Truck Story

Is it so difficult to remember to look at all gauges on the dash board of our vehicle other than the gas gauge and then let your father know when one of them is reading low or the needle is in the red zone......a puddle of fluid is left under the truck. In our family we like to say "In police work, we call this a clue!"

Poor Julia, no I take that back after having a night to sleep on it! She comes in the house yesterday morning with watery eyes telling me that the window defroster is not putting out hot air and she can't see out the windows in her truck. Of course she is already late to school, and Jessica left 15 minutes earlier so what to do? I give in to the tears (David says I'm to soft with our girls) and hand her my car keys and she is off to school in the suburban. I call the school to let them know she is late and they will give her a pass and so on.

My husband gets home from work and says its probably just the thermostat and he can probably replace that and all will be well. Of course, this isn't the 70's or 80's when a person with a few tools could work on their car's simple problems without a hassle. Well, it would cost us more to buy the tools to change the thermostat in the truck than it would cost us to pay an auto shop to do it for us! Poor Dad, his basic male instinct to provide, support, protect or what ever his weakling female offspring was totally shattered. Anyway, he did get to redeem himself somewhat by lecturing to Julia of the importance of car maintenance and especially paying attention to the gauges.

David was doing very well using all his patience while Julia was standing rolling her eyes during this speech, until he asked her when the last time was she checked the air pressure on the tires. She gave the wrong answer by telling him that she doesn't know how. When David's voice became lower than the range of Josh Turner's voice, Jessica and I looked at each other and I pushed Jessica to grab Julia and take her to put air in the tires. You see, David has has actually taken the three older girls and shown them along with reciting the steps to putting gas in the car, changing a tire, and putting air in the tire all long with other car care things. As the girls ran out the front door, David grabbed the TV remote and planted himself on the couch for the rest of the evening.

We have an appointment this afternoon to get the truck fixed. When I take the truck, should I leave David's cell number with them to call for approval of any work, or just give them mine? Ok, I'm not that mean, I'll give them mine and if I feel they are taking me for a ride I'll call David and let him take it from there.

Volunteer Frustration

Now what? I went to pick up my packet for February’s Generations, and there wasn’t one for me! Hum. I knew there was going to be a problem once Rochelle was no longer an employee. Since the first core team meeting, our leader eluded to the idea that the preschool aged children were in the nursery because their parents were in the adult class and therefore were not considered part of the generations of faith curriculum. For the past five months, Rochelle would make sure that I had the packet and the supplies I would need for class. We’ll see how it goes when I ask her for supplies I need for crafts, copies of color sheets and so on. You know, the little people want to learn just like their siblings and parents! They have fun too. Ok, I have fun planning and preparing! Who is this class for anyway, them or me? Tee! Hee!

whining continued......

This reminds me of our leader and myself co-facilitating Called To Protect (CTP). There was no co-facilitation involved. I introduced myself and that was all I was needed for. I was never given the materials required by the Diocese for the facilitator. I had to ask Rochelle to bring the facilitator's handbook home so that I could get a copy of it made. I needed to prepare for the CTP for Youth. The person I was co-facilitating with knows how to facilitate a class as do I and I had to prepare for class. Since that incident and because I asked her to let me know ahead of time (not 2 days prior by email, or the announcement in the bulletin) to a scheduled CTP class so that I could make sure I was available, she has presented the last 2 classes alone. She refuses to ask ML and stated that she will not ask our resident parish counselor because she is hard to work with. Per the Diocese rules there must be 2 facilitators or the class must be canceled. I agreed to volunteer to be a facilitator for CTP when I was first approached because I felt that with my educational and professional background I would be able to reach our parishioners without making them feel that this is one more road block they must get over to be a part of their chosen religion.

I volunteer to be treated like this. Why am I still around and trying? I believe in working for the best interest of the children, and doing what I can to keep their childhood as safe and fun for them before they have to deal with adulthood because that will come soon enough.