Light at the end of the current tunnel.....

It was one of those weeks again. Our new dishwasher broke, a couple of the kids are sick, I had an all day conference and had to coordinate solutions to all these problems in between sessions. I felt like one of those workaholic moms who have a cellphone superglued to their ear! But I handled it. The dishwasher got fixed (it was still under warranty), my 17 year old still has a slight fever, but she's resting comfortably, and I did actually get something out of this conference. Kudos to my Mom, who came over to babysit the house and her granddaughter since I had to be away.

I still have a hard time dealing with delegating to others jobs which were once my exclusive domain. The next two and a half years are going to be tough with school, work and family, and if I don't learn to delegate, I'll go nuts. I have to make an extra effort to spend as much time as possible with my youngest, but luckily, she's the kind of kid who can roll with the punches and doesn't mind the occasional play date or alternate pick up because I have to study.

I'm only taking one course this summer because I have to take two trips. I could also use the extra time to catch up on some of my primary schoolwork in counseling. I want to be better prepared for the new semester.

Healthcare in America

I feel there's been a lot of irresponsible rhetoric surrounding the new healthcare legislation out of Washington. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I'd personally like to see how this thing shakes out. I have a college-aged daughter who takes a rather expensive medication. If she could stay on our insurance until she's 26, it would be a great help to her, as well as her family. My father died a couple of years ago of kidney failure. The last few years of his life, he lived on less than $600 per month, which of course made it impossible for him to see the doctor or to afford medications for his high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. If some type of healthcare reform had been in place a few years ago, he might still be with us.

The price tag is alarming to a lot of people, and I understand this, but I believe we've got to start somewhere. I don't believe the bill we have now will be the plan we might have ten years from now. Some massive effort will have to be made to correct the problems with healthcare in America, or it will remain a system of expensive insurance for those who can afford it, and charity hospitals being used as primary care physicians for those who can not.

I feel like I haven't posted in such a long time, but I had a presentation in one class and an exam in another. Finally, they're both behind me and I can look forward to the weekend. I'm ready for the summer to begin. I'm tired of studying and shuttling kids back and forth. We all need a break from being stuck in the car. It's been an especially cold winter for us in New Orleans and everyone is looking forward to green lawns and flowers in the garden. I want to create an outdoor living space once the yard looks alive again. It would be nice to feel warm again. I think I'll ask for an outdoor swing for Mother's Day!

If in doubt, wash it out!

The "Battle of the Dishes" continues. My seventeen-year-old is nothing, if not persistent. Her overly full academic life, now the bane of her existence, is the newest excuse for doing a poor job on her kitchen chores. This child is so much like her father, it's almost excrutiating to watch. She loads the dishwasher poorly, not rinsing anything and placing bowls and glasses on the bottom rack, then seems utterly surprised when everything comes out as dirty as when it went in. Then, of course, there are all the dishes she couldn't get fit in like bowls and pots, which just sit around the kitchen waiting for divine intervention to whisk them clean.

She always tells me that she plans on being rich and hiring someone to keep her home clean. This is mostly a fantasy, but hey, it's her dream to dream. Meanwhile, my advice to my darling daughter is, "If in doubt, wash it out!" The next time I clean the kitchen, I plan to photograph it and email the pictures to her. She's got to realize at some point that a clean kitchen actually involves surfaces you can actually eat off.

Weird Potty Women

I am ready to start a group against women who urinate all over the seat in public restrooms! I mean, seriously? This is the behavior for which we have been railing against the male of the species since the dawn of time. You don't think the first cave woman threw a rock at her mate the first time he got pee all over the outhouse!

I saw a news report on a study which said that women's restrooms actually had more germ activity than the men's room, the reasoning being that children often went into the restroom with their mother. I think it's because some of these women are pigs. I can totally understand you not wanting to sit on a public toilet seat. For the love of God, cover the thing in toilet paper, or at the very least, wad up a piece of paper and dry the seat when you're done. Be considerate of the people who'll come after you. Restrooms for women are already notoriously guilty of fewer stalls, so why make it harder by rendering one unusable?

I'm sorry to be on a soapbox about this, but when I went to class last night, at a college, where there were only ADULTS present, I encountered this problem, and it's just unacceptable.

Golden Rule folks! Do unto others!

I had to take a break!

The last couple of weeks has been exhausting, and I guess you can see by the fact that I haven't posted in a while. Some sad things have been happening. My supervisor's husband died this morning. One of my daughter's professors also passed away, and this is really her first time dealing with the death of someone she admired. My husband took her to the visitation.

I've also noticed a disturbing trend with my family as of late. Everyone walks into the house, goes to their room and plugs into a television or a laptop, sometimes both. Even the six year old pulls up YouTube and pulls up her favorite Miley Cyrus song. I know I should be disturbed by this and I am, but it's hard to get this family all together at one time these days. I've got to come up with something to get them to reconnect. I can't stand the idea that the next few years are going to be like this. One day I'll wake up and we'll all be strangers.

Back in New Orleans

While I enjoyed the little bit of free time my Americorps conference in Pittsburgh allowed, I'm glad to be back home in my bedroom in New Orleans. Pittsburgh in February is a dreary place piled high with soot stained snow and equally damp weather. The people are very nice, and I'd love to see this city during the spring. There's a lot of history there.

We helped out in the very first Carnegie library in the United States. It's a beautiful old gal who's been badly neglected over the past few years. Unfortunately, she's in the center of a town named Braddock, a steel town which has been hit hard by the economy. Once a town of more than 20,000, it now has less than 3,000 residents. To make things even worse, the town's only hospital closed recently, taking more jobs from this already depressed city.

It's hard to return to New Orleans and continue to complain about the recovery. Don't get me wrong; I'm sure we'll all be complaining about something city related tomorrow. But in Braddock, there's such a sense of despair. I can't imagine any parent urging their high school seniors to stay, or encouraging their college graduates to return. The job of bringing the city back seems insurmountable, but they have a dynamic young mayor who's making an effort and as the economy of the country improves, slowly but surely, I'm hoping some good luck will trickle down to Braddock, Pennsylvania.