Thanks for the vote of confidence

Robby : This torte is great Mom, where did you get it ?

Me: I made it

Robby: No I mean where did you get the box mix ?

We no longer have a beginner.

In ShotoKan karate, there is an unofficial line that separates the beginner from the experienced student.Though unofficial, most agree that this line lies between orange belt and green belt. Once a student earns their green belt they are expected to know and be able to preform the basics of ShotoKan. As of seven thirty this evening, when it was announced that Robby passed his test by a full rank, Robby is a green belt and we couldn't be prouder.It has taken a lot of work but Robby is going into the merge with the new school as a non beginner. Keep up the good work Robby !

Update
For those who were wondering, I did not attend the testing. It had stopped raining but was soggy out. Mike did video tape the test, as he always does, but I haven't seen it yet. I guess that it really doesn't matter as Robby called me as soon as class dismissed and let me in on the news. I do not have a picture of the test to post as Mike took no still pictures:-( He did say that he would video capture a couple "stills" for me but as busy as he is it may be awhile.Do not fret though, I will take a picture of Robby when he receives the belt to post.

Rain rain

We are in the second of three forecasted days of rain here in NE Ohio. Though we are not getting near what I hear others are, it still isn't making me happy. First of all, this is the boys last week of vacation before they return to school next Tuesday. Second, the big end of summer local fair (http://www.canfieldfair.com/) is not as attractive in the rain. Thirdly this weather may just keep me from seeing Robby's karate test tonight. Since our school is merging with another, today is the last day of classes at the old school. Since there are a couple students ready to test, it has been decided that it will be done before the merge. Unfortunately the old school is very small with not much room for spectators and if you are able to squeeze in, you are there until break as moving about causes definite distraction. This is one of the big perks of the merge as we will be in a health club with room for everyone.Even if I do miss the test, Mike will video tape it for me so I shouldn't complain, but it is a cool rainy day and complaining just seems like the thing to do

Remember when Mom said that your actions will come back to bite you ?

As family got together for my uncles funeral, Some could not contain their grief, God Bless them, but there were some who were able to respect my uncle's wish to have a light hearted funeral where everyone got along , celebrating his life instead of mourning his death.Because of this there were some who were talking with everyone. Of course when you talk to people who you usually don't even see, you hear stories that you never heard. Sometimes you can even learn from these stories. One particular story was told that had many shaking their heads and stating that Mom ( no matter who their Mom was ) always said that things can come back to bite you. This story was of a young boy in grade school who was being raised by his mother but really didn't have much contact with his father.There were two other boys in the same class who this boy, for whatever reason, just didn't like and he let these two boys know how he felt by calling them names and occasionally even starting fights with them.Now I have known these two boys, who are a couple years younger than I am , for many years and let's just say that I shouldn't be too hard on the other boy :-) . Anyway this mutual dislike went on for a few years until one day the boy's Mom heard of a fight and who it was with. Instead of a lecture, she decided to teach her son a lesson that he would remember. She contacted his Dad, who she had not spoken to in years and her son barely even knew. Somehow through the grace of God they were able to get along and for the first time since she had the son were able to work together. They set up a time for him to see his Dad who his Mom introduced him giving his whole name. The boy's jaw dropped. His Dad had the same last name as this kid whom he could not stand.Reluctantly he asked, and this enemy was his first cousin , OUCH !Well, the kid thought, at least I'm not related to the other boy who is only his cousin's friend. As God's grace was abundant that day, the father decided that it was time to get to know his son and invited him over to a picnic at his house a few days later. The boy didn't look forward to seeing his cousin as then the cousin would know that they were related too. Oh could this get any worse? Well, the day came and the Boy's Dad picked him up and took him over to his house and introduced him to his Step mother, half brothers and a step brother and step sister. All was well then out walked the second rival , the one who wasn't a cousin,Thank God ! He must be visiting with his cousin the boy thought.Oh well ! The boy looked and looked but didn't see the cousin.Just then his Dad said here is one other person who you need to meet. This is your step brother!
The young man looked at the ground as he told this story and at the end said; Yep , Mom always said to watch because some things will come back to bite you on the butt ! However I am proud to report that I have made peace with both my Step Brother and cousin and am a much better person today. What a story, and it is true.( I could not make this type of thing up) Thank you to our Cousin for sharing !

Is it ever OK to be rude ?

Over the weekend I heard a story that I had never heard before. It started with a baby being born out of wedlock quite a few years ago. From what I understand the father ( who was an adult at the time) didn't deny the child but for what ever reason decided not to marry the baby's Mother nor give the baby his name.The father did however maintain a relationship with the child .I understand that the mother and this baby lived close to a lady whom I have known and respected for many years who just happened to be the paternal grandmother of this baby.Now as many of you remember, back in that day this sort of thing was not acceptable at all. This being said one day this woman who I deeply respect was walking to the neighborhood store when the mother of her son's baby approached her and asked if she cared to see her grandson. As the story goes this woman in no uncertain terms commented "no" as she quickly kept walking. The person telling the story, who was accompanying this woman to the store that day made a point of mentioning how rude this woman was to her grandson's Mother. I was shocked that this woman had it in her to be rude to anyone let alone someone who had done nothing but offer her the chance to meet her grandson. The person telling the story noticed my shock and explained that this just was not acceptable and this woman simply didn't want anything to do with the whole thing. I guess that considering the time I can almost understand her reaction but I can not grasp where she felt justified to be rude.
This story has me thinking of many cases where people have been rude not only to me or to someone I know but people in general as well as times that I may have been the least bit rude to anyone. I now question is this ever OK ?
A couple weeks back I was reading an open comments Catholic blog where Natural family planning was discussed. A couple woman chimed in to admit that they struggled with natural family planning until they felt that they could not any longer and decided to undergo sterilization procedures or use birth control. Now it is no secret that the Catholic church sees both birth control and sterilization procedures as sinful, and quite a few of the Catholic church's most self righteous were all over these women rudely bashing and condemning them . Now I understand that there are many Catholics( as well as Christians and many other religious groups)out there who feel that God has called them to spread his word by self righteously telling everyone else what they are doing that God doesn't like , be it abortion, birth control,homosexuality, or whatever. The part that I find funny is that these people are the worst examples of good and rightiousness that there is , and they want to fix everyone but themselves. Anyway, these people see no problem with being extremely rude to others. I guess that they feel entitled but it makes me ask again is there ever justified reason to be rude ?
I guess the bottom line is that I don't think that there is ever justification for rudeness. If something truly needs to be said ( and many times trust me, your idea of what needs to be said, really doesn't)it can be said with love. Rudeness never helps anything.It will not take away what is ( your son having a child out of wedlock )It will not bring people closer to God, ( rudely informing them that they are big fat sinners )It will not accomplish anything ! So next time you get in a huff over some one's words or actions, maybe you will think of today's words and decide to forgo the rudeness. It may just make things better for all involved.

Flower drama

This morning after dropping the boys off at Karate, I headed to our local flower shop to order funeral flowers. Once inside I asked if they delivered to the funeral home that is being used. Not usually was the answer but because someone else (my cousin who also lives in this town thirty minutes tops from the funeral home)had ordered them, we will do it.Great, I thought I proceeded to pick out a dish garden but a nice floral arrangement caught my eye . I looked at both, thought for a minute and made a decision. OK I walked back to the counter and told the clerk that I wanted the arrangement with a ribbon that said uncle. She rung it up. The total was more than twenty dollars over what I had estimated, so I asked. Oh I was told, there is the ten dollar delivery fee( yes I counted that) and then the wiring fee. Wiring fee???? I asked. Why yes that is not our delivery area. OK, I said confused but you said you would deliver them since you had multiple orders. Well we can't the clerk informed me in an annoyed voice. OK well then I will call the shop thirty minutes away and order direct, I told her. She threw her pen down and stormed into the back room.
Gee, I thought as I left ,I didn't mean to be rude. but I did ask if they would deliver before taking up my time as well as hers to make a selection and she told me that they would and never once corrected herself telling me not to waste my time that whatever I wanted would have to be wired anyway. Yes I should be the annoyed one but I didn't throw anything and storm off, even after the rude lady left me at the counter following her rude exit. Anyway I came home, looked up a shop near the funeral home and called. The lady was happy to take my custom order and charge my credit card( significantly less than the other store to boot ). She also waived the delivery charge since she had other orders going the same place. I thanked her as I hung up but wonder does she realize how good her business educate made me feel ? Not that she did anything for me that she doesn't do for all her customers, but the lack of hassle made me feel special. Maybe that is why her small shop has survived . Anyway, Thank you Sunflower seed shop. I appreciate you accepting my business with a smile !

May the soul of Uncle Glen and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in Peace.

Last night at a few minutes before nine o'clock , Mom called. She had just gotten the call from one of her sisters that Uncle Glen had passed away at eight thirty that evening. Your prayers for his wife Sharon,four children, three step children, grandchildren,great grand children, Brothers ,sisters, & everyone else who knew and loved him are appreciated.

Eating a DQ cupcake by Robby age 12 today

All in how you look at it !

I didn't have much hope that today would be a good day last night at eleven o'clock when I was just crawling into bed. I was pretty sure that today would not be a good day when I awoke at one AM dreaming that the alarm went off . The feeling stayed the same, if not worse, when the alarm did go off at three AM. I grumbled a bit as I thanked God for the overtime pay that he was giving Mike as I stumbled to the kitchen to pack his lunch, cook his breakfast, and make his thirty four ounce mug of espresso. When the cappuccino pot would not turn on I knew that this could not be a good day but soon I realized that all I needed to do was reset the outlet ( gotta love those modern safety features)I got Mike off to work and watched the women's gold metal volley ball match as I contemplated what to do next.Finally I decided that another hour of sleep was what I needed to do. Once up, I asked Robby what he wanted for his Birthday dinner expecting him to want to eat out or have burgers or something like that . What did he want ..... Pasta. Now pasta as most of you know is one of my least favorite foods but I made it for him and skipped dinner. Since Cindy is working tonight and Mike has to be up at three AM again tomorrow, we decided to have Robby's Birthday Cake tomorrow and have Grandma, Grandpa, Nanny & Pops over . Because of this we needed something tonight so we went to Dairy Queen and got Robby a DQ cupcake and the rest of us PB parfaits. Since I skipped dinner, I also ordered a couple chilly dogs for me and Mike who always has room for a chilly dog. The boys were offered one too but declined. We came home , ate, and now as I am looking at the clock to see how long till bed time, I realize, today wasn't so bad after all.

Happy Birthday Robby !

Twelve years ago today God blessed us with you And we will always be grateful !
You will always be my Baby Boy and I will always love you as much as the day you were born. Have a Great Birthday and an even more wonderful year !

A reminder that someone cares

Thirteen years ago on August eighteenth , Mike and my third child, Caitlyn Lee was stillborn.This had to be the worst thing that has ever happened in our lives. Through time though we have gotten past things. Notice I didn't say over... but past. Though many have forgotten the date of( If not the event itself ) this is a date that will for ever be burned into Mike and my minds. The fact that Robby was born a year and three days later makes things stand out even more. Without going into specifics I will say that at the time there was some miscommunication that led to hurtful things being done or not done as the case may have been. Thankfully this is all in the past and is chalked up to miscommunication and through the years hard feelings have been let go of.The reason that I am bringing this up is that on the eighteenth, as has been the case for twelve years now, I received a card from a dear nurse telling me that she remembered and was thinking of us. How sweet is that ? The even sweeter part is that she was not the nurse who was with me that excruciating day but one who I had met months later through the nurse who was with me. Doing this (for these particular nurses) is a general practice, I guess. In all of the bad that we hear of people in general now a days it is really something to experience this kind of love from someone who could just as well forget about me . So please let me take a moment to thank Nurse Jo Ann for this thoughtful gesture. It made my day. You truly are an angel !

Cindy updates

Yesterday morning Cindy went to the oral surgeon's office to get her stitches out. She had been still complaining of quite a bit of pain and was out of pain medication so I was obviously concerned about her going back to work in the afternoon.It turned out that the surgeon was not there and a technician took the stitches out. Cindy was told that all looked pretty good considering her complications and to take OTC pain killers and go to work as planned and to call the doctor's emergency line if she needed to. This didn't set too well with me but it all worked out fine. It turns out that the vicoden didn't help her anymore than Ibuprofen anyway.No wonder she complained. Anyway she seems to be doing OK in that aspect. In another aspect her financial aid is looking great. The lady called last night to ask her ( since Cindy was at work she asked me )if we were sure we could handle the portion of Nursing school that they would not be able to cover. I guess that they have in the past put out their portion and the recipient was unable to come up with their share so the agencies money was forfeited. For some reason this did not make them happy so I had to give my word that we would handle a small portion. Gee a few months ago we thought a full loan was our only option, we will gladly take care of twenty percent.And hey there is almost two weeks until classes start. Nothing like taking it to the wire.

A few prayer requests

First of all for My uncle Glen who was given six months to live back in December. Glen was admitted to the hospital at the end of last month then was taken to a nursing home. after maybe a week in the nursing home he was back in the hospital with multi system failure. He was stabilized and given six weeks to live but his bodies ammonia level keeps creeping up and the meds to neutralize it have stopped keeping it at bay so this morning the doctors,his wife, and grown children decided to stop medication and take him home to die. Please pray for him and his family in their final hours together.
Also, I will not go into specifics but Uncle Glen also has a daughter who he has not spoken to in years there have been some hurtful things said and done on both ends and from what I hear she is trying through her brothers to make peace before he dies.This could also use a prayer.

Secondly I ask for prayers for My Dad's family.After the family reunion My aunt Shirley was having some complications of a bleeding ulcer. She was Grandma's care taker and didn't take care of herself as she needed and by the time she went to the doctors things were getting pretty bad. Shirley went to the hospital for a short stay and was released only for the ulcer to erupt. This caused another four day stay in the hospital critical unit for blood transfusions and treatment. While Shirley was in the hospital Grandma went to Georgia with another of Dad's sisters. This is when everyone found out that one person can not take care of Grandma,a alone. Shirley got home from the hospital last weekend and Grandma is now back in Ohio but on Saturday the family will be moving her into a nursing facility. This is hard on everyone involved as Grandma's dementia has her oblivious to the plan. Please pray for everyone involved but especially that Grandma somehow adjusts to her new surroundings. A couple years ago when she broke her hip and was in a nursing facility for rehab she got confused , refused to eat, and had to go home early. Going back home is not an option this time. Please pray that everything works out.

Cindy Update

Today marks the forth day since Cindy's oral surgery. She is doing pretty well even eating some regular foods now. Her pain still needs to be controlled by a combo of vicoden and Motrin 800, so she can't drive yet but she is sleeping less and can talk pretty well now that most of the numbness has worn off. I expect that she will not be totally back to herself for a while yet but that is to be expected considering that this is a painful procedure to begin with and then add her complications to the mix, throwing in all of the fun financial aid stress that she is under , she is doing rather well ,in my opinion. She hopes to be back to work on Tuesday but I have my doubts so we will just have to see what the surgeon says Tuesday morning. Please continue to pray.

Judging

Years ago when I was a Girl Scout Co-leader, the other leader and I would have each girl take a turn at bringing a snack to our meetings. Since we had a group of girls who came from homes where both parents worked, home made treats usually gave way to store bought cookies, pudding cups, fruit roll ups, etc. The funny part was that most people seemed to put the snacks in bags which contained their receipts from grocery store visits if they didn't stop on the way to pick up snack and of course always left the receipt in the bag. Being the person I am I always laid the receipt up and made sure that I asked that weeks owner if they needed it before throwing it away.We had a couple girls who got bored waiting for snack to be served and were known to grab these receipts and read off what all had been bought. The other leader and I of course discouraged this practice but it still happened more than we liked.
One day after admonishing a girl for doing this a parent who was in attendance admitted that she found it interesting what people would buy and that it said something about them. yes, she was right but how true was this? How about the lady who always cooks nightly dinner from scratch but picked up boxed potatoes to donate to the food bank ? How about the Mom who gets up early every morning to cook her children breakfast who buys a box of cereal for her preschoolers to make fruit loop necklaces as an organized preschool craft. I didn't like how people could be judged by a one time shopping trip.
This being said, after Cindy's appointment Tuesday I found myself in Save A lot buying jello & pudding cups, cotton candy flavored yogurt, cottage cheese, three different kinds of Popsicles,canned tomato soup, chocolate milk, & 7 up. These were all soft foods which were recommended for Cindy.With the exception of the chocolate milk and cottage cheese, these are also things that I never buy but what would someone from the outside think ? Here I am an overweight Mom buying $35 worth of junk. Surely many would shake their heads in shame ! I guess it just goes to show, you can't judge a person, or a family on what appears to be. I think in one way or another this is something that most of us need to work on. Oh and by work on I don't mean to make sure that you shred your junk food receipts before anyone sees them in an attempt to claim that you never buy the junk that the Jones' do !Just thought I'd clarify that

Ever wonder why our society is what it is ?

Because of Cindy's oral surgery yesterday, she is on pain killers which prevent her from driving. For this reason, I had to accompany her to her third day of financial aids workshop this morning. First of all we were early so when we went in and Cindy gave the lady her pay check stubs, Mike's pay check stubs, and the many other pieces of information that were required.This lady copied them and passed the copies to another lady who came to tell us that Mike's income was too high for assistance. I smiled as I explained, yet again, that we had been sent to this particular agency because my husband's wages were cut and this company had grant money for the workers of this company and their families. OK the woman said, I will have to pass these on to another then. Fifteen minutes later another woman came out of an office. She would be doing our interview, we were told but she would not be available for a half an hour or so. OK we smiled and thanked her. Sure enough about forty minutes later the woman came back and handed me the copies of Mike's pay stubs. Cindy has made enough in the past six months to be considered a non dependent, we were told. OK, again I smiled.Finally we were asked into an office where Cindy signed papers and was asked 1) if she was pregnant....No ! 2)Does she have any children ?...... NO! 3)Has she ever been arrested.... No! 4) Has she ever been in rehab ?....... No !5) has she ever run away from home?.... No !6),7),8),9), 10).......No,no,no, no, no!
Hmmmm the lady looked at us, you wouldn't qualify as a minor ( anyone under 21 in their eyes ) with no barriers, she informed us ! Cindy looked at her then me then her then me and finally replied, which do you want me to do ? Now wait a minute, I couldn't keep quiet anymore, are you saying that because my daughter leads a good Catholic life and is in no trouble, she is discriminated against ? Well, the lady said..... This is ridiculous, I replied.Let me see if a girl sleeps with everyone she knows in High school and gets pregnant, she now gets an apartment, free medical coverage, food stamps, a welfare check,and now she gets free schooling where a girl who leads a good life,saves herself for marriage, works hard, doesn't do drugs, and is obedient to her parents gets nothing? No wonder these girls are actually happy to be teen mothers. Society is doing these kids a huge disservice !
I guess my little episode made the lady think as she said that she would send Cindy to another lady who could possibly change her status to adult and maybe get something through that way. I guess that word of my questioning behavior got around as I was asked to remain in the waiting room as Cindy was called back this time. After another half an hour of listening to kids Cindy's age talk about their children ,baby daddy's and mommas, and even their probation officers, Cindy emerged from the office. Well, I asked. They found a barrier I was told... OK, I was scared to ask. Here this woman asked Cindy first if she was abused ( after all her jaws are so swollen due to complications of oral surgery) Cindy said no.. Then the lady asked a magical question.... Did your Mom and Dad graduate from college? No Cindy replied... Trade schools ? .... No. They had a barrier, Mike and I were uneducated which puts our kids at risk . ( OK now Mike alone makes enough, even after a cut in pay, to make our family ineligible but because we neither have a degree our kids are disadvantaged? Makes sense to me)Anyway as I shook my head I went with it after all it will get us closer to our goal without Cindy having to get pregnant, do drugs or rob a Quick stop so in the end I guess it is a good thing ! Because of all of this confusion today Cindy has to go back tomorrow to take a test to prove that she is smart enough to pass nursing school once the government gives her money to go. I understand that these are just the hoops through which one must jump for college financial aid but does it make sence that the good kid has a better chance of getting through college than the drug addicted felon, with children's service and their parole officer on their backs? I would think so but hey I am finding out that I am raising my kids all wrong !
I swear , if she is turned down after all of this, I will appeal on the grounds of being discriminated against for leading a good Catholic life. I am sure I will have no problem getting people to stand up for me !
Do we as a society need to give some thought about a few things? I think just maybe... but after all I am uneducated so what do I know ???

Christmas state of mind

Today as I was waiting for Cindy's medicine to be filled I started looking around a local department store. Though back to school is the main theme around here Christmas is starting to trickle in .Now don't get me wrong, Mike and I have been discussing , for awhile now, what we are going to get who for Christmas and I have even started getting some of the extended families gifts. Still, I couldn't help but feel behind. Just as I only had a few minutes left before my prescriptions could be picked up, something came over me as I seen the gift that we had planned on buying the boys this year and this store was one of the few who still had a lay a way, so I couldn't help myself, I found myself filling out a lay a way slip. This is really a good thing as the big debate this year was whether to buy multiple little gifts which amounted to a certain total ( like we have done all of our children's lives) or , since they have so much and we are both sick of gifts from last year which the kids asked for but are still in the unopened boxes. My actions have made the decisions for me. I am sure that they kids may have a moment of wonder when they only see one package , with their name under the tree but hopefully when they open it, that look will change.

Update of Cindy

Thanks for the prayers. Cindy did pretty well in getting her teeth cut out even though we ran into a few unforeseen complications on the way. First the two wisdom teeth that the oral surgeon thought he could get out without cutting away any of the bone were deeper than the X ray showed so all four required removal of pieces of bone. secondly, Cindy has mutated teeth with three roots on each. The third root is also a very long root that had to be drilled out on all four. Even though this procedure took twice as long as a normal removal of impacted wisdom teeth, the oral surgeon feels that it went well and does not expect any problems like paralysis, punctures into the sinuses, or other such risks. She will probably have quite a bit of pain and twice the swelling as normally expected but he has armed us with a pain medication, a pain medication/ anti inflammatory, a stronger anti inflammatory,and an antibiotic. She will take all of these , except the strong anti inflammatory for a week or more. She will go back in a week and hopefully get the stitches out then. Your prayers for a quick recovery are most appreciated.

Please pray

This evening I ask for prayers for Cindy tomorrow. First of all she has a financial aid work shop in the morning from which she will be going straight to the oral surgeon. She is having all four wisdom teeth removed. All four are impacted .Two are not so bad but two will require the removal of pieces of the bone which they are impacted in. Usually this would be done with general anesthetic, but due to Cindy's Pseudo cholinesterase deficiency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudocholinesterase_deficiency)
and the fact that this surgery with general anesthetic has a good chance of causing her vocal cords to go into spasm which requires the paralytic Succedocholine to be administered to paralyze the vocal cords and stop the spasm from causing permanent damage, we have decided that Cindy's life is not worth taking the chance so she is having the whole procedure done with Novocain. Please pray that she has no more than minimal pain and no complications. Please also pray for a quick recovery . She has taken a week off of work and hopes to be 100% by the weeks end. Thank you all in advance for your prayers !

Busy !

I am still praying about the cruise deal but the thought of passing it up is getting easier to bear, so I think we will be passing on this one. Besides that it has hit me that the kids only have a few more weeks of summer vacation and in that time, Cindy will have her wisdom teeth along with parts of the bone which they are stuck in removed( Aug. 12th ). Then we have to make sure that the boys have everything that they need for back to school . So I think this month just may be close to capacity and every time I try to push beyond capacity my stress level seems to go with it. Oh well there will be another time that things will work out perfectly .
Tonight Mike and I will go to The Funny Farm comedy club. For the last few years we have had summer passes and have frequented the club a lot. However this years busyness has had us missing most weekly shows . It has gotten so bad that when Mike called for reservations, the owner asked if anything was wrong. No Mike replied just graduations, small trips and life. The biggest was that Cindy didn't have a Drivers licence until last month so we had to pick her up at work at ten thirty which would be the middle of a show. So unless she was off we couldn't attend and of course when she was off we had other things planned( sigh) but now that she is driving, it is working out again. so hello Dave, We're back !

Am I nuts or what ?

I haven't even completely unpacked the suitcase from North Carolina but I opened my E mail this morning to a cruise offer that I so would love to take. It is a two day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau Bahamas. Since I have never been on a cruise, it would be perfect and I could squeeze it in at the end of the month before school starts and the best part is that for Mike and I both the cruise part would be under $300. The problem is the flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Delta has a decent sale of less than $200 per person but there is a stop in Atlanta involved and if any flight is delayed, late, or canceled, I could miss my boat so that makes me nervous. US Air has a pretty good sale too and it is a straight flight which sounds good but still there is no guarentee that we get there on time. Mike doesn't have unlimited vacation so leaving a day early is out of the question. Oh what to do? I asked Mike and he said his only concern is that we don't have passports but I read that we only need birth certificates, social security cards, and photo Id,for this cruise which we have. If we do end up going it would be just Mike and I and the kids would be home alone. This should be Ok because Cindy is 18 and has a car and if an Emergency arose, my parents live fifteen minutes away. I don't know what to do, deals like this don't come by every day. So I am off to pray about this while unpacking the suitcase from last weekend and do some of the dirty laundry within. A quick prayer that God lets me know wether or not he is behind this deal and intends for me to go or not is surely appreciated !

More Karate school greatness !

Michael let me know that I left out an important greatness of this new combined school. Saturday Michael was talking to Sensei Tim and was told that he would be offered a Jr sensei position once the school is merged. Many schools do this instead of having a separate beginner class for younger students that get lost quickly in a regular class. For the first usually forty five minutes of class the beginners warm up with the regular class and then break off with the Jr instructor (sometimes an adult who is a colored belt but Since Michael is a 15 year old with a black belt they felt him better suited) This Jr instructor teaches basic stance, kicks, punches, and basic Kata) after the forty five minutes , which is plenty of time to wear out a beginner, the beginners are dismissed and the Jr instructor goes back to the main group for the more advanced part of class. Not only is this position good experience for Michael, but it usually comes with the "pay" of free karate classes. Now that gets my attention. None of the final details about this have been worked out yet and wouldn't be until the merge takes place but the very offer has Michael's head swelling with pride ! Ok I admit that Mike and I are a little proud ourselves too !

New Karate school

Last month it was official, Michael and Robby's karate school was merging with another karate school. This school that they are merging with is run by the very instructor who introduced my family to Shoto Kan karate when my baby brother Curt joined many years ago. The assistant instructor there ironically was , though much older, a fellow student of Curt's that tested for his black belt the same day as Curt did. These two men had not had a school in years but just opened this one maybe two years ago. The whole merge process so far has been a win win situation for our family. First off, tuition did go up but because we have two enrolled we get the second at half price and will pay exactly the same as we have been for now. Second, instead of the twenty minute drive to class ( if we take the rout through a not so good neighborhood, longer if we bypass this neighborhood )we now have a five minute drive. These are all great things but the most wonderful of all is that the karate school is located inside of a really nice health club with every weight machine, treadmill,exercise bike, elliptical, stair machine, spinning bikes , etc that i can think of being in a gym. Also there is a pool, hot tub and sauna.And the best news is that the families of those enrolled in the karate class are allowed to use the facility free of charge while their family member is in karate as well as a little before and after with the karate member.Just for fun I looked at the price for a family membership and on sale for a month only the price would be $800, what a perk !
Though the merge will not be finalized until September, the schools have invited members to join each other for classes this month. This means that we can go Tuesday and Thursday to the school that the boys have been attending and Wednesday and Saturday to this new school, so this month we double our karate for free. Considering that Robby is almost ready to test for his green belt, this is wonderful ! Michael started going to both last Saturday with Curt and since Robby was in North Carolina with us he started last night. During the class I spent 1/2 hour on treadmill and stationary bike, 1/2 hour on weight machines, and 1/2 hour in the pool. Mike did some weight machines with me as his back could handle and then hit the pool and hot tub. I used to love Curves but working out is so much better if Mike can join me so I think this merge was a great idea !

Were back

We got back from North Carolina at about one thirty AM Tuesday morning. We went straight to bed as Mike had to get up at five to get ready for work. Cindy had a little more sleep as she didn't have to be at work until two however she generously got up at nine to go with me to pick up the dogs from PetLodge .This was a good thing because the dogs for some reason were clingy. Clarissa would not take no for an answer as she sat on my lap ( human like on her butt) nuzzling my cheek as I tried to drive away. Clancy was just happy to be in the car and stood on Cindy's lap as we drove off.
The trip itself went very well. It was great to see family that we haven't in awhile. The kids, as always , got along great together.
The only thing is that it is sad when the trip ends. We have had Mike's Dear Grandmother within an hour of us for years and didn't realize how good we had it. It was tough to leave everyone but especially to say good bye to Grandma. After all at ninety years old, our next visit may not be under as good of circumstances. Actually this is true for all of us, we just never know.
This has got me thinking. I challenge each of you to let someone close to you know that you love and appreciate them today. Do something, anything for them to show your love and appreciation for them. I know I intend to