Empty nest????
Hope everyone is enjoying their time off from the politics, if you read my last blog. The only problem is doing what I said, the humidity from the hurricane, I don't want to go out of the house!
School has begun. I have read many FB posts from friends who have moved their little ones into college dorms, seen pictures of literal little ones who shouldn't be that old, starting kindergarten, middle school and high school. Personally, I got off the hook this year. John recieved the honors this year of moving our second and third children into college. So now we have two in college and two at home, one back and working, one a senior in high school. We are beginning that year of graduation, and we are really graduating this year! After 10 years in high school, we are graduating! It is a time of joy and a time of sorrow. At the cross country meet last week, Laura asked one of the mothers for a brownie recipe because she might never get those brownies again, (and they are good!) The mother, who is also a last year senior mom, said that she felt sad for the first time in the year because of Laura's request. The team had a great impromtu senior night supper at the local cafe, and we continued to laugh, but the reality was before us...this is our graduation too. We will have a year of "last times" that will be last times. And I remember some of the past "Last times".
When Isaac marched in his last half time show last year, he and I both shared a teary moment, because he really didn't think about it until it was over and he was packing up the trailer with the rest of the grip crew.
When we surprised Alex with a birthday party his Senior year. Because of email, I was able to have some of his friends spread the word that we were going to Lickity Splits (our ice cream place) for his birthday and to meet us there. It's hard to get something past Alex, but we did this one!
When Joe walked in the door and realized he had taken his last high school exam and that it was soon to be over. The look on his face of sadness, excitement, and fear all at the same time was unforgetable.
I only await what we will have with Laura!
Those are some of the things we remember of those "Last years", and as sad as they can be, we also celebrate what our children will be doing and what we will be doing as well. Our children grow up and leave home (sometimes they come back!) but they reappear as adults, not the same people who left years ago. They branch out into their own areas of interest, they make new friends, they go to new places and then tell us parts of what they do. Let's face it, we never tell our parents EVERYTHING!
What about us who stay at home? We have another role to "morph" into, the role of what is called empty nesters, but the nest is only as empty as one makes it. I've talked to many parents who cannot deal with their children leaving, and I have to restrain myself from saying, "Are you crazy?"! Yes, I can be more pastoral than that, and I do understand the dealing with one less pair of feet stomping around, leaving shoes, clothes, books, laying around the house. I understand the void in the laundry pile and the food which is suddenly not being consumed. And these changes are not only reality checks, they are grief moments and they are doors closing. But to quote the Mother Superior from "The Sound of Music", "When God closes a door, He opens a window." What windows is God opening for us these days? In our grief and celebrations, what we need to remember is that we live in transistions, as the Spirit moves throughout the earth, the Spirit also moves within us, constantly moving us, challenging us, allowing us to grieve for what has changed, but also allowing us to look ahead to great and wonderful gifts that only God can give us. That is our hope, our greatness, as we look with anticipation at what is around the curve.
To quote Red Green...
Keep your stick on the ice!
Olivia
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
83 Days to go....
We are in the countdown and it's wearing thin. 83 Days until the election, mud slinging back and forth on both sides, and it's just growing old, faster and faster! Now, I'm not suggesting we give up and not vote; I am a true believer in casting that ballot and making that choice. It is a privilege and a sign of our patriotism to vote. So do that, but it's just painful to have to sit and listen to all the commercials.
Let's think of other things we can preoccupy ourselves with in the next 83 days. These might not be in the best order, but they are only suggestions!
1. First of all just turn off the TV. It will probably help your blood pressure.
2. Sit down and write an actual note or letter to a friend. It would help out the postal service as well as make someone's day.
3. Take time to sit and enjoy the silence of the day instead of the ranting of PACs.
4. Take time to cook a homemade meal for your spouse, a friend, or a neighbor who isn't up for cooking right now.
5. Volunteer: Be it at a food pantry, helping in your local school, driving someone to the doctor, it is time for us to pay it forward.
6. Heaven forbid, get out and exercise!
7. Read a book. Between libraries, e-books, books on CD's, and what's on our shelves, there is enough to pass around.
8. Pray. Duh...for what? The world around us and what we are doing to it and to each other is a great start.
9. Do yard work. (That's the one I really don't want to think about, but I look at the yard everyday.)
10. Since it the fall, go to a little league game and watch the next generation and see how they treat each other in comparison to how their parents treat each other.
11. Go to church. If you don't have one, find one. It's a great place to become part of a community, to help other people, and to find a purpose within your life.
12. Join a community service organization. Our service clubs are in need of good people who want to help others. You can do this and the church one together. They usually meet at different times.
13. Support a Fall Festival of some sort. There are lots of them in September and October on weekends. Take in the handmade crafts and the great food.
14. Play with your children, they grow up too fast.
15. Visit your parents, they are gone too soon.
16. Have lunch with your siblings, they have moments they are pains to live with, but they are there for you when you need them.
17. Take time to enjoy your spouse, significant other, partner, or best friend. Whoever it is, they are special, and they need to be appreciated and that needs to be vocalized as well as shown.
Here are some suggestions to make the next 83 days go by faster.....would love to hear more!
Later gang!
Olivia
Let's think of other things we can preoccupy ourselves with in the next 83 days. These might not be in the best order, but they are only suggestions!
1. First of all just turn off the TV. It will probably help your blood pressure.
2. Sit down and write an actual note or letter to a friend. It would help out the postal service as well as make someone's day.
3. Take time to sit and enjoy the silence of the day instead of the ranting of PACs.
4. Take time to cook a homemade meal for your spouse, a friend, or a neighbor who isn't up for cooking right now.
5. Volunteer: Be it at a food pantry, helping in your local school, driving someone to the doctor, it is time for us to pay it forward.
6. Heaven forbid, get out and exercise!
7. Read a book. Between libraries, e-books, books on CD's, and what's on our shelves, there is enough to pass around.
8. Pray. Duh...for what? The world around us and what we are doing to it and to each other is a great start.
9. Do yard work. (That's the one I really don't want to think about, but I look at the yard everyday.)
10. Since it the fall, go to a little league game and watch the next generation and see how they treat each other in comparison to how their parents treat each other.
11. Go to church. If you don't have one, find one. It's a great place to become part of a community, to help other people, and to find a purpose within your life.
12. Join a community service organization. Our service clubs are in need of good people who want to help others. You can do this and the church one together. They usually meet at different times.
13. Support a Fall Festival of some sort. There are lots of them in September and October on weekends. Take in the handmade crafts and the great food.
14. Play with your children, they grow up too fast.
15. Visit your parents, they are gone too soon.
16. Have lunch with your siblings, they have moments they are pains to live with, but they are there for you when you need them.
17. Take time to enjoy your spouse, significant other, partner, or best friend. Whoever it is, they are special, and they need to be appreciated and that needs to be vocalized as well as shown.
Here are some suggestions to make the next 83 days go by faster.....would love to hear more!
Later gang!
Olivia
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Summer 2012
I finally figured how to get back in here and do this again! I will admit I am far from computer literate, and this just proves it! Of course in the meantime I am learning all about a new phone as well. I got great use from my old one, Verizon doesn't make the battery anymore! John is imagining what will happen when he upgrades, his phone is older than mine.
But between graduation, a trip to Dallas, Neil Diamond, and freshman orientation, we thought we were busy. Then the storm hit! What in the world is a derecho anyway? It has a Wikipedia definition but I can sum it up: it was some major wind! When the storm hit, I thought Isaac would be doing a Dorothy on us, he was outside mowing the grass! But we were lucky, one tree here, lots at the camp, in the long run, we were okay. Many weren't as lucky and my heart went out to them. It looks like clean up is moving us forward. Forward to what? As I look ahead, I look at the positive. Yeah it sounds corny, that's who I am and I enjoy such an attitude. So vacation is coming up, so is band camp, fall sports, and getting Isaac to college. Will everything be rosy? No it won't. But we will endure, we will adjust. Just like we adjusted when we had no lights, or no air conditioners, we will adjust to all the changes around us.
Nuff on the deep stuff. Today as we were late getting to the orthodontist, I kept talking to the cars in front of me as they went very slow, and fussing about the VDOT road crews cutting brush, and Isaac and Laura kept telling me, "Mom, they can't hear you". But it sure made me feel better!
Catch ya later!
Monsenorita Olivia
But between graduation, a trip to Dallas, Neil Diamond, and freshman orientation, we thought we were busy. Then the storm hit! What in the world is a derecho anyway? It has a Wikipedia definition but I can sum it up: it was some major wind! When the storm hit, I thought Isaac would be doing a Dorothy on us, he was outside mowing the grass! But we were lucky, one tree here, lots at the camp, in the long run, we were okay. Many weren't as lucky and my heart went out to them. It looks like clean up is moving us forward. Forward to what? As I look ahead, I look at the positive. Yeah it sounds corny, that's who I am and I enjoy such an attitude. So vacation is coming up, so is band camp, fall sports, and getting Isaac to college. Will everything be rosy? No it won't. But we will endure, we will adjust. Just like we adjusted when we had no lights, or no air conditioners, we will adjust to all the changes around us.
Nuff on the deep stuff. Today as we were late getting to the orthodontist, I kept talking to the cars in front of me as they went very slow, and fussing about the VDOT road crews cutting brush, and Isaac and Laura kept telling me, "Mom, they can't hear you". But it sure made me feel better!
Catch ya later!
Monsenorita Olivia
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Welcome to the new week!
All too often Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day fall on the first Saturday in May, just like it did this weekend. All we needed was the prom, which is next weekend. So what is a girl to do?????? Mexican for supper and Margaritas in our 1983 Derby glasses!
And it was a great way to end a week. So today is the beginning of a new week. Celebrate the day! Church, family, work, friends, whatever it may be, life is a gift, and one we must celebrate! I preached that Phillip shared his guidance with the Ethiopian eunuch teaching him that in spite of what the world had done to him, he was still a welcomed, whole child in God's eyes. What would the world be if we all accepted and believed that in spite of what the world hands us, we are always God's children? We should believe that, but all too often we forget. All too often we forge ahead on our own only to be pushed back by the Spirit as it wants us to surrender.
Nuff on the preaching, back to life. This weekend was one of celebration. Next weekend will also be one of celebration with prom and with Mother's Day. The five days inbetween will be full, will have mundane time (Tuesday is a Presbytery meeting!) times of challenge, times to work hard. But, in the end, it will be a week we are given to celebrate the life that is ours through faith, fun, family and friends. So I am ready to kick back, drink up, (probably back to iced tea) and enjoy the week. It will be busy, it will bring new revelations to my life, but it will be lived to the fullest!
Later....
And it was a great way to end a week. So today is the beginning of a new week. Celebrate the day! Church, family, work, friends, whatever it may be, life is a gift, and one we must celebrate! I preached that Phillip shared his guidance with the Ethiopian eunuch teaching him that in spite of what the world had done to him, he was still a welcomed, whole child in God's eyes. What would the world be if we all accepted and believed that in spite of what the world hands us, we are always God's children? We should believe that, but all too often we forget. All too often we forge ahead on our own only to be pushed back by the Spirit as it wants us to surrender.
Nuff on the preaching, back to life. This weekend was one of celebration. Next weekend will also be one of celebration with prom and with Mother's Day. The five days inbetween will be full, will have mundane time (Tuesday is a Presbytery meeting!) times of challenge, times to work hard. But, in the end, it will be a week we are given to celebrate the life that is ours through faith, fun, family and friends. So I am ready to kick back, drink up, (probably back to iced tea) and enjoy the week. It will be busy, it will bring new revelations to my life, but it will be lived to the fullest!
Later....
Monday, April 30, 2012
Full speed ahead
What does one do with a blog? Whatever one wants to do. So, in beginning this adventure, I will be curious to see where I take it. I think it will reflect my mood of the day when I write; I think I will blog about the fact that I am not a computer whiz, that I will make many mistakes here and in life, and that I will do my best to enjoy each day. Life is busy, life is full, life is a rollar coaster, and life if great! Let's make an adventure!
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