I work as a school nurse, but my real joy and satisfaction comes from being my husband's wife and my kids' mom. This blog shares bits and pieces about my life.
Rich shot the biggest deer. He got his Saturday afternoon.
Carson had the next biggest. He got his shortly after Rich shot his. Dave was standing on a plateau trying to help Rich get his deer gutted and watching Carson through binoculars. Dave said it was pretty exciting to watch the events unfold as Carson tagged his first deer.
Unfortunately, Carson shot his late in the afternoon and Dave was already helping Rich get his out. That meant that Carson wouldn't be able to get his deer out that night. So the solution was to cut the head off and Dave left his shirt on the carcass. The head was cut off so some other hunter couldn't walk off with Carson's deer. The shirt was left on the carcass in hopes of deterring any critter who might want a snack. Each solution worked. The next morning the body was still where it was left and it was untouched.
Dave had the smallest, but it was still big. He shot his almost right off the bat Saturday morning. Rich joked that Dave finally was big enough to get his deer out all by himself.
I think it is safe to say that for my boys there are 5 days each year that they await with eager anticipation: their birthday, Christmas Eve/Christmas, and Opening Deer Season Eve/Opening Deer Season. Today marks the latter.
The shopping has been done. The gear is packed. Now they just have to wait until the afternoon before they can leave for deer camp. Part of me hopes that they will see many racks this weekend, and at least a couple of them legal-to-shoot. That way when the guys return on Sunday they can come in beating their chests while saying "We men. We bring home meat." They are always so proud of themselves when they have had a successful hunt. But another part of me is hoping that the bucks will remain in hiding because our chest freezer still holds most of last year's deer.
But I know whatever the outcome, the boys will have some great memories and funny stories to share. That is the part that I am always eager to have them share with me.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I hesitate to post this today because I have been doing pretty good with my new venture into a "glass half-full" outlook. However, I see this commercial Every.Single.Morning and it irritates that crap out of me. So I am hoping that by typing out my feelings and then posting it I will be able to move forward and continue on with my foray into optimism.
I wish YouTube had the full version that I see daily. What the YouTube version cuts out is some of what irritates me makes me the most angry about the TV version.
The first couple of viewings all I noticed was the constant one-upmanship that was going on at the playground. And then I watched it closer and this is when I really became almost angry at this commercial.
The message about safe carseats was totally lost to me because I was seeing red due to the subtle, "mean girl" bullying that occurs for the length of this commercial.
Watch the commercial carefully.
Do you see it?
First, let's start with the fact that the ad company felt like they needed to portray a "dumpy" mom. She is dressed in a polo shirt tucked into khakis. She is also several pounds heavier than the other women in the video.
Second, they portray this mom as somewhat insecure. Notice how she is sitting away from the crowd when everyone else is standing. She also can't let go of her poor kid and instead continues to rub in sunscreen for a much longer time than is necessary...says security blanket to me.
Next, this woman tries to add to the conversation only to be COMPLETELY shut down by another woman.
Did you see the look she got when she responded, after being shut down, "I was going to say that"? Every time I see that brunette woman roll her eyes and look down her nose at that poor mom, I want to jump through my TV screen and slap the brunette upside the head. (Oh, I think that might actually occur only in the TV version.)
And the final insult? When the woman does offer something to the conversation, she gets an almost "duh" reaction when the brunette woman responds "That's obvious" and both the Asian woman and the token male look away.
How ironic is it that the government that makes us show anti-bullying propaganda information in schools produces a public service announcement that is fully of typical "mean girl" bullying behavior?
A more appropriate closing to the commercial should be...
"Do you know that children watch you carefully to see how you treat and speak to others?" Parents who really know are kind, considerate, and treat others with respect, not disdain and condescension.
Whew. Rant over. I think I am ready to move on. Sometimes I do over-react and read more into a situation than what is there so sharing my views (and getting feedback from others) helps me see the other side of the coin.
This week has been a good week for sweet kid moments.
There was yesterday's moment with Katelyn; the moment when she told me I couldn't over do her birthday wishes. It made me smile knowing that at least on her birthday I could repeat myself several times and not irritate the crap out of her.
And the night before yesterday Carson and I had our own sweet moment.
Here's how that went down.
Dave, Carson and I were watching X Factor. There was a young man who totally blew his Boot Camp Audition. It was so sad to watch it happen. And then when he was interviewed backstage, with tears in his eyes, he says "I just want my mom."
Dave looks at me. I have my sad face on. He looks at Carson, then back at me and says:
-Go hug your boy.
I say:
-He won't want a hug from me.
Carson says:
-I want a hug.
I was out of my chair so fast and across the room before Carson had any time to change his mind. As I was hugging him he said:
-I don't mind hugs from you at all Mom.
Awww.
Sometimes these kids still melt my heart.
Love you both so much.
Today is Katelyn's 19th birthday.
It is so strange to not have her home to celebrate with her.
But her Facebook post would indicate that her roommates made sure she had a great day.
She doesn't know it, but she totally made my day this morning.
Here's why.
I texted her the following:
-Would posting Happy Birthday on your wall, texting you Happy Birthday, and calling you later today to wish you Happy Birthday be too much?
-No
I was completely expecting a "yes, too much Mom" answer.
So when I got a "no", I was so happy.
That meant I could call her this afternoon and not feel like it was too much.
And be worried that she would be grumpy because it was too much.
We had a nice chat this afternoon.
She sounded so happy.
And definitely having a good birthday.
Her being happy made me happy.
So one more "Happy Birthday, Kate."
We love you very much.
Almost every morning for the last two weeks I have heard the noisy honking of geese as they fly over my house on their southward journey. When I hear the honking I step out onto my deck just to watch them fly in formation. I marvel at how they rotate through and that even though the transition can sometimes be messy, they quickly reform the infamous V. I absolutely love watching them fly and watching the teamwork.
Today as I was watching a group fly over my house I thought about church lessons I had heard in the past relating the flight of geese to different relationships (visiting teaching and Relief Society are the ones most often described). I wondered who I would identify as "lifter"--someone who honked from behind to keep me going just a little bit longer. I didn't readily identify anyone from my ward, but I know that if I really was feeling drug down and needing a lift surely there would be someone from church I could call--maybe they would be in my ward, maybe in a neighboring ward.
But today as I was talking to one of my nurse colleagues I knew at that moment I was part of a group where we all take turns "honking". My friend and I talked about how each of us seems to have a niche where we are strong--one is an excellent writer of care plans and if you need help with that, call Christa; one has mad triage skills and excellent dealing with mental health issues, so if you have a question about triage or need mental health referral, call Deb. And the list went on until we realized that we each play an important role in supporting each other.
School nursing can sometimes be a lonely job. Yes, you are in a building (or several) and interact with lots of different people, but only a few (10 in our district) really get what you do all day because they do it to. Today I am enjoying the moment...the moment of realizing that I am flying in formation with some great ladies.
It may surprise you to know that I am generally a "glass half-empty"-type. That is the sad truth. And I generally find it easier to default to my natural tendancy than to make the intentional decision to say things in a more positive manner. And the only reason I find it easier is simply because I have allowed it to become a bad habit.
And every month for about 10 days the Eeyore in me really comes out and my natural tendency towards pessimism is on hyper-drive. I try not to spread the dark cloud of doom to those who I interact with regularly. The boys will tell you that that is a FAIL.
So for the next 21 days (that's the generally accepted time frame for breaking a habit) I will make the intentional decision to find the positive, to watch my "phrasology" and state things in a positive, supportive manner, and not speak negatively. Pretty much I will be following Thumper's mom advice: "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all." Except I will be going out of my way to say something nice since not saying anything at all doesn't seem to be working for me.
And it's a good thing I decided to go this route because I have a whole string of things that I am irritated by, frustrated about, mad at, find ridiculous etc. and I really need to shift my focus. If those things are still bugging me in 21 days, maybe I'll blog about them then.
