Saturday, June 23, 2007

Do you know the meaning of being grounded?

Apparently Joseph does not. He has been grounded for a week or so for making some very poor decisions, amongst other things. My definition of being grounded and his definition are quite obviously polar opposites. To me, being grounded means no phone, no phone, and no freedom. To Joseph it means that as soon as your mom isn't looking you take off out the door. It also means that while your mom is at Cheer Camp that you go jump on the neighbor’s trampoline....’cause she'll never know, right? Yeah, that is until you try to pull a Jett Lee/Spiderman move as you are getting off the trampoline. What happened next taught him why you listen to your momma when she tells you something. See when Jett Lee busts a move, he usually doesn't end it by busting his elbow open. Yep, the phone call no parent wants to receive. Joseph was jumping and fell and busted his elbow. I came home to find my child covered in blood. From the time it took him to fall and me to get home, he managed to bleed all over his shirt, his shorts, his arm, hand, leg, and shoes. The wound itself wasn't bleeding when I got here, but it had been. As I tried to control the lurching in my stomach, I made him get in the truck and off to Methodist we went. (I am driving Daddy's truck ‘cause my car is in the shop). We placed a call to Aunt Carol as Joseph said he wanted her. A lot of good that did. She did well until they really started cleaning his wound, at which point her freckles disappeared and so did any pinkness she had in her face. I told her if she was checking out on us, this was the place to do it...plenty of medical professionals. We had a great ER tech that was a real hoot and took good care of all of us. She attended to the wounded and ill...all three of them. Joseph with his cut, Carol with her pass outedness, and Joshua with a seeping blister on his heel. Me....I get the bill. Dang, I think next time I will at least stub my toe. So anyway, 4 stitches and the removal of a chuck of loose skin later, we left. I must say I won the bet. I said 4 stitches, Josh said 5, Carol said 8, Joseph said just numb it first. He gets his stitches out in 12 days, so I take him back on June 34th. ha ha!

I am going to post some pictures of his wound. If you have a weak stomach, use caution when viewing.









Monday, June 11, 2007

To each their own

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. 98% of which I don't want to get into. That 98% has taught me a life lesson. I guess I should say that I have known it all along, but this experience has driven it home. This lesson is that no one can create happiness in my life but me. I should never give other people the power to make me happy or sad. I have been pretty down for the last couple of weeks and have struggled greatly to get out of my funk.

The enlightenment came this evening as I talked with Carol. This probably sounds completely whacked out, but as much as I didn't always like the Carol she was before she made her journey through her own hell, I feel that in some warped way, it was good in that it has allowed her to have a perspective on things the rest of us don't have. I love that she is able to provide truly nonjudgemental assessment of situations. I owe her hugely, majorly, in the biggest way. It's not that she had some magic wand that waved over me as she chanted ancient healing verses. It was more the out look she shared. The experiences she shared. And the love and understanding she showed.
I entitled this to each their own for one reason. It is up to each of us to be our own person. It is up to each of us to make our own happiness. It is up to each of us to make the decision daily to live our own life for us, not for those around us. This is not to say that others don't matter or that we shouldn't be considerate of others. What it does mean is at the end of the day, we answer to ourselves. Be confident in your decisions, be secure in who you are. Do not let others bring you down. If they manage to bring you down, don't let them keep you there. Life is short, and if you decide for it to be, life can be oh so sweet.

This is what makes my happiness, my sweetness, my joy. In as much as they drive me completely insane, they are my reason for wanting to experience complete happiness. The loves of my life.....










Peace, love, and sheer happiness....Kathy