Had to Laugh

My dad sent this little email funny to me this week.  It has made me chuckle and thought it might give you a little giggle too.  I added the photo--of a different team, but I liked the visual.

AP Wire- Raleigh, NC



Jeff Gordon announced today that he was firing his entire pit crew. This announcement followed Gordon's decision to take advantage of President Obama's scheme to employ Harlem youngsters. The decision to hire them was brought about by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from Harlem were able to remove a set of wheels in less than 6 seconds without proper equipment, whereas Gordon's existing crew could only do it in 8 seconds with thousands of dollars worth of high tech equipment.

It was thought to be an excellent and bold move by Gordon's management team, as most races are won or lost in the pits.


However, Gordon got more than he bargained for.


At the crew's first practice session, not only was the inexperienced crew able to change all 4 wheels in under 6 seconds, but within 12 seconds they had changed the paint scheme, altered the VIN number, and sold the car to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 10 cases of Bud, a bag of weed, and some photos of Jeff Gordon's wife in the shower.

Just a Hunch

I had a big PTA meeting yesterday.  I am in charge of one next week.  We begin Ward Conferences on Sunday and we had a pre-conference meeting last night.  I am timing a swim meet this afternoon.  It is the end of the semester today.  Monday is a holiday for the kids--I must think of something for them to do besides veg out in from the TV or computer screens. YW Basketball began last Saturday.  And Winter Camp (a leadership retreat for YW in our stake) is coming in two weeks.

I feel a little like this pair under the flock of pigeons.  My hands are full.  And I might be getting pooped on some times.

But I really don't think I'd have it any other way.  I like being busy and I like having some place to go and some thing to do and people to see a long that way. 

So for all my belly-aching about what is on my plate, for the most part, I have served myself.  I eat at the Buffet of Busyness. 

Oooh. I should have stopped before I got to that title.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

A Shout Out

Today is my parent's wedding anniversary.  This marks 47 years for them.  I'm sure there were lots of difficulties in that many years of marriage, but they have stuck it out--together--and I honor that achievement today.  They are also a great example of putting each other first and working toward something together. 

They began this adventure together when they were both pretty young.  I'm sure they had some exciting and fun times but they also knew that marriage was a commitment and, through thick and thin, they have lives their commitment to each other.

It is a nice legacy to me.  Genius Golfer and I will celebrate 19 years married this spring, and some days it feels like it has just flown past, but other times each day feels like a bog to get through.  Our communication and attitude determine the differences and the combinations of those times two people, can be pretty vacillating at times.  But, I know I am in it for the long haul--the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Just like my parents!  Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.  I love you and thank you for the example you have set for us.

Those Were The Days...

Forty years ago tonight All in the Family debuted on TV.  We first got to know Archie and Edith and Meathead.  We saw a blue collar family infused with politically charge dialogue and socially conscious topics.  Archie could say things that the average American couldn't or wouldn't say in public.  Yet here he was, on national TV, voicing his narrow opinions without hesitation or apology.

Archie illustrated four decades of conservatives lashing out against liberals.  Four decades of comically times bigotry and racism.  Four decades of a head strong character calling for fiscal responsibility and smaller government. Four decades of socially current commentary in a sit-com time frame.

Sounds like Archie is the new poster boy for the Tea Party movement forty years after his debut.  Perhaps some of what he said and thought resonated so well with the American public that it has taken four decades to put his philosophy into practice and is what we are seeing as the political wave behind the midterm election backlash.

My mom always told me if you keep something long enough it will come back in style.

I Don't Really Speak MATH

The Girl is really quite funny sometimes.  Well, most of the time.  But I noticed that this morning she posted something on Facebook that made me smile.  Then it made me wonder what this girl was becoming.

She wrote that today was a math problem.  1 x 11 = 11.

And she added that yesterday was also a math problem: 1 + 10 = 11.  But tomorrow, she noted wouldn't be.

I didn't even think about the date this way.  I did think--"Oh, it is 1/11/11.  Ha.  That is funny."  There was no mention of math in my thoughts.  I just don't think like that.

Who IS this girl and where did she come from?!

Inversion Diversion

I just wanted to remind everyone--perhaps myself most of all--that winter won't last forever, no matter how much it feels like it will.  Spring will arrive and summer will follow.  We've just got to hold on until they get here.  This is why January feels like the longest month of the year.  Dangit.

Complaints Department, Apparently

I had a seven o'clock meeting this morning.  Church doesn't start for us until 11 now, so this is prime sleep in time I give up to go to these meetings.  Once I get there I find them perfectly lovely.  Getting moving is the hard part.  But I do it, because I love the young women I get to work with, as well as the no-so-young-women I get to work with.  I do it because that is what I have committed to do.  I try to do it with a smile on my face, and a willing heart.  When I have those two things, the rest is much easier.

Well, following this early meeting today, I came home and snuggled back into bed about 8:30 thinking I could catch a few more wishful Zs.  At ten minutes to nine, the phone rings--waking me from the quiet, tropical beach scene I was using in my mind to get back to feeling warm and sleepy.

It was the neighbor and scoutmaster, calling to see if Genius Golfer and The Boy were coming to their presidency meeting at 9 AM.  I told him GG was still asleep and had been ill most of the weekend, so I doubted he'd be there, but I told him I'd get The Boy up and going and he could be there.

OK, so I tenderly snuck into The Boy's room and gently woke him up and asked if he remembered he had a meeting at 9.  OH my!  The gnashing of teeth began almost the moment he registered my voice.  He complained that he was tired (that didn't stop him from playing hard with friends yesterday after boarding) and that HE was sick and should get to stay in bed (again, wasn't a problem for him to go boarding or play with friends) and WHY did he have to go when he will turn 14 soon enough and won't even be in that class much longer (he doesn't turn 14 until April). 

I didn't get any of those thoughts in at any rate, and I just snapped.  I raised my voice--not quite to a yell, but it was serious and stern.  I told him that I have been getting up regularly for 7 AM meetings for more than 4 years--not every week, but quite a bit on Sundays because that is when the meetings are held that I have to attend.  I told him that this morning I had been up, showered, dressed, gone and back without anyone having to get me up and that there were even doughnuts downstairs that he could look forward to if he'd get moving.  So much for the smile on my face, and a willing heart. I know.

And I inadvertantly woke The Girl up with my rant.  She quietly came downstairs for some milk and a doughnut.  I didn't heard any complaints from her that she got woken up too early.

Meanwhile, I went to my room to pull on my yoga clothes--they are like pajamas in the comfort factor, but a little more appropriate to wear around the house.  GG asks who was on the phone.  I tell him it was Brother M, reminding you and The Boy about your presidency meeting.  (As the assistant scoutmaster he should be attending this as well.)  Then I get a similar diatribe form him.  It sounded like this:  Why does he call 10 minutes before they are supposed to be there?!  Why didn't he mention this to them last Sunday in their class?!  How come this isn't on some kind of calendar so the boys can plan for it?!

ENOUGH!!

I am not the one on the phone.  I just got up and answered it.  I am not the one planning this meeting.  I am not in charge.  I am not Brother M.  I do not know the inner workings of this neighbor's mind when it comes to scouts, much less anything else GG wants to complain about.  As the assistant, he could possibly help this situation by taking on these issues himself and solving a lot of the problem pro-actively.  There is no rule that he cannot make up a calendar for these boys.  But no one asked me to solve their problems or rule their worlds.

But, boy, I've got  some good ideas.  I could do it, if anyone would listen to me, instead of just yelling at me when I was only doing my job as a mom this morning.