Wait...what??

The other day I was cuddling with my youngest on the couch.

 

"When you get big you are going to go away from here.

I will miss you so much!!

So let's just keep you little

 so you never have to leave me."

 

Lovingly, he responded,

"Don't worry, Mom. It will be okay.

You will always be my cousin."

 

 

 

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot" by Bill O'Reilly


Goodreads Summary
More than a million readers have thrilled to Bill O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln, the page-turning work of nonfiction about the shocking assassination that changed the course of American history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts in gripping detail the brutal murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—and how a sequence of gunshots on a Dallas afternoon not only killed a beloved president but also sent the nation into the cataclysmic division of the Vietnam War and its culture-changing aftermath.

In January 1961, as the Cold War escalates, John F. Kennedy struggles to contain the growth of Communism while he learns the hardships, solitude, and temptations of what it means to be president of the United States. Along the way he acquires a number of formidable enemies, among them Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and Alan Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition, powerful elements of organized crime have begun to talk about targeting the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

In the midst of a 1963 campaign trip to Texas, Kennedy is gunned down by an erratic young drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald. The former Marine Corps sharpshooter escapes the scene, only to be caught and shot dead while in police custody.

The events leading up to the most notorious crime of the twentieth century are almost as shocking as the assassination itself. Killing Kennedy chronicles both the heroism and deceit of Camelot, bringing history to life in ways that will profoundly move the reader. This may well be the most talked about book of the year.

My Review:
I really like Bill O'Reilly. He is a great story teller. But the great thing about his stories is that they are historically accurate. He makes learning history so very interesting and his books read like a story! This book is no different. Not only did I learn about the assassination, I learned more about JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, LBJ, Jackie Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Oswald's wife, MLK, etc. I also learned about the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights Movement, etc. Because I didn't live when these events took place, it was helpful to understand the events that were happening around the time of JFK's assassination. It's just a good, informative book. Read it!

Things I've learned ...

...talking to multiple customer service representatives.

I am just going to put this out there for those of representatives who are confused.

The word is ask.
A-S-K

Not aks.

I know some people struggle with that as it is a very difficult word to read, sound out and pronounce. 

But here's a little trick I use. Just remember, the soft "sssss" sound comes before the hard "K" sound. Kind of like it's spelled. If you can remember that, you should be okay.

And since you are a professional in a profession where you use the word ask often,  for example when you say, "I am going to need to ask you some questions for verification," and the like, you probably should know how to pronounce the word correctly.

It might help to write the word  ASK down on a sticky note and put it on your computer screen. Maybe consider writing it on your hand with a sharpie marker and practice pronouncing it correctly on your breaks. Heck, maybe your co-workers will join in.

Look at that, a win/win!

Remember ASK not AKS.
S before K.

Just trying to help. You're welcome, World.


***Next week we will work on saying library, and not libary.

It's a jungle out there

I don't usually mow the lawn.

I have a husband who loves to take care of lawns. Plus I have 5 children, 4 of who are male. With that much testosterone under one roof, why would I ever mow a lawn?

Why indeed.

Well, yesterday I did it. I mowed. Truth be told I had an overwhelming desire to turn my feet and toes green. Mowing the lawn in my sandals seemed the cheapest and most convenient way to satisfying that desire, so mow the grass I did.

And I have my green toes to prove it.

I know how to mow the lawn. It's not to hard. Mow in a straight line. When you reach the end of grass, turn around and repeat. Keep repeating for 30+ minutes until there is no grass left. Kinda like shaving your legs.

Except easier.

Like I was saying, I know how to mow a lawn. However, when it comes to "edging"...yeah, I don't do that.

But from the looks of it, neither does anyone else in my family.

Wait, that isn't true. My husband knows how to do it. He's actually really good at it. Remember he loves lawns.

So I am not quite sure what is happening with our "edges!" It's quite hilarious and embarrassing all at the same time. The lawn is beautiful! Short and green....well, it does have a few dandelions scattered, thanks to our friends who like to share. We love them. Really, we do.

Side note: They also have a dog who likes to leave us surprises for us. Sometimes they are small and you don't see them until you have stepped on them. But other times they are big...impossible to overlook. End side note.

Despite those few distractions, it is beautiful. But we no longer have edges. We have jungles...that almost come up to my knees. You can no longer see the nice rocks that we have lining our house. Or the low growing flowers for they are hidden. Protected. Blocked out.

 At this point we can no longer call it edging. It had now become weed whacking.

And I am a pro at whacking.

When I am just not enough....

I have a child. Well, I have 5 children. But I want to speak about one of them.

I love this child so very much. With all my heart. To its very core, I love him.

But for the life of me, I do not think he knows how much I love him. Not to his core. I tell him. I show him. But I still am not sure he feels it.

Many time I don't feel like I am reaching him. Almost like we don't speak the same language.

Yes, I have read that book... the "Love Language" book. Both of them. I have tried to make sure that I am showing him, and all my children, love in a way that they can feel it. I'm not an expert by any means. But I try.  Still.....

It's at these times when I recognize that I am not enough.

My knowledge is not enough.
My skills are not enough.
My words...not enough.
Even my love for him is not enough.

I, on my own, can never be enough.

It is in moments like these when I am driven to my knees.
When my pleadings fly heavenward.
Where knowledge exceeds all.
Where there is One who loves my boy even more than I do.
Who knows him like I never can.

He knows. He understands. He knows us. He is enough.
With his help, I know that I can be enough.

But saying that and feeling that are sometimes not the same thing. I know He can help me, but there are times when it doesn't feel like He is.
Helping me

There are times when I'm left asking...."Where are you??" "Why aren't you helping me?" "Why aren't you making me more?
Making me enough?"

Then I'm left to question.

Not my faith.

I know I am a child of God. I know He loves his children. And because I am one of those children, I know he does love me. 

But in moments like these I am lead to look inside myself.
Have I stepped away? From His light?
Am I not listening intently?
Is there something that I need to learn?
Is there something that he (my son) needs to learn?
Am I not doing ENOUGH??

I wish I had the answer to my own questions. I know they will come. Things will work out. They always do.

But being in the thick of it,
overwhelmed by my child's needs,
by my needs,
and not having the answers
really stinks.

The Hands of My Father

"The Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Hearing Parents and the Language of Love" by Myron Uhlburg

Goodreads Summary:
With candor and humor, Uhlberg recounts a childhood spent largely as a bridge between his parents and the hearing world. Translating from sign language to spoken language and back again, he enables his father to communicate with local shopkeepers, awakens his parents when his baby brother cries, and even interprets at a less-than-glowing parent-teacher conference. At times, he's embarrassed by his parents, and hurt that his father is called "dummy." But in the end, his overwhelming love and compassion leaves a lasting effect. 

My Review:
Obviously this is a book that is near to my heart. I live a large part of my daily life wrapped in the Deaf world. I am married to a Deaf man and my children have a Deaf father. My children's experience is quite different in many ways than Myron's was, and yet very similar in many ways. In reading this book, you will get a small glimpse into what it is to live with a Deaf person. I loved this book!!

Yumminess: Chocolate Potato Cake

Cake
Ingredients:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. Melt chocolate with the vanilla, cool slightly. 
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
4. Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs one by one. Add the chocolate and mashed potatoes. 5. Beat in the dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk. 
6. Pour into a greased 13x9inch pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes (or bake in 2 round 9 inch pans for 30-35 minutes.) 
7. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:
Ingredients:
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1/2 cup softened butter
hot milk
chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Melt chocolate and vanilla; let cool slightly. 
2. Cream the sugar, salt and butter. Add just enough hot milk to make a spreadable consistency. 
3. Beat in the melted chocolate. 
4. Spread on the cake and sprinkle with chopped nuts.