I am....

I read Jenni's post and decided to take the challenge myself. I am different things to different people and so here goes my list. There are more, but this will do for now.

I am

a wife

a mother

a grandmother

a daughter

a sister

an aunt

a coach

a team mate

a seminary teacher

an organist

a choir director

a friend

a blogger

an official

a volunteer

a bill payer

a mother of a missionary (which helps with the next one)

a budgeter

a sweetheart

a snuggler

a listener

a talker

a cook

a planner

a housekeeper

a gardner

a dishwasher

a cleaner

a neighbor

a seamstress

a singer (only for myself)

a barber

a painter

a clothes cleaner

a babysitter

an office clerk

a fan

a chauffer

a message taker

a shopper

a mother-in-law
a visiting teacher

a believer

a follower of Christ

a daughter of God.

With all the things that I am, I should get a raise.

A Night Away

Yesterday my sweetie and I ventured south for some time away that was totally job related. I drove a pick-up truck to Milwaukee for another church employee who had his totaled in a tornado on Monday night. We had lunch with the Barretts which was absolutely delightful. On the way to Milwaukee I got pulled over for speeding through Kiel. Fortunately I had an officer who took pity on me as I just told him I was trying to keep up with my husband. He let me go and told me to slow down and not speed through Kiel or I'd be toast.

After lunch we headed south to Chicago to go to the temple. A very small session, but so nice to be in the temple. We stayed overnight in a place where each "room" is it's own building. As I looked through the brochure I was amazed to see some of the suites had their own private swimming pools within their rooms. We had a hot tub and a fireplace in ours. Interesting that there was an emergency switch on the wall if you needed the police/ambulance, but no phone in the room. We had ice cream at Baskin Robbins which is always yummy.

This morning we headed to Rockford for a meeting with HR for the custodians to take an outplacement package from the church as all custodial positions are being eliminated. No fears here as the mechanical positions are NOT being eliminated. In fact the HR representative told us he hoped Pat wasn't taking the outplacement package.

Now we're driving to Wisconsin Rapids to check on the youth at youth conference before we head home to celebrate Tom's birthday. Even though the two days were filled with work-related events, we got to spend the time together which is always wonderful. The longer I'm married to my wonderful husband, the more I love him. I believe that's the way it is supposed to be.

Friends

I had a friend that moved into the area during high school. We didn't go to the same school, but knew one another because we attended the same church. We wrote to one another when we were both attending college and I wrote to her while she went on a mission. (Prior to email and the computer age.) She moved to Utah and we didn't see one another much for a lot of years, but still we kept in touch.

Now she lives in LaCrosse and we still don't communicate very often but when we see each other we pick up right where we left off and it's never uncomfortable. Her mother passed away last week and the funeral was here in Gresham. I was able to have her spend the night at my house and help with some funeral arrangements.

I think we must have known one another even before we were born. I have several friends that I feel this way about. It's such a wonderful feeling to have that bond. Do you have such a friend or friends?

Junk spaces

A dreary day outside today so that leaves me with chores inside. My kitchen needs some attention. I believe everyone has a counter or drawer or both where things get set down because they don't have a home, yet. Well, those spaces are about to change today. I am determined to see the top of my buffet once more. Wish me luck!

A season ends

On Thursday I went to LaCrosse for the state track meet. Tommy qualified as the fastest runner in the 800 meter run. Taylor came along with us so it would be "appropriate." We had a great time together. Matt Davis, Allyssa and Mindy met us there and spent the evening with us. We had a great time catching up on one another's lives. It was a lot of fun.

Friday brought competition. First the triple jump and later the 800. I didn't expect Tom to place in the triple jump as he was the qualifier with the lowest jump, but he did beat two other guys. He and I talked about the 800 on Thursday afternoon and again on Friday. I told him that as long as he ran the best race he could run, I wouldn't be disappointed. He can only do the best he can and no one can ask for anything more. He agreed. I assured him that it didn't matter to me as a coach what place on the podium he stood on or even if he stood on it at all, just that he run well.

He did run well. 1:57.79 minutes for his 800 which is a new school record and more importantly a new personal record for himself. He was disappointed in placing 6th, but I told him that all those other guys owed him a "thank you" for setting the pace that allowed them to run their incredible times. I doubt that any of the other competitors would have set the pace he did. I would say I'm incredibly proud of this athlete but that would mean I take credit for his success. Rather, it has been my honor to be a part of his track career over the past four years. He and the other seniors will be missed terribly by me.

I'm so glad that the season is over and I can be home with my husband and boys each evening. I'm not even thinking about the next season but it is only 40 weeks until it starts. hehe