The Long Walk

By Slavomir Rawicz

This book was picked for our book club a few months ago. I couldn't get a hold of a copy so I didn't read it with the club, but I took the book to Big White and got sucked into the story. It is such a fascinating story. This book was a page turner for me. I will give away the plot and ending.

If this book is a non-fiction book I can't believe what the men (and woman) went through. It broke my heart to hear of the terrible treatment he received in the prisons. I want to hope that that kind of stuff is only in the movies. I don't want to believe that humans could be so mean. I want to believe that humans, even the bad ones, have some sort of kindness to them. I know it is a pipe dream, but I want to believe in people.

The other part of this book that was totally unbelievable is that these mend walked from near the Artic Circle all the way to India. What strength of character and determination. These men were beyond human.

As the journey continues my belief in the human man is restored as they come in contact with many of the local people of the countries they travel through. It was nice to see the human spirit come out of people, people who have nothing to give but give it all they have.

I didn't like the ending, not because they make it but because they all lose touch with each other. I would have loved to see them meet each other 10, 20 even 30 years later and chat about what their life was like after. Although I can understand why they didn't. They each had to go on living in their countries and I'm sure coming out could and would be dangerous. Not only that, I don't wonder if they didn't want to relive their ordeal. And who is to say that the others didn't die shortly after they arrived in India. The mind can come up with wonderful endings to the story. In fact I'm kind of glad they didn't ever get back together because now my mind can write "the rest of the story."

I really liked this book and would highly recommend it to those who love a great journey story. It isn't a particular well written book, but that adds to its charm. It is written by a man who lived through the ordeal and it he makes it real; like you are reading his journal.

Doreen

Book Reviews

I love to read. I usually have three or four books open at the same time. I also love to read honest reviews. I will try to do give honest reviews, at least they are honest in my opinion. I'm not a literary scholar but I'm an honest reader.

I will warn you when I am about to give away a plot twist or turn or even worst the ending. I hate it when someone tells me the end when I really didn't want to know, so I won't do that to you. I will give you fair warning if I'm going to give something away.

Now we will get on with the reviews.

Doreen

Bronchitis

Four the last four weeks I've been fighting no voice. My voice would be here one day and then gone the next. My kids have been fighting something on and off since Christmas. I prayed a lot that our trip to Big White would be sickness free and it was. I prayed that I wouldn't get anything before my surgery. I guess I should have asked for the "not at all" blessing, but I couldn't be so lucky.

This past Monday (four days after surgery) I woke up with no voice again and that evening a terrible cough started. It has progressingly gotten worse. I was going to call the doctor but I would wake in the morning and feeling pretty good for being sick. I would pass off on calling the doctor. As the day would progress the cough would get worse but I would be too busy to call and then night would fall.

Well this morning it was way too much and I called. The diagnoses was bronchitis.

I guess I have to stay home for a few days.

I hate being sick!

Doreen

My Budding Poet

We have just completed the project for our poetry unit. I will share a few of the most precious poems my children wrote. Here are two from my 5 year old daughter, Jessie.


by Jessica Blanding
Dad
Mom
Jessie
Wear A
Crown
Go
To
The
Grandma's
House

(I spelled dad and grandma's the correct way.)

by Jessica Blanding
Alex
Hannah
Rebecca
Go
To
The
Zoo
Wear A
Crown

Alex is our dog, Hannah and Rebecca are Jessie's best friend and she loves princesses, crowns and anything to do with girl types of things.

This reviewer loves these two poems and will givebthe student the highest mark in the class.

Doreen

The School Bus

On the back of my van there is a sticker that says "Homeschool Bus." I purchased it at a state curriculum fair and I put it on my van immediately. Our van, a green, 15 passenger Ford Econoline Van, is a bus, might as well tell the world what kind of bus. Of course we have had comments on the bumper sticker, but most of the comments come from my own inner thoughts as I drive through my home town.

I leave the home rather early to make it to therapy appointments for injuries sustained in an auto accident. No, I wasn't in my van, I was in my husband's little sports car. On the corner of my street is a school bus stop. As I drive by in the darkness of the morning around 7, I can't help but think about my children still tucked in bed, snoring away unaware that their friends are standing in the pouring rain waiting for the school bus.

I wonder about those heavy back backs that none of the youth can carry properly because that wouldn't be cool or they are just plain too heavy. I wonder about how those children can stand in the cold rain waiting for the bus without a coat. I know their parents aren't that poor. I wonder about those who have the speakers suck in their ears from their IPods. Do they hear their classmate's "good morning"? Of course not since all of them have some sort of ear paraphernalia and are too tired to speak.

I continue my drive to the downtown area and I follow this bus, stopping at all the corners, picking up more students as it slowly creeps along. I keep kicking myself for not leaving 30 seconds earlier so I can be on the other side of the bus instead of stopping every block for the yellow, then red lights.

I watch the bus drive by the lower income apartments that aren't too far from my home. I think what a great thing public school is for these kids whose parents work to provide them with the basics. These children aren't much different than those standing at my corner. Some of them don't have coats, but I don't wonder if it is because they can't afford them or they too choose not to wear them. I see things dangling from their ears. I see eyes looking at the ground just like those that got on earlier avoiding eye contact with the other kids on the bus.

As the bus finally turns the corner to go up "Educational Hill" I continue to think of those children with those heavy back packs slung over their shoulders. What are they going to learn today? What are they going to go home too? What are they going to learn in class today? Do their teachers care for them? Do those children know how lucky they are to have an education?

My thoughts turn back to my own children? What are we going to learn today? Did I prepare my lessons thoughtfully? Do I care for them? Do my children know how lucky they are to have an education? As I return home and start the day these thoughts still linger with me.

In the afternoon, as my children are playing we watch the school bus go by in the opposite direction, headlights on as it is after 4:00 and very dark. How luck are my children to be done with school, no homework, no reports to go research, nothing to do but have fun, learn and be part of a family. It sure makes our evenings less hectic.

I'm still thinking about that school bus, the one sitting in my driveway with over 100,000 miles on it that has taken my children to places no other school bus could take them. We've been to Grandma's house, Disneyland, Zion National Park, we've followed the Lewis and Clark trail (link here), we gone to Canada, the Red Wood forest, Temple Square, the beach, the ocean, Deception Pass, Whidbey Island, Fort Nisqually, the Puget Sound, Fort Casey and more places we can't even remember. It has also taken us to places that are closer to home and I guess the yellow school bus could take the public school kids there, but we prefer our little school bus to take us to the library, the park, the store, the movies, the aquarium, the zoo, the museum and basically through life.

Where has your "school bus" gone lately?

Doreen

Poetry

In our homeschool we are doing a mini unit on poetry. I assigned my children to do a poetry notebook. The rules of projects is that mom has to do them too, so I had to write 30 poems too. We had to write a 10 line "I verb" poem and this is mine.

A Book
by Doreen Blanding
I read books by candle light.
I smile as tells are told.
I cry as loves are lost.
I scream as villains triumph.
I cheer as heroines conquer.
I chuckle at their folly.
I squirm as trouble comes.
I sleep when it is dull.
I turn the pages until.
I sob when the end comes.

A Heart Attack

Seventeen years ago on this special day I had my first heart attack. Please do not be alarmed, as it didn't require any medical attention, but I did seek medical attention. You'll see why in a minute.

I was at BYU and had a volleyball class on Valentine's Day. During that class a ball hit a glass trophy case hanging on the wall and shattered over my head. Because I was at a school sponsored class I had to go to the health clinic. It was an end to an absolutely horrible day. The library didn't have the books I needed for the report I needed to write and now I'm sitting in a very slow health clinic. And to top it off my scooter was clear across campus. It is now pitch black, cold, my head hurt and now I had to walk from one end of campus to the other. I decided to try my luck and called my apartment to see if one of the two girls who owned cars would come pick me up. Thankfully one of them did. I don't recall how my scooter got home, but I rode it to work the next morning.

When I walked into my apartment I headed straight for my bedroom. I just wanted the day to end. As I looked at my door there were construction paper hearts taped all over. How sweet, one of the guys I was dating put hearts on my door (or were they for my roommate?). I opened my door and above my bed were tons of the same hearts hanging from the ceiling. Somehow I figured out that Steve had just asked me out for dinner the next night.

I do remember that date, but this isn't a story about that date, but a tradition my husband started--Heart Attacks!

The next Valentine's Day we were married but so poor we couldn't spend the money for construction paper so we just did a notebook paper heart to each other. The following Valentine's Day we had a bit more money. Steve woke up that morning to a bunch of construction paper hearts attached to our bedroom door. I couldn't hang them over the bed during the night because he was in the bed and I'm sure he would have woken up when I stepped on him. Well, it is now a tradition, every Valentine's Day morning the bedroom doors in our house are covered in construction paper hearts.

Last night, we had heart attacks at our home. The kids won't let me forget about this tradition, they love it so much. We have now added a Mylar balloon and a treat. Sometimes it is a deck of cards, bag of candy, lip gloss or whatever catches my fancy while shopping.

This morning something very interesting happened. About 5:00 am my daughter was knocking at our bedroom door and telling us she was scared. I wasn't sleeping very well, so I got up. She told me there were bad guys in the hall. I turned the lights on and she saw four balloons moving in the air. In the darkened hall way the four balloons where just the right height to be "four bad guys." When she realized what she saw, she got a HUGE smile on her face and quickly got back in bed so Valentine's Day would come faster. I gave her a hug and kiss while I tucked her back into bed. She was so excited to have her "heart attack." As I closed the door she said, "I can't wait to wake up to be loved."

Hope I have a ton more "heart attacks!"

Doreen

One Hundred Twenty-one Miles

Every Tuesday I fill up my gas tank just after my therapy appointment. When I do this I reset the trip odometer to see how far I go on a tank of gas. I noticed that last Tuesday I drove 121 miles before I called it quits for the day.

Let see where I went.
Home from therapy in Bellevue
Jason's drum lessons in Redmond
Jessie music class in Redmond
Pick Kray and Andrea up from class & drop her off in Redmond
Jessie's ballet class in Duvall
Mike, Matt and Chris art class in Redmond
Kray and Jason to theater class in Duvall (pick up Jessie)
Pick up Mike, Matt and Chris at art class in Redmond
Back to Duvall to pick up Kray and Jason
Drop Kray and Jason off at game night in Redmond (but it is almost Bellevue)
Run by a pizza shop to get dinner
Run by library to drop off over due library books.
Home--finally (hopefully I don't have to go and get Kray and Jason at 10)

And to think I didn't go anywhere--just drove 121 miles today!

Doreen

It's Discrimination

I'm outraged! I'm discriminated against because I have a large family. We have been going on a month of coughs, slight fevers, runny noses and all the common winter colds. Every time I go to the store to buy over the counter medicine state law comes smacking me in my face.

"I'm sorry ma'am, you can only purchase two of these," as he holds up the latest and greatest in over the counter cold fighting drug. State law has it that you can only by so much medicine at one store. Depending on the store you might even have to show your driver's license.

I think I know every drug store in the great Redmond area. When you consider I have six sick kids, plus myself, we go through bottles and jars of medicine.

I'm just hoping that when the state medicine police come they will see the trash full of tissue, runny noses, hear the coughs and run like wild fire; my kids can cough well at six paces.

A Success

Yesterday I went "under the knife" so to speak. I had a procedure called a Nuerotomy. In layman's terms I had three nerves in my neck killed to stop the pain cycle so that I can heal.

Everything went fine and I'm still alive, but there was a hiccup in the procedure. In the middle of the procedure the ironing board size table I was on was bumped and I woke up. The trouble with that is that I'm a light-weight when it come to narcotics. Just a little goes a LONG way. But I'm so nervous going into things like this that they have to put me further under than most people. Well, they had to use a bit more to put me out after the bumping. This became a problem when they wanted me to wake up in the recovery room. It took me a bit longer to wake up and when I did my blood pressure dropped. It was a bit scary for a minute, but they pumped me with other drugs to counteract the narcotics used to put me out.

So it took a bit longer to wake up than they would have liked, but I made it home. I now have three small holes in my back where the needles went in to burn the nerves. I am very hopeful that what they did will help me break the pain cycle so that healing can progress.

I now must stop writing because the codeine from my pain killer is kicking in and I want to go to sleep.

Doreen

The Money Pit

The movie starring Shelly Long and Tom Hanks titled "The Money Pit" should be recast starring Steve, Doreen and company. We moved to this home in June of 2005 hoping to cut our mortgage and save some money. Well, we cut our mortgage but we havn't stopped the out flow of money.

First, we have the deck problem which we knew about when we moved in, but it still doesn't make it any better. The precious owner of the house tried to get fancy and build a nice deck. It looks cool, but it was horribly constructed. He not only didn't build it to code (the railings are too low--and this is a deck that is 2o feet off the ground, just to name one code violation) but he used old timbers. He must have used some of the support beams from the old deck (we can tell becuase they are the same color as the house) which wouldn't have been horrible, but they are rotting! Then his support blocks are not resting on solid ground. In fact one is resting on a live tree. The steps are not equal and you trip walking up and own. The balusters are attached using finishing nails and remember this is deck is about 20 feet off the ground. It is a HORRIBLE deck. To replace it is about $20K.

Second, the kitchen is very old and the cabinets are very worn. Of course we knew this going in and were going to remodel it, but a few other things have cropped up. I joke you not when I say that plastic plates and cups make the shelves sag. There is also a huge lack of space! The stove is in the worse place. There is NO room around the stove to put hot pots. Not only that it is black glass top gas burners and it is impossible to keep clean! I also only have one oven, which wouldn't be too bad, but I have a family of six children.

Third, our stair railing. We knew that one baluster was broken and before we could fix it, the kids had pulled most of the rest of them out. It was so poorly put together and not to code. Our handy man is fixing them this week. He is doing an excellent job.

Fourth, our back yard. It was just a bunch of berry bushes. Those of you not from here would said, "Berry bushes a problem, what are you thinking?" Well, let me assure you they are a problem. They are classified a weed here. We have just shy of an acre and it is almost all in berry bushes so we have little grass for the kids to go play in. If the berry bushes didn't have thorns on them then we would love having "woods" to go play in, but with thorns we don't have anything to go play in. We spent a lot of last summer and fall cutting the bushes down but we are only just beginning the hard work of putting in a lawn--but that will have to wait as we have more pressing issues. (Oh and remember the Blanding Brook that runs through our back yard.)

Fifth, and probably the most maddening is the flooding we have. We have water pooring over the foundation walls. The estimate came in and it isn't pretty especially since insurance won't cover it.

Lastly, and this shouldn't be such a big deal, but it is too me, painting the inside of the house. In the house we left I had just finished painting the walls in the colors I wanted and now I'm starting all over again. That was very hard to deal with.

We are truly just waiting for the tub to fall through the floor. When it happens I think I will just sit down and have a good cry.

Doreen

A Lesson Learned

Every Tuesday my husband goes to a game night. Since he has an online board game store I feel like this is his "job." (I tell myself that so I won't get so upset about him being gone an extra night a week. It sort of works. Please visit his store at http://housefullofgames.com/ and make me feel better about him "working" every Tuesday night.) He often invites our two oldest sons to come join him, when they have their school work done.

Tuesday are my very busy driving day. Starting at noon I spend the rest of the day driving kids to and from enrichment activities. My last pick up is at 6pm, and at that time I'm ready to go home and feed the hungry kids, not run into town and drop two kids off at game night. But this last Tuesday they begged me to take them. The boys promised to do their jobs and get their homework done the next day if I would take them. They promised to behave and be peacemakers. Well, I gave in and took them.

The next day they didn't do exactly as they promised. I should have seen it coming and not be so upset, but I was. I don't know if I said this outloud, but my mind was screaming, "You ungrateful little children. How dare you beg me and promise me and then fail to hold up your end of the bargin."

Then came Sunday, my turn to beg for something. I was fasting and praying for a miracle to happen in my life. I had a very important and scary surgery coming up and I wanted a miracle to happen. As my alarm went off that beautiful Sunday morning, I hit the snooze button and went back to my dream. In that state between sleep and awake I was thinking about what I was fasting and praying for and looking ahead to the week. As I was thinking the alarm went off again. I couldn't hit the snooze button again as I had a meeting I needed to get to. I climbed into the warm shower and my words came back to haunt me. "You ungrateful child. How dare you ask me for a miracle when you don't say thank you for the things I do for you." I was humbled.

I am deeply thankful for the things that I have been given both material, mentally and spiritually. I am not an ungrateful child, at least not now. I honestly don't care if my miracle happens--at least the one I was praying for, because my miracle did happen; I learned my lesson.

Doreen

Sad day...we were robbed

As my son put it so plainly just a few hours ago....."That's right the Steelers won becuase they stole the victory."

Of course we see it through blue and green glasses, but a touchdown called back, one that wasn't but even after review was and a few pentalties that weren't. But again we see it through blue/green glasses.

I'll always bleed blue! Seattle Blue that is.

Go HAWKS! I've loved you for 30 years and I will love you for many more.

Doreen

Helaman's Academy

Well, if we are going to be friends then you must know everything about me (or at least the parts I want you to). One part that is awful hard to hide is the fact that we are a homeschooling family. It just is the way our family operates now. We have homeschooled since the get go and haven't looked back.

It is the most rewarding and yet tiring thing we have ever done. Right now at this juncture in our life we are trying to figure out how to do middle and high school. It is a challenge when the subject matter is more involved and time consuming. I know that we should give my high schooler the responsibility of his own education, but he hasn't shown that maturity that needs to be there to carry it out. I'm hoping that in the next few months (not years) he shows that maturity and desire. But until then….

I'm totally enjoying learning with my kids. I sometimes have to stop and think, am I doing this for them or me? I'm learning so much. I'm constantly reminded how truly enjoyable learning can be. I just hope that I can share that with my children.

Right now our major course of learning (we do unit studies) is a general science study and poetry. I'm having fun relearning my love of poetry and really understanding science for the first time. I don't know how I missed all this great stuff!

My oldest is in math that I just give assignments and correct. Hopefully he understands it and when he doesn't dear old math genius Steve gets to step in and help out. My second child is still at a place in his math, where if I read the text I can help him out, but he is slowly getting to a place where I'm going to have to turn it over to dear old dad. I can handle the rest of the children--after all I'm retaking 4th grade math now for the third time. I hope by the sixth time through I get to pass it. ~big smile~

Writing is where we fall down. As much as I love to write, my kids just don't have that love. Even my husband keeps a blog and writes a ton of game reviews for his business, but my kids just don't have that love. Somehow I have to get them to write--hence the poetry unit. I have a sinking feeling that come due date, no one will have their poetry notebook in a state of readiness and I will either give in or throw a fit. And when you don't write, spelling is awful! My oldest has worse spelling than I do, but it is his own fault. He refuses to learn. The rest of them are pretty good. We also have a problem with a few of the kids handwriting. But I'm learning how to fix that problem and so are they.

Science and history are our very strong passions. I am more for the history part but I force myself to do at least two science units a year, and am growing to love it. Right now you could say I have a strong like for science.

We love history so much that when we studied Lewis and Clark we took a almost 4 week vacation and drove back to St. Louis and follow their trail (as best we could) back to Washington. Talk about a trip of a lifetime! You can read about it here . Just click on the icon in the middle of the page "Coup of Disharmony" or you can start it here.

One of our favorite subject is reading. We are a reading family. When I get around to it, I'm going to add book reviews to this blog. We need to find a new book to read as a family, but I kind of let January be a month off from a family book, mostly because of a ski trip and because I lost my voice for about two weeks. I had enough of a voice that I could teach the unit lessons and then I had to stop. It is coming back and I can almost sing again. I've got to find a new book to read as a family and although my bookshelves are full of great books, I just don't know what to read. I'll have to ponder on that this week.

Now if you really want to know about our homeschooling, check our website out. Somewhere in that large website you will find out all about us. But if you don't have time or don't really care, just remember this one thing--I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING and so do my kids! (sorry but I no longer support the website) 

Doreen

Four pounds of Love

When I was growing up our home was never without at least one dog. My favorite of all the dogs was the dog my brother, Scott, got for me. He bought my little brother and I each a "Boarder Collie." I got the female dog and my little brother, Mike, got the male dog. I don't recall what we named Mike's dog, but my dog was named Kyo, as in the last part of the city Tokyo. Our whole family loved that dog. Once she grew out of her puppy stage, I don't recall her ever barking. Unlike most of the dogs we owned she was an inside dog. We bred her and she had puppies. I still remember those cute little puppies. I left for college and Kyo was still there when I came home. In fact she came to visit me with my mom when she came just after the birth of my firstborn. But that following summer I received terrible news. Kyo was hit by a car and didn't live. She must have been 16 or 17 years old and had horrible hearing and was very slow. I didn't think I would cry when this dog was gone, but I did, I actually sobbed. I don't think I cried over a pet since the time I stepped on a kitten and killed her. (That's an awful story for another day, but it was totally an accident.)

Dogs have always been part of my life, until Kyo was gone. She wasn't with me at college because of course you don't have pets there. Then we moved and were living in apartments and didn't have the money nor the yard for a dog. Our ever growing family moved into a house and I didn't have the energy for a dog and I didn't want "one more thing" to take care of.

Then we were done having children. Jessie, my youngest, was potty trained and life was great. Then we discovered we had animal dander allergies. Well, there went my idea of getting a dog. But worse than that was the constant rain here. How could I leave a dog outside in the constant drizzle. He would always be muddy, never allowed in the house, forever ruining the yard and just making life difficult. I didn't relish the thought of cleaning up the yard to go outside and play. I just wanted to kick the kids outside and say, "Don't come in until the sun goes down."

But the nagging feeling of needing and wanting a dog was still with me. I started doing research on dogs and allergies. There were dogs that didn't shed and therefore the allergies that humans have towards animal dander is no longer a problem. Then I did research on what kind of dogs don't shed. There were a few breeds out there that I liked. All were mostly toy dogs which helped eliminate my problem with them being left out in the cold rain 9 months out of the year. I had decided that a Yorkshire Terrier was the type of dog we would get.

Now came the hard part, convincing my "We will never have a dog" husband. My children had no problem with this idea, although they would have liked a bigger dog. My daughter was all for it. All the glamour shots of a Yorkie have them beautifully groomed with bows and very long hair. Talk about a princess type dog. But, Steve was a different story. I had done all the research and all I had to do was show him and then have him write the check. I set up an appointment and we just went to "window shop." Well, we came home with "Alexander the Great" a 10 week old Yorkshire Terrier. He fit in the palm of my husband's hand and was scared to death, but he must have melted my husband's heart while at the breeders.

He was named by Steve because, "he has delusions of grandeur" just like his name sake. It is also fitting that his name is longer than he is. Full grown he might weigh five pounds!

After having him for a year, we cannot see our family without him. Just recently we had to leave him with a dog sitter while we went to Big White. It was so hard to say goodbye and then each night know that he wasn't going to jump onto our bed and sleep with us. He truly is a member of our family.

Here are some of the things he does.

If we leave him home, he waits for us on the back of the living room couch where he can keep watch out the window for the van to drive up. He will even be there when just I am gone.

If Steve is downstairs and I'm upstairs in bed, he will wait at the top of the stairs until Steve comes up for bed. He will even wait there with his ball because the nightly routine is to play fetch a few times before curling up for the evening.

He does the army crawl when he is especially happy.

He loves to dance and jump.

He loves to chase the bunnies off the front yard.

I'm his favorite person, of course.

He loves to ride in the car.

He loves to think he is a guard dog and barks when the door bell rings or the garage door goes up.

He loves each of us and his favorite thing to do is find a warm soft lap and take a nap.

He is truly a GREAT dog!

Other pictures of Alex can be found

http://www.waldsfe.org/scouting/Merit%20badges/dogcare.htm

Doreen

Dare I Dream?

OK, I'm not one who usually screams her head off at sporting events. Ok, I just told one of the biggest lies of my life. I do! I am passionate about sports, especially the games where my children are playing and participating. In fact I coach two soccer teams and LOVE it!

I love the 1995 Mariner season and the few since then that have brought such hope to this city and to life long fans like me. I grew up in Washington so it feels so good to finally be on the winning side of things. In fact my younger brother (a bigger sports nut than myself) called me just after the magical ending to the baseball playoffs in 1995 when Edgar Martinez doubled into left field and Ken Griffey Jr. raced home to be the New York Yankees. Could there be a more magical ending to such a great season!

Well, after 30 long years (I'm older than 30 so I've been through this my WHOLE life) the day we have long awaited is just about to happen. In fact I am almost afraid to write about it because of all the disappointment that the last 29 seasons have brought. But the SEAHAWKS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!

I can't believe I just wrote that sentence and the local papers have been carrying the words Seahawks and Super Bowl XL in the paper for the past two weeks. What a dream come true. I wonder if Mike is going to call me again on Sunday.

Dare I dream…..Seattle 35, Pittsburgh 10

Doreen

Has anyone seen Noah?

Seattle is know as a rainy city, but this is ridiculous. December 18, 2005 was the last day we didn't have rain. The day before was the last day I reached for my sunglasses. It has rained and rained and rained. The only day in January that it didn't rain (at least measurable at Sea-Tac airport) was January 24, 2006. I think that comes close to Noah's 40 days and 40 nights.

I have lived in the Seattle area for over 15 years now and even this stretch of wet and grayness has got me down. My kids are going crazy. They are driving me crazy. I usually don't mind the rain, but day after day, it is driving us all crazy! During a normal rainy year there are breaks in the rain and the kids can go outside and play.

Those that live in a different climate might not understand why the rain prohibits outdoor play. I remember talking to my brother who lived in Florida where it would pour every afternoon. When it rains and is 70 degrees outside, no big deal, especially if the sun was shining before the deluge and will be shining after the deluge. See, up here that ain't the case. It is a high of 40 today and the last day there was sunshine that peaked through the cloud cover was…..September? (Really it was back in December, and it is February.)

Sending kids out to play is next to impossible. First, the grass is so soggy you can not walk on the grass. You will not only ruin it, but it is impossible. You can't get any footing on it and if you are lucky to have moles, it isn't even and then….well….get the video camera because it is slide city. Come summer you don't want what little grass will grow to be ruined. (For though who haven't lived in the Pacific NorthWET, you must understand we don't grow grass, we plant it year after year after year, hoping to get rid of the moss that has overtaken our yards.)

Riding bikes is impossible because the roads are so ripped up from that one day of below freezing temperatures that the pot holes are big enough to swallow VW Bugs. (Our neighbor's use to have a red one, but I haven't seen it in days.)

If a child gets wet, unlike the summer where it is shorts and t-shirts, it is pants, long john, underwear, socks, shoes, coat, shirt, sweater and the list goes on, but it is a washer full and if you times that by six…..well you might get the picture. But worse is washing the mud from the inside of the tennies and then having them dry before you need them next (like in 10 minutes when you have to run out the door.) For those who think, "well why doesn't that mom put her kids in rain boots?" I would, but we can only find one right foot and one left foot and they aren't the same size.

By the way, have you ever smelt muddy, cold wet, kids? "Hit the showers," is what every mother says.

But here is the big rub; the sun only comes out (it is behind the clouds, but we know it is there, because the street lights just went off) from about 9 am to 3:30 pm. Makes it pretty hard to go out and play when daylight just ain't around.

So I sit here, typing this as the rain is pouring down from the heavens, waiting for the announcement that Noah has his boat finished. I just hope that he will punch my ticket and there is a place for me because I want out! There is water pouring over the foundation walls into my basement, a river (we have named it Blanding Brook) running through my back yard and my webbing between my toes is becoming permanent.

"Help, I'm drowning."

Doreen

PS. Yes, there is a difference between showers and rain. A shower is what you sing in and take in the morning (think warm and shampoo) and rain is what it does every day in the Seattle area from November to July 5th. Oh, and if you come visit Seattle, leave the "bumbershoot" (that's the word for umbrella) at home--you look like a tourist if you carry one of those--even in a down pour.

The Morning that Changed My Life

Throughout this blog I have mentioned a medical condition that I have and I should probably take a moment to explain myself because what happened to me on November 26, 2002 will forever be part of me for good or ill.

It was two days before Thanksgiving and I was on my way to an aerobic class in a small town about 13 miles east of my home. I had done this for the past eight years and there was nothing unusual about this day.

As I pulled up to the intersection to a highway I came to a stop. It was very early and very dark. I know the time to have been 5:40 because the radio station was doing "traffic and weather on the tens" and I left my home at 5:30. I was in my husband's very beautiful silver Lexus.

As I stopped I looked North to see if any cars were coming. I noticed a pair of headlights by the "llama farm" as my family called it. I then looked south. In my mind I said, "If no one is coming from the south then I can go when this other car clears the intersection. I saw no car coming from the south so I turned to watch the car clear the intersection.

As my eyes followed his headlights I noticed they were going to turn. There was no turn signal flashing and my thought was, "He is going to fast to make this turn. HE IS GOING TO HIT ME!" I do not remember anything after that for at least 10 full minutes.

The next thing I remember is someone "Tom" I believe his name was, asking me if I was OK. I don't recall much of anything else that morning. Somehow I talked to my husband on the phone. Somehow I talked the medical dudes to take me to the hospital by ambulance and not a helicopter. (There was no way I was going to admit I was that hurt.)

I had no idea how bad off I really was and in the giant picture of life, I was lucky and I was fortunate. Test have proven that the internal organs are severed of someone who is hit on their side by someone going 34 mph. At about 40 mph the spine is snapped. The guy who hit me was going 50-60 mph and driving a full size pick up truck.

I was released from the hospital at 10 and was in my own bed at 10:30. I didn't have a broken leg like they feared because it was trapped between the door and the steering column. I didn't have any internal bleeding like they had first thought. I had only bit my tongue really hard and blood had dribbled out of my mouth. I WALKED out of the hospital on my own two legs that morning. I was LUCKY.

But it only started a process of major healing. I was not only physically damaged, but mentally I was a wreck.

Physically I have major whip lash that to this day we are continuing therapy for. In fact in a little over a week I will go in and have a small operation called a Neuotomy that will burn the nerve endings in my neck. We hope that without feeling pain I will be able to strengthen the muscles so they can heal properly and I can get back to life.

I honestly do not recall what happened from the moments before the accident to December 31, 2002. I "woke up" while my family was playing games waiting to ring in the new year. Some how we had Thanksgiving and Christmas and I don’t' remember them at all. I have only one memory and I wrote about it for the LDS-NHA publication Quarterly Bulletin. Please take a minute to read that as it is very moving if I do say so myself. You can find it here

http://lds-nha.org/QB1205.html

Mentally I thought everyone else driving was going to kill me. I froze one day while driving my husband's brand new car (the old one was totaled of course) and killed the clutch. I had troubles just driving out of the driveway. How could I function as an adult without driving? I had therapies to go to (five or six in a given week) and six children to get to all sorts of places. I thought only crazy people say therapist, but I gave in and went to see one. Miracles upon miracles have happened. I wasn't so spooked when driving anymore. I was able to handle most of the relearning after my short term memory loss, but most importantly I was able to handle the anger I was feeling from having this horrible thing happen to me.

My anger was wroth as the other driver was a day-laborer who was uninsured. "How in heaven's name are we going to afford what happened to me?" I still ask that question and I don't know the answer. I do know that I'm getting better and I have to take one day at a time. I hate sitting on the sidelines and I hate watching other enjoy something I use to enjoy. I hate getting head aches just because. I hate having to spend so much time away from home in therapy. I hate the fact that my kids have to have a grouchy mom who looses it so quickly when she is in pain. I hate that someone didn't get enough sleep and decided to drive. I hate that I was the one in that car.

But with all that hatred. I'm so glad I was in that car, because any other car and I would have been dead. It has also taught me a lot about faith, challenges, walking in other's shoes (I understand pain now), humility, service, prayer, fasting, forgiveness, love and compassion. I'm not a saint yet, but I'm working on it and I have a lot more to learn.

This is the car I was in. The Jaws of Life ripped the door off. I was hit by a full size pick up truck doing about 50-60 mph and lived to tell about it.

I'm lucky!

Does it have to end?

I was way too tired to write anything last night. Boy do I need to hit the gym a little bit more. If not to lose weight (but I'm not on a diet) to at least build up endurance and strength in some very out of shape legs.

Yesterday I spent the day on Hummingbird fine tuning my turning ability so that I can stay "in control." I guess that means that I should have some control to begin with right? I didn't do too bad.

Just before lunch I met up with my family and we took one run down Hummingbird and as we were getting off the lift, Jessie ran right into me and knocked me down. How embarrassing, but at least I have a good excuse to be on my backside. I'm claiming SHE ran into me, not the other way around.

We spent the afternoon skiing Hummingbird. I watched the children go over bumps (or jumps) and through the trees. I saw where "Winnie the Pooh" might live. I watched for the shy snow monkeys that were hiding in the trees on the way up the mountain and played a lot of "I spy with my little eye…." ("I spy something white….." "SNOW!" "You guess it mom!")

I took a break to pop dinner in the oven and then we hit the slopes or another hour while we were waiting for the chicken to cook! After dinner, Jessie and I went to the hot tub. Can life get any better?

Today, I pushed my luck and went in the level 3 class. They had too many in the class so the separated the class and somehow I got put in the more advanced level 3 class. I don't know what they were thinking! I have only been skiing for two days!

"Nooner," my instructor, took us up Ridge Rocket! I can't believe I went that far up the hill! It was so scary, but I remembered yesterday, "keep turning until you feel comfortable to change directions." I want to scream, "But what if there is a tree in my way and I don’t feel comfortable yet?"

I took a couple of deep breaths and off the top I went. Of course we were on green (beginner) runs, but these were a bit steeper and now longer than Hummingbird.

I only fell once and that was when my legs screamed "SIT DOWN" and I obeyed, even though my mind was yelling at them to quit being wimps.

At the bottom I said a quick prayer of thanksgiving because I made it all in one piece. Then "Nooner" took us to another chair and this one went even higher up. "What have I gotten myself into?" was the question I kept asking myself. I tried to think about that smile on Jessie's face and how my kids can do this hill. (Yes, they have all been skiing since they were 2 and I have had only 2 days of lessons, but I'm a grown up!)

I don't know how I made it down the hill, but "Nooner" was a great teacher and we made it all the way down and all in one piece. I still don't know how come a flash flood didn't happen since my thighs were on fire. I thought all the snow would have melted behind me.

I took a LONG lunch break and then hit Hummingbird with the kids. I took a ton of pictures with our little digital camera and they didn't turn out too great, but it was still fun to turn around and watch the kids come down the slope taking the bumps (or jumps as they called them). Some of the kids actually got air.

Unfortunately I had to turn my skis in at 4:30, so my fun had to end. I'm sure my legs were glad for it, but my face will just have to remember the fun at least until next time.

The whole family outside our condo on Hummingbird.

I Can't Believe I Did This

Well, last night as we walked back from having dinner with our dear friends, I decided that I was going to do something so outrageous that I would get rid of this bored feeling I have had all day.

The snow was gently falling, landing quietly all around. If the family hadn't been in the middle of the village with lots of people going to and from dinner and hotels it would have been one of those magic moments--so quiet and muffled you thought you might have been able to hear angles' wings as they floated past. But with five boys, one girl all happy and content with life and the occasional snowball being tossed the magic moment didn't happen that way. No, the magic moment as when I turned to my husband and asked him if he would pay or ski rentals and lessons for me for the remainder of the trip. (See I did do something outrageous.)

First he picked his jaw up out of the snow bank and then bless his pocket book because he said, "Sure, no better time to learn than in this snow." He was right, the snow is perfect and I know NOTHING about snow except this wasn't the kind of snow I tried eight years ago to ski on. Let's just say "disaster" and call it good.

Today was fantastic! I went in the "never, ever" class (which wasn't the total truth, but with my past medical history I thought it best to start there). I'm glad I did. We went to the "magic carpet" and got a feel for turning and then on to the handle tow and then to the bunny slope. This run, Hummingbird, is the run that I see when I'm sitting in our condo playing my 12th hand of solitaire and watching a movie, with a bag of Skittles, salsa and chips near by.

I made it down Hummingbird without falling and actually made if on and off the chair lift without killing myself. What a first two hours of skiing! This is FUN!

The afternoon I spent just going up and down Hummingbird with my children. I was gathering confidence and courage. I just wish my legs were in better shape. This is hard work! But I now wear the same smile Jessie has had on her face since Monday.

Here is proof I went skiing (I'm the big one in the blue).