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Can you help me out with something, friends?
You will, oh thanks! (You readers really are the best!!)
Have you ever been in a situation where your kiddos’s been disciplined/yelled at in front of you by someone else? There have been a few times that this has happened and it’s sort of weirding me out and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Anyone have any good stories of judo chopping someone for being a meany to your kid? Ever started a fight at a playgroup? Ever corrected a another persons discipline methods? Have any ideas on how to not get bugged when someone else steps in when you thought you’d already dealt with the situation?
Told ya I had questions. Like every two minutes. That especially sucks when I have most of my daily conversations with one year old.
I think I’m going to have to change this blog’s name to:
SusQ- The Job Update Blog.
Every time I turn around there’s something new to report! Last time I was excited and a bit scared to announce that Erik was going to be offered a job at Wheaton College.
Weeeelllllll. Some things have changed with the job offer.
We’ve been waiting and waiting. Over two weeks in fact to hear officially that he’d been offered the job. The department sent his name in and the rest was up to the administration. Today, the head of the department called Erik to tell him he was going to officially get a job offer…BUT. Yes, there’s a but. The job has been changed from a tenure track (we’d stay there permanently) to a two year visiting Professor position.
So. That’s where we’re at with Wheaton. He still has a job offer. We might take it. We’ll probably not live in the Chicago area forever unless the job is opened up after two years as a permanent situation.
BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!!
Erik is heading up to UW Barron County (Rice Lake, WI) next Monday evening and Tuesday for an interview there. This job has a big plus in it’s location (it’s closer to our family-around two hours northwest of the Twin Cities). It also has more teaching than research which is what Erik would prefer.
This brings us back to the waiting game. We’ll have (I think) about ten days to decide whether to accept Wheaton’s offer once the official papers arrive in the mail. The Barron County job thought they’d offer something maybe the beginning of April? So, it’s waiting time again and we’re unsure of our future. Whatever happens we’re happy because he’s got a job-praise the Lord!
I’m ending today’s post with the words to Dr. Seuss’ book Oh, the places you’ll go! This book has some good encouraging words and reading it today (especially the bold parts) has been strangely familiar.
Thanks for your prayers for my sanity and patience 
Please stay tuned for more updates. Don’t get all bored on me. I’ll also try to blog about some non-job related things at some point. Really….I’ll try harder
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
and hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!
As I write it’s raining and gray outside. It’s been one of those weeks where it’s easy to invite the rain in and sink down into the mud and muck. Girlie’s Godparents suffered a great loss last week. My heart is breaking for them. If you could stop by and add an encouraging word for Meggon and Justin that would be wonderful.
Meggon’s written an amazingly heartfelt, brave, and beautiful account of their past few years struggling with infertility and the heartbreak of losing a baby to miscarriage this past week. I really think her post is going to help others who are suffering daily with this same issue. Please pray for their healing, a strong faith in times of despair, and their dreams of having a family someday becoming true.
It’s been a crazy week here. Here are a few bullets explaining what’s up.
*Sick kids are everywhere I look. I’ve been wiping noses all week long and listening to hacky gunky coughing. Ewww. Girlie got a cold from Timothy and Will and Eva have something completely different going on. On top of that my friend’s little guy is in the hospital with RSV. He checked into the hospital this past Friday evening…about four hours after he left our house. He and Girlie shared a sippy cup. What can I say, but I’ve got a little one who loves to steal sippy cups from her friends! At this point the hubby and I are healthy….but I’m wondering for how long!
*I’ll have a post up sometime (maybe?) explaining all the haircut drama that’s been happening around here. Short story= I got it chopped a few weeks back, hated it, but could deal with it. Went yesterday to have it “re-chopped” and hate it ten times more. The sad thing is that I liked the original $7 haircut a lot more than the $45 dollar one. I’ve left a message with Mr. $45 and I’m hoping he’ll redo it or something. Until then, I’m wearing a ponytail or paper bag on my head depending on my mood that moment. I’m also highly sickened by the fact that my haircut could probably pay for a poor family’s food needs for a year. Youch.
*STILL NO WORD FROM WHEATON. Ugh. Arg. Sigh. I’m so bad at being patient. God is really testing my patience this week as we wait for official word from the administration end. Erik is continuing to pursue other schools/jobs until the paperwork or official word arrives. He had a phone interview Wednesday, so we’ll see. He’s such a hard worker and even though he isn’t a fan of the haircut he’s a fan of me. Sigh. What a guy
*To escape all the madness here we’ll be ditching town (we think!) Hopefully, we’ll be visiting our friends the Igls this weekend and maybe even get a visit from our parents and brothers.
We’re still watching Girlie to see how sick she gets. It would be a big bummer if she managed to infect their entire family with all of the above plagues.
*I’m feeling selfish today in asking for prayers for my patience, health and hair. I think my emotions are just on roller coaster setting right now, so once they’re in check other things will fall into place.
I hope that you are all healthy and happy. I keep repeating to myself…the sun will come out tomorrow! Every time I start to get down I list my blessings off in my head and am overwhelmed with how much I have to be thankful for. Thanks, readers and friends, for being on that list!
We just finished up a great weekend here. My friend Meggon was here for a night and we got to hang out with our other college friend Mandy and her hubby Steve and cute, chubby-cheeked, baby Soren. It was nice to catch up with them and relax.
Another joy this past weekend was the weather. It’s been so beautiful–spring has sprung! The birds are singing, my cats are “calling” to the birds in their weird meowy-talky cat chirps, my tulips are peeking out and we’re spending hours and hours outside soaking up all the sun we can.
I love it. I felt like I had been hiding under a stuffy old blanket in the dark for many months and all of a sudden it’s been ripped away to reveal something new. My skin isn’t cracking and dry any more. I can breathe and I feel twenty pounds lighter. Ah, spring.
I suppose you’re wondering about the post’s title. Let me explain. Friday night we headed out for dinner. It was Friday–whooo hooo! Let’s celebrate! So, like very smart economy minded people we headed out to find some free child entertainment and food. We found ourselves at McDonalds (what can I say…I’m addicted to their special lenten season fish sandwich deal and it’s March so they had Shamrock shakes!!)
After E and I chowed down on our grease and Girlie had her grilled chicken tortilla wrap thingy we thought we’d let her try out the playland. This was our first official visit to the child play area and the girl’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Play wiff big kids,” she said with a big grin.
We took her little tennis shoes off and in she went. Like nervous mama and papa birds we watched our little one take off into the maze of tunnels wondering how we could figure out if she was stuck or lost. She eventually tumbled down the big tube slide looking a bit disheveled, but happy!
Then, she was back in for try number two. This time she managed to find the front of the maze where there was a clear bubble with room for about two or three kids and a spot for a steering wheel in the front. She plopped down to steer and wave at her ma and pa and knock on the plastic bubble.
After a few minutes two new friends appeared near the bubble. She tried “talking” with them a bit and pointed to Mama and Dada. Then, out of the blue the little girl in the bubble slams Girlie to the floor. It was like a clothesline move. Girlie’s standing one minute and then in two seconds she’s slammed to her back by this girl. As she tried to get up the girl pushed her down again. (The mean pushing girl was around 3 years old we think. Her older brother who was sitting there looked about 5 years old.)
As Girlie finally gets up screaming bloody murder little pushy girl looks at both Erik and I (who are pretty much freaking out and in full parent bird dive and attack mode) and we both shout,”NO! NO PUSHING!!) to pushy girl and she decided very smartly to run for her life into the maze
The next minute was spent trying to figure out how to get Girlie out of the bubble. The poor kid is screaming her head off, reaching for us and yelling Mama Dada. Finally, Erik throws his shoes off, climbs through the tubes, finds her and scoops her up. As they come down the slide Erik takes out a kid (who I told to move away from the bottom as an adult was coming down and might hit him.) He hands a sobbing Girlie to me who says, “I GOT OWWWIIIEEEE.” Then, with a look of pride Erik said, “I just saved my daughter for the first time.” He was so proud. Let’s hope the next kid he takes out isn’t some zitty sixteen year old
Thus, ends my tale. I experienced my first true “Mama bear rage” and Erik rescued his precious girl from the grips of evil…hee hee. I also decided after that trip that I have no problem stepping in to discipline kids in public when their parents are too irresponsible to watch them. I almost said something to the mom of pushy girl. She was sitting with her back to the playarea and not supervising them at all. I guess I learned that I’m okay with verbally speaking to kids about their behavior when a parent isn’t there. We also decided that we’re going to wait a few more months until we take the girl back to play in the maze of doom. Ah…parenting, what a joy and what a lot to learn!!
