tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74494000977278868302024-03-04T23:47:19.067-08:00Stressed Mom's CafeMelissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-43249679078935702032019-06-25T13:37:00.000-07:002019-06-25T13:37:19.430-07:00Get Angry<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I haven’t written a blog post for 6 months. I just can’t. I’ve all but given up.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">How do you write about those annoying Christmas elves or the struggles of your kids tripling your grocery bill in the summer when you want to actually punch a wall? </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I’ve quit writing my blog because, pardon my French, I’m too pissed.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">How can I sit and even attempt to write whimsical, lighthearted banter when the USA is burning to the ground.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">How can I write about the absurdity of arguing with your kids about leaving empty brownie boxes in the cabinet when there are little children being taken care of by 8-year-olds or 9-year-olds who don’t have enough soap, food, or medical care? Traumatized children with the flu who are scared and sick and need their parents? Children who haven’t even showered in three weeks and are hungry?</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">For months and months, there have been separated American families at odds over politics, in two separate worlds across the dinner table.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Now there are families literally separated-children in cages, living in unsanitary, unspeakable, dangerous conditions reminiscent of concentration camps.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If we can put a man on the moon, then surely these politicians can come off their golf courses and come together and fix this. Maybe we need an army of mothers.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I will never apologize for feeling. I will never apologize for being angry, and I will never apologize for raging against injustice, even if it’s in a stupid little insignificant mommy blog. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If you are expecting politics in this you won’t get it. There are people who are always going to believe *this*and others who will always believe *that* and nothing you suggest, scream, verify, or prove is going to change their minds. There are people who will pass along inaccurate information, and when they are unequivocally shown it is false, they will dig their heels in and will pass it on with even more vigor. People will shock you, disappoint you, irritate you, and make your eyes roll so completely into the back of your head that you wonder If you will ever see straight again. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">You will see people who might at one time have worn a “WWJD” bracelet do and now say the exact opposite of anything Jesus ever did or said. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">You will realize that people you thought had hearts of gold actually couldn’t care less. You will see people with their masks removed. You will see someone whose Facebook bio says they feel blessed, call another person a “piece of $@@@“ because he dared to have a different opinion. You will see the absolute holy grail of hypocrisy all dressed up like people you thought you knew.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">But take a deep breath. They are not your people.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Politics used to be invigorating, informative, interesting and even fun to debate at times.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">But not anymore. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I do know one thing. If we can’t all agree-ALL of us-black, white, male, female, rich, poor, republican, democrat- that children not able to bathe, sick, with no medical care, suffering physically and psychologically on the watch of the good old U.S. of A. isn’t a horrific, humanitarian crisis that needs to be fixed NOW...then we are lost for good. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">We hear all the time, what would Jesus do? </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">There was no bigger protector of children than Jesus.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Don’t ever apologize for anger at injustice. Anger leads to action.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*The link below contains good information and ways to help, including contacting representatives and different ways to donate (at the end of the article.)</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mother.ly/5-powerful-ways-we-can-help-detained-immigrant-children-today-2638957686.amp.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mother.ly/5-powerful-ways-we-can-help-detained-immigrant-children-today-2638957686.amp.html</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Another place to give is...</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><a href="https://togetherrising.org/">https://togetherrising.org/<span class="s2" style="color: #e4af0a; font-size: 17pt;"></span></a></span></div>
Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-69752741995774929642018-12-29T15:19:00.000-08:002018-12-29T15:19:18.898-08:00Learning in the Dark<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">I have made it no secret my disgust for Trump. At times I have railed against him out loud, admonishing his behavior, character, and treatment of others knowing that to be silent is to be complicit. At other times I have been utterly disgusted and ejected myself from the political arena knowing my opinions of what type of person he is won’t change the opinion of those who like what they see in Trump. I haven’t gone back to writing for a long time. Why? I have been so angry with everything swirling around us. So it’s shocking for me to realize and to even acknowledge that in some ways I should actually be thankful for Trump. Stay with me here. I guess there truly is a silver lining in pretty much everything, because though it sounds crazy, in ways he has made me a better person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*With every lie he has told, it has made me value honesty, people who are honest, and has made me evaluate what true honesty is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*Watching his horrific treatment of others has made me think outside of my own cushy world, empathize with others who I rarely considered, and want to try to do more in my one dance through this world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*Watching Trump’s behavior and watching others’ responses to him has made me deeply evaluate what I feel a true Christian is and how a true Christian acts and responds to the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*He has made me realize how much hate and anger there are in this world, and how much more love and kindness is needed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*He has reminded me how much words matter, how intensely words can lift others or diminish them, and reminded me how much words can have lifelong effects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*He has made me re-evaluate how important free thinking, intellectual questioning, and thoughtful consideration are. He has highlighted how easy it is to get caught up in something and to follow the crowd, and how we must always be diligent while monitoring our actions and how they affect others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*He has allowed me to watch the many players in the public eye responding to him over the past couple of years which has served as a reminder how many times doing the right thing will cause you strife, extreme anxiety, and may cause you to have to give up important things you have worked for in your life. But in the end, you will walk away with your dignity, your honor, and your ability to sleep peacefully at night. Nothing else is worth that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*I have discovered that sometimes you have wonderful things in common with people whom you would never expect, and sadly vice versa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*He has made me realize that people will show you who they really are if you pay attention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">*And finally, he has made me realize that not only do I not want to be even remotely close to who Trump is or what he stands for, but also that I want to strive to be an even better version of myself.</span></div>
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Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-86964142259537393842017-12-31T13:25:00.001-08:002017-12-31T13:25:20.653-08:002018<div><br></div><div><div>2018 goals...</div><div><br></div><div>~SLEEP MORE, because NO other aspect of my life will go smoothly if I don't get enough sleep. I will be irritable and cranky, won't make healthy food choices, won't feel well, won't exercise, and won't be productive or be who I was created to be.</div><div><br></div><div>LAUGH MORE, because life is tough, and if I can't laugh, then I am in trouble. Sometimes laughing is the life preserver in the rough undercurrent.</div><div><br></div><div>PAUSE MORE, because pausing before I act is never a mistake. If I want to confront a situation, waiting to respond is never regretted but impulsively acting almost always is.</div><div><br></div><div>SAY "NO" MORE, because life is too short to waste time doing things I don't really care about. I should spend my spare time doing things that mean something to me and fulfill my purpose. If I say yes to things I really don't want to do, I will be resentful and unhappy. People who truly care about me will understand this.</div><div><br></div><div>FOLLOW MY PASSION MORE, because those things that excite me and inspire me are my calling. Not only that, but pursuing them will make me truly happy. I am never truly happy unless I am using my creativity. Not being creative, in my own unique way, will cause me anxiety. </div><div><br></div><div>GIVE MORE, because the older I get the more I feel my heartstrings being tugged at the most random times. So many times I feel almost frantic because there are so many things I could be doing that I'm not. It's time to start doing some of those things.</div><div><br></div><div>CONNECT WITH GOD MORE, because being still and spending time with God will sustain me through the bad days, the normal days, and the great days. My happiness will be enhanced with God, and my sadness will be tolerable with God. </div><div><br></div><div>GIVE GRACE MORE, because people aren't perfect and neither am I. People will say and do things that hurt my feelings. When this happens, I have two choices- I can be offended and stew over it and become resentful or angry. Or I can let it go and realize that we all fall short and I can choose to forgive because I hope that I am forgiven when I fall short as well. </div><div><br></div><div>APPRECIATE MOMENTS MORE, because there are no perfect days. Never, ever, has there been an entirely perfect day. But there have been perfect moments. So when they happen, I need to be undistracted and "all in." Life is too fleeting to let the gift of a perfect moment go unnoticed.</div><div><br></div><div>CELEBRATE MORE, because small things or even nothing special can be celebrated. Birthdays and New Years and such should be celebrated, but so can any day. I can take the family to a movie on a school night, a fancy dinner with fancy dishes and candles can be on a regular old Tuesday, and a party can be thrown for a silly, made up reason. Our time here is limited, so why on Earth not?</div><div><br></div><div>And last but not least, may 2018 be the most authentic and inspiring year yet, full of wonder and many perfect moments!!!~</div></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-12251233853593673402017-08-14T07:58:00.001-07:002017-08-14T07:58:08.151-07:00Gym Mirrors and Petunia Pig<span style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">So, sometimes peer pressure works out in a positive way- like coercing you to go to a gym class.</span><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I rolled in on two wheels, completely oblivious as to how long it would actually take me to arrive to the gym. At this time I'm normally curled up on the couch with the dog drinking my morning fuel of an ice cold Coca-Cola, and I wasn't sure what to expect.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When I walked in I saw a lot of perky pony tails. Don't get me wrong, I had a pony tail too, but my pony tail looked sort of sad and apprehensive and a bit frizzy. The pony tails surrounding me were sleek and confident. These ponytails could do non-knee push-ups.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">As the class started, I knew I was in trouble when I was extremely winded during the "warm-up." There is no bigger lie then the words "warm up." Truth be told, I have never in my life attended ANY class, of ANY type, in ANY state where I wasn't completely ready to go home after the warm up. And not only go home after that, but feel accomplished.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Well, halfway through the workout, they did this exercise where you jump in the air like you are extremely excited. Of course there is always the modified version, or what I would prefer to call, the exercise for people who do not, in fact, feel like they have just won the lottery.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I tended to stick with that on more than one occasion.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">In this particular gym class, like most, the entire wall you face is a big mirror. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I looked at my legs in this mirror and two words unexpectedly popped into my mind...</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Petunia Pig.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Normally, I would think that the image I was seeing was skewed in some way.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sort of like when you see your reflection in store mirrors and your legs look shorter and stubbier than they really are. However, to my knowledge, there has yet to be a mirror invented which makes me look like Petunia while making everyone else look like Beyoncé, so there goes that theory.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And let me be clear. This class was ONLY THIRTY MINUTES.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Not sure why, but I just needed you to know that.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">As the class drew to a close, we ended with *several* rounds of burpees. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Yes, the words -*several* and *burpees* in the same sentence. The most hated exercise in existence. I can't even tell you how many I managed to knock out. I just wanted out of there.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I was supposed to stay and do a Body Pump class, but since I want to live to see my grandchildren someday, I told my friends adios, I would see them tomorrow (this may be a blatant lie), and slunk to my car...or so I thought.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Yes, I was so out of sorts I walked to the wrong car. Luckily, I corrected myself before I physically tried to get in it. However, once I was sitting in my car, I began to felt that lump you get in your throat right before you throw up.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I proceeded to call my mom, because even in your 40s, that's what you always want to do when you feel sick. Unfortunately while talking to her, I burped very loudly in her ear, but began to feel better.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And do not think that the irony of burping after burpees escapes me.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Truth be told, I am typing this right now on my phone in the gym parking lot. I'm still getting my bearings. In the same vein as the people with the half marathon stickers on their vehicles, 13.1, there may need to be a new sticker.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"Past the warmup"</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I would exhibit it proudly today.</div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-24084589745668100482017-03-29T19:09:00.001-07:002017-03-29T19:46:55.749-07:0045 is ...<br style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">1. Your plan to have lunch and a massage on your birthday quickly morphs into cleaning up vomit and looking for a two-inch missing wolf spider.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">2. You seriously contemplate if the amount of effort it is going to take to lose those stubborn pounds is really worth giving up golden brown fries dipped in ranch.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">3. You decide that a Spandex black tennis skirt is perfectly acceptable as a bathing suit bottom.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">4. You instantly fall hopelessly in love with anyone who even bothers to card you.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">5. You want to yell from the mountaintops to all the teachers at your child's school, and to all of their parents, that once you were really an AWESOME, energetic, top-notch Pinterest-loving room mom. You really were. Now you are more a Publix-made cupcake, and "Oh, it was picture day?" kind of mom.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">6. Sometimes when you are taking a picture on your phone and you accidentally flip the camera the other way, you actually scare yourself.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">7. You think the filters on Snapchat are the best thing invented since electricity.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">8. Your number one shopping question changes from, "Am I thin enough to wear this?" to, "Am I young enough to wear this?"</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">9. Your girls' beach trips graduate from dancing at the Florabama and morph into decadent dinners and chatting over cocktails in PJs back at the condo.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">10. You suddenly begin researching skincare as intently as Jonas Salk trying to crack the code for the polio vaccine.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">11. You find yourself wanting to tell some of these younger sports parents that their kids aren't going to play for the Red Sox so calm down and enjoy the ride.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">12. You find yourself walking more and more into rooms and wondering why you did...</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">13. Your days of chasing toddlers and arranging play dates have turned into driving around older kids with jam packed social schedules like you are an Uber driver burning up the streets in New York City.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">14. You embrace laugh lines over many of the frozen-faced people you see walking around like live wax museum exhibits. </div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">15. An organized closet makes you happy. Really happy.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">16. In a lot of ways, you still feel exactly the same inside as when you were 25.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">17. A smell or a song can still trigger a memory of a college party, or a laugh with friends, or a high school dance so vividly that it can take your breath away.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">18. Sometimes you wonder when you are going to feel grown up.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">19. When you have on JUST the right pair of reading glasses, you feel a little bit hot...in a mysterious librarian sort of way.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">20. Now that you are a parent of tweens and teens, you don't think that on the old sitcom "Roseanne" that she was as bad a parent as you once thought she was.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">21. You wonder how on earth you are going to make the next 45 years as awesome as the first have been.</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And last but not least...</div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">22. When it comes to this crazy, precious life you have been given, sometimes you feel like you are just getting started.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNKgsr5PT1imxlXPv6PwytXHT97s20lhmpwFhffwB8pvFcxBLHf2lwOWxeJRSDE0N1GQLWxTCYP6n5UOQbxqtxGYrhHYRCTTT5KO73WTkoXTBQ26XD4TwVgjsLz1CdIwogDl3ZRgpMgqp/s640/blogger-image-1194551953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNKgsr5PT1imxlXPv6PwytXHT97s20lhmpwFhffwB8pvFcxBLHf2lwOWxeJRSDE0N1GQLWxTCYP6n5UOQbxqtxGYrhHYRCTTT5KO73WTkoXTBQ26XD4TwVgjsLz1CdIwogDl3ZRgpMgqp/s640/blogger-image-1194551953.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-68553061503743717902016-12-27T16:42:00.001-08:002016-12-27T16:42:39.079-08:00In 2017...<div><br></div><div>In 2017...<div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I will be audacious.</span><br style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will spend more time politely saying no thank you, and spend less time being pressured into a half-hearted yes.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will focus on following my heart, and spend less time worrying about the unrealistic expectations of others.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will spend much more time being creative, and less time being aimlessly busy.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will not fall into the trap that being busy is something to be admired. I will look at excessive busyness as the stealer of authentic life moments.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will stand up for principles I hold dear, without worrying about what anyone thinks. I will remember that if I am standing up for something I feel is right and good and just and holy, then others disagreeing with me should not matter to me whatsoever.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will read more, not only because it is extremely enjoyable, but also because I discover so much more about myself when I read, which in turn makes me a more authentic me.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will tackle the laundry problem, and I will win.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to feel as close to God as I did when I was a younger me at Lake Junaluska, before adulthood stole my naivety of the world. I miss that.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will go to the movies more...because it's fun.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to read the whole Bible, because I'm not sure how great it's going to sound when I tell God I've made time to read all these amazing mysteries but not HIS entire book.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I won't worry about the state of my house when a friend drops by, because if it's a real friend, clutter doesn't matter.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will not be ashamed of being a deeply feeling person. I will use it as the gift that it is.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will exercise in a way that I enjoy, a way that I am more likely to stick with, and not necessarily the most popular ways.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to do better and not fall into the bottomless pit of overthinking.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will continue to remind my mirror reflection that grand expressions and smiling eyes and laugh lines are more beautiful and younger looking than immovable faces and waxen stillness.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to see the humor in absolutely everything, because humor is truly one of God's greatest gifts.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">If it's trendy to wear stripes, I might wear polka dots, and if big heels are popular I might wear comfortable flats. I will remind myself that the most beautiful thing of all is confidence and being comfortable in your own skin.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to be more giving.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to be more productive.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will try to eat more healthy most of the time, but if I truly want the piece of cake, I am going to eat the piece of cake- no regrets.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I am going to write, write, and write some more. Like it's my job. Like a boss. Writing will not take a back seat to tedious tasks. The book will be finished this time next year. I will set attainable goals, and I will reach them.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I won't be a slave to distractions. I don't have to jump for every text, ding, and piece of information that comes my way. That can wait. But Monopoly with my family may not.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will slow the pace on many things, and accelerate the pace on others.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">There will be more now, and less yesterday and tomorrow.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This year will be a good one. This year I'm hitting "reset."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I will be kind...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">but I will be fierce.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Happy New Year!!!!!!!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhus5sCXtUrN9uYSoOhzo5juWRD1DPtjInkFEcsmhRERfFz9qdvw1VF-FFm6faZWVLu13-g5WH9Y1WZ0Pyh_xHgB3wk8JOXUtkhyphenhyphenLBYA2ui2hb-qgm00am0Ul6LP0EXlM_XIsXj6HU4sqAh/s640/blogger-image--2141970182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhus5sCXtUrN9uYSoOhzo5juWRD1DPtjInkFEcsmhRERfFz9qdvw1VF-FFm6faZWVLu13-g5WH9Y1WZ0Pyh_xHgB3wk8JOXUtkhyphenhyphenLBYA2ui2hb-qgm00am0Ul6LP0EXlM_XIsXj6HU4sqAh/s640/blogger-image--2141970182.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-73175210172650330692016-11-16T20:21:00.001-08:002016-11-16T20:21:32.835-08:00Ice Cream, Hugs, and Music<div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">To say that the last few months have been tumultuous would be quite an understatement. Many of us have been angered, saddened, embarrassed, enraged, horrified, empowered, incensed, or some other big, strong, soul-rattling emotion. Perhaps many emotions all at once.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">During these times, some of us have drawn closer to people we may have more in common with than we ever before realized, and many of us have found that some of those closest to us seem like strangers. We have had our feelings hurt, and we have hurt others' feelings. Sometimes without even knowing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's been rough. All of the hostility has been in the air for a while now. It has been defeating. It's been exhausting. And mostly, it's been disheartening.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Our bodies, minds, and spirits are beaten down, and oh, so very tired.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">No one should have to apologize for standing up for something they believe in, nor should anyone apologize for standing against something they believe to be wrong.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">What is it they say? If you don't stand for something then you stand for nothing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But sometimes we need to regroup. To rest. To feel peace. To reconnect. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Our souls need music, hugs and ice cream. Simplicity.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">There are times the swirling needs to stop.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sometimes you need to feel the warm water running over your wrist while you wash a dish with Bing Crosby singing in the background. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sometimes you need to notice the light reflecting off your son's eyelashes while he is talking to you on the front steps in the brisk fall air.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sometimes you need to look at a strangers, right into their eyes, and give a real smile and have that smile returned. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Maybe, like a friend of mine, you even need to tell the guy at Starbucks that your name is actually 'Shazam' so he will yell it when your drink is ready.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's about to be December, which should be the most peaceful and holy time of the year. And if we allow all the static in, we won't be able to feel the magic of the season.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Whatever fight we have before us, whatever battle we need to wage, whether it is for something we believe in, or against something we don't...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That battle will still be there the first day of 2017. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And maybe, just maybe, if we stop and regroup, by then, our path will look clearer and our spirit will be stronger and filled with renewed love and purpose for others and ourselves.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZG3-CjWEgcJip9n0-2lxWq_uyw5VbfYn1ijClgVYSzKEL02hE_NzJjGUyQoRBuTQpnHWpGJ3RLvF7V2LI3PacCjt2BYgRbK-fHp-BiQlh4tI1rYddawB0LDigJHQrw-LG2RI9orLXjZfC/s640/blogger-image-1209425590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZG3-CjWEgcJip9n0-2lxWq_uyw5VbfYn1ijClgVYSzKEL02hE_NzJjGUyQoRBuTQpnHWpGJ3RLvF7V2LI3PacCjt2BYgRbK-fHp-BiQlh4tI1rYddawB0LDigJHQrw-LG2RI9orLXjZfC/s640/blogger-image-1209425590.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-23670047817549114882016-11-06T17:09:00.001-08:002016-11-06T17:09:40.003-08:00'Twas the Night Before the Election<div><br></div><div><div><br></div>'Twas the night before the election,<div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And all through Facebook,</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Questions of Trump grabbing women, Or is Hilary a crook?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">The poll workers were ready,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Tomorrow was the day.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">One would have to be president,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">There wasn't any other way.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">The voters were nestled,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">All snug in their beds,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But no one was sleeping, </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">They were overcome with dread.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">With Daddy in his red shirt,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And Mama in her blue,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We trudged to the polls,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Not knowing what to do.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">When up near the voting booth,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">There arose such a clatter,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I peeked ahead in line,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">To see what was the matter.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">When what to my wondering eyes should appear,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But two voters fighting,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Their eyes filled with fear.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">"But what about those tax returns!"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">One of them shouted.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">"So what's in those e-mails?"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">The other one pouted.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">More rapid than eagles,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">The curses they came,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And they bellowed and shouted,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And called them by name.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But what about Benghazi,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And e-mails deleted?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Whitewater and 'Pay to Play',</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">She must be defeated!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">You want a sociopath,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">With our nuclear fate?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Who has a bromance with Putin,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And incites nothing but hate?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">They went back and forth,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Until red in the face.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">All eyes were on them,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Every voter in the place.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Finally they tired,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Running out of fight.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">They both loved America,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This just wasn't right.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">When all of this is over,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And the election finally ends.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">These two will still be standing,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">These two should still be friends.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">After they finished,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Both casting their vote.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Neither looked happy,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">They were in the same boat.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">One walked toward the other,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">It would all be okay.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">He began clearing his throat,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And started to say,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We just need to stop,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We've been friends for years.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We need to stay kind,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">In spite of our fears.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We can't let an election,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Tear us apart.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We both want what's best,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We're each following our heart.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">As one turned to the other,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">With a twinkle in his eye,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I leaned a little closer,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Though I didn't want to pry.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And I heard him exclaim,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Ere he walked out of sight,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">"We can always just hope,</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">For a big meteorite!"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrCcfOb1Zg8R4T3BbjmUI3fRiKJIdNa5mYwJVILekPUzRdPQHQZuc63pKhhWOxGPMEKRcIQNYweFtu4JFrGjj7rMzwVxntC59-09xv_CJOXTeQIKSYc_omo4-uhUe3_lesH4URyPAKkg2/s640/blogger-image--1677875250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrCcfOb1Zg8R4T3BbjmUI3fRiKJIdNa5mYwJVILekPUzRdPQHQZuc63pKhhWOxGPMEKRcIQNYweFtu4JFrGjj7rMzwVxntC59-09xv_CJOXTeQIKSYc_omo4-uhUe3_lesH4URyPAKkg2/s640/blogger-image--1677875250.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-44765086175236455442016-10-30T18:33:00.001-07:002016-10-30T18:41:05.254-07:00Nine more days...who will we be?<div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Finally, this divisive election will soon be over, but I believe we all know that it won't really be over at all. Someone will win and someone will lose, obviously. If "your" candidate doesn't win, if "my" candidate doesn't win, what will we do?</span></div><div><font color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7019607843137254)" face="UICTFontTextStyleBody"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></span></font><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">1. We can complain, threaten to move to Canada, spew venom at those who elected this president, fail to see any good in the new president at all, lash out on social media, and cause more hatred and divisiveness to spread within our nation. We can contribute to the tearing apart of our nation from within.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">OR...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">2. We can secretly think that everyone who voted for this person is certifiably crazy, BUT, we can also hope and pray to be pleasantly surprised. If there is any good, we can TRY to see it. After all, since our nation's birth we have been severely let down by presidents from whom we expected great things. Isn't it fathomable that the opposite could take place? That we could maybe, even occasionally be shocked in a good way?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Someone will win and someone will lose. Half of the nation will be relieved, and half will angered. And many of us find both choices disheartening.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">How will we handle it?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Because I think we can all agree that how our nation survives, who we ARE, at the end of the four year term, is much more important than who wins or loses.</div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifsgj41ZXLR99PYfqDmPlXfNz5Ws_vICvRhvaR1pqUN0pM8FX2c1amFpFY9_pbqkGixA4aFLj9kEYu_Dbn7FxM3QeThwcDncofAWN1nss8AXorTBilm_RBQ7EEIsChZGo9JkyfoZqBGOo/s640/blogger-image--751324314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifsgj41ZXLR99PYfqDmPlXfNz5Ws_vICvRhvaR1pqUN0pM8FX2c1amFpFY9_pbqkGixA4aFLj9kEYu_Dbn7FxM3QeThwcDncofAWN1nss8AXorTBilm_RBQ7EEIsChZGo9JkyfoZqBGOo/s640/blogger-image--751324314.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-86909221789409671452016-09-26T09:51:00.001-07:002016-09-26T09:51:27.257-07:00We are better<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Someone told me the other day that I needed to write my blog more often.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Deep down I already knew that. I want to write. It keeps me sane. It makes me happy. It gives me oxygen.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But honestly, I haven't been able to write a blog entry lately.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Why? I'm angry.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm honestly too angry and too fed up with this world right now to even know what to say. I guess I could try to write something whimsical, but I'm not feeling it.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I could write how I'm feeling about one of the 10,572 issues going on right now that everyone is arguing about, but I don't feel strong enough for the backlash, and what could possibly turn into extreme hatefulness if you have been reading any of the comments on any news article that happens to come your way.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Everyone seems so full of hate, an 'us vs. them' mentality. Everyone seems so willing to spew venom, yet everyone seems raw.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Everyone is looking at each other with guarded, tender, angry hearts.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">Tonight</a> is the debate, Lord help us.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I am predicting that everyone will watch, with their red or blue tinted glasses, only seeing the flaws of the candidate they don't support. Then it will be taken to social media where there is no respectful debating. It is raw, angry, insulting, in-your-face, fighting.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The kind of fighting where everyone wants to either punch the wall or throw up their hands and walk away.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have had enough. Simply enough.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have seen people tear each other down, friends who are friends with each other no more, and enough hatefulness on social media to almost literally make me scream.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have opinions about this election. Very strong opinions. And I could give a million and one reasons why I think one of the candidates is the lesser of the two evils of the choices we have been given. But this blog post isn't about that. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I am saddened by our political choices, saddened by all that is going on in our nation, but mostly by people's reactions of what's happening in our nation and the way everyone is tearing each other down.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I don't mean we shouldn't have opinions. We absolutely should. Perhaps now more than ever. But convictions can be supported in two ways, with a hateful, insulting, devisive rant, or with a calm, steady and loving sharing of truth.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Here is a thought. What if every single person, or even half of the people, would show nothing but love to each other- a smile, a hug, a short conversation, a "we clearly disagree but that's okay, and I really love your new haircut, it really brings out your eyes."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Maybe it's really that simple.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">There are people who are struggling with severe mental illnesses, taking care of special needs children, people wondering where they will get their next meal, or taking care of aging parents, physically and emotionally exhausted.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And meanwhile, people are spewing hate at each other like wild animals.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Let's just stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Now.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We are better than this. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I will be starting with the person I see in the mirror. </div></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73YjlRw60gzDRyXE58JwlemhRcv8891MkiJhYNUOIXK3uHTWdCRQbB-ex96I_g57HosjodwtE5einYbI8dxnQS8Go9qoLfZ_6nBUTrv_QatUhlGeGiQFz0aXxFMNp4FT99GW_H80qrj1N/s640/blogger-image--769430303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73YjlRw60gzDRyXE58JwlemhRcv8891MkiJhYNUOIXK3uHTWdCRQbB-ex96I_g57HosjodwtE5einYbI8dxnQS8Go9qoLfZ_6nBUTrv_QatUhlGeGiQFz0aXxFMNp4FT99GW_H80qrj1N/s640/blogger-image--769430303.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-18503363087166966552016-07-08T12:38:00.001-07:002016-07-08T12:38:13.068-07:00Be the Change<div><br></div><div><div>When I was a kid, we were in a Cold War with Russia. Russia was the enemy. I never dreamed, flashing forward 30 plus years, that the enemy would be each other.</div><div><br></div><div>What we mustn't forget is that black people want to live in harmony with white people, and white people want to live in harmony with black people. We are letting the few bad ones tear this country apart like some modern day civil war and it absolutely sickens me. </div><div><br></div><div>Let's be bigger than the bad ones and more persistent than the bad ones. If you are a white person, please do something kind for a black person today. If you are a black person, please do something kind for a white person today. </div><div><br></div><div>In fact let's keep it going much longer than a day. Like forever.</div></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-63258606276343444622016-05-20T05:58:00.001-07:002016-05-20T06:06:25.288-07:00These are the Days<div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div><span style="text-align: center; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">~These are days you'll remember. </span></div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;">Never before and never since, I promise, will the whole world be warm as this. </div></span><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;">And as you feel it, you'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky.~</div><div style="text-align: start;"><br></div><div style="text-align: start;"> 10,000 Maniacs</div></span></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">This time of year there are moms who are feeling the kick to the gut. It's hitting them hard. It's hitting US hard.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Oh, I'm not talking about the moms realizing this is the last summer before their little ones start kindergarten. I remember that, and there are lots of emotions with that. There really are. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"He's not a baby anymore."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"What am I going to do with myself?"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"She's growing so fast."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I'm not talking about those moms. The moms I'm talking about are quieter about these new feelings. Introspective. And they are scared. We are scared.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Our children aren't babies anymore, and they are still growing fast, but what stops us in our tracks, and what makes our stomachs drop like a free- falling elevator isn't that.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's, "We don't have much longer with them."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's, "It wasn't all supposed to happen this fast."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And, "What am I going to do with myself when the house is silent?"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's a new emotion, and it's a scary one. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have friends who are sending kids to high school in the fall. Four more years in the nest. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm sending my oldest to 7th, and it's painfully clear to me how fast these last years will go.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">People always tell you to treasure every minute when they are babies because it will fly by quicker than you can imagine. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But little did we know that THESE are the days we should be treasuring. The middle school and high school years. THESE are the MOST precious because this is the finale before we let them fly on their own. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We hope to always have a wonderful relationship with our children even after they go out on their own. But let's face it, these years are the last that we will have the influence we have now. They are crucial years. Years where the best memories need to be made. Years where the truly important conversations need to happen. Years where we try to connect with them in a way that will always lead them back home.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The time is now. We already know that time went a lot faster than we thought it would. We learned that the hard way, just like every mother has before, and every mother will after.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">This summer, there will be a lot of times they are hanging with their friends, which of course gets more and more frequent the older they get. But those other times? The times they aren't?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm going to savor it. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm going to do my very best to savor every second. I'm going to drink it in with a new perspective. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I don't have endless piles of time handed to me on a silver platter, like it used to feel in the early years of motherhood. I have chunks of time. I must be deliberate with each sacred piece. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">These can be the best days of our lives with our kids. Why? Because we have the gift of perspective. The gift of knowing that as Goethe said, "Nothing is worth more than this day."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Let's use each day as a gift, a chance to build connections that will always lead them home long after they have learned to fly on their own.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiILm3LmRX-MUMhSQGJQJJjXNA5xfYobIXP1IXM1SBXx50xe1SWI2m5Ed7G4uKXhbya7oeTskEcVvVsEdDDZoT5VwTox0-G-XnmTAPJbHZj9Th_T5mSpoCwmodcqPRVtTBnZK4ravDxBJK/s640/blogger-image-1598178883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiILm3LmRX-MUMhSQGJQJJjXNA5xfYobIXP1IXM1SBXx50xe1SWI2m5Ed7G4uKXhbya7oeTskEcVvVsEdDDZoT5VwTox0-G-XnmTAPJbHZj9Th_T5mSpoCwmodcqPRVtTBnZK4ravDxBJK/s640/blogger-image-1598178883.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-67302258120752839322016-04-17T17:52:00.001-07:002016-04-17T17:52:25.616-07:00My Love Affair With Books<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's almost as if I hear them whispering. </span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"Look inside. It will change your life."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Of course I don't really hear the books whispering, but it's how I feel when I'm inside a library or a book store.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My sense of awareness is heightened, as if something new is about to be discovered. Endless possibilities.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Not many things can excite me as much as the possibility of a thrilling book. I've pretty much been this way since I was four.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I still remember the perfume my mom wore while I was reading the Nancy Drew series. The memory is that much a part of me. To this day when I smell Estée Lauder's Private Collection, childhood happiness washes over me.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Some people don't get it. Those who don't read not only don't get it, but also think it sounds a bit strange. But those who love books know exactly what I'm talking about.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">How can anyone get so much pleasure from not experiencing something, but reading about it? That's what non- readers might ask. And it's a valid question.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I would argue that with the right imagination and the right book, you actually are experiencing it.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">One of the things that has always made me nervous about life is that there simply isn't time to do all of the things I want to do. I can't bear the thought that I might never get to be a detective, or own a bookshop, or be a writer in a flat in New York, or fall in love in Italy. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I will get to do all of these things with a book and an imagination.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If we weren't experiencing it as if it really were happening, books wouldn't have the power to make us laugh out loud, or cry, or bite our fingernails in anticipation.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And I feel confident in saying that I know myself so much better because I read. You know that moment when you are reading and you come to *that* sentence. A sentence that resonates so deep within you that you feel a deep connection with the writer whom you don't even know. You suddenly feel implicitly understood, validated, like you are not alone and apparently have never been alone in your feelings.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I dare say books develop who you are. They slowly, over time, help you see truths about yourself and others that shape who you are and how your react to certain situations. They help you become the more authentic "you" that you were always meant to be.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">One of my biggest hopes is that I pass on my love of reading to my children. Because I truly believe that is one of the best gifts that can be given.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And I don't really believe there are non-readers. There are really just undiscovered readers who haven't found the right book.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">There is a reason that when I'm asked if I could have one item on a deserted island, the answer has always been and always will be a book. Because with a book I wouldn't be stranded. I would get to go everywhere.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathYRNxIRCA0Xav36-nJeXV8GWMzSyoLmtdPLtkWb075RD3GidIyAJZeZZS0yF7g9cLO5w2pNfp4tyMngAxXxPgSaylvDOj1BtD_-3UfXjEWEFcBcQB2kmspsF5JTS0tzHHiszm-CSe2O/s640/blogger-image-2135171103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathYRNxIRCA0Xav36-nJeXV8GWMzSyoLmtdPLtkWb075RD3GidIyAJZeZZS0yF7g9cLO5w2pNfp4tyMngAxXxPgSaylvDOj1BtD_-3UfXjEWEFcBcQB2kmspsF5JTS0tzHHiszm-CSe2O/s640/blogger-image-2135171103.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-64316779647721624262016-04-06T22:33:00.001-07:002016-04-07T05:02:52.525-07:00The Boys Who Built Me<div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I slowly slid off my workout mat, walked cautiously over to the bug, scooped him up, and released him out of the gym door.<div><br></div><div>My workout partner looked at me and said, "You can sure tell you're a boy mom!"</div><div><br></div><div>Ah, it's true I suppose. I always knew, or hoped rather, that I would be a mom. But I had no idea I would be a boy mom. Or even a mom to two boys.</div><div><br></div><div>As Plato (who was, of course, brilliant) said, "Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable." </div><div><br></div><div>If that doesn't intimidate a mom to be, I don't know what would.</div><div><br></div><div>And I must admit (though at the beginning I was so inexperienced and nervous) that having boys has opened my eyes to new things and has changed me in some truly wonderful and unexpected ways.</div><div><br></div><div>1. For one thing, I have certainly become more in tune with nature. I'm always on the lookout for cool rocks, or interesting outdoorsy things. We identify animal tracks and see how many times we can skip rocks on the water. And what on earth is sweeter than a little boy with twinkling eyes offering his mother fresh picked flowers in his chubby little dimpled hands? (Even if they really are weeds). I just chaperoned a middle school field trip to an aquarium and then on to Rock City. I had both boys and girls in my group. The girls were slowly walking, taking in everything, taking pictures of jellyfish and taking time to choose things in the gift shop. The boys were like Labrador Retriever puppies just let out of their kennels. They were running and climbing, making the scary swinging bridge swing even more. And through the walkways, were hiding in crevices and trying to scare me by jumping out like scenes from a horror movie. It's just how they roll.</div><div><br></div><div>2. I now realize that Sandlot is possibly one of the best movies ever made. This coming-of-age movie seriously captures tween boys in a way that no article or expert can. I live it first hand. If you ever want to be truly entertained, just sit back, watch, and listen to a group of middle school boys. There isn't much else on this earth more delightfully entertaining.</div><div><br></div><div>3. I never really fully knew that you could learn almost every life lesson you need from baseball, or any sport for that matter. Camaraderie, patience, perseverance, self-confidence, self-discipline, humbleness, fairness, strength, commitment. A sport is</div><div>about so much more than just the sport. I love everything sports have taught my boys AND me.</div><div><br></div><div>4. I like dirt. I probably need to clarify this one. There is a certain beauty in seeing a boy, younger or older, covered in dirt. I would rather see a boy covered in dirt and grass, with dingy wet shoes, than a boy in a polo with pressed khakis any day. Damp and muddy means he jumped in that puddle, climbed that rock, dove for that ball. If he is covered in dirt, it means he LIVED that day.</div><div><br></div><div>5. Having boys, I also never realized how IRRITATED I would get at society's underappreciation of the mother-son bond.</div><div><br></div><div>"There is an endearing tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that </div><div>transcends all other affections of the heart." ~ Washington Irving</div><div><br></div><div>Yet...</div><div><br></div><div>Father-son fishing tournaments? Yep. Father-son camping trips? Sure! There are tons of those! Mother-daughter luncheons? Why yes!!! Father-daughter dances? Of course! Where in the fresh heck are the events for mothers and sons?? ...crickets...</div><div><br></div><div>As Steve Rushin said, "Moms are as relentless as the tides. They don't just drive us to practice, they drive us to greatness."</div><div><br></div><div>So where is the celebration of this, people? There has GOT to be more celebration than just waiting for that three-minute mother/son dance at the wedding.</div><div>It is my absolute mission before too long to throw together some sort of charity mother/son baseball tournament. Get your gloves ready mamas. Enough is enough.</div><div><br></div><div>6. I suddenly get why Chandler (on Friends) laughed every time someone said "duty." They never grow out of it. Never. Ever.</div><div><br></div><div>7. I never knew that someone 100 pounds or less could consume this much food without rupturing his intestines. It seems to defy all scientific laws. The way to their hearts is through their stomachs. It's true. So be sure you have some good recipes that they love so when your son marries that little hussy in California who won't move he will still want to come back for your spaghetti sauce. They really do eat more than the human brain can comprehend. And I have learned that if you even think you might want a Sister Schubert Roll, you had better grab it, FAST. Because boys eat bread like they haven't eaten for weeks in the Mojave Desert and have just been awarded the feast on Survivor. </div><div><br></div><div>8. I allow things in my house that I never would have imagined. I believe at one point there was going to be no throwing balls in the house. That was my original intent anyway. It's all fuzzy now. I have now been known to allow American Ninja Warrior stunts in my hallway. And I once actually heard myself yelling in Target, "Stop throwing the football!!! But that was a really nice pass."</div><div><br></div><div>9. I never realized how sacred the drives to and from games or <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">Wednesday night</a> church would be. Some of our deepest, most meaningful conversations have been in the car with just the two of us. Just driving after dark with the radio turned low. </div><div><br></div><div>Sacred.</div><div><br></div><div>Come to find out, boys open up about things much easier when they don't have you staring right at them.</div><div>Who knew?</div><div><br></div><div>10. Life with boys is full throttle. Sort of like a permanent adrenaline rush. A roller coaster every day. They have more energy than their bodies can contain. They need to take risks, to be challenged, to explore, to compete. I never realized how wild and untamed the spirit of the boy is. And what I never would have realized before, is that I would never want to tame them. They are just the way God intended. And I am so, so lucky to be a part of their magical, wild world.</div></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Thank you, God.</div></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabOKUxsHvXL98IKUsbC1Mvw-RhMQjD7euKWOmbWZ0Z3C4rVd6P1pnuX3ErR8v-THx3X8s1zvxaiTZHn51Zwxc08ccQUFfiYK4w3bBIAt5s10Inyhyudk2OrPF4gZqfXINl1wB6mkcCd1c/s640/blogger-image-2072386109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabOKUxsHvXL98IKUsbC1Mvw-RhMQjD7euKWOmbWZ0Z3C4rVd6P1pnuX3ErR8v-THx3X8s1zvxaiTZHn51Zwxc08ccQUFfiYK4w3bBIAt5s10Inyhyudk2OrPF4gZqfXINl1wB6mkcCd1c/s640/blogger-image-2072386109.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-87698505801448831402015-12-31T11:29:00.001-08:002015-12-31T11:29:29.218-08:00To a 2016 of Baby Steps<div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I always write a blog for New Year's Eve. Always.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div><br></div><div>But, yet, this is what I posted on my personal Facebook page yesterday.</div><div><br></div><div>"I have exactly 34 hours to figure out how to be a healthier, more organized, productive person so that 2016 is better than 2015. I can't take the pressure. How about for 2016 I just vow to eat a tad less cheese dip?"</div><div><br></div><div>Isn't this so true? Sometimes when we put pressure on ourselves, things don't end well. We set ourselves up for disaster.</div><div><br></div><div>So here is what I am going to say for 2016. Let's go a little easier on ourselves. Let's be kinder and gentler to ourselves and others. </div><div><br></div><div>Take that nap. Don't stress over that snack you are supposed to take to Bunco, Publix will do it for you!</div><div><br></div><div>(If you secretly hate your Christmas elves, it's okay to stop. Let 2016 be the year your elves go to live with Jesus. It really is okay y'all. I promise.) I see all these people agonizing and complaining about the dang elves and I think, "Guys, you know the elves aren't real, right?"</div><div>Will the kids be a little disappointed? Maybe? Mine weren't. Couldn't have cared much less. But even if they are a little disappointed, it's probably nothing that a Kit-Kat won't fix. Or better yet, let the kids take turns staging the elves and surprising their siblings. It's a win-win for everyone.</div><div><br></div></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">So, here are some of my thoughts for 2016.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Let's think of and not forget the small things that illicit happiness. And do more of *that* this year.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><div><br></div><div>Now, obviously the most important things in life are a relationship with God, family, and friends. Those are absolutely THE most important things in life. And any effort to improve those areas is always a major success. They trump everything else.</div><div><br></div><div>But right now I'm trying to also think of the smaller, less obvious things, as well. Maybe some are even seemingly insignificant things that somehow, in some way, make life better.</div><div><br></div><div>I have begun thinking of my "things." The little things that can oddly enough, pack a big punch, when it comes to my personal happiness.</div><div><br></div><div>1. Books</div><div><br></div><div>It's been said that a person who reads lives many different lives. Who said that? Someone said that. And it was one smart cookie. I cannot tell you how much I believe this. I feel so lucky to be a reader and to be able to experience so many things that I wouldn't if I didn't read. There are those who don't get it. "Why do you care about reading a fiction story that isn't even real?" Well, it's amazing, not only because I get to experience an adventure I wouldn't otherwise experience, but books help me understand myself better. That sentence you read and think, "Yes! This is exactly how I feel! And the author has put it into the exact words I have always felt but not been able to define!" Well, that is priceless!</div><div>So, reading? Yep, I'm doing even more of it.</div><div><br></div><div>2. Reasonably clean house</div><div><br></div><div>As gut wrenching as it is for me to admit this, I do feel better, mentally, when my space is reasonably clean. It's taken me 43 years to admit this. And there are times I run unnecessary errands that I strongly suspect is really a diversion from my cluttered living space. I think I may sometimes hide from my house. Or actually flee from it like an ax wielding murderer. So, I guess I'm going to try to get a handle on this. But baby steps.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>3. Exercise</div><div><br></div><div>Let me be clear. I will not pressure myself to exercise. If I make a set list of things I must do, I've already failed. Maybe I have a rebellious nature and resist things I am *supposed* to do. So I will tell myself I do not HAVE to exercise. Maybe I should even tell myself I am not allowed to exercise. "Oh yeah, I will walk if I want to!!!!" Not sure how to tackle this one, but I do think it starts with something you enjoy and something that doesn't seem like a chore. All of you people who love to hit the gym? Power on sistas! That will never be me. Never. But, I do love to dance. Love it. So that's my first clue I suppose.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>4. Water</div><div><br></div><div>You would have thought when the woman giving me a facial a few years ago told me that the little lines she was seeing by my eyes weren't actual wrinkles but rather lack of water and could be plumped right up, well, you would think I would have guzzled Lake Michigan by now. But for whatever reason, drinking water is extremely difficult for me. I remember one time in my life where I totally felt like a new person. I was out of the country for a week and felt the best I have ever felt in my life. I've tried to think on this, and was saddened to realize that I think it has to do with water. That week I was drinking lots of clean water because it was safer than risking the foreign ice cubes that might be put into my Cokes that could cause stomach issues. I've racked my brain trying to think of other reasons I felt so fantastic that week, but have come up empty handed other than the fact that I was finally drinking water and not dragging myself around dehydrated half the time. Unless,</div><div>there is a hidden benefit to pizza and gelato from the French Riviera which is entirely possible in my hopeful world. More water and more pizza (just to be safe.)</div><div><br></div><div>5. More movies</div><div><br></div><div>Okay, so this one is silly, but why on earth do I not go to the movies more than I do? I LOVE movies- especially scary ones. There is something about seeing a fictional girl (who unfortunately will be showing the obligatory cleavage), while running from something scary, and will twist her ankle and fall. There is something cathartic about thinking, "Wow, I'm so glad I'm not her!!" More popcorn?</div><div><br></div><div>6. More sleep</div><div><br></div><div>I hate admitting this one to myself perhaps the most. And this one directly conflicts with number one on this list. Because I love reading late into the night. Love. It. I am a night owl. I love the night. I come alive at night! But the real world doesn't seem to want to work with me on I this one. So it seems I'm going to have to cave a little. Maybe just an hour more.</div></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">7. Writing- or whatever makes your heart soar.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm a firm believer that if you aren't using your gift, then you aren't truly happy. Period. The end. You have your gift for a reason. Whether it's gardening or drawing or working with animals or painting or hiking- go do it. It makes you...you.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That's it. My small list. My baby-steps list. I'm going to see if small things can yield big results. More happiness. Less stress. Low pressure. And if these things work, I might up my game. And really, if I'm working on all of these things, there really isn't a need to cut back on cheese dip at all. is there?</div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOK_82nkBeRBIWE5cUdz-VZFPwf90ZnZYfWpeocU91zd7TpmFy5jUIcXLIYbHoNIBlLzKkomlobiDNPy1O9Blzd59UL31YW3t6rUHoA5CNAW3Ajho5Fao-F2UDtM_voS5fPo6LXdGsRdN/s640/blogger-image--1016231722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOK_82nkBeRBIWE5cUdz-VZFPwf90ZnZYfWpeocU91zd7TpmFy5jUIcXLIYbHoNIBlLzKkomlobiDNPy1O9Blzd59UL31YW3t6rUHoA5CNAW3Ajho5Fao-F2UDtM_voS5fPo6LXdGsRdN/s640/blogger-image--1016231722.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-15143432357174570872015-11-25T12:36:00.001-08:002015-11-25T12:36:33.279-08:00Sameness<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div> I met a stranger today. An older man. I have made a point and been extremely careful not to post anything political on Facebook or to get in political debates of any kind, (not simply because I have no desire to, but also because as a person who many times sides with each party on different things), I have found myself feeling actually confused and defeated by all of the political opinions swirling about lately. <div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"> When I first began talking to this man, I quickly assessed that we would have nothing in common. I knew we differed politically, and knew after a week of being under the weather that I felt too sick to debate. I wondered where on earth this conversation was going to go. But almost 45 minutes later I was shocked. Even though on the surface, and possibly after a brief five-minute conversation, you might have thought that there is nothing we would agree on whatsoever. No point in talking.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But after a totally respectful, calm, friendly, 45-minute conversation, I realized he and I are hardly different at all. We agreed on so much more than I realized. We would have never figured that out with a superficial conversation, or a heated moment, or a quick sound bite, or a Facebook post. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"> But after our sometimes deep, and thoughtful conversation, I feel like we walked away feeling that we are on the same team, and I was shocked by our similarities.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"> I truly felt energized and even hopeful after our conversation.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"> I wonder if the majority of us aren't really, deep down where it counts, on the same side, but in the "lashing out" that seems so common these days, things get totally twisted and misunderstood.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"> Away from the TV media, and the baited questions, and social media, I'll bet we are so much more united than we even realize.</div></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGZJK9bz6Z3RD95uPiTqEuy8P-eEHvphsiRrwLNRkwZPohuFZ0N6NIXudjHz5s5deQaPYgxQ1P5pE-3DW91tAgU7ZYait6bXa_oDMizcnQjudUvlGeoHkxEJNmmU_ddGltZbgq79auj02/s640/blogger-image--503044455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGZJK9bz6Z3RD95uPiTqEuy8P-eEHvphsiRrwLNRkwZPohuFZ0N6NIXudjHz5s5deQaPYgxQ1P5pE-3DW91tAgU7ZYait6bXa_oDMizcnQjudUvlGeoHkxEJNmmU_ddGltZbgq79auj02/s640/blogger-image--503044455.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-8104334728155911262015-10-18T14:24:00.001-07:002015-10-18T17:33:23.665-07:00Control/Alt/Delete<div><br></div><div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When I was a baby, my mom used to think I was asleep. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But as soon as she stood up to put me in my crib, I relentlessly forced myself awake, looking around feverishly, scared I was missing something interesting.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm still very much like that. It is my strength and my weakness.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My motto is always "count me in." I love people, I love experiences. Basically, I love life.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Family grill out? Yes! Big group at the pool for swimming and pizza? Of course! Road trip? Yes! Where? Any gathering with cheese dip? You betcha! </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Let's experience everything life has to offer!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But once in a while, you get a wake up call.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We all have those weeks, and a couple of weeks ago was mine. Long story short, in one week my son's trombone, iPad, book bag with notes, and PE clothes were stolen out of my car. That same week I locked my husband's keys in his truck and stranded our entire family at Target for hours before we finally had to call a locksmith and ended up paying three times what we were expecting. In the same week, we very unexpectedly found a cute place at the lake that we could afford and wrote a check and made an offer on the spot. I was so excited about this new opportunity for our family. However, our offer wasn't turned in by the realtor and the lake place was unexpectedly swiped out from under us later that night.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">All within a few days.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Now, I know what you're thinking, and I thought it as well. In the scheme of things, none of this is that important. We are happy and healthy and together and fed. Life truly is good. I have absolutely nothing to complain about.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But even though I logically knew that, I still felt down, and then felt kicked while I was down. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I tried to keep perspective, and my mood soon lifted. One day I was folding laundry and noticed I was humming. Now, I don't know about you guys, but laundry and humming don't usually go hand in hand in my house. Muttering grouchy things under my breath maybe, but not humming.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Not. Ever.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I soon realized what was different about this laundry time.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I wasn't rushing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I wasn't digging through clean clothes, not yet put away, piled on the love seat in our "fancy room", (AKA- the room we never go into unless we can't find a clean washcloth). I wasn't hurriedly cleaning the house for a get together that night. No one would be coming over a few hours later. I also wasn't quickly folding laundry hoping that the baseball pants my son needed in a few hours would be in there.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I was simply doing laundry. In the moment. Nowhere to go. No place to be. That is why I was humming.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I wasn't rushing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It soon hit me why the week had taken such a toll. Sure, it was upsetting to have things stolen, and be out so much money. To lock the keys in the car and have to pay even more just to get inside our own vehicle.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But those things had happened because of rushing. THAT was the most frustrating.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If we hadn't been rushing, we probably would have grabbed the bag and iPad and trombone out of the car. If we hadn't been rushing, I would have thought to lock the car. If I hadn't been rushing, I would have been more focused and "in the moment", and wouldn't have locked the keys in the car.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If I hadn't been rushing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When did everything become such a rat race?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It seems like every minute of the day is multitasked.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Brushing teeth while returning email? Answering texts on the way to the ballgame? Working on a Halloween costume while watching a movie? Going over the weeks calendar while eating lunch?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It can sap the peace right out of you.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel like I need to be rebooted. A reset. I need to hit control/alt/delete.</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">This weekend we are taking a step back. I'm calling it a mental health weekend. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If we don't consciously take control of our lives, our lives will take control of us.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And that's when we get short fused, forget things, stop truly enjoying life.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sometimes taking care of yourself and your family requires smiling and saying, "Thanks, but no."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Peace doesn't just happen. We have to make it happen.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Yes, if you don't go to the ball game, your children won't get to run around with their friends and you might miss an exciting game. Yes, if you don't go to the carnival, you might have to wait until next season to experience the ferris wheel. If you don't meet up with people to go bowling and out to eat, you might miss some great laughs with friends. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">If you don't always go, you will miss some things. Probably some fun things.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But what if you DO make a point to sometimes say no and miss out on the big fun stuff. Well, you might notice your sons being bored and deciding to play hide and seek with each other, or your older son giving your younger son some baseball pointers in the backyard. You might enjoy your whole family lazily piled up on the couch watching a movie and drinking Oreo milkshakes. You might find your child curling up beside you on the porch and asking you to read to him. You might go with the family on an after dinner walk on a crisp, cool night when the moon and stars are so bright you don't even need streetlights. You might sit around the backyard fire pit and tell scary stories, or relax in front of a crackling fire. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And that is not missing out on anything.</div></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzcnl9UKSCZaAtD8c4gA0WESMPjdQdAs059N71BMLCsU-4Ri-04thVf4j9v9AJifXEVfU5E0rdL7DAncCIc1IlRrUH3MFQP82TFmwTBXSA1PuylJG2JwixWDcnV5jcmjVm3T2H1yNT8_i/s640/blogger-image-485683316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYzcnl9UKSCZaAtD8c4gA0WESMPjdQdAs059N71BMLCsU-4Ri-04thVf4j9v9AJifXEVfU5E0rdL7DAncCIc1IlRrUH3MFQP82TFmwTBXSA1PuylJG2JwixWDcnV5jcmjVm3T2H1yNT8_i/s640/blogger-image-485683316.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-20483503109016609252015-09-27T10:37:00.001-07:002015-09-27T10:41:22.242-07:00Ode to the Fresh Moms<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Please don't diss us, younger sisters. </span></div><div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We are the older, tired moms.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We have BEEN there, and we have DONE that, and frankly we are exhausted. We are 40-something Velveteen rabbits, and though we are loved, our ears are a little torn and our fur is a little matted from all of our years of service. We are leaps and bounds smarter, but more exhausted, than our former selves.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We KNOW things. They are like ancient Chinese secrets within us. When you young ones bounce in with all of your fresh energy, and special back-to-school Pinteresty things, and baskets of fall gourds that look like cute Halloween spooks, (and did I mention all of your energy?), well, you just go girl!! We are rooting you on! We are passing the baton to YOU!!!! Monogram and Pinterest on, sweet ladies!!!!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Some of us have done the room mom thing (SIX times to be exact), and the team mom thing, and the organizer of this, and the volunteer for that. We have sorted the papers twice a week, and delivered the Starbucks, and decorated the doors, and cut out the 3-D hexagons, and hung the footprint Christmas trees, and mastered the science slime, and blown up a picture of the chihuahua team mascot and hot glued it to a yard stick, and made 20 fruit kabobs because the boys bat better after cantaloupe for some reason. We have, in fact, *rocked* it.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But we are now a bit different from the moms we once were. We love our children more than life itself, but We ...Are...Tired.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Older moms may have more dark circles and a tad more back fat, but we are wise. Like, way wise.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We now know those hundreds of dollars we spent on our child's first birthday party were worthless. Oh, we aren't judging. Not by a long shot. I planned a first birthday party for my first child (close to Easter) where I baked a big bunny cake, decorated a cupcake with each child's initial on it, orchestrated a huge Easter egg hunt for all of the kiddos, decorated the house, and constructed a photo montage with a precious picture for each month of my child's life.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Oh yes, I did.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Do know how much of this he now remembers? </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Nada.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I should have actually bought a Publix cake, snapped some pics, and used all of that time, energy, and money toward a family vacation for all of us.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Live and learn.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">So, young, energetic moms, we have been there before. We WERE you.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But we are now at the point in our mom life cycle, that sometimes just putting on makeup and fixing our hair makes us want to curl up in the fetal position.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Mom burnout is a real thing. Why else would everyone's second child's baby book still be blank?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We are now helping with things like actual algebra, and late night baseball tournaments, and figuring out how to fit a trombone on the bus.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We did all of the fantastic things in the name of being there and supporting our children and being involved. And it was great. It truly was. And it was important. It served it's purpose. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But now, as our children get older, we find that our support and energy is needed in other ways.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Our children may have a project, two quizzes, and five tests in the span of a week, and frankly, we just don't have time to worry about construction paper cornucopias. But trust me, we wish we did. Fall crafts trump math pretty much ALWAYS.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">There came a point for me when the laundry was piling up, and I desperately needed to go to grocery store...for like, food, and it was <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">1:30</a> in the morning, and I found myself thinking that the construction paper Weimaraners and dachshunds running a marathon on the class door would look so much cuter if they were wearing Nikes and Asics. It was then that I asked myself what in the fresh heck I was doing.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And sometimes when sitting there cutting out box tops that for some bloody reason some can't seem to cut along the perforated lines, and you are grumpy, and you could be playing Scattegories with your kids instead, you find yourself asking, is this really giving me *more* time with my kids?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Don't get me wrong, helping out, volunteering, being room mom and all that other stuff is important. Very important. But there also comes a time when you tell yourself enough is enough. You are older, and you are tired. It's time to back up and let some fresh blood give it a whirl. It's time to back off a bit, get into our hovering mommy-copters and blow this joint.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Let the younger ones hold down the fort. It's time for me to stop cutting out 1,732 valentines and do something about this mom arm fat that could give me a black eye when I wave.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">So please, young energetic moms, don't judge us when we forget to turn in the money in time for the gift card tree you are whipping together or send in the gardening tools, tumbler filled with candy, or the sprinkles for the ice cream party a day late.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">We know you've got it covered.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Because it used to be us with a whipped latte to be dropped off in one hand and an extra plain white T in tow in case one of the moms forgot. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But this is your time now. And I respect the heck out of you. I salute you. Power on, Sister. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I'll see you on the other side soon enough...when you have finally cursed under your breath with construction paper and scissors <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">at 2 am</a> for the absolute last time.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">What you are doing is real. It's important. And it matters.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But there will come a point in your life when you are a more frayed Velveteen Rabbit mom, and <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2">at 9 pm</a> you just want to watch Criminal Minds and eat Breyers out of the carton. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And that's really okay. I promise.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">You have earned it.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzoPBbxZMIb2LJlctmLBYVv9Ic6lGV9E_8NYnofkXS5Aj0BWEGnPtGAihRPiLfCZMWYn5cOmi2CSIqXhtt8-hkyZPFMOH87VbBPu1KIw-7R2WvWE-WvL0VWSIUJ2A5SV8fiENhFjdq_Nl/s640/blogger-image-1668433417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzoPBbxZMIb2LJlctmLBYVv9Ic6lGV9E_8NYnofkXS5Aj0BWEGnPtGAihRPiLfCZMWYn5cOmi2CSIqXhtt8-hkyZPFMOH87VbBPu1KIw-7R2WvWE-WvL0VWSIUJ2A5SV8fiENhFjdq_Nl/s640/blogger-image-1668433417.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-18814947863418554372015-08-31T16:16:00.001-07:002015-08-31T16:16:41.078-07:00The Witching Hour<div><br></div><div><br></div><div> </div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sometimes as mothers, there are things for which we have no answers. Things we simply cannot figure out no matter how hard we try.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But sometimes, even though it may be wrong in a misery-loves-company sort of way, it makes us feel better to know that other moms are in one of these trenches suffering with us.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Or at least to imagine in our minds that they are- that we aren't the only ones.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I choose to believe that I'm not the only one whose hour after bus drop off is not one big tooth-gritting, chest tightening, semi panic attack, homework-apocalypse.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Let me explain.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">First off, of COURSE I'm glad to see my children. It's not that at all. But there is something about the after school frenzy that makes me want to put a margarita into one of those obnoxious helmets with swirly straws that feed straight down your throat.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Of course I've never done that. But my kids aren't in high school yet...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Here is how it plays out.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I think perhaps they come in the door all tired of being calm and structured. There is a kicking off of the shoes and a slinging of the backpacks. Also, everyone enters the premises as if they have just been granted the Survivor feast after a week of fasting in the Congo. Dirty hands foraging through pantries and picking through cellophane. Apparently six years of telling them to wash their hands right when they walk in the door after school has not been absorbed by any of their neural transmitters.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Then there is the dog who usually grabs one of their shoes in his mouth and runs with it, just to make me scream. Every. Single. Day.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">There is the talking over each other. There is the, "Can I go to (insert name)'s house?" or "Can (insert name) come over?" And randomness, "How long is an airplane ride from here to Louisiana?"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"But you need to do your homework."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">"But I told (insert name) I was coming over."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Then, I am trying not to bark, "Well, by all means if you TOLD him then please go!!!!! There will be *plenty* of time for you to study for your subject-predicate test when you are both thirty on your moms' couches while we do your laundry because you wanted to hang with friends before you did your HOOOMMMEEEEWWWOORRKKK!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Yes, I'm exaggerating. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My children make good grades. And sometimes after school I do feel a bit like Monica on that Friends episode where she is instructing everyone on how to correctly snap the tops on their Crayola markers.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I admit I have never been accused of being too laid back...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Especially not about school.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That would be my husband who said hello and hugged my child's teacher at the ballpark and didn't realize it was his last year's teacher. But I digress...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm a substitute teacher, for crying out loud. And I can calmly help someone struggling with reading or math with flying colors. I am the epitome of patience!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But when I am sitting there with my own child and he is reading to me and randomly throwing in words THAT ARENT EVEN THERE like he is on stage at Live at the Improv, I literally want to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I think it's because we CARE soooooo much. We want them to thrive, and be successful, and be all that we know they can be. And we want them to WASH THEIR HANDS for crying out loud and not get strep on the third week of school!!!! </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And the knocks on the door, and the needing to start supper, and the dog barking at every person that walks by...well, that can only add to the fun.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Thankfully, after the witching hour, everything seems to settle down.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's that one hour. And certainly I'm not the only one. Hopefully. Bueller?Lie to me if you must.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I have a friend who used to loudly sing whenever she got frustrated at her children. She figured that was better than yelling and provided a better memory for her kids. She may be on to something. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But I'm not sure my scary mom face while belting out, "Come On Eileen" won't be a one-way ticket into therapy.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">As moms, sometimes is hard not to care so much. It's hard to relax, go with the flow, and let the chips fall where they may.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm working on a "system" for after school. However, suffice it to say this system has been in the making for years.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But maybe just knowing there are other moms out there, feeling the same way, gritting their teeth, hair sticking to the back of their sweaty necks as they trudge through homework apocalypse every day, is a good place to start.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Semper Fi, Mom soldiers.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Subject and predicate onward.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrRB9aGunIPV0B9xuzdLpKdlpe8y0iv9fnImlS5MzSczZ6fyNw_XtX6Djix1nVsYE6B-dh17h40D4rk3_JO-ABGYIAabjJymn7hioPd4a-cmyzmQaQDnhGx49xmxo8xsA7PpRvUvsD0UL/s640/blogger-image-403687874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrRB9aGunIPV0B9xuzdLpKdlpe8y0iv9fnImlS5MzSczZ6fyNw_XtX6Djix1nVsYE6B-dh17h40D4rk3_JO-ABGYIAabjJymn7hioPd4a-cmyzmQaQDnhGx49xmxo8xsA7PpRvUvsD0UL/s640/blogger-image-403687874.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-62328431142650429032015-08-09T14:25:00.001-07:002015-08-09T14:41:10.708-07:00Advice for Middle School<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div> <span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">1. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING is as bad as it seems once the sun sets and rises again. A new day always brings a new perspective. </span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">That note I wrote about having a crush on a boy that was found and copied and posted all over the school? Yes, I laugh about it now. And possibly laughed about it a week after it happened, even though the day it happened I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">To quote Wilson-Phillips, "Hold On For One More Day."</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Things get better. Always.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">2. There will be kids in middle school who look like they may not be able to tie their own shoes and kids who look like they drove to school and voted in the last election. Be nice to everyone, it all evens out in high school.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">3. Adopt a "more the merrier" attitude. Don't form exclusive cliques that purposefully leave others out, and do not try to join exclusive cliques. They are meaningless, and hurt other people's feelings.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Of course it's impossible to invite everyone to everything, but also help all of us parents, including myself, try not to do anything to encourage an "us" and "them" mentality. Sometimes it may be the parents, while trying to relive the glory days, who make things so much worse by trying to make sure our children are liked and included.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">4. Realize that there is no group, club, team, grade, or clique that makes you who you are. Only the way you treat others defines who you are and is what truly counts once that graduation cap is tossed into the air.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">5. The kids that act "too cool for school" and who bully and pick on and make fun of other kids? Many of them will still be sleeping on mama's couch into their 30s.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">6. Try to be organized. A large factor in whether you succeed in middle school has to do with learning organization and responsibility.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">7. Middle schooler, appreciate your parents. You aren't exactly the easiest person to be around at this time in your life.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">8. No extra curricular activity, no matter how much you love it, is as important as academics. What if Lebron James had irreparable damage to his leg his senior year?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">9. Learn to dance. It will come in handy so much more than you realize.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">10. People who act better than you secretly feel inferior to you.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">11. Treat everyone with kindness and respect because they may be going through something unimaginable, and your kindness could be the one thing that changes a life for the better.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">12. Embrace quirkiness and weirdness in yourself and others. It's what makes people interesting.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">13. Enjoy this time in your life. These are some of the most care-free days you will ever have. Some days will be doozies, but for the most part, these days may be some of the best. Enjoy!</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDj0nv-9iGLn-Fk5yvDJwP8Bxp0WdzNj5OCemvitptM3x7T7z_NEXd-bQ9ROshOMpjctZPpF1hymEcchGOvKtQCwLRP3a8mGo2o9FxmuLoJAaDRo4s0GPh_zxQXxKdFKe4cBviiJcDKl6W/s640/blogger-image-1947039737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDj0nv-9iGLn-Fk5yvDJwP8Bxp0WdzNj5OCemvitptM3x7T7z_NEXd-bQ9ROshOMpjctZPpF1hymEcchGOvKtQCwLRP3a8mGo2o9FxmuLoJAaDRo4s0GPh_zxQXxKdFKe4cBviiJcDKl6W/s640/blogger-image-1947039737.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-42685729737028882872015-08-02T15:14:00.001-07:002015-08-02T16:02:39.173-07:0010 Random Things I Discovered This Summer<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">1. Regardless of how relaxing and wonderful and serene and refreshing your beach vacation has been, you will inevitably find yourself at Alvin's Island while your kids search fruitlessly amidst junk for their promised souvenirs, while you wish someone would put you out of your misery and knock you unconscious with a $3.99 wooden crab net.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">2. And, never, ever, EVER take your child shopping for school supplies when you have PMS. And never, under any circumstances, take the little brother who may excitedly blurt out, "Maybe this will be the school year you will get your head shoved in the toilet!!!"</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">3. Whether or not a sudden storm blows in is directly proportional to how much junk you have dragged to the pool.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">4. The people who decided summertime was a great time to air "American Ninja Warrior" should also provide a Damage Relief Team to travel the nation wiping shoe marks off of walls and fixing loose banisters.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">5. When you're 43, trying to run across water in a hamster ball isn't fun. It's actually kind of sad.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">6. At the end of the school year, whatever you vowed to do over the summer (and THIS time I'm serious): Teach all of the multiplication facts, read every single day, begin new chores for kids...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">You will realize 10 days before school starts that you have started none of them. NONE.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">7. You might develop odd physical symptoms toward the end of summer. Two of them may be a sensitivity to noise and twitching. And at the VERY end of the summer, you may get the same feeling in your chest that you get when you are trying to untangle a pile of wire hangers.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">8. When your children excitedly figure out that you can rip off the end of a Nerf dart and install a thumbtack which will stick to things far away at a high speed, including wood and mortar, it's definitely time for school to start.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">9.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> If you do, in fact, let your children listen to the song Uptown Funk...A LOT, do not be surprised when you are scolding one of your children, and after you yell, "STOP!" that the child comes back with, "...wait a minute. Grab my cup, put some liquor in it..."</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">(^^^^^^Mom Of The Year^^^^^^)</span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">10. And last but not least, you will realize that time is passing much too quickly. And you will realize that though your summer really didn't go according to plan and you didn't accomplish many of the things you had hoped you would, in its own way, the summer was still darn near perfect.</div></div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b8yRiXjkr8zAUCrjg2QTV4XdtGgLysnlCiv0Ogb8euTjYUF2NQaxRS0onrlxd9KEjxy8EzFpSwW-Wom4rW4WRxYEhq-pCKQ2jV1jqoq4IsrMMzWjzojHChhjbR5AR9acL-ccgb8-PVfT/s640/blogger-image--882178828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b8yRiXjkr8zAUCrjg2QTV4XdtGgLysnlCiv0Ogb8euTjYUF2NQaxRS0onrlxd9KEjxy8EzFpSwW-Wom4rW4WRxYEhq-pCKQ2jV1jqoq4IsrMMzWjzojHChhjbR5AR9acL-ccgb8-PVfT/s640/blogger-image--882178828.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-12767362058507804972015-07-14T12:36:00.001-07:002015-07-14T12:36:00.871-07:00You've Got This<div>Mamas...I feel ya.</div><div><br></div>This is a shout out to all of those hot, sweaty mamas sitting in their cars in the 100-degree heat index at Sonic, watching their little ones growing up too fast. <div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Watching them sitting there with their friends like they are so big and independent, while we still see dimpled fingers and sticky smiles.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for the moms who are so bloody tired and anxious and worn out from the summer frenzy that they just need a moment, just one peaceful moment with a friend, even if it's in a hot car watching their kids act big while they gulp down green apple slushies.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for all of the moms whose houses look like the Pittsburg Steelers threw a house party.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for all the moms who planned to have their children read for an hour every day of the summer and just realized it's only 29 days until school and they haven't even implemented the plan yet.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for all the moms looking at Facebook who think that the magnificent things posted are just "a day in the life" when really that might be the best that happened to that person all year.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for the moms who planned on being June Cleaver this summer and growing summer squash and maybe even canning something, only to find they may have come closer to channeling Roseanne.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for all the moms who are just doing their danged best, laughing one minute but feel that the laughter could also possibly turn into tears of frustration.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Because they just need 10 minutes of silence. Or one chapter. Or a margarita.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">This is for my hero, the mom I saw a few days ago at Target who</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">had two boys wearing Avenger Age of Ultron voice changer masks. They were using robot voices and circling her like the raptors circled Chris Pratt in Jurassic World. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">She was simply trying to have a few solitary minutes on the phone with another mom. She didn't seem to get irritated at all. She is either from another state that just started their summer break, or I want to be her when I grow up.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">She remained much more calm than I did when I was trying to find sulfate-free shampoo that also smelled masculine for my boys. I picked out four shampoos and simply wanted them to smell them and pick their favorite. This, theoretically, should have taken 45 seconds. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">But mine had to break the shampoo bottles into teams, like brackets in a baseball tournament, with one eventually coming out the winner. Right there in the middle of the dirty floor. And then my oldest had to change his winner in the end because his little brother picked the same one. We can't have anyone copying.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">For. The. Love.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Summer can be such a paradox. So many of our best memories and sweetest moments we have with our families are in the sweet, sweet summertime.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">And yet, sometimes the togetherness for so many consecutive days can cause nerves to be raw, irritations to be magnified, and noises to be louder and grate...grate...grate.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">I heard an evangelist make this statement the other night on TV. He said the first step to cure depression is a meaningful conversation. But I believe it applies to the summer frenzies as well.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">The first step to cure summertime frenzy and stress is a meaningful conversation with a friend.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Even if it's sitting all hot in sweaty in your car at Sonic.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);">Power through mamas. We are all in this together.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392);"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gN0j7FuPvg8MC4RHNoKWsPDVRFLWpuPqFY6L-adNbwFMhJ6x9jhgV5OVI6RZtcMfvnyaigUVOaP0qCOVRREQtrf-x5CRsCKvT7z9BZeGRPoQXUZyaWi7eNDGFc0lFdy1RTQu6iC-oN9p/s640/blogger-image-2065456507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gN0j7FuPvg8MC4RHNoKWsPDVRFLWpuPqFY6L-adNbwFMhJ6x9jhgV5OVI6RZtcMfvnyaigUVOaP0qCOVRREQtrf-x5CRsCKvT7z9BZeGRPoQXUZyaWi7eNDGFc0lFdy1RTQu6iC-oN9p/s640/blogger-image-2065456507.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-33814102421124925822015-06-26T22:00:00.001-07:002015-06-26T22:00:04.710-07:00Too Loud<div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's almost midnight, and I am outside sitting on my deck alone.</span></div><div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It is quiet out here.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Is it just me, or is everything too loud? I mean...EVERYTHING.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel like everyone just needs to stop talking, stop debating, stop analyzing, stop opinionating, stop being offended, stop arguing, just stop. And be quiet. And be still.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Just be.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And then I think everyone needs a group hug. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Or maybe at least to sit across a table with good friends and not debate, but just laugh. Laugh loudly, deeply, raucously over something really funny.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Or maybe take a walk at dusk with someone you love, and talk about a great book you have just read.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Go watch a mindless movie, and fill up on popcorn and chocolate.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Everything has gotten too loud, too intense, too much. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">People's hearts are on their sleeves, and we are all bumping into each other.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's okay not to debate. It's okay not to give an opinion on everything. It's okay to just stop, and breathe, and listen, and love.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sometimes all you need to do is look into the face of a stranger. Maybe it's the face of someone a different color, of someone with different beliefs, of someone with a completely different background. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But just smile. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Not one of those quick, just passing through smiles. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But a warm, sincere, smile that spreads across your face.</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A smile that says, "We may be very different in a lot of ways, but I'll bet we are probably alike in a lot of ways too. And I want to brighten your day."</span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sometimes, for a brief moment, it can be that simple. </span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-68402543827355063132015-04-13T07:53:00.001-07:002015-04-13T08:18:25.494-07:00Thoughts on pitching helmets...<div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Something has been on my mind lately.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Pitching helmets/masks in baseball. Or rather, the lack thereof.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Why aren't our children wearing them?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Why am I not making my child wear one?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My 8-year-old, who is still in coach-pitch, but who is playing in the pitcher's position, wears one. It's a rule.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But my 11-year-old, like almost all other 11-year-olds, gets on the mound without one.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">After years of baseball, are his reflexes better than my 8-year-old's? Perhaps. But guess what? There are big-barrel bats and boys who look like they will soon start shaving swinging at those balls he pitches.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We are worried to death, as we SHOULD be, about pitchers' arms, with rules and regulations galore, but we aren't worried about their heads??</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It wasn't long ago my son caught a ball headed straight in the direction of his head. He caught it, protecting himself, and making an out.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">YAY!!! But...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Even my friend sitting beside me had tears in her eyes over what could have happened.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">In the past two years, I have been around when more than one pitcher got hit. There is simply nothing scarier. It's almost as if the air at the ballfield changes as coaches and parents rush onto the field holding their breath. And not too long ago, a coach in COACH-pitch was actually sent to the hospital by a YOUNG player. Now many coaches of the younger players are wearing helmets with masks, as the kids are getting stronger at an earlier age. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">So, this begs the question, if grown men are wearing masks when pitching to 2nd-graders (who are freakishly strong by the way), why on EARTH aren't our older children wearing masks? Some of these batters are the size of grown men!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It also poses the question, if batters wear helmets, why not pitchers? At that age, which has more velocity? A throw or a hit?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It's a conversation I feel compelled to have with my son. The whole topic has been tugging at me for a while.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Everyone wants to have an advantage athletically. That's human nature. But after brain damage, a destroyed face, or the death of someone they love, how many would be singing a different tune?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Would a mask make pitching more difficult? A helmet would not make pitching more difficult. I'm sure a mask might take some getting used to, but isn't it worth it?</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But if it were mandatory across the board, everyone would be playing on even ground.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And I can't help but think that those big bulky football helmets with the face masks don't seem to stop those</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">wide receivers.</div></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVNGBk3Gl172RexjAobWkcqvMlUBAJDHUPjnBXV_zQhEj7Y0ASuSjJy8cv5YraehOLQy4J75EPD8N5tDlSeTgcEvuZHL7e2hZs0m7Mk_8QBUikPyVxxretqab7y3NXj9pTgqS9__KyhLc/s640/blogger-image-760701767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVNGBk3Gl172RexjAobWkcqvMlUBAJDHUPjnBXV_zQhEj7Y0ASuSjJy8cv5YraehOLQy4J75EPD8N5tDlSeTgcEvuZHL7e2hZs0m7Mk_8QBUikPyVxxretqab7y3NXj9pTgqS9__KyhLc/s640/blogger-image-760701767.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449400097727886830.post-27574972675590298862015-03-05T13:49:00.001-08:002015-03-05T13:49:33.257-08:00Snow Day<div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I always have these magical, wonderful ideas of what a "snow day" will be like. Well, in this case, an "ice" day.</span><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">We will all do our part to pick up the cluttered house. I will turn into the Energizer bunny, cleaning the house to music, productive like never before. Maybe we will then all play a board game, and then perhaps a movie by the fireplace with hot chocolate.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Never in my wishes does it involve us prying Nerf darts out of the dog's mouth while the boys run screaming through the house with a new Mega Nerf bow in full attack mode, while I yell about protective eyewear.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">It never involves fights between boys where one has another's toy in his room and won't open the door until the one brother says the other one is awesome.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">None of my plans involve any of this.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And then my youngest, tells me he loves me and then tells our dog, Jack, how much he loves him. Then he comes in with his beloved collection of glass animals and sweetly plays with the tiny things on a little glass mirror.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Ahhh, precious moment.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And then...enter the maracas.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I'm not talking normal maracas. These are homemade maracas from a school instrument project. And just to let you know, they are literally as big as your head, made out of Powerade jugs, and seem to even hurt the dog's ears who begins to bark along with the maracas.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">My breakfast is not the relaxing event I envisioned.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Followed by the requested video performance of my youngest throwing only the giraffe tush of a dog toy in the air to see if he can catch it by the tail.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Sorry...all tickets are sold out.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Then...my oldest comes out of his room and has done homework WITHOUT being asked.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I am feeling confident! I've clearly got his mom thing down!!!!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Then...I begin decorating for Easter, which sounds relaxing and nice...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">UNLESS YOU HAVE TO BREAK UP YOUR BOYS FROM A FIGHT WHERE THEY ARE USING ONE OF YOUR PIER 1 DECORATIVE PILLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Feeling like I most certainly do not have this mom thing down.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And then...silence...</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Of course, this could be a bad sign, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">I settle down on the couch and pick up a nail-biter of a mystery that I'm reading.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">Almost through with the chapter, my boys summon me downstairs. "Just two more pages," I tell them. </div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">When I go downstairs, they have a huge pallet of cushions, pillows, and blankets on the floor. The electric fireplace is going, the lights are dim, and they have a baseball movie we have never seen ready to play.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And as I'm lying on the floor, each boy snuggled up on either side of me, I remember that there are no perfect days.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">But there are, most certainly, perfect moments.</div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div><div style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuit4N1EJ8omOHHDO7g-zFrQimEjl0fQ1ai4H_7oY2g-8Nujtf4kJuIaklCSNMIE6xPdJjQEVxaH3oV56K3kwUoSBYSmWBjSFnxhW0GWpvhfEeo5Bm0XIFkyGnLy-nPi_TQaT-t4vrsCk/s640/blogger-image-1729349906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuit4N1EJ8omOHHDO7g-zFrQimEjl0fQ1ai4H_7oY2g-8Nujtf4kJuIaklCSNMIE6xPdJjQEVxaH3oV56K3kwUoSBYSmWBjSFnxhW0GWpvhfEeo5Bm0XIFkyGnLy-nPi_TQaT-t4vrsCk/s640/blogger-image-1729349906.jpg"></a></div>Melissa Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07978281104761752223noreply@blogger.com0