Exercising my civic responsibility

I've been a registered voter for almost 20 years. I distinctly remember the first presidential election I voted in, when Bill Clinton was elected in 1992. I took the first few elections very seriously, really learning as much as I could about the issues and candidates. Then, life sort of got in the way and I became a bit complacent. My votes ended up being for those whose names sounded the best, or whose titles seemed to give them experience and expertise to fulfill an elected position.

This year, however, my feelings about voting changed. There has been a hotly contested school board election in the small town where our children attend school. Two seats are up for grabs in a three-person panel. Four candidates are running. The two incumbents have done great things for the school, bringing it from country bumpkin to a strong academic status. But in a small town, there is also the chance for a few disgruntled folks to really stir things up. Rumors and untruths have been circulating among residents, only a few of which have students at the school. These rumors and misinformation led two community members to put their name in the hat for a seat on the board, and their platforms are such that the school stands a good chance of being literally dismantled if they win.

On paper, these two candidates appear highly qualified. One is a former principal/superintendent of the school, serving more than 16 years as the leader of this one-school district. The other is a former school board member and high powered executive.

The most frustrating part for me, is that because we live just outside the city limits, we are unable to vote in this election. Only 15% of the students in the school reside in town, the remaining 85% of the students come from neighboring cities and school districts. But only residents of the town where the school is located have voting privileges.

As I've watched the campaigning over the last couple of months and seen how important it is to make a fact-based decision, my need to be an informed voter grew. When it came time to cast our votes, Steve and I took the time to read candidate statements and both sides of issues and propositions. I was a bit surprised...some of my initial thoughts on who I would vote for changed as I read about the candidates' experience and priorities.

Now it's time to sit back and watch the votes come in. I'm anxious to see the local results as well as statewide results. Above all, I'm anxiously waiting on the school board election, which has the potential to drastically impact the environment in which my children spend most of their days. And I sincerely hope that all 700+/- voters in the small town will take the same initiative as I did, and not base their votes on appearances or the sound of a name, but will dig a little deeper and vote on what is best for the school.

A hidden benefit of having an engineer in the house

Being married to a civil engineer definitely has its benefits. You never know when bridge construction experience might come in handy.

The previous owners of our home took down a few light fixtures before they listed the house for sale. They left us with nothing but wires.

We knew that we'd have to replace them, and our realtor was kind enough to buy the entry fixture and dining room fixture for us as a housewarming gift.

Steve installed the dining room fixture months ago. It is beautiful.

The entry fixture was on backorder...first for a month, then two, then 4. It came in this past weekend. Because of the ceiling height (28'), we faced a small problem when figuring out how to get it up in place. Steve is just over 6' tall and has an arm reach of approximately 8'. We have an 8' ladder. Add those together, and you're about 12' too short for where he needed to be. That, coupled with the weight of the fixture, posed a slight dilemma.

So for the last few months, Steve has been scheming in his mind how we would get the light up. Pully systems, circus clowns, and trapeze artists were all considered, but quickly shot down due to logistical issues.

Saturday morning, Steve looked at me, looked at the entryway, and said "I think I'll build a bridge."

He went to Home Depot and bought (2) 14' long 2"x8"s and (1) 2"x4". He guided them from one side of the second story landing to the other, feeding them through the banister railings for support.

Then he screwed down plywood onto the framework, added the 2x4 as a hand rail for support, and was ready to go.

(The naked mural is next to go...)

I was a nervous wreck. Just looking at his contraption made me queasy. It certainly wouldn't win any awards for architectural design. But when he stepped out on it the first time, he gave a little bounce. The bridge didn't even budge.

I handed him pieces, and methodically and carefully he first got the electrical wired, then assembled the fixture.

When it was complete and working, he carefully dis-assembled his bridge.

When he was safely on solid ground again, we both breathed a sigh of relief (I think mine was louder).

The light is stunning and a perfect accent to the entryway.

I can sleep easier at night knowing that if ever there is a river to be crossed (or entry height to be overcome), Steve will get us across. One way or another.

May I have this dance?

On Friday night, Olivia attended her first middle school dance. Steve and I debated about whether or not to let her go. In the end, we decided it was okay. Her school is very small. The middle school has approximately 60 kids, and we figured only about half would show up. She's gone to school with most of these kids since kindergarten, and the relationships are more like siblings than anything else. We figured it was pretty harmless.

Two boys had asked her to "go with them" to the dance (by go with them, they meant arrive and leave alone, but maybe dance together once). She responded that her parents wouldn't allow her to go with them, but that "maybe she would see them there". Smart girl.

She went to a friend's house after school to hang out and get ready.

I was stunned when I saw this photo of her. She seems to have grown up in an instant.

I'm not entirely ready to have a daughter this old. There are all sorts of roads ahead that we will have to navigate together. But at the same time, it is exciting to watch her, on the cusp of stepping over the ledge of childhood and into the next stage of life.

The best choice I ever made...

Thirteen years ago today, I made the wisest decision of my life. I said "I Do" to Steve.

It's been a wild ride, with lots of ups, and a few downs too. We've shared sadness and loss, we've shared joy and success. We've disagreed (though not too often), and compromised. We've said "I'm sorry", and we've forgiven. We've gained weight, lost weight, counted gray hairs, and gotten older together (though I'll always be younger!).



To commemorate this day, here is a chronicle of our life in numbers:

4,745 - The number of "I love yous" spoken (this might not be accurate...as there have been many days where we said it more than once)

11 - The number of cars we've owned. This is even more impressive (or depressing, depending on how you look at it) when you consider that we've had our two current vehicles for 6 years.

6 - The number of homes we've lived in together

3 - The number of children who've joined our family, and we now love with all our heart.

0 - The number of time's I've regretted my choice.

Happy Anniversary honey...I love you!

Lighten up world....Really!

This morning on the Today Show, there was a clip about the uproar over this Sesame Street clip, set to debut this week on the new season of the decades old kids' show:

Parents across the country came out in protest of this clip, stating it was "inappropriate", "seductive", and "provocative", and demanding the clip be pulled off the show. I watched the clip this morning. Seriously????? Katy Perry is a controversial mega-star right now. Her upbeat music does have provocative lyrics...I've found myself on more than one occasion belting out the lyrics in the car to one of her songs, catching myself when I realize what I'm singing about. But in this case, she's tuned it way down, changing up the words to be completely innocent. She's obviously dressing up, she admits it. Yes, a little cleavage is showing. But have you walked down the street lately? Preschool teachers dress more provocatively than this.

As a longtime fan of Sesame Street, I've watched them struggle in recent years to keep up with more enticing programming like Dora, Diego, Imagination Movers, and the like. Grant has never been a big fan of Sesame Street - it's not exciting enough for him. I've tried endless tactics to get him to watch the show, to no avail. However, he's a huge fan of Katy Perry (censored, of course), and knows some of her songs by heart. Putting more clips like this on the show would most certainly garnish his viewing vote. For pete's sake...it's a kids show. And 3–5 year olds will most certainly not get the wrong impression watching this. Lighten up world!!!!!

Creating...A Balance

This is how I have been feeling lately. Too many balls in the air, and my feet starting to slip. I have many commitments and responsibilities, all of which add value to life. But, finding a balance where I don't feel overwhelmed is a challenge.

This past weekend, Steve was away on his annual guys golf trip. I decided that it was time for me to "get away" as well. Three kids made it tough to actually get away...but I put all my "to dos" aside, and decided to spend the weekend doing something I love.

My good friend Kayla came for the weekend, along with her daughter Cassidy (Olivia's best bud since birth). She brought her sewing machine and some unfinished projects. For almost 48 hours straight, we holed up in my project room and stitched away.

My goal was to use up some of the fabric that has been sitting in my closet for far too long. I finished a few projects, and started several more.

I finished 4 baby blankets. I have three more cut and ready to sew.

This cutey was an afterthought. Kayla made one, had some leftover fabric, and offered to share. I finished it and it's now sitting on my dining room table, ready for the rest of the Halloween decorations to come out!

I cut out and started 8 fall place mats.

I pieced 12 Christmas place mats. Now they need to be quilted and bound.

We came across a cool cutting technique online, and I just had to give it a try. The result? A holiday table runner that now needs to be quilted and bound.

When she left Sunday afternoon, we challenged each other to finish this weekend's projects by October 16 -that's 4 weeks away. We each have roughly 28 things left to finish, so it should be doable if we spend just an hour a day. We promised a nightly check in, and are holding each other accountable for this goal.

When I woke up this morning, I felt renewed. Also, a little exhausted...but I attribute that to staying up past midnight 3 nights in a row. But mostly, I felt ready to tackle my day and face my "list" head on.

Commitments are a part of life. Some of us have a few, some of us have too many. But finding a balance between responsibilities and the fun stuff is important. Hobbies and personal interests not only build our skills and talents, but they also provide a much needed respite from the busyness of every day life. Looking at this pile of projects that I need to finish in the next month is a little overwhelming...but it also motivates me to set some time aside each day to let my creativity emerge and evolve. And that is pretty exciting!

Stay tuned for the progress updates!

Taking shape

The last several months have been filled with the chaos that surrounds moving. LOTS of home improvement projects, both inside and out. While our house is only 10 years old, very little was done to maintain it during those 10 years—which translates into a whole lot of weekends for us spent working on it!

We've (well, actually Steve, but that rhymes with we've) tackled many of the essentials, like getting sprinklers back working, fixing water leaks, and other necessary repairs. Now we're on to the cosmetic projects, like patching holes in the walls, painting, etc. It can be overwhelming, but we really are trying to take it one step at a time.

Over the weekend, Steve decided to take a shot at reshaping the topiaries in our front yard. We knew they were there, but they really had no distinct shape and it was hard to know what they were originally intended to be.

Steve got out his electric saw/trimmer thing and went to work on the big one at first. Keep in mind, he's had no formal artistic training in topiary shaping.

Before long, there was a pile of trimmings on the ground, and this friend gracing our front yard:

The littler one was a bit more challenging to identify. At first, we thought it was a rabbit.

But as Steve worked on it, and worked on it, and worked on it some more, he found this:

The baby deer is a bit bare right now, it will take some time and work to get him filled in and plumped up a bit.

Now if we could just find a way to keep the REAL deer from eating all the bushes in the front yard, we'd really be in business!