Day 52 - { dreams unfulfilled }

1/12/11 - The Things That Matter Most

This morning got off to a rough start. I don't know if Wasabi was sensing my stress last night, but she had woken up over and over and over crying next to me. And when she was going back to sleep I couldn't seem to turn off my brain from trying to solve the world's problems instead of just enjoying being in a warm bed with time allotted for unconsciousness. I got up convinced that I could not cope with my life, and rather sulkily headed down to breakfast, where I hit my head on the corner of the cabinet door that had been left open. A sympathetic DC suggested I get some more rest (very sweet), and I went back upstairs feeling overwhelmed with all the knots my brain had not been able to unravel during the night. A large part of my discontent was the stress over our entanglement with the city, as well as other irritants of mortal life that were as yet unresolved, like my darn cell phone not working. All I want is PEACE, ya know?! I was thinking about Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, and wondering how on earth I could simplify things so as not to hit these temporal speed bumps so hard. I remembered he said that first we should focus on our relationship with God. So I decided to pray before getting back in bed.  I offered up a more real prayer than I had in a while--for some reason, I've tended to get distracted during my prayers lately--and I felt immediately that I didn't need to worry so much about all those problems, that He was aware of them, and would help us work them out in His time.  And I felt. . . .Peace. Strong enough to go back down to my family for those precious few minutes before everyone scatters for the day. And then - ding ding ding - oh, yeah, that's the second focus he talked about! Our relationship with our family.

It's not surprising, then, that I went on to have a wonderful day. (Thank You, Heavenly Father!) Even in spite of making my weekly shopping trip to Wally World. :) Went for a walk in the frigid snowy neighborhood while counseling with my co-Sunbeam teacher on the phone about our strategy. Nice warm shower with this week's lesson posted on the shower wall so I can memorize it and not have to look at the manual.  In the evening, we went to Exacto's Court of Honor, where he received the Fire Safety merit badge and advanced to First Class. Yay, Exacto!

 

Fluffy was pumped for the elementary school spelling bee, in which he would be participating the next day. He said he'd had a dream that he came in 2nd place! (Exacto came in 2nd place in the middle school bee last Friday, so it made sense :).

 

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1/13/11 - Adventures in Spelling and Customer Service

Today - abs routine (thank you, Kathy Smith!) and shower and a lovely visit to the Verizon store about the above-mentioned darn cell phone. After a half-hour of enduring shockingly bad customer service (can I just say they have the WORST customer service ever? there was an employee actually standing behind the counter and talking on the phone to her child about how to turn on the heater and "stop being so dramatic" with THREE customers waiting for help) I finally got "permission" to return my phone that hasn't worked since the day I activated it, a day I will always regret. ha! 

Rushed over to the elementary school to see Fluffy compete in the spelling bee.

Misheard the first word "gnash" and spelled it "m-a-s-h". Luckily that was the practice round. . ..

P-R-E-F-E-R-A-B-L-E

 

F-E-V-E-R-I-S-H-L-Y

His awesome teacher hung up a "good luck charm" at the back of the bleachers for her students to look at when they got too nervous seeing all the faces staring at them.  He said it saved him on the next word:

E-X-O-S-K-E-L-E-T-O-N

And finally . . .

S-O-L-I-C-I-T

His dream had not come true. He did not win 2nd place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HE WON FIRST PLACE!!! WOOHOO!!!

I was so happy for him. Just what he needed right now!! More gratitude from this mama-heart up to Heavenly Father!

He's been beaming ever since. The funny thing is that he and Exacto will compete against each other at the county bee in a couple of weeks. . . .

The rest of the day was filled with pretty mundane stuff--post office, sewing on Exacto's merit badge, frolicking with Wossie (Hummer's phraseology), a fun visit with my seester on the phone (love you, Becky!), picking up boys from school and quiz bowl practice, a visit from one of the city councilmen who is supportive to our cause, creamy tomato soup for dinner, a congratulatory visit to Fluffy from a neighbor friend who goes to the same school.

Poor Wose slipped and bit her lower lip terribly! It was bleeding profusely and looks awful, like a discolored crater. We gave her our boo-boo sheep cold-pack (from sweet Aunt Mandy) and some ibuprofen, but what really seemed to help the most was some chocolate ice cream.

And now Exacto's working on homework on the couch and has the fire going in the fireplace. The Fiddler's upstairs practicing with Wasabi frolicking nearby.

And I am grateful for this blessed life, where problems are temporary because our God is not.