I'm It

Okay I've been tagged by Penny to write 8 random facts about myself. Or rather, some things that might not be known.

1. I'm an only child. And I hate it when people refer to only children as behaving a certian way. I like to think I'm the exception to those rules.

2. I play piano. Not well anymore, but I CAN play, and with both hands even.

3. I LIKE having three boys & no girls. I never had & never will, have the desire to have a girl. Odd I know. And don't even bother, you won't change my mind if my mother hasn't in 10 years.

4. I HATED watching movies (just in general for something to do, I did have favorites though) until the past couple of years. My husband & his family were in denial over this & I still don't think they believe me. I'm just not a sit & do nothing for hrs & hrs type person. I didn't see E.T. until college.

5. I love Agatha Christie books. Any & all. I collect them & relish reading them over & over. It's like comfort food to me. They never get old & I usually can't remember who "done it".

6. I also collect John F. Kennedy things. Books, pictures, etc. The most prized possession in my little collection is the TV Guide from the week he was assasinated, given to me by my mother.

7. I tried out for the Christian singing group Acapella. Actually for their producer. Made a demo tape. Nothing came of it & I see now that was most likely a blessing in disguise. Funny enough, years down the road, my brother-in-law (already in the family when I married in) had sang with them. Small world.

8. I swim very well. I can hold my breath for a long time underwater. I almost got my life guard certification as a teenager, but I couldn't do the breast stroke very well. I was convinced it was because (at the time) I didn't really have a bust line. My mom used to yank me off the bottom of the pool because I could go down & just sit forever. I haven't gotten to go swimming in a LONG time.

And I tag TERRY & LISA! Get on it girls!;)

In the Begining There Was God...and Grand Moff Tarkin

We haven't pushed the issues of God & heaven, Jesus or the Bible with our children. Son #1 being the only one that can talk of the three really means the issues lie with him. This past year son #1 has dealt with death in several ways & seems to really understand the concept. I guess we should be thankful in a way to his Star Wars games seeing as how that is where most of his physical comprehension comes from on the subject of death & dying. But I also like to think that kids like my sons, have God in their ear to help talk them through some things in life that we can't always find the right words to explain. This said, there HAVE been conversations about God & Jesus and many Veggie Tale videos to reinforce the concepts God wants us to live by.

The last time I tried reading the Beginners Bible to son#1 he was excited at first. New stories & characters for him to understand & memorize. We got as far as creation, then Adam & Eve before my soft-hearted son decided that he was very angry about Adad & Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden. How sad that they had to go & never come back. Of course the angel with the flaming sword had him quite excited that there might be a duel. He was probably a little more mad about there not being a duel than Adam & Eve being banished come to think of it.
Anyway, he was done. He wasn't reading the next story because he was upset at it not continuing with Adam & Eve. So I didn't push. I'd ask every so often if he wanted another Bible story, but he would always say no.

Last night at bedtime, son #1 asked where his Bible story book was. I rushed to get it, trying not to look too eager that we might get past the Garden of Eden. I mention Noah & what a cool story that is with all the animals on this big boat & how it rains for 40 days. He scoffs at me. We need to start at the begining he tells me. I pick it up & open back up to the first story of creation again. But it seems this time, son #1 wants to have some control & narrate the reading of creation. So I begin. (Keep in mind this is the Children's Beginners Bible so it's putting the story VERY simply.)

me: "In the begining, the earth was empty. Darkness covered everything. But God was there, and He had a plan."

son#1: "A plan to build a death star."

me: (sigh)
He let me read on through the days & what was made on them until day 7. This is all said with a straight face mind you & he was quite serious about it.

me: "When He was finished, God saw that everything He had made was very good. And on the seventh day He rested."

son#1: "And on the eighth day, God made videos & DVD's for children from shows like on PBS, Nick Jr, Disney & Nickelodeon-like Rugrats."

me: Sure, okay. (I'm sure God has a copyright on all that somewhere, right?)

Then we proceed on to the story of Adam & Eve. Now he lets me go through the part about Adam names the animals but he's lonely. All he points out in this so far is that Adam needs some clothes.

me: But still, Adam was lonely. God said, "It's not good for Adam to be alone." So God made... a woman."

son#1 interupts me: "Wait! (in a narrator voice now) And she is very pretty holding red flowers. (she is in the picture in his Bible)

me: "Adam named the woman Eve. Eve was just right to be Adam's special helper."

son#1: "Just like you're Daddy's special helper, right Mommy?"

me: (sigh) "Sure, you could look at it that way." (although I was thinking more the other way around)

We go on to read about the eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good & evil, when son#1 sees a picture & pronounces it, "the fruit from the tree of college of good & evil."
This may be more fitting actually, he may have something there.

Then the part of the snake talking to Eve. He doesn't seem to think it's odd the snake can talk.

me: "One day a snake came to Eve. It said, "See how pretty the fruit is on the tree of knowledge of good & evil? It tastes good. It will make you wise. Don't listen to God. Go ahead and try it."

son#1: "Wait! (don't turn the page) In his best deep voice he says to me: "Eat that fruit from the tree of college of good & evil. I am really Lord Vader in this snake and I am bad."

Son#1 actually let me get through the rest of the story where A & E get kicked out & the angel with the flaming sword comes to guard the garden. Then as I try to be sneaky to just go ahead & start the story of Noah, he says "No! God doesn't like Noah!"
I say "Yes he does. See it says right here, "God knew Noah was the only good man left."
"Nope. He is really Grand Moff Tarkin in disguise and it's not an ark he's building, it's a DEATH STAR!"

(sigh) I bet that's news to God. It seems like he has the players on the right sides of good & evil...now if I can just figure out how to tell him this all really happened.

Flower Power

Have you ever noticed anyone with a flower name seems to be different than other people?
Our family likes to watch Hyacinth on the PBS show "Keeping Up Appearances". Besides her flower name, her sisters are Daisy (married to Onslow who never wears a shirt), Rose (the "loose" one) and Violet (who has a sauna, Mercedes & room for a pony). While these ARE special people, I was thinking about some other women I know & met with flower names.

When we first moved to Oklahoma, more specifically Broken Arrow. Ms. Rose was one of the very first people I met at church & at my job at the church pre-school. She had poofy blonde Betty White hair and was no more than 5 feet 1 inch tall. She was ALWAYS smiling and you didn't even have to wonder if she was a grandmother, she just has that air about her. Her makeup was flawless and her appearance was never anything casual. Her shoes always matched & were usually some fun color. Her beauty started within, but just radiated to you. Being around her made you smile. Even today she is ageless. She just looks like a pretty grandma. And a fun one too.

Although I was excited to teach again & have a job outside of the home, I was not thrilled with leaving my 4 month old baby boy. But once I found out Ms. Rose had taken care of almost everyone's baby's at church, sometimes generations, I felt okay about son#1 being across the hall away from me. I've never met anyone quite like Ms. Rose. I've never seen anyone calm a baby like she can. She's never afraid if they cry or won't eat. She hums & rocks them, just smiles and loves them. Never looses her patience and just exudes confidence to where you never need to ask why she would do something. One in a million, that's our Ms. Rose.

Today I met another woman with flower power to her name. Ms. Daisy. Seeing her my mind immedietly went to my memories of Ms. Rose. Ms. Daisy was on my oldest son's bus. (maybe HE has some magnatism to call these women to him!) Ms. Donna his bus driver said Ms. Daisy is a helper on another bus but they didn't have a route today, so she was tagging along with the Bush Shuttle. (all the buses have names of Presidents) This woman's beauty was so evident the first time I glanced at her. I admit I TRY to remember to fully dressed (you women know that means a bra) before taking the kids to the bus. Today was a day I didn't really want to get fully dressed. I knew Ms. Donna & Ms. Jeanne wouldn't care, but I caved & had on jeans and a t-shirt when I took son#1 to the bus. Thank goodness I did! There sat Ms. Daisy, although wearing similar clothes to mine, hers looked MUCH better and her hair was all pulled back in a stylish bun/ponytail. Rings on most fingers, nice manicured nails, better than mine and her makeup was impecible. I was just SO impressed by her smile & charm. What a cutie she was!

Ms. Donna noted the fact I had some of my voice back today and I was looking better. I scoffed at this & had the decency to blush since I was in the presence of Ms. Daisy and of course did not look as good as she did. I mentioned I couldn't possibly look as good as Ms. Daisy & hoped at her age, whatever that might be, I would look as beautiful. She took my compliment and threw out with no reserve her age was 72 years old! SEVENTY-TWO YEARS OLD!? There was no way this woman was over 62. I couldn't believe it and told her so. I didn't care if I looked like I was sucking up, she looked fabulous for her age & a lot of other people's too. I told her I thought it might have something to do with her hands looking so young. She seemed to take some pleasure in my remarks but not really suprised by them. I brought my camera on the bus when they returned at the end of the day with the sole purpose of taking this woman's picture. She is going to be my motivation as my years go on to keep up those beauty routines.

Whether it's the Betty White poofy hairdo, the smile or the trail of thick perfume, Ms. Rose & Ms. Daisy are two women of the same character. They share that aura that makes you want to trust them & believe in their charm. Their smiles truly light up a room and make you feel loved, accepted & confident in their abilities. These women with flower power names aren't easily forgotten and are probably such a joy to their family, they don't mind sharing them with the rest of us. I don't know that every person with a flower name is as special as these two, but I think if I had a daughter (don't worry mom, I'm NOT pregnant) I may have to name her after a flower & pray for that presence to be given to her.