Lamest spring break ever

 I'm more of a "glass is half full" kind of girl, so I'll start out with the positive, and then I'll move onto the half empty part.  This week the boys were on spring break.  Mike had a big job that started last Saturday.  He was hired to do a flooring job while his customer is on spring break (in sunny FL!).  Mike has taken Jay with him to work everyday this week, and that is a good thing.  It's provided Jay with structure, which equates to less fighting with his brother, and it's provided him with some income.  Plus I think it was so nice for father and son to spend time together.  I know Mike has been impressed with Jay's work ethic and he's appreciated the company.  On the flip side we have not seen the sun in six days.  It has been rainy, overcast and cold.  Nick and I have spent our days hunkered down in the house.  Considering how dull the break has been, Nick has been a good sport, but he did make sure I knew he thought this was the "lamest spring break ever."  Tomorrow I am taking the day off work and taking him and Noah and my friend Erin is joining us with her kids, ice skating.  I figured we all needed to get out of the house and do something!  I did make a mental note to myself that perhaps Mike and I should save our money and take a trip next spring break.  A big part of the boredom comes from the weather and since Mother Nature I am not, I have no control over the weather. 

My sister was one of the lucky ones that went to FL.  I try not to swear at her when she calls me and tells me the weather has been perfect.  My mom has been watching their dog, Peanut.  She also kept Nick overnight this past weekend, which is the highlight of Nick's spring break.  They played Uno, ate at Red Lobster, and watched, "Little Big Shots." 

1 Peter 3:15

"Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope you have received."  I hear this verse and I wonder, what would I say, if I was asked about my faith in Jesus, especially by a non believer.  I am not a quick thinker.  I'm one of those people who go home and hours later snap my finger with that ah-ha moment of what I should have said.  I've been a believer since I was baptized at age 11, but trust me, that is not my testimony.  Believing in Jesus because you were raised in the church isn't good enough, in my opinion. What I might have written two years ago would be different from what I write today, because of my own experiences, but my faith has never waivered.  Jesus uses those experiences, and they are often in our times of struggle to strengthen us and bring us closer to Him.  Let me explain.  In my life Jesus is the one true thing.  He never changes.  Everything in my world here on earth could fall apart at any given time.  Mike may one day really disappoint me.  My children may graduate high school and never darken my door step.  I or someone I love could go through a terrible illness.  The list is endless.  Ask yourself what your greatest fear is, then ask yourself what you would do if your greatest fear came true.  Would you fall apart?  Do you think you wouldn't be able to handle such a situation?  I'm here to tell you that in your very worst moment, Jesus is there, if you seek Him.  There is nothing you've done that is too ugly for God.  There is no problem too big for Him to handle.  I've seen it, felt it, and witnessed it.   Jesus won't keep coming around and pestering you, but the minute you invite Him in your heart, he'll be your greatest protector, and offer you the gift of hope.  It all goes back to what I stated earlier, He's the one sure thing in our life.  There is no other certainty in this earthly life.  We may feel like we deserved better in life, that we got a bad deal.  We may feel our circumstances are too difficult to bare.  Our spiritual life can't be based on our feelings, but God's truth.  And that my friends is my answer of the hope that I have in Jesus. 

Open doors

It's been quite awhile since I've blogged about Mike's business.  It's been one year this month since Mike got his business license and started to embark on this small business adventure.  It's been a steady climb with many challenges.  Several times we've been knocked down, but never enough to keep us down.  We seem to dust ourselves off, readjust and keep moving towards where God is taking us, and just to be clear, we have no idea where that is.  Mike and I like to say, "We're just going with it."  And so far, God hasn't lead us astray.  In fact, just the opposite.  Last February Mike helped Ausili pick up a piece of furniture from a gentleman's house who just happened to have experience in designing logos.  Imagine that?  The men got to talking and Mike confessed to the man that he was thinking of starting his own business.  The man told Mike that if he did that, he'd be happy to help him design his logo.  A door was opened.  In April of last year Mike walked through that door and one of God's kingdom workers designed our logo that is the face of Cornerstone Custom Carpentry.  This man asked nothing in return.  About four months ago Mike met with a potential customer for some handyman jobs he needed done.  Mike was supposed to give the customer a estimate but somehow Mike lost his paperwork.  A good month went by and one day the paperwork reappeared but it was damaged because it had gotten wet, but through the damage the customer's phone number was still legible.  Mike called the customer, apologized profusely for not getting back to him timely and explained what had happened, and a friendship was formed.  During the many jobs that Mike worked on for this customer, small talk was made and each of the men appreciated their own unique talents.  Clearly the customer hired Mike because he wasn't as good with home repairs, but Mike was amazed by the customer's knowledge of technology.  His customer designed websites, and was very good at it, a talent that Mike doesn't have.  One day the customer asked Mike why he didn't have a website.  Mike said it was because he wasn't sure at this juncture in his business if he needed one, and even if he did, he wouldn't know where to start in terms of getting it done.  Another door opened, and Mike walked through it, and his web page was designed, another hurdle taken care of by God's hands.  I am continually reminded that God provides openings for us all the time, but often we are too afraid of what's behind them, but I can assure you if you walk through those doors, there is goodness on the other side.   

Nick's big week

 Nick attended his last Super Start last Friday with his friends, C. and A.  Super Start is put on by Christ in Youth and it never disappoints.  Jay also went in 5th grade and loved it. 

 Nick's really big news is he got braces this week.  He chose orange braces and now he's regretting that decision because really his mouth just looks like a mouth full of gold - kind of gangster like, but hey, it's still a good look.  While getting the braces on his biggest annoyance was the dental associate asking him if he was okay.  Nick said he would have preferred they stopped asking him and simply finish the job.  So Nick! 

Although Nick is handling the braces pretty well, he was GROUCHY for about 2 days.  On the second night I took Nick and Noah to Orange Leaf and that seemed to pep Nick up.  Mostly he loves spending time with Noah but the yogurt helped too!  As I write this blog Nick and Noah are at a bull sale together with Noah's g'pa.  Nothing says Saturday like a bull sale!

Raising my teenager

I think God created teenagers to test us, to see how much patience we, as parents, really have.  I like to think that if I'm successful at raising my teenage boys my crown in heaven might be a wee bit bigger.  Okay, that's a long shot and I admit it's silly.  These days I'm just trying to live day by day.  It feels like Jay is at a cross roads.  He's certainly not a man, but yet he's not a boy either.  But how I miss that little boy.  When I told Jay the other night how much I missed him (when he was little) his quick response was, "Well maybe you shouldn't make me do all these dumb chores."  Which leads me to what is going on in our house these days.  Track season has begun and despite being approached by the track coach Jay very firmly decided he did not want to run track - even though he oozes with potential and was promised he would not have to run distance.  Instead he wants to find a job.  We encouraged him to run track and then detassle this summer, while also focusing on basketball.  We debated forcing him, but in the end we felt it was important that Jay feel like he was heard, and oh, we heard him alright.  It was a hard decision as Jay thrives on structure and routine but he also has proven to be a good kid.  He gets good grades and pretty much does what he's suppose to do.  We accepted Jay's decision (dismally).  To help fill the gap of not playing a sport, Jay is required to do chores every night (over and above what he's normally required to do) after school and he's required to do volunteer work.  Additionally, every Thursday he has to sit down with us and report back to us what he is doing to find a job, and once he finds a job, his "requirements" will be tweeked.  We explained to Jay that our goal is simply to help him communicate, help him develop socially, help fill his time and to be part of something (these are all things that sports provides him with).  I know Jay sees the chores and volunteer work as punishment, but that's okay, he's 15, and despite what he thinks he won't be able to make a living by driving four wheelers and fishing!   I'm finding that Jay is longing to be independent but has no clue how to do it.  Meanwhile every extra gray hair that I have these days is Jay inflicted!  

Basketball and book club

 I am so behind with blogging which makes me sad because I love to blog.  I enjoy keeping "up to date" with my blog and lately I've just been too busy, which is ironic because this is the season where things tend to slow down for me, but this March is proving it has other plans.  About two weeks ago Nick's basketball season wrapped up.  See pic above.  And our high school boys shined this year!  They went all the way to sectionals.  Nick and I went to watch them play.  Jay was sick.  Jay got sick at the end of February and was really sick.  There were several days he went to school for half days and one day he stayed home and several nights he would come home from school and not move from the chair.  The sickest I had ever seen Jay was when he was 5 and got pneumonia, and the virus he got this past February was the second time I've seen him so sick.  He's finally bounced back. 

 Nick and his buddy, C.  My friend, Erin, was at the Oly game and we sat together.  We were packed in the gym like sardines.  It was hot and smelly!  But it was a really big deal for our team to make it sectionals.  It was such a fun season to watch the boys play. 

Last week my mom and I, with a few members from our book club, traveled to Chicago for Renee Rosen's book launch of her new book, "Windy City Blues."  We had such a good time.  If I had the time and money, I'd travel the country going to book launches for my favorite books and authors.  We laughed a lot and got to experience an Uber.  Sadly, my mom lost her phone in the Uber (another situation of being packed in somewhere like sardines), but our Uber driver was awesome and found my mom's phone and mailed it back to her.  Thanks Melanie from Uber.  Now I can't wait to start my new book which Renee signed.  I know, I'm am such a book nerd (and proud of it).  I can't imagine my life without books.  Thanks mom for planting that seed for me.

Am I losing it?

Growing up I was challenged by processing issues and as a result my mom was careful to only give me one task at time.  For example, if she was doing my hair she would send me to get a comb.  Heaven forbid if she asked me to get the comb, hairspray and any hair accessories.  Sometimes when people talk to me it's like Charlie Brown's teacher.  I'm just saying.  As an adult I try really hard to keep things in order and get done what I need to get done, but as all humans do, sometimes I fail miserably and lately I have felt that way.  Yesterday, my friend Laura, called me, horrified because she had missed a very important meeting for her daughter at school.  She said even as she was walking out the door that morning she had a nagging feeling she was missing something, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was, that is until the school called her to tell her she had missed the meeting!  I laughed with Laura, encouraged her and told her she had picked the perfect friend to share her story with, as I was doing the same kind of stuff in my life!  Just this week Nick asked me if I knew that a watermelon and a water-Malone were the same size??  Kid you not.  First off I think I have an ear infection so I can barely hear anyway.  Secondly Nick asked me this question in the car, at night, so not only am I trying to concentrate on driving in the dark (yes, I know I sound old) and then you throw my lack of hearing on top of it and you have a real cluster.  Thirdly, you really have to know Nick and I mean really know him to understand the humor in this story.  Once I realized he was serious about this question, I had to ask more questions.  According to Nick a water-Malone is a cone shape and clearly a watermelon is an oval.  I was starting to wonder if I was losing it!  I tried googling a water-Malone but to no avail.  Who knows what the heck Nick was talking about but I'm going to just call it a Nick-ism, and leave it at that!