I Have Never...

I Have Never...this was the name of the game I played today. Inside of a bag on folded sheets of paper were several items written. For an example, "I have never posted on facebook", the card might read. If you HAVE posted on facebook you take and M&M and if you have not, then you take nothing. The person at the end of the game with the most M&M's wins.

This got me thinking today. If I look back on my life and play this game, how big would my pile of M&M's be? I certainly want to make sure that I am doing enough things in life that when the end comes I have a whole pile of candy and litany of stories to share with my grandchildren and hopefully great-grandchildren about my adventures. I want to make sure that fear or the business of life doesn't always crowd out adventure and exploring this great world God has created.

Although I feel overwhelmed with school right now, I think this New Year's Eve I will be making plans for the next year's adventures. I want my kids to learn to live a life that is full of adventure, even if it is just in the backyard or across town. I know that if we don't plan for it, it will never happen.

I Have Never...will that be the end of the statement of your life, or will you also have a huge pile of M&M's and a great book of stories to share?

That is really heavy!

Today in my patient skills lab we learned how to properly move patients from the bed to a wheel chair and "log roll" them in a bed. I got to be the class example of the patient. Thank goodness it is a small class. So I'm laying on the bed while the teacher gives another student instructions. Let's just say when she finally helped me off the bed into a standing position we were really, really close to each other...uncomfortably close. I felt like I should have been taken out for drinks or something first. Anyway, I finally made it to the wheel chair and was miraculously healed so I didn't have to be moved back into the bed! When it was my turn to move the next girl, I was surprised at how natural it felt to explain what I was doing and how I was going to do it. The woman actually asked me if i had done this type of work before...not unless you count dragging Ryan's heavy arse to the bathroom at night! Anyway, I have a brand new appreciation for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for the kind of work they do day in and day out. I have no idea how they even have a back left! Even the smallest girl in the class, healthy and able to help move herself around was incredibly heavy at the angle at which you need to work and lift. So this post is my shout out to Mom and Jean for being freaking superheroes every time they go to work...you guys are AMAZING!!

Update

I thought I would give a quick update on school. I am currently getting A's in two of three classes. My PE class has not had anything graded yet so I guess the butt-kicking I get in the pool every week is all I have to go on at this point. I have to say, last week she worked us so hard that on Saturday I woke up and I was sore from the base of my skull to the tops of my feet. I am getting pretty good at taking blood pressure. I also can take your temperature (that is massive skill right there) and check your pulse and respiration. I have learned the bones of the body and am trying not to forget them all as I now fill my brain with muscles. I must  tell you as we are learning about muscles and the different tissues, I gagged a bit when I was cutting up some raw chicken. My meat eating days may be over for a bit, because being able to identify it's parts really kills it. gross.

My PE class has a wellness portion to it. That basically means that health is more than physical it's emotional, social, spiritual and even environmental. She had us pick three behaviors we would like to change this term. We are supposed to start journals as well. Turns out my water class is more than just killing myself in the pool. It's good though and if I am going to spend the time and money on it, I might as well get all I can from the class. My first behavior change was my prayer life. I need to pray more, or at least more specifically and listen more. It is not what I want it to be and so I will be working on that. Secondly, I need to take stock of my days and see where I am wasting time. Time that I can take to do stuff with the kids or take care of other things. Sometimes I feel like if I can't play for an hour, I shouldn't play at all. However, the other day when I told Ry we had 15 minutes to play catch and I set the timer...we had the best 15 minutes we have had in a while. So I want to create more moments like that. Lastly, is a physical one. I want to start moving in intentional exercise everyday and take off some of this weight once and for all. I watched this thing on youtube call 23 and a half hours. You should check it out, it's really good. Anyway it inspired me to make time to walk everyday. Hopefully I will start to reap the benefits of these decisions. The Bible says if we seek first the kingdom of God, all of these other things will be added to us. So I am definitely going to start there.

In other news, Rebecca's bedroom got a make over and it looks awesome!! I could not be more pleased with how it turned out. I also finally decorated my half bathroom and will be excited to show it off at holiday time. My mom came to town and she helped me with both since she has an amazing gift for decorating and I do not. She also blessed me by purchasing the items for the bathroom. It looks really great. Plus I think I learned a few things while we shopped and am anxious to try out my new skills in another room! The upstairs hallway has also been painted. Goodbye ugly walls!! Now for the foyer to be done. I'm a little terrified of getting up on scaffolding, but I think I am just way to cheap to pay someone hundreds of dollars to do it. We shall see how that works out.

Well, I guess I will close here. I won't be able to keep those A's if I don't put in the hours of studying. So off I go...I have 7 more muscles of the face to learn tonight!