Rise and Shine Girl Blog

Wow!  It has been a while since I sat down to write a blog.  I must admit that I have felt guilty not keeping up with this, but on the other hand I want each entry to a have depth to it with a real point.  I’m sure I could find something to say on a daily basis, if not weekly.  I think it is more important to write a blog when I feel compelled to share a thought or point, not to have a long list of blog entries.

So, hello again, it has been a while and I have something to share.

I have mentioned in previous blogs that we are hosting an exchange student this year, Carl from Sweden.  It will be three months on October 22nd since Carl arrived.  It sure feels like Carl has been here more than 2 months; I mean this in a good way.  I’m sure I will feel moved to talk about our experience in more detail at another time, but for now there is one thing in particular that stands out.  It was about a week ago or so that Carl said, “I’m starting to appreciate my country more now that I have been here a while.”  We had a discussion following Carl’s statement that focused on the difference of schooling and public transportation (Sweden has many transportation options and North Texas has very little).  Can you imagine the thoughts and images Carl had regarding America before he arrived? 

We have all had our days of thinking we would like our lives to be different, or that life would be better if . Since the time I was a kid I can think of a variety of times I thought my life would be better only if…I had an older brother, my parents didn’t divorce, I lived closer to family, I was taller rather than shorter, I didn’t have to pay for my own college education, etc.  Bottom line…in those moments of thought I was thinking the grass would be greener if my life was different. 

Back to Carl, it was exciting to see Carl make the connection and realization that life in Sweden has great things to offer him.  What is even greater, Carl took the opportunity to take a step (or I would say a leap across the Atlantic) to see and experience first hand whether the grass is greener.  I ask myself, when have I taken that step or leap?  Yet, there are times it does not matter what is on the other side, it is more important to be in the moment and appreciate what one has.  There is a fine balance between going after something to see if it enhances one’s life or appreciating what one has.

RISE AND SHINE!

Well, we have made it through our crazy and hectic summer and are fortunate to have some great memories to take with us into the new school year!  This blog is a follow-up to “Will you have my back mom?” which I wrote back in June.

It turns out Cole has chosen not to play football this year.  The decision was a little bit of a struggle for him, but surprisingly it was more of a challenge for me.  For the most part, I pride myself on being a parent who lets their kids follow their bliss.  I know I wouldn’t want someone to decide for me what it is I should do with my recreational time.  Wait a minute…what recreational time?  Lately my main job has been taxi cab driver minus the yellow paint job and the plexiglass window separating the driver from the passengers.  Hmmm, wait, there is an invention I haven’t seen yet.  What parent wouldn’t love to have a handy button on the dashboard to press while the kids are arguing in the backseat of the car.  Imagine with the push of one finger, a beautiful shiny piece of glass ascends from the floor, connects to the ceiling and silence happens.  You can still see the commotion in the back of the car, but the sound is gone.  Wow!  I may be on to something.

Yes, I got off course but I’m back.  Now Cole is determined to become a skateboarder in every sense of the word.  He now wears skateboard clothes, has a backpack that holds his skateboard, watches the competitions on TV, and spends his recreational time at our local skatepark.  Hence, that means I spend my time at the skatepark seeing as Cole is only nine.  I must say that this is an adjustment for me.  It isn’t like standing on the sidelines of football practice or sitting in the bleachers at a basketball game.  Now, I sit at a table underneath a canopy (trying to escape the hot Texas sun) surrounded by a bunch of sweaty boys and men drinking their jugs of water while discussing the next trick they are going to accomplish.  When I get to the point where I can’t breathe, due to the hot Texas summer weather or the pungent smell radiating from the hot sweaty bodies (some of these guys are wearing winter beanie hats in 100 plus degree weather), I remind myself that my time spent being a part of Cole’s journey to become a skateboarder reinforces that I have his back.  I will support him in whatever he chooses to do with his life, as long as he makes choices that are healthy ones.  There are times I wish I was sitting on the sidelines of a different sport, one that I connect with, but when it comes down to it Cole needs to have the connection, not me.

Oh, one more thing, Cole has also decided that his room needs to be like a skateboarders, not a little kids room anymore.  If a friend was going through this with their son/daughter my response would be, “Oh, that makes sense, don’t we all want a change in our surroundings from time to time?  Tastes change as we move through life. Fads come and go.  This is natural.  This is normal.”  So, this is what I’m telling myself as Cole brings all of the special framed prints of vintage cars, trucks and trains my husband I picked out for him years ago at the Printer’s Row Book Fair in Chicago.  I’m proud of the little man Cole is turning into, but I’m sad to recognize that the little boy days are over.  Times are a changin!

Rise and Shine!

On July 22nd Charles and I became parents of a 17 year-old son from Sweden.  WHAT! 

Yes, several months ago I received a text message from Charles that included a link to a small blurb from the local newspaper asking if there were families in the community who were interested in hosting a foreign exchange student.  Rewind a few years ago, our phone rang and a stranger on the other end asked if we were interested in hosting a foreign exchange student.  I have no idea why they called us, how they got our number and why on earth they would have thought a student would want to spend time in our house with a 6 week old baby consuming our family schedule.  We said, thanks but no thanks and went on our merry way.  Back to the present, when Charles forwarded the article to me he wrote, “Didn’t we entertain the idea of doing this at one point?”  I replied yes, called the number in the article, had great conversation with the foreign exchange representation and next thing I knew profiles were sitting in my inbox to review.

That is where it all started and here is where it is at this moment…

Five days ago with great anticipation we waited at the international terminal to see Carl come out of the masked doors.  Once in sight we greeted him and we were on our way to becoming a family of 5 for the next year.

As I mentioned it has only been 5 days, but in some respects it feels like a lot more.  Carl has slipped right into our family routine and the kids just love him!  He is excited to learn about America, how we live and to play high school football.  We are excited to learn about Sweden and add a new dimension to our lives.

We have had several responses from family and friends in regards to hosting an exchange student.  Most have been favorable, but some people have seemed shocked that we would want to do such a thing.  I suppose there are multiple ways that our experience could not go as we had imagined or hoped, but that is where faith comes in.  We believe there are many great lessons to be learned from having Carl here, just as many lessons as he may learn from being here.  This is what I (we) have learned so far…

1.There is always enough love to go around.

2.One would have never known how the idea of buying Gatorade could be so exciting.

3.We have so many choices in America, as simple as a full aisle of cereal to choose from compared to 25% that amount.

4.The power of everyday pleasantries.  Carl is amazed at how nice and welcoming people are here.

5.There is great power in saying to someone we are family.  This is a message that was given to Carl the first day of football practice.

6.Texas is a lot hotter than Sweden!

7.One can never have enough milk.

8.When you share your home with someone you learn a lot about your family.

9.Our lifestyle is very convenient, but we may pay a price for that.  Think about it!

10.A 17 year-old boy eats a lot more than a 9 year-old boy.

I can only imagine what our list will look like  a year from now. At this moment in time, I’m proud to say that I’m an American as well as a Texan.  Carl has been welcomed with open arms by all.  Imagine if your arms were open all of the time.   Just think of the difference you could make!

Rise and Shine!

Please identify yourself. 

You may have heard this before if you have tried to enter a secure building, if it was questionable whether you were allowed to be in a certain area, if you have had a run in with the law and possibly if you have tried to reclaim something of yours that was lost and is now found.  Now you meet someone, let’s say at a party, and they ask you to identify yourself.  What would you say?  Would you start with your professional life, or how about the hobbies you enjoy?  There are always your affiliations with various groups, where you are from, political and religious beliefs, family life, your life passions, etc.  I think you get the point.

I would bet money that anyone reading this blog has had a moment of identity crisis.  It may have been during the teen years, while in college, or anywhere along the path as we age.  Some people are strongly identified by their careers and when there is a change in that world a crisis may occur.  For some, entering the emptynest stage in life can be a challenge.  We all face it at one time or another with a variety of levels of intensity.  The beauty of being human is having the ability to adapt and change, not only that, but to also recognize and reflect upon our adaptability and choices.

I started Rise and Shine Girl groups for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I want girls to recognize who they truly are.  You ask what does that mean?  Well, what is in their heart?  What makes them excited when they start their day? What are they doing when they have a smile on their face and are in a groove?  When do they shine? 

Molly Barker, the creator of Girls on the Run, coined the term “the girl box”.  She describes how girls in elementary school generally have a good sense of who they are and what they like.  Let’s give a girl a name, hmmm, Kate.  Kate is nine years old and likes to play with her dolls, gets together with friends occasionally after school, plays in the local recreational soccer league and likes to spend time with her family.  Fast forward a couple years and Kate is now in middle school surrounded by new classmates.  She also has more options when it comes to activities to get involved in through school.  Will Kate pick the activities that truly sound interesting to her and put a smile on her face, or will she pick the activities that she is told or senses are “cool”?  Molly Barker would say that if Kate follows the crowd she would be jumping into “the girl box”.

The girl box is a place where girls follow what society, school, friends and even parents tell them what they should do, how they should act, how they should look and even how they should feel (need I say that adult women often find themselves in the girl box as well?).  Girls who jump into the box give up what feels right and true to themselves in order to feel accepted.  If girls stay in the box for too long we may see development of depression, drug/alcohol use, body image issues, eating disorders, cutting, promiscuity and the list goes on. I think it is inevitable to find one’s self in the box at some point in life, but the question is, “Can you get out of the box?”

Yes!  Yes you can!  Think of what perks up your day and makes you shine.  When I say shine, I mean when you walk in a room people notice you.  Not because you are wearing the latest fashion, or sporting some bling, or because you have the perfect shaped figure we all see in the magazines.  You are noticed because you are comfortable in your skin and you are being true to yourself.

Well, now we are back to the subject of identity crisis. How do you walk into a room and shine if you don’t know who you are, what you stand for, what you like, who and what you will fight for, and bottom line what you want to give to the world?  I think the answer is easy.  Be true to yourself, mind, body and soul.  The process may require work, sweat, tears, joy, disappointment, frustration, elation, confusion and every other descriptive word you can think of, but it is all worth it!  This is your life!

 Rise and Shine!

Are you ready?  What is 248 + 399+129+20+525?  Ok, right now you might be grabbing a calculator, using the old fashion paper and pencil, thinking “whatever”, or like me when I see numbers, “Ugh!”  One of the benefits of studying social work in college and in graduate school is that it narrowed down the amount of math I needed to take.  What a bonus!

In reality tough, sometimes it is so much easier to calculate numbers than to calculate risk.  Here are two simple and upfront examples.

My family took a road trip to head back where my husband and I were raised, the good old midwest, Chicago.  We stopped in a small town in Oklahoma based on the promise of the billboards on the highway telling us we couldn’t miss this little town.  Well, with tummies rumbling and our eyes about ready to turn yellow, we drove up and down the main street of this little town.  After about 5 minutes we soon realized that this little street was not going to offer us the reprieve we needed.

Minutes later we are in line at a Subway in a gas station.  The guy behind the counter was probably in his early twenties and thankful to have this job, considering that the main street of this town was mostly empty.  While in the middle of placing our order a woman comes up to the counter, not looking very happy, and questions if the man behind the counter has her ID and the paper with her pin number.  This poor guy’s face turned red, he gave a quick answer (I couldn’t hear what he said) and then he continued on making our sandwich.  The woman continued to stand there and didn’t look happy.  I started to question how upset she could actually get.  At one point I was going to tell the young man that he could take care of his business before making our next sandwich, but then I thought what if this situation escalates, so I decided to move on with our sandwiches.  I minute later the woman storms out.

Later that day as we were unloading our car in Missouri, our stay for the night, a big guy, like linebacker size, approaches us in the parking lot.  Let me set the scene first.  We are at the back side of this hotel, in the dark and no one is around but us and this big dude.  The man pulled into a parking space a couple of cars away from us, got out and approached my husband by putting his hand out and introducing himself while also pointing out his wife in the car.  He started to explain that he was traveling from some small town in Missouri and that is about as far as he got before my husband said, “I’d rather you just leave us alone.”  Fortunately the man was okay with the request and headed back to his car.

I wonder if he had a legitimate story.  Was he intending to ask for money?  If he would have gotten further in his story I probably would have paid the guy off by giving him twenty bucks so we could all move on our merry way.  My husband was too smart for this guy.  In a minute Charles calculated the risk involved and responded.  I think the question in Charles’  mind was, “Why would this man pull his car to the back of a hotel to ask for assistance?  There are plenty more people down the road at the gas station, hence increasing this guys odds, compared to this dark lit parking lot behind the hotel.”

The calculation of risk is something we all battle with on a daily basis.  Should I cross traffic now, or wait for that car to go by?  Do I let my son sleepover at a friend’s house who I don’t really know?  Do I let my daughter climb across the monkey bars by herself or do I hold on?  Do we use this new babysitter?  Should I ask for a raise?  Is this the time to change jobs?  Do I really tell them how I feel?  What if I don’t follow though on something?  Money is tight, what if I don’t pay this bill this month? Etc.

There are also risks when someone involves themselves in risky behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, high risks activities like sky diving and all of those other adrenaline seeking activities.

Why do we calculate risk?  Because we know  there are consequences to everything.  Babies learn this at a young age when they hurt themselves for the first time.  From that moment on, it may be subtle or almost subconscious at times, but their life no longer has the innocence it once had. 

The bottom line is that we all have our threshold of how risky we allow ourselves to be and how much at risk we will allow our children to be placed in.  Oftentimes I think our gut reaction tells us what we should do, but more often I think we are placed with having to calculate the risk at hand.  Sometimes we have time to stew it over while other times like in the parking lot we have to add it up as quickly as possible.

Maybe the calculation of math equations isn’t so challenging after all.

Rise and Shine!

Years ago we were at our local community 4^th of July parade and it was decided that candy would no longer be passed out to the children watching the parade.  The look on Cole’s face was so pathetic!  It was then and there that I promised Cole I would give him a true traditional 4^th of July in the town I grew up in.  I described in detail how the streets were packed with people, dogs and flags up and down the street.  Red, White and Blue could not escape the eye.  Following the parade a big barbeque was at hand followed by the walk to Lake Ellyn were you could lie on the ground and watch in awe as the fireworks fell from the sky right above your head.   

This year was going to be the year that we delivered an old-fashioned 4^th of July to our kids.  I woke up in my parents’ house one morning to find the newspaper on the counter flipped to the 4^th of July activities for the area.  My eyes honed in on Glen Ellyn where I read, “Starting at 6am people can place their blankets and chairs at the lake for the firework festivities.”  Right then and there I knew that is where I would be the next morning.

It is 5:30am 4^th of July morning.  Blankets in, check, chairs in, check, Dunkin Donuts coffee in hand, check, and the radio tuned to the best radio station ever, 93.1 XRT.  Lake Ellyn is about a 15 minute drive from my parents’ house, so as I get close I recognize that I will be about 10 minutes early.  No problem, I’ll sit in the car, drink my coffee, listen to my music and start the countdown.  On no, I pull up at 5:50am and there are blankets and chairs already set up.  WHAT?  What about the rules! No time to waste.  I run to the back of the car, grab all of the necessities and walk as fast as I can without looking like a lunatic.  In my mind I wanted to run as fast as I could.  There was no way that we were going to have a mediocre spot!  Needless to say, I got a great spot and couldn’t wait to see my kids’ reactions later that night.

I get back to the car and find a text on my phone from my cousin who lives in Glen Ellyn.  She was hosting our barbeque that day and was questioning if I was up already. Of course I responded by bragging about the awesome spot I scored.  She responded back questioning if I wanted to put some chairs along the parade route.  Now when I was growing up, the parade was crowded, but some how we always found a way to have a great spot without having to stake out our territory.  I pull along the parade route and sure enough there are little islands of blankets and chairs everywhere. I text my cousin back and head her way to get some chairs.

On the way to her house I scope out a great spot on Main Street.  I get the chairs from my cousin, hold her 4 month-old son in my arms for a minute (cutest baby ever), and then remind myself I’m on a mission.  I head back to Main Street to discover that half of my ideal spot is taken.  Yes, taken all in the 5 minutes it took me to get the chairs. I park the car, set up our camp on the remaining space that is left, and head back to my parents knowing that this was going to be one of the best 4^th of July’s our family has had.   When all of the festivities were over I asked Cole what he thought and he responded, “That was so worth it!”  My thoughts exactly!

My adrenaline rush and persistence in securing the best spots for my family that day made me think about an outing we had last week.  My husband and I took Cole to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center which opened in the town of Skokie a couple of years ago.  I could go into great detail about our experience but at this point it feels to overwhelming to do so. 

Here is one thought that I had.  How would I respond if I were in that situation? I can’t imagine not having the ability to provide food, a bed, adequate shelter and proper dignity and protection for my kids.  Would I become greedy and take all that I could get?  Would I encourage my kids to do so?  Would we become creative and think around the system?  Would we have the strength and will to survive or would we give-up and give-in?

I think about how I responded the morning of 4^th of July.  I wasn’t going to let my family down.  There was a point during the parade that a man specifically walked up to my kids and hand delivered bottled waters to them.  After thanking the man. I suggested the kids give them to the kids standing next to them who didn’t receive any.  We all knew that we had bottled water sitting in our cooler 5 feet away.  Would I have suggested sharing the water if we didn’t have our own waiting for us?

Our family is good at volunteering our time and resources, but would we be so giving if our basic needs were not being met?  If we were in one of the concentration camps would we be sharing our food with others who had not received any, or would we focus on taking care of ourselves?  It is easy to be generous when one has plenty, but what about when one has almost nothing?

Here is a statement I remember from our visit at the museum. It may not be exact word for word, but it goes something like this, “The survivors were the ones who not only thought of themselves, they were the ones who shared what they had.  The people who did not give, did not survive the holocaust.”

So true…even outside of the barbed wire walls of the camps.

Rise and Shine!

I have so many other things I should be doing right now, but I’m home alone, cleaning George’s cage (our family guinea pig) trying to think about anything else outside of scooping poop, fur and pee saturated bedding out of the cage.  Who’s idea was it to get this little guy anyway?  That’s another story for another time.

While I’m here alone I’m thinking back to a few hours ago when I drove Cole by the skateboard shop.  Yesterday, Cole and I went to get a new, real skateboard, meaning Cole picked out all of the different components, please don’t ask me to name them.  Cole spent about an hour yesterday and built his own skateboard and was thrilled.  We are heading out-of-town, the board is going of course, and Cole wanted to go back to the shop to get feedback on his building of the board.  As we pull up to the shop I ask Cole if he wants me to park and go in, or is he going to run in himself.  First off, he asks me to park and a minute later he tells me he wants to go in by himself.  What went through his mind during that minute?  Go back about six months ago and this would not have happened.  I would have walked in with Cole and he would have insisted I do all of the talking, although in this shop I would have no earthly idea what I would be talking about.  What caused the change you ask?  Well, I’ll tell you my hypothesis.

I think it was about three months ago Cole got his first gear bike.  He went out with his dad, did a little research and we went to pick up the bike the next day.  I say to Cole, “So, are you going to ride your bike to school tomorrow?”  The reply, “Yes, of course” (like duh mom-he knows much better than to say that).  Fast forward, 6:30 the next morning Cole jumps in my bed with a bit of a panic going on and says, “Mom, you have to get up.  We are riding our bikes to school today.”  My response, “WE?”

This leads to a conversation back and forth where Cole thought I was riding with him and I’m telling him he can go on his own.  “Well, what if I fall and break my arm and you’re not there?” (Hmmm…now my mind switches to the anxious mother track, but I quickly switch gears)  I say, “Well, if that is how you feel than I shouldn’t let you ride around the block.  What if something happens to you on the other side of the block?”  I can tell I have him thinking.  Okay, at this point you may think that I sound like a harsh mom.  There are no doubts I have my moments, but this moment was about giving Cole a little freedom and letting him go away from the roost on his own.

Cole in a grumpy fashion decides he isn’t riding his bike if I’m not going. Okay.  I know how this kid operates.  About 20 minutes later, Cole asks if he still has time to ride his bike.  I look at the clock and realize he is cutting it close, but say, “Sure”.  Minutes later, helmet on, backpack on and he is out the door.  This was the routine for the remainder of the school year.

My hypothesis is that this freedom gave Cole confidence in himself .  He is more independent now and takes more responsiblity for his actions.  Was it hard for me to let him go that first day? Yes.  Was it hard the days following? Yes.  It is so easy to let our parental anxieties take hold and as a result our kids miss so many learning opportunities.  I look at Cole and see how much he has grown in the last six months: physically, mentally and emotionally.  There are parts of his life he no longer includes me in and at times I miss being involved.  Before I let myself go down that weepy reminiscent road, I remind myself it is my job, as well as my husband’s, to raise a strong, capable, responsible and independent man.  How can we accomplish that without taking some risks, having faith and putting aside our own desires to feel needed?  We can’t!

Rise and Shine!

Well, there is hope for my tree and my daughter’s play was precious!  I got a little teary eyed.  Yes, because it is hard to believe that my daughter is now 4 years-old and out in the world creating goodness, but also because I find myself teary-eyed and overwhelmed when I am in the presence of people creating something good.

I have talked about my daughter, but I also have a nine year-old son, Cole.  For the last two weeks he has participated in a sports agility camp organized by PART-Power Agility Action Training.  This is a camp that is free and exists by local community and businesses sponsoring the camp.  Sitting back and watching over the last couple of weeks brought several things to mind: 1) It is always great to watch people give to their community 2) This camp gives some kids the opportunity to attend who may not otherwise if they needed to pay 3) It is always fun to watch how male testosterone plays out 4) Watching the 5 year-olds run around reminds me how the years go by when they are stranding next to the older kids.  And yes, again there was a moment when I was a little teary-eyed watching how a variety of people from all walks of life have come together to support our kids.

Speaking of football and tears, my son’s school hosts a pep rally for the local high school football team every year.  Imagine a cafeteria full of kids, dressed in their red garb, face paint and holding up signs rooting on their adopted classroom football player.  It is a sight to see and so Texas!  Here is the best part, at one point during the pep rally our school principal (who has so much energy if I could bottle it up and sell it, I just may be able to bring down the national deficit) starts a chant with the kids, “We believe that we will win!  We believe that we will win!”  This goes on for several minutes and the power that is felt in that room is amazing!  The kids are chanting, jumping up and down, smiling and most importantly connected to each other for those moments.  And yes, you guessed it, I’m on the sidelines of the rally with tears in my eyes.

Cole played tackle football for the first time last year.  It was a great experience for our entire family.  Cole learned several lessons, Mia made some new friends to play with on the sidelines, and my husband and I were able to watch Cole excel at something he truly enjoyed.   How do I know he enjoyed football?  Well, that kid had his practice gear on well before practice, slept with his football and taped (0h, I suppose Tivoed is the more current term)  any football game that was on television.  He then watched the games in the morning before school while eating his breakfast.  He was like an old man, eating his Cheerios, yelling at the TV while chugging down his milk.  Sometimes this was Mia’s morning wake-up call.  My point…there is not doubt Cole loved the football season.

Now, he sits on the fence as to whether he will play this season.  He has verbalized a few reasons as to why he may not play, but it is difficult for my husband and I to comprehend what Cole is saying when his actions were so opposite during the football season.  I personally will be disappointed if Cole chooses not to play this year, not because I need to have a little football stud in the family, but when you see your child enjoy and excel at something it is hard to let them give that up.  Now there is the other part of me who would be happy to never see football clothes in the laundry room again.  Oh, Cole’s football cleats, well, last fall was the wettest fall we have had in the last 60 years.  I don’t think Cole’s cleats ever dried (just imagine the smell).  The entire family was ready get rid of those puppies!

Where am I going with this?  Recently, we have had the opportunity to be around some of Cole’s previous football coaches from last year (great guys!) and they have expressed to Cole that he is a good player and that he needs to play next year.  Cole comes to me, “Mom, I have a dilemma, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”  He proceeds to tell me about the recent conversations with the coaches, comments on how he knows the family wants him to play and that he still doesn’t know what he wants to do.  This of course leads to further conversation with the general theme that Cole needs to decide to play for himself, not anyone else.  The conversation closes with, “Now mom, I know you have the coaches emails and that we run into them, so if I decide not to play this year, will you have my back?”  

Isn’t that what we all want?  Don’t we all hope that someone has our back?  It may be supporting a spouse through a rough patch, advocating for our kids, standing up for a friend when they are not present, or taking a stand for a complete stranger who is in need. 

Who’s got your back?  Thank them!

Who’s back do you have?  Support them!

Rise and Shine!

Welcome to my blog!  I’m laughing at myself because I’m the last person I ever thought who would have a blog.  I tend to be more private and I don’t like to put my “stuff” out there too much.  Recently, I developed a curriculum for adolescent girls named Rise and Shine Girl, find out more at www.riseandshinegirl.com, with the premise of empowering girls to be true to themselves and to rise and shine to any occasion.  With that said, I realize that I’m a  Rise and Shine Girl, hence the name of my blog. I try to live my life according to being true to what is in my heart and facing what comes my way.  Notice I used the word “try”.  I’m not perfect and I’m a work in progress, aren’t we all?  My plan is for this blog to highlight the positive I see in life while being honest when life is not going as I’d like.

A couple housekeeping items:

I’m the world’s worst speller.  Thank goodness for the invention of spell check, now if someone could just invent the automatic response for me to press the button all of the time!  So, if you see words that don’t look correct, you know my finger didn’t press the button.   If I could digress here a little, remember the old fashion hardbound dictionary?  I have always found it frustrating to search for a word when you don’t know how to spell it, afterall, I’m trying to figure out the spelling, duh!  I remember Mrs. Miller’s 5th grade class when I went up to ask how to spell hors d’oeuvre (yes, I just looked up the correct spelling), her response, “You know where the dictionary is!”  Can you imagine how long it took me to find that darn word!

I’m also not the best at being grammatically correct in my writing.  So, I’m embracing my flaw and telling myself the importance of my blog is to get my thoughts across, not to show that I always know where to put the commas, what the correct tense is, etc.  What is a dangling participle anyway?

As they say…on with the show!

Ironically as I type this my four-year old daughter is on stage debuting in her first play at our local children’s theater.  I know what you are thinking, “Why are you typing away on your blog instead of sitting in the audience?’  As much as I would like to be at the first showing, I knew it would be better for Mia to not see me in the audience during the first showing, so I will make it to the next showing this afternoon, front row and center!

I’m also waiting for an arborist to come look at a sickly looking tree in my yard.  I have a pit in my stomach just thinking about what he will tell me.  I love trees!  We had to take down a large live oak tree in our yard a couple of years ago and I cried like a baby.  Yep, I’m a tree hugger!  In fact check out one of my favorite songs and singers, John Gorka Branching Out.  The link is to a live performance which will also give you a little taste of his personality.

Why do I love trees so much?   Hmmm…they are beautiful, each unique, act as a home, provide reprieve from the hot Texas sun, provide us with oxygen, and they don’t remain the same.  They are always growing!   Some trees are short, tall, thin, plump, some we can see through, others are so full we can only see the outside leaves, some turn naked in the winter while others stay full all year-long.  Some trees look soft and welcoming others look gnarly and twisted.  I can guarantee one thing, if all trees were the same, we would probably not notice them.  Have you guessed where I’m going with this?  You are unique!  You have thoughts, beliefs, likes, dislikes, you may be vertically challenged, you may need to have your clothes custom-made, you may have a disability, you may be reading this and saying, “what a bore this is”.  Then stop reading, you have the ability to makes choices!

Well, the curtains for my daughter’s play will be coming to a close soon and she will be taking her bow, oops she would correct me, “It’s a curtsie mom!”  I think I will close the curtains on my first post as well.

I’ll leave you with this.  Embrace who you are!  Embrace others for who they are!  Be happy you are different from them and they are different from you.  Sometimes you need to look past the outside to see the treasure inside.  RISE AND SHINE!