Thursday, November 17, 2011

Programming Change

Motivated Mom and I are headed off for our annual November vacation - which means a change in the regularly scheduled programming for this blog. Look for a new post round about December 4th.

Traditions are unique to every continent, culture, and family. Part of what makes the holiday season so interesting is getting the opportunity to experience the wide range of traditions. For Motivated Mom and I, Thanksgiving has changed over the years from gathering with extended family around a food laden table to smearing on sunblock and napping under palm trees.

However you spend your Thanksgiving, here's hoping you find yourself with much to be thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Helping the Heroes

In one of my very first blogs I mentioned the copy of the parenting handbook that Motivated Mom and I owned seemed to be missing a few pages.  When Media Girl was diagnosed with a mental illness, it quickly became obvious our book was missing entire chapters.

Over the past six weeks Motivated Mom and I have been working to fill in the gaps of parenting books owned by other families. We have been teaching a course in helping parents of children with mental illnesses to understand and cope with the many faces of that illness. Had Motivated Mom and I known fifteen years ago what we have learned just in training to be instructors, our own family might have traveled a very different path.

Over the past six weeks I have come to appreciate that families affected by mental illness (the children who are ill, siblings, and parents) are the real heroes in the world.  They start each day knowing only one thing - they have NO idea what the day will bring. There is no such thing as a typical day for these families, at least not in the way the rest of the world views typical.  Yet these people put their feet on the floor every morning and resolve to do the best they can.  They do this day after day, knowing that doing their best will tax them to their limit and beyond. Parents do it because the alternative is not an option. The children burdened with the illness do it in the hopes that this might be the day that brings a little sunshine.

If, by teaching this course I have made one day in one person's life just a little bit easier, then I can call the past six weeks a monumental success.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

How Shall I Call Thee?

It seems there's no denying it.

Three months ago when I was gifted with the information that Media Girl, our daughter, had a positive test result on a home pregnancy test kit, I reacted as any level headed parent would.  I clicked my heels three times and said: there will be no babies in this home, there will be no babies in this home, there will be no babies in this home.

Six weeks ago when Media Girl's stomach began to swell, I convinced myself she had used a packet of yeast rather than Good Season's Italian Dressing Mix in the marinade and the swelling was nothing more than the intestinal equivalent of rising bread dough.

But the dough hasn't fallen and now I'm being asked if I want to be called Grandpa or Granddad.

Which has me saying - just hold on one doggone minute. My hair might be a little thin on top, but the prefix of grand is not a fit for me in any way, shape or form. The math might say I'm fifty-five, but I'm sure those six pack abs I've been trying to develop for thirty years are right around the corner.

So while there may be no denying a baby is on the way, my identifier of choice is: Hey, Mister.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Street Colors

Crooked Bend Drive, Red Barn Road, Chicken House Road.  These road signs can all be seen in a rural town not too far from us. 

It's a safe bet the names date back to a time when our area was mostly farm land with houses few and far between. No doubt folks gave directions by telling a traveler to turn right at the red barn or to watch for the first drive after the crooked bend. - Completely understandable.

Still, Motivated Mom and I couldn't help but brainstorm over new names that could be put to use. House With Broken Shutter Alley and Sagging Back Porch Drive were just a couple of the names we came up with.

Red Barn Road really bothers me though. Not because farm country is peppered with red barns, but because the name suggests that somewhere there has to be a Blue House Street or Yellow Farm Drive. Which means the people living in the houses connected to the road names are under a community obligation to keep their houses the same color - kind of takes the fun out of home ownership.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Whispers and Promises

Just a few weeks ago Motivated Mom was pointing out the brilliant colors of post summer. Flowers were giving their all in a final blaze of color and trees sported richly hued patchwork cloaks.

Weakened from their heroic displays of plumage, the flowers have now collapsed to the ground and trees have shed their leaves. Like athletes who have depleted the last of their energy reserves, the trees now stand with their branches hanging limp and barren.

Lined up along perimeters of dried and brown fields, battalions of trees stand shoulder to shoulder - their weary and skeletal arms linked with one another for the mutual support that will carry them through the gray and bleak days of the coldest months of the year.

I find myself wondering where trees find the stamina to survive the blustery cold for weeks on end. I suppose it is from the sap that runs deep in trunks and roots. A reassuring glue of life that carries whispers of unending cycles and promises of the return of warmer days.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Tumblethought

I've been thinking about kaleidoscopes over the past few days. Mainly because my blog and story ideas have been tumbling around in my head the way the pieces of colored glass tumble in the end of those cardboard tubes.

And like those ever changing colored displays, my thoughts tumble and shift quicker than I capture any one. A story I thought I was writing tumbles onto a different path. The blog idea firmly fixed in my mind falls to pieces before I can get to the keyboard.

I know what you're thinking.  The man is battling the onset of Alzheimer's.

I beg to differ (I think).

It all has something to do with the shift back to standard time. Ever since the clocks changed, my thoughts refuse to remain in focus.  I think there's an important message here, but the message changes before I can finish interpreting what it is.

This was not the way today's blog post started.  Today's blog was going to be about....... oh, never mind.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

He Robot

Don't know if you were aware - but while we have been watching movies like I Robot and viewing them as science fiction, the Honda corporation has churned out the real deal.

Honda named their robot Asimo (I'm guessing that's an acknowledgment to Issac Asimov, the writer who took us into a world where humanoid robots interact with humans routinely).

Asimo can run, play kick ball, speak, respond to human voices, navigate down a crowded sidewalk - and perform tasks considered too risky for humans.  That last item is one of Asimo's primary selling points - doing the jobs that would ordinarily put humans at risk - which I guess means new parents will soon be buying their own Asimo to take care of changing diapers.

In case you're as fascinated by this as I am.  I'm including a link to the website here:  http://asimo.honda.com

Monday, November 7, 2011

Out of Sorts

Upside is down, inside is out, I wake before my alarm and fall asleep before bedtime.

Such are the struggles of the first few days of the return to standard time.

If it's standard why do I feel so out of sorts?

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Signs of Hibernation

While running errands this weekend it occurred to me that humankind has its own form of hibernation. Front porches now stand empty - rocking chairs, tables, and wall decorations having been moved into storage. Likewise backyard decks are now empty platforms. Homeowners have abandoned outdoor living, moving their lives behind curtained windows.

Behind those curtains, fires blaze in wood stoves and fireplaces, soups simmer in five quart pots, and beds are covered with flannel sheets and down comforters. 

It is humankind's acknowledgment that nature still rules supreme. While we cannot sleep the months away as the bears do, we can still snuggle in our dens once our workday obligations are complete.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Unexpected

What do you do when your boss comes to you and says you've been selected to give an hour and a half presentation to a hundred people?

Perhaps you raise an eyebrow.

When the boss says the presentation is the next day you might get a little concerned.

When he tells you the format for the presentation still needs to be developed....

....you get more than a little concerned

What I've learned in putting this education piece together today is... no matter how much I plan, no matter how organized I am, I will always encounter the unexpected.

Here's hoping the hundred people who gather in the auditorium tomorrow will never know I wasn't planning on being there.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Life's Mysteries

Another mystery to solve....

Six weeks ago nearby farmers harvested their fields of hay, bundled their hay into rectangles the size of small cottages, stacked these bundles like they were building condos - and still those towers sit untouched.

Is this the ultimate in building green?  Are the farmers waiting for the bundles of hay to petrify so the bundles can be hollowed out, then doors and windows added?

Perhaps the farmers are waiting for the hay to turn so crispy dry that the bundles spontaneously ignite and provide the heat for a record setting marshmallow toasting event.

When (if) the hay disappears how will I ever know what use it was put to?  It's a question that will linger in my mind till the end of my days.