Tag Archives: Family

Jun19

Thank You Daddy

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When I was a very small child I used to ask my dad so many questions. Why was the sky blue, where had dinosaurs gone, why did we keep a concrete canoe in our garden, how did TV work, why did tomatoes make me itch, why were people different colors, why was my brother a pain in the butt, why was the awesome music we listened too referred to as “classic rock”, why could we only have Hostess snacks and McDonald’s when my mom was out-of-town, why, why, why???

Now as a parent I can fully appreciate that those questions, while borne out of a natural intelligent curiosity (inherited from him so I’m told) are enough to drive a parent crazy, or at least to consider taking up a nice bottle of scotch from time to time.

These days I put up with my own UNENDING questions, particularly from my six-year-old but insanely imaginative future mad scientist who is only happy when he is “inventing” something. At times I admit to wanting to tear out my own hair (and I can’t really afford to lose the thin gray stuff that’s left), especially when he is mixing God knows what kinds of chemicals in the bathroom or practicing to be an escape artist.

At the same time though, part of me is smiling because I know that as my dad used to tell me when he was at the end of his rope – Just you wait, someday you’ll have kids of your own. Then you’ll see how funny it is to paint the neighbor’s cat or mix a can of Coke with chlorine (DON’T DO THAT! IT WILL BURN A HOLE THROUGH THE PORCH!)

So on this father’s day I salute my father. Not only did he teach me that life is a series of adventures, even if not all of them are fun…he taught me several other important life skills that are absolutely invaluable.

1. He is not my entertainment committee so by golly get creative and find something to do.

2. If you keep bugging him for dinner he will serve you reconstituted catfish whiskers…seriously.

3. Make do…or do without. Improvising is the key to success in life. You don’t have to have all the latest gadgets, toys or clothes to have fun or be cool. (My blue spray-painted Chevy S-10 truck was AWESOME!)

4. Photos are better than “stuff” which will break, fade, get lost or wear out. Memories are forever.

5. Always be yourself…and if that means wearing a straw hat, knee-high socks and rocking out to AC/DC while gardening on a Saturday morning, so be it.

6. History rocks. Read it. Learn it. Or as they say…we will be doomed to repeat it.

7. Money does not grow on trees. You must work hard and even then you may never have enough of it…but if you have a roof over your head and food to eat and a loving family (even a dysfunctional one) then you have more than enough.

8. Dogs are truly a kid’s best friend. They will never tell your secrets, and they will be persuaded with a free hot dog when you can’t get them to come home after they have run away for the zillionth time.

9. The undersides of bridges are always worth taking a look at. Go ahead, stop the car on the side of the interstate or highway, climb up under there and get a good look at those supports while the family waits. It’s important to indulge your passion every now and then or else you’ll go crazy…and then everybody suffers.

10. Macaroni is the food of the gods and I thank you every day for teaching me to make it ( and so does everyone I’ve ever made it for!) It is my favorite food. :)

Happy Father’s Day Daddy. I Love You, just for being you.

Nov24

Don’t Tell Me Where The Road Ends

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A woman died Thursday. I suppose I shouldn’t be so upset…after all I hadn’t seen this woman in 20+ years and didn’t really know her…but what I did know was that she sent me cards…she sent hand-made gifts to my babies…she was from a whole other generation…one where people cared, sent thank-you cards, and meals when someone was sick…a woman who assumed that because I was related to one of her best friends (my great aunt) that I was worth something…what happened to people like that? When did we stop being caring, compassionate…and why?
I do care…I want my children to care…amd despite the years and distance…I will miss you Dorothy, may you rest in peace. Thank God for people like her, but God…this is number 3 in the last few weeks…think I could get a break for a little while?

Nov18

Things do happen for a reason…sometimes you just have to wait…

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I haven’t posted in a while. I have been incredibly busy with work and school and family-but that is not the topic of this post. I recently made a tough decision. I have decided to go a different direction in my educational career, a choice that will ultimately change my entire life.

I have always been the creative type – one of my favorite pictures is one of around age 2 taking a photo of my mom in front of our house. It was a little Brownie camera but I loved it. Just recently mu husband and I were trying to re-organize our home office and we came upon box after box after freakin’ box of photo albums…all mine. Seems that I just couldn’t stop taking pictures and even today I am teased for always having a camera somewhere on my person.

In addition to photos, I love to read and to write. I have been winning awards for creative writing since elementary school and I don’t say that to brag. I simply have a love of story telling and when I get ideas I have to stop and write, whether on the backs of bev’ naps, brochures, receipts, etc. I know a lot of people think I’m just a little strange.

What makes things stranger is that I think in “video” when I hear music. For example, when I hear a song, my mind puts together a video in my head, even if I have never seen an actual video on TV for that song (which is often the case since I haven’t had cable in nearly 5 years and I refuse to buy one of those new TV’s when my nice practically new on plays all my DVD’s just as well.

So you may be wondering after all of this, where’s this big change?

So here it goes.

As a young girl, the child of two civil engineers, the granddaughter of a high school administrator, marine [spy], and an English professor with a double doctorate in psychology and English, it was naturally expected that I would do well. And in many cases I did. I was accepted into many of the advanced programs offered, went to camp and was an avid Girl Scout for years.

The one thing that I was never encouraged to really try in was science, despite a very early love of dinosaurs and history. For whatever reason, science, ecology, biology, chemistry – all seemed the domain of the young boys and I knew not to question it.

When I finally  made it to college I really enjoyed the PR and Journalism program at the Grady School of Communications at UGA. I learned so much and really had the chance to develop my writing and persuasion skills and felt confident heading out into the world.

I only had four interviews before getting hired, by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. A job I continue to hold, and one I love….know why? Because it opened my eyes, Everyday I learn more and more – how could I have missed this stuff in school? The subtle yet complex interactions between species, habitats, air and water quality….I was absolutely in shock that these things are not mandatory for all young people going through school. How can we ever expect to “save the planet” if we don’t understand the planet in the first place??

I began to really read and tag along in the field as much as possible. As a public affairs specialist it was up to me to convince people that our programs and projects are important and worthy of funds. I thought to myself, how can I do that if I don’t “get it” my self?

Now two years into what I hope will be a long career, I have seen up close a mom and calf North Atlantic right whale (less than 350 left in the world), held a federally threatened bog turtle and the leathery egg of a loggerhead sea turtle, as well as learn to measure the wingspan of an American Oystercatcher and help attach a radio transmitter to the back of a marbled godwit. I have stood a few feet away from 40 foot flames while assisting with a nearly 2000 acre prescribed burn. I have photographed bats and marveled at the thinness of their wings, swamped for bog restoration and banded geese at night.

I don’t say these things to brag, not at all, but to show that I have seen more of this state in my two years with DNR than in my nearly 27 years of living here. I am astounded that ever school child doesn’t learn about the most wonderful thing about our planet in more depth, the natural world.

So here is the change. Although I love grad school and the program I was undertaking – an MA in environmental non-profits, I have decided to switch programs to an MS in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, with a certificate in the non-profit program, one in Environmental Ethics and another in Native Plants. I know the course-load is harder, but I just feel like being an ecologist will finally fill some void…some innate sense to seek out what I do not know. I am an addict…to learning. And I am hoping that  by completing this program, I will finally figure out where I belong.

Wish me luck!! (and if you have ever made a huge life change, I’d  love to hear about it!!)

where now?

May4

An Exercise in Creativity Brings Positive Results

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smiley-faceAn exercise I did in class recently really struck a chord with me. The idea behind it was that creativity flows better if you are in a positive frame of mind. Part of the exercise required you to write as many things as you could in one minute, the topic: things you like or things that make you happy. We could list anything, whether it be a food, activity, movie, etc. The only requirements were that it made us smile and that we couldn’t spend time thinking about it, we had to write the very first things that popped into our mind.

I admit I was pleased with my list.

My happy list: being warm, dancing, laughing, reading, drawing or doodling, writing, taking pictures, looking at pictures, swimming, splashing, singing silly songs (A.K.A. Spongebob), listening to music, laying in the sun, blowing dandelions, eating ice cream, hugs (especially from my children), watching people learn, watching my kids have moments of wonder, candles, fuzzy puppies, stuffed bears, blowing bubbles, coloring with crayons, wandering, traveling, walking, warm chocolate chip cookies, fall leaves, being barefoot, fresh cut grass, daffodils, listening to the ocean and birds, watching the clounds, solving problems, cartoons, silly movies, the scent of lavender, cinnamon, pine and wild peppermint, funny socks, hats, happy meal toys, red wine, bubble baths, jumping on trampolines and rowing or canoeing in the early morning as the sun comes up.

After this process, and especially after sharing things with the class, which resulted in lots of laughter all around, the creative juices were definitely flowing more freely.

That’s the power of positve thought.

What would your happy list have on it? Grab a pen and paper and then post your results. Happy writing.

Apr14

The ridiculousness of “stuff”

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I really want to simplify my life.

I am a super busy person and am starting to feel the crunch of having a few too many obligations. I looked at my life and asked where I could make cuts. (This is not easy if you work full time, go to grad school and have three kids, two of who play sports, let me tell you.) So far I have condensed my email subscriptions, reduced my magazine habit to those I can read in the waiting room or check-out line, avoid the mall and those dreaded “after-the-holiday” sales, and sworn off most prime time television. I reduced the number of clubs and organizations I am involved with and try to enjoy just being. However… there is one aspect of my life that I am having the hardest time simplifying. My STUFF.

By far one of my favorite blogs out there is On Simplicity. Recently I read the post about the “but I might need it someday” syndrome. I so understand this completely. I am a pack rat. Not in the weird keep-every-bottle-cap-I’ve-ever-found way, but more in a practical (or so I tell myself) I-may-have-a-use-for-it kind of way.

I will take a moment here and say that in my defense I did once make a complete “doll house” and “school bus” out of what my parents had deemed useless trash. (Did you know you can use those hard rounded rectangular mirror and flooring samples from the hardware store to make a cool over the seat-back rear-view mirror for an imaginary bus driver who is only 3 inches tall?? or that you can use the metal spout from a salt container to make an exhaust pipe for that same 1-foot long painted yellow bus?? yep it’s true.)

Anyway, the point is that as I am approaching yet another birthday, I find myself thinking more and more about just how much junk (yes the J-word)  I have, and how happier I might be if I could just get rid of some of it.

Getting past the idea that I might need it, the reasoning for shedding these things is deeper. They have become a burden. We live in a consumer driven culture, where bigger is better, and “why not just upgrade” thinking is the norm. Well, I am tired of the accumulation. There is so much that I don’t need, want or to be honest, even remember that I have in the first place. This “stuff” sits in drawers, on shelves, in the hallway closet, on the porch, in the garage, collecting dust and becoming obstacles that I indelibly trip over or dump out when I am trying to locate the “stuff” I really need.

Do I really need 75 coffee mugs when I only use 2, or three T.V.s all of which are now obsolete in the digital age? Maybe I will use those 10 phone books, or really find a use for the broken pieces of trellis, the poster board with both sides used or the infamous stop sign in the garage.I might fix the broken picture frames or eventually use the 10,000 “extra” buttons that every item of clothing you buy now cheerfully provides lest you lose one. Maybe…someday…right?

The absurdity of it.

So to get back to the point of this post, I was asked to write out a birthday list. I could have sat down and listed a bunch more “stuff” I could reasonably justify in getting, but this time I really tried to put some thought into it. I asked myself what I wanted, that could in no way qualify as stuff (meaning it would be incapable of taking of more room in my already packed house). It took a little while but when I was finished I admitted to myself that I was quite proud of what I had come up with.

Topping my list?  Time.

Time for laughter, my kids, music, rafting trips, writing, working in the garden, exploring, romantic dinners, new experiences, old favorites….

So, as I approach the end of another year on this glorious planet I am making the conscious decision that I will reduce my “stuff” to a more manageable load. I admit it is an experiment, so I have no idea what will happen. But check back once and a while and see if I am making progress. If my theory is correct, the difference will be obvious and far-reaching. I may not be ready to live in a hut with only the clothes on my back, but I expect to at least be able to open my over-stuffed drawers without yanking on them.

Wish me luck.

Jan17

life at the crossroads…

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So I have been blogging for two long years now, primarily over at my professional blog, and well, things are changing.

My perspective on life in general has changed tremendously over the last 24 months, for a number of reasons.  I graduated college, had another baby, got an awesome job, went back to college, got published, had my blog picked up by several independent sites, made some awesome blogger contacts, got married…

I love to blog, I love to write…and I am quickly learning that doing what you love is far more important than bringing home a paycheck, at least in the idealistic world in my head. I guess I never really been in sync with our capitalistic country that praises  the good girls and boys who play nice, work 9-5 and have neighborhood barbecues and outings at the local country club.

I have a family to support and granted writing for free will not keep the roof over their heads or put food in their bellies, but what kind of example would I be setting if I spent my life being miserable. Would they look back as adults and pity all that I had given up on, opportunities missed?

I tell my kids that anything is possible, that all they have to do is believe and then of course put in a ton of hard work (nothing great is ever easy you know). How can I sleep at night if I don’t follow my own advice?

I really want to become a role model for them, and to do that there have to be some serious changes made.

I made a list of new years resolutions like millions of others all over the world. I am afraid however that I have already abandoned the list and it is only the 17th day of the new year…

I really want to write about the things I am passionate about, and I worry that I am limited by my professional blog.

I am thinking seriously of shutting it down and hoping that my loyal readers will migrate with me over to this blog where I feel that I can really write more about life, balance, family, and of course the old standby, saving the planet.

If  Ryan Paugh can do it, well why can’t I? Maybe I am not a successful as he is, but he makes some very good points for making a change. After all I am turning 30 this year….so I guess I am not really a millennial for much longer. (certainly not by Brazen Careerist standards since they stop featuring you when you hit that magic number). Well we got a runner Logan, I am growing up through my writing and so maybe my blog needs to grow up too.