An Opportunity

For the past few weeks I have been watching two little brown birds build a nest inside the flowerpot on my back porch.  At first I was a little disgruntled.  I know my flowers will die because I cannot water it anymore.  And these little brown birds have made a huge mess digging out the dirt and piling the small pot with pine straw.

Well, a couple of days ago a neighbor was driving by and she stopped to talk with us.  We asked about her family and she told us their sad news that her pregnant daughter is going to lose the baby because of a genetic disorder.  Tod and I instantly teared up.  We shared our story with her about losing a baby between Jacob and Brady.  I offered to speak with her daughter if she had any questions or needed anything else.  Later that night I get a text from her daughter saying "Can we talk tomorrow?"  I have to admit I was a little nervous, but was more than willing to sit with her.

Yesterday I sat across from a very beautiful teenage girl going through something so very adult.  She is having to make decisions that will effect the rest of her life.  We talked for about half an hour and I realized that it doesn't matter what stage we are in our lives that we become a mother, but it is the instinctive notion to protect our children that unites all mothers.  She has accepted the fate of her child but struggles with the continuous pain her child will go through.  We ended our conversation with a hug.

When I got home I watched the two little brown birds continue their nest building.  They are so focused and it is a constant flow of pine straw, leaves and twigs to finish this nest.  Soon we will have some little eggs to watch and hope to find some little baby birds hatching.  I will allow them to make a mess of my back porch.  Life is messy and we need to cherish all of it.

New Favorite Quote

My new obsession is Pinterest.  I can get lost in this website.  We even painted our living room black...yep...BLACK after seeing some gorgeous pictures of black rooms.  It looks beautiful and was glad a daring decision turned out so beautifully.

Yesterday I came across this quote (not sure who the author is) - 

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, "Whoo Hoo, what a ride!"                          

I LOVE this.

I am not one to take risks, to seek danger, or to live a life of excess.  I do like to live my life though.  I am still learning to not be so careful all of the time, not be the one who sits on the sideline, and not to be the parent who wraps their children in bubble wrap every time they go out of the house.  Again - I am still learning NOT to be this person.

This quote is going to be my new motto in life.  I want to enjoy this ride.  I want to be able to tell the stories instead of listening to them.  I want to show my kids that there are joys in life to be experienced and we may skin our knees and elbows in the process.

Potential

When I was in high school a friend of mine talked me into donating blood with her. She was very passionate about it. I reluctantly agreed and allowed them to take my one pint of blood. The best part was drinking OJ and having a cookie afterwards. We did this every three months together. It was just something we did without even thinking about it. We had it on our school calendars and would meet after school and head on over to the blood bank.

I even continued to donate blood while in college. Every three months. This is where I was asked if I wanted to be registered to be a bone marrow donor. After reading the information I said, "Why not?" So in 1994 I registered to be a bone marrow donor.

Fast forward 18 years.

While helping the boys with homework a few weeks ago I got a phone call from a number that I didn't recognize. Normally I would let this go through to voicemail, but for some reason I answered it. A very nice lady on the other end said, "Hello Mrs. O'Donnell, I am Linda with the National Marrow Donor Program and you are a 'potential' match. Do you remember registering for the Donor Program back in 1994?" Uhh....

Yes. I do remember but I truly thought that it was like the lottery. My "number" would NEVER be picked. Right? Wrong! My number was picked??? My number was picked!!!!!

The very nice Linda sent me some information via email and some forms to send back to her. She told me that it could take up to 60 days to find out if I am a "true match" for this gentleman who is in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Sixty days to wait. I was surprised that I was so panicky. I felt so much pressure. It is like I didn't want to fail this ultimate test. Of course I was going to go through with it if I am a true match, but....wow! There is a person out there that I have never met before that my bone marrow could possible save his life. That is a lot to take in.

Well, I have been (not so) patiently waiting for my letter to come in the mail. It came. And, yes, I am a true match! I am a true match!!! I cannot believe it. I am a true match....

The letter states that the gentleman that will need my bone marrow is not ready for the procedure yet, but I will be contacted once he is ready.

I will be giving my bone marrow many pep talks in the next few days/weeks/months...however long it takes. I am still in a little shock over this. I guess I always new I had potential...

What's on the inside?

My son Brady is the most inquisitive kid I know. And the question he asks most is "What's on the inside of _______?"

After a trip to Discovery Place he was able to have some of his questions answered. We got to see what the inside of the heart, the brain, bones, and the planet Earth looks like. He is now asking questions about things like mushrooms, rocks, and dirt. Our usual answer is , "just more dirt", or "just more mushroom".

His most resent question had us trying desperately not to laugh and hurt his feelings. "What is on the inside of testicles?" Our answer...."just more testicles!!!"

Cheers From the Playroom

Sometimes going on my daily run can be a challenge. Rain, cold, sickness, and even wind can play a huge factor in outdoor running. Well, today's challenge was....I needed to run, but who was going to watch the boys??

I decided to leave them in the house for the first time by themselves. Jacob is 9 so I figured this was OK to run in the neighborhood and leave him in charge. I left strict instructions and had them both repeat them back to me so I knew they were paying attention...then off I went.

Usually I wind my way around the neighborhood and eventually end up back at the house two miles later. Today was different. I didn't want to be too far from the house just-in-case I am needed. So I ran a small loop then back and forth and up and down my street. Never out of sight for more than a couple of minutes.

On my first pass of the house all was quiet. On my next pass the playroom window opened and the boys started shouting at me. I quickly turned off my ipod and yelled, "You OK?" They both started yelling, "Great job, Mom!" "WaHoo!" I got a huge smile on my face and kept running back and forth and up and down my street. Each time I approached the house the window would shoot up and the cheers would begin. "You can do it!" "Awesome!" "WaHoo!" "Go! Mom! Go!" I was beside my self with pride.

When I finished my run I ran upstairs to the playroom and told the boys that their cheers meant so much to me!

Me: Man, You guys are great! That was so sweet and you kept me going!
Jacob: Yeah! It was cool!
Brady: Mom, we are so proud of you!

Oh, my gosh! I couldn't speak because I got so choked up. I gave them each a kiss on the head and went downstairs to cool off.

Today I felt like a champion!

Knowledge is Power

Yesterday I found out that I hurt a friends feelings. Even though it was inadvertently...feelings were still hurt...and I caused it.

Knowing that I hurt a friend hurt me. Severely. I believe within a half hour I experienced every emotion. I was sad that I hurt them, embarrassed that I hurt them, angry that they were even hurt, surprised because I had no idea that I hurt them, and then back to sad.

I have to hand it to my friend because it took courage to even tell me that I had done something that hurt her feelings. When someone hurts my feelings I usually internalize it and then poor Tod gets an ear full at a later date. Then I feel better and move on. (Not sure if Tod has moved on or not....) The other person never knows that they even effected me.

The benefit of my friend telling me is that I was able to apologize. I was able to tell them how much their friendship means to me. I was able to realize that knowing that I hurt them was so much better then NOT knowing.

Mail

Would I be revealing too much if I admit that I love to check the mail? This is truly one of my high points of the day.

I absolutely love the distinctive sound of the mail truck slowly making its way to our house. I do wait for our blue gloved mail carrier to get out of view before I eagerly waltz to the mailbox. No need to completely embarrass myself.....everyday.

My favorite mail day is Magazine Day. It is that one day of the month that every magazine is delivered. Opening the mailbox and seeing it completely stuffed gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

The worst mail day is Tuesday. Every Tuesday we get the Super Saver Ads. That's it. Just the Super Saver Ads full of discounted gutter cleaning, outdoor fireplaces, and hard wood flooring. I should just take Tuesday's off from my mail gathering, but I have that just-in-case feeling that maybe, just maybe there may be a little something extra in Tuesday's delivery.

We never get bills anymore thanks to online bill pay. We rarely get junk mail - an odd Geico or AAA membership may sneak through. This limits our mail to personal letters (which are rare thanks to email which isn't nearly as fun checking!), magazines, promotional ads, and Netflix movies.

There is talk that the USPS will stop Saturday delivery. I have mixed feelings about this. I like Saturday delivery because it comes earlier in the day. I don't have to wait until 4:30pm for the mail to get here. I also like Saturday delivery because I can time my Netflix movies for a Saturday movie night. I understand that the post office is losing money and they need to make cuts somewhere. Might I suggest stopping Tuesday delivery??