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Twenty-three Years Ago

Twenty-three years ago I was exhausted and worn out
Twenty-three years ago I had plenty to think about

Twenty-three years ago I first laid eyes on you
Twenty-three years ago I felt unequal to

Twenty-three years ago to now has been a lot of time
Twenty-three year ago to now has been sublime

Twenty-three years ago to now has gone by so very fast
Twenty-three years ago to now producing memories to last

Twenty-three years ago to now and you have become a man
Twenty-three years ago to now and your life is yours to plan

My Sugar Free Day

I've been trying really hard to go sugar free in my life.  Lately, actually, since Christmas, I've had more days with sugar than without.  Today was the first day in over two weeks I've been sugar free.

There are several reasons I am trying to go sugar free.  First, Mr G is diabetic, and I feel guilty eating sugary things when he cannot.  More often than not, though, we tend to give in together.  Girls Scout Cookies?  Just a few (boxes) won't hurt anything.  Its only one cupcake.  But tea is better when the sweetener is sugar and brewed right in during the brew time.  It's just easier for both of us if we give sugar up together.

Another reason for me to go sugar free is that there is diabetes in my family tree.  My father was diabetic, my grand father was diabetic, a great many of my cousins are diabetic.  I've been lucky so far, but if I continue to operate carte blanche with the sugar, I won't continue to be.

Lastly, diabetes tends to run in my race.  And what a bummer it is to have a disease attached to a while ethnic group!  Native Americans have a higher rate of diabetes than the general population.

Today was an especially hard day for me, too!  There is an uneaten Kit-Kat in the refrigerator at home.  If you listen carefully, you can hear it calling to me as I walk through the kitchen!  It actually belongs to Caleb.  I could eat it and replace it before he comes home from college again, but I have resisted so far today.

Soda is also one of my weaknesses.  I LOVE soda with cherry or grenadine.  I even keep a bottle of cherry flavor in my cabinet for adding that extra bit to my hot chocolate and sodas.  Keeping soda out of the house is not the problem; having soda when out of the house is where I am most likely to stumble (fall, crash-and-burn).  Especially Sonic drinks.  A cherry-vanilla-diet-coke is my preferred poison, so much so that my kids say I'm addicted!

Although staying strong and being sugar free is a struggle for me, the rewards (husband/wife solidarity, continued good health) far outweigh the temporary benefits.  Now, if I could just find some earplugs so I can't hear that Kit -Kat...

Classic Movie Night

Tonight we are watching a movie together as a family.  Eli decided he wanted to see well-known, older movie he hasn't seen before.  As a film studies/media major in college, he is very interested in movies.  Mr G suggested a comedy, so we scrolled through Netflix and settled on 9 to 5.

What a kooky old film!  It was released in 1980 (Mr G's senior year of high school).  The big glasses, big hair, angular cheek-bones, bright make-up, and shiney lip-gloss help add to the humor for our kiddos, especially when they realize their mom and dad actually used to dress that way!

And the girls in the movie, Dolly Parton and Lilly Tomlin, are two of our favorites.  Dolly is such a gem!  I have always loved to watch her films and see her movies.  I am not a country music fan, but she is one of several I will listen to once in a while.  Her story is one I have found inspiration in on more than one occasion.  Mr G and I have also enjoyed Lilly Tomlin since she was sitting in her big chair on laugh in.

More than how fun the movie is, though, is how much fun it is to watch a a movie all together as a family, and experience I treasure!

Return to Routine

Today was the first day back to school after spring break.

I really thought I was ready for being back in school.  The weekly lessons were posted on the planner board.  The new character word-of-the-week was printed in big, green, block letters at the top of the white board (FAIR) and a matching quote filled the quote box. ( "It's not FAIR to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself"  ~Eleanor Roosevelt )  Morning work and a brand new pencil was waiting for each student at their desks.

What I was not prepared for was how sleepy I would be today.  I had gotten quite used to sleeping until eight or eight-thirty every morning.  Getting up this morning at six was quite a shock to my system that I spent all day adjusting to.

Also, I was not ready for being up on my feet all day.  I was surprised, when I stopped to consider it, how much time I spend doing almost anything other than standing when not at school.  When I am governess of my own time I sit, stand, walk, run, lay, squat, and kneel.  I am rarely static, and especially not static on my feet.

Without a doubt, I am tired after tonight, but I believe I am ready to return to my daily routine.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We celebrated today with family at our house.  Not a large crowd this year; my brother has a new job.  He's the associate pastor of a church in Sandsprings, Oklahoma.  However, this means that religious holidays are work days for him.  This is the first time in 12 years he and his family have not come to spend Easter with us.

We did have plenty of family on hand, though.  Mr G's mom, my Aunt Betty, me and Mr G, Hannah, her husband Zack and their daughter Norie, Eli and his wife Sarah, Sarah's mom, Sarah's sister, her brother-in-law and their two boys, Zeke and Mikey, and Caleb.

The two oldest of the smallest kiddos, Zeke and Norie, will be three this summer, and Mikey will be two in the fall.  This is such a fun age to have around for family gatherings!  We stuffed and hid around 200 plastic eggs and had lots of fun watching the babies find them

We had quite a fantastic table laid with all kinds of food!  We out everything out buffet-style since there were 15 of us!  It took two serving tables for the food and three tables for the people.  Fortunately, our family room is designed just for such family get-togethers. When we host Mr G's side of the family ther are 30-45 people.

Now everything is washed up and put away, everyone has gone other places, and it is just Mr G and myself here at home tonight.  I can't wait for the next big family day for us on July 4th!

Jefferson's Sons

I've been reading a book over spring break, one I picked out, just for me, just because I want to.  It's a historical fiction built around lives of Sally Hemings and her children.  Sally Hemings was a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, the rumored father of her children.

The book follows the lives of three boys, Beverly Hemings, Maddy Hemings, and Peter Fossett, another slave boy at Monticello.  Beverly, Sally's oldest son, is 7/8 white, but his mother is a slave, so by law he is a slave.  He is light enough that, at age 21, when Master Jefferson sets him free, he plans to pass into white society.  Maddy, Sally's middle son, is also 7/8 white and a slave, but is not light enough to pass, so must live as a freed black slave when he turns 21.  Peter, another slave of the Jefferson property, has no hope of ever being free.

The book is a well-written, thought-provoking read into contrasts of the lives of three boys from the same place.  The story follows them through their lives from the time Beverly is 7 until the death of Thomas Jefferson 21 years later.

The end of a particularly good story always leaves me feeling just a bit sad, but the end of this book absolutely divestated me.  When I started the story, I did not anticipate the ending.  By the time time I got to the final few chapters I knew what to expect, but kept hoping for a different outcome all the same.

I highly recommend this book, "Jefferson's Sons".  If you've got some spare time, it's well worth the read!