{This Moment}

Today I'm joining Amanda at SouleMama and Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for {this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

 If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{This Moment}

Today I'm joining Amanda at SouleMama and Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for {this moment}

 

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Nail Clippers? Really?

I have to preface this post by acknowledging that I once wanted to be a reporter. That I actually was an unpaid campus correspondent for the now defunct Richmond News Leader, and actually had a couple articles with a full byline published in said paper. I took a number of obligatory Mass Comm classes, made all the more interesting by a terrible crush I had on one of my professors, who I will always be grateful to for taking me to see the Allman Brothers in concert at the Mosque, before it became the Politically Correct Landmark Theater.

I understand that reporters are supposed to report the news in an unbiased and trustworthy manner. The fact that so few do these days is one reason I rarely watch tv news and pick from an eclectic and interesting mixture of on-line sources to remain informed and educated regarding important events in the world in which I live. Every once in a while, I pop over to a mainstream news source to take a look, and then there is a headline, biggest story on the page, like this one, and I remember why I am SO glad I am NOT a reporter, and wonder how in the WORLD anyone could actually, in this age of strife and war and amazing events, consider this really news...here is the link to the story. I will comment more once you have had a chance to peruse this amazing piece of writing....

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/24/alitalia-crew-reportedly-foils-hijacking-attempt/

So, a man attempted to hi-jack a plane using nail clippers. Really? My Sweet Husband has some fairly substantial toenails, which require a special, larger than the fingernail clippers, size toenail clippers and I really just do not for the life of me understand HOW one makes a hijack attempt with nail clippers. I giggled when I read he "tried to divert the plane to Libya." First of all, sir, perhaps you have just flown in from, say, Antarctica, and are unaware, but Libya is NOT the fun-loving travel destination it was even a few months ago. People are desperately trying to leave Libya. they certainly are NOT risking imprisonment to try to get there.

Next, how did this "attempted hijacking" play out? I have imagined the script:

Hijacker (holding nail clippers with fingernail digger attachment extended) " Take me to Libya! Now!"

Airline Attendant (or whatever stewards/stewardesses are now called) " Um, no!" (kicks hand holding clippers or swats them away.) "Now sit down!"

I think the "injury" must have occurred when the flying clippers poked the other Attendant in the toe as they landed. 

The fact that this is newsworthy enough to garner front web-page attention is laughable at best, and absolute absurdity at worst. The secondary fact that some poor reporter with the Associated Press had to write, proof, edit, and submit this story, to run under the bigger heading of GLOBAL TERROR makes me oh so very thankful that I am NOT, nor will I ever (God willing!) BE a news reporter.

Gratefully contemplating the amazing twists and turns of my college life that lead me away from my Mass Communications dream....

Savor the Seconds, Embrace the Changes

As I sat at Mayhem's first t-ball game yesterday, I felt a weird sense of deja-vu. It really seems like such a short time ago that we were there on that same field with ManChild, cheering and clapping as he ran around the bases. It really is hard to believe that #1 we are the parents of a soon-to-be high school graduate, and #2, we have a whole herd of little ones we are getting the privilege of going through all these cool milestones with once again. I have to laugh at how the mom I am now is SO different than the mom I was 10 years ago on this same ballfield. Priorities, lifestyle, and beliefs, all so very different. 

I am so excited for ManChild's next steps. I remember how excited I was at 18 (heck, at 16, for that matter!) to get on with my "real life". I am so looking forward to his graduation and whatever he decides to do next. He still is thinking about the military, and classes at the local community college, and just working for awhile. I have stressed to him that few people know what they want to be at 18 and fewer still end up actually doing what they thought they would be at that age. We have talked about taking the time to find out what he really loves to do (that he can make a living at!) and that there are a lot of paths to happiness. I find myself surprisingly unstressed out by the upcoming transitions because I just KNOW he is going to be fine, whatever path he chooses. 

And the Littles? I am so enjoying just being around them! They are a LOT of work, much more than I think I ever imagined, but they are just a joy to see growing and interacting and playing and fighting and learning. I am so thankful for our decision to homeschool them, because it just gives us such a great opportunity to really teach them what we think is important, and to spend time really raising them to be the amazing people God means for them to be. I cannot imagine sending Chaos and Mayhem off to school for 7-8 hours and am so very grateful we don't have to. 

It amazes me how different my views on education and child rearing and parenting have become and I just shake my head in amazement at how different person I am from 10 - 15 years ago. Just a confirmation that I AM a work in progress, and have SO much more to grow and learn and discover and do. And on those days when I feel like nothing I do is important, really, in the grand scheme of things, that any woman can do this mothering thing, it reassures me that there is a bigger picture and I do have purpose and meaning and I can make a difference. All good things to remember, at 18 or 42, I think!  

Yes, I Took A Do-Over

Because I am NOT the best at consistency and follow through, and because I think it would be strange, at best, to return to my previous blog saying, "Hi, I'm back after an absence of a year and a half", I decided to take a do-over. 

You know, just like you would in Dodgeball, when you were 5 and you MEANT to get the person out and missed, and you'd yell, "Do-over!", and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't?? Yeah, well, I yelled "Do-over!" and since I am the woman in charge, here we are! 

I decided a few weeks ago to begin to be more mindful about making time and space for me. And while that sounds quite selfish and me me me-oriented, I think it is healthy and necessary. You see, in my life right now, I do a LOT of sharing! I share my bed and sleep with my Sweet Hubby and my Little Man (and a variety of other Middles who find their way into my room in the night!), and I share my living space with six other people of varying sizes and shapes. 

My time and attention are divided and doled out to my husband, and children, and family, and friends, and work, and a variety of other activities and obligations. And sometimes, I just want a place to be, and hang out, with just me. No husband, no kids, no needs or wants other than my own, but just me. My thoughts and prayers and musings and music. Just me.

So this is my space away. And while I will write about my life and kids and husband and family, my God and my friends, and my day to day life, because those things are such a part of me, I also will attempt to re-find my muse and write and rant and wax (hopefully) eloquently on the things on my mind. Here. Alone. In my space away. I hope you'll enjoy hanging out for awhile.