Kids, Critters, Culture, Clothes, Comments, and Quotes (April 2016)

I can't remember a day when God has not used my kids to keep me humble. I just had the following conversation with my son:

Me: Should I teach STEM next year or take a break to free up more time for you and your sister? You seem to enjoy the class, and I love how much you have been applying what you are learning in there, but if I'm a terrible teacher, I need to quit.

Boy: You are not a terrible teacher, Mom. You just aren't the best.

Me: Agreed. So who is the best?

Boy: Mrs. B*

 

Mrs. B* was his 2nd grade teacher who tried to get me to apply as her teaching assistant, but I would not do it. Instead, I hired her to be my teaching assistant in my STEM class. I also made sure she got recognized by the local radio station as the teacher of the month because she deserves it. The timing of this statement was especially peculiar because Mrs. B* had just won in her age group in a half marathon the weekend before and then won the plank hold contest for her 5am (GULP!) boot camp class where she was the oldest (mid 50s I'm guessing), and she joked about being a little competitive, so my son's comment gave her the triple crown for the week.

Mrs. B recently sent me this amusing math meme.

Critters
Old pics of Cody showed up in my look back app, and I'm thinking he and Orwell would have made a really cute pair, except we would have had two alpha males in the house at the same time had Cody lived longer.

At least Orwell gets along well with Muffin. They both joined me for my quiet time this morning.

My mother-in-law sent me this cute meme.  The timing was so appropriate given that my husband had just wrapped my power cord for my laptop with electrical tape in four places where it had been chewed down to exposed wires.

Bunnies on laptops are familiar scenes around here.  Cody liked the pounce on multiple keys at once approach.  He once pulled off four keys in one swoop.

Muffin is more interested in getting more screen time than in troubleshooting.

Fitness
One of the moms in my Mighty Moms group invited me to a She-Fit workout instructed by a two-time Olympic contender in wrestling. She said, "I'm not sure if it will challenge you or not since you are in such good shape." My muscles were sore for the rest of the week. They say a teacher should also be a student, so I knew the workout would be good for me since it would be different, and I'm always telling my group to mix it up. And so we did. Whew, I'm tired! Then the coach went and posted a pic of us on his website AFTER the workout, I had on no make-up and was worn plum out!

As if that wasn't bad enough, later he posted a promo video of us working out.  We never signed waiver forms and had no idea what he was doing with his phone.  He could have warned us, so I could have combed my hair and put on make-up.  It's a good thing he's a godly man who I can never sue. Ha!





Update  Then in May he posted the following pic. Too bad we did not get any compensation for all these pics.

His whole family is amazing.  His wife was an Olympic competitor in soccer for Canada's team. They have five children (two by adoption) and stay busy coaching numerous clubs and teams.  She coaches the Carolina Railhawks; he is personal trainer and wrestling coach; both run sports camps for kids and family training programs all year at this awesome facility while raising five kids and planting a new church which he pastors.  Just like the apostle Paul, they are "tentmakers", earning their keep without receiving any support from their church.  

Pop-Culture & Politics
Our culture has gone insane. Smear campaigns, propaganda and outrageous ideas that anyone with a lick of common sense would easily recognize as dangerous are being forced down people's throats, and it's causing quite a stir, especially after a registered sex offender and his cronies helped push a city ordinance granting those who claim to be transgender access to any restroom they choose, men's or women's.  This ordinance which put women and children at tremendous risk by opening a door to grant pedophiles, rapists, and perverts access to them in restrooms and showers, triggered an emergency state congressional session which a bill was passed, HB2, to clarify long standing rules regarding separating open style restrooms by gender. Then Target updated their bathroom/dressing room policy to welcome men into women's restrooms and vice versa, and the media went wild with it. Surprisingly, the false propaganda and typical progressive bullying tactics aren't working this time, and Target is being boycotted by over a million people so far. Such is America these days - run over by deception, evil, and totalitarian nonsense. A must read regarding the current state of America with regard to truth vs. evil can be found here. It is right on point.

Sensing the need to diffuse diffuse some of the tension in the air with a touch of humor, I shared the following status update which was absolutely true but seemed more inclusive. Our country is filled with all this animosity, yet we forget that we do share much in common and must not become enemies with our neighbors.

We recently planted 16 large trees and five shrubs to clean up the air and provide shelter for wildlife. Our children are thrilled and love to hug those trees. We supported capitalism by outsourcing this job to a local small business owner who did not employ "undocumented" immigrants. He paid them well above minimum wage and let them use shovels instead of gas guzzling equipment. I served organic lemonade and GMO-free tea to the thirsty as they labored. I also provided food, water, and shelter from the heat to our neutered cat and bunny. All workers were given words of affirmation to nurture self-esteem (and because we sincerely appreciate their hard work). We have adopted a bathroom policy that grants all family members, friends, guests, and workers access to any of our four, private, gender-neutral restrooms.

Fashion
I went shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding and found myself asking the following questions:

• So where does an old woman with a junior sized body (which she isn't ashamed of, but she has enough self-respect to cover it up), find a dress these days that is actually longer than a shirt?
• After over a decade of teen boys wearing their pants on the ground, have teen girls decided to just not wear pants at all?
•  Do gender neutral teens wear pants?

For the love of all that is good and right, keep your booties out of sight.

An Unexpected Comment
When I'm in a good mood, I like to make small talk with cashiers and hopefully make them smile. I've gotten all kinds of responses. My favorite cashier sings and dances her responses back at me. Others have shared their struggles. Too many have made rude comments about the large quantity of chocolate in my cart. (Oops!) But today, the cashier's response shocked me. She pointed at the friendly lady in front of me who had just checked out as she was walking out the door and said, "She can be so nice at times, but other times she can be a real B****. (One syllable derogatory word stretched into 3 syllables for emphasis). Apparently this lady was her landlord, but all I could think was, "Couldn't we all be described the same way?" I know I have my good moments and my not-so-good moments, but thank God for His amazing grace and sweet forgiveness. Lord, make me mindful of how undeserving I am of your grace, so I will have a grateful heart and remember to show grace to others.

Quotes I Came Across Recently That I Want To Remember

•  "I know who I am. I am not perfect. I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I'm one of them."  (Mary J. Blige)  💕 

•  "Let’s celebrate womanhood without emasculating manhood". (Beth Moore, Esther study guide) 

From the book,  Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom:

• A charity worker running a homeless shelter asked a man on the street if he was homeless? He replied, "No, I have a home. I just don't have a house to put it in." 

• Upon discovering that his most revered rabbi initially got kicked out of seminary and did not get inspired to try again (with huge success) until after helping a troubled kid as a camp counselor, Mitch Albom wrote: "The most inspirational man I ever knew only reached his full potential by helping a child reach his." ‪#‎WordsToLiveBy‬ 

• Paraphrase (because I'm listening to this book on tape and going by memory here) of something Mitch said during the eulogy for his lifelong rabbi :  One measure of the good he did is the bad we did not do.  (I'm not sure I totally agree with this statement because each man must make his/her own choices, but I appreciate the sentiment and encouragement to equip my kids with the knowledge, wisdom, and example of faithfully seeking Christ personally that they need to chose rightly).

• "He kept the [depressing, frightening news of the] outside world [which he could not change] at bay by keeping the inside world [those closest to him whom he could significantly impact] close at hand.