Ink

I’m always amazed with the amount of ink I seem to go through on the printer. Alan always seems amazed too. It seems like there is always something that needs to be printed out, if not for myself then for scouts. We have a printer that takes 5 ink cartridges. Honestly, we should have a printer that only prints in black, but I wanted a printer that I could also use to print pictures with. Normally Ink costs us about $100.00. Right now it just seems like that was a lot of money. I have the next month off with out pay. It will be great to be home with Mason, but money will be a more tight than usual.
A week ago we had a blessing happen in our lives. Alan had a feeling to stop at a yard sale. I didn’t want to stop, yard sales equal me and Mason sitting in a hot car with both of us upset by the end. Alan says he will always “Be just a minute.” We calculate time differently, I go by a watch. After what seemed like forever he approached the car with an armful – A printer? We have a very nice printer, why would he buy another printer that didn’t look as nice as the one that we already owned? I was beside myself. When he got into the car he said “See, I had a feeling I should stop.” What do I say to that? My first unsaid reaction was if you want to throw away $10.00 , you could just give it to me. It turns out the printer takes the same cartridges that we needed for our printer (They were about half full) plus the printer came with an entire set of extra cartridges that had never been opened. This is a blessing in or lives. Often my prayers are filled with needs and sometimes with wants. Ink would never make the list. Or should it? Maybe it’s a chance, but I see it as a blessing from one who knows my needs, even needs that are trivial. As Alan put it “I had a feeling I needed to stop. I really did.”

Choices

I was reading a book when Maosn approached - “Mom, we need to make good choices. Everyone needs to make good choices.”

I said - “Yes, you are right.

Mason - “Mommy, even you need to make good choices . . . I want a Popsicle.”

Life's lessons

Lessons, life is funny about that, right when we feel we are comfortably on the right path some small comment will show far we still have to go. In this case as a family we were headed out the door to do a little shopping. We wanted to stop by a thrift store, a guilty pleasure, and then we needed to pick up a birthday present. Mason had been invited to attend a birthday party for the daughter of a coworker. It was at a time we had a prior commitment, Sydney’s Baptism. As we were in the car Mason asked where we were going, I told him to the thrift store and then I explained that he had been invited to birthday party but he wouldn’t be able to attend so we were going to go and buy a present so he could still give her something. (I never should have broken it to him like that.) I told him that his cousin was going to be baptized and explained that he was following the example of Jesus and that we were going to go to the baptism. It was quite for a moment, he was looking out the window, so I asked “Mason, when you grow up do you want to follow Jesus?” His response “No, I want to go to the birthday party.”

I found myself thinking about life and the lessons they teach, lesson we many want and others that catch us by surprise. Do I get caught up in the things of the world? Or do I follow the quiet promptings of my heart that leads me down a different path?

Goals

That Which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do so is increased. Emerson

I keep this quote in my scriptures, reading them is not something I'm necessarily good at. I should post it on the treadmill and the refrigerator too.


Like all goals some are more cumbersome. The more I persist the easier they become.

Accidents happen

I try to keep a clean house, granted like most homes, mine gets dirty too, despite what a few of my sisters may think. Growing up being the oldest of seven children, something was always out of place. Back then it seemed like it was a much bigger deal than I realize it to be now, maybe the realization comes through age or maturity?
Although, I don’t remember the exact circumstances that brought Kimmie, my niece, to our home one evening a couple of years ago, I do remember the spaghetti we were having for dinner, and the important lesson I’ve carried in my heart since. I was lazy and left the pots on the stove. I dished up Kimmie’s spaghetti and sauce and placed her plate on the counter. (I’m still amazed with how much she can eat.) It was her job to carry the FULL plate from the counter to the table, all she needed to do was to pick up the plate, turn around and walk less than 3 feet and sit at the table. As she did this, the noodles and sauce slipped from the plate and splattered in a heap onto the floor, the cupboards and dishwasher were speckled. My clean, freshly mopped kitchen floor! the kitchen rug would never be the same. Before I had a chance to think, let alone react. She said: “Like my mom always say’s, accidents happen.” I was shocked, a little anger was growing ever so slowly . . . of all the things to say, no I’m sorry? … Dumbfounded I said “What else does you mom always say?” It was about this time that I realized this is no big deal, yes, it was a mess, it needed to be cleaned up, but it was not intentional. I continued: “If that’s what your mom says, she probably knows it’s true.”

This “accident” has blessed my life. I believe it was a blessing from the Lord to understand this simple principle before I would need it on a daily basis. It has helped me to be a better parent. When accidents happen, which they always do, I’m able to handle the situation differently than I may have if I had not received this precious gem. Sometimes Mason will start to cry, does he expect me to be angry? Maybe it’s the chocolate milk that was tipped over at the table, or mud tracked across the floor, “Was it an accident?” “Yes, mama, yes it was.” “Its ok son, accidents happen. Let’s clean it up.”

An End or a Beginning?

(I wrote this several weeks ago.)

I think back to when it began, it hasn’t been very long, a couple of years at most. I felt guilty at first – It was an unnecessarily pleasure and I knew it. I felt it was a little frivolous but I completely justified it and more or less immersed myself in it. It was the first of a lifetime and I was making up for some lost time. How long can justification out weigh reality? Slowly the newness wore off and I enjoyed it less and less until I would go weeks, eventually months without it. (This description also applies to the treadmill too, but that’s hasn’t gone anywhere.) It was then I realized that it must go. So it has, the direct T.V. Is gone, and although we have a T.V. we have no programming coming into our home. Is this an end or a beginning?
I do miss it a little bit, but I don’t miss it at all either. I never watched it. I would hear others say “did you see so and so” or watch “such and such” and I was always clueless. Mason on the other hand loved having shows like Dora, Diego, Phineas and Ferb, and Curious George always available. He will say “mom, will you put on a show?” But . . . he hasn’t seemed to notice it’s gone either. We do have some DVD’s. I wonder how Alan will feel when the NBA season is underway? Will it matter? Direct T.V. tried really hard to keep us, 9 calls in one day, numerous letters. I give them credit for trying, but we were a lot cause. We never even redeemed the free movie coupon that they sent us. *sigh*


(I wrote this today.)
I never missed it . . . until today, when I heard it was Jay Leno’s last show. I thought “I’d like to see that,” And then I realized I wouldn’t be able to watch it, even if I wanted too.

A Shooting Star Moment

We had a situation I’ll call a shooting star moment, I came up with that analogy at 3 in the morning so hopefully when I’m coherent I’ll still think it’s witty and applicable. I’ve always loved shooting stars. A shooting star moment is a moments of sheer brilliance, that seem to come out of nowhere, moments that leave us in awe, and then seem to disappear just as quickly as they arrived.

I’m sure this is just a coincidence, but as we were entering the cemetery to place flowers on my sister-in-laws’ grave. Mason said “Look, it says no dogs allowed.” I had been off in my own world. Had Alan told him that? Had I missed something? I responded still trying to grasp the situation “Yes, yes, you’re right it does say not dogs allowed, smarty pants.” He was thrilled and grinned from ear to ear. I kept thinking how does he know that? He has been learning the words to Hey diddle, diddle. Could this be it? Maybe?
This happened on a Friday, and was shortly dismissed. On Saturday we were leaving our neighborhood, a neighbor was having a yard sale and asked if we had seen any of his yard sale signs. We hadn’t been out yet, so as we approached the corner we took an extra couple of moments to comment that you couldn’t miss the yard sale signs. It was then Mason said “Look, it says Trail Avenue.” He knows his address, but he has never been told that small green street sign identified our street name. It was ever so brief I’ve watched for it since, “the shooting star moment” to reappear, it hasn’t, probably merely coincidences, but my “shooting star moment” non the least, he teaches me how to look at the world differently. I’m so thankful for that.

Children are a heritage of the Lord.