Monday, April 27, 2009

Perspective

So I woke up this morning thinking that there had to be something else to blog about except the weather around here. So I determined that I was not going to mention that our area had a winter storm warning out and this morning it's been downgraded to a snowfall warning. And I told myself that I was not going to show you this picture I took last week:


and compare it to this one that I took this morning:

Or this one of my pretty, little polka dotted hosta last weekend:


And show you it this morning:

Nope. Not gonna go there!

So what else can I talk about this morning? Well, the weekend turned out pretty nice, not weather wise, but we're not mentioning that, but activity wise. Tia was in a badminton tournament on Saturday. Her first tournament of any kind. I think I was more excited than she was. She did great winning 3 out 4 games with her partner and helped her school to win first place. She acted very "whatever" about it, but I think deep down she was pleased with her performance. It was just a really, really long day. She was tired and I was exhausted. How can one be exhausted from sitting on a hard bleacher from 8:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon is beyond my understanding, but let me tell you I had certain body parts that were actually turning numb. But it was fun to actually go to a tournament with her and cheer her on. I was used to this with Kay with her involvement in basketball for years and her rugby but the opportunity never came with the other two kids who aren't as sports oriented as Kay was. I realized I sorta missed it. Except the numb body part. That I could do without.

Sunday I threw a roast into the crockpot before church with some sliced onions. And let me tell you that made the most awesome gravy. Yummy, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. My mom came over for lunch and we spent a nice relaxed afternoon rewatching this week's American Idol as Tia and Mom hadn't yet seen it. Then in the evening we watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Very good movie but broke. my. heart. Into a million pieces. If you don't know, it's a movie about a small German boy, who's father is the Commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, making friends with one of the boys in the camp. It is a story of the Holocaust seen through the innocent eyes of two small boys on opposite sides of the tragedy that adults were perpretrating around them and how in that innocence their friendship blossomed. Poor Tia had a hard time wrapping her mind around the horrors of how people could treat other people in that way. I thought they had learned about the holocaust in school already but apparently around here that doesn't come until grade 10. So I had lots of explaining to do. It was a very touching, profound movie done in a way that you could watch it with your teenagers (Tia is fourteen), and have much conversation with them about the value of human life, right and wrong, standing up for what is right, not following along, how this could have happened, can it happen even now and a myriad of other topics. While it was a very good movie that was at the same time a hard movie to watch I'm glad it afforded me the opportunity to talk to her.

It really put the complaining of this into proper perspective:


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Tia and her schools win...and your poor poor numb body part...but aren't children worth it :)

I just love your pictures and the contrast in such a short time. And how you say you aren't going to talk about the weather and start with it and then end with it...classic...your roast sounds ummm ummmm good

ellen b. said...

Oh I can so remember the numb parts from those darn uncomfortable bleachers! :0)
Umm I guess I won't mention the white stuff either in my comment as shocking as it is to my senses.
How good to have the opportunity to discuss the horrors of the holocaust with your daughter before they cover it in school...
Blessings on your week...

Melanie @ This Ain't New York said...

Yes, it does.

It is nice to hear a story of a family spending time together, talking and sharing and learning.

Anonymous said...

How wonderful that you took time to explain to Tia and to spend time with your family. Weather was conducive to that at least!

Brenda said...

Ahh, I feel kinda' sorry for you! Its almost May and you are still seeing snow . . .

Kelly said...

Yup, it's all about perspective isn't it? My blog today is about a book on perspective today! Neat.

Faith said...

great post! We broke a record for the albany area over the weekend. It was 89 on sat afternoon and today is 86!!! too early for THAT Kind of warmth tho for me...I'll take the 70's. Glad you had some family time...so important.

Donnetta said...

So sorry you are still having snow! I'm hoping ours is long gone!

I haven't heard of that movie but it sounds like a good one. Perspective indeed...

Barbara H. said...

Congratulations to Tia! Great work!

I know what you mean about being tired out after sitting on bleachers for a few hours. I don't know we it is so tiring, but it is.

That sounds like a heartrending movie.

Willow said...

So your flour bag spilled outside? Or it that talc powder?

I taught US History to high schoolers for a couple of years. It was hard to explain The Holocaust even to 11th graders. Have you read A Boy's War? Or Rea's Promise?

Michelle said...

Ouch on the numb part.Congrats to Tia for doing so well .

Finding Pam said...

I know your pain about the bleacher... Sorry that you are still getting snow. When does it officially stop snowing?

It has been so hot and humid here that I am wondering just what summer will be like.

My compliments to your daughter for playing well.

Karen said...

I haven't seen the movie, but it sounds heartbreaking. My kids had a holocaust unit in 7th grade. Their teacher handled it with such amazing sensitivity, for which I was grateful.

We woke up to snow this morning, such a complete surprise to me. I guess someone forgot to copy me on the memo:(

Laura said...

You go right ahead and complain all you want about the weather cause that will make it okay for me too. So.done.with.snow!

My daughter isn't a sports girl herself but this week it's all about hours of piano festival. The worst part is trying to keep the three year old from speaking. Talk about hard!

Jientje said...

I have not seen that movie, but it sounds good, real food for thought eh?
You have snow instead of sun, and we are back to the usual rain here in Belgium too. *sigh*
But you're right. We're not talking about that.
Not complaining either!

Carol @SheLives said...

Hey! I have an idea! Let's talk about the weather.

My kids call my sister Tia. It's weird seeing that name on your blog. Tia's my sister. Who is she to you?

That right there is more snow than we saw in the past three years combined.

Islandsparrow said...

awww - poor Suzanne. . .

Ahem - I hope it doesn't sound like crowing if I mention that our temperature today was 22 . . . it probably won't last long.

Congratulations to Tia!

And those chicken recipes sound delish!

Barb said...

Softball. Volleyball. Gymnastics. For six years. I spent so much time on bleachers, believe me, I know exactly what body part you're talking about - I still call it bleacher butt. :-)

The movie you and Tia watched sounds good but sad. It's so hard to read about or watch movies about the Holocaust. After reading The Devil's Arithmetic, the book Mandy brought with her when she was here a couple of weeks ago, I just can't go there again for a while. Even at my age, it's almost impossible to understand man's inhumanity to man.

Shawna said...

I definitely want one of those big new crockpots and some cooking bags. I see so many good crockpot recipes. I have the small one that I got as a wedding present almost 18 years ago. It works fine, but it's not big enough for a family of 6.