The Glass is Half-Full

As many of you know, I am the overly-involved mother of three and wife of one. When my children are involved in something, I tend to become a little involved as well - as much as they'll let me. And trust me, they haven't always wanted me there and so I have for the most part quietly receded away. And then there are times, when it seems I go overboard!!  I have spent the last three weeks of my life totally consumed with Oz - Wizard of Oz at Holland High School. While I wasn't in the play - I am experiencing a little of the actors' let down at final curtain. The sense of, "now what"?  It was an incredible experience. I operated as a kind of volunteer coordinator for my fellow parents and then as a sort of box office/house manager for the performances. I really got to know the cast and, to a person, love those Ozzians and Munchkins!! A bonus for me, as a school of choice parent, was getting to know so many of the Holland school parents. An awesome group if t...

If you're anything like me (I know no one wants to readily admit to it but there are people like me) you've come away from recent elections shaking your head and thinking, "They just don't get it . . ." No matter what happens in an election in recent years, it comes back to party politics. Like a fight - the fighters retreat to their corners where the same 'experts' and advisers whisper sweet motivations in their ears and the same fighters come out swinging in the same fight over-and-over-and-over . . . Like tired boxers they no longer know what they're fighting for but they keep fighting because the bejeweled experts in the corner are paying them to get into the ring. The fighters become tired and entangled and throw half-hearted punches until the bell tolls again and they retreat to their corners where the same . . . Imagine a Rocky movie here but instead of  the old gravely voiced manager, there is Bernie Madoff or worse. Meanwhile, we in the aud...

If you're anything like me (I know no one wants to readily admit to it but there are people like me) you've come away from recent elections shaking your head and thinking, "They just don't get it . . ." The Sequester - more of the same. If your representative is a Republican, then they have to side with speaker Boehner or if a Democrat they have to side with President Obama. I use the term 'have to side' because in recent years there have been a few politicians that didn't tow the party line (or is it 'toe the party line'?) and they didn't receive financial backing or otherwise in future campaigns from their own party. Seems the parties have more sway than the issues. No matter what happens in an election in recent years, it comes back to party politics. Like a fight - the fighters (in this case our representatives) retreat to their corners where 'experts' and advisers whisper sweet motivations in their ears and the fighters c...

Sometimes the most enjoyable evenings are those that are unplanned. John and I had one of those evenings with our good friends Kris and Mike VanLoon on Saturday. Mike came over to help John with his lumberjack duties - cutting up the felled tree in our backyard.{see below for the details of that  incident} When he arrived John and Matthew had completed the task. Mike said he arrived 'just in time'!! The boys sat down and watched football and we planned to go to Douglas' Octoberfest after dinner.  We arrived just as it was finishing (I think Mike might have radar for this sort of just in time thing!!!). We did manage to have one or two beverages and had some interesting conversations. Or in many cases, snatches of conversations. As when I walked up to a table to hear Paula exclaim "I don't want the butt I want the meat." Immediately upon seeing the expressions of those that hadn't heard the beginning of the conversation, she turned a bright shade of pin...

Year one My son Matthew loved the story of and character Peter Pan so much as a creative 3 year old that he decided to be Peter Pan for Halloween and then became Peter for about 18 months. Seriously, 18 months. It all started when a catalog with some really cool costumes came in the mail and we saw a nice Peter Pan costume. It was early October when it arrived in the mail and Matthew could not wait for Halloween so he could wear his costume since I told him he couldn't wear it until then. Halloween came and he wanted to put it on first thing - but this mean mom made him wait until the afternoon.  When he put on the costume, he 'became' Peter Pan. He stood like Peter, with his hands on his hips, feet about shoulder width apart and a defiant look came upon his sweet cherubic face. Magic. The one thing he didn't like was that he didn't have a dagger that he could tuck in his belt. I cannot imagine what he'd have done if armed with a dagger!! That night,...

I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing young woman yesterday. I had to share her story. After my Mom boarded the train to Chicago, I waved goodbye and went back through the station lobby. A young woman in a FedEx fleece was sitting in the station. I thought I'd seen her come off the train - it departs Grand Rapids on it's way to Holland and Chicago. I asked if she needed a ride a somewhere and she said - "Sure" and seemed a little surprised at the offer.  Shandra works for the FedEx Kinkos store in Holland about 5 miles from the station. On our short journey, I learned that she has worked there for about a year and loves the company. She lives in Grand Rapids and takes the train from there to Holland every weekday. Be prepared to be awed - each morning she takes the bus from her north side Grand Rapids apartment to the station on the southeast side for a 7:50 am departure to Holland. It arrives about 8:30 am. She then waits for a bus (if the train isn't late...

Time for a funny not-so-little Piggins' story. It's about Delaney, the Divine Miss D, as she was dubbed at the time by a dear friend. It was a cold and blustery Sunday. (No this isn't a Winnie the Pooh tale!). The boys were content to hang out at home watching football. I, on the other hand, needed to go the mall to return something and to get a new bathing suit for my aqua aerobics class. I had pre-shopped but needed to try on the three suits at the Speedo store. Since John was watching football and Delaney heard the word 'shopping' she went with me. I made, what at the time seemed to be a reasonable deal with my three-year-old. I guess my first mistake was assuming (yes, eventually making and ass of me!) that I could reason with a three-year-old. You'd think I would have known better. The deal was that we would do my errands - to Hudson's to return and then to the Speedo store. I assured her that all told, it would only take an hour and then when ti...