So I'm sleeping blissfully sound early this morning (about 2:50 a.m.) and the phone rings. That is one of the scariest things for anyone. No one calls in the middle of the night unless it's an emergency. Before I answer, about a hundred possible scenarios go thru my head.
Once I remember that my kids are both home safe in their beds (or couch), the worst scenario is put to rest. Then I start thinking about mine and Daves extended families. One of our parents or siblings, maybe? Someone from church, or maybe there is a serial killer loose and someone is trying to warn us. There are so many things that it could be but one thing it's not...good!
Then I remember that our phone number is only one didgit off from one of the local 24 hour grocery stores. It's probably just someone who can't sleep and decided to call Redners to see if they carry Tylenol PM. Sure, that's it!
So I answer "Hello" and I try to make it clear that I've been sleeping so the caller knows that he or she dialed wrong and now has woken some other poor fool up. Then I hear "Is Lt. Colonel Stenman there?" Rut Ro! Now my thoughts go to the world. What is happening? Were we attacked again? Is my husband being deployed? Did something happen to one of the people in his unit?
Dave woke up and took the call. It turns out an alarm was going off in his office (which is 2 hours away) at the base. Nothing more than that, thankfully. Someone local was called and the situation was resolved but not before making me remember that things in our world can change very quickly.
What freaks you out?
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Back to School Night
So the other night was Back to School Night at the High school.
This is a ritual I've participated in every September for the last 14 years.
It started when my son was in Kindergarten. It's very exciting. You get to meet the teacher and some of the other parents and you get to see what fun and exciting things your child is doing while they are away from your loving arms for those few (blissful) hours.
A lot of parents dread Back to School night or think of it as a chore. But I've always really enjoyed it. As the kids get older and information gets more sparse coming from them, it was very helpful to have an idea of what was going on in ther lives while they were at school. It also gave me an idea of what kind of teacher(s) they had and what type of work would be expected during the year.
So here we were at another one. But, for me, this one was different. This was our last one. That's right, our baby is a senior this year.
My family (especially Caity) love to tease me when we are watching movies and things get emotional. I can't sniff without everyone looking in my direction and rolling their eyes. They know me. It doesn't take a lot to make me cry. And once it starts, it's really hard to stop.
So back to Back to School Night. The way it works in High School is we report to the childs 1st period class and that's where we get her schedule so we know where to go when each bell rings. So we are sitting in her 1st period class (Spanish 5) with a handful of other parents, waiting for everyone to arrive. While waiting, the school had the graduation ceremony from this Spring playing on the telelvision (each class has a tv) for us to watch. As soon as the music started playing and I saw all of those kids in their caps and gowns, I could feel it coming. My eyes started welling up, my nose got stuffy. All I could think about ws that my baby was going to be graduating in a few months.
So I got up discretely and headed for the kleenex box. Most of the other parents were clueless. They don't know what a wuss I am. For all they knew I have allergies or a cold or something. But not Dave. He looked up at me with the "oh, you've got to be kidding" look. It's true...I am a wuss.
This isn't my first child to graduate. I remember being the same way when Alex was a senior. If I was in Target and saw graduation paraphenelia, I would well up. When he got his senior pictures and had to put on a cap and gown, I welled up. When we had the graduation party at the youth group at church, we were asked to speak about about Alex and I knew I would never make it through so I asked Dave to do it for us (I wrote the words and he read them.) Little did I know he wouldn't be able to get through it, either.
This year feels a little different, though. This is our baby. She is growing up and this time next year, she will be away at college. That is a really hard thing to wrap my mind around.
But that is our job as parents, isn't it? You do the best job you can, hopefully instill your values, teach them as much as you can about life (even though they don't want to listen sometimes) and then send them off into the world.
When we attended our first Back to School night 14 years ago, it seemed like these beautiful children were going to be around forever. It's such a cliche but IT GOES BY SO FAST!!!!
So remember, when you want to ring their necks because they color on your walls or talk back to you or leave the milk out on the counter and it spoiled, that soon, they will be grown and this will all be a memory.
This is a ritual I've participated in every September for the last 14 years.
It started when my son was in Kindergarten. It's very exciting. You get to meet the teacher and some of the other parents and you get to see what fun and exciting things your child is doing while they are away from your loving arms for those few (blissful) hours.
A lot of parents dread Back to School night or think of it as a chore. But I've always really enjoyed it. As the kids get older and information gets more sparse coming from them, it was very helpful to have an idea of what was going on in ther lives while they were at school. It also gave me an idea of what kind of teacher(s) they had and what type of work would be expected during the year.
So here we were at another one. But, for me, this one was different. This was our last one. That's right, our baby is a senior this year.
My family (especially Caity) love to tease me when we are watching movies and things get emotional. I can't sniff without everyone looking in my direction and rolling their eyes. They know me. It doesn't take a lot to make me cry. And once it starts, it's really hard to stop.
So back to Back to School Night. The way it works in High School is we report to the childs 1st period class and that's where we get her schedule so we know where to go when each bell rings. So we are sitting in her 1st period class (Spanish 5) with a handful of other parents, waiting for everyone to arrive. While waiting, the school had the graduation ceremony from this Spring playing on the telelvision (each class has a tv) for us to watch. As soon as the music started playing and I saw all of those kids in their caps and gowns, I could feel it coming. My eyes started welling up, my nose got stuffy. All I could think about ws that my baby was going to be graduating in a few months.
So I got up discretely and headed for the kleenex box. Most of the other parents were clueless. They don't know what a wuss I am. For all they knew I have allergies or a cold or something. But not Dave. He looked up at me with the "oh, you've got to be kidding" look. It's true...I am a wuss.
This isn't my first child to graduate. I remember being the same way when Alex was a senior. If I was in Target and saw graduation paraphenelia, I would well up. When he got his senior pictures and had to put on a cap and gown, I welled up. When we had the graduation party at the youth group at church, we were asked to speak about about Alex and I knew I would never make it through so I asked Dave to do it for us (I wrote the words and he read them.) Little did I know he wouldn't be able to get through it, either.
This year feels a little different, though. This is our baby. She is growing up and this time next year, she will be away at college. That is a really hard thing to wrap my mind around.
But that is our job as parents, isn't it? You do the best job you can, hopefully instill your values, teach them as much as you can about life (even though they don't want to listen sometimes) and then send them off into the world.
When we attended our first Back to School night 14 years ago, it seemed like these beautiful children were going to be around forever. It's such a cliche but IT GOES BY SO FAST!!!!
So remember, when you want to ring their necks because they color on your walls or talk back to you or leave the milk out on the counter and it spoiled, that soon, they will be grown and this will all be a memory.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Urgent - Your help is needed!!!!!
I had the pleasure, earlier this week, off attending a township meeting in a neighboring township.
I'm not in the habit of attending township meetings in my own township so why did I schlep to another township and crash their meeting???
Here's why:
Under the guise of "open Space" this township is planning on building a new park. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Apparently a survey was put out to township residents and the findings were that the township needed more open space. Had I lived in said township, I probably would have voted for more open space. Who doesn't want more open space??? However when I hear "open space" I define it as undeveloped land that is being protected from developers. So new new houses or shopping centers can be built on that land. If you wan to make it a park where families can spend time in the great outdoors, well that's nice, too. Still sounds nice, right???
Well, what if I said that in order to build this park, a number of families would have their land taken away? They would be offered a fraction of what that land and their homes are worth and they would have to move themselves and their horses somewhere else. These are families who have owned this land for many many years. Their children and grandchildren have grown up being able to ride horses and ATV's on the property, they have a beautiful garden where they grow fruits and vegetables that are shared with friends and neighbors. And now because Pekiomen Township wants a new park, they are being forced out.
IS THIS STILL AMERICA????
That land is their legacy. It is theirs to leave to their children after they are gone. It is theirs to enjoy for their remaining years on this earth.
Please, whether this affects you or not, whether you live in Perkiomen Township or not, please take the time to help these families.
Pleas go to http://www.helpoutyourneighbor.com/ and sign the petition. You can also find the addresses for all of the people on the township committee and write them letters. You can send this link to everyone you know and print out copies of the flyer and pass them out.
If you can do nothing else, please keep these families in your prayers. Also, please pray for the Township Supervisors that they would have a change of heart and allow these families to stay in their homes.
These are good people. They are elderly and some of them are in failing health. They have served this community well as neighbors and taxpayers and what is being done to them is just, plain wrong!
Thank you for your time!
I'm not in the habit of attending township meetings in my own township so why did I schlep to another township and crash their meeting???
Here's why:
Under the guise of "open Space" this township is planning on building a new park. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Apparently a survey was put out to township residents and the findings were that the township needed more open space. Had I lived in said township, I probably would have voted for more open space. Who doesn't want more open space??? However when I hear "open space" I define it as undeveloped land that is being protected from developers. So new new houses or shopping centers can be built on that land. If you wan to make it a park where families can spend time in the great outdoors, well that's nice, too. Still sounds nice, right???
Well, what if I said that in order to build this park, a number of families would have their land taken away? They would be offered a fraction of what that land and their homes are worth and they would have to move themselves and their horses somewhere else. These are families who have owned this land for many many years. Their children and grandchildren have grown up being able to ride horses and ATV's on the property, they have a beautiful garden where they grow fruits and vegetables that are shared with friends and neighbors. And now because Pekiomen Township wants a new park, they are being forced out.
IS THIS STILL AMERICA????
That land is their legacy. It is theirs to leave to their children after they are gone. It is theirs to enjoy for their remaining years on this earth.
Please, whether this affects you or not, whether you live in Perkiomen Township or not, please take the time to help these families.
Pleas go to http://www.helpoutyourneighbor.com/ and sign the petition. You can also find the addresses for all of the people on the township committee and write them letters. You can send this link to everyone you know and print out copies of the flyer and pass them out.
If you can do nothing else, please keep these families in your prayers. Also, please pray for the Township Supervisors that they would have a change of heart and allow these families to stay in their homes.
These are good people. They are elderly and some of them are in failing health. They have served this community well as neighbors and taxpayers and what is being done to them is just, plain wrong!
Thank you for your time!
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