In the Summer Time

Well, summer has arrived in Indiana. It's only a month early. It's been in the 90s for the past 4 days. We convinced my husband to set up our pool on Monday, but I haven't had a chance to get the chemical going yet, so we haven't been in. Last year it never got warm enough to be inviting to me, so this year we're putting a stock heater in it to bring the temp up. The boys are afraid I'll make it like a bathtub, but I assured them that I'm going for refreshing not frigid.

I'm feeling very unmotivated craft-wise. I've got plenty of time (thanks to our freaking governor's swtich to day-light-savings time), but I just can't get excited. I think part of the problem is the lack of good photos to scrapbook. However, now that I've changed my scrapbooking ways, thanks to The Big Picture by Stacy Julian, I think I'll go through all the pictures since my DH and I met and start adding to the beginning of my book.

I did spend the weekend creating a database for our Children's Ministry at church. I always forget how much of a nerd I am until I get a project like that. I find a lot of satisfaction in making those things come together. Here's a t-shirt my brother sent me for all you other DB nerds out there:

select * from users where clue > 0;
0 rows returned

Jacqui

My Own Legend's List

Okay, last night I watched Oprah's Legend's Ball. I was not expecting much, but I found myself moved to tears. It was absolutely touching to watch those women receive the thanks and praise they deserve, but probably didn't think about or expect. So, I've decided honor a few women in my life that have helped make me into the woman I am today.

1. My mom, of course. My mom has taught me a lot of things, the biggest one being that there really isn't a whole hell of a lot that I can't do. She is an amazing woman with amazing talents. Growing up, she was a housewife and my dad worked 50-60 hours a week. Since she was home, she took on a lot of the maintenance around the house so he wouldn't have to do it on the weekends. So, she did all the yard work - but she also did a lot of the construction on the house they finished when I was in highschool. I have also learned another lesson from watching her - just because there isn't a lot I can't do doesn't mean it's not better with my husband at my side.

2. My Grandma Juel. This is my father's mother, and she was a huge part of my life growing up. I can't even begin to list all the things I have learned from her over the years, but here's just a few. I've been given a great example of patience, but I haven't learned it yet! I think I only saw her yell in anger a dozen times in my entire life. She has taught me ingenuity. She has never had a lot of money, so when she has needed something she has found a way to make it out of what she has. She has also taught me that just because one person's marriage doesn't look like mine doesn't mean that it doesn't have love, respect, and passion. She has a traditional 1950s marriage, and it used to drive me crazy to watch her "wait on" her husband. As an adult I appreciate that they created their own marriage and they are both content in it. When she broke her hip many years ago I think we all finally learned the lesson that my Grandfather loves and cherishes her more than any of us ever knew.

3. Shelley Dolphin. She was my best friend in jr. high and 9th grade (I moved in 9th grade). It was with her that I really realized how much I appreciate outright honesty. When I was being a bitch, she's just come out and say "Hey, you're being a bitch". There was no pussyfooting around. There was no cattiness. There was no typical female bull. There was just love and honesty.

Take some time to honor and thank the people in your life that have made a difference. They'll appreciate it more than you know.

Jacqui

Random thoughts on Motherhood

Today is the day that we celebrate motherhood. You know, it's really hard to appreciate being a mother until you are one. Then all of the irritating things that your mother always told you not only make sense, but come out of your own mouth. I have three boys and just a few months ago my mother's voice came out of my mouth as I yelled, "Just sit in that chair or get on the floor!". I also rule my dinner table with, "That's what there is, eat or it don't, but there's nothing else until breakfast". I also never realized the sacrifies that moms make on a daily basis. As a kid you don't realize that because you need new shoes 2 or 3 times a year, your mom makes due with the same one pair for 2 or 3 years. It also never occurs to you that watching you play baseball or sing in the Christmas pagent wasn't the absolute height of entertainment. Who wouldn't want to spend two hours wrangling two preshoolers to watch your climactic "Look, there's Santa now!". Somehow as a kid you never realized that for everything your mom gave you, whether it cost time or money, took away from what she had for herself. Being a mom requires serious sacrifice. I think that's why God brings people into the world in need of a mom - it helps us understand in a tiny way His love. So, take a few minutes today and think about all the sacrifices your mom made for you. Then call her and tell her thanks and I love you. That's all we really want. Yeah, we'll take diamonds on top of it, but not in place.

Happy Mother's Day,
Jacqui

National Scrapbooking Day

Today is National Scrapbooking Day. I'm not quite sure why we need an official day, since no scrapbooker I've ever found needs an excuse to scrapbook - or better yet go to a crop at their LSS, (local scrapbook store). Anyway, today's the day. In honor, I thought I'd share the layout I created with the picture I posted earlier. I was going to include a lot of journaling, but I deocided that the pictures really tell the whole story here. I'll save the stories about grandpa for another page.

I would love to share all the manufacturer info with you, but in my organizing efforts I removed most of my embellishments from their packages, so I have no idea. I can tell you that the paper is all Basic Grey, my most favorite line of paper ever.

How you can make a difference today

I read this today on Cathy Zielske's blog (http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/bits_and_pieces/), and decided to post it here too. I don't know if anyone is reading my blog yet, but just in case I wanted to share. $20 is what is costs my midwestern family of 5 to eat at McDonalds - I think we can use that money to help saves lives instead.

Nothing but nets
by Rick Reiley in Sports Illustrated

I've never asked for anything before, right? Well, sorry, I'm asking now.

We need nets. Not hoop nets, soccer nets or lacrosse nets. Not New Jersey Nets or dot-nets or clarinets. Mosquito nets.

See, nearly 3,000 kids die every day in Africa from malaria. And according to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected.

Three thousand kids! That's a 9/11 every day!

Put it this way: Let's say your little Justin's Kickin' Kangaroos have a big youth soccer tournament on Saturday. There are 15 kids on the team, 10 teams in the tourney. And there are 20 of these tournaments going on all over town. Suddenly, every one of these kids gets chills and fever, then starts throwing up and then gets short of breath. And in seven to 10 days, they're all dead of malaria.

We gotta get these nets. They're coated with an insecticide and cost between $4 and $6. You need about $10, all told, to get them shipped and installed. Some nets can cover a family of four. And they last four years. If we can cut the spread of disease, 10 bucks means a kid might get to live. Make it $20 and more kids are saved.

So, here's the ask: If you have ever gotten a thrill by throwing, kicking, knocking, dunking, slamming, putting up, cutting down or jumping over a net, please go to a special site we've set up through the United Nations Foundation. The address is: UNFoundation.org/malaria. Then just look for the big SI's Nothing But Net logo (or call 202-887-9040) and donate $20. Bang. You might have just saved a kid's life.

Or would you rather have the new Beastie Boys CD?

You're a coach, parent, player, gym teacher or even just a fan who likes watching balls fly into nets, send $20. You saved a life. Take the rest of the day off.

You have ever had a net in the driveway, front lawn or on your head at McDonald's, send $20. You ever imagined Angelina Jolie in fishnets, $20. So you stay home and eat on the dinette. You'll live.

Hey, Dick's Sporting Goods. You have 255 stores. How about you kick in a dime every time you sell a net? Hey, NBA players, hockey stars and tennis pros, how about you donate $20 every time one of your shots hits the net? Maria Sharapova, you don't think this applies to you just because you're Russian? Nyet!

I tried to think how many times I have said or written the word "net" in 28 years of sports writing, and I came up with, conservatively, 20,000. So I've already started us off with a $20,000 donation. That's a whole lot of lives. Together, we could come up with $1 million, net. How many lives would that save? More than 50 times the population of Nett Lake, Minn.
I know what you're thinking: Yeah, but bottom line, how much of our $1 million goes to nets? All of it. Thanks to Ted Turner, who donated $1 billion to create the U.N. Foundation, which covers all the overhead, "every cent will go to nets," says Andrea Gay, the U.N. Foundation's Director of Children's Health.

Nets work! Bill and Melinda Gates have just about finished single-handedly covering every bed in Zambia. Maybe we can't cover an entire Zambia, but I bet we could put a serious dent in Malawi.

It's not like we're betting on some scientist somewhere coming up with a cure. And it's not like warlords are going to hijack a truckload of nets. "Theoretically, if every person in Africa slept at night under a net," says Gay, "nobody need ever die of malaria again." You talk about a net profit.

My God, think of all the nets that are taken for granted in sports! Ping-Pong nets. Batting cage nets. Terrell Owens's bassinet. If you sit behind the plate at a baseball game, you watch the action through a net. You download the highlights on Netscape and forward it on the net to your friend Ben-net while eating Raisinets. Sports is nothing but net. So next time you think of a net, go to that website and click yourself happy. Way more fun than your fantasy bowling league, dude.

One last vignette: A few years back, we took the family to Tanzania, which is ravaged by malaria now. We visited a school and played soccer with the kids. Must've been 50 on each team, running and laughing. A taped-up wad of newspapers was the ball and two rocks were the goal. Most fun I ever had getting whupped. When we got home, we sent some balls and nets.
I kick myself now for that. How many of those kids are dead because we sent the wrong nets?

Issue date: May 1, 2006