Every once in a while something speaks out to me. Sometimes it's song lyrics that feel like the writer is singing my heart. Other times it's a book that has a character that I can relate to, and other times it can be a little snip-it of a quote, but today while shopping for Christmas ideas I came across a poem that spoke to me. After you read it you may see why.
You know, I do get asked a lot why I am a happy person, why or how I overcame the things that I have, "do you every not smile or joke?" and you know...after I read this...I know what it really is, it's because without knowing it, I was DOING IT ANYWAY. I don't waste my time on things that I can't control, I CAN control how I react to things and I truly try to live by that. Weather it works or not is up to those around me, and I hope that I do a good job.
"Do it Anyway"
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
- Mother Teresa
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Ten Years ago today...
Kainan,
Ten years ago today I wrote a letter to you and placed it in your baby book. Ten years later you can actually READ that letter! I want to update you on some events that have happened since that day. It will be just a summery because as you can imagine, it's a lot of information and there are lots of theories about what happened. As the dust settled from the events of that day, many people from across the country came together in efforts to try and rescue survivors and to clean up the destruction that was caused by all four planes crashing.
We found out that people on the fourth plane, Flight 93, did what they could to stop the hijackers from causing more destruction. They have their lives to assure that others were safe. When they got ready to take on the hijackers they said "let's roll..." Their spirit of a united front defines what true heroes are.
There was a total of 2,996 people that died that day, 19 of those were hijackers. Of that total 411 of those people were emergency workers who responded to the scene and died as they tried to rescue people and fight fires. The people that passed away that day created, through their deaths, a new way of life for people across the world. Some of that way of life involves the loss of other American lives to achieve not only freedom for others but also to hold those accountable that helped plan the terrorist acts.
Many people have differing opinions of weather things were handled the way they should have been or not, but I truly believe that our leaders did the best they could with what they has to work with at the time. Our Nation has been at war with terrorists for the last 10 years, your whole life. Also, in that 10 years, President Bush's successor President Obama has continued the fight on terrorism ans on May 1st of this year our US Troops finally found Osama bin Laden, and brought him to justice.
The people that committed these acts were religious fanatics that believed they were serving God through what they were doing. To me it's no different that a cult who tries to achieve power or reward through the destruction of others. Acts like these are not what God wants, and that's why it's so very important to learn and research not only your religion but also others as well. It's important to learn the history of these events so we can keep things like this from happening again. That's why I wrote to you that day 10 years ago. I left my fears out of that letter thinking it best to just leave the facts, but I can tell you now, I am no longer afraid. We live in the greatest Nation on Earth, while not perfect, we are founded on the ideals that freedom is for all who live here and that is what the terrorists were actually fighting. Now THEIR nations are more free, they DIDN'T break America's spirit, but strengthened us.
"Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty & thought they saw weakness. And, now, they see defeat." - George W. Bush
I know I left much out, I know I am not the best spokesperson for the event but I felt it necessary to share my point of view for you while you were so small. God Bless the United States of America!
Love,
Mom
Ten years ago today I wrote a letter to you and placed it in your baby book. Ten years later you can actually READ that letter! I want to update you on some events that have happened since that day. It will be just a summery because as you can imagine, it's a lot of information and there are lots of theories about what happened. As the dust settled from the events of that day, many people from across the country came together in efforts to try and rescue survivors and to clean up the destruction that was caused by all four planes crashing.
We found out that people on the fourth plane, Flight 93, did what they could to stop the hijackers from causing more destruction. They have their lives to assure that others were safe. When they got ready to take on the hijackers they said "let's roll..." Their spirit of a united front defines what true heroes are.
There was a total of 2,996 people that died that day, 19 of those were hijackers. Of that total 411 of those people were emergency workers who responded to the scene and died as they tried to rescue people and fight fires. The people that passed away that day created, through their deaths, a new way of life for people across the world. Some of that way of life involves the loss of other American lives to achieve not only freedom for others but also to hold those accountable that helped plan the terrorist acts.
Many people have differing opinions of weather things were handled the way they should have been or not, but I truly believe that our leaders did the best they could with what they has to work with at the time. Our Nation has been at war with terrorists for the last 10 years, your whole life. Also, in that 10 years, President Bush's successor President Obama has continued the fight on terrorism ans on May 1st of this year our US Troops finally found Osama bin Laden, and brought him to justice.
The people that committed these acts were religious fanatics that believed they were serving God through what they were doing. To me it's no different that a cult who tries to achieve power or reward through the destruction of others. Acts like these are not what God wants, and that's why it's so very important to learn and research not only your religion but also others as well. It's important to learn the history of these events so we can keep things like this from happening again. That's why I wrote to you that day 10 years ago. I left my fears out of that letter thinking it best to just leave the facts, but I can tell you now, I am no longer afraid. We live in the greatest Nation on Earth, while not perfect, we are founded on the ideals that freedom is for all who live here and that is what the terrorists were actually fighting. Now THEIR nations are more free, they DIDN'T break America's spirit, but strengthened us.
"Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty & thought they saw weakness. And, now, they see defeat." - George W. Bush
I know I left much out, I know I am not the best spokesperson for the event but I felt it necessary to share my point of view for you while you were so small. God Bless the United States of America!
Love,
Mom
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Dear Kainan, September 11, 2001
The Following is a letter that I wrote to my son, word for word, the day of September 2001. Nothing has been changed, and as you can imagine there was much we DIDN'T know:
Kainan,
Today I awoke to the news that a hijacked airplane crashed into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Then 18 minutes later another plane crashed into the other tower. Both towers burned from huge holes in their sides. We thought the first plane was an accident. When the second plane crashed everyone knew it had to be a terrorist attack. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon a short time later. Then the building that the second plane crashed into, collapsed to the ground. Many people were crushed because they were near the buildings, escaping, or trying to rescue victims. None of them expected the buildings to fall. A few minutes later the first injured building crashed to the ground. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were no more. As this is going on a fourth hijacked plane is crashed in Penn. President Bush said early in the day: "Freedom itself was attacked this morning..." and later: "We will hunt down and punish the people who committed this horrible act." It has been popular belief that supporters of a known terrorist Osama Bin Laden were behind this destruction. A huge investigation is taking place. As these events unfold I will keep record of this for you Kainan. The world is changing before my eyes and I want you to know what was happening as you life was just beginning. God Bless the rescuers and victims; and God Bless us as things are so confusing and difficult right now.
Mom
I wrote three more letters after that and I put them in his baby book. I distinctly remember the shock of the events and the horrible thought of "what kind of world did I just bring my baby into?". I remember rewriting the letter, taking out most of the emotion I was feeling, I thought it best to leave it as "just the facts". I left off the fact that I woke up that morning and laid my 2 month old, Kainan, on a blanket on the floor right in front of the tv, just like every other morning before that one. I left off, that as the tv came into focus after turning it on, I watched the 2nd plane hit on live tv. I left off, that I sat on the couch with a perfect stranger (the air conditioner repair guy) and prayed for our country. I wonder if that guy remembers me as vividly as I do him. I couldn't get past the thought that I brought a child into such a messed up world for a very long time...I have to say though, as the days and years passed, I think that the people in charge of this country did the very best they could with what they had to work with.
I am a Proud American. God Bless the USA!
Kainan,
Today I awoke to the news that a hijacked airplane crashed into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Then 18 minutes later another plane crashed into the other tower. Both towers burned from huge holes in their sides. We thought the first plane was an accident. When the second plane crashed everyone knew it had to be a terrorist attack. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon a short time later. Then the building that the second plane crashed into, collapsed to the ground. Many people were crushed because they were near the buildings, escaping, or trying to rescue victims. None of them expected the buildings to fall. A few minutes later the first injured building crashed to the ground. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were no more. As this is going on a fourth hijacked plane is crashed in Penn. President Bush said early in the day: "Freedom itself was attacked this morning..." and later: "We will hunt down and punish the people who committed this horrible act." It has been popular belief that supporters of a known terrorist Osama Bin Laden were behind this destruction. A huge investigation is taking place. As these events unfold I will keep record of this for you Kainan. The world is changing before my eyes and I want you to know what was happening as you life was just beginning. God Bless the rescuers and victims; and God Bless us as things are so confusing and difficult right now.
Mom
I wrote three more letters after that and I put them in his baby book. I distinctly remember the shock of the events and the horrible thought of "what kind of world did I just bring my baby into?". I remember rewriting the letter, taking out most of the emotion I was feeling, I thought it best to leave it as "just the facts". I left off the fact that I woke up that morning and laid my 2 month old, Kainan, on a blanket on the floor right in front of the tv, just like every other morning before that one. I left off, that as the tv came into focus after turning it on, I watched the 2nd plane hit on live tv. I left off, that I sat on the couch with a perfect stranger (the air conditioner repair guy) and prayed for our country. I wonder if that guy remembers me as vividly as I do him. I couldn't get past the thought that I brought a child into such a messed up world for a very long time...I have to say though, as the days and years passed, I think that the people in charge of this country did the very best they could with what they had to work with.
I am a Proud American. God Bless the USA!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Weekend
I started off my Labor Day Weekend by taking Friday afternoon off to go get my feet pampered. I went to this place called Elite Nails and man, after the food scrub, hot rock massage and wax treatment, I was in heaven! My toes and heels feel great, and it's really been a challenge to keep them healthy. It's been a constant battle ever since Kainan was born, I don't know if there is a connection with that or not, but it's something I am going to start doing for myself to try and keep them healthy.
Saturday, was laundry war 2011. I cleaned and cleaned and folded and folded, and it's a never ending battle! The more cloths I washed and put away the more I found myself thinking that I wished it were socially acceptable to let my kids run around in loin cloths or something...ANYTHING but more cloths! After lunch they were picked up by their father, who just showed up out of the blue...of course the boys just flipped out they were so excited. He told them that they were going to a movie and that left David and I to watching movies and doing a whole lot of nothing. Until our football games started! It's great to have football back on the tube!
Sunday, was the absolute BEST weather day that we've had all YEAR!!! We slept late because it was so dark due to the rainy weather. I was VERY surprised to find out that it was after 8:30 am! I walked into the living room and opened the front door to let Carmen in to eat breakfast...it smelled like rain, it was glorious! It started to rain, and I opened the windows and turned the Air Conditioner off and just enjoyed the quiet splatter of the drops landing on the pavement and window pane. It was the most enjoyable morning that I have had in quite some time. It was the promise of fall that we have been waiting for. It's been such a miserable year, and we haven't had ONE cold break like this since February! I almost busted out all my fall decorations, but I restrained myself...I'll do it in a couple of weekends...
Around lunch time David got called out to a rig that was just outside of Lubbock, so we fueled up the truck and headed out. Dave bought a few lotto tickets and we were super excited when we won $80! We went and ate at Abuelo's and went to the mall, we were looking for jeans to fit Dave, which was impossible. The good news was I found my favorite fall scent at Bath & Bodyworks, it's called Fireside...and when you don't have a fireplace, it smells just like it. So I stocked up because you can't find it after the season is over. We came back to town and decided to go to the movies, and it was ok...we watched Conan the Barbarian...it was real gory and not really like the old one, but it was entertaining. OH! I almost forgot! I got my payment of roasted green chilies! So, after the movie I peeled them and stored them for future use. We picked the boys up and they were upset that they had to come back, how do you explain to a kid that their DAD called and wanted them to leave? Sigh...THEN they told us that they didn't go to the movie...I wish he could learn not to get their hopes up, because it ALWAYS leaves ME picking up the pieces!
This morning the boys slept in until just at 8 am and it was pretty awesome! We rearranged their room a bit to fit a rug that I bought. I spent some time watching movies and cleaning the house a bit. David gave Kainan a mowing lesson and he decided to pay him in legos. They bought a Star Wars one and then super glued it...lol I made a batch of green chili stew and it was SO HOT I had to add sugar to bring it back down so we could eat it! After that it was delicious! I'm looking forward to using my stash of roasted green chilies! '
It's been a really enjoyable weekend at the house, and I can already feel myself dragging my feet about having to return tomorrow...something I don't usually do...but man, after a weekend of that, who needs work?
Saturday, was laundry war 2011. I cleaned and cleaned and folded and folded, and it's a never ending battle! The more cloths I washed and put away the more I found myself thinking that I wished it were socially acceptable to let my kids run around in loin cloths or something...ANYTHING but more cloths! After lunch they were picked up by their father, who just showed up out of the blue...of course the boys just flipped out they were so excited. He told them that they were going to a movie and that left David and I to watching movies and doing a whole lot of nothing. Until our football games started! It's great to have football back on the tube!
Sunday, was the absolute BEST weather day that we've had all YEAR!!! We slept late because it was so dark due to the rainy weather. I was VERY surprised to find out that it was after 8:30 am! I walked into the living room and opened the front door to let Carmen in to eat breakfast...it smelled like rain, it was glorious! It started to rain, and I opened the windows and turned the Air Conditioner off and just enjoyed the quiet splatter of the drops landing on the pavement and window pane. It was the most enjoyable morning that I have had in quite some time. It was the promise of fall that we have been waiting for. It's been such a miserable year, and we haven't had ONE cold break like this since February! I almost busted out all my fall decorations, but I restrained myself...I'll do it in a couple of weekends...
Around lunch time David got called out to a rig that was just outside of Lubbock, so we fueled up the truck and headed out. Dave bought a few lotto tickets and we were super excited when we won $80! We went and ate at Abuelo's and went to the mall, we were looking for jeans to fit Dave, which was impossible. The good news was I found my favorite fall scent at Bath & Bodyworks, it's called Fireside...and when you don't have a fireplace, it smells just like it. So I stocked up because you can't find it after the season is over. We came back to town and decided to go to the movies, and it was ok...we watched Conan the Barbarian...it was real gory and not really like the old one, but it was entertaining. OH! I almost forgot! I got my payment of roasted green chilies! So, after the movie I peeled them and stored them for future use. We picked the boys up and they were upset that they had to come back, how do you explain to a kid that their DAD called and wanted them to leave? Sigh...THEN they told us that they didn't go to the movie...I wish he could learn not to get their hopes up, because it ALWAYS leaves ME picking up the pieces!
This morning the boys slept in until just at 8 am and it was pretty awesome! We rearranged their room a bit to fit a rug that I bought. I spent some time watching movies and cleaning the house a bit. David gave Kainan a mowing lesson and he decided to pay him in legos. They bought a Star Wars one and then super glued it...lol I made a batch of green chili stew and it was SO HOT I had to add sugar to bring it back down so we could eat it! After that it was delicious! I'm looking forward to using my stash of roasted green chilies! '
It's been a really enjoyable weekend at the house, and I can already feel myself dragging my feet about having to return tomorrow...something I don't usually do...but man, after a weekend of that, who needs work?
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