Bliving

Sometimes I catch myself Bliving--when I'm in the middle of living and I'm already crafting a blog entry in my head. Recently my husband and I were sharing a somewhat romantic moment and he said something so ridiculous that we both just cracked up. He said, "I guess that'll make the blog." (which of course it didn't and won't) But still, it made me think. Lately it seems that more and more things that I want to put in my blog, I choose not to for one reason or another, and I feel weird about that, too. I mean, what's fun about reading something that's all 'fixed up'? I want it to be real.

Carpool is insane for our crowd. Four families meet at the Baptist church parking lot (which fortunately for me is right across the street) and divvy up the kids. One of us drives the middle schoolers and one of us drives to the two elementary schools (they're side by side). The middle school is way the hell out of town and the elementary school has two stops, so it's all even. WE have this insanely complicated schedule (that truly, we couldn't even figure out at first), but in the end it works pretty well. However, the elementary crowd is tough. I've got one kid who will only sit in her own carseat and always refuses to unbuckle her own seatbelt when it's time to get out of the car at school. I've got another kid who will only sit in the middle seat and never take a turn in the back like everyone else. I've got boys who don't really want to sit beside the girls, but they're vastly outnumbered. And one girl who will hit whatever unlucky boys sits beside her, only she's so much younger that they'll never admit how much it hurts even though it brings tears to their eyes. Yes, I tell them all to stop, behave, etc., but at some point, I do have to drive. They're all great kids but tired, cranky, early mornings with a bunch of kids crammed in a car can be hairy. It never fails, though, that by the time we get to school, everyone is in good spirits and ready to face the world. It's an amazing transformation. Anyway, one of my fellow carpooling moms this morning said, "We should make a movie about this." She was just joking about the ridiculousness of passing all the carseats around, packing the car, etc. but the more I think about it, the more I think it would make a hilarious little mini-documentary for posterity's sake. I just might do it and post the link here. There is SO much good material in carpool--it's just ridiculous.

Last night I went to confirmation with a precious young lady who asked me to sponsor her. Generally we either eat dinner together before or go for ice cream after to discuss the topics in a little more depth. Both my daughters are also going through confirmation right now, as well, and I'm so impressed with how seriously they are taking this. Obviously, confirmation is a huge and important part of faith maturity at this age, and an absolutely essential part of their growth and development of a faith that is their own, in my opinion, and it's so cool to see these kids asking all these questions, researching things on their own and figuring it all out. It makes me realize how much more capable these young people are then we ask them to be. Their capacity for inquiring thought and research and problem-solving is so under-utilized, and I love to see their intellectual curiousity come to life in this situation. Spirituality should be such a thoughtful, intelligent process--no one should accept something just because someone else tells them. If so, it's not real, it's not your own. You have to work it all out yourself, seek God of your own accord, to then have faith. It can't just be what your Mama told you, you know?

My OD has never been as big a reader as I'd like her to be. (disclaimer: Does any writer mom think their kid reads as much as she'd like?) But I don't give up. I constantly put new and tempting titles (always ones I've read first and KNOW will deliver the goods) on her nightstand, and I'm finally starting to see it take. She just read DAIRY QUEEN (which I've blogged about here) and came into my room last night, late, asking if I had the sequel. YES! Such an awesome book.

I just finished the book THE APOTHECARY'S DAUGHTER. It's an historical fiction story about a young woman who is, guess what, the daughter of an apothecary. She knows as much and probably more about the business than her father and his apprentice, but she's not allowed to dispense. Of course that doesn't stop her, but lands her in a pile of trouble. It's a lovely story of standing up for what's right and giving up material goods and social standing to do the right thing. Plus, it was a fascinating and seemingly well-researched glimpse into the history of the apothecary tradition in England. Check it out.

Well, dearies, I must depart and get some writing down. My DH is going away to a conference this week-end and taking this, the only working computer within a mile radius,it seems. It is his office computer, in all fairness. We have ordered a new family computer, but it will not arrive until next week.

Have a wonderful week-end. I will attempt to beg, borrow and steal a computer tomorrow to post if I can.