On my way to work this morning I saw a flock of birds gracefully performing their morning ballet against the backdrop of the pale blue sky.
I'm not sure what kind of birds they were but as they danced and swirled in the rays of the sun the underside of their wings and bellies lit up in a glistening white. It reminded me of the way leaves on a birch tree shimmer in the wind.
They seemed to be performing for anyone interested, or maybe they performed just for me. It made me smile inside...felt like a little kiss on the cheek from God. He's the only one who would know how much I would get out of watching them...afterall I would feel silly actually telling someone about how much I enjoy watching a flock of birds swooping and swirling in the sky. The whole event probably only lasted about 20 seconds and then they were off to some other geographical point on their agenda.
I was touched and left with a little smile in my heart to have been in their audience.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Water bottles come in handy...
I went biking with my son tonight. He has a very cool 24" 21 speed mountain bike, and I have a very cool 26" 21 speed mountain bike. He got his for his 8th birthday back in April, and I just got mine (a surprise from my hubby...he ordered it by "cashing" in his points from his credit card). We donned our helmets, packed our water bottles and were off.
It's funny (in the peculiar) way for me to spend 1-on-1 time with him in a setting where he is learning. He is a perfectionist (which I can relate to) and is still very emotionally immature. So, when he crashes on his bike he either goes into a verbal rant about how stupid he is or how stupid the bike is. The last time we went biking he did this so many times that it really turned the whole biking experience into a big negative event. It also made me sad as his mom to see him suffer from similar expectations of himself that I did as a kid. I mean really now, how can we expect to just know how to do something if we haven't ever done it before, or how can we be perfect if we haven't had much practice?
There are only 6 months out of the year here where you can do any kind of physical activity outside, and we live on a busy street, and I am an overprotective mom (there, I have admitted it) so I don't let him go off biking by himself yet...all that to say is he hasn't had the same freedom I did when I was 8 to practice his bike riding to perfection.
Tonight before we started I told him no negative talk and no complaining while we were biking. On his first wipe out he started to and I reminded him of the zero negative rule and he stopped right away. On his next wipe out (which was a good one, skidding into the rocks and embedding them into his left knee and hand) he just sat there and grimaced while we brushed the rocks off and watched the little beads of blood forming. I had a small towel and he washed his wounds with water from his water bottle and got back on his bike and road like the wind. Cutting out the negative talk did a lot of good for his confidence tonight.
By the time we got back home we were drenched in sweat, tired, and happy. It was a nice outing for both of us.
Happy trails.
It's funny (in the peculiar) way for me to spend 1-on-1 time with him in a setting where he is learning. He is a perfectionist (which I can relate to) and is still very emotionally immature. So, when he crashes on his bike he either goes into a verbal rant about how stupid he is or how stupid the bike is. The last time we went biking he did this so many times that it really turned the whole biking experience into a big negative event. It also made me sad as his mom to see him suffer from similar expectations of himself that I did as a kid. I mean really now, how can we expect to just know how to do something if we haven't ever done it before, or how can we be perfect if we haven't had much practice?
There are only 6 months out of the year here where you can do any kind of physical activity outside, and we live on a busy street, and I am an overprotective mom (there, I have admitted it) so I don't let him go off biking by himself yet...all that to say is he hasn't had the same freedom I did when I was 8 to practice his bike riding to perfection.
Tonight before we started I told him no negative talk and no complaining while we were biking. On his first wipe out he started to and I reminded him of the zero negative rule and he stopped right away. On his next wipe out (which was a good one, skidding into the rocks and embedding them into his left knee and hand) he just sat there and grimaced while we brushed the rocks off and watched the little beads of blood forming. I had a small towel and he washed his wounds with water from his water bottle and got back on his bike and road like the wind. Cutting out the negative talk did a lot of good for his confidence tonight.
By the time we got back home we were drenched in sweat, tired, and happy. It was a nice outing for both of us.
Happy trails.
Going where I haven't been before...until now.
Saturday morning...about half past ten...I've been awake four hours already...we took the van in for its one year maintenance required to keep the extended warranty valid. It's six years old (2002). We bought it last year as a replacement to our van that was stolen right out of our driveway.
It was such a shock to walk out that morning (on August 13, 2007) and see the space in the driveway empty. I remember seeing our other car sitting there where I had parked it the night before...puzzled, I walked back in the house and asked my husband "Where did you park the van last night?" and hearing his immediate response "Don't even tell me!" as we both hurried back out to stare at the empty driveway space.
After all it was a 1998 Christmas green Dodge minivan...not exactly a hot item in the stolen auto world, or was it? The police informed us that vans are actually becoming quite popular in the human trafficking across the border because they "blend" in and that autos built prior to 2000 aren't always checked out as thoroughly as the newer ones. We were informed that we would probably never see it again and that they had more important cases to work on. So, we waited the required number of days (I think it was 60) for our insurance company to determine that it was indeed not recoverable, and began the process of "replacing" it once we received the check from the insurance company.
Our "new" van was actually "old" (2002 purchased in 2007) -- but of course that is a theme in my life right now (LOL).
Any way, after we dropped the van off we went to McDonalds and each got a sausage McMuffin (TM) from the dollar menu. The kids played in the play area while I got to sit by my husband and have a quiet moment with him on the other side of the glass wall. AAaaaahhh...so much nicer than the days when we had to sit inside the play room and endure the noise and activity of all the children squeezed in and swarming over each other.
Okay, for anyone who knows me, they know I am a GERMAPHOBE so yes, after the kids played in all those tunnels, and touched all of those video game knobs that have been touched by the hundreds before them, I gave them both an antibacterial handwipe to wash up with. It's all those nightly news informants who have felt the need to tell me about the "scientific" teams they send in to determine just what kinds of germs, bacteria, and viruses are lurking on the (you name it: tunnels, door knobs, shopping carts, dining tables, etc.). Can you say "Eeeewwwwwww!"
That brings me up to this point in time. I have so many things I want to blog about, but I don't want to end up with a 20 page entry. So I guess for now, I'll stop and go make some notes (handwritten, you know the old fashioned way) on what topics I want to include in future blogs.
Thought for the day: "Set your goals high enough so that you have to reach beyond youself."
Go with God.
It was such a shock to walk out that morning (on August 13, 2007) and see the space in the driveway empty. I remember seeing our other car sitting there where I had parked it the night before...puzzled, I walked back in the house and asked my husband "Where did you park the van last night?" and hearing his immediate response "Don't even tell me!" as we both hurried back out to stare at the empty driveway space.
After all it was a 1998 Christmas green Dodge minivan...not exactly a hot item in the stolen auto world, or was it? The police informed us that vans are actually becoming quite popular in the human trafficking across the border because they "blend" in and that autos built prior to 2000 aren't always checked out as thoroughly as the newer ones. We were informed that we would probably never see it again and that they had more important cases to work on. So, we waited the required number of days (I think it was 60) for our insurance company to determine that it was indeed not recoverable, and began the process of "replacing" it once we received the check from the insurance company.
Our "new" van was actually "old" (2002 purchased in 2007) -- but of course that is a theme in my life right now (LOL).
Any way, after we dropped the van off we went to McDonalds and each got a sausage McMuffin (TM) from the dollar menu. The kids played in the play area while I got to sit by my husband and have a quiet moment with him on the other side of the glass wall. AAaaaahhh...so much nicer than the days when we had to sit inside the play room and endure the noise and activity of all the children squeezed in and swarming over each other.
Okay, for anyone who knows me, they know I am a GERMAPHOBE so yes, after the kids played in all those tunnels, and touched all of those video game knobs that have been touched by the hundreds before them, I gave them both an antibacterial handwipe to wash up with. It's all those nightly news informants who have felt the need to tell me about the "scientific" teams they send in to determine just what kinds of germs, bacteria, and viruses are lurking on the (you name it: tunnels, door knobs, shopping carts, dining tables, etc.). Can you say "Eeeewwwwwww!"
That brings me up to this point in time. I have so many things I want to blog about, but I don't want to end up with a 20 page entry. So I guess for now, I'll stop and go make some notes (handwritten, you know the old fashioned way) on what topics I want to include in future blogs.
Thought for the day: "Set your goals high enough so that you have to reach beyond youself."
Go with God.
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