Soo Proud!

I'm just so proud, of my husband and my brother!

David and Ryan have been working very hard for several years to build their company, ProComputer Solutions, into a successful technology and network services company. They currently serve many businesses across the KC Metro area. Last week, David presented a huge proposal to a terrific new client who plans to begin using PCSi Managed Services right after the first of the year. The new client requested references and David forwarded the request to several current customers who are similar in size and technology needs. What followed absolutely blew us away! They all gave positively glowing reviews. But this one stood out above all the rest... I think David and Ryan should hire this client to write all their marketing and advertising copy from now on!

This is what she had to say:

Christy

We are very happy to provide a reference for Pro Computer Solutions and in particular, David Downs and his partner Ryan Witt and staff Brian McCorkendale. David is great to work with - explains the technology side of the tools in the language that we all can easily understand, works great with our staff one/one when it is needed to resolve problems. We have 100+ workstations, multiple servers and 5 office locations that Pro Computer Solutions provides services for. We utilize their remote services for the most part which has made a significant positive impact on the timely response to our IT needs. The call-in service help line always has a person to take your call and the web based Help line is easy to use by all staff when a problem needs to be reported.

Pro Computer Solutions stepped in when our prior contractor was leaving about 4 years ago and the transition was as seamless as possible for our staff and business functions. They provide the 24/7 monitoring of our systems and are great to help us in problem solving our network needs in a creative and functional means based upon our limited resources as a not-for-profit organization. We probably challenge them at times more than they would like but they always come up with an idea to address the need we have. We can't say enough about their services to really show you how much we appreciate their willingness to work with us and be innovative in their thinking to keep our systems up and running.

We think you would find that Pro Computer Solutions is a good company to work with.
Janice Brooke

Where's Karen Been?

I'm getting complaints from adoring fans that my Blog hasn't been updated appropriately lately.

First, I have to say, I didn't really realize that I had adoring fans (excepting my mom, of course :-) until now. My readership is slight, and I make updates mostly to amuse myself and to keep a living history for my children to reflect upon one day. A secondary consideration is that it is a nice way to share newsy family information that might not otherwise get shared--so of course I'm aware that family and close friends lurk on my blog from time to time... but I didn't really realize it had become a sort of "staple" as it were... to anyone at all. That feels kinda good.

Okay, here's the deal... I don't have anything interesting to talk about right now. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. I get up each morning when its still dark outside. Sometimes I'm delighted to find that Abbey is already awake, or that David has already begun the arduous task of rousing our sleeping beauty. But most days, I wake up to begin the arduous task of rousing the un-wake-able. She generally must be at school by about 7a.m., and mostly she gets there on time...some mornings are rougher than others.

Tyler pretty much takes care of himself. He's often late to school and the soccer coach teaching his 1st hour AP Government class is "cool" as Tyler says, and so does not hold him accountable to be at school on time. Tyler takes full advantage. Some days I slip up and gripe at him about it. Mostly I try to let him live by his own consequences as he will have to do in college just 8 short months from now.

Emery needs help finding outfits each day, but mostly she's self-sufficient in the morning, as long as her dad or I keep her moving.

I go to work. The big thing on my plate right now is to gain approval for a Google Search Appliance (GSA) on the internal web at Sprint. Like many large companies, the intranet has TONS of information scattered across dozens of content repositories, causing much strife for employees who need the information, but are uncertain which repository to look for it. For most of the past year, I have been working to build the business case for the GSA and then rally support among executives and troops to make this thing a reality. Once approved, it is super easy to install, and will make the workday easier for tens of thousands of Sprint employees. This strategy, combined with a good social networking and content strategy will no-doubt be an important part of the corporate turn-around effort currently underway at Sprint. But in this economic cycle we find ourselves in, money is really tight...even for a (relatively) inexpensive solution like this one that has a positive (soft dollar) ROI within 1 month. I have achieved significant support from many sources across the organization, but I have not yet "cracked the code" on working my way through the challenging and allusive change management processes internally. My sales-rep at Google has to think we are the most difficult company to work with ever. He doesn't complain, of course... (I wouldn't work with him if he did.) But I know we have to be among his most challenging clients to work with.

I go home when its already dark. Sometimes David and/or Tyler has already picked up Abbey from the musical rehearsal and Emery from Prime-time daycare. Sometimes I help out with that stuff. Depending on the day of the week, there are music lessons or dance lessons or indoor soccer games or winter programs at school.

We've been working really hard at eating healthier again. I had written about that in my blog several months ago. I didn't make the update when I fell off my plan though. And so these past few weeks since returning home from Disney, David and I have re-committed ourselves to changing our eating habits...again. I don't know if I want to write about that in my blog this time around. I just need to focus on getting it done. I'll have to think about that some more. I may need encouragement if anyone wants to hear about the ups and downs of wavering commitment to that goal.

School work for children has monopolized much of our evening time. Even Emery has homework everyday. Tyler and Abbey are both struggling lately with feeling motivated or excited about excelling in school. Daily conversations are had about what assignments didn't get turned in--that isn't feeling very successful for anyone right now. Today marks the final day of the semester though, and all of us are looking forward to the brief reprieve.

I think High School is much more difficult now than it was when David and I were there. You should see the final Abbey had to do for her Freshman English class... you remember Freshman English, right? I think we were still diagramming sentences and learning how to identify parts of speech. They've been reading Great Expectations a few chapters at a time, while they are also reading other short stories and a second novel, "A River Runs Through It." The final assignment was to write an essay with an introduction and thesis statement, followed by 3 related topics on things like: Choices, Social Class, etc. For each of the 3 topics, there had to be 3 "claims" about similarities, differences, and nuances between various characters across these multiple texts, support each claim with a quotes from the book, and then write an analysis of the quotes and how they support the claims (and all the claims must support the thesis.)

You DO remember Freshman English, right? You had to read To Kill a Mockingbird (or similar) and maybe answer a few essay questions about it, primarily intended to help the teacher know if you'd actually read the book or not. This is the class where you maybe read some of the book, and "caught on" to the rest of it based on classroom conversation. The only reason you were able to pass the test at the end of the book was because the teacher let you watch the movie in class (or you rented it from blockbuster on your own time.) It wasn't till years later that you appreciated the fact that it was actually a pretty decent book and chose to read it of your own accord as an adult. Right? I mean, this IS the way most 14-15 year old kids behave.

Yeah, well, it's pretty much like that with my kid too. So at 11:30 p.m. the day before this assignment was due, Abbey finally thought to ask us for help--actually, that's being generous. It was 11:30 at night when her dad stumbled upon her in the kitchen, staring blankly at the page wondering how to get started. David and I really struggled. I've never read Great Expectations or A River Runs Through It, or any of the other 6 stories or 4 poems, which rendered me mostly useless in offering support. Fighting back the great feelings of inadequacy born from a.) guilt that I hadn't noticed all semester that Abbey hadn't fully read all the texts, b.) frustration that my child waited until almost midnight to start work on a 4 hour project, c.) having to somehow "squelch" the burning desire to yell and scream so that we might be able to instead focus on the task at hand and d.) why didn't I ever bother to read those books?... I stayed up to help her figure out how to write a paper with less than 7 hours left before it was time to arrive at school for finals. Argh! Okay...so we did stumble through it. She was almost done when I went to bed at 3a.m. It appears that she actually pulled off a decent grade on the project. But the point is...she wasn't supposed to have to do that till she was off at college, at which time, I was just supposed to offer support and words of encouragement, "you can do it honey" over the phone. Anyway, she wants to be more on top of her school work and the schedule upon which it is due... mostly.

Tyler and I have not worked on scholarship applications for a few weeks--mostly because he is forever behind on getting assignments turned in lately. It seems that already having been accepted into college, already having scored very well on college entrance exams and already having received a handsome scholarship offer, he just isn't seeing the point to turning in homework these days. Its a severe case of senior-itis. I can hardly blame him. Daily, we receive cool posters, pamphlets, postcards, and other cool stuff from University of Nebraska, luring him to daydream about circumstances that seem way cooler than the one he's currently living. All that's truly standing between him and realizing his collegiate dream is one half-credit to graduate. Makes it hard to stay engaged. I futilely keep challenging him to stay on top of things, desperately spewing advice I wish I had followed... "you will need the discipline and study habits that you build now," "there are more local scholarship opportunities that will include this semester's grades in their considerations," among my favorite reasoning. His responses are equally pithy... "it'll be totally different in college," "when I don't turn stuff in, it's like I'm 'sticking it to the man,'" "I'm so ready to be done with high school." Anyway, the conversation really wears me out. He wants to want to do better... mostly.

Emery's biggest challenge continues to be the allusive Green Smiley-Face notes. Each day, she brings home a very simple sort of report from school. If she was very good all day, it's a green smiley face. If I sign it for her to return to the teacher the next day, she gets a small piece of candy. After she's done that 5 times, she gets to pick out a small gift at school. But more often than we would like, she brings home a yellow squiggle-face note, with a few words... "Just wanted to do her own thing today," or, "Too much talking today," or "Chose not to do her work today." Each day we talk about it. All semester, she has had a goal of stringing together 10 days in a row with Green Smileys. When she does this, she will get to go buy the "Barbie Diamond Princess" movie from Wal-Mart. We've gotten close a time or two. But something always seems to foil the day. She desperately wants to do better... mostly.

My house is a mess. Seems like we are perpetually about a meal-behind the dishes in the kitchen, and we are always a load behind the laundry to be folded on the couch. We are always a week behind the dog hair that needs to be vacuumed. I fancy that if I were better at maintaining these things (and imploring my children and husband to help with these things) that we would all be more successful. I wish I had more discipline... mostly.

I've been reading "The Real George Washington." It's a wonderfully fun story to read. He was such an incredible leader. I guess I've always known that... the anecdotal stories we all remember from our high school history classes hit the high points. But this book really goes into a lot of depth about the nature of the challenges he faced, how his depth of character and commitment to the cause enabled him to overcome the harshest of circumstances, it was his discipline, his heart, his introspection and strategic nature that turned him into a hero. He faced such bigger challenges than the minor sorts of challenges I speak of in today's post. This country he served through the Revolutionary War didn't truly back the war effort. His troops suffered naked and starving through cold New England winters, while their countrymen lived comfortably, sold provisions to British troops, and were often loyal to the opposition. When they were directly attacked, individual citizens would temporarily be more supportive of the effort to become an Independent nation. But as time dragged on, they just wanted to go back to being comfortable again.

Reading Washington's story, it serves as a stark reminder that this sort of complacency and comfort we can so easily slip into is such an enemy of our spirit. We must strive to always raise the bar on our own accomplishments. We must hold firm onto our values and remain deeply committed to the things we hold dear.

Perhaps the most startling thing to me is the number of people who just really did not like him. The people who work for their own glory (and the masses of more well-intended but ignorant folks) really never do understand or see the selfless nature of people like George Washington. They are so quiet and unassuming--its easy to take advantage of them (at least for a while.)

So, in answer to the question, Where's Karen Been? I'm simply living my daily challenges, struggling to get over a 4-weeks long cold, while taking encouragement from General Washington to inspire myself and my children to live, perhaps, just a little bit better... mostly.

Fabricante de Película, Extraordinario

Tyler's Spanish II class was broken into small groups (3-4 students each) and assigned to create Spanish videos. Tyler's group had so much fun with the assignment, they even created a movie trailer--the teacher previewed with the class a week in advance...everyone loved it!

Here's the trailer...

Here's the final project...starring Tyler, a couple of class mates, a filthy little red car and, of course, Bruce! (aka the Bitchin' Camaro) Be sure to stay tuned for the "Bloopers" at the end ;-) I think Tyler may have a future in film making...UNL does have the Johnny Carson Film School if he ever gets tired of the whole Actuary idea...

Two Kids in the Show!

So excited! Tyler and Abbey will both take part in Blue Springs South's upcoming musical production, "Back to the 80's." Tyler will be playing lead guitar in the pit orchestra (which consists of 1 guitar, 1 bass, 1 keyboard, and 2 saxophones.) Abbey will be in the chorus as a member of "the student body." The show runs February 5th through February 7th.

I have to admit, the music sounds fun, but I wasn't all that crazy about the idea of this musical...mostly just because I've never heard of it. Why not Footloose? or Fame? The kids are very excited though, and this may be the only opportunity I ever have to experience both of them in the same musical :-)

During this past week of auditions, I've been pondering the costuming for this show. When I was in high school (in the 80's) we sometimes participated in "back to the 50's" type stuff. Kids would dress in poodle skirts and wear high pony tails... I always wondered when we did that, if it really represented mainstream 50's reality or if it was more of a caricature of what was unusual about the time period. When I look at the pictures from this musical from the 80's, it doesn't really seem to me that it represents mainstream high school students of the time. There were some weird kids who dressed like that... but most of us were a little milder than what is portrayed here. Anyway... that's how I remember it.

Disney Trip--post updated with more pictures

Photo taken at Animal Kingdom in front of the Expedition Everest ride...it was an AWESOME roller coaster! Friends Amee, James, and Jake went with us. Amee broke her foot just in time for the trip. The wheel chair wasn't all bad though...it definitely helped us jump ahead a bit in some of the lines!

The Disney trip was fun, but highly exhausting. In case we do this again in the future, I'm going to jot a few words of advice to myself:

1. Even if it is a little more expensive, it is worth it to stay in a more up-scale hotel. We stayed at Pop Century this time around, which is Disney's version of the Super 8 hotel. It was nice and clean...and it was brand new. But it was miles away from the parks, leaving buses as the only transportation option. Pick someplace you can also access by boat and/or monorail...this gives a lot more reasonable options to take breaks during the day. Wilderness Lodge also had some awesome looking hot tubs, which we definitely would have taken advantage of during the cooler weather this week.

2. Meal plans are not a great deal. They seem like a great deal...but there were times when I ate way too much or way too little food, just to make my food plan work out right. We had the basic meal plan, which included a sit-down meal, a quick service meal, and a snack each day for each family member. We would have liked to have more flexibility in our daily eatery.

3. Make dinner reservations 6 months in advance, and its a good idea to make reservations at more than one location...you can always cancel the reservations you won't be using later. Otherwise, you make a reservation at MGM, and later find out that the "Extra Magic Hours" that day will be over at Animal Kingdom. The dinner reservation causes you to miss out on the extra time with the animals and lighter crowds. We did try to plan around Extra Magic hours before we got there...but the thing is, they randomly change which parks will have the EMH's at the last minute. This was something that really caused some last-minute scurrying, because a family can accomplish in 3 hours of Extra Magic time what it normally takes 8 hours to accomplish standing in over-crowded lines.

4. The restaurants at the resorts seem to have significantly better service than the restaurants in the parks. Not sure why that is...but I suspect it has to do with the size of the captive audiences they get who must pay the 18% gratuity, even if you only get mediocre service.

5. Plan extra days to relax at the beach or stay at the hotel. You need the rest!

6. Be sure to visit Universal Studios...much fun to be had there without all the "disney magic" hoopla.

7. Definitely bring a stroller for young kids that are really a little too big to ride. The days we took a stroller for Emery (age 5 1/2) made a huge difference. Her little legs just didn't have endless hours of walking and line standing stamina that adult legs can tolerate.

Favorite Rides:

• Soarin' at Epcot
• Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom
• Toy Story and Tower of Terror at MGM
• Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom

Favorite Shows:

• "Turtle Talk" at Animal Kingdom was incredibly fun. You feel like you are watching Crush (from the Finding Nemo) movie on a giant TV screen, but he really interacts with everyone in the room. The kids LOVED it!
• Beauty and the Beast at Animal Kingdom
  

Senior Night

October 16th was "Senior Night" at the Jaguar's stadium. Seniors led their team to a 10-0 victory against St. Joe Central. The game ended about 20 minutes early, after the 10th unanswered goal was scored. Tyler played great!

Seniors and their parents were recognized on the field before the game, and after the game we gathered inside for a small reception, celebrating 4 years of Blue Springs South Jagar Soccer.

The Tooth Fairy Will Smile With Such Delight!

Emery was just so excited! That little tooth raked in $5 last night!

Daisy Scout

I have a little Daisy Scout. Daisies are the Kindergarten & First Grade version of Girl Scouts. After attending several family BoyScout functions with Tyler over the years, Emery is very excited about her own new scouting adventures.

Beginning November 1st, Emery will be selling Girl Scout cookies! She will be learning about setting goals, taking orders, and delivering the goods. Please feel free to drop me a note if you would like to contribute to Em's newest venture by purchasing a few boxes of cookies ($3.50 ea.)

Ben's Home!

Tyler and I made a quick trip up to the airport last night to help my parents welcome Ben home from Air Force boot camp and job-specific training. Ben will be here on leave for 2 weeks, and then he reports to Yokota, Japan, where he will serve for at least the next 2 years doing Military Police duty.

Mom, Benjamin, David: Welcome Home, Ben!

Food Rations: When asked why he brought this home, Ben said, "Well, I didn't want it, and so I thought the BoyScouts might like to eat it!"

Mom, Tyler, Ben: waiting for luggage to arrive

Not Just Your Ordinary Vegetable Visitor

This gal can do the hula!

To celebrate the letter "V" this week, kindergarten students were asked to create "Vegetable Visitors," give them names, and document what types of things they like to do.

Emery and Abbey worked together to create "Analise," a vegetable visitor who likes to go to Chuck E. Cheese and have fun. She is made with an onion body, cabbage skirt and hair, green bean arms, potato head, carrot feet and facial features, and radish accessories.

Now that was one fancy Vegetable Visitor!

This post was brought to you by the letter, "V" and about 15 toothpicks ;-)

Kindergarten Field Trip

Emery's Kindergarten class visited Fulkner's Pumpkin Farm today. We got to hear pumpkin stories, dance with a scarecrow, take a hayride, find hidden letters in a corn maze, eat lunch, play in the corn, feed the animals, and pick out pumpkins to take home.

Husker Fan

Tyler and I drove up to Lincoln, Nebraska for a second visit to UNL yesterday. This trip pretty much sealed the deal...Tyler wants to be a Husker. It rained most of the day, but the sun came out just as we were about ready to go home so I could snap a couple quick photos. I think he sorta looks like he already fits in!

We toured the campus again, checked out the business school and met one of their advisers, spoke with business school students, ate some lunch and of course we went to the book store to purchase some Husker gear. Everything looked so pretty in the fall! And the food in the cafeteria was outstanding. One of the other Dads and I lamented a bit that we wished we could go to school at UNL next fall.

Some big names have come through here. Warren Buffett is a UNL graduate. And they also lay claim to the guy who invented and promoted Kool-Aid....whomever that was ;-) Tyler still wants to be an Actuary...for now, anyway. Everyone keeps saying that most kids change their major several times before graduation day arrives.

So the school is chosen and the degree is chosen. Our whole family is very excited about wearing our Big Red and learning to be Husker's fans...all that remains are the scholarship applications and keeping our fingers crossed that this will be affordable ;-)

First Homecoming

Abbey attended her first Homecoming dance on Saturday evening. We had a lot of fun picking out just the right dress. In fact, I think we may have had more fun dress shopping than she had at the actual dance... but doesn't she look fabulous?!

Picture Day!

It's kindergarten picture time! Emery's new photo (age 5 1/2) turned out great! It perfectly captures my littlest daughter as I see her each and every day. In her beautiful stripey eyes we see just how self-assured she is. Emery walks out the door each morning, completely in charge of her destiny. She has a confident answer to absolutely any question...even the ones nobody asks. She strives to earn a "happy-face" note from the teacher each day--but some days are just "squiggle-face" days. Her "best friend" is Zachary, who she recently stopped kissing, opting instead to just "blow kisses." She knows her address and is working on her phone number. She knows her ABC's and the sounds they make--some days we have "break-throughs" where everything makes sense and she can sound out all the short words. Other days she's just not in the mood. This is a picture of a young girl who just likes to do her own thing--if the world doesn't work to her advantage, she has "techniques" to deal with us too. And so the process to socialize and "channel" all that high-commanding spirit through the next 13 years of public education begins! I love Emery so much. In our well-intended quest to help her grow, I just pray we don't mess things up.

Political Rally

My Mom & Tyler & I were inspired to attend our first political rally this morning. We arrived about an hour before the doors were to open, but it wasn't enough...the first 3000 people got in, while the rest of us were directed to an "overflow" area outside the Pavilion at John Knox Village in Lee's Summit. John McCain, along with Sarah & Todd Palin stopped to speak to the "overflow" crowd on their way into the rally. We weren't quite close enough to shake hands when they stepped down into the crowd...but Mom got a few photos to document our experience!

That's my mom!


Tyler and me waiting for the rally to begin!

This one is a little blurry, but that's Sarah Palin standing next to John McCain.

You can see Todd Palin in the center, and John McCain over toward the right.

Pigs In Space

Pigs in Space official logo by Abbey Downs

The 2008 Blue Springs Barbecue Blaze-off was a huge success for ProComputer Solutions' barbecue team, "Pigs In Space" this weekend. David, Ryan, and James finished in the top 20 this year, which does not come with any cash prizes, but is definitely respectable!

Em's First Soccer Game

On Saturday, David got a fresh start in his coaching career with a whole new crop of soccer players. This time around he's older, wiser, more patient, and he has a great new assistant coach too!

Emery (temporarily) shed her tutu and donned her new pink-trimmed cleats. She was less than thrilled with the "hot" socks and shin guards, but she really liked the purple shirt and pigtails. On the field she seemed a little lost around the ball and steered clear of more aggressive players, but she did run around grinning in spite of herself. Dad doesn't know yet if she's got the heart of a soccer player (Emery told us at dinner after practice earlier this week, "I think I'll be a cheerleader for my team after my next birthday.") But we're all having loads of fun in the meantime :-)

This water is good... but is there a faster way to cool down?

Coaches Dad & Abbey talk to the team

The Ball...go get The Ball!

Ahhhh!

Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Good Game, Goo...

Good Game, Coach!

Little Pep Talk


The best part... after game treats!

First Day of Kindergarten!

On our way in to the office this morning, I told Kimberly, "It's really hard to let your baby go to Kindergarten. It's even harder to let her Daddy be the one to take her!"
Last night, I checked her bag and I checked it twice. I gave David all the instructions... you know, the usual stuff:

• Make sure you fix her hair.
• Make sure she has her backpack and her extra bags of school supplies the teacher asked for.
• Make sure she knows where her classroom is when you drop her off at the before-school prime-time care.
• Make sure you take pictures... and make sure you email them to me this morning!

Then I made sure that Emery knew that she's not supposed to ride the bus, and that she knows where her lunch money is. We talked about her school supplies, and planned out what to wear. Then I left for work this morning feeling anxious.

For her part, Emery did much better than that. She was calm and cool at bedtime last night. She's been planning this day her entire summer. She's gone over every detail with me, supposing and talking and supposing some more. She's ready.

Now if Kindergarten is only ready for her, then we'll be set! Enjoy the pictures, taken by the best dad ever...

Before Breakfast

Almost there!

Going In!

Ramona's Surprise Party

I'm not a big fan of surprise parties, but this one, complete with roars of laughter and scores of tears was absolutely fantastic.

It all started with an email from David's sister about 3 months ago. She had a huge vision for a spare-no-expense, under-the-radar birthday bash for her mother. I briefly protested the "surprise" nature of the event (in my experience, Ramona tends to prefer to be more in control of her destiny) but Mandy was absolutely firm on this point. So we set off into the world to plan a surprise and then set it into motion. David's dad found a terrific little venue in Raytown early enough in the planning process to help us focus on all the details. We all came up with some pretty groovy and far-out ideas from time to time. David kept bringing us back to sanity asking the question, "What would Ramona do?"

The W.W.R.D approach worked great...and I highly recommend it to anyone planning a surprise party. It helped, of course, that we've all had the opportunity to work on other events with Ramona in the past. In the end, I think she got a party that was exactly what she might have planned herself, because of all the many events (surprise and otherwise) that she has lead or helped out with in the past.

From building the guest list to coming up with "just right" party decorations, to making sure the kids had stuff to do, W.W.R.D. served as a guiding light, settled arguments, and yielded a very successful party that we all felt great about. It was truly a group-effort. Mandy built the guest list, tracked all the RSVP's, made table centerpieces and took care of all the party decorations. David smoked pork butts for 100 people, took care of all the beverages, installed the sound system and projector, and spent 2 days gathering up all of the supplies we would need to be prepared for anything. Tyler built a terrific slide show with the help of several picture contributors. Abbey helped guests put together a scrapbook that she and Mandy picked out. David's Aunt Brenda made a "Happy 60th Birthday Ramona" sign, and Uncle Ken served as the official photographer for the evening (check back for pictures soon!) Many people pitched in to help out with party set-up and take-down. My sister-in-law, Kim, volunteered to help us out as well, and I was so glad that she did! I arrived to get food set up thinking I would do most of that work, but then it turned out that I had much of the knowledge that other helpers needed to get stuff set up. I got so busy with answering questions and providing direction that I would not have had any of the food ready if it wasn't for Kim. And my parents really helped us out by taking care of little Emery during the mad-dash party set-up and take-down times (we only had 1 hour to set up before guests arrived.)

In all, we received 110 RSVPs from people who said they would be there to "toast, roast, and otherwise share their best memories with Ramona," and we just couldn't thank them enough for coming. In the end, it was all of these people who really made the day. Ramona's brother, Rod, stole the show with some hysterical stories I'd never heard before. Friends who shared long history with Ramona brought playful and sentimental gifts, and presented them with stories and laughs. Abbey "roasted grandma" with her own style & flair, by serenading Ramona with a slightly mean-spirited but playful song from a favorite musical. Perhaps my favorite part of the evening was when 10-year-old grandson, Damien, got into the spirit of the evening with his own rendition of "roasting" grandma, telling her, "I think you need to re-do your make-up and buy some new clothes!"

Happy Birthday, Ramona. Here's to many more!

Mama Mia!

It’ll make you forget the bad stuff around you.

My mom and Abbey and I went to see Mama Mia! at the Independence Commons movie theater last Sunday—a must see film...but make sure you get there early!

We arrived at the over-full theater during previews but I quickly spotted 3 seats reasonably close together near the front. At first it was my intent to ask the couple sitting in the middle of our 3 “almost together” seats if they would mind moving down just one seat so that our cute little family treo could enjoy the film together. But as we approached, they didn’t move…not even enough to just make it a little easier to pass by. Mom & Abbey tripped over crusty knees and a couple of those walking sticks—the type that look like a cane, only with four rubber tips at the bottom to help assure a steady hand. These people were so old—I began to fear they might not make it through the film. Mom figured that if they were able to manage to get themselves into those seats, they deserved to keep them—so I sat by myself between old ladies and let Mom & Abbey sit together. I couldn’t tell if it was the old lady on my right or the older-than-dirt lady on my left who had incredibly bad breath…but that smell kept wafting past my nose every little bit. Three rows back was not enough for the movie screen we were viewing—at first I experienced a bit of motion sickness (augmented by the aforementioned smell)…but within the first 10 minutes the nausea passed, and I was able to forget my unfortunate seating arrangement and become totally entranced. The movie was THAT good. Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar for her performance of “Winner takes it all” in an incredible scene with Pierce Brosnan. The scenery in the Greek Islands is amazing, and…who knew that she could sing like that, anyway? Definitely go see this movie. (Pierce is not a good singer...but what he lacks in audible talent, he makes up for in good looks and on-screen chemistry with Ms. Streep.)

Storybook Childhood

We’re normal parents who want to give our children that perfect “happily ever after” type of childhood that results in strong, independent adults who are capable of making positive contributions to society while taking care of themselves and their families. Like others, we try to be strategic about the kinds of things our kids do Today and the expected results we hope to see Tomorrow. We set goals with our children, teach them how to plot a course toward those goals, teach them how to re-start when things don’t go so well, and we set high expectations for them to achieve. We’ve rewarded and punished, hosted many nights of dialogues, discussions, and lectures, we’ve granted privileges, and tried to instill discipline. We’ve made opportunities available for sports, drama, music, and other interest areas. We’ve encouraged good friendships and discouraged bad influences. And just when we start to feel smug…”Yeah, we’ve got great kids…and it’s because we’re such FABULOUS parents,” something changes—It always works that way.

Our first parenting “masterpiece” just turned 17 this summer. With that change, we are beginning to really contemplate the idea of him leaving home in just 12 short months. Will he be ready? Will he be able to stand up to life’s rigors and avoid its pitfalls? When he trips, does he have the resiliency to recover? We carefully planned his childhood—but were those plans the right plans to make him successful in life? Does he know how to work hard to get the things he really wants most? Does he want the right things? Will he be compassionate? Will he be strong? Will the years of scouting and soccer practice and music lessons make a difference? Will he remember all of those lessons he learned and re-learned and still seems to be learning? Will he keep learning? Will he help others? Will he come home to visit me?

I sure do hope so.

Unexpected Benefits of Adding a Little Green

As gas prices have crept up these past few years, my lifestyle has gone largely un-impacted. I gripe a bit, and feel aggravated at the pump like everyone else you know. I drive David's little Nissan Versa now, instead of my big seven-passenger mini-van. But when I need to go somewhere, I just get in the car and go--and I don't worry too much about what it's costing me. The reality is that I feel like I make enough money to absorb the extra $40 or so getting to work and back each week. I've briefly given thought to taking the bus or carpooling, but, I rationalize, "what if the kids got sick and needed me during the day?" This, in spite of the fact that I've got 3 of the most healthy kids you've ever met, is the primary excuse I've given myself for wasting so much money--"its for the children."

The truth is, I like my independence. I like knowing that if I want to go somewhere, I can--and I don't have to wait to do it. The truth is, I don't want to change.

Then 2 weeks ago, an awesome opportunity popped up to start carpooling with my sister-in-law (the one who is married to brother, Ryan) She lives about 10 blocks from where I live, works about 10 blocks from where I work, and our schedules are reasonably compatible. Cutting my gasoline spend in half feels great. The independence I've had all this time isn't as "essential" to my well-being as I previously believed. And I'm finding a few unexpected rewards in the new arrangement that extend far beyond simple economics.

First, it's instilling a bit of discipline in certain aspects of my life where I had none before. For example, when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, I know I'd better get up. If Kimberly gets up this early and then I'm not ready when she is, I have no doubt there'll be hell to pay. Also, at the end of the day, when I'm tempted to squeeze in just one more accomplishment before heading out the door for the day, there's Kimberly, ready to pick me up (or to be picked up by me.) I'm finding that letting some of the work wait till tomorrow morning is really working out just fine. And if it can't wait till tomorrow, heck, I'm part of the mobile workforce now... I can just take it home with me!

Second, the time in the car passes more quickly with someone to talk to. Kim is willing to listen to all my stories--about work and kids and politics and religion and whatever suits me that day. And she has some pretty interesting stories of her own to tell as well. It's fun to get into the car in the afternoon with a close friend--a sister--who is keeping up with my daily trials of change management at Sprint. She even responds appropriately if I text a mid-day message about some particularly interesting plot-twist in the daily saga.

Finally, I thought that the whole "being green" thing didn't matter to me. I'm that person in the office who gets agitated about the corporate decisions to discontinue providing disposable drinking cups or paper benefits summaries. I feel skeptical about the motives to provide one product (out of hundreds of products) in recycled packaging. But I feel good about this carpooling arrangement. Maybe I'll take another look at ways to add more "green" to my life.

Just Been Busy--Catch Up Post

I've been catching some flack for not keeping the ol' blog updated recently. I don't have a particularly good excuse... just have been busy.

Abbey and Emery just finished a fun summer drama program called Camellot Academy. (Or as Emery likes to say, "Cademy A Camelot." In camp, they participated in voice, dance, art, acting, and chorus, and they had performances every Thursday evening throughout camp. I have video of these performances, and will post some of it once I have a chance to process it. Last weekend, they both appeared in the end-of-camp performance of "Peter Pan."

You should have seen Emery. She gave a whole new meaning to the term, "Lost Child." She had messy pigtails in her hair as part of her costume...at one point on Saturday night the little girl next to her reached over to straighten it out...Emery looked sharply at her and told her under no uncertain terms to cut it out. She looked like she was going to whack the girl. Then there were the bug bites. All the other little lost boys and girls were singing "ug-a-whug" while Emery was scratching for bug bites. Totally hilarious when she tried to look a the particularly itchy ones on the back side of her thigh. Each time she finished looking them over and scratching, she caught right up in line with where she was supposed to be on stage. Every time the lost children came out to do another number, I just couldn't wait to see what she'd do next!

Abbey was a lovely Mrs. Darling, but an even better pirate. They assigned her pirate character to act drunk. She never spoke a word, but managed to appear completely toasted throughout every dance sequence. I laughed until I cried at her eyes and gestures as she bounced off the other pirates or stumbled around or just looked bewildered. David said she reminded him of Lucille Ball, the way she would always try to blend in and yet somehow make every scene appear as though it were all about her. I thought she looked like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean--when I said something about it to her after the show, she said, "That's who I was pretending to be!" Her drama teacher said she was really glad that Abbey had another role, so that the audience wouldn't just think she was like that all the time. She just absolutely never broke character, no matter what was going on around her.

I ordered a copy of the show on DVD. I'll see if I can maybe capture a couple little snippets for distribution when it comes. Lots of friends and family came to see the performance, including Grandma Susie & Grandpa David, Grandpa Bob & Grandma Ramona, cousin Damien, Uncle Ryan & Aunt Kim, Uncle Kenny & Aunt Brenda, Grandma Jennie & Grandpa Allen, and of course Helen was there because Emery's friend Julia was also in the show as an extra cute little pirate.

Tyler has had a busy summer too. He and David spent a week at Venture Crew camp, and then Tyler spent 9 days at Boy Scout Camp. That was some adventure! Tyler and his friend Chris won the "Messy Tent" traveling trophy award (which happened to be a stuffed gorilla) the morning of Visitor's Sunday. His tent is usually clean, but apparently the judging happened earlier than he anticipated. Anyway, after cleaning his tent, Tyler hung the trophy by a rope outside of his tent. Some campers in the next tent over were from another troop--their parents saw the gorilla hanging from a noose outside of Tyler's tent and were terribly offended. In fact, they must have been very very offended, because they complained to the Camp Commissioner. So later that night, the Commissioner came down to the camp site demanding to know who had done this terrible thing. Tyler claimed responsibility, and the virtual beating began. Now, I wasn't there for any of this, but I've heard accounts from multiple people who were there, including the Camp Commissioner, the Scout Master, Tyler, and several other Scouts and Scouters. What I'm told is that Tyler was pretty severely dressed down by the camp commissioner for being a terrible scout, failing to live up to being a good tribesman, and just generally being a racist.

Whoa! Really? A racist? We were totally shocked. None of us had any idea that a noose or a gorilla would be offensive in any way. Our kids have stuff hanging from ropes all the time. The gorilla has been the traveling "dirty tent" trophy for many a camp session over the years. What followed next was a series of apologies, varying degrees of acceptance of said apologies, a visit to camp from David & me to speak personally with the folks involved. All is well that ends well. Nobody believes Tyler is a racist anymore. The kids in the camp next door were forgiving. Our troop adults (mostly) forgave the camp commissioner for jumping to conclusions. And life marches onward. But it was exciting for a while. I figure this experience will give Tyler some great stuff to write about in an essay someday. Everyone's got to have their great "misunderstood" stories to write about, Right?

Tyler also got his first job this summer, working for Ken Wilcox in Grain Valley. Tyler basically does anything Ken asks him to do and then gets paid at the end of the week. I'm not sure what to call that job. Grandma Jennie tried to get more information out of him last weekend. She concluded that he is a janitor. I'm not so sure--do janitors load all your personal contacts into your new cell phone for you? Tyler does seem happy about getting paid though, and he really likes getting assigned specific tasks he can just go complete--and I'm super happy with Tyler getting someone else to give him money. That kid is freaking expensive! Actually, all of our kids are really freaking expensive. Sometimes I think I need to sit down and re-think my entire parenting strategy. Somewhere out there in the world, someone has come up with a way to raise kids who are not as expensive as my kids are--I'm just postive that must be the case.

I've stopped putting all my daily dietary habits in SparkPeople. I keep thinking I need to start doing that again--I really do very well at exercising and eating healthy when I keep up with it. I'm experiencing something less than commitment at the moment, however. Looking for inspiration, I suppose.

That's all for now. More to come soon...

The Secret Garden

Last week was the Spring 2008 voice recital for McIntire Studios. Abbey performed 3 songs, and I had to break it up into 3 separate posts due to some technical challenges. This first song is "How Could I Ever Know?" from The Secret Garden. I'd like to add additional commentary here, but Abbey gets mad at me when I do that :-(

Now, that's Italian...

Abbey performs "Star Vicino"

McIntire Studio's Spring Recital 2008

My Fair Lady

Abbey performs "Wouldn't it be Loverly?" from the musical, My Fair Lady
McIntire Studio's Spring Recital

8th Grade Talent Show

Abbey made her 3rd and final appearence at her middle school talent show last week. In spite of my protests that she should choose something popular with her peers, she chose a song from one of her favorite musicals, Jekyll & Hyde. It turned out beautiful as always. Kids and teachers alike really enjoyed this performance. I'm so proud of her!

Someone Like You

Measuring success

In business, when a leader wants to make a change, the first thing that must be done is to set a goal and establish a clear way of measuring progress toward that goal. The measures must be reviewed and discussed often so that people can learn and make the necessary adjustments along the journey toward success. That's a lesson that I learn and re-learn at work almost every week.

Making a personal change works exactly the same way. The challenge with personal changes, such as achieving health goals, is being disciplined about measuring and adjusting as the days pass. At least, that is how it works for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about a decision I made to make the necessary changes to become healthy. I set goals to track what I'm eating every day and to bring my lunch to work with me. Since then, I have faithfully tracked my nutrition everyday in SparkPeople. And I took my lunch with me all but one day. So far, I'm feeling really great about these changes. It is working... I have lost 1 pound each week.

SparkPeople has been an incredibly helpful tool. After the first week, I reviewed each day's nutrition and discovered that I was only meeting my daily calorie goal about 50% of the time. I also noticed that I really was not getting anywhere near the 3-5 daily servings of fruits & vegetables that people are supposed to have. This past week, I set a new goal to eat a minimum of 3 fruits or veggies everyday, hoping the calorie issue would just resolve itself.

It didn't.

I am now meeting my fiber goal consistently, and I'm feeling better, with more energy. But I'm still only achieving my daily calorie goal about 50% of the time, and I only lost 1 pound this week, just like last week. I'm feeling a little bummed about that...an aerobics teacher once told me that you lose more when you increase the fruits & veggies. But I guess it couldn't really just be that easy. The moral to this story is to be wary of advice from your aerobics teacher. I never did like aerobics classes.

As I reviewed all the progress graphs from the past 3 weeks, I confirmed what I already knew...when I am able to plan ahead what I will be eating, I do very well. When I don't...or when we eat out or go to parties, I always blow my calorie range for the day. The harsh reality is, I need to find a way to consistently stay within my calorie range. Ugh. I don't like that part. But I am making a new commitment today to do better than 50% this week.

I can count some other successes though. David and Abbey have both joined me in my quest to become healthier. We've been going on evening walks together most evenings. Abbey is learning to track her foods in SparkPeople, and experiencing the same challenges I am. And we're all talking about how things are going with our nutrition goals everyday. I'm counting this as a huge win. I'm hoping this will make it much easier for all of us to stay focused on improving so that we can meet our goals.

Slide Show by Kami

Kami gave me permission to publish a link to the full slide show of the kid's photo session, which you can view right now by clicking on the title of this post. There are about50 images in all, and they are fantastic! Enjoy!

Preschool Graduation

Emery "Graduated" from preschool at the YMCA this evening. The kids sang songs, received their diplomas, and told their parents what they want to be when they grow up. Very cute!

Grad Grad Graduation


Interview With a Graduate

Brother Ben Goes to Boot Camp

Breanna, Ryan, Josh, Karen
and Benjamin

Susan, Benjamin, and David

Tonight's Family Night gathering was a special celebration, both because it is Mother's Day, and because today is the eve of Ben's departure to San Antonio, Texas for Air Force Boot Camp. If all goes well, he should graduate before the July 4th holiday. Ben is so excited to get started with this new phase in his life, and we are very proud of him. I will miss my baby brother and look forward to seeing him again very soon!

One Flew Away

When I went out today to take pictures of the birds, one baby flew away just before I could snap the picture. He flew from the nest to the tree, and immediately upon arrival, mom & dad flew over to his branch in the big tree. Very sweet. Just two babies left in the nest. As I look at the nest, it's difficult to imagine there being another bird in the nest at all.

Bird Update

The babies are just about flowing out of the nest. I'm starting to think these little guys might actually have a fighting chance at life. I may have to take back what I said upon discovery of the eggs.

Berkshire Hathaway Pictures

I should have published these with the Shareholder Meeting story. David had a great time posing for me :-)



A Bunch of Fruits!


David with Warren and Charlie


More Fruits