Feathers in the Wind

A very dear and wise friend once sent me these words of wisdom. I've always remembered them.

I know for me, it's so hard these days to deal with the negative energy, gossip and comments coming from everyone. Every person feels like they need to give suggestions. Why is it those same people rarely care about anything positive in your life, just the negative?

Everyone like to make a rash judgment on someone without knowing all the facts.

Everyone loves to spit out hearsay.

And it seems like people just want to kick you when you are down.


All it takes is a little bit of knowledge, understanding, and a few questions, and you can avoid hurting someone. You can avoid hearsay. You can avoid passing on a wrong judgement.

You can show you care.



Feathers in the Wind

There is a 19th century folktale about a man who went about town slandering the town’s wise man. One day, he went to the wise man’s home and asked for forgiveness. The wise man, realizing that this man had not internalized the gravity of his transgressions, told him that he would forgive him on one condition: that he go home, take a feather pillow from his house, cut it up, and scatter the feathers to the wind. After he had done so, he should then return to the wise man’s house.

Though puzzled by this strange request, the man was happy to be let off with so easy a penance.

He quickly cut up the pillow, scattered the feathers, and returned to the house.

“Am I now forgiven?” he asked.

“Just one more thing,” the wise man said. “Go now and gather up all the feathers.”

“But that’s impossible. The wind has already scattered them.”

“Precisely,” he answered. “And though you may truly wish to correct the evil you have done, it is as impossible to repair the damage done by your words as it is to recover the feathers. Your words are out there in the marketplace, spreading hate, even as we speak.”

How interesting it is that we, as human beings, so quick to believe the bad that others say about someone; so accepting of the “news” contained in print and television tabloids, and so ready to assume the worst regarding another’s actions, actually allow ourselves to believe that the evil “we” spread about someone won’t really matter. Incredible that we can’t seem to immediately and resolutely accept the fact that the gossip we speak can - and often does - significant damage to that person.

Gossip is like a fired bullet. Once you hear the sound, you can’t take it back.

That is what the man in the above story found out in a very disappointing, shameful moment of self-discovery. And it isn’t just what we say about someone to others, but what we say to that person directly as well. We’ve all been told that “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never harm me.” We also know that is totally untrue. While a body will typically recover from a physical injury, the harm caused by direct insults can sometimes last a lifetime, and tear the self-esteem right out of a person.

On the other hand, kind, encouraging words can build a person’s self-esteem, help him or her to grow and give them the impetus they need to do great, significant things with their lives. The choice regarding how we speak about or to someone is ours. It’s called “free will.”

Deb ~ Thank you so much for sending me this!! Bet you never knew how much I would treasure it. I MISS YOU!!!!

quick history lesson

I'm running off of about 2 hours of sleep and I'm a girl who requires 8 to function.

poor little Jayden. He wants to sleep. He needs to sleep. But he just can't. His little body is so wired from all the steroids. I'd be okay if I could see them working better but his breathing still isn't at a pace that I feel comfortable with. I hope the oral meds kick in soon.

I just hug him and thank god I'm not in my moms shoes at the moment.

when you live in a small town, everyone seems to be connected to everyone some how. so I'll shed a little light before I have to run to the store for more tissues.

Justin, Jay & Bradley were all close friends. They ran around together, designed the boys football t-shirts, partied together and so much more.

Jay is the son of my boss, who is also my landlord. Because the boys have known each other forever, my parents have been friends with them for quite some time. That's how we scored the rent house.

Bradley's parents are just well known around town. So his death has hit the community as a whole.

Watching the people around you suffer so much is very hard. Trying to help kids understand and cope is never an easy task.

My thoughts are on my brother today.

Bradley's mom asked Justin and Jay to ask the boys to wear their shirts today to the funeral. Justin wants his to go with Bradley. He's going to place it on top his casket.

It hurts to watch someone you love in so much pain. I can't imagine my mom or my boss. As a mother, seeing your child in pain is the worst feeling.

as my child bounces from room to room, off one wall to the next, I grab him and hug him a little tighter because, thank god, his pain will ease shorty and I think of those whose won't.

hard days night.

I barely slept last night because my mind was on all those dealing with a friend's death and I could hear Jayden huffing and puffing.

But Jayden arose and was ready for school.

2 hours into work, I get the call to come and get him. He keeps telling everyone he just doesn't feel good.

By time I get to the school, I was shocked. The poor little guy was gasping for each breath.

I rush him to the doctor's office.

They immediately check his oxygen levels, which were dangerously low.

They start him on albuterol and something else followed by oxygen.

They check his oxygen level and it slightly improved but not enough.

So they start more albuterol.

His oxygen level finally rises enough so that we don't have to worry. The doctor gets a good listen to his lungs and says besides the wheezing, he sounds good.

Chalk it up to a mega asthma attack.

We get a mega dose of steroids, 4 prescriptions and are now back home doing breathing treatments about every 2 hours.

Each breathe leaves his chest heavy, looking for air, so the poor guy is just miserable.

I think we have a pretty tough night ahead of us.

and for fun:

if you guys thought your kids were monkeys, just check this out:
THIS IS HOW I GET A COOKIE

and this totally sounds like something Kreg would do:
FISH RECIPE

for more fun, check out the complete blog:
BECAUSE I SAID SO

devastation.

for a group of high school senior kids, losing a close friend on the night of semi-formal is tragic.

dealing with the loss of a friend in a car crash is going to leave these kids grief stricken.

it pains me to see these kids going through this. most of all, my baby brother.

today, the day after, I think most are in a state of shock.

as school starts tomorrow, the realization on Justin and I know several others, that his friend, who he not only sits next to in several classes, but also ran around with, is gone, is going to be hard to handle.

god give me the strength to be there for someone when they are going to need it the most. give strength to the family and these kids.






There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. ~Author Unknown

the......not so funnies.....

so we, Kreg, Kenny and I, are sitting around Kenny's kitchen table yesterday working on putting the ribbon on their wedding invitations ........ we are about half way through the pile when I realize that Kreg doesn't realize there is a shiny side and dull side to the ribbon. and the shiny side is suppose to be up. I flip through the invitations to realize over half of them have the ribbon on wrong. oh brother......and we had exactly enough ribbon and tabs to complete the invitations with no room for mistakes. we didn't think Marsais would notice.........when, yep, she did.

and when Marsais got home from work, she was so excited to see the boys since she hadn't seen them since Christmas. she asked Hunter if he had been playing his Wii. Hunter told her "sometimes" and her reply, "Sometimes! Boy you better play it a lot. You don't know all the trouble your mom went through to get you that thing." I don't think she realized just how bad it was until she saw the look of horror on my face and hearing Kenny die in the background. Hunter looked at her funny and quickly reminded her santa brought him that. She broke Hunter into giggles with tickling.

sharing the love.

I think the inventions of gift cards where a FAB thought. heck, who doesn't love receiving one to be able to spoil themselves?

I was excited to get one this Christmas so I could grab some much needed work clothes. And while I was able to pick up an outfit for myself at an after christmas sale and spent a third of the card on me, I then spent the rest on the boys! oh well! their needs always take priority. the fun of sharing the love.

2 weddings & a graduation

what we have to look forward to in 2008! and technically, that should be 2 graduations, since Hunter will graduate from Kindergarten!

and not to mention the 2 babies from friends we are expecting in March.

my darling brother Kenny will be getting married in Feb. 44 days from now to be exact. and my entire family is in the wedding. yes, Kreg and both boys and I. I'd give more details but I really don't have them. wait..........my dress did arrive and it's 2 sizes too big. I've yet to taken it to be altered. but hey.....at least I have my dress. the other's aren't expected in until almost Feb. I, the SavvyShopper that I am, ordered my dress online for over $100 less than everyone else. god knows renting 3 tuxes is going to take a chunk out of us.

my baby brother Justin will be graduating from High School in May. not only does it make me feel completely old, I just can't believe it. He has been my life saver since we moved to La Grange. His nephews adore him and he's that little brother Kreg always wanted. As much as I really hope he goes to a GREAT college, I think he should start off slow at a college around here.

and my little Hunter. the child not only is going through a tremendous growth spurt, I know those pants fit in August when we bought them, but he's learning so much. watch what you wear or read or say. he stops and reads every t-shirt. he knows exactly what's on tv. he flies through games on the computer and wii now because he can read it all! don't even think about doing something without the directions because he will sit next to you and read the instructions for you and tell you what you are doing wrong or not doing directly as told. in school, he's the 1st one to read instructions on worksheet and tells everyone what to do. he has grasped reading so well.

and of course, we were suppose to be participating in a Read-A-Thon fundraiser for school, and I have NO idea where the sign-up is. so over the course of the 2 weeks we had to raise money, we raised none.

having 14 days off can screw with your mind. and it doesn't help that Kreg was off for 12. not a good combination.

as I was trying to get everything read for school today, I searched the house for 45 minutes yesterday looking for Hunter's nap mat. only to finally ask him and he reminds me, he didn't bring it home, just the cover. there goes 45 minutes I will never get back. but great to know where various hiding places are around here.

of course, in anticipation for school today, the boys were IN bed at 8:00 last night but when Kreg went to shut Hunter's door at 9, he was still WIDE awake. and he was up at 6:45 excitedly bouncing. we will see if he is still bouncing when I pick him up.

I have vowed to stop eating emotionally, since I really need to put off the weight I've gained. Our scale broke before we moved here and no one has replaced the battery. Not that I'm pushing for that.............

I hope everyone had a great New Year's. (I was in bed by 10:30)