My (Job-induced) favorite things

This is a huge week. As was last week, and several weeks before that. Tomorrow is the day I have been working toward for a very long time - roughly 2 1/2 years.

Tomorrow a 9-person accreditation team walks through the doors of the school for a preliminary meeting with the administration and board before they begin the intense process of tearing apart scrutenizing evaluating the school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Why I said yes to being in charge of this, I do not know. My colleagues have decided that I am a glutton for punishment and a lot crazy. I have decided that I agree with them.

I've noticed several people posting their favorite things lately. Here are mine from the past couple of weeks.

1. The computer. I spend an exceptional amount of quality time with this machine. If my computer was a man, my husband would have reason to worry.

2. Sugar. Which has posed a bit of a problem since I gave up desserts for lent. "Dessert", I have discovered, is somewhat of a relative term. Brownies, ice cream, cookies, and pie are desserts. Chocolate chips and skittles are not.

3. Curriculum guides and self-study documents. These are not my favorite items by choice, but when calculating the amount of time I have spent with these over other things, I could not in good conscience leave them off the list.

4. My pillow. I do not see this precious commodity near enough, but I have high hopes for some quality bonding time in the near future.

Vacation

I am determined to take a family vacation this year - just the four of us. Two years ago we went on a great trip to Chicago with my aunt and uncle and cousins. We were the typical tourists and spent plenty of money at Shedd's Aquarium, Giordano's Pizza, the Sears Tower, the Museum of Science and Industry, and up and down Michigan Avenue. We had a fabulous time and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.


Last year we went to Branson with my in-laws - the parents and all the brothers and sisters and their kids. We celebrated my husband's parent's 50th wedding anniversary with five days of togetherness at Silver Dollar City, the Noah's Ark show, mini-golf, and freezing in the pool. It was a fun trip and we made tons of memories.


These were really great vacations....but (you knew that word was coming...).....this summer we are ready to take one with just our family. Easier said than done.

We can't decide where to go. Flying is too expensive, so it has to be within an 8 hour drive. The boys want to go to a professional baseball game. Major league? Minor league?

Our first plan was Texas, and then people told us it would be 106 degrees in July. So we started looking at Colorado. But Texas has better baseball options. Ugh. And then there is Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, and a plethera of other amusement parks. I almost bought tickets, and then my husband asked if we really want to spend half our life savings on tickets when our boys will only want to/be able to ride 8% of the rides in the park. Good point. Ugh. And then there are the hotels. I have very specific criteria for vacation hotels. Unfortunately my budget and my criteria do not match. Ugh! I need a vacation from planning vacation!

4 years ago on this day...

7:00 a.m. - Woke up filled with fear, nervousness, tentative joy, and a sense of relief that the day had finally arrived.

9:00 a.m. - Willed the clock to move faster. Prayed like crazy.

11:00 a.m. - Happy that we had not received any calls from the lawyer, but scared to death that we would still get one.

12:30 p.m. - Left for the courthouse

12:50 - Still praying.....

12:59 - One final call back to the attorney's office to make sure no one was contesting.

1:00 - The judge began speaking. Started to breathe again.

1:15 - Gavel hit the table. Huge sigh of relief.

1:16 - Celebration!!!!!

Happy Adoption Day!!

What?

Football jersey, short shorts, soccer shin guards, hockey stick, and a ball.

Any guesses as to what sport he thinks he is playing?

Ice Hockey!

I guess I should at least be thankful he didn't say tennis.

Grandpa

The world lost a great man this week.

My grandfather was a man of few words, but lack of dialogue did not limit the many wonderful memories formed over the years.

• My grandpa lived 600 miles away, but he was the only grandpa I ever knew. This made him special right from the start. I don't remember him being a cuddly, crawl-up-in-his-lap kind of guy, but he always had a smile and a wink that let us all know we were loved.
• The fact that he only had one arm may have had something to do with the lack of cuddle time as well. Oh, the memories I have of grandpa's "arm". He could do amazing tricks with his hook, but as a little girl, I could never decide if I was in awe of that thing or scared to death. I'll never forget the first time I saw his prosthetic arm laying on grandma's dryer. I'm surprised someone didn't have to scrape me up off the floor.
• Grandpa often called me Susie. And I think he called my cousin, Charity, that as well. We never did discover why he called us Susie, but it sure made us giggle a lot.
• I could never figure out why grandpa only had SIX CHANNELS on his TV. Six channels? Who could possibly live on six channels? Funny, since that is all I get on my TV. Right now. In 2010. Well, ok, maybe we get eight, if you count the Spanish channel that appeared last year with the conversion to digital.
• Grandpa really only needed one channel. Oh, how he loved his Wheel of Fortune.
• Charity and I used to love to sneak into grandpa's office. I have no idea what the draw was to that room....maybe it was because we weren't supposed to be in there? Quite possibly it was because it was right next to the two giant freezers where grandma always stashed the cookies and candy. I've always wondered if grandpa ever had any idea how many hours we spent hiding out in that forbidden room.
• Oh, how I remember the days that grandpa would take me choring with him. That smell is just not something you forget easily. I was somewhat fascinated with the whole process since I knew nothing about farming, but secretly I was always terrified that grandpa would be completely armless by the time we were done. I'm pretty sure I watched every move his hand made, just praying nothing would happen on my watch.
• Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like that man mowed his lawn more than anyone I've ever known. It seemed like he was ALWAYS riding around the yard on his little John Deere mower. But now that I think about it.....he did have a houseful of crazy grandchildren......it makes perfect sense why he was out there. I bet he didn't mow his lawn near as much when we were gone.
• Although grandpa wasn't a talker, there were two distinct situations where his voice rang in my head loud and clear. One of these was Christmas time. Whenever I hear someone read the Christmas story, it is always my grandpa's soft voice that I hear. Not a Christmas went by that he didn't start by opening his Bible and reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas and the greatest Gift that ever was given. As kids, we were were squirmy, and impatient, and just wishing that grandpa would read a little faster. But he was always determined to keep the focus right where it should have been.
• The other moments I will never forget with grandpa were morning devotions. After breakfast he would read out loud from the Bible - every morning, without fail. Sadly, I'll admit, Charity and I used to lay downstairs in bed and stay really quiet, wondering if maybe, just maybe, we could pretend we were sleeping through breakfast so we didn't have to sit through the Bible reading. But as I grew up, I began to realize the importance of what grandpa was doing, the daily connect with God through His Word, and how grandpa's day just was not complete without it.

The memory list could go on and on....the stockyard visits, the tractor rides, and grandma shoving Wheat Thins into grandpa's mouth to keep him awake on long trips. But most importantly, I am so thankful I know that grandpa is right he wanted to be, running along the streets of gold, free from pain and suffering.

We will miss him greatly!