At Considerable Cost

Last night, I made the kids' lunches so the meals were ready in the refrigerator this morning (whilst standing on a clean kitchen floor).   I made the kids' oatmeal and made my own eggs and coffee before we left for school.   I was able to go to a prayer group for moms that was held at a dear friend's house.   I stayed too late talking, but it was so nice!   I made supper all by myself (red beans and rice, cornbread) AND did the dishes.   The lunches for tomorrow are prepared.  I haven't been able to do this much in twenty-four hours for a few months.   It's been a great day and I would just like to share that.   Thanks be to God.

A nod to Mac Davis in the title of this post! Good-bye, 2013 and Hello, 2014.   I was tempted to type "and Good Riddance" in reference to 2013, but that wouldn't really be accurate.   I owe a great deal to 2013.   In Dickensian terms, I owe him, just as I owe his older brothers, for the lessons they have taught me, when I was willing to learn. The sudden death of my mother in 2004 set in motion years of chaos for my family and me.   There are major private events and revelations I can't speak of because they aren't just my stories and I am still processing and dealing with them.   Such is life, though, isn't it?   From 2005 to 2010, my life revolved getting care for my father, becoming his legal guardian, managing his affairs, including properties, in two states, all while mothering children from newborns to grade schoolers.   At the age of 33, I stood in a buffet restaurant, frozen i...

Every family has little stories that are told again and again.   I remember Mama's stories of her siblings as they were growing up on a farm in northeastern Oklahoma and those tales of my father's poor circumstances as a child in the same region.   There were the stories of special teachers and of all the fellow students they knew during college years.   When both of your parents are from the Midwest and one of them rose up from poverty, you learn from an early age about self-reliance and self-determination.   My father's job as a professor of Animal Science put him into contact with 4-H and FFA students, as he judged livestock shows and helped with workshops.   I was the only kid in my club with a 4-H project book written by my father. He always had high praise for those high-achieving students he described as "real go-getters."   They were usually officers in the clubs and they spoke to adults with poise and confidence....

If I lived with you/in this house, I would weigh 300/500 pounds.    I truly cannot tell you how many times, upon eating my cooking (usually a second or third helping) I have heard this comment from people.   It's always one of those two numbers; it's never 400 pounds for some reason... I was a thin, at times skinny, kid.   I remember in fifth grade, standing in the dressing room as Mama cried because the dresses just hung off my slender frame and she could count my ribs.   Now, I know that I had the same acid reflux problems with which my oldest has been diagnosed.   Plus, it was just the metabolism I had at the time.   By high school, I was at my ideal healthy weight.   I gained the Freshman pounds in college, but still was at a great weight and I never had to diet or make a point to exercise. A year after Joey and I were married, we moved to Texas from Louisiana.   Joey came to attend graduate school--British History--and I wa...