Ode to Laborers

So, I'm getting ready to head to bed on this late hour on Friday night, and I catch sight of my laptop. Some centrifugal force is forcing me to blog. It's not my fault. My fingers just keep typing despite my exhaustion...and I just have a few things to say.

Do you ever see your life as a television series? Perhaps I watched too much TV as a kid. It seems I'm always categorizing my weeks into themes.  This week: WORK! Alex started her first "real" job as a dietary aide at the nursing home. So, of course her Dad and I have been hoping she'd make us proud by whipping up the best pudding at Little Flower Haven's kitchen. The verdict is still out. Anyway, this new job of hers has got me thinking about purpose, working, career and that whole bit. Would you agree that there's a  cyclical nature for the affection of how one feels about their job?

                    Excitement-Disillusionment-Reward-Boredom 
                    (Repeat in any order.)

As a teenager, it's most important to learn how to work. That's our objective for Alex anyway. And she's really lucky to have been able to land such a great job in our little town of Earling. But as an adult, it's so easy to forget that we have choices. Here's a list of choices we have about our careers:

• The type of job we want
• The pay we want
• The amount of time we want off
• The people we want to work with
• How much TV we can watch during our shift
• If we want to work at all

Okay, maybe we can't choose all that. But we can choose this: our attitude about work. Having Alex start work this week made me reevaluate myself. And sometimes my outlook isn't all that rosy; and for no particular reason. Newsflash!We can all have a positive impact on the people around us every day - no matter if we count beans or pitch hog poop. It's simply our choice.

Percy, after a hard day of guarding the grounds.
So, here's to a happy Labor Day - and a great four day work week after that!

Keeping our Teeth. Losing my Mind?

Two cavities? But my oldest never had any, and she didn't brush her teeth either!

All kids are different, my dentist told me. Don't blame yourself. So, it's okay that we don't always get a brushing in our hectic mornings? Or exhausting evenings? Flossing is really out of the question.

Anyway, I had it all set up to take my son to a pediatric dentist, in Omaha, which is an hour away from our residence. I rearranged my work schedule and my husband, being the supportive guy he is, even took the day off. Mom was picking up my daughter, from play practice, and shuttling her to dance, or one of her many extra-curricular activities.

We picked Cole up from school. Of course he was excited to get out of school, not fully understanding the implications of his scheduled dental appointment. And after missing a turn or two, because I thought I knew exactly where the building was, we made it to Dr. Dana's office.

Busy -- this place was swarming with kids! We made it to the reception desk, where a polite young lady asked if she could help us. "Oh, yes. My son, Cole Kramer has an appointment." Looking a bit confused, she said, "Really? I don't have him down." Smugly, I pulled out my letter which indicated the date and time of the appointment. She reviewed and apologetically said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Your appointment indicates next week." Next week? Isn't it really the 27th today? Can you please get us in? "Sorry, we are completely booked."

My husband sighed in disgust.

My son said under his breath, "She did it again."

"Again? Cole, when have I done this before?" "Last week, at the other dentist." Oh, yeah. I took off early to take the kids to their local dentist -- the one that was sending me here. Only to find out they were closed -- the appointment was the next day. Thanks God my mom's around. Not sure if I could take off early with "more children's dentists appointments" .

Maybe I need a personal assistnant. Or, maybe we should just start brushing our teeth.

Good Mommy, Bad Cook

Do you remember some of your mom's favorite dishes? I can think of a few. Do you know what my kids are going to remember? Those cherished moment when Dad said, "Should we go out to eat?".

When I'm considering taking a dish to take to a new mother or a grieving family, I ask my husband, "What should I bring? What's the best dish I make?", he's quiet a moment. Then he suggests I buy a Pizza Hut gift card.

Anyway, I discovered a great dish today. It's called a "Burnt Grilled Cheese". Really, it's pretty good. Here's what you do...

Take two pieces of your favorite kind of bread. I recommend sourdough or pumperknickle -- something without a bunch of high fructose corn syrup.

1. Heat a skillet -- spray cooking spray. Always spray cooking spray when you cook.
2. Instead of buttering the bread, spray it with cooking spray. (You might know this already -- it saves calories.
3. Place your favorite cheese in between the bread. (Unbuttered sides in.)
4. Place the sandwich on the grill.
5. Wait a few minutes until the bread is toasted on one side just as you like it. (This can be tricky with pumperknickle.)
6. Turn over, then leave the room and start doing something else. Laundry, Googling on the computer, help the kids with homework, anything really.)
7. When you begin to smell smoke throughout the house, run to the kitchen and turn off the stove.
8. Place your Grilled Cheese on a plate and let cool a few minutes.
9. Pull the good side of the sandwich off the burnt side and nibble on the edible parts.
10. Enjoy and think about all of the extra calories you saved.

Dream on, Kids!

Staring at my sleeping six-year old, I think to myself, “how beautiful this little creature is”. And then a completely disjointed thought occurs. Why didn’t I become an actress? Why didn’t I pursue journalism? Or become a critic?

He has dreams. Dreams of becoming Spiderman. Somedays it’s Batman. There’s even been talk of Ben-10, whoever that is. But Spiderman is typically the superhero of choice.

I can't really say that I dreamt of becoming a banker. A doctor, a rock star, an actress! (I even wrote to the Love Boat when I was ten! They graciously sent me a rejection in the form of a postcard.) Now, I’m the retail manager of a community bank in a small town --"Senior Vice President of Retail" Julie McCoy, eat your heart out.

I love my husband dearly. I love my two children dearly. My job is fine.

His eyes are slightly open. His lashes are so long. Not quite as long as his sister’s. He has the same white eyelash as his father. It’s in the center of their right eyes. I rarely have a chance to watch my daughter sleep anymore. Her head is usually buried in the pillow.

How do you encourage children to always follow their dreams? How do you make sure they don’t always take the "safe route" and forsake their passion?

My son loves his sister. She is annoyed by him, but takes care of him. I love it when she calls him “Buddy”. I still love her little-girl laugh. She’s ten now. Why does she seem so much older?

Mom encouraged me to try out for a play in college. I never did. In high school, I surprisingly was selected to play the female lead in “Flowers for Algernon”. But I had to kiss the male lead. I kissed him on the cheek. My drama coach was not happy with me. I would like to play the supporting actress in a movie. That dream has passed, I think.

I brush his hair back with my hands. It calmed him as a baby. Being a mom is the best. There’s much more to me than pricing CD rates, going over schedules and listening to complaints. I still dream too. Maybe of not being an actress, but I dream. Someday I will become a published author. Someday I'll make the bestseller list. Someday I'll be a guest on Oprah -- that would be the ultimate. Actually, I would love to be a guest...

Anyway, dream away little ones. Keep dreaming.