Forward, Together, Forward

I was reminded by a friend on facebook today that it's that time to start reflecting on 2012 and time to look forward at 2013.

2012 has tested my strength as a human being more than any year of my life.  Here's what I can say about that; I'm DAMN proud of myself.  Raising two children under the age of two is challenging. Add a full-time job and a child with special needs to it and you've got yourself a potential disaster on your hands.... That's not me... I have and will always rise above any challenge put in front of me.  I have chose to focus my time and effort into those who respect and support my family. I am FOREVER in debt to anyone who can read this, as if not for you, it would have been that much harder to rise above.

The birth of Adele has taught me more life lessons in one year, than in my previous thirty-two combined.  Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Don't be afraid to utilize that Army of family and friends that you have built over the years.

2. Everything will be okay, if not now, then sometime soon.

3. Do what makes you happy.

4. Love your children for what they are, not what you dream them to be.

Looking forward to 2013, here's a few things I'd like to continue to do:

1. Focus on healthy eating.

2. Run 5K races.

3. Raise my girls to respect themselves and others around them.

4. Blog

5. Not worry about things that are out of my control.

New goals (gotta have them!):

1. Run the Shamrock Shuffle in Downtown Chicago.

2. Develop my photography skills.

3. Read more!

4. Improve my writing skills.

5. Continue to grow as a teacher.

When thinking about the year ahead, I know we will continue to face challenges as a family, but I am thrilled to think about the millions of awesome moments that lay ahead and will surely outweigh those challenges.

"Forward, Together, Forward" was taken from NIU President John G. Peters in 2008 in response to the February 14th massacre at Cole Hall.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

We have now completed holiday celebration 3 of 4! I can't decide if I prefer travelling over hosting yet. I will say that the girls did fantastic in the car on the ride to Mattoon Friday night and our ride to and from Bloomington in one day.

I also JUST finished my Christmas shopping online. This is due to a combination of procrastination and lack of time. Nonetheless, it is complete!


Santa's cookies are out and ready to be eaten (lucky guy!) I'm pretty sure I'll have a pair of very excited girls tomorrow morning when gift opening commences. Can't wait to see the look on Jade's face when she opens up her gifts.

Happy Festivus!!

Emotional Weekend

Now that a few days time have gone by since the Sandy Hook attacks, I have had some time to digest my thoughts and others reactions. As an educator, I am aware that my school could be next. It's a reality of life and we are aware and practice as best as one can for armed intruders.

I'll start with the gun control discussions. In this situation, I'm not sure how the intruder acquired the guns or what the gun laws say in Connecticut. I honestly don't know whether or not lives would have been saved if those within the building were carrying. I have noticed a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking comments which are annoying since I don't think there is any one solution.  The other side is stricter regulation of sales and carrying laws. If someone has a documented mental illness, it is not outside of the realm of logic to perhaps take a second look at this particular persons background thus questioning whether or not they are fit to carry. On the other hand, will this truly prevent someone to access? Probably not but I like the documentation part of it.

Morgan Freeman's reaction to the attacks was to ignore the intruder and focus on the victims. I appreciate the truth that intruders are always household names but victims typically are not. I have noticed an effort by those close to the deceased to promote there lives and give us a face and story to a name through facebook and other social media. I'm hoping this will create a new norm.

Another popular blog from a mother of a teenage boy with diagnosed mental illness shared several stories of what she and her family deal with on a daily basis living with a child with mental illness.  She mentions threats with knives to her and his siblings and trips to the ER due to suicide threats. In each situation she feels as though she is not supported and there is currently no appropriate protocol or environment suitable for her son. As a mother of a child with a disability, I can empathize with her feeling of helplessness and how a disability of this sort can easily consume a family's resources both financially and monetarily. It sounds as though she is doing the very best she can with the cards that have been dealt and probably lives with constant worry and guilt about the affect her son may have on others and her own family. I agree that mental illness is a topic that needs to addressed in an honest way  in this country and protocols and environments should continue to be developed and fine-tuned.

I can only imagine the horror the teachers felt for the their students and themselves. I know that every teacher out there feels a high level of responsibility towards their students and probably wants to protect them at all costs as though they are their own children. To those teachers and staff who survived the attack, I can only wonder what the future holds for them professionally and personally.

Then there are students who survived the attack and witnessed the violence first hand. How will this affect each student and how will the district and community respond?

I'll end this topic by saying I hope that each and every person affected by the attack is able to find peace in their lives.

James and I attended a family graduation party for my cousin who earned an associates degree. Without divulging to much information, he has been near the brink of death and has fought many demons in his soon to be 28 years. I was thrilled to see that his accomplishment was being acknowledged and excited to witness him propose to his girlfriend!  The tables have turned for my cousin on his own accord and I couldn't be more proud of who he has become.

Finals week is upon us with which comes many loose ends to tie up before we leave for break. Time to get focused for the week ahead.

Murphy's Law

Today is one of those days which proves that if it can happen, it will. Murphy's Law at play all day.

I have very limited information regarding the Connecticut school shooting but the act of killing 27 people is enough to at the very least, create pause. It is a day of reflection & grieving and my heart hurts for the students & teachers involved.


Lesson learned regarding insurance: always get pre-approval for anything out of the ordinary. In other words, even though YOU may think it would make sense to assume that a test is covered, don't...

I am currently blogging through my I-phone blogger app since what else should you do when the power goes out in your subdivision?

Off to read Jade more stories by candlelight & make a few more shadow puppets before bed.

Nice Little Weekend

My Friday night started out fabulous enjoying a hilarious White Elephant Party with some of my nearest and dearest friends. We had quite the selection of misfit gifts including: a VCR, neck pillow, singing donkey, Yankee candle holder, bubble lawn mower amongst other ridiculous items. I ended up with the bubble lawn mower which Jade and Adele will be happy with come spring.

Saturday was a Hodge podge day of laundry and a little relaxing along with a 4th birthday celebration for our friends M & S at Chuckie Cheese. Jade had a blast and was especially smitten with a helicopter ride that would lift you into the air.

The evening brought James and I an opportunity to see a movie which we haven't done in ages. We were both anxious to see "Lincoln".  I worry about historical movies on the big screen because I hate to   fall in love with the person and movie to then find out historical inaccuracies.  Some level of fiction is expected I suppose.   I found out that for the most part, the movie's portrayal of Lincoln was accurate, however evidently his cabinet members were not accurately portrayed.  From my understanding, Mary Lincoln was just as grief stricken by the death of their son Willie as the movie indicated.  She was quite the firecracker and I was interested in the dynamic between the two.  I fell in love with Lincoln's relationship with his son Tad but then ended up finding out that Mary could not handle the sound of children's laughter in the house after the loss of there son Willie.  It was also somewhat comforting to be reminded that politics has indeed been politics for hundreds of years. Lincoln's ability to connect with African Americans was evident and it has been noted that Frederick Douglass mentions Lincoln as being the only white man to make him feel like he wasn't being judged by his race. This movie has peaked my interest to learn more about Abraham Lincoln and his family.

Jade, Adele, James and I went to Navy Pier's Children's Museum. I was not happy with $19 parking but we got into the museum for free since we are DCM members.  This museum is 3 floors and full of activities and interactive exhibits that suit both Adele and Jade well. Jade climbed up a rope tower that lead to a tunnel made of rope while then walking the plank to get back to us. I am always impressed with her athletic ability.  Adele got to play with some sensory toys in different areas of the museum. One of the most interesting exhibits was a "skating rink/dance floor" complete with a disco ball and music. The floor was made of slippery plastic that allowed you to slide around the floor. Both Jade and Adele had a blast sliding around.

We left the museum before an opportunity for meltdowns and I have to say we are starting to get a hang of this toting two kids around business.  This evening we have been catching up with laundry and I am about to grade papers then hopefully get to reading "Little Earthquakes".

Putting ideas into action....Sometimes

As a teenager and woman in my early twenties, I prided myself on my ability to be spontaneous and well organized in most facets of my life.  Since the girls have come along,  I'm finding that it is nearly impossible to be spontaneous and even my organizational skills have taken a toll.

These points are not a surprise but I can say that I am getting back on track. A part of this requires me to tell people "no" sometimes. I am a social butterfly by nature and I adore spending time with my friends but it's become way to easy to overbook weekends and life in general.  I also use to raise my hand at work for every little opportunity to help out on a committee, after school committement or coaching responsibility.

Times have changed and I'm beginning to realize that I need to re-shape my expectations of myself. I am now more concientious at what I commit to and pride myself on quality not quantity.

In my previous post, I mentioned wanting to involve myself with charity. I am proud of my efforts to raise $ for The Chromosome 18 Registry and for our donation of toys to