Ugh, teenagers!

 

So, she's nearly 16 and last Friday night she decided to take a walk on the wild side.  She was out with friends and temptation took hold.  She is fine, no one was hurt, but now comes the path to recovery. 

Recovering from a bad decision.  I speak of my darling God-daughter who I would do anything for and her brief encounter with bad choices and consequences.

She is a fabulous kid.  Get's good grades (usually), stays out of trouble (most of the time), doesn't smart back (who am I kidding?) and drop dead gorgeous (true true true).

And now we, as a Villiage, take the steps to help her recover from bad decisions that we all made.  Teach her that choices are important at this age - that we were that age once too and guess what, we all survived.  She is open and receptive to feedback as long as it doesn't come from her parents so I step up and try to talk to her without sounding like a parent and I try to listen, without freaking out.  In my eyes this beautiful girl is flawless until she makes a mistake and then my heart hurts.

She is a teenager in angst - she is struggling with things we all struggled with and now, she has to work through it.  My only goal now is to "be there" for her and help her through the next steps.  She is strong, she can do it!

happy new year

wow, is it really 2010?  I remember Y2K and how we thought the world would come to an end - nope, not even close!

I actually thought 2009 might be the end of the world but as of now it's just another year that had rough and difficult patches.  But as I navigated through the year I realized I can handle just about anything.  Just about.

I learned to be a better friend when we lost Hanna, I became a better employee when I got a new job, and a better member of society when I took on new responsibilities with Hanna's Dream. 

I am calmer and more relaxed - I'm happier.  Thank you 2009 but I can say this...bring on 2010!!

why?

I often have to stop and ask, why?  Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do flowers die before they should?  Why does cancer exist?  I am still waiting for answers.  Nothing yet.

Tonight I was on the phone with someone very dear to me.  He is going through an U-G-L-Y divorce and I find that I just want to "punch out" his soon to be ex wife.  And it reminds me of so many things that happen to good people.  I think of Hanna.  She was 6, yes, SIX, years old when she died.  My heart hurt more than it has ever hurt before.  I remember holding her mother in my arms as she begged me to let her go with her daughter.  I have never had something so horrible happen in my whole life.

Then I have friends going through divorces no one should have to endure and I think, "why"?  Why do such fabulous people have to endure such pain?  None of it makes sense for me. 

So, dear Universe, I ask, "why"?

I'll wait for the ever profound answer.

friends

oh i am working too much these days - i have an event in 11 days - doh!  and when it's 'event time' i let my friends know that it will be challenging for me to stay in touch.  but what i am finding, this time, is that i am not willing to let that be the case.  i'm not willing to say you, my friend, are second to my work. 

so, thanks to the magic of facebook, i am able to stay in touch and still work.  it's a fabulous thing.  we engage in stimulating conversation, silly chats, and schedule our next meet and greet (uh oh, the event business has just penetrated my real life).  meet and greet?  no dear, it's called a drink.

so, to my dear friends, thank you for your patience and we will connect soon.

humans 1 - mouse 0

i am a horrible friend.  last night, one of my best friends, Jay (short for nothing), text me this message, "i have a fucking mouse in my house!"

what did i do?  i giggled. 

you see, Jay hates 'creatures'.  when i say creatures i mean, non human creatures - okay, she tolerates 'the Miss' but i do mean tolerates (kidding j; she's VERY good to The Miss). 

so when she texts this message i nearly spit out my fabulous wine = bad thing.

i happen to have a visual - Jay is on the back of the sofa, feet up (which p.s. feet are not allowed on the sofa) because the idea that a rodent is roaming her house is just enough to send her to the looney bin.  of course a good friend, not me, would be sympathetic, but no, i laughed at the idea that she was being held hostage by a creature that was, frankly, more scared of her than she of it.

my text messages continued for a bit longer...

her: i'm moving out

me: i'm sorry!

her: i hate mice

me: me too

her: how did it get in

me: they have no spine, he probably just flattened himself out

her: see why i hate mice!

i am now concerned.  thankfully her family is nearby and dad came to the rescue - dads rule!

this morning i got a text message:

humans - 1; mouse - 0

all is right in the world again.

lx