Time flies.....

I almost forgot that I used to blog some. Then I ended up having to check some links and here it is. Strange to read my 4 year old profile and my last post from 2013. The posts are notes to self mostly. So here is one more note to Leigh. It seems these days all I want to do is slow things down, and every day seems to slip by more and more quickly. Last night I ate dinner out with my 17 year old son and we sat sandwiched between a table with pre-school children, and a table with elementary/middle school children. How badly I wished I could have told each of the parents to slow down, stop worrying about the little things and truly be present in life. The Father of the older set of children could not stop keep telling them to be quiet, or quit talking. Before he knows it, they will not want to talk to him about their day... and he will be begging them to share. But I know they would not have listened to me anymore than I listened to those who tried to tell me. But as life rushes by all around me, I am learning how to embrace it more each day. And I hope I have sufficient time to master the skill. ( or maybe finally learn to type)

How do you measure a life?

I attended the celebration service of a colleague today. Of course such a moment invites reflection. The pastor began his remarks by saying that 49 years was not long enough for such a person. He was well liked by friends, neighbors and his church family. He was respected by colleagues. But how do you measure a life...by friends; money; accolades; good deeds; faith; or years? We all ponder that question. I believe, consciously or unconsciously, we all strive for balance. We want to mean something to someone...To be valued in some area of our life...We want to count. This gentleman told people that he learned to value each moment once he was ill. I am sure his priorities shifted in an instant when he learned his diagnosis. But in the battle between our head and our hearts, often our heads win out. When my daughter was weeks away from college, I was seized with guilt for all the time I spent in the office and not with her. I asked myself if I was fully present, did I give her what she needed, did she know how important I was or did she think work was my passion. My head, and economics, both make me responsible. I know that I started a new job with a small group just to have the flexibility needed to be where my children needed me to be. And I did show up. But I will always question my choices about the people in my life and the opportunities in my path. So in the end, the question is not how others measure a life. It is how we measure our own life that counts. I know that this particular man found great value and worth in his life and the people around him. More than anything, he enjoyed life and welcomed people to join the celebration. He didn't choose to measure his life. Todd Cline chose to enjoy and share his life with the people around him. And that cannot be measured.

Fall Is Coming.....We have Pumpkin Spice and Salted Carmel Latte.

I am so excited about Fall. This one is particularly fun. I already have tickets to Sip and Stroll this weekend, and a corn maze. A trip is planned to Asheville in October, and we are down to one soccer game a weekend now. I can't wait to get my camera out and start taking pictures of the foliage.

Cooler weather is invigorating. Let's hope all of my energy goes to good use.

I still have not been very good with my daily blog. So let's see if I can recount magical moments from September 2 through today.

9-2 Beach bound with my mom;
9-3 Kudzu Bakery (and Lyle's Birthday);
9-4 Back to Charlotte;
9-5 Day off work; Movie with Todd;
9-6 Breast Cancer awareness day for me;
9-7 Sick child - day working from home;
9-8 Mediated and settled a case;
9-9 Drive to Greensboro and learn more law;
9-10 Clean Pantry;
9-11 Movie with Todd;
9-12 Settled a case;

I have $50 on my Starbucks card, and I am set.

Slow down stupid!

Monday was a great reminder that the world has its own pace. Todd went to Texas. I asked him to get a ride so I didn't start the week out at 5am the first full week of back to school. So after getting up at 5:45, I go to feed the dog and discover the lights on in my daughter's car parked on the garage. (We won't get into why the lights were on at this moment.) Not a good sign. Test ignition procedures showed that the Rabbit was, in fact, dead. Sigh. So instead of hair and makeup, I went and found the extension chord, battery charger, call Todd to make sure I don't set it up to explode anything, and start charging the battery.

I show Stephanie what to do when she comes home so she can drive to the barn. Then we go get the carpool in my car. We wade through the line, I switch places with Stephanie and drive my car home (she can't park because they will not give her the parking pass with a temporary license plate), and head home to get Clay off to school. As I pull out of the school lot, two very large dump trucks bear down on the rear of my car, and an ambulance is coming up in the lane next to me. Of course, it doesn't pass me until after I pass the entrance to my neighborhood. So I had to U turn at the next intersection and get in the line of traffic heading past my neighborhood towards the high school.

I got home about 5 minutes before Clay headed to the bus. Since my hair was still a mess, I sent him off and got ready for work. Downstairs, I stop to make my lunch and I notice that my daughter, in the car battery confusion, left the school picture order form and check on the counter on school picture day. Sigh. I text her that I will bring it to the office on my way to work.

After my delivery to the front office, I back my car out of the spot and head to the exit. To my left, there was a gaggle of 50 geese who decided to cross the lane from one island to another. To my right, another gaggle crossing from one island to the opposite island, as if they exchanging homes. This exchange completely blocked my exit from the grounds for 5 minutes.

At last I left. As I went towards Southpark, I crept through streets clogged with refugees from Park Road courtesy of the sinkhole. I finally just stopped for coffee at my favorite Starbucks. Once there, I stood in a line of 15 coffee addicts. What I have always heralded as the fastest most efficient Starbucks on the planet, had been derailed by an absent barista and her substitutes. My usual five minute stoop took 20 minutes.

And such has been my week when it comes to moving from place to place. No trip has been smooth. I have been sidelined by wrecks, new school start times, road work, tree removal, student drivers and people who dress while driving. Let's not even get started with the people who check their texts at red lights, and don't see the light change for 30 seconds.

I finally gave in. I don't even try to get anywhere quickly. I am leaving an hour before I am expected or just telling people to wait longer for me to arrive. Apparently, I am supposed to slow down. Who knows why? But today as I leisurely returned from Rock Hill on SC Highway 51, I passed a building with a pen in the back which contained a live camel. I doubt I would have seen that last week.

Summer fades into Fall... or at least School

There are a lot of things to complain about in today's schools. But there are some fun things. New school supplies, back to school pricing on clothes (whether they are school age people or not), new lunch boxes, new schedules. All the friends and neighbors who scattered during the summer come back to the fold. It is a new beginning, nine months into the year. Sort of a second chance on that new year's resolution thing.

Plus, I get to look forward to apple spiced things and fall. So come on school year. If nothing else, that means fall weather, colors and smells are coming soon.

Some days, I really fail as a Mom....and it is a good thing.

How is it that you can love and abide by your family and still mess up. If good intentions and love allowed success, I would be absolutely fabulous. But despite prayer, love and good attentions, I screw up. Todd and the kids are the most likely victims. This week I got up very early to take our daughter to get her drivers license. Months of Todd and my inattention to the renewal issue with my plate, meant I needed to get the tag updated before she had to take the road test. I researched the procedures for both, found the office for the DMV and the times of operation and formed a plan. I got up at 5am and we were there by 6am.

Now, I didn't notice the address change so the DMV was actually closed and had moved 8 miles away. But we got to the new location and were still first in line. I didn't notice they had ceased to do both registration and licenses, so at 8am, I had to call Todd to come get the paperwork, drive to another DMV, get the tag and bring it back before Stephanie took the road test. I had proof of insurance, but not the DMV-123 form, because I misunderstood the website instructions. So at 8 am, I called State Farm to fax the form to the DMV and at 8:30 called to make sure they got the message. The day before I bought Stephanie a 100 question test so she could pass the "written" part of the test and Todd and I quizzed her on the signs. Turns out that she didn't have to do that again after the permit process. Oh,well. She didn't mind too much doing all of that unnecessary studying.

At 10:00, we had a proud new driver in our family. I came home to get Todd to the airport, took Clay to lunch, and let Stephanie drive my car to a friends and to work. Whew. I went to work, and Clay got to go to a Knights game with his uncle and a friend. A birthday present from his uncle. At 10:00pm i wanted to go to bed. So I called Clay, found out he thought they would be home at 11:00 and waited up to let him in and find out about the game. At 11:40, I called, found out they were just leaving, and in frustration exclaimed how tired I was and that I didn't plan on being up until 1:00am.

Day killed. Clay paid for my exhaustion. I made him feel badly about enjoying his night and his present. He walked in the door apologizing. And my brother called the next day saying he was sorry he let time get away too. Complete failure. Two people paid for my decision to get up at 5am. and my failure to communicate and ask what time they would be home. It was a double header and I didn't even look. Funny how a long and wonderful day or working hard to keep the family going and reaching milestones can still be best remembered for Mom being a grouch.

Then, I told my daughter that parking places at school were being assigned on Wednesday. I was wrong. She went to get ahead of the game and fill out her paperwork and discovered they were assigning them at that every moment. I was in the parking lot of the courthouse in York County. She called me very stressed out. Her computer was not connecting to any of the printers, she couldn't find her debit card or the checkbook, and she needed the registration to fill out the application. Turns out I left the debit card in the machine the night before, and had moved her checks some time ago when setting up an Etsy account for her. With her practically in tears, I had her brother run home to help her with the copies she needed, and called a neighbor to take her cash for her petsitting job. Stephanie got it all done in time and has a parking space, but I felt so helpless. Not only had I not really facilitated anything, I almost prevented her from getting one by getting the information wrong and being so distracted I left her debit card.

Now, all in all, this all could be God's way of removing me from standing in the way of their growing independence. I suppose the less reliable I am, the less they can rely on me. My son was compassionate and realized I was tired. He then reminded me he had a key and I could have gone to sleep instead of waiting up for him. My daughter got everything covered and did it essentially herself. That was a good thing. She probably will not rely on my memory in the future and she knows she can manage these type issues herself. She even went the next day and worked with the bank to get a replacement card for the one I left in the ATM when depositing her paycheck for her.

Of course I encouraged my son to walk to the bank parking lot and meet her so they could go to lunch together. Only so he could watch her drive off given she couldn't read my text while she was driving..... Sigh.

Summer Fling with Hubby

For Father's Day, the children and I purchased two tickets for Alison Krauss and Union Station for Todd. He loves them. They were to perform at the Biltmore Summer Concert Series and there is no better venue in the country that I have seen. Todd decided to stay a second night so we could extend the weekend and hang out. My mom came and stayed with the children in Charlotte so they could hang out with their friends.

The weather was wonderfully cook after weeks of excessive heat in Charlotte and Texas. The music was splendid. The dinners and meals we shared were great. We walked along the streets of Asheville with no particular agenda or destination, taking pictures and stopping wherever we felt like it.

It was such a pleasure to know the children were safe and happy, and Todd and I had no obligations to anyone but each other and ourselves. We love Asheville and always seem to relax when we are there, regardless of which hotel. Despite a few mistaken glances at work email on my iPhone, we stayed true to the plan. We stopped at the Wine Bar on Walnut, checked out the murals and graffiti in the alleys, stayed at the Blue Indigo, and found a new wine bar in a bookstore that is just great. (Yes, Wine was a theme)

I am so lucky that I have a husband that knows how important it is to preserve the marriage that started the family. As the children grow, mature and seek independence, I am glad that when they spread their winds and fly, Todd will be watching them right beside me. And then he will head back inside to look up the next weekend when we can get away and go somewhere fun.