Quote of the Day

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything

I still believe that people are really good at heart."

Anne Frank

Going Bezerk

Have you ever heard the Ray Stevens song "The Day the Squirrel Went Bezerk"?
It tells the story (as many of Ray Stevens' songs do) of a squirrel getting loose in church and wreaking havoc among the churchgoers.
It's very funny.

That is, until something like unto it actually happens to you.
I'm not kidding, and I assure you, not one bit of this is made up.

Last Thursday, we had Cub Scout Pack Meeting.
Stephen had earned his Webelos badge and Arrow of Light before he turned 11 on Aug. 15, so we were excited he would be receiving these awards.
It was to start at 6pm, so it was imperative that we leave home by 5:45pm to get there on time.

5:25pm
All the kids are at the table.
Dinner is underway and we are making progress toward our goal of leaving on time.
I finish my dinner and walk outside for a minute.
Our cat, Orion, is chasing a small rodent-like creature down the edge of the house.
I silently cheer him on and pride myself on having a hunter in the family that rids our home of nasty pests.
I know we're on track for the night, so I am feeling pretty good.
I head back inside, and leave the door open momentarily behind me.
After a minute, I shut the door, and tried to verbally hurry the kids along, telling them they still need to find their shoes and get their hair combed.

5:28pm
"Mom," Emily says, "Orion has a tail hanging out of his mouth."
What?!!
Orion is inside?
(For the record, he is an inside/outside cat).
I just knew that he had just been chasing a 4 inch rodent outside, and now, he was inside, presumably with WHATEVER that rodent was, IN HIS MOUTH!!

It only took about 2 seconds to connect the dots.
He must have caught the creature and slipped in to share his prize with us before I shut the door.
So, bracing myself for a dead offering, I stooped down to see what kind of carcass I needed to clean up.
All of a sudden I hear,
"HE LET IT GOOOOO!"
"IT'S ALIVE!"
"Oh, GROSS!"
"What is it??"

Lo and behold, Orion, brave and mighty cat hunter he is, had grabbed a chipmunk by the tail and brought it, ALIVE, into our home.

So at 5:30pm, chaos ensued.
Every child was screaming or standing on their chair or chasing me to try and see the chipmunk.
I was chasing that dad-gum chipmunk (for about 12 minutes!)
from guest room (where part of the tail actually came off),
to the piano (underneath to boot, so I'm clearing the top of it and trying to move it enough so that Orion can recapture his prey),
to the TV room in a corner,
up underneath the recliner (where he chose to stay for a couple of minutes until I totally tipped over the chair and shook it),
to a newly washed pillowcase next to the couch, in which this little, bleeding-tailed chipmunk buried it's head and half of it's body, trying to find security and peace.

Meanwhile, I'm frantically trying to decide what I can do if I can't get Orion to catch the LOVELY prey he was so anxious to show us.
So the following things are racing through my mind:
Would it be completely stupid to leave a chipmunk in the house when we weren't home?
Where would it hide?
There are lots of places for it to hide for a really long time in my house.
No way, I can't leave a chipmunk unattended, to have free reign in my house while I am gone.
I can just miss Pack Meeting.
No, that won't work, Stephen is getting his awards.

And I'm saying, no, YELLING,
"Get your shoes on, NOW!"
"There's a tail on the floor?! YUCK! Stephen, get a Wal-Mart bag and pick it up with the plastic, BUT DON'T TOUCH IT!"
"Where's Sam?....Emily, GO BUCKLE HIM IN THE VAN!"
"EVERYBODY!! Get your shoes and GO BUCKLE UP!"
"Stop screaming and chasing the chipmunk, GO TO THE VAN, WE NEED TO GO!!"

Once the kids listened and all went to the van, I actually was able to concentrate on the rodent at hand.
When it ran into the wadded up (but clean) pillowcase, I was relived.
It didn't seem to be moving much.
Maybe I could catch it.
Put it in a box or a jar or something.
Yes.
That is what I would do.
Wait, what if it runs away while I am getting a container?
What if....I just pick up the pillowcase?
That will work.
So I grabbed two edges of the pillowcase, and walked as quickly as possible to the door.
Relieved to be outside, I sighed a huge "Thank You, Lord!", and started to let the chipmunk go.
Then I heard,
"Mom! Can we see it's tail? Where it got bitten off?"
"Cool!"
"You caught it! Awesome!"
So after a short show and tell, I let Orion sniff the back of the chipmunk...and the chipmunk literally jumped 18 inches from the pillowcase to the ground a foot away from me and took off, as fast as it could go, Orion on it's heels.
I didn't stay to see the hunt resumed, I just walked to the van and drove away.
Thanking the Lord that I have never had to deal with that before, and praying I will never have to deal with it again, either.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, they didn't have Stephen's awards ready.
They'll be presenting him with them next month.
At another Pack Meeting.
I'll be praying it a chipmunkless night.

You've Had a Birthday!

My immediate family of siblings is actually quite small.
I have one brother and one sister.
I also (now that we are all grown and married) have one sister-in-law.
She will celebrate her birthdays this week.
My SIL (of 14 years!!) today.

I just wanted her to know how much I appreciate her as an addition to my family.
She is a good doobie, and has loved us unconditionally.
Kori, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
You deserve luscious cake, decadent ice cream!
Enjoy your day,
and know we're thinking of you on your day!

Happy Birthday, My Sister!

Twenty nine years ago today, my "baby" sister was born.

We are almost 6 years apart in age...and her birth was an adjustment for me, I'm sure, although I don't remember it being difficult.
I loved looking at her when she was sleeping.
I loved playing with her.
I actually dropped her on my mouth and loosened one of my front teeth when I was 7.
It was a baby tooth, thank goodness.
One time I pinched her awake from her nap, just because I wanted to play with her.
Six years is a big gap when you are 14 and 8, but I don't feel like there is much of an age gap now.
She is one of my very best friends.
She is also one of my role models.
She's creative, strong in mind and body, and a risk-taker.
I've learned a lot from her.
I hope she has a beautiful birthday.
She has made my life much more joyful, just by being a part of it!
Happy Birthday my sistah!

If...

Question of the day:
(from If...Questions for the Game of Life)

IF you could ensure that your child has one experience that you have had yourself, what would you want it to be?

I know my husband's answer to this would be to have our child(ren) travel outside of the USA.
We have discussed the important changes that such travel can inflict...oh, I mean, instill, upon the travelee.
My international travel consists of one week in Mexico with my Spanish Club when I was 16.
It was eye-opening, but not life changing.
We were too sheltered by our chaperones, and very isolated in regards to interacting with the people of Mexico.

My answer?
If I could ENSURE one experience that I have had myself?
It would be that my children would first meet, and then marry, their best friend.
While I would be a liar if I said it is never difficult within my marriage, I would also be a liar if I said my marriage was nothing like I imagined it would be.
It is much more than I ever expected, and it brings me great joy.

I was raised in a home where my parent's divorced when I was 7.
Having dated little in high school, I truly believed that I would not marry early, if at all.
I dated 3 guys "seriously" in college.
One I broke up with because our relationship was primarily physical and did not hold promise for the future.
The other one married one of my best friends and truly broke my heart.
After such an emotional experience, I vowed I would focus solely on my schooling, and not seek any romantic relationships at all.
I even wrote myself an extensive note, detailing the importance of finding joy and happiness within myself and not depending on a "guy" for my self-worth.
It was actually a life-changing decision.

At the beginning of the next semester, I (re)met my sweetheart.
(We had met 2 years before at my cousin's Youth Conference, and I had loved joking with him then.)
I had no desire to get romantically involved with anyone, and it just so happened Pat had not gone on his mission yet, so I honestly didn't think twice about him as a romantic interest initially.
He ended up in my Book of Mormon Institute class, and made really insightful comments.
He was still incredibly easy to talk to, and fun to joke with.
He was strongly focused on preparing for his mission, so finding a "girlfriend" wasn't his focus either.
So we became friends.
Really good friends.
And we stayed really good friends for a really long time (in the college dating world!).
It was a great foundation for the love that developed and has continued to develop.

And honestly, it is the one thing I would choose for each of my children to experience:
Finding love within a strong friendship and choosing to have that friendship continue to grow eternally.

Only 2?

I have 2 kids home right now.
I'm not sure what to do.
Bekah is 4, and will go to school next year.
Samuel is 18 months old, and currently my baby.
I haven't had just 2 at home since Thomas was born almost 6 years ago.
I'm a little shocked at that realization.

I miss my kids.

First Day of Kindergarten

There's Thomas (left), all ready to leave for school.
He was so excited about his first day today.
He also wanted to make sure I could see his lunchbox, with his very own lunch packed inside, in the background.
His backpack is as big as he is!

Over on the right, he's sitting at his table.
Only half of the class went today.
Half will go tomorrow, which means Thomas stays home one more day.
Wednesday can't come soon enough for him!