Gack

This is Jack a year ago. Just because I love this picture. And because now he's sassy. I say to him all the time, "Sassy Jack-Jack." And he says, "Sassy Gack-Gack."

Center Cut Meat Market

I saw this on a sign in Rogers today and I thought it was so cute (if I'd have had my camera, I'd have taken a picture):

Deer Processing
80 Bucks
Not a lot of Doe

How about this instead?

I hereby resolve:

For the next six days I will say nothing negative about either presidential candidate. I will let the chips fall. I will send love and good energy to Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain and their families. I will not let other people's positions or opinions bother me (unless they're deliberately hurtful. I reserve the right to despise that). I will pray that whichever candidate wins the election, he is given strength, wisdom, and good judgement (God knows he's gonna need it!). I will hope for a cabinet full of intelligent, insightful people who can begin to resolve some of the issues we're facing in the United States.

I will be thankful. I will be thankful for my health. My family. My right to vote. There are women the world over who do not have the luxuries I have been afforded. There are moms who cannot take care of their children or feed them, much less vote or have a voice.

I am thankful for the brave women in the decades before me who fought for my rights.

God bless America!

ETA: As I re-read this, I realize it's a bit mushy, but I do mean it. Just my disclaimer that I'm aware of the kumbaya factor.

Halloween

4:00 p.m.: Nice, normal sixth-grader.

4:30 p.m.: Menacing Monster

I'm not a big fan of Halloween. Especially of stuff like this. I get to dress my little guys up like Nemo, and Tigger, and a monkey, and this year an extremely non-menacing pirate. But big kids, it's altogether disturbing. 11-year-olds want gore and mess and scary. Sigh. I have to admit, though, it was kind of fun painting Cole's face Saturday. He was going to a party with his mom's mom and they were picking him up from our house. Matty WOULD NOT come near him while I was painting. He stayed in his room until Cole left the house. He did look at the pictures though. So...are you dressing up? Are your kids? I'll have more pictures later this week!

Christopher Robin to Pooh

Kind of for my sister, but also just because.

Christopher Robin says, “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Life's Lessons

Cory and I are cleaning out our storage area. I will be so happy when it's done. The fun part of the project is that I'm digging through a lot of stuff. Turns out I saved pretty much everything from the time I was 11 until I was 20. A lot of stuff. So I'll periodically share with you the things that I thought were worth saving years ago. Most of them I understand, but there are some real mysteries in those storage containers (like, really, why did I save the actual corsages from all the weddings I was in??). Anyway, here's a keeper. Someone wrote it down for me, but I have no idea who or where they took it from. So I'm sorry to not give proper credit:

Life's Lessons

After awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises.
You begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child.
You learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow's grounds are too uncertain for plans.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul - instead of wating for someone to bring you flowers.
You learn that you really can endure, and you really are strong, and you really do have worth.

It's not about me.

It's about them.