Good Intentions and My 2 Other Children

Is the road to Hell really paved with them? Good intentions? I know I've heard that saying somewhere. I think it may even be a country music song...

Well. I don't know about the road to Heck being paved with good intentions. I do know that the road to frustration is paved with them. And so is the road to tired.

I have all these lovely and ambitious plans... things that would somehow and someway make life a little better for those around me or for myself.

But they just don't seem to get done.

Don't stop reading... this is not another guilt post. (This time.)

Where does the time go?

Where does my energy go?

Now I sound like a granny on the front porch watchin' my grandchillen' run around the yard.

I asked the boy on Saturday afternoon if he was tired. He's battled his allergies all week, he's had loads of homework, bedtimes have been pushed to their limits, and he'd just played a soccer game in 123% humidity.

I said, "I don't know about you, buddy, but I sure am tired."

He says, "What do YOU have to be tired about?"

Well. If I weren't so busy lying on the sofa all day eating bon bons and watching game shows, I would think of something to be tired about. (I didn't say that. But I wanted to.)


There are MANY times I find myself defending the fact that we have only one child. Whenever my good friend is around, she helps me out...
She always says I have one child who might as well be triplets.
He's a great kid, but he's always been a lot of work. Like triplets rolled into one.
(Please... all you parents of multiples, don't send me hate mail. I really don't know how hard your life is... I am only making a lame comparison.)

So... I simply told the boy that I was tired because I have to take care of his busy little behind all the time.

And that I'm tired from thinking up all these good intentions.

Wow. Imagine how tired I'd be if I actually got around to doing them.

It Really Did Feel Like 143,000 Children

Well, well, well. We've been busy. Many things have happened since my "non-laboring-BBQ-eating-dove-shooting" Labor Day weekend. A lot of busy stuff.

- Someone failed to mention to me that 4th Grade is college prep. I mean we are buried in the homework, folks. And the boy could write a book on "Worrying About Your Backpack Being Properly Packed for the Next Day."

- I had a luncheon to attend. For the spouses of deployed chaplains. We had good food and great company.

- The boy had soccer practice.

- The boy had guitar lessons. (And practiced relentlessly... plink, plink, plink.)

- I had a coffee meeting where I enjoyed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season. Yum.

- We had dinner with our friends. Twice. I had BBQ... again.

- I had a day I PLANNED to do some "registration renewal" of the boy at our "Children & Youth Services" center. Let me explain. This happy occasion is a blog-worthy event... all by itself.
I was PREPARED folks. PREPARED. But no.
As I type this... he remains "unregistered."
"Why," you ask?
Here's a bit of insight into Army life:

1. You must fill out 348,999.9 forms for everything you do.
2. You must provide proof of EVERYTHING. I walked in there with a briefcase of information. I'm wondering when they're gonna start asking for stool samples and vials of blood.
3. A physical is required to even think of participating in an event. A separate physical and another form for each event.
4. When you call to get the appointment for this physical, you will be put on hold... and then told you can have an appointment sometime in the year 2025.
5. When all this is said and done, they will invent a new regulation or form. And you get to do it all over again.

But I'm not bitter.

Let's continue...

- The boy had his soccer game.



- We had the Fall Sunday School Kick-Off.

- We had no air-conditioning in our chapel on Sunday morning. I was on the verge of fainting several times, and it had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.

- We had a chapel lunch picnic. I ate... more BBQ.

- We had the first night of AWANAS. Bible Clubs for boys and girls. It's really a wonderful program, and the kids love it. I was volunteering in the 3rd and 4th grade girls' group. An email from our leader said we had 143 children attending. Honestly, it felt like 143,000. I am so thankful they all came, and they are precious. I'm just not certain that Bible club should cause me to consider using street drugs.

I must go attend to some homework, and I know there's a form I should be filling out.

Oh. And I was just informed that our elderly obese cat went "poopie" in the floor. Again.
That really is another post for another day.


P.S. We are NOT having BBQ for dinner.

No "Laboring" on Labor Day

I am considering not going on any more vacations or family visits or fun trips.

It takes way too long for my brain and body to recover.
To get back into the mode of being "in charge" and responsible and aware of what needs to be done.

I am kidding about the not taking any more vacations and trips part... I am NOT kidding about needing a brain and body boost.

The boy and I spent Labor Day weekend at my parents' house. With my brother and my sis-in-law and my nephew. Baba and Papa had both their cutie patootie grandsons there for the weekend.



If you know anything at all about my family... you know there was a certain event that made the trip home absolutely necessary.

The opening of Dove Season.

Bring on the firearms.




Me? I went shopping.

There's even an annual dove shoot and cook-out held partly in memory of my grand-pa... the boy's great-grandfather.... the one responsible for this hunting gene. The boy and my dad went.


My mom and I went later to enjoy the food and the scenery.


I think I ate BBQ a total of 437,826 times this weekend. I found a few good sales. And I did not "labor" one bit. Good times.

What's the Hidden Meaning?

While driving back onto our post yesterday, I ended up right behind a Krispy Kreme delivery truck.

(For anyone who's wondering... "On Post" means leaving the real world and entering the military one... with guards and gates and lots of camo. And Krispy Kreme? Well... I don't have any idea how to explain that.)

Now back to the real story.

As I sat at the red light, I found myself daydreaming. About jumping into the back of that truck and hijacking myself some doughnuts.

I had a whole elaborate plan worked out. I was even thinking about snatching boxes for friends and how I'd leave my car idling and how I'd be so stealthy that the truck driver would never know I was there. Until he got to his destination with no doughnuts.

Either it was a really long red light or I have serious carb issues.

Or maybe it's from living here.

The light changed, and I turned, and that was the end of that.

Until today.

I was sitting at another red light. On the other side of the base. I was thinking about my silly daydream from the day before. Laughing at myself and wondering if any other human ever has the same bizarre ideas that I seem to have.

Smiling at my insanity, I looked up to drive through the light.

You will never believe who was in front of me.


I've been trying to convince myself that it was purely coincidence.

Or was it?

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of the day Dan and I were married.

Holy moley. We are some old people.

It can be a bit difficult to celebrate the occasion when you are half a planet away, but we did our best.

The boy and I went out to dinner with our good friends. And we had a hoot of a good time.

I'm sure Dan celebrated by eating some delicious dinner at an Army dining facility! And he sent me these...



Oh yes, folks... those are chocolate covered strawberries.



Loads of HUGE chocolate covered strawberries skewered into a cute little flowerpot.

I think I'll keep him. 16 years is a long time to train somebody.

After consuming several of these lovelies, I said (out-loud),

"Thanks honey! You sent a great present!" (You know, 'cause he can hear me all the way over there.)

The boy then says (with a little dance),

"Daddy is AWESOME!!"

I'm thinking, "Awwww.... how sweet. He recognizes the love his father has for his mother..." (Should have known better.)

Oh but no.

Because he adds,

"Daddy sent a present with sticks!"

Let the Weight Lifting Begin

Just another random conversation I had with the boy this morning...

(Don't look away... this one is G rated.)

the boy: "Can I have a refill on this juice?"

me: "Sure... Wow! Are you super-duper thirsty this morning?"

the boy: "Nope. I am just super-duper manly. So I need lots of juice."


Who knew?
3 days of 4th grade turns a one-glass-of-juice boy into a two-glasses-of-juice man.

Hi Ho... Hi Ho...

It's off to school he goes!!

And I haul out the camera to capture the memory. The smile and the sweet pose and the magical moment preserved forever...

(Imagine a loud screeching of brakes.) But noooooooooo. I forgot. This is the boy I'm talking about here. The one who HATES getting his picture made. The one who... if you recall... says that hell is just people taking your picture all day. I wonder if the devil uses digital or SLR?

"Smile, honey! It's your first day of 4th grade!"

"No, silly! OPEN your eyes more! You look tired!"



"OK. Now you look scared. Not that wide."

"Stop laughing at me so I can get a good shot!"


"Well, fine then... be that way."


Happy School Days folks!