A Grateful Heart

This morning's gospel in church was about the woman with the issue of blood. While this isn't one of my favorite tales, the emphasis placed on it by our rector was the need to thank God for all of his gifts given to us, as healing was given to the woman in the story.

My mind was wandering that particular mental corridor this week. My younger son lost a dear friend, mentor, & coach Wednesday night. On Thursday hubby & I visited with the man's family to pay our respects. We & several other parents of his former swimmers remembered with fond laughter events he was a huge part of. There was brief, comical speculation on his meeting with St. Peter, followed by much laughter at memories shared of travels to swim meets, daily life contacts, & all the other sorts of "ordinary" things that comprise a life. The mother of the deceased was very composed & proud of the fact that so many young people came by, their lives touched and in some way changed by their contact with her son; "you can't ask for better than that from your children," she told me (rightly!).

Looking back on my nearly 20 year old son's life, swimming has admittedly been the lion's share of it. Had he not begun swimming lessons in first grade & been recommended by his instructor to try the team, I cannot imagine how his life would be different, but I can say with absolute certainty that it would not be as satisfying for him as it has become. As a direct result of the influence of the recently deceased coach, he is pursuing a career in education which will include coaching the next generation of swimmers & which has limitless potential as he matures to either become a school administrator or a collegiate level coach.

Thank you God for the gift of Don Haas (1953-2009).

Dazed, amazed, but unfazed

What a week this has been! Not the ideal time to admit which Carolina I live in, perhaps, but my readers generally know anyhow. :P

The Columbia civic circus chorale starring our AWOL governor & featuring his beleagured & clueless staff (to whom he lied as to his whereabouts) has been quite the topic here in the near vicinity of Cola Town--and not only between state employees (among whom I count myself). Sanford's dereliction of his gubernatorial duties without dispensing same to his lieutenant governor is of vastly greater concern than the marital infidelity (which is & should remain a private matter, not be tried in the national press!). I firmly believe this whole charade of "hiking the Appalachian trail" will eventually lead to his downfall. (Time to rehearse saying, "Governor Bauer," much to the shock and dismay of many who believed Sanford would be the next GOP presidential candidate!)

In other news, yes, three prominent celebrities passed on this week--as did my younger son's first swimming coach. All of the above (particularly the latter around my family!) will be sorely missed, but I suspect that the governor's trials are going to be back to the forefront as the new week dawns.

Stay tuned for (as The Muppet Show used to describe 'Veterinarian's Hospital') "the continuing story of a quack who's gone to the dogs!"

Ch-ch-ch Changes (to quote David Bowie!)

Back to the blog! I've been a "single" parent for the past week while my other half has been away at Boy Scout camp. As a result, I have more respect than ever for women who successfully raise children without the help of another parent--that's a LOT of work to not be able to divide!!! Thankfully, my teenaged daughter is pretty self-sufficient re: household chores, etc., so the only one I really had to follow behind is my youngest.

I'm engaging in some wise behavior by being online this afternoon; the heat index in my little corner of Utopia is about 104 degrees (the actual mercury is hovering around 96-97 degrees)! And, mercifully, my air conditioner works well, so being at the computer is almost a blissful thing.

I feel I'm on the verge of some major changes in my daily routine, between blogging early in the morning while it's hot to getting into the gym daily, to taking the two dogs for strolls around the block more often (again, during the cooler hours). I'm also hoping for a really big one within the next year, in that my oldest is getting close to completing his BS degree & I personally hope he'll graduate around, oh, next Mother's Day if all goes well.

Anybody else feel the energy surging?

Wii headaches

I am currently sitting about 50 feet across the house from where my youngest is Guitar Hero-ing to her heart's content (school's already out for summer, after all, so what's bedtime?). Glad I'm on here, because she's loud enough with the Wii microphone & the guitar to wake neighbors across the street if we had windows open! The dog is actually looking at me with squinty eyes & yawning her head off; if she spoke English I'm sure she'd ask why I haven't sent Kiddo to bed yet because SHE (pooch) is pooped!

Adulthood vs Adolescence

I had an e-mail chat with an old friend about a Bud Light ad on YouTube in which a dude is buying a dirty magazine & winds up in a weird hostage situation. This led to a brief sharing of embarrassing "first time occurrence" moments in our pasts. Anyone else 35+ remember those awful incidental transitions from teenager to adult? The first time you could buy booze legally was probably fun & involved a birthday celebration. But others of those "firsts" were immeasurably more embarrassing (I won't go into detail; I'm sure you can recall a few of your own!).

Thank God I'm beyond the point where I blush redder than a freshly boiled lobster when making certain personal purchases (even if they have to call for a price check!). Both maturity & parenthood will do this, but in my case parenthood profoundly hastened it. (Just raise opposite gender children--you'll see!)

You know it's too busy when...

...when Mobile Fit e-mails you because you haven't been to the gym in over a week (that IT'S aware of, anyway!).

...when you have many pictures in the digital camera of other people's children graduating from high school (and many of your own child graduating from 8th grade!).

...when, in the past ten days, you've seen people you haven't seen since often in the past three years (since your oldest graduated) more than you've seen that oldest child.

...when the day job, usually chaotic, is quieter than the social round with hubby!

...WHEN I DON'T HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO EVEN BLOG!!! (That's the worst!)

Must be the end of the school year. Around here the six weeks between May 1st & June 15th include end of the term for both my teacher husband AND all the local school district end of term activities (many of which he attends as a member of our local school board). Icing on the cake, our older daughter's birthday also falls during that time!

It should (I hope?!) be calmer now that all the local graduations are over!