The Night at the Museum

As a parent, I am so grateful that there is at least one family film this year that I am excited to take my children to see. The new Night at the Museum movie has brought to life some of my favorite historical characters. And in such a fun way!

My 10 year old son, who has never shown any interest in anything other than his Nintendo Wii, is suddenly reading a biography about General Custer!  I never thought I’d see the day when he would ask if I would take him to the museum to look at the Egyptian exhibits.  When I was a child I loved the dusty lonely feel in the museum, surrounded by all that history. But it’s a different generation now. Full of action and video games. How can an old mummy or a Wild West diorama hope to compete with Alien destruction and evil wizards?

But my little girl now wants to learn more about Sacajawea and Napoleon ( at 6 years old I think she identifies with his lust for world domination). She’s even thinking about being Amelia Earhart for Halloween.  I think it’s fantastic that she’s found 2 real female role models to look up to and I can feel good about her learning more about them, unlike some popstars of late.

This movie has helped me to open doors to my children that I never expected.  They both want to know more about monkeys going to space! The thought of a monkey in a little astronaut suit just makes them giggle senselessly. My son has even been talking about becoming an archaeologist so that he can have adventures and bring new discoveries to the world.

They have both taken much more interest in their schoolwork since we took them to see the movie. They are seeing the draw now of how much fun knowing about our history can be. This great big world has so much to teach us about life. A lot of that can be learned by taking a look at our past.

When our past and our present can learn to live together productively, we are taking great steps to live a very fruitful future.

Masks: We All Wear Them

Today I saw a child in the store wearing a surgical mask. I’m assuming the mask was to protect her from the germs of the outside world and was likely being worn because her immune system is low and unable to fight off attacks from the outside world.  In passing her I thought of the masks that I put on to protect myself from the outside world, especially when my heart is broken.  I was reminded of a time when I had let down my guard and removed all my masks to become completely vulnerable, how badly that ended, and how a certain layer of masking is required for my sanity.

In school I was always voted biggest smile, and my teachers and friends would often ask how I could be happy all the time. My smile is my biggest mask. There were times when I wanted to explain to them that I wasn’t happy all the time but as long as I was smiling at everyone I was OK.  I constantly have to convince myself that I’m OK.  In reality, I was very self conscious and insecure in school.  I strive to make everyone around me happy.  Academics always came easy to me and although I made straight A’s I would pretend that I didn’t understand all the time so that my peers wouldn’t think I was too smart.  My single mom always struggled with money and I had to get a job at a very young age, but I convinced my wealthy and spoiled friends that I just liked to work to get out of the house.  Not only were my friends wealthy compared to me they were also thin, beautiful, and popular.  I never saw myself as being as good as them, but I wore a mask that helped me fit in and convinced everyone that I was just like them.

My mother always told me that I was blessed because I could fit in with any crowd.  She said that she envied the way I could rub noses with the wealthy or go fishing with the town drunk and people of all walks of life respected and adored me.  I’ve realized that this social skill is both a gift and a curse.   During my first year of college I began to notice how extremely and frequently I changed my masks around different groups of people and how dramatically my personality changed to adapt to different situations.  I began to feel that I had somehow lost my identity within the shamble of masks that I used to please other people. I felt very confused about who I really was.   For the first time in my life, I started to search my soul and wanted to find myself.  I began to learn more about myself and I started to let other select people see the person I had found to be the real me.

I married my high school sweetheart when I was 20 years old, and he was the one person that I trusted with my life and never concealed anything from.   He was the only person that I would show any vulnerability to. Unfortunately, after 5 years of marriage and when I was 5 months pregnant my husband left me for my best friend.  I learned quickly that being completely open can cause more pain than it’s worth. I think that people have to find some sort of happy medium when it comes to masking or guarding themselves from the evil of the outside world.  I never want to be a bitter person who puts up a huge wall and never lets anyone in; however, I’ve learned that as a single mother it is important for me to guard my heart to a certain degree and be very careful about the people that I take off my masks for.

If I Won the Lottery . . .

I was asked the other day what I would do if I won the lottery, and my friends were surprised at my detailed response.  I thought that everyone dreamed of winning the lottery, and would have a well thought out plan of what they would do with the money; however, my friends acted as though the thought never crossed their minds.

If I were to win the lottery (which is highly unlikely considering I don’t play the lottery), I would take the lump sum check for whatever amount and start by paying off all my debts and the debts of my immediate family.  Then, all the remaining money I would invest in my dream business venture called A Place for All Seasons.  This would be a daycare center joined with an assisted living center to create an environment that would be beneficial to the elderly residents as well as the children who attend the daycare. The daycare center would have its own building and the assisted living apartments would be separate, but the area in the middle would include a common dining facility and recreational facility. I dream of having a shared area for exercise, learning, crafts, and small animals where the residents and the children can spend time together and in essence teach and learn from eachother. I think the children and the elderly would have a very positive impact on each other, and at this time the baby boomers are taking care of both their parents and their children at this time.   Once the facility is established, the demand for the service will always be there and the business could be self sufficient in terms of funding and would likely make a large profit. Of course, I would just work at the facility and receive a salary from the business to sustain my rather modest and happy lifestyle.

I have an exciting dream of one Halloween where the children and the elderly residents work together to decorate a haunted house at the center.  Everyone would be required to wear a costume and the community would be invited to participate.  In my dream the elderly residents would help the children trick or treat throughout the facility and the community bringing family and friends together.

Orange Barrels, Orange Cones … and Orange Safety Vests?

What happened to the good old days when you could hop in your car and drive forever without seeing one orange barrel or one “road work ahead” sign?  Today those signs pop up everywhere and instantly you’re wedged in between a semi truck and a concrete barrier wall turning your nice little drive into a trip from hell.  By the time you get through all the lane narrowing, right/left shoulder closed, detour ahead and the idiots riding your tail, your heart is beating a mile a minute and you literally have to peel your hands off the steering wheel!

Welcome to spring and summer road construction season!  It’s that time of year again for the “orange invasion.” Orange cones, orange barrels and don’t forget the stylish orange safety vest apparel worn by the highway crews.  To add to the mess, spring and summer are the busiest times on the roadways.  Spring break is a popular time for college students to hit the open road for warmer destinations and summer has families flocking to their summer destinations.

This year with the economy the way it is and gas prices lower, more and more families are taking road trips instead of flying to save money.  My husband and I (being one of those families) decided to take the kids to Florida for their ten day spring break this year.  We figured since we’re going to be there that long it would be nice to have our own car to use.

From our home in Kentucky to Ft Myers, Florida it’s approximately a 16 hour drive.  However that’s without road construction!   We had planned to drive it in one day, but the “orange invasion” had a different idea.  After sitting in hours of slowed traffic in Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Georgia (not even hitting Atlanta yet) we decided to call it a day, get a hotel room and start off early the next morning.  The next day started off with a barrel-free drive through Atlanta, Georgia in the HOV – High Occupancy Vehicle lane (best thing since sliced bread).  After that it was pretty much downhill from there with more lane closures and “extreme delay” signs through Georgia and Florida.  However, we made it there in one piece and got to enjoy some beautiful days at the beach so it was all worth it!  But next time we’re definitely flying!

As much as we drivers hate all the orange barrels and road construction you’ve got to hand it to the highway work crews.  It’s a dangerous job and unfortunately you still have these idiot drivers that can’t read or understand what “slow down” means and they go flying through talking away on their cell phone at 80 mph.  For highway crews, safety is their number one priority.  You’ll notice their safety workwear always consists of high visibility safety vests and hard hats as well as steel-toed boots and non-slip gloves.

So next time you’re driving in your car and see those orange barrels signaling a highway work zone (and believe me you will), take a deep breath, slow down and show a little respect for the men and women who are out there making a living.