I am a huge fan of the Habitat for Humanity organization. I fully support their goals and methods of achieving them. I commend them for their requirements that recipients contribute to the sweat equity of the homes. I applaud them in their efforts across our nation.

I am currently at a loss, however, to understand how it is that one of my co-workers has qualified for a HH home. I realize, first of, that I do not know all the details. However. My position at my company is very near the bottom of the totem poles for salaries. Most of the people here have PhD’s, a few just have their Masters. I support those people, so I realize that I’m not going to be paid nearly as much as they are. The gentleman in question is also in a support position, but in IT, so I would think that he would make more than I do, but for the moment, I’ll assume he simply makes my salary.

He currently rents in a high-rent area locally. He currently “supports” his live-in girlfriend (who doesn’t have a job of any kind) and her five year old special-needs daughter. Let’s assume that she at least collects unemployment, but from the sounds of it, he is completely responsible for their financial wellbeing as well as his own.

This man has a daughter of his own. I have no idea what he pays in child support for her or if he pays, but we’ll assume it’s a little something at least. His mom currently provides day care for his daughter, so I realize there’s no day care expense being added.

If I took my salary and tried to support another adult as well as LM, and perhaps shelled out a few shuckles for child support, it would certainly be tight, I’m not saying it wouldn’t. But would I qualify for an HH house?! I don’t think I should. I pay a sizeable mortgage payment (that’s what you get for living on the East Coast) and I make a car payment every month, so certainly I have enough to pay the bills with.

The real kicker for me is that yesterday, this guy shared with me that he’s now worked his way back up to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Not being a smoker, I inquired what that costs him a week. He said, “about $70”.

Now, if I took my currently salary and added about $300 a month to it, I’m fairly certain I could pay all my bills with a little bit of a cushion.

So how is it that he can qualify for this home?! How is it that volunteers are out there busting their butts and donating appliances (the fridge he is going to turn around and sell to the office because he doesn’t want one that doesn’t have an ice maker built in) – and he is smoking up $300 a month?!? If his girlfriend actually had to support herself (and I’m not sure he can claim her as a dependent since they aren’t married) and even if they had to rely on state funding to help her special-needs child, he would surely have plenty of money with which to buy his own place!

I am all in favor of organizations like Habitat helping those who cannot help themselves, but in this case, I am frustrated thinking that he is taking the generosity of this group and blowing it up in smoke.

I don’t even want to think about the money wasted if his girlfriend has a nicotine habit to support, too.

The office bought lunch today, unfortunately I just had a cavity filled at noon and my jaw is too numb to eat without risking great personal injury. (I surrendered my hoagie to a co-worker who wasn’t offered a free lunch today.)

Gabers finally chose to eat which means the antibiotics have kicked in and he’s finally feeling better than he has in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, while the weather is perfect right at this moment, we’re expecting thunderstorms right about the time I leave work and well into the evening. No trip to the bark park for us tonight!

I finally received my 2005 year-end bonus from my previous job after much ado about proving that I was actually employed through the last working day in December. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam took such a chunk out of it that it’s not nearly the sizeable chunk of “found money” that it might have been.

On the fourth attempt, I think my ophthalmologist has finally gotten my contact lens prescription almost perfect. Unfortunately, everyone at the office now thinks I look better with my glasses.

Two of my co-workers that share the “new” office space with me were out on Friday and Monday leaving me completely by myself for the duration. Unfortunately, the one that returned to work today is not the one that can funnel projects to me so I am bored silly for yet ANOTHER day at work.

My favorite pair of jeans is finally worn in enough that they are perfectly comfortable right out of the dryer. Unfortunately, this means they are also starting to wear THROUGH in certain places and I really should replace them before anything embarrassing occurs.

Following my friend Stacy’s good advice, I baked cookies and LM took them to our downstairs neighbors over the weekend in an effort to win them over. Unfortunately, the single guy that lives a few doors down wasn’t home for me to try the same approach!

Thanks to some of my co-workers for doing the necessary “homework”, I’ve been kept informed of all the hidden nuances of the show “Lost”. Unfortunately, the producers have decided to postpone airing any new episodes for the last few weeks and I’ve now forgotten what I need to pay attention to.

The orthodontist we originally consulted with was kind enough to let me take the molds and x-rays to another orthodontist for a second opinion (second confirmation, really). Unfortunately, the delay in getting the process started may mean it has to be put off since LM will spend much of the summer away from home (g’parents don’t want to deal with milkshakes for dinner and motrin every 4 hours for a month) – meaning his teeth that are trying to come in could continue to wreak havoc until the fall.

Last evening, while walking Gabe, a really, really, cute guy proclaimed what a cool dog I have. Unfortunately, the guy was riding by on his motorcycle and didn’t stop to chat!

Mom’s Version of the Story:

There is little evidence that LM is truly my child. I have stretch marks, scars and stories to convince anyone that I did go through labor but actually proving that he is mine biologically is another matter. There must have been a mix-up at the hospital.

I obviously love to write. I love to tell a story full of engaging details. I love for a reader to know what I’m saying through examples, analogies, and metaphors. I tend to go overboard trying to make a point.

LM hates to write. Or at least he hates to write when it is an assignment. Give him a pencil and paper or sit him down at his old word processor and he’ll gladly write a story about a command ship in Vector 12 encountering enemy aircraft. He’ll tell you how many missiles each has, exactly what they sound like overhead and the screams of the pilots. He has drawn over 30 “adventures” of Smilie Man Comics, his own personal comic strip hero.

But give LM a fourth-grade writing assignment or ask him to correspond with his pen-pal, Caleb, and I’m lucky to get three sentences out of him. In school, they not only write for the sake of writing, they have to write out how they figure out their math problems. They are instructed to use prompts like: “First I…”, “Then I ….”, “Next…” and “Finally I used…”. He would rather stick pins in his eyes. Math is easy. He can solve the problem in his head in seconds flat. But writing out HOW he figured out the answer could take an hour.

This is why his report card has always scored an “A” in Reading, an “A” in Math and a “B” in Writing. “Lack of details”, “Lack of organization” and “Not citing evidence” are some of the areas that have needed improvement. We’ve talked it through. We’ve practiced writing; we have outlined our writing beforehand. I’ve used every method I can think of to help him enjoy the process a little more. He loves to read, and I try to show him how it’s the details that make reading so interesting. But he refuses to translate this into his own writing.

Last night I had conferences with his teacher. It was “optional” but I chose to go, knowing some of the troubles we’ve had this year – more socially than academically. I adore his teacher this year. She’s incredibly young but she really seems to have a great understanding of the kids and has done a wonderful job with LM. Report cards come out today but they give you a copy at conferences to look over. I went over it carefully with his teacher talking about areas he has shown improvement in and areas that still need work before the end of the year.

When I left the conference, I met up with LM out in the lobby of the school. I looked at him sternly and told him to sit down right where he was, we needed to talk. I held up the report card and he said, “oh no.” I sat down next to him and followed the grades for writing across from the first quarter to the second to this third marking period. It took a moment before he realized….

LM’s Version of the Story:

I got an “A” in Writing!!!

P.S. Mom took me out for cheeseburgers to celebrate!

I absotively posilutely have to get a new vacuum cleaner. My hoover upright (with bag) has been around for oh, about 8 years and has filled its duties and is now ready to retire. With a dog and two cats, there is a requirement that our household vacuum actually suck up fur and the Hoover has decided this is no longer in its job description so we need to part ways.

I have read rave reviews (on blogs) about the Dyson Animal. As LM’s dad pointed out, it didn’t get rave reviews from Consumer Reports. So….

I NEED INPUT!!

What do you have, what does your sister or your mom have? Do you/they love it? Do you have pets? Do you use the tools? Give me the scoop!
(Please?)

I had Pottery Class tonight. We watched a movie about an artist that made teapots that I thought were hideous. I suppose that’s part of art, isn’t it? I trimmed up some of the pots I made last week and made two new ones. One that I made tonight I wrecked, but it looked kind of cool so I kept it, even though it’s really a “mistake”. That’s art, too, isn’t it?

As I was getting ready for class, though, I was trying to think of what it was that I wanted to make tonight. I’ve made several pots. I’ve made several cylinders. I’ve even made a really ugly mug and a lopsided saucer. I just don’t know enough about what is possible with the abilities that I have.

To continue along the symbolic nature of my pottery posts, it has recently occurred to me that I don’t know what it is that I want to make out of the rest of my life, either. I had imagined that I would be married with several kids at this point and I wouldn’t have to consider my options until all of my kids were in school, but that ol’ curve ball that life threw my way has given me a chance to “redream”. What do I want out of the next five years? The next ten?

I am at as much of a loss to answer that as to what to make out of the mound of clay sitting on the wheel.

I’m not sure how it is that we figure out what is it that we really want to do. I can ask myself all kinds of questions, but I come up with answers that to some degree feel out of my control. I’d like to be married again. I’d love to have more children. But right now, that’s not a door that feels ‘open’. I’m nowhere near close to either of those two options.

Given my current life, what would I like to be different? What would I do for a career if I could choose any? Where would I like to live if I could live anywhere? What sort of hobbies do I wish I had?

My answer to all of the above is: I.Don’t.Know.

I remember when I went to college. I entered the doors with the determination to become an International Business major. Whatever that meant. I took all the typical freshman courses and in my sophomore year, when I took Macro and Micro Econ, Business Stats I and II, Accounting I and II and the like I realized I hated business. I switched to a degree in Elementary Education without a clue of what I really wanted to teach. Luckily, throughout your early courses in the major, you spend time in various classrooms and I spent a spring break at my step-mom’s elementary school going from classroom to classroom until I realized that I hated the really young learn-to-tie-your-shoes classes, and really enjoyed the older, we-understand-metaphors ages. I student taught 6th grade and loved every second of it.

I wish I could do something similar now. Dabble in marketing. Try out photography as a hobby. Visit several states to see where I might like to grow new roots. But how does a person do that with limited money, vacation time and experience?

I.Don’t.Know.

I’ve decided though, that I need to really spend some time in thought. I really need to look inside and get a grasp on the direction that my dreams are leading me. I could waste the next ten years just being a mom and biding my time or I could take life by the horns (thanks, Dodge) and make it what I want it to be.

And, just like class tonight, I might find that when I try to turn my dreams into reality, I might make a huge mistake along the way. If so, I intend to still savor it, laugh, enjoy it and chalk it up to experience. That’s kind of like art, isn’t it?

A Happy Dog

The Process of Removing Spider Angiomas…

-Before-

-Healing-

-Gone!-
My Brave Boy

Happy Easter everyone!! Christ is risen!

As some of you remember, I have chosen not to include Santa in our Christmas celebrations in an effort to keep the true meaning of the holiday in the forefront of our hearts and minds. To that same end, the Easter Bunny is not part of our family celebration this weekend. We have a bunny-shaped basket, sure, and there might be a little bit of chocolate to put in it, but there is no belief that a rabbit hid eggs around our house. I wanted LM to wake up on Easter morning thankful that Christ died and ROSE AGAIN for HIS sins, not to wonder how many jelly beans and marshmallow eggs he could eat in an hour.

I’m not here to tell you how to celebrate the holiday. I just realized (and I probably should have shared this sooner) that some fellow Christians may be interested in how we’ve come to make Christ the center of our celebrations even in the midst of a hunt for eggs.

We have come to use “Resurrection Eggs” as our “egg hunt eggs”. They each contain a small token that corresponds to a story told in the book “Benjamin’s Box” that tell the story of Christ’s journey to the cross. The eggs and the book are both available at Amazon.com or at any Christian bookstore, I am certain. They truly are a great way to tell the greatest story.

Have a great holiday everyone! And may God Bless you all!

Are you sitting down? Are you sure? Are you drinking something? You might want to stop. Do you have children or are you thinking of having any? You may want to reconsider reading this post. I’ll just say this as a warning: I had a consultation with the orthodontist today concerning LM’s mess of a mouth. This post is about that meeting. If you are not sitting down, are sipping something you don’t want sucked up through your nose in shock or spat out at your computer monitor, or if you’d like to enjoy your children without a thought towards their dental expenditures, please stop reading now.

Seriously.

They took molds and x-rays three weeks ago. Tonight was a meeting to tell me how they recommend we proceed. It started with an explanation about the condition of LM’s mouth. Just looking at the x-rays I suspected I was in for a doozy. He explained that LM had some issues but it wasn’t a horrible scenario. He recommended an expander for the top and a gadget for the bottom that will tilt his teeth forward as they should be. They will be on for about nine months. When they are taken off, we’ll probably have to extract his two bottom eye teeth (he had three baby teeth extracted on the bottom already when the permanents failed to push out the babies, which is what’s happening with his eye teeth). We’ll wait for his twelve year molars to come in along with the other permanents that need to arrive before proceeding with the actual braces.

I asked how much the initial expander process would cost.

$2000.

I asked how much they would estimate the braces might be (although we obviously won’t know the true extent until we see the effects of the expander and his teeth coming in.)

$4500-6500.

I told you to sit down first.

Can I apply my Roth IRA towards orthodontics?

Seriously.