If You Say So....Luke 5:4-7 (NASB)

     Want to know what one of the most wearying parts of my job is as a mother of six girls ages 2 to 15? All their questions! Yikes!  I actually try to give intelligent, thoughtful, educational, and appropriate answers to each one of them, mostly out of habit. Sometimes I find myself muttering, "I don't know....Huh? What was that you said?"       My youngest child says, "WHY?!" to everything.      "Julia, please come here for your bath."      "!Why?!"      "Because it's time for your bath. You need a bath tonight."      "!Why?!"      And then I have another daughter who notices EVERYTHING and feels the need to comment on my decisions in question form.      "I thought you said we would go to the mall today. Aren't we going like you said?" and      "So and So and So and So took the last of the M&M's and you t...

     I am really bad at goodbyes. I'd rather just not say goodbye and leave while the "leavers" don't notice. I don't mean to be rude, although this certainly can be viewed as quite rude. I just hate goodbyes. I'm still trying to figure out why. Last week presented an opportunity at getting better at goodbyes. My neighbors from across the street were relocating to their retirement home in Arizona after having sold their home.      Only a few short weeks ago (almost unbelievable in this real estate market - and yet, their home is fabulous and showed extremely well), I first noticed the "For Sale" sign appear in the front yard. Tim hadn't told me he had a conversation with Tom weeks prior in which Tom had mentioned that they were going to be selling their home.      I saw the sign. I started crying.      Needless to say, I chatted with them throughout...

Los Angeles Trade Tech            I've been a blogger dropout lately. I've been posting pictures on my newer  Happy Snaps!  blog and chronicled the GREAT GARAGE CLEANING FEAT on  The Domain of Delightful Domesticity . On my other blog  Childbirth Cheerleader  I detail new developments regarding possible schooling and career pursuits. But those posts fits with those blogs, and tangentially to this one. With this blog I share perspectives on things I experience, but rarely specifics about plans. I like this blog to focus more on my thoughts and experiences that punctuate my days. So, without further adieu...          I went back to junior college these last few weeks. I first went  to my local one - it had been about 23 years since I had last been a student on this campus - plus several near downtown LA. Crazy! The impacted st...

     Many years ago, newly pregnant, sick, and with two toddlers in the back seat, I drove to town to pick up 8 year-old Camille from art lessons. Only, the parking spaces were blocked off, a crowd of people had gathered, and I was promptly informed by a brusque police officer that I was illegally parked and needed to move immediately.      "But Officer, my daughter will be coming out into a crowd of strangers looking for me, and she won't find me. There's no place to park and I'm worried about her safety."      "You should have come earlier. Now move right now, ma'am, or I will write you a ticket."      "But Officer, what do I do about my daughter about to enter a crowd of strangers all alone? It'll take me quite awhile to find a spot, and I have little ones in the back of the car."      "You should have gotten here a little earlier. I'm going to write you a ticket right now, ma'am," the officer sa...

     I don't even know where I'm going with this post. I have been overwhelmed with helping Leanne and her friend, "C" work on their History Day LA poster with "C"'s mom for the last few weeks. S*t*r*e*s*s*f*u*l. The big day was last Saturday,  March 12th. I'm relieved and happy to be done with it.It was a helpful learning experience for Leanne. She was disappointed she didn't make the team to represent Los Angeles County in San Jose in May. "Oh well. You win some, you lose some," I told her. She got over it pretty quickly.      I haven't been very inspired to write about much on this little blog of mine. Spring weather has been marvelous lately. I've been planting some flowers and bulbs recently. We'll see what comes up. I'm hopeful. Spring Break is coming up in mid-April for us. I'm planning some day trips here and there. Really, though, life is rather "ho-hum."      And then temptation begins to sneak ...

     So, here's a puzzling fact I've discovered. Since realizing a couple of months back that I could check my "stats" with Google Blogger, I've been very intrigued to observe a couple of trends. I've discovered that, as of yet, there are three posts on my main blog, the one you are reading now, that are the most viewed. After clicking  a button, I stopped tracking times when I would re-read a post. So, the current numbers reflect other people who have read those posts. I'm entirely aware that some of those page views might have occurred accidentally and that people who clicked on the post might not have actually read it. Still, the numbers are interesting. When I looked at the traffic sources I see mostly facebook and google leads. Not very revealing. To date, my three most popular blog posts are http://halfdozengirls.blogspot.com/2010/07/ responsibility-and-restitution-part-2 .html, http://halfdo...

     Long wait in the ER.      Suspected broken ankle.      Finally put in a room. Only to wait some more...      And some more....      Overheard in the next room over:      "Do you know what time the surgery will be scheduled tomorrow?"      "No, I don't. Probably in the early afternoon."      "We have a huge birthday party planned for him."      "I would cancel it. He really needs this surgery."      More muffled talking and then sobs and whimpering cries from a young boy.      "I'm sorry. I can't make your social plans for you. I have patients to see. You know, I have patients..."      Yeah, my daughter!      "He's really afraid of having blood drawn."      I look back at my 13 year-old daughter lying...