Is it Time to Write More?

I met another like-minded person yesterday. Actually I've known her for a couple years, but only in just a drive-by sort of way through the school. She's a parent and was in for a routine visit with her daughter and School Counselor. After her meeting, we were chatting and the subject of food came up. Then acupuncture, then doctors, then more food. Nutrition, cooking...and so I found another person who cooks for their family, dislikes processed foods, watches what she eats, and is generally a food nerd. Huh. She texted me today and said she has a Facebook page devoted to healthy living and food and such, and I thought, "I used to do that. Write about food and this and that." And so I pulled up this site and saw that the last time I gave up on this page was mid 2012. Maybe nobody will read this page, but I'm thinking I should write on here some more. Maybe it will be good that nobody reads it, because then I can express my more outrageous opinions...that I don't believe in Capital Punishment, but I'm ok with the Confederate Flag...as long as it's shown on private property... or displayed in museums that have displays about American History. Maybe I'll talk about how I'm not really in favor of incorporating Indian Land. Or maybe I'll just write about food and link stuff to this page about it...things to eat...places to eat... Maybe.

The Unimaginable

"I can't leave work to come get him. His father is all the way across town and it will take a while," the mother said when the school called her. She sounded defeated and at her wit's end. Her son had walked down the hall toward his classroom, came up to another boy and punched him. Her son's behavior in school had already earned him expulsion the previous spring and now, with school only in session four weeks, he was looking at expulsion again. And possibly assault charges.

The boy will be 16 soon and when he turns 16 he may be eligible for some other programs that are geared more for children with these kinds of issues. A regular, public high school simply does not have the resources to deal with children who are violent, unmotivated, possibly gang-affiliated or otherwise too far outside the mainstream with their behavior.  At some point the school and district have to make a decision that they can no longer serve this student. The safety of the other students has to take precedence over graduation rate.

My heart breaks for this parent. And for other parents that feel like they are at the end of their rope. When you bring home that brand new, 6 lb, 13 oz little boy, you never in a million years imagine that some day you may have to give him to someone else to get him to adulthood. You never in a million years think that you may be dealing with drug issues, violence, and abuse. You never think that your child might have severe learning issues on top of that. That you may get to the point where you no longer feel safe in your own home because you are worried this child may harm you or your other children.

Ought I?

I've been hanging about all day, mulling over the 5 or 6 ears of leftover roast corn in the fridge. Thinking I made a corn chowder some time ago that had roasted corn in it. It rated a "we should have this again" from hubby. The problem? Can't find the recipe.

So I've been googling off and on, while reading "Street Lawyer," by John Grisham, and watching "Ugly Betty" reruns on Netflix (hey! It's summer! I don't HAVE to do ANYTHING!). And I can't really find anything.

Surely I blogged about said corn chowder when I made it...so I came here to my blog and did a search.

Nothing.

But Guilt. I've not written since April. Maybe I ought to do it again some more?  Write on the blog?

Ought I?

How Sad

I haven't written. I'm not dead.
In fact, I'm quite, very much, alive!

We had a very nice Christmas with the guys and their friends. We went to a friend's house for a huge dinner. We exchanged a bunch of cool gifts, but nothing too extravagant. We took a family photo and even sent them out in New Year's cards:

(Bear is a little attention-deficit. I have no idea what he was looking at. There's just an empty dining room over there.)

We switched to Directv.
uh...that's it. I'll write about books...the stuff I'm reading. And really I have cooked a bunch. I need to work on writing about that. In fact, I'm off refined sugar again for 40 days, so I'll be playing with natural sweeteners again for a while. And I need to take photos. And learn Photoshop Elements version 9 or whatever it's up to now.
Sheesh. I'm kind of tired thinking about all that.

Ash Wednesday

So it's Ash Wednesday. We did not go to the service tonight. Didn't even talk about it. We haven't gone in a while. I think I wish we had. I generally like the service, but I am not really interested in having the ashes placed on my forehead. It's a day of mourning and in ancient times the ashes on the forehead were a way to express repentance. I'm not certain why we do this tradition now. When I was growing up it was just the Catholics that did it. They would go to early morning mass and the kids would come to school with the ashes still there on their heads. I'm not really a fan of that kind of public display. I don't judge it. It's just not for me.

Much is discussed about what people are going to "give up" for Lent. Traditionally it's meat. When I was growing up the Catholic kids would have fish on Fridays. People today like to give up something during this period, but I suspect it's for another reason than the original penitence reason. It seems like now people use the period for a challenge or to try to establish a new habit they would like. Or to abolish some old habit they dislike.

Yogi Liz decided to become vegan for Lent. She's vegetarian so this is a bit more of a stretch for her. Mindful eating and culinary adventure are her two main reasons. But in her classes she's also talked about ADDING something during lent. A daily walk, a daily meditation, a daily asana. Something that is adding rather than taking away.

I like that.

Having just finished 6 weeks of vegetarianism and no refined sugar, I'm not really inclined to do something more for lent. But all this is food for thought.

Operation Foot Rehab

Operation Foot Rehab is underway and I think I'm making progress.

This summer I sustained a stress fracture of the third metatarsal of the left foot. The ensuing treatment, which involved a special shoe, caused the plantar fasciitis to flare up to epic proportions. It was bad enough that my friend Terri actually dubbed the foot the "Foot of Doom." It caused real psychological problems for me, as it not only hindered by jazzercise, but also my yoga practice, and intermittently caused me to double over in pain as the heel would seize up suddenly and go into spasms.

Now, due to the miracle of prescription drugs and Birkenstock and Earth Shoes, I think I am working my way to normalcy.

But I am also working on my stance. I tend to pronate, which contributes to the arches falling. So I have put on a stretchy bracelet I bought from the Dorcus Widows Fund and I use that to remind myself to keep standing so that my weight is evenly distributing among all three points of each foot. I'm also working on making sure my feet are parallel and pointing forward. The bracelet reminds me to check. I'm starting to notice I'm doing those things more automatically now.

The prescription anti-inflammatory runs out in about a week. We'll see how the pain is then.

"I Don't Know about Tomorrow

I just live from day to day."

The words to an old Gospel hymn by Ira Stanphill, circa 1950.

Recently we've had a lot of things happen at our house. Complicated stuff. Nothing life-threatening, mind you. So don't worry about that. We've just found ourselves in situations where we are given opportunity to help some guys who have needed us.

We feel fortunate that we can help. Fortunate that we have the means to help.

But a question I get asked by friends and family is "what are your long range plans in this situation?"

Yesterday I felt kind of beaten down by that question. It's a reasonable one, but one I just could not answer. It's a question that I myself would normally would be asking. I'm a planner, a plotter, an organizer. And so my lack of a plan, and being asked about having one, kind of weighed on me. I began to feel inadequate because I don't have one.

But after talking it out, praying it out, thinking it out, I've come to the conclusion that, for now, it's best to just not have one. To just roll with the punches. To take each day...each minute...as it comes.

"I don't know
About tomorrow
I just live from day to day
And I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to gray
And I don't worry about my future
For I know what Jesus said
And today He walks beside me
For He knows what lies ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to under-understand
But I, I know, I know, I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds, who holds my hand
Oh yeah, yeah, yes, hey, yes
Who holds my hand"

Begin day: Yoga. End Day: Yoga

That might have been too much. I think I will need to take a day off tomorrow. I am sore. It's a pleasant soreness that tells you that you have been working out, but this soreness also tells me "Hey! I could really use a rest here!" And so I will.

My friend Terri has taken to calling my left foot the "foot of doom." I think that's pretty funny. And the humor has helped me to let go of frustrations with it. Actually, the foot has been getting better and better and really has not bothered my yoga practice too much this past week. I just have a lingering wish that I could stop the anti-inflammatory medication. It's keeping me from sleeping very well. It kind of jazzes me up. Not really much, but just enough to keep me from sleeping for very long.

Mensa Boy's knee took a turn for the worst yesterday morning and he's been a little miserable. But now this afternoon he said it started to feel a bit better too, so he's going to do some of his physical therapy exercises here in a bit.

Wow, this turned all medical all of a sudden. What am I? 80?

Connecting

Today is the first day of my regular school schedule: 7 - 3:30 or 4:00 (depending upon how long a lunch I take). I'm glad. The 10-hour days are just not that great. Usually I'm worn out by Friday and don't do much special that day.

But last Friday I did go hiking on the Anne Springs Close Greenway with my friend Liz. I posted some photos on Facebook of a few things we encountered while there. Our original plan was to kayak on Lake Haigler, but it started raining while we were hiking to the lake. So we ended up just hiking around in the woods for a while.

The kudzu is in bloom now and boy are those flowers pretty. And they smell so good! Kind of a cross between sweet peas and honeysuckle. I was amazed. I guess I'd never been close enough to kudzu to know that it even blossomed and flowered.

Saturday I did the jazz and yoga thing and then went to lunch with my friend Paula. My new favorite place to hang out is Back in Thyme in Fort Mill. I know they have a website but I can't find it right now. It's basically just an old house they've converted to a coffee shop. They also have sandwiches. I had a wonderful albacore tuna wrap. And I like their coffee. I have their house roast coffee with a double shot of espresso added. So far I've not sat inside the shop, but there are several rooms, all decorated comfortably. I like sitting on a little stepping-stone style patio that has a round table with an umbrella. The only drawback to that spot is that there seems to be an ant home underneath it.

Sunday was church and then Cassie and I went for supper in Ballantyne to a cafe called "Sweet Tea Cafe." It was quite good. There are several little restaurants cropping up around the area where the Catholic church is.

So it was a busy weekend, full of opportunities to connect with friends before buckling down to 205 more days of work! And speaking of that...it's time to go!

Self-Conscious

I am generally the host of a few bruises. Pretty much all on my legs. But this one is really out of this world for me. And of course its' sheer size and obvious location (when it's summer and you are wearing tank tops in yoga class or short sleeves in jazz), cause many questions.

And there is no one-sentence explanation I can offer for it. Here's the shortest version I have:

I was hanging off a wooden footbridge on the way into the lake to retrieve my car key.

HEY WAIT! THAT IS ONE SENTENCE! cool.

Ok. Tired of Doing Nothing Now

Only because I'm sidelined for the sciatica. Hopefully I can get back to some yoga and jazz by Friday. In the meantime, I think it's time for some window cleaning. I've got windows and blinds that seriously need some attention. I still have "Cause of Death," by Patricia Cornwell, checked out from the library. So I'll strap that on and start up here in a bit. I could also monitor Le Tour, but I think I'm going to do that this afternoon. I love my DVR!

Get a Second Opinion?

A man fell off a cliff and was hanging precariously from a tree branch. He cried out "God, please help me!" God answered, "Have faith and I will protect you. Let go of the branch." The man, stunned, cried out, "Is there anyone else up there?"

Today

I'm up early this morning on a summer day. Got up at 6:30. I'm stressing myself about summer ending too quickly. I have to report back on July 27, so it seems like I'm not getting much of a summer break at all. I don't think I've fully recovered from the last round of 10-hour days, and now I'm dreading the next round already. So I'm doing a lot of self-talk, trying to remind myself to enjoy each day as it comes. Otherwise I think I'll lose the enjoyment of the current time off because I'll be brooding too much about going back to work.

"I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning I say: 'What is my exciting thing for today?' Then, I do the day. Don't ask me about tomorrow."--Barbara Jordan

There's No Coffee in My House!

And I'm definitely feeling it this morning.

Last night I left Lancaster around 9 and got a text inviting me to a friend's house for wine. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep and really just wanted to hang out.

By 11:30 we'd had 2 or 3 small glasses (I don't know we didn't just fill up on big one) of a pinot grigio, a bowl of potato chips and then decided we needed ice cream!

Needless to say I'm a little tired this morning and suffering from swollen fingers from the chips. But we had a great time.

Woke up around 6. Hung out in bed for a while, did a nice 30 minutes of yin and then took a deep, warm bath. So now I'm sitting in my robe on the back patio with TEA because there is NO COFFEE!

But all is quite good. Happy Friday!

My Summer Begins

And so begins my own personal summer. No I'm not talking about hot flashes! Sheesh!

Today will be largely a day of rest. I've got a hitch in my git-along that just doesn't seem to want to quit. It's the left hip. I'm going to yoga this morning to see if that helps and then consider stopping at the chiro this afternoon. Tonight I have Trustees dinner with the county. Other than that, the agenda is clear, and I intend to keep it that way.

My first order of non-business is going to be to finish "The Book Thief." That thing is like an albatross around my neck. I'm not really enjoying it, but am reading it because it's been so highly recommended.

At some point, but only if I feel like it, I'm going to play with my new Wacom Bamboo pen tablet. I took a photo of Julie and me next to the House of Blues police car and now I see I have a loudspeaker protruding from my left ear. So I'm going to try to remove that.

How is this all going to play out?

Inspiration Network, a Christian cable network, owns 92 acres of prime property in Indian Land. As a nonprofit company, they expect to be exempt from taxes. They were also given $26 million in financial incentives by both the county and the state when they located here.

Recently the state Department of Revenue ruled that they are not going to be exempt from property taxes. This could amount to about $830,000 annually.

Inspiration Network, which calls its' campus the City of Light, has built two buildings and done some landscaping that includes a set of lighted spires.

So my question is this: if the City of Light has to pay taxes, an expense they were not planning to have, are we are in danger of becoming the home of an abandoned, undeveloped piece of property right in the middle of Indian Land, ala PTL in Fort Mill?

Father's Day, Julie Gone, Work Tomorrow

Today we celebrate Mensa Boy's career as a Father. Any my own Father's career as the same thing. They are both great dads.

And I mourn losing buddy Julie as she wings her way back to Minneapolis. This was the easiest visit for us. Just the right amount of work, rest and play.

And I dread going back to work tomorrow. I only owe 3 more days. 2.5, actually. But I'm in summer mode so those 3 days are going to seem like an eternity, I'm sure.

I'll write more. Soon. For now I plan to eat a late lunch, take a nap, and then do whatever comes to mind.

Work Done. Beach Time.

Julie and I painted for pretty much three solid days. Both bathrooms, mine and the boys, are done. Mine is a lighter shade of the brown I have in my bedroom. The boys is so yellow it almost burns your eyes!

We had trouble with the smaller bathroom. We figured it would only take 1/2 gallon to do the room, but of course you buy paint in quarts or gallons. So the lady at Lowe's suggested we buy a quarter of primer and tint it the same color as the paint and that way we'd save $$.

Well, the primer bled through the paint. So we ended up doing three coats altogether, buying a second quart of the paint yesterday when we realized the problem. So we ended up spending more than we wanted. But we are very happy with the results. I'll take some photos sometime.

The painting definitely took a toll on our bodies. We are tired and sore and looking forward to the beach. And apparently we are going to get plenty of very hot weather this weekend, so it should be a good time to go.

Summer "To Do" List

Today marks the beginning of my summer break. Sort of. I'll go back on June 22 for 2 or 3 more days. We will be ramping up our School Report Card report to the state, and it involves documentation and records. And I would be the Registrar. So that's MY STUFF everyone wants to paw through.

Between now and Saturday I'll begin my summer stuff and then my adorable bff Julie will come for an 8 day visit. During that time we will drink wine, play board games, watch movies, paint 2 bathrooms and probably more stuff, and then we'll go to the beach.

Then I work those few days and begin my summer in earnest. And so to be true to my nature I have made The List:

1. Do yoga 3 times a week, Jazz 3 or 4 times a week.
   
2. Back up and clean our two computers
3. Work more on moving the old Gone to Carolina blog over to this one
4. Work in Photoshop with my new Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet(It arrives in a few days). It should enable me to improve my skills on selecting and deleting objects in photos and many other things that require more detail work. I'M EXCITED! But I'll have to try to contain myself while Julie is here...

So there you go. Now it's out there for the internet to see. You can ask me how I'm coming on it.

A Summary

Here's what I've been doing since May 5:

1. Went to a bridal shower for a girl from Mensa Boy's department. It was a lingerie shower. Why did I go to this, you ask? Me, who buys her "lingerie" at Target? Well, truth be told, I didn't have an excuse not to, and Heidi, who was throwing the party, assured me there would be an available corner for me to rock in if I needed it.

It turned out to be a pretty pleasant shower. There was only one game, which entailed a passage from Song of Solomon where the two lovers describe each other assets in ways we modern folk never would think of: hair like a flock of goats and neck like the tower of David. You know. We had to match the descriptions with the body part.

2. Planted my flower bed. Stuff's coming up now. Especially since we are having rain rain rain. In fact, my patio tomato almost seems like it might be getting too much water.

3. Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Yoga. The usual. And each week I do something in yoga that I never had tried before. Last Saturday it was a headstand. Pretty cool, I thought.

4. Played Badminton at school. If you could call what we, Erin and I, did playing badminton. We lost our first game in the tourney 21-3. And I have to say it was not my fault, actually. Turns out Erin is not a closet baddie. She pretty much sucks, actually. I think she herself was more surprised than I was. We had great shirts though. Erin bought yellow t-shirts and drew Sumo wrestlers on them. The Sumos held flaming badminton rackets. Our team name was Sumo Warriors. Why did we have that as a name? Because they wouldn't let us sign up without a name and since both of us are slight of build, we thought maybe we'd pick something that was the exact opposite of us!

5. Did I mention the lingerie party? I did? Well, it's still a little bit stuck in my brain. Trauma does that. Takes a while to wear off.

6. Oh yeah! And we had a surprise 50th birthday party for bff Rena. Her sister-in-law planned it, but we helped with food and kept the secret for a month. Payback's going to be a bitch, though. I can tell. Fortunately fellow posse member Tambri's birthday is 8 days after mine, so if she decides to do something to me, it will be to both of us. And we'll have another year before we turn 50. A lot could happen in a year. If I play my cards right, I'll lose all my friends by then so there would be no one to have to a party like that.

7. Nate came home from school last weekend. Which means GF Erin will be here a lot. I'm glad they have each other because I think neither of them are going to have any luck finding jobs. So they can drive each other nuts rather than just Nate killing us.

I think that's it for now. We have a busy couple of weeks coming up. Baby Taylor is graduating from 8th grade. I'm going to be so glad to have him at the high school next year. I just hope I'm still there!