Mindless Monday and Send Them to Nashville Tuesday!

Good Tuesday morning!

I'm getting people ready to go to Nashville! Yee-haw! Tuesday's riveting post will be here at 2:00 p.m.

See you then!

Good Monday morning!

RANDOMNESS #1 - I found a new website on Pinterest with ideas for summer activities for the kids. Here are just a few! (www.crystalandcomp.com)

1. Go to the library once a week. Check out books, and join the Summer Reading Program.

2. Go camping. Front yard, back yard, in the living room or make it a weekend trip in another town.

3. Go to your local recreation center in your city or a nearby city and see what activities or classes they offer for super cheap!

4. Go on a worm hunt.

5. Go fishing with the worms you find.

6. Go on a factory/plant tour.

7. Go to the local sno cone stand.

8. Make an obstacle course in your backyard. So fun! You can make first place, second place and third place ribbons using construction paper and yarn.

9. Let your kids help you make homemade ice cream.

10. Make a pet rock.

11. Make your own board game.

12. Skip rocks. Simple, free and fun.

13. Have a neighborhood bike parade.

14. Feed the ducks at a local pond.

15. Play hide and go seek in the dark.

RANDOMNESS #2 - Josh and Company leave tomorrow for Nashville. I didn't realize it at the time I ordered the tickets for the Grand Ole Opry (Carrie Underwood and The Oakridge Boys), but the Country Music Awards are THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT... in Nashville. Josh, Austin and Brad could actually bump into dozens of country music stars this week.

Wouldn't that be exciting?

I'll let you know if there are any sightings.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Pictures are a little on the low side this morning. While it was a pretty good weekend, there was not much to photograph... except my Sunday Pioneer Woman Meatloaf.

Oh! And I bought a new top... and it wasn't baby poop green... but it was black. You'll be seeing it a lot over the next few months!

Just between you and me, that is pretty sad.

Meatloaf and a black top.

You may want to visit another blog... and I wouldn't blame you one bit!




As you can see, the success of this recipe relies heavily on the "bacon wrap." That could probably be said about most recipes, couldn't it?

Well, the bacon wrap AND the ketchup gravy.

You've got to admit... For a meatloaf and a non-poopy green top, these pictures aren't that bad.

RANDOMNESS #4 - Josh's Journey - 12th Grade - This is where I am on this journey (as Josh's Mom). It is difficult for me to sit down and actually put words to paper, but I'll do the best I can, because without others understanding there will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be a stigma attached to any kind of mental illness... And that's just wrong.

When Josh has a bad day or two, I have a bad week or two. For some reason, any kind of setback in his illness sends me back six years, and I automatically go to "shut down" mode. I don't know why. Mike and I have tried to figure it out, but even though Josh is able to have a few bad days and then pick himself up and continue on, it stops me dead in my tracks. I brace myself for the days, weeks and months ahead which I KNOW will result in not being able to leave the house, not being able to go to church, not being able to eat dinner as a family, etc.

The first year of his illness comes back and hits me in the face, and I do NOT bounce back like Josh does.

But I'm working on it.

We worked so hard the past six years with doctors, school officials, Board of Education officials, teachers, Sunday School teachers, family members, friends, etc., it was literally one or two months before Josh graduated before I realized we didn't have a "plan" or "goal" past May 24, 2012.

At this time, it is unsettling for all five of us. Roxie and Austin want a "life plan" for Josh as much as he does... as much as Mike and I do.

Because going to college in the fall is such an everyday topic in our home, it has been hard for them to understand not everyone follows the "script" of 12 years of school/graduation/4 years of college/Master's Degree/good job/marriage/family.

Who wrote that script? Who says that's the only way to go through life. Who says anyone who deviates from that script won't be as successful as someone who goes strictly by the script? Who says God's "script" isn't the way to go... for everyone?

And who gets to determine the meaning of the word "successful" in anyone's life?

If I was honest, I would have to say I was always a big advocate of the "script." As a planner and a Mom, the "script" looked very, very good to me, and up until Josh's 6th grade year of school, it looked extremely doable.

But this self-proclaimed planner now TRIES to live day-by-day, and while it isn't easy because it is totally against my nature, some days I manage to do pretty well.

When the questions start flooding my mind about Josh's future, I have to stop and make myself look at today... and today only. It's a lesson I'm re-learning over and over again.

What Mike and I said from the beginning of this Journey, God was not surprised, is still true today and will be true tomorrow.

When we lose sight of what God's plan might be for Josh's life, it doesn't mean the plan no longer exists. It is still in place.

That is a good thing for a planner like me to remember.

And not only for Josh, but for Roxie and Austin, too.

Today, June 4, I am peaceful about the future. Tomorrow, I might be a basket case (again). Who knows?

Oh. That's right. God knows. And that's the only way a planner like me can ever relax. I've got to remember the Master Planner is in control.

Have a wet and wild Monday. I'll be back tomorrow with a very good dessert recipe, some pics and more Randomness.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda