Like a box of chocolates...

I'm trying to figure out what kind of day today is going to be. When my alarm went off this morning at 5:56 a.m., I was not excited. I was in a deep sleep and as I feel as though I had not been sleeping well, really wanted to crawl back in bed. I forced myself to get up, get dressed, and wait for my walking partner Pat. I will admit (grudgingly), when I do go for a walk early in the morning, I do feel better. Yes, part of it is the wonderful conversation that occurs, but mostly it is the being active portion of the walk. Anyway, when I got back from my walk, I made my coffee (for those of you wondering, I was able to salvage my broken coffee grinder, so that's good). My youngest son who most mornings is a complete monster woke up relatively easy this morning and at no time did I yell at him or tell him to get dressed, eat, or get his snow stuff on. It was fantastic. I have to admit, I was on a high. Boys were playing well together, Adam wasn't being...well...Adam, and we were way ahead of schedule. Then it happened.

Luke walks to school each day. As we are only 3 blocks away, he leaves each day about 5 - 10 minutes before Adam and I do. Adam on the other hand gets dropped off. Now, this seems like it should be relatviely simple. You pull up, you say goodbye, your kid gets out of the car, and you leave. Not so much. This morning, the line wasn't moving all that fast, then it came to our turn. We followed the car ahead of us, we stopped, and I told Adam goodbye, and he jumped out of the car. That should have been it. Instead, I sat there for what seemed like 10 minutes, staring at the car 2 cars ahead of where I was. I started looking around wondering what they were waiting for. Finally the back door opened and the kid got out. Ok, I thought, now we can go. No. the parent then got out an walked their kid over. I'm a parent. I understand that some days are kind of rough and a kid needs a little extra tlc. What I don't understand is why you would hold up a huge line of other parents who have things to do (like sit in a coffee house and blog). Maybe it is because I have no heart, but I am all about shoving my kid out of the car as quick as possible, in part because it is polite to the other parents and also because if Adam isn't in a "yea school!" kind of mood, an extra 3 minutes in the car isn't going to help. It's kind of like ripping off a band aid, the quicker the better.

So now, here i sit blogging, preparing myself for my annual review in less than an hour, unsure what is to come. (That and I am still a little sore from running with students from 5- 9pm yesterday)

As far as the review goes, here are a few of my thoughts. As I was filling out my official form, I began to think about all of the things that I left undone this past year. I started listing out the things I wish I had done better or (gasp!) even the few things that I even screwed up. I find it a lot easier to focus on those things that on the things that I did well. I have been a part of some really great reviews and some...well...not so great ones. When I say that, I don't mean ones that were just talking about what a great or terrible job I was doing, rather a reflection on this past year and what can be done to do better next year move forward in a positive way. I think today will probably be the latter.

Ok - a few quick thoughts, A friend of mine posted this article. The first time I heard something similar to this was from Paul Hill who essentially said the same thing while talking about how men bond and grow together. He focused on how guys like to compete with eachother, etc., and the church needed to find a way to do this and while girls enjoy chatting on the phone for a long time sharing their feelings, a lot of guys want activities that will challenge them physically. The challenge is to find those activities in the church.

• I am holding out hope the M & M boys will be back and the Twins will at least have a shot at the division this year
• I really do love the worship band I play with. They are a great group of talented people and I am blessed to have the opportunity to play with them
• I leave for New Orleans next week for 6 days. I'm not really sure what to expect, but it should be a good time

Finally - Super Bowl prediction. I will have a better idea when I talk with my brother as to who he is rooting for (he always picks the loser), but right now I am thinking the Giants will win in a not very close game.