice, that we are in danger of losing all rights entirely.
Perhaps if we were allowed to pray in school, the idea of right and wrong would return to this country. Perhaps morals and politeness would return. Perhaps civility and modesty would also come back. Oh what a radical idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The past and the future

The past year has been an eventful one. There have been losses and gains not just in money but in friends. Family has been touched with sorrow and joy. Each year brings its own hardships. I look forward to the newness of the coming year and welcome it. I know that it will bring its own memories, things to mourn and things to rejoice in.

date night

Tonight is date night. My teenagers got movie passes from their aunts for Christmas so are taking their respective dating partners to a movie tonight. That means actually that I am doing the driving. Since that is happening and the movie theater is about 30 minutes or so from home, my husband and I are going out to dinner while the teens are at the movies. I am looking forward to some time reconnecting with this hardworking man that I married 20 plus years ago.

Thoughts of Christmas

Christmas is a special time of year for so many people. I have been reading posts that others write about visiting and decorating and what the different things mean to them. It made me decide to write a little of it myself. I had a friend ask on Facebook recently about what year you would go back to if you could pick any year to go back for Christmas. It too made me think.

I don't know if I could pick just one Christmas to return to. There are many that stand out in my mind. I remember that year that we woke up as children to find Gabriel our lab/setter puppy. He was black with a white spot on his belly and he sure did love us kids even if he was more my brother's dog than us girls. Or the year I was in Norway and my host family and I were snowed in. We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve because my youngest host sister was born on Christmas and they wanted her day to be special, so the tradition for them was to celebrate Christmas the day before and give her a good birthday.

I remember the year my daughter was two and my son was one. He took his first steps that morning in his great grandparents living room. He walked across the width of the living room from the couch to the chair so he could be with his Great pap. I think I wanted to cry.

The year when my daughter was 5 was a hard one for  us. We had been in Georgia a short time and it was the first year we weren't with extended family. We didn't have much money and didn't know how we were going to give the kids anything. My husband's work helped provide the little we were going to be able to give them. Someone adopted us.... actually several someones adopted us and the kids had a great year.

A few years later we ran into problems again. I think that year really stands out in my mind because the woman that chose to be Special Santa for my children asked if there were only one thing they could have for Christmas what would it be. I asked them and they told me. A real looking doll baby for my daughter and a green power ranger for my son. The day she called to ask if she could bring the presents over will stand out especially. I thought it would be one or two presents for each of them. When she got there with her daughter they carried not one or two presents in but two large black garbage bags full of presents for each of them. I was amazed and kept telling her thank you and that she didn't have to do that. She said she hadn't done it all, that when her daughter found out what she was doing then her daughter wanted to do some too and then a neighbor and another friend wanted to do it as well. Before she left she handed me a gift card and told me to use it to buy Christmas dinner. My daughter got her real looking dolly and my son got his power ranger. That is the same year they got quilts from my grandmother that they both still use.

Not long after that Christmas, my daughter asked me if Santa was real. It almost broke my heart to realize she was growing up. I looked at her and asked what she thought. She said she just didnt' know. I told her that the man in the red suit and white beard didn't really exist anymore but that the spirit of him did, that each time someone helped another person or gave from their heart then that was what Santa wanted. She thanked me and took that to her heart. I explained it to my son the same way a year later.

Christmas isn't really about the presents although being able to give them to others is so nice. It isn't about Santa. It is about Christ and being with family in whatever way it works out. It is seeing the joy in a young child's face, the excitement of being together.

This time 18 years ago I was at the hospital in active labor. My first child was about to be born. My husband and I looked forward to the new life about to join us with great anticipation and some trepidation. We were young with no experience of raising a child on our own.

We were as prepared as we could be. The crib was set up as was the cradle for the baby to sleep in while in the living area of the house. The cloth diapers were folded and ready for use. The blanket I had made for the baby was just waiting for the little life that it would cover for warmth.

At 2:15 in the morning of the 4th of December, our daughter entered the world with a little cry. The nurses took her right away to be warmed and checked over. My husband went over to the little basinnet and looked at her. He came back to me with her in his arms and he said for her to meet her mommy. How precious was this life that God had entrusted us with. How great a responsibility was placed upon our shoulders to raise this baby to be a woman with values and goals, to be a contributing member of society. The task seemed enormous.

Now eighteen years later, she is an adult. She is a beautiful, gifted, giving, smart, couragous, ambitious woman. She has goals in life and knows what she needs to do to achieve those goals. She is loving and gentle and kind. She is understanding, God-fearing and God-loving.

We were blessed when God gave her to us and are so blessed that we have been her parents

Celtic Woman

Over the years while watching PBS we have enjoyed the concerts of Celtic Woman that were broadcast. My husband had become a fan on their webpage and kept asking me to get him tickets for the shows that were at the Atlanta Fox Theatre. I unfortunately kept having to turn him down as tickets were so expensive.
This year, just before his birthday, he was at the website for Celtic Woman and all of a sudden let out a yell. They were again coming to the Fox Theatre but this time were filming their new video and tickets were to be $30 to $55 each. I told him I would order them the day they went on sale! I got four tickets since I knew that our almost 18 year old daughter would shoot us if we were to go without her and since she was going so was the son whether he wanted to or not. (turns out he did really want to go even though I didn't know he liked their music).
For a month now, we have been waiting for the show. My husband and I took the day off after the concert just to be sure that we weren't going in exhausted. The kids still had to go to school the next day regardless of the time we go home. Excitement was in the air as the day go closer.
Yesterday was the openning night for the two-day show which was being taped for the first video they have done in America. It was the night for us to attend. I stayed home that day as well and spent the day relaxing and getting myself ready for an evening in Atlanta. I picked the kids up from school about 15 minutes before the final bell and we drove to get my husband at work. He drove us down to Atlanta and we drove around Peachtree Street trying to find the theatre and then finding a parking lot that was close but reasonable in pricing. We were in line by 6 p.m. and excited as could be.
As we go to the door to have out tickets scanned, the usher informed us that we were going to have to go back to the ticket booth as there was an issue with our tickets. I was very upset since I knew that I had paid for them through ticketmaster and that they were valid tickets. I couldn't imagine what was going on but we wended our way through the crowd trying to get to the doors as we made our way back to the ticket booth. My son said "maybe they upgraded our seats" and I scoffed at him. After waiting at the booth for several minutes they came back and handed us new tickets explaining they had had to relocate us due to the taping. Our son was right... they were upgraded. The upgrade wasn't by much but it was an upgrade. Our original seats were on the right side in orchestra seating and we were to have been against the wall, our new seats were on the left side in orchestra seating, three rows closer to the stage and against center aisle! We had a good view of the stage and didn't have too many people in our way due to the boom camera that was set up off to our left and slightly in front. It wasn't in our way at all but it did keep people from being able to sit there.
Finally we were ready for the show to start..... Mairead came on the stage and the crowd went wild. She played her fiddle and danced about the stage as Chloe and the two Lisas joined her in song. It was an incredible start to the show and just fascinating to watch and hear in person. Tears sprang to my eyes as I was not able to believe I was actually there and getting to see this. There were many standing ovations throughout the evening as the women sang and the instumentalists played. There was even a spot where the crowd sang happy birthday to the drummer of the group. Costumes were amazing as well as the music. Bagpipers played along on several of the songs as well as a penny whistle and the bodran being played. I was in heaven. ( I honestly believe the haunting tones of the bagpipe will be played in heaven along with the harps and penny whistles and spoons and drums. How can they not be when they move my soul so much.)  The Gwinnett Childrens Choir came on stage a few times to participate in the backup for the women. It was enjoyable to watch the women interact with the children. Mairead played and danced to her fiddle and the clogging man came out and danced along with her. It brought whoots from the crowd as my feet tapped and danced along with the music. (I am a fantastic jigger when my bottom is in a chair)
The show came to an end and we made our way out the side doors of the building and headed for our car talking about what we had seen. As we waited for the crosswalk to head to our car, our son caused several in the crowd to chuckle as he said " I liked the dancer, He is my favorite Celtic Woman"  He was being silly but I knew what he meant. He really liked the energy that buzzed when the dancer came out on stage.
I know this is a night that none of us will forget and we look forward to watching the video time and again. I know we will be buying it the minute it goes on sale as well as watching it on PBA30 on December 3 when it airs on tv for the first time. The first time we watch it we will again be transported back to the Fox Theatre and watching the live taping of the video as well as looking for ourselves in the crowd!

Updates on Lifes twists and turns

I wrote about a month ago about the concerns I was having with my father being in the hospital as I was heading even further away from him on a trip with my family to see my father in law.

God has truly answered many prayers regarding my father. Daddy is doing much better and I have been in touch with him via phone about once a week and he states he is doing really well. His weight is down as well as an assortment of ailments are being helped by that simple fact.

In the night as we slept before leaving PA to return to our home, lightning struck my mother in law's chicken coop. She had to file an insurance claim and is in the process of getting the coop fixed. I am glad and thankful that it wasn't the house.

We returned to our home in good time and were able to sleep well in our beds that night.

Shortly after returning home we got news that our daughter was accepted for the summer independant study course she would need in order to get the credit for the physics class that she had not passed during the regular school year. She had 12 days to do the coursework and was finished with it in 6. I am proud of her for the hard work and perseverence she had with this class. She tried her best and she just wasn't able to pass the class during the regular school year. I believe it is how it was taught and not through her failings since there were at least nine other students that had to take this summer course as well.

Anyway, we have one month left of summer before my teens go back to high school. My daughter is a senior this year and my son is a junior. That means aptitude tests for college as well as college applications and visits this year. We are also planning a trip to see my dad in October as well as a trip to camp over labor day weekend. I look forward to the times we still get to spend with our children as they are growing up.