TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Finished-- school, of course)

It's is Tuesday. I have looked forward to this day for a long time. Not because there is anything special about this day, but precisely because there is not. At 9:57 am my children are still in bed and we don't have to go anywhere. My house is mostly clean, we have enough food in the house for several days and I get to go to a ball game tonight that I can just sit back and enjoy. Life is good. It's called summer vacation! Maybe for everyone else it began Friday or maybe even yesterday, but for me it is really today that I get to begin relaxing.
As Rachel and Stephanie have already stated, the past month has been really hectic. Each day I thought would get better, but somebody always wanted a slice of my time (and my checkbook).
Don't get me wrong, we have really enjoyed the end of school activities and I like my job and the kids I work with, but everybody needed a break. That is why I am enjoying this morning so much. I am not going to "plan" anything (other than going to the high school boys game tonight- but that's different you know!) for today. I am hoping to enjoy many more days like this one and many of the days filled with plans as well.

An Ordinary, Great Day!

Sometimes we are blessed with times that aren't anything special, but a blessing all the same. Tonight is one of those nights. Because of the rain, there are no track meets, baseball games, or practices. We ordered pizza and we are just sitting around watching one of our favorite movies. Nothing special. Nothing exciting. Nothing memorable. But it is great all the same. I am not even thinking about what I should be doing with this extra night at home. I am sitting around doing absolutely nothing and loving it.
Unfortunately, Jeff is having to work tonight. Rachel has done her blogging for the day and is actually taking on one of her parents' tendencies and putting off her homework. Alex is doing quite well since his little incident Saturday night. He is drinking lots of water and eating plenty. He looks and feels good. He is actually bugging us to play a game of Uno, which I think I'll go do because the ordinary, everyday things are what make life great.
Have a great evening everyone!

Having Fun Being Sick

I know that from the title it may seem that I am either playing hookie or a little warped. Really, though, I am only trying to follow Alex's suggestion. Monday, I predicted to Alex we would have leaves on the trees by the end of the week. With the bursting buds and the warm temperatures forecast for the week, I immediately began to feel like my allergy medicine wasn't really keeping up with all of the pollen. I felt fine Tuesday night at the baseball games, but when I woke up the next morning I had a terrible sore throat and a fever. I toughed it out for school all day yesterday so that I wouldn't feel guilty about going to Rachel's track meet that night. As long as I kept pain relievers in me, I felt fine. I had myself convinced I might not actually be sick. But, even before I went to bed last night I decided to stay home from school today just to rest and recuperate. When I told Rachel, she cheerfully commented, "Oh! So you are going to just stay home and do laundry and stuff." She acted as if I wanted to stay home and do laundry just for the fun of it.
As I was sitting in my pj's at 7:30 am this morning (we have to leave at 7:40), Alex says, "Are you going to work?" He's a real observant fellow. I told him I wasn't feeling well so I was staying home. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
"Sleep," I answered.
"Aren't you going to do anything fun, like watch movies or play something?" (I'm assuming he meant video games.)
"I don't feel like doing anything fun." What is it with my kids? Do they enjoy being sick? Or have they figured out that being sick is a complete waste of time so if they stay home from school they might as well enjoy it? I don't know the answer to those questions but I tried to follow their advice. After sleeping until almost noon, I woke feeling like I should have gone to school. Then I stood up. It was then, that I realized I was definitely sick.
In spite of the fever,aches, weak legs, and sore throat (which is actually much better), I did do one load of laundry, baked some cookies for the kids for an after school snack and watched some CSI-- nothing too strenuous. I picked them up from school and took Alex to practice and then I slept for two more hours. Having all that fun really wore me out.
I guess I'll wait until tomorrow to decide if I should work or stay home and have fun. I'm just hoping tomorrow's fun is a lot more fun.

Pioneer Woman Reject, Part II

Well, surprisingly enough, we are at home for the evening. I guess the below freezing wind chills and snow flurries were enough even for our head track coach. He decided to move the meet to Wednesday which is calling for a 68 degree high. I don't really know if the weather or the NCAA Championship game was his motive, but either way I like his thinking. Because of this wonderful gift from Coach Carney, we are enjoying the evening in the warm, comfortable home of my in-laws watching North Carolina. Alex has become a big Tarheels fan in the past several years because of Tyler Hansbrough, the Missouri Boy. I have always enjoyed North Carolina and Duke, but Alex is not a Duke fan at all. I keep telling him that it is possible that the Cameron Crazies are named that because a distant relative was an important person in that area, but it doesn't sway his thinking.

In the late 1700's I had a 7x great-grandfather, John Heagerty, who left Ireland and settled in North Carolina. As far as we know he left every family member he had. We do not know his reason for leaving, but he married a Mary Cameron with Scottish roots. Later the Heagertys moved to Lawrence County, Missouri. When I read about our family's history (or any history for that matter) I often wonder how I would have survived, which brings me back to the blog that I promised. I know the Heagertys (and all pioneer families) were made of something I don't think I have. As discussed in my last blog, I know they had perseverance, determination and grit. When I think about what these people endured and how hard they worked, I am just not sure how I would have measured up. It's not that I am completely stupid or lazy, but I know that I am not the risk taker that would have been required to leave my comfortable home and most likely my entire family.

Leaving the comforts of my home would have been the biggest factor in me being a pioneer reject. While I am definitely not a risk taker and wind would have driven me slowly insane, I am really spoiled. (I prefer to think of it as blessed.) I really enjoy and appreciate my modern home. I also love being close to family. With this being said their are "things" besides the perseverance, determination and grit that I would not have had back in the days of pioneer women. These "things" have been part of the conversations I have had with different women in the past week about what we wouldn't want to be without. They aren't necessarily character traits, but we don't want to be without them all the same.
#1 Running water. I am the first to admit that I would not want to have to trek to the creek for the water needed to wash, clean, bathe and launder . I would certainly not want to go on the cold days when you had to break the ice and then haul it up to the house. Can you imagine not being able to take a relaxing hot bath just for the luxury of it? And let's not go there on being able to flush. (Especially for those of us who are up in the middle of the night!)
#2 Appliances. Now, we tended to lump the appliances all into one category, but if I could only have one, I think I would choose the washing machine. I realize that we would have less clothing back then, but let's think about this. You have to either haul water or scrub and wring at the creek. Either way, how clean do they really get? This seems like a lot of work to get semi-clean clothes. The chore of laundry with appliances is so dreaded anyway (because we know that it is never truly "caught up") I can't imagine making it even more work than it already is.
#3 Heat. I know that people had heat, but maybe I should be more specific. Heat that is evenly distributed throughout the house.
#4 Electricity. This is lower on the list than you might think, but I do think I could survive this one, except for the fact that my washing machine would need it to operate!
#5 Ibuprofen. I am not one for taking medicine of any type unless I absolutely have to. The older I get, though, the more appreciation I have for this little friend. It is amazing what those two little pills can do for you. There are just days when nothing has helped my tired, aching body more than ibuprofen. After a hard day's work, don't you know the pioneer women would have loved it, too?
#6 Epidurals. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies the natural way and I would like to keep it that way. Even under the best of circumstances, on the first go around, Jeff would have passed out and unless we had a neighbor there I probably would have had to cut the cord myself. (He gets a little woozy around that kind of stuff.)

There are many other modern conveniences that I am quite attached to, but these items top the list. It remains difficult for me to believe that I would have survived quite so well. I have to thank the Lord all of the time for my husband. Even with all of the conveniences of modern life, I have been extremely whiny during the past couple of weeks. If we had lived back then, he may have left me behind to explore, seek fortune or fight in a war. That could take me down another whole road of things I don't think I would have survived very well, but I think you get the picture.
Suffice it to say, I am ready for warm weather to stay. Even though they are not crucial to my family's survival, baseball games, softball games and track meets are just so much more fun when you can sit back, relax and enjoy. Surely the pioneer women would agree.

Here are a couple of videos--kind of long--sorry about that! The first is of a nice hit Rachel had and the second is of our pioneer men hunting turkey in our yard.

Pioneer Woman Reject, Part I

I have always said that I would never have made a good pioneer woman. There are many reasons for this. While I feel like I am a fairly independent and self-sufficient woman, there are "things" I depend upon for surviving my simple lifestyle. However, those things may not actually be perseverance, determination, and good old fashioned grit.
Instead of "perseverance", it may be more of what I call duty. We have made commitments which we will honor. Those commitments in turn bring a schedule, which brings activity. It isn't so much that I am resolved or "determined" to complete everything on our calendar because these activities will be of historical consequence. We just do them, because we said we would. These activities will not advance our great country in any manner such as preserving a people or rights or liberty. They are not even crucial to our family's survival--they are simply just for fun.
In fact, in the past week I would have personally cancelled every activity that was on our calendar if possible. If you live in Missouri you know that the weather in the past few weeks has been fluctuating between sunny and 70's and snowy or rainy, windy, and low 30's almost on a daily basis. Now realize that the activities on our family's calendar are held outdoors. I suppose you can guess which days were the snowy, windy and /or freezing days. Absolutely correct. . . the days we were scheduled for some type of outdoor activity. Of the four days of baseball and three nights of track meets, I will say that two days of baseball were cancelled for the snow and two nights of track meets were postponed due to low temps and rain. Although it was not technically the 32 degrees kind of freezing, I hardly had the "grit" to tolerate the nights that activities were still held.
The only "grit" I had was at Rachel's softball games yesterday that covered me from head to toe, including my teeth. Yesterday had looked like the most promising day to have some fun outside because the weather called for upper sixties. I didn't recall the part of the forecast that called for
gusty winds and that the sixties would be later in the day. When we arrived at the ball field early Saturday morning we found it located in a plains area with no trees, buildings or any type of windbreak for that matter. It was quite chilly and very windy. Our girls had the dugout in which they and their fans were facing into the wind. It wasn't long before there was a layer of silt in the bottom of my glass of water and Rachel's nacho cheese looked as if it had been peppered.
It was there that I had the conversation with my mother about how I wouldn't have made a good pioneer woman. I had the same conversation with my mother-in-law at a baseball game Tuesday. I also had the conversation with some of my friends at a track meet on Monday. In each of the conversations the topic of the wind was broached. We all agreed that the continual wind would driven each of us crazy.
Besides the wind driving me crazy and the lack of perseverance, determination and grit, there are other several other factors which would have kept me from being a successful pioneer woman. (By successful I mean staying alive or the ability to keep a husband.) Those items discussed with my family and friends will appear in another blog. Don't expect to read that in the next day or so because we are scheduled for outdoor activities for the next two nights and the weather is supposed to be nasty. Obviously, that means we'll be busy!

The Wheeler Version of March Madness

To many people March Madness only refers to a basketball tournament that comes along once a year and those who never watch a college game all year will fill out a bracket and even wager a small amount of money at the office. At the Wheeler home, March Madness is way of life that we experience every year at this time which includes, but is not limited to the popular NCAA Basketball Tournament.
We love to watch the college boys and fill out our brackets just like everyone else. Jeff has even devised a complex point system to determine the final winner in our home, who will receive their favorite candy bar and soda as a prize. However, this is only a small part of what March Madness means to us. March seems to be the month that both of our children have activities that overlap. Basketball is winding down while baseball, softball and track are gearing up.
Last Thursday began a string of eleven games that Alex played in seven days. He played in two basketball tournaments and had two nights of double header baseball games. On top of that Rachel had track practice every night and a school field trip. I know that sounds extreme. We are not the type of parents that push our kids--the scheduling just happened to work out that way for some reason. Believe me, we were dragging by Friday and I was looking to being at home so badly that was all I could think about.
It is now Saturday and I have yet to really be home. Kay is probably beginning to think we have moved back in! Since we do not have television reception, cable or dish, we decided to watch the tournament at Larry and Kay's Friday night and we haven't left yet. Not true, we did go home and sleep! That was until I had to get up and get Rachel ready for a softball practice and track practice.
I don't know how Alex could possibly be moving, but he has been shooting hoops between the games in which he is most interested. I don't know how he has the energy. Rachel even took a nap and last night I had to lie on the couch for three hours just to rest up enough to make my two mile drive home! Today is easier on my body, but I haven't stayed at home. We're back to watch more of the tournament and since I'm not at my house to be reminded of what all needs to be done, I've had time to relax all day and blog this evening. The kids have been able to enjoy their grandparents and they are sneaking off to other televisions occasionally to watch some other shows they don't have the opportunity to see.
I think my body is recuperating and next week is looking pretty good. Since everything just happened to fall last week, this coming week's schedule has really cleared out. Only 1-2 practices every night and two track meets--not too bad. Jeff and I think it sounds great especially when we realized that last year in the middle of all of this activity we were building a house, putting in hardwood floors until wee hours of the morning, and moving besides working all day! Whew! It's good thing the Madness is only for one month.

Non-Accomplishments

I don't really have anything to blog about in particular, but I haven't accomplished a thing all day--so why start now? Alex has been kind of puny lately and his baseball games last night in the arctic winds finished him off so I used a sick day to stay home and take him to the doctor. He's had a cough for almost two weeks and not rested well, but the last time I tried to let him "get over it" he wound up with pneumonia. That was the year I received the Mother of the Year award. I honestly didn't want to tell the doctor I had let him play two games last night in subfreezing wind chills until 9:30pm. (I couldn't take a chance on winning the Mother of the Year twice in a lifetime-- it would make the other moms of the world feel like underachievers.) In spite of all this, I took him to the doctor and, thankfully, he checked out fine. He's taking some allergy medicine to dry him up and hopefully rid him of the cough and me of the guilt. By the way, they won one and lost one last night and I am so sore from shivering I can barely move. I stuck it out both games since I knew he was sick and freezing. I could never have lived with that guilt.
Rachel is gone on her eighth grade field trip and won't be back until later this evening. I have a fairly clean house and only a little laundry. I even just recently finished my Jane Austen book by ignoring my whole family for two nights so I didn't even have that to tempt me away from getting a head start on all of the projects I have planned for the upcoming four day weekend.
With all this "free" time at home today I have accomplished precious little. One reason Alex was so cold last night was that he didn't have the new jacket we bought for just such evenings. It was no where to be found and only worn three or four times. I hate that frantic "looking for something that wasn't cheap and I'd better find it" feeling. After the doctor visit, when I did find the jacket, (in his classroom at school) I didn't know whether or not I should be happy I found the expensive item or furious because he still probably didn't learn much of a lesson from all of this.
After all the time I spent at the doctor and jacket hunting, I stopped by the school just to pick up Alex's homework and wound up working for three hours. In my spare time, I have also texted Rachel several times today. Now you have to realize that I am the world's worst texter, but she thinks it is cool so I was trying to oblige. I truly dislike texting. I would much rather spend 1.5 minutes dialing her up and talking than spending 20 minutes trying to text. (That's not an exaggeration about the first attempt.) Besides that-- I can't stand the lack of spelling and punctuation.
Needless to say, I have not been at home much today and now I am blogging at 5:30 pm without a clue what to fix for dinner.
Sorry for the interruption, Rachel just texted-- there went another twenty minutes.
Sorry . . . Jeff just called. He reminded me of the fundraiser dinner the children' s choir is having at church. I may just have to go get some dinner to go. Now that would solve my dinner problem, preserve my clean kitchen and keep my "non-accomplishment" day in tact. Maybe things aren't so bad after all!
Have a great evening!