Hunger Games Midnight Premier

I admit it.  I was one of the people (crazies, fools, etc) that arrived at the movie theatre at 10pm to wait for a midnight showing!  Now in a thumbs up to us, we were the first in line for Theater 11 !!  Whoo hoo!  So we sat on the floor for two hours and waited.  And because I LOVE to people watch, I was not be to disappointed!  People actually dress up as the characters!  I, on the other hand, arrived in sweat pants, sweat shirt, no make-up and glasses.  I'm a thinker and planned the 3am home arrival!!

I went to the movie with my two daughters and three of their friends.  I have not read the books and really had no idea what the movie was about!  I knew it was kids fighting each other with a love story twist.  I was pleasantly surprised with the movie.  The cinematography was great!

Arriving home at 3am was a bit painful.  Sarah and Lizzie had to get up at 7:15am to go to school.  I got up and came into the kitchen in full support!  After they left I went back to bed and slept until my mom called at 9am and woke me up!!  MOTHER!!!!  hahah!  I've been a mess all day.  I went to the grocery store and honestly felt like I had "cart rage".  It was difficult to have patience with people in the store!  Leaving the parking spot?!  Have you ever felt like everyone was out to get you when they really weren't?  That was me backing out of my parking spot!  Why did everyone have to come down the isle I was trying to leave?!!

I was thankful to be home.  With good intentions of cleaning out my closet, I spent most of the day laying on the couch!

I've decided that as exciting as it might seem to go to a Midnight Premier, there are more negatives than positives!!  The movie will be just as good the next day at "normal" times!

I'm just not as cool as I'd like to think I am!!

Equestrian Mom 101: Being an NCAA "roadie" Mom

I had the pleasure of attending three of the University of Georgia's Equestrian competitions this past weekend.  Three competitions in two days, in two states!  The bonus of this trip allowed me to see family that I haven't seen in a few years.


I flew into Oklahoma City on Thursday.  Two things that were a bonus to this particular flight.  One, it was my first time flying to the OKC airport and my hats off to you OKC!  Wow!  Snazzy airport!  And two, the Oilers hockey team was on my flight... need I say more?!  I was secretly (creepily) taking pics of some of the guys while waiting for our luggage and sending them to the girls.  All in the name of good parenting!


Picked up my rental car and started my drive to Dallas, Texas!  Having lived in Texas for many years and only remembering the heat, I was quickly annoyed to find it in the 40's and rainy.  I was leaving Michigan for this?


Our first stop was SMU Friday morning in Dallas, Texas.  It only seemed fitting that we should be greeted by longhorns driving into the farm.

UGA beat SMU 7-3.  The last girl got off the horse and they immediately loaded the bus to make the hour and a half drive to TCU in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Emily and Coach Lisa

Cheering on the rider while trying to stay warm!

Emily van der Walde

More than teammates, friends.

At TCU, both English and Western competed and UGA added another win with a score of 9-8.  

Saturday morning about 7:30am we headed North 4 1/2 hours to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take on OSU!  After a long day of showing, in the end, OSU captured the win 13-10 over UGA.  It was bittersweet but the girls all rode well and cheered each other on to the very end.

The night didn't end after the show.  The Haaland Family graciously offered to host dinner at their home after the show.  We all arrived at 10pm (that is not a typo, it was 10pm!) and what a lovely time it was!  The dinner was amazing, the home stunning and the overall atmosphere caused you to pause.  One of the riders, one of the mom's and the coaches all spoke to team and it was at that moment, as I was standing back observing that it hit me how incredible this team and coaches truly are.  I was able to spend three horse shows in two days with this group (that amounts to a LOT of time!) and I was so impressed.  The level of respect the girls have for each other, the bond they have as a TEAM.  They know that without each others assets, there would be no team.  They are teammates in the truest sense.  

The coaches:  Wow, amazing ladies.  I had the pleasure of meeting Hunt Seat coach Lisa Anderson this past fall at Indoors.  I was fortunate that through this trip, I was able to get to know Head Coach Meghan Boenig and Western Coach Mary Meneely.  Seeing their professionalism and how they interact with the girls is great.  I know I speak for other parents in saying that I'm thankful that these women are leading and being examples to my daughter!  

Coach Lisa Anderson - Hunt Seat

Coach Lisa with Carly Anthony

Head Coach Meghan Boenig with baby (due in June!)

Coach Mary Meneely - Western

Coach Boenig, Coach Mary 

Coach Mary and her "crew"

So after all was said and done, there were 3 competitions, 3 different hotels, in two different states, very little sleep with cold and rain!  Flying home on the plane today feeling completely exhausted, I couldn't help but smile when I thought of the weekend and yes, I'd do it all again!

And the responsibility goes to......

I'm a bit frustrated so I'm using this venue to vent so bear with me!

Whenever I've taken my daughters to the pediatrician, I'm allowed to stay in the room until the doctor wants to talk to my daughters about anything sex related and then I'm politely asked to step in the hall.

I have so many thoughts when it comes to this and I know I will not put everything down I want to say or say it correctly.

I want to start by saying that I know that girls go on the pill for many different reasons other than sex.  I completely get and understand that and THAT is not the issue.  Here is the issue I have.  When did it become ok for me, as a responsible parent, paying for healthcare for my children, to be shut out of a huge decision?

1.  I'm paying for healthcare for my child.
2.  I'm paying for the doctor appointment.
3.  My child can get a prescription for the pill, make that decision and NO ONE has to tell me.
4.  My child goes in to have a planters wart removed from her hand and the doctor has to call me to get my permission, but she could go on the pill without my permission.
5.  My child needs a booster shot, the same child that can get on the pill, and the doctor has to call and get my permission.
6.  My child can't buy alcohol until the age of 21 but at the age of 14, 15, 16 can make the decision to go on the pill.
7.  My child can't vote until the age of 18 but at the age of 14, 15, 16 can make the decision to go on the pill.
8.  My child isn't allowed to go to friends home if a parent isn't home (our house rule) but at the age of 14, 15, 16 can make the decision to go on the pill.
9.  My child can't get a tattoo without my permission until she is 18.....
10.  My child can't get her ears pierced without my permission until she is 18....


I called a good friend of mine that is an OB/GYN and asked her about this.  This is what she told me:  Yes, as a doctor, your child can be treated for anything sexually related, even be treated for sexual diseases and does not have to get the parents consent.  The only consent needed is if an abortion is wanted by the child.......

So mom, dad.... when it comes to sex, I'll just talk to my doctor...... I don't HAVE to talk to you.  YIKES!!!!!

So somewhere along the way, the decision was made by someone, that it was ok for me to pay for my child's healthcare and doctors visits but not be part of a HUGE decision that a 16 year old might decide??  You want to talk to me about removing a planters wart from my child's hand and want to make sure that I'm ok with that but I don't have to be ok with my child going on the pill because she wants to start being sexually active?  I have to show my drivers license to allow my daughter to get her ears pierced?  Really?

I am just floored by this.  Again, I'm not floored by girls being on the pill.  I get that there are different reasons for it.  Yes, at one time in my life, I was on the pill.  I'm not that ancient!  I'm floored that as a parent, I don't have to be told that my daughter goes on the pill.

This is my vent, I know people have differing views on this and again, this has everything to do with the simple fact that anything my children do is my responsibility.  Except when it comes to IF they choose to go on the pill and then, they can, and our doctor will prescribe it to them and no one has to tell me....

Welcome to our hearts Lushomo!

Lushomo

I will tell you upfront that I've always been leery of "sponsoring" children.  I know a lot of people that have sponsored children but in the back of my mind I've always thought, "Is that child really benefiting from the money and how many thousands of other people are sponsoring that child".  Now I will admit that I've thought this for years and never took the time to do any sort of research.  Also, I've always thought, "I know other countries need our help but there are so many people in the USA that need our help!"  So the struggle has been....

Until, our church decided to partner with World Vision.  They have chosen two villages in Zambia and have made a 10-15 year commitment to them.  It starts with water.  Women and young girls walk several miles a few times a day for water.  They get water from the same place that animals drink from and yes, go to the bathroom in.  Needless to say, 1 in 5 children die before the age of 5.  The average life is 45 years old.  We also have 300 people from our church who are running the Chicago Marathon in October and have teamed with World Vision.  The money raised from the marathon will go directly to water wells.  

There are approximately 30,000 people in one of the villages and approximately 35,000 people in the other.  Of that total, approximately 30,000 are children.  Our church went to World Vision and said, "We would like to have children to sponsor".  The most World Vision had ever given a church was around 450 children to sponsor.  Our church said, "Oh no, we need much more"  These conversations started two years ago between our church and World Vision.  You can imagine the hesitancy on World Visions part.  There is a lot that goes into this.  They go into a village, build trust and through talking to those in the village, they find the families most vulnerable.  The village says which family they feels could use the most help.  World Vision then builds trust with the family (can you imagine someone walking up and just snapping a picture of their child?!)  

I was humbled to be part of the volunteer team at our church this past weekend when this partnership was announced.  We had 2,000 children packets able to be sponsored.  Yes, 2,000!  We have four services at our church.  Two on Saturday and two on Sunday.  After the second service on Saturday, approximately 1,100 children had been sponsored !!  WOW!  Going into the 4th and final service on Sunday, we had approximately 69 packets left.  This didn't stop the generosity, so many people made pledges of sponsoring children!  We will have the final numbers this week and I can't wait to hear what it is!  

I am thrilled to be a part of this venture.  I am blessed to be a small part of building two villages.  I'm blessed to have Lushomo's picture in my kitchen so that I see that cute little face many times each day and I'm reminded.  

I'm reminded that Lushomo lives with her parents and 1 brother and struggles for so many things that I take for granted each and every day.  I can go to the kitchen and get a glass of clean water.  I can hop in my car and go to the store and get whatever I need.  I can contact just about anyone I want via phone or computer.  I can take my children to the doctor when they are sick.  When Lushomo get sick, her mother has to walk 20 miles to the nearest clinic.  20 miles ONE way.  I cannot even imagine.  

A group of people from our church have been to Zambia twice and visited the villages.  This makes it very real and tangible for me.  I know that what I am doing will be helping to build the communities and that the entire communities will benefit from what we do.  

I can tell you that one day, I will make the trip to Zambia and I will get the chance to meet and hopefully hug Lushomo.  I don't know when that will be but you can be guaranteed that there will be a blog and many pictures.

Lushomo just turned 3 years old on February 12th.  I look forward to watching her grow and hopefully building a relationship and meeting her one day.

http://northridgechurch.com/outreach/