The Grasshopper and the Ant

I love the fable of The Grasshopper and the Ant. I think most of us see ourselves in one of these two categories. There might be a few that are a good mix but most of us are one or the other. I am an ant; this statement will not shock any of you that are reading. I work 60 hours a week outside my home, this is a lot even for a teacher. This does not take into consideration the time that I come home and try to find cool stuff for school. This is just plain working outside the home time. Very few people want to work that much but I am grateful for the hours that I have because they help support my kids. My kids are my life and they have been from the time they were born.

This weekend I had the time of my life. If you ask what I did, I would say had lunch with a friend that makes me smile. I then played the rest of the weekend. It was fun being a grasshopper for even 12 hours. Playing is important as long as work is done but because I enjoyed being a grasshopper, so much I then had to work twice as hard.

As a member of the ant colony, we do mock the grasshoppers. We say, "Why do I have to do all of the work." "Don't they know that is the wrong way to do that?" "They take too long and I am on a strict schedule." My favorite of all the ant sayings is, "I will just do it myself because then I know it will get done." We ants do not like to hear the excuses of the grasshopper.

I am sure in the grasshopper meetings they are mocking the ants. Of course, they have nothing important to say because they are wrong. I am kidding. I guess their meetings would go something like this. "Well I was told not to help because I don't know anything." "Those ants think they are experts at everything." "Why can't they just have fun?" I am sure that when they say, "What if they broke their pencils they wouldn't have anything to cross off their list," gets a big laugh.

I want to have fun, but I do not know how. I really don't; it is hard to find time to do something that simple. I use my summer vacation for fun things but even then, my inner ant comes out. Today I had to put my grasshopper back to rest and maybe find time to play in a few months. I am so grateful to a wonderful friend that let me play and have fun. Grasshopper days are fun but because moving day is here, there is no time for play.

The Art of Editing

This week I was at a book club meeting. We were discussing the book we would be reading and our favorite books from the past. I piped up and mentioned my love The Help. One of the reasons why I love this book is the editing that the characters took in their personal lives. One of the main characters Hilly said what she wanted to say all the time. She did not care who she offended or even if it was politically incorrect. Skeeter another main character was careful of what to say around her white friends so she would not cause distress for the maids in her own book. (On a post script of this paragraph the grammar check just came on and said maids should be changed to house cleaners)

Homer J. Simpson is one of my favorite characters on TV. He does not have an editing process in which to speak of; in fact, he uses the phrase, "D'oh" all too often. Why, he says stuff he should only think not say. I love his power not to edit and that is what makes him so funny.

Sometimes, I do not use my power of editing very well. Other times I am a master of this powerful tool. One of my friends this week was giving me a hard time about having two journals. I laughed because it is my power of editing that causes me to keep up two journals. Blogs could be considered a modern day journal. The blessings and trouble with blogs are they on the World Wide Web. My children, sisters, brother, parents, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins can read my thoughts. I love this part of blogging; it is a way for us to communicate. The trouble is you must use the gift of editing.

In my white journal, I can pour out all of my thoughts good and bad. However, I want my children more than any other people to know there is more good than bad do. When I was younger, I had an opportunity to use my editing power. There was a time where things were not going well, this happens when we are in high school. I had an adult hurt my feelings. This adult was going through their own personal hell and did not mean to hurt my feelings. Another adult gave me some advice to write the first adult a letter. When I finished the letter, the second adult gave it back to me and said, "Rewrite it, you will regret some of these things later in life." I did and then gave it to her again; she said the same thing, "Rewrite it." After the third of fourth time, the letter was complete.

Why is the power of editing so important? To the writer it is a way for them to fix their mistakes. Most importantly, it to our Savior the editing process is the Atonement. He can help us rewrite our story by using the power of forgiveness of our faults, sins, and shortcomings. Tonight I listened to a speaker tonight say, "Hope is a vision of what we can become." I am grateful to a loving Savior that is going to help me correct all of the mistakes in my book of life. What a blessing this is, because I want my book to be filled with eraser marks and not the dreaded red pen.

A New School Year

Well school officially starts tomorrow. Teachers went back last week so it will be my second week of work. This school year is going to be different from other years. This will be my first year as a single mom. I think this will bring an understanding that I have not had in years past to other single parents. I also will also work with my partner in crime at the after school program. That will give me a few extra dollars a month.

Tyler is a senior this year and I cannot believe that this is his last year in high school. It seems like yesterday I was signing him up for kindergarten. He has been very lucky to have wonderful teachers along the way. He has grown up into a handsome young man and I am very proud of the person he has become.

Katie is a sophomore and has grown into a beautiful young woman. The advantage she has over her classmates is her determination. She works very hard and every grade she receives she earns. This will help her go farther than most of her classmates. I am very proud of her strong testimony and love for our Savior Jesus Christ.

Noelle or Steve as she is known at school will start the intermediate level at school. For those of you that are not familiar with Telesis she will be in fourth grade. She is nervous because there are new teachers and she is not good with change. I know she will do fine as long as she can stay focused. Steve is a good girl and wants to choose the right.

I have been so blessed by the love of my Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. My family and friends have been my rocks. I am humbled by the love and support of others. As another school year starts, I hope that my children will remember what they were told today during their Priesthood Blessings. I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life. As I sign off I hope everyone has a wonderful school year!

Friends for a lifetime

Well this is my official last post for the summer. I first want to dedicate this post to my very best friend in the world Anna Gosma. I met Anna 13 years ago at the library. David was trying to pull the fire extinguisher off of the wall next to the fire truck. If you live or have lived in Havasu you know that the fire truck was at the old library and the kids could sit in it during story time with Mrs. Brown. Anna was pregnant with Ethan and had just moved to town. A few days later in one of the store parking lots (I think it was K Mart) I told her about MOMS Club. We became instant friends. Oh, Patty Poorten thank you for starting that wonderful group in Havasu. As I look at many of my friends it is because of that group.

Anna and I have been through the birth of 3 children, two of hers and one of mine. We have been through good times and bad. We laugh whenever we see a Hooters and she has been there to comfort me in my darkest hours. Hopefully I have done the same for her. She moved to Michigan about 7 years ago and then came back 5 years later. We haven’t seen much of each other however; we do talk on the phone almost every day. She was the first person next to my parents I called when Jason said he was going to file for divorce. I have cried on the phone with her more than anyone else. I have also laughed harder with her than anyone else.

Today Anna and I had lunch together for the last time. She told the waitress we would need a pitcher of Diet Coke. Anna understands the importance of a good soda when we meet. We talked about her house back east and her trip. We talked about the kids and how David is now going through the 14 year old boy stage that I told her would happen. We talked about making sure that if we saw Hooters we would take a picture and text each other. I would share the Hooters story but to be honest Anna and I are the only ones that ever laugh. We also talked about how I am “Great-Grandma Flo Flo,” a title I will always cherish. After lunch we hugged each other good bye. I will miss my friend but she is only a phone call away.

Why is this important to those that read this blog? Well the reason is you don’t know how you will touch someone’s life. That day I smiled and said, “Hello,” to a young mom who was going to have a baby changed my life. It was something so simple but that one word and the smile that went with it made all the difference in the world. Who would have thought?

As school starts I would like to remind us to all smile and say, “Hello.” It might change your life.

The Road Less Traveled

I have wanted to write a blog for a few weeks but nothing would come to mind. Maybe I had writers block. I doubt that because I am not a writer. I think the issue is that unlike a journal a blog is something others will read and like our mothers before us would say, "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." I have two journals one is my blog (because it is a hip way to journal) and one is my journal. In my white journal, there are all of my feelings good or bad. This will need to be buried when I die, then I have my regular journal or now blog that others can read. Now, you might say who are you not going to say nice things about and it is not who most of you are thinking.

Last night after more tears were shed (I did not think I could produce that man tears) I starting to pray. I have spent time on my knees during this situation but I really plead to our Father in Heaven. I am not perfect, I like to joke and say I am Mary Poppins, who is practically perfect in every way. Nevertheless, I am not even close to her. I have my own demons that live hidden in the back of my closet but I have tried to live a good life.

I have a pioneer heritage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My family knew Joseph Smith and followed Brigham Young on the exodus west. My ninth Great Grandfather even has a few sections of the Doctrine and Covenants written to him. I have never known another way, but I know where I am at is the right place for my family. I have some dear friends from other faiths and I do not want to diminish or make light of what they believe. Because I am happy, to have friends that are good Christian people and those people have been just as important to me as my LDS friends have. In fact, my three most trusted advisors have been of other faiths. However, they gave me the same advice that my lovely Bishop gave to me.

Now, I can get to the heart of my blog. Everyone has agency that is a gift we received when we came to Earth. It was part of the plan. Some people like Mother Theresa used her agency to lift people up others like Stalin tore people down. However, each of us has a right to choose for ourselves. This does not apply to totally to children because they are supposed to do what their parents ask them to do. It is hard to teach your children about agency and not look like a hypocrite yourself. Because you know, your mistakes are what they are going to look at first.

The tricky part of life is when what we used to believe is not what we believe now. Rather it is a family tradition that occurs once a year or something that can change the outcome of a life. Children look up to their parents, we as parents ask our parents for advice on raising kids. Nevertheless, agency is still ours, it is still the gift that we were given and it belongs to us. Therefore, the question is how do we use our agency and still teach our children. I do not know the answer. Other than at a certain age, children get to use their agency and hopefully we have taught them to go to their Father in Heaven and ask for his advice.

I would like to close with a few stanzas from Robert Frost's poem. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference