Happiness

Dolly Parton was raised in a one room cabin with 11 siblings. They were "dirt poor", yet she continues to says: "I still close my eyes and go home--I can always draw from that".

When Dolly was little her parents made all of the gifts that the kids received. Things like corn cob dolls were a wonderful treasure. Dolly's mom would take the kids into the woods with their corn dolls for tea parties and they would peel back moss and drape it over a rock to use this as their table and table cloth. In a recent interview Ms. Parton said that she has yet to see a carpet as beautiful as those tablecloths.

Its no wonder that The Parton kids had great imaginations it is really all they could afford. All of the 12 kids were given strong roots and the ability to become their own person. They were taught from the basics and given values from their pentecostal parents. Dolly is one of the most honored people in country music and not just for her acting and singing but for her role as a cultural ambassador, philanthropist and lifelong advocate of education.

Dolly also has only been married once, she has had the same husband since 1966.

Why do I bring this all up? Because it seems that a lot of people measure their happiness by how many toys they have, how much money they make, or whether or not they are able to keep up with the Jones's.

I think it is important for people to realize that happiness is handmade right along with the gifts and memories that you can make with your family.

If you stop looking for that better toy, that job that makes more money, or the house that is bigger than someone else's and instead look at what you really have. You might find that your true happiness has been with you all a long and that you too can close your eyes and draw from that.

While we were in seminary we made many good friends who we have kept in contact with now that we have left "The Block" and are all off to our own churches. One of these dear friends is now an Air Force Chaplain and is currently stationed over seas.

Worrying about our armed forces takes on a whole new meaning when you have friend that is over there serving. I know that as a Chaplain he is doing a lot of praying and ministering to those that are deeply affected by losing their comrades. I worry not only for our troops safety but also about who is ministering to the Chaplains. I believe that everyone has a tough job and hope and pray that the Chaplains find time to get renewed.

One of the areas, besides prayer, that we have found that we can be of help to the Chaplains is to ship out sample-size toiletries for their transient ministries for the soldiers who are waiting for their luggage.

To help with this our two churches recently contacted a local hotel and asked if we could purchase cases of their "hotel-sized" shampoo and soaps. The small, local hotel went one better and said that if we bought a case they would also purchase a case for us. As my daughter would say WooHoo! We have 3 cases on order.

Look out Chaplains here comes some supplies! Know that we at home are thinking about you and our troops.

Halloween

"Its not cold enough to feel like Halloween" was the reply that came from Germany when we asked the kid how it felt to be spending this spook filled holiday in a foreign land.

Apparently not only is it not cold enough, but there will be no trick or treating, no costumes, no bobbing for apples, and NO "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on TV. Typically Halloween is not observed in Germany as it is in America.

I am asked all the time how my kid is adapting to being away from home. I am proud to say that she is always sharing our culture with her family as well as learning about theirs. We sent Halloween Oreos, you know the ones with the orange frosting, they were a big hit with the kid but not so much with the natives. They cant seem to get past the fact that they are black and ORANGE.

Apparently she has shared enough about our spook filled holiday that they too want to enjoy a bit of the fun cause they have this week off for "holiday". What can I say, my kid is a mover and shaker. I always knew she would change the world, she started by changing mine.

Representation!

When someone important comes to town, especially if they have done something wonderful, it is best to greet them with a little reception.

Take Dorothy for instance, when she arrived in Munchkinland everyone was thrilled and excited. They greeted her with song and dance. Yes she was important, she after all had just dropped her house down on the Wicked Witch.

Everyone in Munchkinland came out and if you were invited to participate you definitely showed up wearing your finest knickers.

The PB (presiding bishop) will be at our diocesan convention next weekend. I would say she qualifies as someone of importance. A reception for "clergy and retired clergy" has been set up. Unfortunately the rev will miss the reception for the clergy (he has a prior engagement). Knowing the great importance that this event plays I have volunteered (along with our youth delegate) to go in his place. We would like to represent the clergy of our church since he is not able to be there.

We would wear our finest knickers and sing our greeting song:
We represent the Father Todd Guild
The Father Todd Guild, the Father Todd Guild
And in the name of the Father Todd Guild
We wish to welcome you to Montana Land!

However, the rev says we are not allowed to go in his place. I ask you what kind of society doesn't allow representation for all of its people? We are just trying to represent the Rev and our church and graciously welcome a very important person that has come to spend some time with us.

The mayor and the coroner were present when Dorothy showed up, why even the The Lollipop Guild and the Lullaby league were both represented when Dorothy's house fell from the sky. I really see no difference.

How Do You Know If You've Done Your Job Well?

What happens when you do your job well? You might get a raise or maybe even a promotion.

As a parent if you do your job well, you end up with kids you are really proud of. And as they mature into great adults and get married and have kids of their own you then get promoted and end up as "Grand"parent. Then the benefits get even better.

As an employee we all want to do our best, but what happens if we work a little too hard at our job?

As a parent you still end up with kids that you are proud to call your own. You brag about their accomplishments and do whatever it takes to help them continually succeed. You might even agree to send them to Europe as an exchange student.

But BEWARE if you have worked hard at your job, you may never hear from said child again. In fact when you finally call the kid after they have been gone from your home for 5 weeks (4 of which have been spent in Europe) you may actually hear your kid say "Mom, I can't talk right now, I have a friend over"

What happens when the work we do is not recognized? Some people find another job.

Some people act out at work.

Yes, I speak from experience. I like to think that we did a good job raising our daughter. We have always tried to provider her with the tools that she would need for success. Given her the ability to not rely on us but to rely on her faith and her own abilities. She is a wonderful young person, one who I love to be around (most of the time I mean she is a teenager), and one who I love to watch as she interacts with others. She is tenacious, funny, and bright.

I miss her.
I hope someday she decides that she would like to hear our voices again.

But until then I vow not to sit by the phone and wait but rather I plan on spending my time plotting for when she comes home and all the joy that I will have short-sheeting her bed, making her least-favorite dishes, thinking up chores that she wont like, etc....

If anyone has any suggestions to add to my list, please know that I am open to suggestions.

Travel Karma

On our way to my families house two weeks ago we had a problem with our muffler and had to find a shop that would re-attach that for us.

Then on our way home from camp we rode the bus home. We had to stop for 45min on the freeway while we waited for a car accident to clear and then 30min after that while filling the bus with gas we noticed that the bus was leaking oil. The bus driver called the mechanic who advised putting in some oil and then "keeping an eye" on it.

We put in the oil and then started off down the road. 30 min later we found ourselves on the side of the road once again talking to the mechanic as the bus driver noticed that we were blowing white smoke out of the rear of the bus. It was deemed that a replacement bus would need to be sent for us. 4hrs later the replacement bus arrived and we were once again on the road.

When we got outside of Butte I called The Rev to let him know where we were and so that he could come and meet the bus at the next stop. He went out to get into the car and noticed that our tire was FLAT! After borrowing a car from the neighbor he was on the road to get us. What usually takes 5hrs to get home took us 10!

This weekend we found ourselves once again on the road to my families house. Last night we pulled over for gas 30mi outside of Missoula and noticed that the car was smoking slightly. Why is the car smoking? We had just had our oil changed and the mechanic forgot to replace the oil cap so we had oil all over under the hood. Luckily 2qts of oil and duct tape and we made it to Missoula were we could purchase a new cap.

Then on the road this afternoon we once again got stuck on the freeway behind a roll-over accident. Can you say DeJaVu?

I am hoping over the last two weeks of traveling that I have exhausted all of my families bad karma for the year and that The Kid will be able to get to Germany without any problems and also get home without any glitches as well.

New Perspective

Over the last 4 years we have hosted exchange students and the one question that all of them ask that always makes us laugh is "how will I find you at the airport".

Let me explain that our students fly into either one of two airports, Butte or Bozeman. Butte has one gate and Bozeman has 6 gates. Each airport has one central baggage pick-up and usually there is only one flight coming in at a time. Locating someone is usually not a problem.

I however, am no longer laughing. The Kid will be flying into the Berlin airport which Im sure is slightly bigger than either Butte or Bozeman and probably even has signage on how to get to baggage claim area.

Now my question is HOW WILL THE KID FIND HER HOST FAMILY?

I'm now looking at things from a whole different perspective.

The Kid Needs To Go When?

I have decided that Rotary International needs to have a support group for parents of kids who are being sent abroad or at the very least a handbook on how to deal with the stress of getting everything ready at the last minute.

Our first problem was that we were accepted as an International Exchange student 4 months past the deadline. Ok I now understand why there is a deadline.

The second problem is a trickle down affect off of the first. We are scrambling like mad to get all our information in order, clothes bought, tickets purchased, travel insurance bought, presents for the family picked up and all the other stuff that needs to be arranged and oh yeah it all has to fit into how many suitcases?

Thankfully The Kid is not a clothes hog so there really shouldn't be too much problem other than convincing her that some of her books need to stay behind. The problem with the clothes is the fact that she is picky and hard to fit. I finished the online ordering last night. Confirmation says that they should arrive between the 22-24 (we leave town the 23). UUuuugh!

Our third problem arose when we found out that her school needs to know what classes that her High School here wants her to take in Germany. Frantically called the school only to find out that the school's counselor is off for the summer! Called her at home and am waiting for a call back.

It turns out that our paperwork is still somewhere in the air or in a mail courier's bag between here and Germany. In that paperwork is the exact time that The Kid needs to be in Germany but it also has our new child's information in it as well. At this point we know we are getting a student but that is all we know. Hopefully the pigeon will get here soon with the information.

Meanwhile I look out my windows and see the beautiful mountains, watch the wonderful birds flying around, and all the wonderful things in my world and realize that my God created all of this in 6 days, surely He can help us to accomplish all that we need to get done in the two weeks that we have.

MY GOD IS BIGGER THAN MY STRESS!

The kids new village is calling or rather emailing...

We have heard from the kid's new village! They have emailed us and seem really excited to be getting our daughter and who can blame them she is turning into such a wonderful young lady.

I have decided that this is the best time to send her to Germany; boys have started calling our house (which is driving her dad nuts), she is starting to get interested in clothes and high heels which means make-up can't be far behind.

We have picked the perfect village to send her to(like we really got to choose); there are only 150 people there. She thought the little SW MT town of 700 was small...just wait till she arrives in Boitin Germany.

Thankful they all speak English, though the mom admits that she does not speak it very well.

She will get to ride the bus for an hour to a school of 500 kids. Time there to study more German! Hopefully her new younger brother (age 14) will also be able to help her learn the language quickly and keep her out of trouble.

The Web--Not All Its Cracked Up To Be.

I used to think that the web was a glorious thing. You could find anything you wanted and get information on anything out there.

That is until I started trying to get information on Boitin Germany!

This is the town/village that our daughter will be calling home for the next year and we would like to know a little bit more about the area. What better way than searching the web. Not so much in this case. We will have to wait for reports back from the host family with answers to our questions via email. I suppose that is better than snail mail but at this point Im impatient.

Lets hope they answer quickly.

Little things=Joy

My favorite quote from The Jerk is as follows:
Steve Martin: The new phone book is here!! The new phone book is here!!
Mr. Artunian: I wish I could get that excited over nothing.
Steve: Nothing! Are you kidding? Page 73...Johnson. Mavin. R. I'm SOMEBODY now! Millions of people look at this book everyday. This is the kind of spontaneous publicity, your name in print, that makes people. Im in print. Things are going to start happening to me now.

When I was in sixth grade I sat across from Jeff Jones. Jeff was probably the biggest Steve Martin fan I have ever known. He also is the one who introduced me to The Jerk and the above quote. It is one that has always stuck in my head. I love Steve Martin, probably not as much as Jeff but still I have become quite the fan thanks to that initial introduction.

Today I received the new Janet Evanovich book in the mail. Yes number 15 is now in my hands and I, like Steve Martin began jumping around the office. "the new book is here, the new book is here!"

My name will not be in print, I will not be getting free publicity, and things probably wont start happening to me now that I have the book, but hey, lets face it when the phone book comes out those things don't happen to me either but it doesn't stop me from dancing around my living room shouting to my husband that the new phone book is here. Its the little things in life that give me joy.

Bears, Oh my!

My daughter recently went camping in Yellowstone. We warned her to look out for bears. What was I thinking, I should have just gotten her this Smith and Wesson Survival kit.

The following was taken from "10 things that will not end well" By Cracked.com:

Close Range Bear Survival Kit from Smith & Wesson

The Thing:

After some rather extensive research, the folks at Smith & Wesson discovered that most bears prefer to do their attacking at close range. How close? Well, the kit contains a short barrel revolver because "[a] longer barrel would make it more difficult to use in such a confined place and at point blank range, accuracy isn't that much of an issue."

But don't let the size fool you. The gun is so powerful that they claim merely firing it on the range will make your hand sore. Just make sure to find a range where they let you walk up within a few feet of the target, and pretend that it's attacking you.

Why It Will End Badly:

The product description readily admits that by the time you get your gun out of your rubber ducky colored lunchbox, the bear's going to be so close that gangland execution is your only option. Just make sure to aim carefully as the bear makes a crunchy pretzel sound with whichever of your extremities it has in its mouth.

The kit also includes a whistle, some mylar blankets and a saw. We have to assume that you amputate your gnawed off limbs with the saw because you just fought a grizzly bear at close range with a pistol and a whistle, and you use the blanket to stay warm as you wait for help while slowly bleeding to death. Most helpful of all, while you wait, you can read the book that comes with the kit: Bear Attacks of the Century and think to yourself "Man, my bear totally did that to me too."

On second thought maybe I should just be glad that she is a bright teenager and also didn't encounter any bears.

Spring Reading--one week to go

The last week of the Spring Reading and I am out of books! Yes I did it, I have read all the books that I put on my list.


I was worried that I had too many books on the list at the beginning but clearly I was wrong. I have read all of the book that I put on the list plus I added 2 and there is still one week left to go.

Yeah Me!!

I must admit that I didn't write reviews for all of them. The last 5 are still rambling around in my head.

I will try to write some short reviews for them and post them up.

Congrats to all the rest of the "spring readers" for all the reading that was accomplished. Librarians, publishers, and authors around the world are very proud.

Dadadum Charge!

Normally at church we have "Ms. Emily".

Ms. Emily is a lovely little electronic hymnal that for all practical purposes works great. However we also have a beautiful pipe organ in one of the two churches that my husband serves and it is a shame that we don't have an organist to play it on a regular basis.

Luckily for us, during the tourist season the opera house is open and the person who usually plays for the shows has been known to come and play for us as well. It is a real treat.

This year one of our favorite organists is back in town. He is a great person and has become a friend of the congregation. This will be his third year playing with us and it is definitely good to have him back in our midst.

The only bad thing about having a real organist again as opposed to "Ms Emily" is that they are just that, real. Not only do we have to adjust to the human quality but I have to adjust to having someone around to harass me. I guess the later is good cause he harasses just about everybody..all in a good way.

There are things that Ms. Emily can't do that our real organist can do such as play the doxology. When we use Ms. Emily we have to sing it acappella.

Today however was a perfect example of getting used to the human quality. When our summer organist is not playing for us he has been known to play for the Detroit Red Wings as well as for the Fox Theater with the Roxettes. Today the doxology went rather quickly and you could almost here the crowd in the background shout "CHARGE" when we were done.

Im sure as the summer goes on Detroit will get used to the fact that the Stanley Cup will reside with the Pens and we will get used to the qualities of a "real" organist (at least for a little while).

Bouncey, Bouncey, Bouncey....

Babies Bounce.

Rubber Balls Bounce.

Sadly, computers don't bounce.

I was sitting in the recliner with the laptop in my lap when I heard the hubby come home. Knowing that we would have groceries to unload I gently sat the plugged-in laptop to the side and lowered the foot portion on the recliner.

Like a rock being shot from a 5-year-old's slingshot the laptop flew from its location next to me and landed with a thud onto the hard wood floor.

After hauling in the groceries I called my friend the local computer expert and explained that I now had just a white screen and asked if there was anything I could do.

"Not to worry" he informed me. My computer was just "hung up". We tried several things and unfortunately the computer is still hung up.

I personally think it is suffering from "shaken computer syndrome" or "SCS" and is in a permanent vegetative state. This is a very rare condition for a MAC. Most of the time you see "SCS" with PCs after a frustrated user has had all that they can handle and the text support team in India has not been able to help them. That is when the PC user results to shaking the computer in hopes of making the connection work better.

Alas either way. I have decided to order a new Mac and let the old one rest in peace. My new Macbook Pro should be here any day now and is coming with a free Ipod touch. Woohoo.

The Apple people must have heard about my poor little laptop and felt sorry for me and are running this really cool special just for me. Isn't that nice of them? Thanks Apple.

Shhh...honey your snoring!

This morning at 5am, it started.

At first I thought it was raining outside.

Then the sound got louder....I tapped my hubby...."shh your snoring"

Ok so I knew my sweetness wasn't snoring and that instead it was the sweet sound of the first cattle drive of the summer coming down main street. Yep, right down main street which is also the highway.

When we first moved here we thought that the cattle drives were cool and fun to watch. Now I just wish they were a little quieter when I am trying to sleep.

When we are driving through them (not with them) I still like to look at all the cows and enjoy seeing the babies. It almost makes me wish I had a horse and could ride along. Then I remember what time in the morning they start and all I want to do is snuggle deep within my blankets and go back to sleep. Move em at night and Im your gal.

Note to those who are walking downtown today: beware while crossing the street.

One Hour of Pain

To many, Memorial Day is a day to take flowers up to the cemetery in an effort to remember loved ones who are no longer with us.

To the retail world it is a another opportunity to offer an exciting sale.

I have to admit that this year I am grateful for the annual Memorial day sale. It turns out that the kid is in need of many new things in her wardrobe prior to going to Germany for the year.

Let me say that the kid hates to shop. This is probably the most puzzling thing for me. As a kid my earliest and most fun memory of my mom is of riding the escalator at the clothing store in my home town. So when I take my kid shopping it just doesn't make sense to me that she doesn't enjoy this activity or look forward to it.

Looking forward to it or not it has to be done and it is best just to find a way to make it work for everyone involved.

We decided to break down the items that she needs and get them in several small shopping trips instead of one large trip. Im not sure if this is such a good idea because I think it means that I get to have several trips with a grumpy child instead of just one. Is one hour of pain several times better than several hours all at once?

We went to two stores and were able to get the items that we were searching for without too much attitude. She even managed to be supportive while I tried on some clothes.

She may not like shopping but I think she is beginning to realize that growing up means that you can't wear the samething for ever. Which means SHOPPING and you might as well make the best of it.

I can actually say we had a good time and no ones life was in danger hopefully the next trips will go as smoothly as this one.

Warning

Now that the warm weather is here there are a couple of things that you should remember.

1. If you are wearing sandals your toenails look prettier with a coat of nail polish.

2. When wearing shorts for the first time it is best not to scare the world with your ghostly white legs. Start out in the privacy of your own backyard.

3. Remember when working in the yard (or if you happen to be a construction worker and are working on a roof) it is best not to forget to put sunscreen on your ears. Burnt ears hurt.

4. If you are hiking watch for ticks (right kid?) and if you happen to sit down on the trail for a break watch out that you dont sit down on an ants nest. Trust me you will regret it.

5. Remember that sunscreen and bug repellent are your friends. If God wanted you to be red and itchy from bug bites he would have made you that way to begin with.

These are my warm weather suggestions. You can follow them or while taking a hike without your sunscreen you can take a break and sit down in the middle of an ants nest and end up with a sunburn and ant bites just dont come complaining to me.

Beads, Pretty Beads, and Prayers

Who says I didn't learn anything useful while my husband was attending seminary?

One year while at seminary during Lent I took on the discipline of doing the Anglican Rosary. Through Lent I found it a very calming discipline but didn't really care for the exact prayers that were in the booklet that came with my rosary beads. Thanks to one of my husbands classmates and one of their professors I was able to write my own rosary using prayers from the prayer book that reflected more of what I needed. It was a good Lenten year for me.

Why, you might ask, am I telling you all of this. Well, my rosary prayer became important to me in times of stress. When my life is stressful I usually know it because I can't sleep. This happened when we were in seminary towards the end. The stress of seminary ending and not knowing where we were going to be going. With seminary ending that meant we had to be out of the dorms and again not knowing where we were going was a TAD stressful. As the sleepless nights began, my hubby's classmate suggested that I try using my rosary at bedtime. Woohoo! I was finally able to sleep.

Lately I have once again not been able to sleep. There is nothing like being awake at 2:30 only to finally fall back to sleep after hearing the kid's alarm go off at 6am. Needless to say this week I have been a little tired and have had meetings every night.

Last night I got out the rosary. I slept much better. Did wake up twice but both times the rosary had slipped out of my hand. Picked the beads back up and was out like a light.

Not sure what is keeping me from sleeping, just glad the lessons that I learned from seminary still work.

Size Doesn't Matter

Think back. Remember when your children were too small to bathe in the tub so you gave them a bath in the kitchen sink? Then when they did get big enough to graduate to the tub you didn't turn your back for a second cause they were so small you could lose them in the tub? Or how about how when your kid was little you used to put 2-3 kids in the bath at the same time with room to spare? It saved on water and moped your floor at the same time.

Well last night my daughter decided to prove that she is no longer that small.

While I was working on the computer I heard a weird sound from the bathroom. I went to investigate.

I found my daughter in the tub with her head up one end of the shower wall and her feet about halfway up the other wall. Apparently the noise I had heard was her slipping in the tub. Luckily she is fine. She did dislodge the faucet slightly but was able to put it back, lets hope it holds for awhile.

Nothing like seeing your child literally hanging outside of the tub to reassure you that she is growing up. Gives you a new perspective to see your child sprawled out in the tub looking like Goldilocks in Baby Bear's bed.

She is definitely not my baby anymore. At least not in size.
So go ahead grow-up, prove it even if you have to (but please be careful). Cause in my heart you will always be my baby.

While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky

The premise: Molly and Robin Snow, sisters who are incredibly close yet incredibly different, are in the prime of life. Robin has always been the hardworking star, an elite marathoner in peak condition even training for the upcoming Olympic trials. She relies on Molly in countless ways, though Molly must also maintain long hours at the family business, a plant and tree nursery. When Robin suffers a massive heart attack, the roles are reversed, and Molly finds herself having to be the one in the spotlight, speaking up on behalf of her sister. Though the doctors don't expect Robin to recover, her mother is not willing to accept such a grim prognosis. As she tries to deny Robin's fate, the discovery of a lifetime of secrets comes tumbling forward.

Ms. Delinsky does a great job with a delicate subject. She develops her characters well and shows the family conflict with the dilemma of having a loved-one on life support as well as dealing with the secrets that emerge from Robin's closet as they try to do what is best for Robin. Myself, as a daughter and sister-in-law I could fully imagine what Molly and her family must have been going through. How do you know what someone so young would want, and how do you deal with the grief. It also gave me a chance to ponder things I had not quite gotten around to thinking about.

I discovered Molly and Robin's grandmother having Alzheimer's and the way the family reacts to her and her "sprites" made me really ponder our elderly and my close relationship with my own grandparents as well. It also gave the book another dimension that without it would really have been lacking.

I don't have a sister but it has been my observation that sisters have one of the most interesting relationships in the family dynamic. They love each other beyond belief, would do anything for one another but in most families there also comes a level of rivalry as well. This fictional family is no different. Through the whole book it is very apparent that Molly is Robin's champion. She does everything for Robin and as Robin lays in the hospital it is Molly who tries to put forth "what Robin would want".

Molly as the younger sister deals with growing up, a lot of guilt and basically learns her way through the entire novel. (For example on page 211)David smiled sadly. "that's the dilemma with family. When it comes to our parents, we're always children. At what point do we grow up? They raise us to function as individuals, but when do they allow us to act independently?" Its hard to get someone to take you seriously when they still view you as a child.

You may have heard the old saying that "life is like an onion; it has many layers", well so does this book. The relationship between mothers and daughters, a grandmother and granddaughter, brother and sister, husband and wife are all very different layers that ultimately make up the whole. How do each learn to deal with letting go and when to do so? Just because someone isn't capable of carrying on a conversation with you does that mean that the love stops? Do you stop sitting by their bed or visiting and talking with them?

Ultimately during the hard times it is then that we need our families and close friends nearby. The ones that will point out what we are doing right or wrong and help to be our guide.

Overall the book raises some good questions about the secrets we keep in our life, our families, how the past affects our futures, how what we say or what we don't say can leave us hurting years down the road. Face it we all have secrets in the closets but isn't it better when the secrets are out in the open and we know what we are dealing with?