DIgnity

Finally officially into summer vacation! Well, nearly. I am teaching a "Creepy Camp" with a friend of mine the next two weeks.

This past week my kids had their end-of-the-year show. My daughter was a the cutest "boy" in her play. And then she performed with four other girls in a wonderful ballet. She was beautiful, poised, and loved every minute of her participation.

At the same event, my son graduated from Middle School. He spoke about the influences in his life and how so many people have helped him out along the way. We were blessed that so many of these special people attended the graduation and saw this rite of passage firsthand. We were also fortunate that my parents, who now live in Homestead, could also attend this special event. Our family (and I include blood family and friends who have turned into family on this list) all came back to our house to help us celebrate. All in all, we are exhausted, but very happy! 

So very glad our friends have seen to it that my children are learning right from wrong, not repeating mistakes, and growing up in a loving, healthy environment. It's not always been that way, but we're on the right path.

Spread your wings!

Middle School Graduation!

Tomorrow night my son graduates from Atala Middle School. He is our first student to spend all three years in the middle school and he is the first student to be accepted into a magnet program in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Actually, he was accepted into all the schools to which he applied...not that I'm proud about it. :)

His sister and I are so very proud of him. We both look forward to seeing what he does as he enters high school next year. Here is the ad we placed in our yearbook this year (and then I promise I'll stop talking about my son for a while).

Spread your wings!

My Son, the Balloon Artist

I bragged on my daughter's blog about a month or so ago. Today I'm taking the opportunity to brag on my son. He started twisting balloons for other kids when he was in 3rd grade and now he's spun it off into a full-fledged business. He was selected to participate in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy in our hometown (Homestead, FL).

If you're looking for entertainment for your child's party, please check out his website. He's very reasonable, very entertaining, and has a lot to offer. His business name is Leider than air.

His site is http://www.leiderthanair.com. So proud of his accomplishments!

Spread your wings!

Silence is Golden

Happy Friday! Silence is golden.

Spread your wings!

The 12 Steps of Recovery

When my kids and I first came to Al-Anon and Alateen group, we were silent during the meetings. But it didn't take long for us to discover how much we had in common with those around use. We learned some of the slogans, the kids played the "Happy/Crappy" game, and all in all we felt great for that one hour a week. It became like a ritual for us to drive 45 minutes to the meeting and back. No one griped that it was a Tuesday night (school night) and that we had to wolf down dinner in a matter of seconds so we could be on time. We had found a group of people that understood what we were going through. I didn't realize until much later that a lot of alcoholics also attend those Al-Anon meetings. Some call themselves "double winners," meaning that they are a recovering alcoholic whose spouse, child, parent, or friend is an alcoholic. They were often the most positive about recovery because they were experiencing it themselves.

The core of BOTH Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon/Alateen are the 12 Steps. Again, I didn't realize until a few months into the recovery process these groups share basically the same 12 steps. Makes sense. The goal of both groups is to recover—either from alcoholism or the behavior that contributes to alcoholism. In case you are curious, here are the 12 Steps:

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Spread your wings!

Mother's Day

This weekend I'm paying homage to one of my all-time favorite humorists: Erma Bombeck. I remember reading her books when I was in high school and seeing her on television. She was amazingly funny and hit you right where it counts. Her open honesty about parenting, marriage, life, and death had a big impact on me. 

As an adult single mom raising two teen/pre-teen children, I truly start to understand the magnitude of what she accomplished. I highly recommend reading The Grass is always Greener Over the Septic Tank. Bombeck died in 1996, but her writing will live on with parents for a very long time.

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” ― Erma Bombeck

Spread Your Wings!

Signs of Alcoholism

Enough said.

Spread Your Wings!

Crazy Stalkers

Just a few thoughts for my uninvited visitor last week:

After this we'll get back to our regularly scheduled activities, I promise!

And, of course, Grumpy Cat because he's our favorite!

Spread Your Wings!

An Uninvited Guest

One thing I never thought I'd have to deal with is a true invasion of privacy. But now I have. In the midst of all the mess that has happened to the kids and me the last 3 years (and really well before that), I have held fast to a stable, safe environment for us. We have three furry protectors and a neighborhood full of retired firefighters and teachers. And we watch out for each other.

This past week I chaperoned a school trip to Washington DC with my son's middle school class. We had an awesome visit. But in the middle of the trip I heard from my pet sitter that someone had been on my property snooping around. Fortunately the pet sitter was not the only one to see her and we have a very accurate description and I know exactly who the person is and I'll be working with the authorities to prevent further drop-ins.

All I can say at the moment is that some people are too busy ignoring the truth. But I still believe that the truth will always wins out in the end.

Spread your wings!

Friday's thought

A great thought for Friday!

Spread your wings!