What I Hate About Living in the South

I HATE TICKS. They are disgusting and quite frankly, they creep me out. And they seem to be everywhere.

I had heard friends talk about pulling ticks off of their children at one time or another, and I will be honest - I thought these people just didn't practice good family hygiene. I mean, MY boys would never have some creepy arachnid nestled under their skin slurping away at their blood.

Yeah. Right.

My first experience with a tick on a Kimmel was several months ago when I saw Calvin from a far and thought I better take a look at the growing birthmark on his bum cheek at bath time. Imagine my complete HORROR when I later discovered that "birthmark" was a growing tick lunching away on his bottom! I admit - I freaked out. I mean FREAKED OUT. With trembling hands, I took the tweezers to that bad boy, but that bug from hell wouldn't dislodge for anything. I finally had to call my neighbor to come in for back up and get the pediatrician on the phone to a) calm me down and b) talk me through proper tick removal. I was emotionally scarred. Forget Cal's butt - I was marked forever.

Since that terrible day, I have had to remove ticks from strategic places on my husband (yeah, that's love) and this morning Jude had one of those horrible creatures behind his ear. I keep checking Marshall, but either he doesn't have any, or his fur is so thick it keeps me in denial. We do put tick medicine on him. I may start bathing the boys in it.

I love, or have come to accept, most everything about living in the South. But I cannot make peace with those ticks.

"My Warm-Up Is Chasing Kids"

That is what it says on the new tech running shirt I want.

I am so ready to get back to running. I can hardly believe it has been almost 15 months since I have had a good, long run. I know it isn't quite time to try yet, but in my mind I am tapping my foot and tapping my watch impatiently. Now that I have the hope that my heart will fully recover, I am losing patience for that time to get here. Mentally, I am ready.

It isn't that I don't appreciate how far I have come physically over the last year. I do. I remember walking up our half flight of stairs, and sitting down at the top to catch my breath. I remember many conversations when I ended up gasping for breath to finish a thought. I remember just sitting in the van in the driveway, breathless from walking out of the house. I was weak, I was exhausted, I was barely able to function.

I do, of course, also remember the pain of running. A bad running day never totally leaves you. One night over a year ago I set out and by mile two, I knew I was done. I just couldn't go another step. It was crazy, and it was maddening, and it was discouraging. I remember how tired and out of breath I was the first time I finished 5 miles. I remember hitting the driveway after a hard run, and begging my jello legs to make it as far as the front door before giving out. I remember the rain, the snow, the heat.

It is strange that very similar physical symptoms can produce such different responses based on their origin. When I was tired and out of breath from being sick, I felt weak and afraid. When I was tired and out of breath after a run, I felt invincible and fearless.

I am ready to feel invincible and fearless again.

I Love These Boys!

Calvin's Birthday Pictures

So I am a little behind. It's been a busy July, what can I say?

Cal turned 4 on July 7th. In this season of his life, Cal is really into Star Wars. (His daddy is so proud!) So we had some buddies over for our Star Wars birthday party. To get everyone in the "Jedi mood" I made each child a little light saber. (You would be amazed what a swim noodle and some duct tape can do - I feel like the McGyver of birthday parties!)

Here are some pictures of our little party!

Random Thoughts

There is going to be no great point to this post. Keep your expectations low. I am just going to ramble about some random Kimmel business.

Jude has learned how to ride a two wheeler! Well, he didn't really learn, apparently he already knew. Yep, missed that milestone entirely. We were at the park the other day with our sweet friends and Jude hopped on Josh's two wheeler and just began riding around. Well. OK. Glad I could help on that one! So now he has a new bike and all he wants to do is ride, ride, ride. This weekend he caught a few minutes of an X Games type BMX competition, and now he figures he will practice and be on the "bike show". Heaven help me!

Cal Henry is doing fine. He has recovered from his grumpy day, and is back to his unique self. Today was Jude's registration for first grade (as an aside...WHAT?!?!?!!? MY KID IS IN FIRST GRADE?!?!?!!?), and while we were in his classroom, a police officer came in the room for a minute. Jude immediately noticed the officer had a "real gun" (oh, yes - we were going to be the parents who didn't let their sons play guns...until Cal ate a potato chip into the shape of a gun and began shooting everyone at lunch one day...). Suddenly Cal's eyes got really big and he whispered to me, "If he is the cop, are we the robbers?"

On the health front, we think we finally figured out what has been wrong with me for the last 14 months or so. After tests, tests, and more tests, my doctor believes I caught a virus and eventually the virus attacked my heart. Thus the fatigue (probably from the virus) and the shortness of breath, chest pain, weakness, fainting, and even more fatigue (from the virus getting my heart). The bad news is that there isn't really much "treatment" besides time to heal my heart and get my energy back. The good news is that my dr figures in another 10 months I should be good as new. There are days when that information discourages me (that will be two years I will have been sick!), and days when I am so relieved and grateful that I don't have anything that 10 months wouldn't fix. In the meanwhile, I am supposed to be eating as healthy as possible and getting in some walking as I can. When I take the time to look at the big picture, I can see that I am physically better than I was 10 months ago, and I am sure I am wiser as well. It may take me years to be able to totally get perspective on all of this, but God has been faithful. It has been rough. But He has been good.

OK. I think that is probably enough randomness for now. Hope you all are doing well! (Um, both of you who read this...)

A Love Lesson From Cal Henry

Today was one of "those" days for Cal Henry.

It started off OK I guess, but when his afternoon nap ended about an hour and a half too early, things started to get messy. There was crying, whining, tears, angry words - you name it (Oh, I am talking about Cal, not me...well, at first anyway...). By four o'clock, it became one of those "Hide-the-duct-tape-because-mama-isn't-afraid-to-use-it" days, and we reached critical mass about fifteen minutes before bedtime when we peaked at a "Hide-the-spoons-so-mama-doesn't-claw-her-own-eyes-out" evening. Suffice it to say, it was not one of Cal's best days.

By the time I got Cal Henry in bed (as an aside, I did find an upside - it is much easier to clean his back teeth while he is at a full out wail), I just wanted to cover him up and walk away and try again tomorrow. I love my child, but some days are just...hard.

As he sat sniffling in bed and whining, I took a minute to really, really look at him. The child was a mess. His face was red with frustration, his eyes were narrow and glaring, and very grumpy words came out of his frowning mouth. But then I saw something that struck me deeply. Even though all the rest of his body language was communicating anger with me, he still held out his little hands towards me for a hug.

I realized at that moment that when we are at our most unlovable, the only real cure is for someone to come and love on us.

I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior (and oh, we saw some tonight), but I do believe that after facing consequences all day what Cal really needed right then was restoration. And so after a little talk, Cal Henry crawled up in my lap and rested his head on my shoulder and we sang the hymn "I Come to the Garden Alone" together. And then we just snuggled quietly together for several minutes. His tears were dried, his words became gentle, and he laid his head on his pillow, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for the night.

Let's face it - at one time or another we all are a bit unlovable. But as I look at my life, I feel so blessed because I have people who, in my darkest times and worst days, still love me. Through this year of illness and frustration, my sweet husband has continued to show me love even when I was too tired to appreciate it. My friends haven't allowed me to push them away when my discouragement would get a hold on me. And although I fall short of even my own expectations every day, my Jesus continues to love and restore me.

I hope I remember this night through the parenting years that loom ahead. I hope Cal Henry has a better day tomorrow. I hope I never find that roll of duct tape. But most of all, I hope I remember to love the people in my life even when they seem unlovable.

If You Want To Know Why...

...people believe in the transforming love of God, you simply must watch this video.

There are so many stereotypes about what being a "christian" means - quiet times, church attendance, clean language, faithful tithing. But this video reminds me that the outside "stuff" we do is nothing (and I do mean nothing) in comparison with the really BIG stuff that God does in the hearts and lives of those He loves.

In the Bible God reminds His people again and again to recount together the wonders He has done. That is so much more for our benefit than His. When I take the time to realize what God has done and can do, I remember more clearly who I worship and why. Jesus radically changes lives. Every day. Miracles do happen. Every day.

I am linking you to Brother David's blog (he's our senior pastor, but don't worry - he is a people person and I am sure he won't mind!), because I have absolutely no idea how to do a link directly to the video myself. But check it out, please. It is his July 15th entry called "Check This Out".

http://blogs.longhollow.com/david/

By the way, my sign would probably read, "Consumed by fear." "Living, laughing, and loving in His freedom."

So When I Started This Blog I Vowed...

...to never post about politics. And I want to be clear - I am sticking to that.



This is not a post about politics. I am not trying to earn votes for one presidential candidate over another. I can honestly say I don't care who other people vote for - although I do feel compelled to say that as people living in a democracy, the least we all need to do is our research. So please don't bother commenting about this post in a political manner. That is not what this post is about, and if that is what you are looking for, please find another blog to comment on today. (Feel free to come back tomorrow though...I will probably be back to posting cute pictures of my boys.)



I also want to preface the remainder of this post by saying that I understand that whether this post is about politics or not, the media debate that sparked this post is certainly the direct result of politics. And I think that stinks.



Now onto my post.



If you watch the news at all (and I am assuming with such a wise and studied readership you all do regularly), you have undoubtedly seen the comments made by General Wesley Clark regarding John McCain's service in the military as it relates to his qualifications for executive office. If you haven't seen this exchange, click on this link and you can read about his Good Morning America segment from this morning.



(http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/clark-stands-by.html).



Google Gen. Wesley Clark and I am sure you will find a plethora of articles on his recent comments. I encourage you to pick any media source you like so as not to be accused of presenting only one media-biased side of a story, because let's remember this is not a blog about politics. To the best of my understanding, having watched the many re playings of his interviews and rereading his published comments, while General Clark feels like John McCain's military service speaks of his courage and character, his military service does not necessarily result in wiser judgment when it comes to military decisions for executive office.



For those of you who may not know, John McCain spent over five years as a POW in North Vietnam. Now whether a person agrees with the motives behind the Vietnam war (or any war for that matter) or not, I think we can all agree that those five years as a POW were more than slightly unpleasant a majority of the time. I completely agree with Gen. Clark that surviving this experience speaks volumes about McCain's courage and character. Where I cringe is when Gen. Clark says this:



"but the service as president is about judgment, and the experience he had as a fighter pilot isn't the same as having been in the highest levels of the military and having to work with the president and other heads of the state and make those kinds of life or death decisions about national strategic issues."



Oh, Gen. Clark, please stop talking.



I imagine that anyone serving in combat (or even one captured and held as a POW in a place where the Geneva Convention was disregarded) may have a pretty good first person understanding of the life and death decisions that are made moment by moment during "national strategic issues". Yes, I grant that the "highest levels" of the military formulate our national security plans, but to downplay John McCain's military experience (pre or post POW) and then try to assess the capabilities he did or did not gain from those experiences makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.



There are some conversations you just shouldn't have as a matter of respect and privacy, especially in regards to such a difficult and unique circumstance. I think it is in very poor taste - to put it mildly - to have a conversation about a person's time in combat and as a POW that doesn't begin and end with the simple words, "Thank you." That's it. You don't have to agree with the war they were fighting, you don't have to like the person, you don't have to agree on their political views. Heck, don't give him your vote if you don't want to. It speaks of Gen. Clark's character that he wants to test the waters with the AMerican people (out loud) regarding what John McCain may or may not have gained intellectually through his military experiences. No one - even someone in the highest level of the military - can possibly understand what a POW takes away from five years in captivity, nor should anyone - even someone in the highest level of the military - try. Especially out loud. It is disrespectful. And whether John McCain earns your vote or not, I would hope he has earned the right to a little respectful privacy on what he "gained" from his experiences.



You don't have to like John McCain. You don't have to vote for him. This isn't about politics. It really isn't. It is about being wise enough to know what you couldn't possibly know. It is about being wise enough to just stop talking.

P.S. If this was a post about politics, I would point out that while Gen. Clark feels like serving as a combat pilot and being a POW doesn't bring with it any specific executive qualifications, I am guessing he also knows that no military service probably has the same result. But this isn't a political post. So I won't bother pointing that out.