"The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the hightest standards and is content with nothing less than his best."

- Hamilton Wright Mabie

40 Years

40 years is a long time. I am so proud of my inlaws as they celebrate their 40th today. I've been thinking about the things that will bring Cory and me to the same milestone (by the grace of God). I have said it before, but I have the best husband in the world. These are the things that work for us:

1. Commitment. We both take our vows very seriously.

2. Respect. We recognize that each of us has different roles in the relationship and we are both appreciative of the work the other one does. And we tell each other that all the time.

3. Communication. Not only do we not go to bed angry, we usually talk through our issues in the evening. We frequently have to wait until the rugrats are in bed so that we can hear each other, but we're both good about talking. And listening.

I know we're a long way to our 40th anniversary, and I realize that life will be full of changes and challenges, but if we can keep those three up, we'll get there. I'm sure of it.

I wish the same happiness for each of you! Happy Monday!

(PS How cool is this photo!? As I dug through photos for the party, I came across this beauty. My new fave. I think it's groovy.)

Current Events

I've been thinking about the following today. There are other important things to discuss besides health care reform, right? Here are some things that sparked my interest this week and my reactions/responses:

1. Jaycee Dugard. Amazing. I can't wait to hear the rest of this story. As a parent, there could be no greater horror than losing your child. And never hearing what happened to them. I do not think I could survive. I am praising God for her reunion with her mother and pray that they find the resources to heal from this incredible tragedy.

2. Michael Vick. I am really torn emotionally on this one. On one hand, his crime was horrendous. On the other hand, he did his time under the law. Should he not get a second chance? What do you think? Are there crimes that are unforgivable? Which, of course, would lead to a really good discussion about True Forgiveness. I'd love your thoughts.

3. Mike Perham. How about this kid?! Rock on, dude. How do you inspire your children to be all they can be? I had a facebook friend saying that her neighbor - 18-year-old football player - always stops and buys lemonade from the kids when they sell it. How to I get that kid? Honestly. I feel like my greatest goal is to raise honorable men. Heaven help me. Literally.

I'd love your thoughts!

Sister's Blog

My sister is doing a really cool giveaway. It ends tonight (I think) so please enter right away if you're interested. (My apologies to Laura for being so slow on the draw...)

Click here for details.

Scent of a Woman

Jack just walked in the living room.

With a wrinkled nose, he asked, "Whassat smell?"

Me: "I'm not sure Jack. Does it smell stinky or good?"

Jack, nose still wrinkled, "Smells like Mommy. Yeah. Smells like Mommy."

And promptly walked away before I could determine if I should be flattered or very worried. I'll refresh the deoderant. Just in case.

Siggy

When I got pregnant with Matthew, I found an online group of women on a website called ivillage, an expecting club. We were all due June of 2005. I can't remember now if I stumbled across it or if I went looking for it. All I know is that they were my first online friends and they have been through so much with me. I adore them. (What does Jen say? "Real feelings, real friends.") I refer to them as JJG, which is short for June Jungle Gym, the name we gave ourselves a long time ago. We are now mothers to four year olds and continue to be friends, both on our board and on facebook. And, in a few lucky cases, real life friends*.

Over the years, some talented people have made me signatures (siggy's) that I use on the board. I'm going to share this one with you today, and will share some more as I find them. Cute, huh?

*to be continued...

Trying Again

Disclaimer: This post has been building for a few days. Worth noting: I'm hormonal. And emotional. And it's 8:00 a.m.

I've written three posts recently under the subject "Current Events." Each of them I've deleted. Because while I want to tell you how I feel, I already know that many of you don't agree. And I'm not really up for defending my thoughts and beliefs. And while I think it's an important discussion to have, I haven't had a strong enough day to post it here. Maybe later in the week.

Sometimes I want to go back five years. I want to be unaware and unaffected by politics. I want my relationships to be unchanged by our different viewpoints. I want to not care who you support and how much you dislike the president. I suppose, then, I would be less interesting. I would be less truthful to myself and the path I've chosen. But I can't help but think that sometimes I would be at greater peace.

I realize that I don't respond well to anger. I think it's a destructive emotion, and yet all around me, there is anger. Loud anger. Hard-to-ignore anger. Because it's in the news (ie Town Halls*), it's on my friends' facebook statuses, it comes up in conversations. And I feel like it'll be waiting for me as soon as I open my mouth with any kind of political statement.

I have a good friend who hates to argue with me. She says, "You always think you're right!!" And I do. I wouldn't argue a point I didn't believe it, although I will be the first one to admit when I'm wrong. I am very passionate about things and my personality doesn't allow me to bury that. I have walked away from several conversations in the past week or two. On one of those occasions, I was called out. Someone was trying to upset me. On another occasion, I started in before I could remember that I had vowed to stay away from those conversations**. Oops. In any case, it makes me agitated and sometimes, I want to revert back to an apathetic state.

I won't though. I can't. I care about the future of this country and the welfare of the people in it. But I will continue to find that middle ground. A way to talk about the things I belive in, keep the discussion going, and be able to separate my emotions from current events.***

*I had a whole post about this. In short, be angry if you like. Just be respectful. Please.

**Frequently it's my own fault. I don't have to respond to every thought that I don't agree with. I'll work on that. But won't promise not to fall!

***I had another blog post about this. I am built the way I'm built. For me, either fortunately or unfortunately (undetermined at this point), politics IS personal. Because the things in question will affect us for the rest of our lives. Doesn't get more personal than that.