Things I've learned....

....matching socks.

There are seven people in my house. If each person has only one pair of socks for each of the seven days in the week that means, at minimum, there are 98 socks making their way through the laundry every week. But I can say, with confidence, that there are more than 98 socks roaming around my house.

Needless to say, I have learned a few things from matching socks.

1. They are the easiest thing to lose,
but the hardest thing to find.

2. Little boys don't care if socks are matched or not.
Heck, they don't even have to be the same color.

3. Never-mind that socks are bought in pairs.
Some socks just aren't meant to be together.
And so one of them leaves.
Where they go, I do not know.

4. I have a Most Wanted pile.
I know there is a match...somewhere.
I've seen the match....recently.
I know its here....someplace.
I just can't seem to find them both....at the same time.

5. It's okay to throw socks away.
There should be no guilt,
no anxiety,
no what-ifs,
no regret.
Just let it go.

6. If you leave a sock at my house, you will not be getting it back.
A mother knows her socks.
And your socks...are not mine.
See #5.

7. Holey socks are not sacred.
Yes, they are obviously your favorite,
but since darning socks is completely ludicrous,
please see #5.

8. Boring, one colored socks are optimal and easiest to match.
Buy those!

9. Socks should not have a foot preference.
That's just way too complicated for me socks.
I hope someone from Nike is reading this.

10. The only way to make sure all matches are found is to move.

That's what I need.

I'm ready to fix my yard.
The pointy evergreen
Has put me over the edge.

A climbing tree and flowers
So my kids can play for hours.

That is what I need.

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.