The Family Meeting

Well, Kayla, you just missed out on another fine "family meeting."  You can imagine how excited Tyler and Brittany were when I called the meeting.  Immediately Brittany looked confused and asked what she did wrong.  Tyler sat back with his arms folded over his chest and I could see his wheels spinning trying to come up with something to say to mock me for calling a "family meeting."  All he could come up with was, "Could I be Bobby Brady?  He was my favorite."  Not funny.

Anyhow, the purpose of today's meeting was to institute (once again) "quiet time."  This was met with moans and groans so loud you would have thought I was pulling out their teeth one by one.  For those readers who aren't familiar with quiet time, this is a one-hour period each night where there are no cell phones, no computers, and no TV.  It's supposed to be a one-hour time frame when the kids can focus on their homework and not get interrupted.  Tyler acted like he never heard of it, so I explained that there will be no electronics. So, he said, "Well, if there's no electronics, then we have to shut off all of the lights, too.  The lights run off electricity." 

I think after having the week he had, he better just accept quiet time and zip it!  I had a phone call from his band teacher saying that he has not gone to his trumpet lessons and we had an e-mail from his German teacher saying he's not "working up to potential."  When I asked him why he's not going to his trumpet lessons, he said, "It's because I can't play the trumpet."  He joined band thinking it would be an easy A.  Then when we asked him what's going on in German class, he said, "The teacher just doesn't like Manfred."  (His German name is Manfred.)

So, we are beginning the process of an attitute adjustment here in Minocqua.  Even with me.  I was not looking forward to the day when you graduated, but now, I am really looking forward to the next graduation from LUHS in 2014!  If we make it!

Lost in the city...yes, again.

You know how they say do something every day that scares you? Well, I'm taking that to heart every time I embark back to my middle school after the traumatic trip home this Monday. Allow me to explain:

Volunteering went fabulous, as always, but it happened to be the first time I did it after the daylight savings time change, meaning it gets darker way earlier. Now, I had thought I had figured out the bus system, but that was in the daylight of 5:30 pm when the sun was still out. This week however, the sun had disappeared by the time I started to embark back to campus from the school. So, all happy and whatnot with a few more Thank-You cards in my purse, I got off at the stop I had always been getting off at to get back to my dorm. Well, I thought it was my stop. As soon as the bus pulled away, a few expletives ran through my mind, and perhaps came out of my mouth along with my breath that I could vividly see because of the frigid Minneapolis temperature. I realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was, that because of the stupid darkness I mistook my bus stop for a totally different stop that I was not supposed to be near. Being the smart girl that I am, I started to walk. Why Kayla, why?! Why would I start to walk?! I think I thought that maybe I would eventually hit a landmark I knew. After a few steps I figured out, why would I know any landmarks?! I'M NOT FROM HERE! I instantly started to panic and called my friend from across the hall. The worst was when she asked me where I was and I told her, in a shaking voice in-between tears, the intersection I was at and her response was "Ohhhhhh noo Kayla." Want to know where this small-town-girl-thrust-into-the-metro was in relation to campus? Take a look. Point B is my dorm, my destination. Point A is where my frantic self was crying.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Minneapolis&1s=MN&1a=E+Hennepin+Ave+%26+12th+Ave+SE&1z=55414&1y=US&1l=44.99144&1g=-93.23458&1v=INTERSECTION&2c=Minneapolis&2s=MN&2a=701+Fulton+St+SE&2z=55455-0358&2y=US&2l=44.97027&2g=-93.228614&2v=ADDRESS

YEAH, I KNOW! Now that you can see where I was, hopefully now you can feel my pain and fright. It was 6:00. Dark. Cold. I was hungry and in a bad part of the city, so I am told. I don't even feel ashamed that I cried. I was totally entitled to bawl and call my dad from a random bench sobbing about how much I am not cut out for the city. I literally was just gonna give up. The thought actually crossed my mind, "I can't do it. I'm done. I'm just gonna sit here and cry." And then some sort of sense kicked in and I realized I wasn't in a video game and had to get back, obviously! After multiple confusing phone conversations with the girl I basically owe my life to trying to explain to me what buses to take and where to get on and off, 75 minutes and $7.25 later, I was back, and completely a wreck. I ate my baked potato in a blur and was completely a mess of emotions.

So all's well that ends well, I guess. I survived, barely didn't get mugged, and my friend even made me a beautiful yellow-construction paper map/direction sheet of how to and, more importantly, from the school. I'll be testing out that, along with my emotional endurance and night intelligence each time I volunteer from now on until May. I really can't let a terrible experience like that ruin something so great, so I'm not going to let it. Plus, Mom and Dad made me put campus security in my phone and made it clear that the next time I get off at the wrong spot, don't pretend to know where I'm going.

New college lesson: I suck at sense of direction. And still suck at the bus.

I know we've been talking about movies this week.  I told you to watch the movie, "Milk" and you did and liked it.  So, I have to tell you to watch another movie, probably my favorite movie ever; "Mask!"

You really have to see it!  Julie and I watched it so many times when we were teens, we communicated to each other by reciting lines in the movie.  We would say to each other, "You're so stupid!  Rube Walker!  You threw away Rube Walker, Ben!"  Or, "You!  You're going to take care of things from now on!"  I know it doesn't make much sense, but there weren't a lot of channels back in the 80's and the cable stations would show this movie over and over. 

The other thing we did from seeing this movie was recite Rocky Dennis' (the main character in the story) poem over and over, substituting in things from our day to day life.  His actual poem was this:

These things are good: ice cream and cake, a ride on a Harley, seeing monkeys in the trees, the rain on my tongue, and the sun shining on my face. These things are a drag: dust in my hair, holes in my shoes, no money in my pocket, and the sun shining on my face.

But we would say things like, "These things are good:  eating Pringles from a can, sitting on the couch, and the sun shining on my face.  These things are a drag:  holes in my pocket, Denny sitting on the couch, and the sun shining on my face."

I laugh when I think about the 3 of us (me, Denny and Julie) growing up together.  Watching you, Tyler and Brittany growing up there's a lot of similiarities.  Especially the inane inside jokes or petty fights between the three of you.  Remember when you kids would humiliate each other by simply calling someon an "oat?"  I would have to break up big fights between you guys and when I'd ask what started it, one of you would cry and say, "She called me an OAT!"  It doesn't make sense to anybody but you three. 

OK, that's what I'm thinking about now and that's my blog for this week:>

$ick on this routine week

Being sick in college sucks. There's nobody here to wait on me hand-and-foot, run to Moto and get me lots of medicine, or run me up some diet Sprite with a straw. Instead, I endured classes the beginning of the week, and lucked out majorly today with having my class cancelled (thank you karma!) So, I walked my sickly little self over to the pharmacy today and bought some meds, and the next thing I know my darling friend from across the hall was waking me up at 5:30 pm to go to dinner. Turns out it wasn't worth it. It was "Spam-alot" dinner at the dining hall. Why? Please, does anybody enjoy the meat from a can? So we went and got some fun ice cream treats to watch the CMAs with instead. (I'm pulling for T.Swift and my main man Kenny.)

Anyway, not much new has happened over the past week, so being sick without Mom and Dad to take care of me has been my most recent "new experience" in college. Well BEFORE I got this nasty cold, I've discovered like, 3 new places to do homework on campus! (Who knew there was a library like 30 yards from my dorm?! And REALLY comfy chairs next to where the... Korean Dance Club... practices?! ) And it has been so extremely beautiful outside that me and my friends have taken quite a few walks by the Mississippi river. We've learned to love and take advantage of the free movies at the theater, this past week they played the incredibly cute "Despicable Me." (Unfortunately, we sat by the most descpicabally stinky person in the human world. It wasn't even funny. I had to breathe into my box of Milk Duds.)

Speaking of humans in this world, I'm sure you all know that one of my favorites is Ke$ha. In case you were wondering, I'll be seeing her gorgeous self at the House of Blues in Chicago in February. Yep, have I crossed into groupie territory? Just as well, I don't thinkg it's possible to be any more obsessed. It's called the "Get $leazy" tour. I'm so excited. You can't imagine the immensity...we'll be tearin' it apart. :)

OH. This week I've also learned to always check and re-check and double check that my headphones are actually plugged into my laptop BEFORE jamming to "Oops I Did it Again" in the library. At least it wasn't "My Humps" or something REALLY embarrassing...

Cliche Good Feelings

So, I just walked in (in my boots, mind you) from a gorgeous November day with a purse full of red and yellow construction paper cards decorated with markers, crayons, and cloth leaves. No, I didn't just get back from Trinity Preschool, circa 1996, I just got back from running mock interviews for the Spanish-speaking students at the middle school I've been volunteering at. All the kids at the school are participating in an event called "Biztown," which teaches them about finances and the professional world of careers and such, and today was the day they interviewed for the positions they want. Some wanted to be radio DJs, telling me about their experience in "mixing beats," and others wanted to be designers, CEOs, and IRS agents. They told me they want to give speeches like Barack Obama, their idol is their mom, they want a career where they can boss other people around, and that the hardest part about the job would be getting the job. Some kids were in it for the money and prestige, those were my "mayor" candidates and others wanted a job that was easy and allowed them to directly connect with their customers, like owning a gift store. It was so much fun, and I realized that everytime I work with these kids and translate and help them and learn from them, the more I love it and the more I can't wait to continue doing it in the future. Call me lame, but the letters like this from the kids inspire me:

"Dear Kayla,
Hi this is Rose. Thank you for interviewing me today, I really appreciate your time. You really make a difference.
Your Friend,
Rose"

or

"Dear Kayla,
Hi my name is Jasmine and I want to thank you for your time and helping me understand. I don't know if you are gonna give me the job of designer but thank you anyway. I also thank you for saying that I make a great designer.
From,
Jasmine

PS) Look at the cover see I really can design!"

or

"Dear Kayla,
Thank you for coming to NEMS today and volunteering your time. You are quite incredible. You really care about the youth. I believe my next interview will be much better because of you. Thank you,
Alondra"

Templates or not, these cards make me happy. So cliche, but maybe I really did make a difference.

Well what can I say? I'm quite incredible :)

On this beautiful, sunny fall day...

Today I went to a funeral for a lady in town.  She was well known, well loved, and had 4 children and many grandchildren.  At the start of the funeral, each grandchild got up to talk about their grandma.  The ages ranged from about 9 years old to adults in their late twenties.  Each grandchild spoke so eloquently, everyone was impressed and touched.  Some spoke about favorite memories, about waking up at grandma's house in the morning, playing games with her, her favorite sayings, her baking and her cooking.  Some talked about what they learned from her life and how they are the person they are because of her.  They made her sound like the most wonerful person in the world, and I've no doubt that to them and many others, she was.

I didn't know the lady who died, but, listening to the stories about her at her funeral, I learned a lot about her.  She was an ordinary lady who simply lived and loved taking care of her family.  She spent time being a wife and mother, and then spent her days being a grandmother.  She cooked big meals that helped to gather the family together, she baked special cookies to delight the grandkids, she planned vacations each summer to bring the family together, and through these simple, routine things, she built up traditions that shaped every member of her family. 

Wow, what a legacy.  Sometimes I think, "Am I doing enough?  Am I doing anything that really matters?"  And after today, just listening to those grandkids talk about how their grandmother made them better people by simply being involved in their lives, I think I might be doing OK.  So, I might not make it to be a missionary oversees (who knows for sure, though) or I might not make my big mark on this world, but I do know that I've raised a good family.  And I do know that I'm looking forward to being the kind of grandma this lady was.  And now I think, if that is all I have done when my time is over, that will be enough. 

At the end of the funeral, on this beautiful, sunny fall day, each grandchild released a balloon in honor of their grandmother.  The balloons floated up into the sun and I watched them until they were out of sight.  And I felt peace, and I know that I am exactly where I should be right now in my life.

Seasons

This week has been fairly routine.  Denny and Audra came over with the new baby, Ebben.  He is really adorable!  I wish you could have been home to see him.  We are hoping that they will be able to come and visit sometime over Christmas, as long as the weather isn't too bad for traveling.

I'm getting used to having only two kids left in the house, but both of them are so busy sometimes it's almost as if nobody lives here anymore.  I don't know if you know this or not, but, Brittany has pretty much taken over your room.  I think she likes the bigger bed, and having her own bathroom!  Did you know she started playing the piano again?  We bought her a Justin Bieber songbook, and she's been practicing much more now than she was before.

Tyler's been his usual self, I don't know who he takes after.  This morning we were without power because of the big wind storm, and when I told him to get out of bed, he said, "I can't get out of bed until I can take a shower.  I need to be fresh."  He is driving me crazy, yet he likes to tell me, "you're driving me to drink!" 

I think this weekend we'll finish cleaning out the basement.  We started this project last week and I felt kind of sad doing it.  I know you wanted to have the basement cleaned out for you and your friends.  Remember when you drew up plans and had furniture, TV, and rugs all drawn into your outline of the basement?  Well, we probably won't do anything like that even now.  We're just getting rid of all the things we should have gotten rid of years ago.  We've been able to play ping-pong down there now, so, we have a pretty good start on it.

See, life is pretty much routine this way.  Just getting ready for the snow to fly and for another long winter.  I do like living here where we have the change of seasons.  The change from fall to winter, then from winter to spring, really help me appreciate the days in between.  In a way, families also have seasons.  We had the season of being newlyweds with just the two of us, then we had "baby season," that changed to the long season of "kids", and now we're in "teen season."  I just hope it's a long way off before "granparent season!"  Ha-Ha!  Have a great week, Kayla!  I love you!