Discovery

O.K. so it was t-5 by the time I got home from work today.  It took me the entire 5 minutes to round up the kids.  Of course it is a very cloudy day, so we hardly saw anything at all.  I took my laptop outside so I could watch the countdown clock.  I should have taken my camera instead.

We have lived in our neighborhood for nearly 7 years.  It is QUIET.  We go DAYS without seeing people.  But for whatever reason, every time there is a space shuttle launch, rocket launch, or one of the space shuttles or rockets are returning from one of their missions everyone flocks to the streets.

Today was the last launch of the Discovery.  It's kind of sad.  Now I am not a rocket scientist by any means, but every time there is a launch I get goosebumps and teary-eyed.  Growing up, we would watch the launches via television while living in Utah or California.

I don't think my children understand the significance and how incredible it is that they have been able to witness so many space shuttle launches and rocket launches.  One day, when the space shuttle launches are a thing of the past, hopefully they will reflect upon the many times we gulped down our dinner or I pounded the doors while they were trying to go to the bathroom so we could all rush outside to witness a little piece of history.

Best Friends

Visit here if you want to see how Mateo and Sarah spent their weekend.

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Love Week 2011

Let's take a BIG.GIANT.SIGH of relief.  It's over.  Whew.  One of the most difficult challenges for me is to not replay events of Valentine's past and wallow in self-misery.   This year I made an effort to make NEW and IMPROVED memories.

Last Saturday, we went to P.F. Chang's as a family with all of the other thousands of couples that had a brilliant idea to celebrate Valentine's Day two days early.  On Monday (Valentine's Day), Cristian worked tweener which means 1:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. shift.  (Hello, can anyone say "tender mercy of the Lord???")  The kids and I enjoyed a lovely evening at the baseball fields (Ahem . . . let's see how strong of a person you REALLY are Heidiram).   Cristian booked reservations for us to go on Friday to a bed and breakfast in Jacksonville.

My attitude and mood the entire Valentine's week was less than stellar.  It must have something to do with those unresolved issues still needing to be worked through.  While we were at the bed and breakfast, Cristian and I talked.  And talked.  And talked.  And talked.  Cristian and I share a LOT of history.  We share THREE beautiful children.  We have been married for 15 years.  I appreciate his efforts this past year to make amends.  I appreciate all he does to provide for our family.  I appreciate repentance.  I appreciate forgiveness.  I appreciate . . . appreciation.  He is trying.  He really is trying.

I have signed off Facebook for the next month or two.  I am not ready to completely shut down my account because let's face it . . . Facebook is FREE therapy when Dr. Cam is booked.  Instead of focusing my discretionary time and energies on my FB friends, I am going to focus my friendship efforts on the guy who lives with me and who is trying so hard to be my real-life friend.

Time for one more BIG.GIANT.SIGH of relief.  (And maybe even an anti-anxiety pill or two.)

The end.

Bored Games

This post is dedicated to all my friends and family who have ever wondered why I am not a fan of playing bored . . . oops I mean board games or any other kind of games (besides dominoes) with my family.  (And by the way, we were NEVER allowed to say the word bored or boring in my house growing up.  Am I a rebel or WHAT posting that word on my blog for ALL to see???)

Valentine's Bingo Night.  Fun right?  Lovely right?  What a better way to spend Valentine's Day than playing games with the family.  Tino had baseball practice tonight until 7:30 p.m. and Mateo has been anxiously awaiting his special game night.  (So there may or may not have been tears when I told Mateo I could not handle one more second of Valentine Bingo at the school last week . . .I had a sinus infection, ear infection and had been on my feet for 12+ hours.  My bed was calling my name.)  Anyway, our happy compromise was that we could finish up Valentine's Bingo at home . . . with the family . . . on Valentine's Day.

Here are reasons why I am not a fan of game night:
#1 It takes approximately 45 minutes to one hour to get things started.
#2 Mateo tends to dominate and make all the rules.  He changes the rules so many times that I have a hard time following which version of the game we happen to be playing.
#3 Sarah is ultra-competitive and will try to win at all costs (usually there is cheating involved) . . . which usually involves more Mateo rules and then a tear or two shed by Mateo because nobody is listening to him and/or we refuse to comply with his ridiculousness.

Here are the reasons I could be swayed into becoming a fan of game night:
#1 Forced family bonding.
#2 Awesome prizes for Bingo night.  (Mateo had Sarah empty out her Valentine's stash and hand over all the stuff she didn't like or didn't want.  Mateo did the same.)  If we can ever get through our first round of Bingo . . . I can look forward to some Kit Kats, Hershey Kisses or Reese's.  If I really want to win the grand prize, I can choose from an assortment of Sponge Bob, Spider Man, or Princess pencils.  If I "win" those, I will take them to school and regift them to my irresponsible 6th and 7th grade students who still have not received the memo that they are to show up to school with a pencil and paper EVERY.DAY.
#3 Mateo calls 5 minute breaks about every 2 minutes of game play.  It's not enough time for me to get into the groove of correcting papers and entering grades, but it is enough time to blog about these memorable events.

Almost Valentine's Day

How am I feeling about that?  Thank you for asking.  And if you didn't ask, I KNOW you were just DYING to ask, but didn't DARE.  It's o.k.  I will go ahead and tell you.  If I start to think too much about it, I start to feel sick to my stomach.  But then I redirect my thoughts.

I think about my beautiful children.  I think about Cristian. I think about repentance.  I think about diet coke.  I think about forgiveness.  I think about Sees molasses chips.  I think about love.  I think about compassion.  I think about maybe a little bit more love.  I think about the gift of discernment and being led by the Spirit.  I think about my family in Utah and California.  I think about miraculous cures from an illness that has no cure.  I think about empathy.  I think about a job that pays my bills and student loan debts.  I think about friendship.  I think about manis and pedis at Magic Nails.  I think about serving others. I think about open lines of communication.  I think about all my gh*tto girls and gh*tto guys (middle school students) that tell me daily I am "their role model".  I think about putting one foot in front of another and living one day at a time.  I think about my Savior Jesus Christ who will help me power through this.

It's almost Valentine's Day.  And I am o.k. with it.  This to shall pass.

Charity

We had an absolutely AMAZING Branch Conference last week.  One of the topics that our Branch President felt inspired that we needed to discuss was charity.  Now when I say charity, I am not talking about the "you see a poor, homeless person on the side of the road and offer them something to eat" type of charity.  I am talking about the charity that President Thomas S. Monson discussed when he said "rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life".

One more thing that President Monson said is "I consider charity-or "the pure love of Christ"- to be the opposite of criticism and judging.  In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance.  That of course, is necessary and proper.  I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.  I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others."

Our Branch President challenged us to be more full of charity.  Right as the Branch President was finishing his remarks, a sister in the branch passed me a note.  She asked if we wanted to go to her house after church for dinner.  This is a sister that used to be my best friend.  This is a sister that I used to see every day, multiple times per day, EVERY SINGLE DAY of the week.  And then all of a sudden one day we didn't see each other.  And we didn't call each other.  Days passed into weeks.  Weeks passed into years.  It has been nearly 31/2 years since we have had anything other than a once a month hello from across the chapel or a quick "saludo" and peck on the cheek as we enter Relief Society.  She was so excited that I accepted the invitation.  She immediately texted her husband and said "You will never believe this, but Heidi said yes.  She is coming to dinner with her family."  Of course, her husband who is in charge of cooking on the weekends, responded by saying "Do we even have any food in our house that we can make for dinner?"  To which she responded, "Heidi is simple.  She doesn't care.  Her family doesn't care.  They will be perfectly content with whatever food we have to offer them."

Bottom line of my story:  We spent more than 5 hours at their house.  Dinner and Family Home Evening turned into dinner, FHE, mending of fences and building of bridges.  We cried, we embraced, we caught up on the last 3 1/2 years of our lives.  She told me that she had wanted to invite me over for over one year now, but she always felt that it wasn't the right time.   She said as she was saying her prayers that morning, she felt once again that she needed to invite us over to dinner.  And then of course, the Branch President's talk sealed the deal.  She KNEW she needed to act on the prompting she had received.

President Thomas S. Monson stated "Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down.  It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily.  It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings.  It is accepting people as they truly are.  It is looking beyond physical appearances and attributes that will not dim through time.  It is resisting the impulse to categorize others."

You know how I feel about charity right about now?  Super duper happy.  I have a long way to go, but I will take one little step at a time.  And I am grateful for a friend that followed the promptings of the Spirit and was able to look past my faults and reach out her hand to help lift me up.