changes

Okay, one picture from our trip to CO. Driving through Wyoming, these signs are up every 5 miles. And every time we drive through the state I have to wonder, wouldn't it be cheaper if they included this with the "Welcome to Wyoming sign?" and changed it to say "High wind area- entire state"?

So there's a dare on the effers blog about scrapbooking an "I will NEVER..." page. And I was thinking how many things I said I would never do (or be) have changed. Like, "I will NEVER be like my mother," who happens to top the list of women I most want to emulate now. LOL! Or "I will NEVER make my kids take piano lessons," and I've signed them up (W was less than willing) for a year because I think it is a necessary part of their life education. "I will NEVER live in the suburbs," done that several times. "I will NEVER live in a small town," and they're so much more appealing to me now that I've tried them. "I will NEVER live outside the city," (went along w/avoiding small towns) and we're thinking- very far in advance- about purchasing 20 acres or so out in the middle of nowhere. In junior high, it was "I will NEVER wear bell-bottoms," and now it is "I will NEVER wear pegged jeans again!" "I will NEVER use the tv to babysit," obviously before I had any children. I like having my journal from jr high, not because I enjoy reading about the horrible experiences I had, but because I can contrast how much I have changed- for the better, I hope. Most of what I wanted to avoid then was surface and shallow. And many of the things I said I'd never do, I ended up doing at least once. I guess I'm more flexible, and more firm at the same time- more flexible about what I'm willing to try, and more firm once I decide not to do it.

On another subject, I made some cookies today. Chocolate chip, in fact, and the recipe yields 100+. I have to laugh at myself- I should know by now that it takes a few hours to make them- at 12 per cookie sheet for 10 minutes each it takes over 90 minutes just to cook them! I'm letting the last batch cool and it is midnight here. I did have a nap today, however. Which is mostly my way of justifying staying up late since it really won't help me at all LOL!

And Jared took W to spend some of his bday money today. We made him save half of it, and he still had $17 to play with. I was impressed he didn't spend it all! He bought a bunch of candy, and a few toys to play with. He came home and got M and H, and 2 of his friends who live on our street, and shared his candy with them! Without anybody telling him to. Stuck in the details of our days, I sometimes overlook the bright moments when my kids actually get what I'm trying to teach them. And I remember the bad things they do much more easily than the good.

<3 j