5/20-5/26

Free Slurpee Day

Wednesday, 7-11 was giving away 7.11 oz Slurpees from 11 am-7 pm.  Since we're a fun loving, cheap family, we had to indulge in a bit of sweet tastiness.  It's a good thing 7-11 is close to home because it took me three trips to get everyone their Slurpee.  I picked up Elizabeth from her reading class at 9:30 and drove over only to learn the deal didn't start until 11.  We brought Isaac to his government class at 2:00 and stopped on the way for slurps.  Once Miriam and William got home from school, the first thing they asked me was, "Is it time for Slurpees now?"  Within 15 minutes, it was time to pick up Anastaya and Isaac from their respective schools and make my last trip to 7-11.  On the way to get everyone, Miriam asked how Jacob was going to get his free Slurpee and if he was going with us.  I told her he was at work so we wouldn't be seeing him.  We got to 7-11 and everyone went in to get their treat.  Miriam came out shaking her finger at me, "You were wrong mom!  Jacob is here!"

Jacob works for a day care that's just down the street from 7-11.  He'd taken nine children on a field trip to get their slurpees, even though it was pouring down rain.  I was waiting in the car when he came out with the children.  I had to smile when I saw one of the little boys who looked just like Jacob had at 5 years old, (caramel colored skin, thin curly hair), start to throw a fit.  I laughed to myself that he must not have liked the flavor of Slurpee he'd gotten.  Jacob tried to reason with him but in the end, they walked back to the day care with one unhappy boy.  I felt like Jacob was getting a chance to try to parent a mini Jacob, almost like he'd gone back in time!

Love and Logic
I don't know if you're familiar with the "Love and Logic" parenting method.  The basic premise of the parenting technique is to let the children experience the consequences of their choices.  Another important part is to not argue with your children, just keep repeating yourself, they call it "going brain dead".  We've tried it on all our children and it only works on one, Anastaya.  Love and Logic drives her crazy!  When she wants to fight, she wants to argue.  When we go brain dead, she gets more and more upset.  The worst thing we can do is let her win an argument.

The other day she was mad about having to do her chores.  She was stomping around, rolling her eyes, muttering under her breathe and slamming things around as she cleaned up.  We asked her to get a better attitude but it wasn't happening.  Dode finally said, "You're right, we've asked you to do something that's just too hard.  Go ahead and take a break, we'll do your chores for you."  That was NOT what she wanted to  hear, "But, I want to do my chores!" she cried.  "No, it's really OK, go take a break, we've got this."  "You're making me feel like the worse person in the world."  "You're not letting me do my chores!"  Dode went brain dead and kept repeating, "You're right, the chores are too hard, we'll take care of them".  He started doing her chores while she followed him around, begging and arguing about why she should be allowed to do her chores.  Isaac saw what was happening and since brothers seem to love nothing more than driving their sisters crazy, he started doing her chores too.  To hear the pleading that went on, you'd think we'd taken away a privilege.  This technique would never work with Jacob or Isaac, if we told them they didn't need to do their chores when they're complaining about them, they'd say "Score!" and happily be off doing something else.  After that night, chores have been a lot smoother for Anastaya.  Love and Logic worked its magic.

Thursday night
Thursday night, Dode was a real super dad.  He started the evening by working on a project with Isaac.  It's called, "The most useless box in the world."  You can see it in action here.  I want them to build it for me for day camp.  They're using plans from Make Magazine to build it.  They've run into a problem with a gear box that's too wimpy to do what it needs to.  Once they got to a dead end, he switched projects and built an airplane with Elizabeth.  It took them several hours to put it together because Dode was letting Elizabeth do a lot of the work.  Once they got it finished, she started flying it around.  She's tried everywhere she can think of: the lawn, the driveway, the 2nd story deck, while traveling down the zip line, from the back of the moving motorcycle, and from the play house gazebo.

It's powered by a rubber band driven propeller.

launching from her favorite spot

Busy Saturday
Dode's list:
Move Dorffs (a family from church)
Fix Dishwasher
Work on his RC Airplane
Put up Pool
Work on a bike Janice picked up at a garage sale for $5
Retrieve zip line bridge which was swept downstream in the winter floods
Mow the lawn
Repair clogged washing machine

My list:

Walk 3 1/2 miles with girls

Bring treats to moving party
Paint laundry room door
Rototill flower garden
Weed garden by hand after rototiller breaks down
Three loads laundry
Make birthday cake for my mom

Lest you worry about the children, they had a full day too:
Walk 3 1/2 miles with mom (girls only)
Help with the move (all six kids + Big Isaac)
Play in pool as it fills with water
Ride motorcycles and leave lots of mud in the driveway
Use the zip lines
Walk over to Safeway to take advantage of sale on Frapachinos (girls only)
Mow/weed whack the tall grass to make better motorcycle trails
Help retrieve zip line bridge

I didn't get photos of much of the action, just two things.

Working on the dishwasher, the wires inside were melted and had to be trimmed and soldered one by one.  Janice showed up part way through the day and asked Dode if he not only had to influence Isaac's interests (mountain biking, skiing, tinkering), but also had to influence his clothing choices!  They're both wearing button down shirts.

A moving casualty.  Big Isaac got tangled up in a dresser as it was heading down the stairs.

He ended up putting his face through a banister.  Ouch!

After all the activity on Saturday, I'm sure glad Sunday is a day of rest for us all!

Celebrating my mom's birthday
Sunday evening, we were able to celebrate my mom's birthday with family, even my mom's brother Mike who lives in California.  It was a fun evening with lots of lively conversation and reminiscing about growing up together.  Mike said he had to hear the story again of a spider monkey my mom had as a pet as a teenager.  You'd never know my solid dependable mom used to be a crazy teenager with a monkey.  His name was Keiko.

 our group

back row: Jacob, Dode, Isaac, Big Isaac, Mike (my mom's brother, seven years older than me)

2nd row: Matthew (my brother), Becky (Matthew's girlfriend), Me, Stan (my Grandpa whose legal name is Helmut), Greg (my step-dad), Ramirez (most spoiled pug ever!), Boma (my mom), Elizabeth

3rd row: Gabriel (my nephew), Miriam, William, Anastaya

My favorite outtake.  What I don't remember is was what was so funny but I love the different expressions!

 getting ready for the 1st shot, everybody doing their own thing

This was my favorite photo until I noticed one problem, thanks Jacob!

Dode even put my grandpa to work looking at why our water cooler doesn't get our water very cold.  My grandpa made his living in heating and refrigeration so he was going to an expert.  I was so impressed when I was a child because once my grandpa even flew to Bangkok to put in a heating/cooling system.  I didn't  know anyone else as a child who had a grandpa who traveled half way around the world to work!

While he was here, he mentioned that when he starts fires in his wood stove to heat his home, he uses a lot of charcoal and lighter fluid to get it going.  I told him that I had a perfect solution for him, waxed cardboard boxes.  Now that we use them for our wood stove, we don't even use kindling anymore!  Just waxed cardboard and full sized firewood logs and we have a fire.  We have an unlimited supply since we get more every other week at the produce co-op.  We sent him home with a box.  Hopefully he'll like using it and I'll have another place to get rid of them at because right now, we get too many.

In the "shoulder season" it's often not cold enough for a fire but the house is still chilly.  We use a propane heater to take the chill off.  Miriam is like a cat in front of it, stretched out in the heat, listening to a book on tape and snacking on cereal (scattered around her in the photo).

3rd week of May

Mother's Day
I've learned  over the years that Mother's Day is just like any other day and the key to enjoying it is to enjoy what it's all about.  Being a mom with all the work, joy, and drudgery it entails!  Dode had to speak in church so he spent the morning going over his talk one last time.  He was pretty nervous about his topic.  He'd been given the topic "Mothers" and chose to make his talk on "Imperfect Mothers".  He didn't know if he'd be able to pull off telling all the women there has never been a perfect mother and never will be one without offending the ladies in the congregation.  After church, he got a lot of compliments and even a week later, someone told him she's enjoying being "perfectly imperfect!"

After church, we had the Dickson relatives over for a family dinner.  I'd made several salads the day before, Dode did the BBQing and Sharon, Sheri, and Viv brought desserts they'd purchased the night before at their ward's dessert auction.  It was a nice easy meal.  The best part was that Grandma and Grandpa Dickson felt up to hanging out and visiting afterwards.  Randy and Lisa surprised us as we were getting ready to eat by calling to tell us they were coming down to.  It was a very fun night.

all the mothers gathered together

Track Meet
Anasatya had another track meet on Wednesday and this is the first time I've gone to one where it wasn't raining.  Hooray!  She was pretty excited because her Grandma Sharon, Aunt Sheri, Uncle Joel, Seth and Ellie came to cheer her on.  She substituted on the 4x100 relay race at the last minute when one of their runners didn't show up.  She's never even practiced the event so she was pretty nervous.  She was the 2nd runner and when she got the baton, she took off running with everything she had in her.  Only about 25 yards into the race, she got her feet tangled up and went down on the track.  She lay there for a bit, realized she still had the baton in her hand, and got up and finished the race.  She was pretty shaken up by the experience but she had a lot of people come up to her and tell her how proud they were that she got up and finished the race.  When she got back to where I was timing the event, she had a good cry.  I held her and told her it's the mark of an athlete to try so hard and that everyone falls.  I don't know if she believed me but it was a good experience for her to have.

Dishwasher woes
Part of the nighttime routine is to run the dishwasher.  Thursday night we started it and went to bed.  A while later, one of the girls went to use the bathroom and smelt smoke.  She came to our room to tell us and under reactors that we are, we said, "Don't worry about it, go to bed."  Then I noticed that when they'd opened our door, I could smell smoke too, electrical fire smoke.  Dode headed downstairs and found the kitchen and dining area filled with smoke.  He started throwing open windows and looking for the source.  I came down and started looking.  After a few minutes, I noticed that there were black marks on the front of the dishwasher and a bubble where the plastic had melted.  Sure enough, it had self destructed.  When Dode took it apart, he found a lot of melted and burnt components.

the inside of your dishwasher should NOT look like this!

He also found a heat sensitive fuse which had shut off the electricity and stopped the fire from getting out of control.  I'm very thankful for that fuse!  It took days for our house to not smell of electrical fire.  Dode was able to order parts for the  dishwasher so hopefully soon I'll be back to using it.  In the mean time, I'm stuck hand washing everything.  It's a big bummer!  I took all the silverware out of the drawer and replaced it with plastic.  I also made a tray for drinking glasses with each person's name under where their glass goes.  That way, I'm not stuck with as many glasses to wash.  Every little bit helps!

Time for the 6 month mommy report card
Every time I take the kids to the dentist, I feel like I'm getting graded on my mom skills when I hear how their teeth are doing.  I can't tell you how many times I've been told that I need to floss their teeth or help them brush or make sure they take their fluoride.  I ask them to brush their teeth twice a day, remind them several times but flossing, helping and fluoride are not things I do.  I have six kids but the only one who remembers on his own to brush is Jacob.  I'd have thought 14 years old was old enough to hate morning breath but Anastaya and Isaac sure don't seem to care.  Well, I got a good report card this time, no cavities!  Yeah me (and the kids).

On the way home from the dentist, I saw a truck with two Vespas in their trailer.  I mentioned them to Isaac and told him I'd love to have a scooter.  He was shocked.  "What do you need a scooter for, we have the Trail 90's."  I explained that the 90's just don't have the cool look of a scooter.  He told me, "Well, I guess we could stick a piece of plastic on the front so it'd look like a scooter."  I told him that just wasn't going to work for me and reminded him that the 90's aren't street legal at this time.  He said, "Well once we fix the headlight, tail light, speedometer, and blinkers you'll be good to go."  He is so like his dad.  All they care about is, "Is it functional?"  If the answer is "Yes", then it's good enough for them.  I like a bit more style.

Vespa

Trail 90, just not as cute!

Saturday
Saturday morning, Dode went with Isaac's scout troop mountain biking at the Pilchuck Tree Farm.  Isaac's troop is going mountain biking as part of their high adventure activity in June so this was a training ride.  Dode is an expert at the Pilchuck Tree Farm, having mapped the bike trails.  In fact, when you go to Cycling Magazine and click on the tree farm, Dode's map comes up!  Just a little bit famous!  There was a wide range of ability on the ride, one boy hadn't even been on a bike in at least four years while some were happily bombing down the trails.  One of the boys bent the rim of his wheel almost in  half.  They were as far from the car as you could get, several miles in.  Dode spent quite a bit of time straightening it out so they could make it back to the car.

Elizabeth got to do one of her favorite things Saturday morning, go fishing.  Her grandpa Lynn picked her up bright and early and took her to a kid's fishing derby at Twin Lakes.  She caught four fish and had a wonderful time.  Thanks Grandpa.

While the rest of the family was gone, I took Anastaya, William and Miriam to the YMCA.  We dropped the littles off in child care and did some strength training followed by a Zumba class.  I love Zumba but Anastaya wasn't so enthused.  She didn't push herself very hard and had a bit of a sulky attitude.  Oh the joys of parenting a teenager!  Sufficiently exercised, we picked up the littles and went swimming.  Miriam loves to try to swim but she has such a hard time floating.  Once we were chilled, we headed to the hot tub.  It didn't take long for a lifeguard to come over and make a blanket statement that all children under 7 years of age can only sit on the sides.  I just smiled.  We didn't let Miriam in the tub until her birthday, in fact she wanted to go to the YMCA on her birthday just to use it!

2nd week of May

GIS Conference
The big news this week is Dode teaching at a convention he attended, the 2012 Washington GIS Conference sponsored by WaURISA (Washington State Chapter of Urban and Regional Information Systems Association)  How's that for a mouthful?  The convention was held in Tacoma, Wa for three days.    Dode had applied for and received permission to teach a one hour class.  His topic?  How the Tulalip Tribe is identifying and restoring monuments on the reservation.  Does that kind of class appeal to GIS users?  Maybe.  He had about 12 people in his class.  One of the people attending told him that his was the best class of the convention.

ready to start the class, he looks a bit nervous to me!

part way through

Dode livened up his presentation by giving a few words of wisdom gleaned from his children, here is the quote from Miriam about a pile of leaves and a sucker.

Friday night camping
The kids have been begging Dode to take them camping in our trailer so he set the date for Friday night.  The big girls went to spend the night with my dad but the little ones and Isaac were able to go.  As they started getting the trailer ready to go, Miriam started expressing her displeasure.  Apparently when she'd said she wanted to go camping, she forgot to mention that she wanted to go camping at the beach.  They're going to a campground owned by our church about 10 miles from our house.  She later told me, "At least we have the trailer so we don't have to be outside so much!"  Umm, you're camping!

Dode had challenged Isaac to be a fun big brother to the little ones.

He found a book about camping with kids and used the idea of building a tee-pee for them to play in.

blowing bubbles is always fun outside

Miriam loved being barefoot on the grass

She told Dode, "This grass feels amazing!" several times.  I guess they do a better job on creating a golf course type lawn than we do.

They spent some time in the trailer doing a puzzle.

Another of Isaac's ideas, "spider" dogs.  Our trailer is in the background.  See the port-a-pottie?  There was no way Dode was letting anyone use the toilet in the trailer because he didn't want to deal with dumping it.  When Miriam had to use the bathroom, he directed her to the port-a-pottie.  She took a look and said, "It's one of the big hole ones" and decided not to go.  She had to make the long trek to the flush toilets each time she needed the bathroom.

Miriam finally has a loose tooth after years of waiting and wanting one.  While she was camping, Dode heard a "Grrr!" from her.  He asked what was wrong and she said, "I just can't stop wiggling it!"  He said it happened several times during the camp out.  It's barely loose, she has a long way to go.  


Since the kids and Dode were gone, I had a free evening and decided to do just what I wanted.  I know not everyone would choose to spend their evening the way I did, but it was perfect for me.  I went down to the YMCA, did strength training, a kickboxing class, followed by an Aqua Zumba.  Then I sat in the sauna for 15 minutes and totally melted my bones.  I was there a little over three hours.  I stopped at Redbox on the way home and rented The Vow.  It must have a lot of bad words because the clear play filter was kicking in all the time!  I don't watch movies very often because it tries my patience to have the kids constantly interrupting and needing us to push pause so they can go to the bathroom/get a snack.  Once the movie was over, I wondered if I'd have been better off just going to bed early.  Not the most exciting movie ever!


45 minute search

Elizabeth and Miriam both use their MP3 players more for audio books than music.  Thursday night Miriam was playing outside on our "spinny thing" while listening to a book.  Her batteries ran low so she took a trip down the zip line to come inside and charge it.  She has a SansaClip that clips on to her pocket.  She turned it off, clipped it on, and headed down the zip line.  Somewhere between the top and the bottom of the zip line, she lost the MP3.  She came in and asked for my help.  At first I thought it would be an easy find but after looking everywhere, and even getting down on my hands and knees, I couldn't find it anywhere.  I got the rake and spent 45 minutes raking the grass,  hoping to find the MP3.  I finally gave up but as I was going inside, I kept looking everywhere possible.  I eventually found it, tucked under the steps leading up to the deck.  She'd lost it when she was only 3 feet from the door!  I felt like the woman from the New Testament.... 

Luke 15:8-10

King James Version (KJV)
⁸ Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

⁹ And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.


Elizabeth's Dock
Thursday my dad showed up with a surprise for Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is our nature lover.  She has a small pond near our house where she loves to spend time watching nature.  My dad built her a dock for her pond.  Friday Dode, Isaac, and Elizabeth installed the dock.  She now has a dry place to sit and dream, tucked away from the rest of the house in her private hideaway.  Doesn't every child need a place like that?  How lucky for her that her grandpa helped her make it great.  Jacob kept watching Elizabeth walk across the lawn and disappear around the corner.  He finally asked me just what she was doing.  

delivering the dock

My dad HATES to have his photo taken.

installing the dock

standing on it for the 1st time

On her dock.  My dad suggested we buy some goldfish to stock the pond but Dode is worried they'd be accidentally released into the wild and mess with the ecosystem.  It would be fun for her to train them to eat when she visited.

Jetty Island
We took the boat out for the first time of the year on Saturday afternoon.  We went to Jetty Island.  We took William, Miriam, Isaac, Isaac Colson and a friend of Isaac Colson's.  The girls were spending the day with my dad.  


It's hardly worth launching the boat.  When we got there I saw a kayaker pull up at the same time.  He'd launched and made it to the island before we even had the boat launched.  It's less than a five minute ride across the channel to the island.  

the channel is about 200 yards wide

We normally visit Jetty Island in the summer on a free passenger ferry operated by the Everett Parks Department.  The ferry only runs mid July to Labor Day so the only way to get there this time of year is your own boat.  One good thing about having your own boat is being able to get on and off the island when you want.  It's a first come first served system and sometimes on nice sunny days you have to wait hours for your five minute ride.    The tide was out so the kids didn't swim but they enjoyed playing in the sand, flying kites, and splashing in puddles.  Jetty Island is a big kite surfing area.  At one time, Dode counted 45 kites in the air.  I don't know how they go back and forth without  running into each other!

two mermaids on the beach

It's impossible to show the congestion of kites in a photo

1st week of May

Sickness
Well, the sickness that Miriam and I had last weekend expanded its reach to Isaac, Anastaya, and Elizabeth.  Poor Miriam had it the worst though.  She had a solid 9 days of feeling lousy.  She'd think she was finally feeling better and then would be hit with another wave of sickness.  My fingers are crossed that she's on the mend!  I hate being sick!  Exercise is my prozac and being sick for a week means not only am I feeling achey and tired, but I'm feeling grumpy and edgy because I can't get any good exercise endorphins.  Friday the kids were out of school because of teacher inservice and it was just a day begging for a trip to the YMCA but I held back to give myself a little more time to recover.

Jacob has a job!
Last month, Jacob started working at a daycare in town.  It's close enough to our house that he can walk or ride a bike to work.  Little kids have loved him his entire life so it's a pretty good fit for his personality.  It's only a minimum wage job but since he lives at home with no expenses, he's feeling pretty rich.  His bike was stolen while he volunteered at the hospital last fall but I've been letting him use mine.  After a few weeks, someone stole it from in front of the daycare.  Our other kids chained and locked their bikes in the garage so Jacob wouldn't borrow them and he had to start walking.  A few weeks later, he noticed what looked like my bike on a balcony of an apartment building near his work.  He called me to ask what brand bike it was but I had no idea.  He went over and looked and sure enough, it was my bike.  Heart pounding with adrenaline, he grabbed the bike and brought it back to the daycare.  The owner is letting him keep the bike inside so it doesn't disappear again.

Jacob prefers working with the school age children at the day care.  One thing he doesn't care for is diapers.  One day this week a little girl who should have been wearing a diaper was somehow going commando.  They didn't realize it until she'd had an accident that ended up all one the place.  She was a  mess, it was on the carpet, the walls.  Jacob was given the task of keeping the other children occupied while someone else cleaned up the  mess.  I think he was pretty happy with the distribution of responsibility!

ACT Graduation
Wednesday was the last day of the ACT program Anastaya and I have been participating in for the last 12 weeks.  click here for more info  I think we started with about 20 families.  Five completed the program, pretty typical for a free program!  Although I don't like getting up at 5:30 to exercise, it's been nice to get twice a week one on one time with Anastaya.  (Our drives to the Y are pretty quiet as she snoozes next to me in the car but on the way home she's a lot more awake.)  We've enjoyed the Y so much, William asks every day if we're going, that we're going to try to squeeze a membership out of the monthly budget.  We have such a big family and small income that we qualify for a bit of a discount and no joining fee so if we realize we can't swing it, we won't be out more than the monthly fee.

The instructors from ACT.

Kelly who taught the physical fitness portion,

Anastaya

Melina who taught nutrition,

Kathy who is in charge of the program and led the discussion group.

"New" bike for Elizabeth
Elizabeth has been needing a new bike for a while.  The little bike she's been using never lets her stretch out her legs and they get so tired.  Dode had looked on craigslist but hadn't found "the bike".  While out on the reservation for work one day, he'd noticed a bike at a garage sale.  On his way home, he stopped to see how much it was.  It was one of those garage sales where nothing has a price.  We hate those kind! He asked the lady of the house how much she wanted for the bike, thinking it looked pretty beat up and was only worth about $5.  She said, "$5", Dode said, "Sold", threw it in the back of the truck and brought it home.  Once he got it home, he and Elizabeth started cleaning it up.  It was definitely worth $5, it's hardly been ridden.  Elizabeth is thrilled with her new bigger bike.

She's been enjoying practicing her mountain biking skills in the yard

Track Meet
Thursday, Anastaya had her first track meet.  It was held at the high school in town.  She participating in the hurdles, 100 meter dash, and discus.  They always need volunteers so I did my usual job of helping with timing.  You'd think with something that happens so often, they'd work out the kinks in the system.  They have to get 8 volunteers each time to do the timing.  We're each handed a stack of cards with our place on them (I had 3rd this time) and a timer.  We stand near the finish line and watch for the smoke when the starting gun is fired to start our timers.  Once our runner passes the finish line (3rd place for me), we stop the timer.  Then it gets interesting.  I have to check with the 2nd place timer to make sure that my 3rd place time is longer than her 2nd place.  If it's not (because one of us hit the button too slowly), we switch timers.  Then I go to the 4th place timer and repeat the process.  Once all our timers are in the right order, I have to remember what youth actually received that time.  I find them on the track, give them the 3rd place time and hand them a card that say's 3rd for that event.  They go over to the official score keeper and give them the card and tell them the time.  Half the time the kids can't remember their time and I have to go over and tell them.

When you're a timer, you get so focussed on the finish line that you really don't notice the race.  I've had parents ask me, "Who won?"  To which I reply, "I was really only keeping track of 3rd place, sorry."

giving it her all at the end of the hurdles

She's wearing the new spikes my mom bought her for the 1st time and trying to get used to the feel of them.

I think I'm too sentimental to be a timer.  There's something about those youth who are out there participating when they know there's no way they'll ever win.  The youth who are half a lap behind the winners, or even a full lap behind on the mile.  As I see them rounding that last corner before the straight stretch before the finish, my eyes well up with tears each time with pride for what they're doing.  I've always been a sucker for the underdog!  It reminds me of the poem I inserted below.  I wish real life is like the crowd in the poem who cheered loudly for the last runner.  In real life, they're setting up the next race and have all but forgotten the lone runner coming in far behind the rest.  I guess that's what brings me to tears.  The one who tries so hard, expending effort far longer than anyone else and comes across the finish line without fanfare.  As long as I'm a timer, they'll find me at the finish clapping with tears in my eyes.

The Race

attributed to Dr. D.H. "Dee" Groberg



Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
    my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
    excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
    or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
    and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.


The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
    to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire. 
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
    was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
    the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
    and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face. 

As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
    Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.
But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
    which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
    and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
    his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again. 

He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
    “I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”
But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
    with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
    “If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
    but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again. 
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
    “There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.” 
     But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.


“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
    for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
    You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
    and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
    still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
    Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.


They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
    head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
    the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
    you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
    “To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”


And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
    the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
    And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
    another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

Bowling Date
After canceling our date the last two months due to various reasons, Dode and I got to go on a date on Friday.  There weren't any movies worth seeing and it was raining outside so we went bowling.  The bowling alley in town is still pretty old fashioned where you keep your own score.  I actually bowled on a youth league here when I was a teenager.  (My handicap helped us way more than my score ever did!).  I'm even such dork that I took bowling in college for a required PE class.  Dode says, "Who goes to college to take bowling?"  Me!  That being said, I'm a pretty terrible bowler but I am really really good at knocking down 9 pins.  Neither of us made very high scores but we had a fun time together.  Dode must be pretty out of shape.  His legs were sore the next two days from all those squats as you throw the ball.  He also lost the feeling in part of this thumb.  I guess I plan some wild dates!

So much for good intentions

As part of the ACT program, we're supposed to make short term goals.  One of my goals was to reserve Sundays for treats and skip them the rest of the week.  Then a cookbook I'd pre-ordered came in the mail.  I just had to try some of the treats.  And just like that, the goal was squashed.  

who can resist a homemake hostess cupcake?