shameless forward..

Michael W Smith (Christian music star) is a new grandpa. In honor of his new grandson, the radio station is holding a contest to collect all kinds of advice and words of wisdom for the new parents. I saw the following and it made me cry. So...now it's your turn!

The Eyes of a Child

I see an ugly weed,
she sees a pretty flower.
I stayed at home sick.
He’s happy ‘cause daddy’s home.
Coloring with her is just one more thing to do.
She begins to glow when she colors with me.
I’m too tired to play another game.
Playing another game with me makes his day.
Does she have to bring me another wrapped present?
She gives her heart in the presents she wraps.
“I’m going in now, got stuff to do.”
“Daddy, don’t go in yet, we’ve only just begun.”
I want to sit alone, my feet upon the stool.
Sitting with me makes her feel warm and safe.
Do I have to watch him play in the bath again?
Every moment counts by the beat of his heart.
I need some down time, some time to rest.
She needs a goodnight kiss and a prayer with me.
Can I go to bed yet? - I have to work tomorrow.
It’s daddy’s turn to read him a book, sing him to sleep.
Laying down at days end, I close my eyes for sleep.
Closing their eyes for sleep,
they dream only of more daddy time tomorrow.
©K. Edward Bevers

dearly departed dinner party

Ok, i'd written that we were going to have a "dinner party" of recipes from those in our families that have passed. I thought that perhaps you'd want an update on how that's going.

The "Paul's Favorite Spinach" dish was a massive failure. Oh, the recipe turned out just like i remember it from my childhood. But no one liked it. No one.

The "Sunburst Chocolate Cake" was a hit (but a bit dry).

Ama's Red Cabbage was a hit with the adults (me and Joe) but the kids didn't like it. Something about an unfamiliar vegetable..... or maybe just a vegetable. ;o(

We still have the recipe from Aunt Louise. Her "famous recipe" is Aunt Louise Waffles. While we were in Washington DC, staying at the Radisson with the breakfast bar, i tried on multiple occasions to make this for the kids. The "waffler" was in the lobby and we had ice cream in our room. The kids just had waffles with syrup or strawberry syrup. So much for passing on the Aunt Louise Waffle tradition. Alessandra thought that the syrup was more "healthy". I think that full sugar syrup and butter or ice cream-- it's about a draw.....

Tonight we're having Buddha's Delight, a Chinese dish that looked good to me. Alessandra says that she wants to make it and eat it. We shall see. She's not traditionally the "adventurous eater" (and that's putting it mildly...) but i keep thinking that eventually she'll outgrow it...

Maybe we need to start making new family tradition recipes. We'll start with Buddha's Delight. If it doesn't work out, there is always Mary Teriyaki (from Mary Steinmann Pathe)-- though she's not a dearly departed.... :-[

i love my PRN life@

Many women define themselves by their jobs. They identify with their professional identities. My occupation is as a nurse but i identify more with the schedule that i have. I'm a PRN RN. This means that i work when i want to and not when i don't. I tell the hospital when i can work and am only scheduled then. I can thus be a mom first and a nurse second. A wife first and a nurse second. A school-library-volunteer first, nurse second.

There's been a nursing shortage for as long as i've been in nursing (started nursing school in 1984). This is bad for most (hospitals and other facilities are chronically short-staffed) but good for me. Whenever i list myself as "available", i'm almost always guaranteed to be taken on. I can call often the day of and be put on the schedule for a shift.

As a PRN RN, i'm not required to do many of the "bad shifts" that my fellow nurses have as part of their conditions of employ. I don't have to work every other weekend, or any weekends at all. I am not required to work holidays.....ever. I no longer am required to cover "off shifts" like evenings or nights. I can choose to work any of these but am not obligated. This is an enormous benefit. I don't miss seeing the kids open their Christmas presents. I don't have to leave for work on an evening shift just as my kids are getting home from school.

This PRN schedule has been so great for our family that two years ago, my husband went to a more flexible schedule too. We are off, together, on average one weekday a week. With or without the kids. This flexible schedule allows us to be off for the three day ski weekends with the kids. Or a day off mid-week to be just the two of us. All day long.

My daughter and son are so familiar with my PRN schedule that they too are looking for occupations and professions that allow them flexibility to be people first, workers second. Life balance while still being a professional?

I love my PRN life.

better

The sun is shining. I've had my coffee (ok, mostly milk with just a whiff of coffee, but still.....). I slept until 0800 (amazing! unprecedented! really, really late!!). Day at least starting out better than yesterday (and yesterday started out ok until our real estate agent dumped her bad news upon us). Crossing my fingers that today goes UP not DOWN.

my daughter is a writer!!

MY FAMILY IS A HAPPY MEAL

My brother is a hamburger.
He’s short, thick and square.
His feet are soft and round like buns.
And there’s ketchup in his hair.

My mom is like the drinking straw,
She’s oh so thin and twisty.
And bubbly like a soda pop,
Maybe Coke or Sierra Misty.

My dad is the swirly cone.
He’s calm, collected, cool.
Or maybe he’s the happy toy.
They both dance like a fool.

And me? I am the side dish.
My fingers are like fries.
I’m as mixed as a McFlurry.
And as sweet as apple pies.

My family is a Happy Meal.
We’re not the healthiest bunch.
And though we’re odd, we sure do make
A really yummy lunch.