Some things are just too far beyond my understanding

This holiday season we have adopted two families we work with that really need our help. One family is homeless and the other has two blind parents who can't even afford winter coats. Our company is helping the one family with the deposit on their new appartment and was helping to buy coats for the other. A local organization with very generous members donated gifts.

I have been overwhelmed with appreciation for what has been done to help these families. I have worked countless hours to make this happen. completely volunteering my time. Some people are so amazing in their willingness to help.

We have been planning to deliver the gifts tomorrow. I loaded them in my car tonight because I knew I would not be going home again before this delivery. I stopped over at a friend's house and we went to look at christmas lights and have dinner. When I came back I got into my car and looked around for my glasses. I noticed they were gone. So was my iPod. My first thought was the presents. I ran around to my trunk thinking there was no way anyone would take the presents. But when I looked inside they were gone too.

These wonderful people had donated over $600 of presents for these families, including winter coats, and it was all gone. I still don't know what to tell them. I'm just devistated.

I'm sure these people have no idea what they've done. I'm very lucky because everyone has been so supportive of me. But I just can't help feeling so bad. I think I lost over $300 worth of my own things (sunglasses & iPod, etc.) but I would be perfectly happy too just get back the gifts for those kids.

I didn't leave a door open. No one broke a window. They broke a lock and then slid a window down just enough to unlock the door and get in. I don't know what goes through the mind of a person who does something like this.

Word of advice: Leave nothing in your car and lock it all the time. Even in the best neigborhoods.

Cook with your children, not for them

I have recently taken on a new task with my kids at work. I am cooking with them.
Most children you and I would normally come in contact with do not have any childhood trauma to deal with. Trauma like this will often lead to substance abuse or eating disorders. But as all children get older they will encounter situations where they are exposed to things we can not control and that can also influence their decisions of what to put in their bodies.
I have educated myself in nutrition over my years of formal education. Cooking comes easily to me and I have found it to be a very rewarding activity. Especially when I can teach others how to prepare a more healthy meal.
Teaching children of all ages how to cook and how important it is to be aware of what they put in their bodies may be the most rewarding task I've taken on yet.
Just letting kids participate in the process of preparing a meal helps them feel important. It can also mold their eating habbits for life.
I'm always looking for new things to cook with my kids. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Next time you're preparing dinner (Thanksgiving is a great time), remember to include your kids or grandkids in the process.

The joy of dating...

I haven't updated this in such a long time....because I forgot my password and I've learned it is very hard to get in again after that.

Lately I have settled in nicely to my (what I'm discovering might be permanent) position as the third, fifth, seventh, or any other odd number wheel among my group of friends. We go to the symphony, dinner, the movies, and many special events together. They even let me come over now and then when I'm in need of someone to cook for. I think we both get great pleasure from an event like that though.

Going on dates lately hasn't been something I've been trying too hard to do. I have no real reasons. I'm not bitter. I'm not overly picky. I'm definitely not having trouble finding someone to date. Instead, I am highly amused by the few dates I have been on in the past few months. For all those of you who are married out there...this should be a fun reminder of why you're not single anymore.

• A good one was the man who offered to buy me a car on our first date. While talking about what we might do for a second date, this man saw my car and the dent in the side of it. At first I was slightly embarrassed about my car, but then he suggested that maybe he should buy me a new car on our second date. Some might think he was kidding, and I did too. I quickly found out he couldn't have been more serious. I was no longer embarrassed, but now I was frantically looking for the fastest excuse to leave and not have a second date. I might be old fashioned, but I never thought a new car was they way to a woman's heart. That, and being a little to forward was what cost him any further dates.


• This one may be my favorite. I was invited to a social event with a man I've known through friends for several months. We get to the event and meet his friend and his friend's girlfriend. At that time I believe it is a double date or even just a friendly way to get to know each other better. Soon I am introduced to two friends of the other girl who is with us. This is where I show how naive I still am. I think these other girls just happened to be there by chance. I'm not one who needs to be babysat so when the boys seperate from the girls for a few minutes I try to join in the conversation. Suddenly the girls either won't speak to me, or are very short and almost rude with what they say. I excuse myself to find the boys and figure out why this happened. End result: One of the other girls was actually on a date with my date (neither of us knew this), and another one of their friends had previously been dating my date for several months and may have still been dating him. Next, I meet another lovely young woman speaking with my date. She had the very same thing happen to her just a month or so earlier, with my date. How many dates does one man need in one night? I believe most men who are so bold to make more than one date in a night at least try to schedule them at different times. Very confusing, but in the end very funny.


• I went on a date just last week with one of the first people I ever dated. Though we didn't date for very long, I'm surprised he could remember anything at all. I went through a number of events that occurred while we were dating and he didn't remember a thing. One very unforgetable date was our first one. I wasn't old enough to date and he wanted to go to a movie with me so my parents came. Yes, this is embarrassing for both parties. If you ever had a date where someone's parents came along, would you EVER forget it?!


• I had been on a date with one gentleman before and I decided to meet him at his house for our second date. We met there and were planning to go out from there. First, he couldn't decide where we would be going. I offered several suggestions thinking I might know the area better. This didn't seem to help him. We spent at least thirty minutes playing this game before we made a decision on dinner. Next, we were about to leave the parking lot when he told me he forgot something and we needed to go back. I decided to go inside with him. I then found out he forgot to put gel in his hair. Men should not be more particular about their hair than women. We didn't stop dating for that reason, but he never learned to make a decision for any of our dates. I shouldn't have to do all the work while he spends time on his hair.

My current difficulty lies with trying to find a polite way to turn down a date. I went on dates for fun when I was much younger but now that I'm older I don't have the patience to make conversation with a person I couldn't (or didn't want to) talk to when I first met them. I've been asked to dinner, special events, and many many things with people I'd rather not go with. Maybe I'm so comfortable with going to these events with my dearest friends that its much harder to find someone I would have as much fun with. For now, I'm much to comfortable with this routine to change it. Maybe I'll consider letting someone else join us if it's really the right person.

Unexpected Mothers

I don't think any person can ever prepare for the task of being a mother. Some become a mother because they've planned it their entire lives and things have worked out perfectly for them. Others become mothers by a very unexpected turn of events that they never imagined would happen at the time it does. Either way, motherhood comes with so many unexpected twists and turns.

There is a different type of mother. One I heard of growing up but never thought I would be. There was an italian woman I met living in italy who fell in love at the age of 19. The man she was so in love with refused to convert to her religion and she made the decision that they should go their seperate ways. She heard from him several times in the next forty years and he often asked her to run away with him. Just as often, she refused. She never married. I met her when she was about 60 years old. For the year I was there she was much like a mother to me. She was a mother to many that didn't have one. She constantly took in those who had been outcast by their family, or who may have lived far away from home. She never had children but she still had the joy of motherhood in a way she'd never expected.

Lately I have the pleasure of working with the most amazing children. Many of them are taken care of by grandparents, foster families, and adoptive parents. I get them on weekends. Last week a very quiet girl who rarely wanted to participate in group activities had the best time I have ever seen her have plotting an innocent prank against my partner with some of the other girls. There are others who show extreme brilliance when someone talks to them about the things they are excited about. Its such a joy to see there faces so often. So many of them have never felt that anyone enjoys being around them so much with no expectation. These children have been left behind by those who view their behavioral problems as too much to deal with. At first I found them difficult to deal with. Now I find it hard to take time away.

These children leave me wanting children much sooner than I expected. Though I want to share the experience of pregnancy and a new baby with my eternal partner, I want to adopt a beautiful child just like these ones as soon as I am financially able to. I can't choose when I will meet the perfect person for me and I don't want to plan my life around finding that person. I'm finally in a position in my life where I can begin to prepare for the task of taking on one of these adorable chilren. Of all the wonderful things I've done in my life I never expected this would be the one I look forward to the most.

Greetings!

I keep seeing all these wondeful blogs about people I know now and once knew much better. I don't do much in the way of blogging but I'm quite certain I have plenty to blog about. So welcome to all those who choose to look. All are welcome in my world.