me, 7th Grade, 1977
I’ve written before about how I had many worries and thoughts about the future when I was young. But I was also a planner. One of the biggest “plans” I had was for my transition from elementary school to Jr. High.
In elementary school, I was a pretty typical kid. Braces, headgear, and rubber bands worked to fix my smile. I took tap dance lessons. In the band, I played the flute.
But I wanted to be different. So I came up with a plan. I was going to have a life makeover! But, of course, “makeover” wasn’t yet a concept. Continue reading
April 7th, 1980. I was 9 years old and was heading to Grandma Is’s house after school. Grandma’s house was only 2 blocks from school and I made the journey without any challenges. It was a beautiful spring day. Not a cloud in the sky. At least not yet.
The sky was darkening to the west. The daylight took on a greenish cast…and then the tornado sirens went off just as I rode past the last few houses before turning into my own driveway. 
My husband and I were living in Napa, Ca. Our one-year-old son, Matt was in his eight-sided play area. Our dog, Nikki, was asleep on the bed and Michael had just gotten back from a business meeting in San Francisco.
The only real natural event that I have ever been in was the tornado that touched down in Beaver Dam in the year 1980. It was always felt that we would never be subject to a tornado because of the lake effect. In searching for the data on this tornado I note that this evidently is misinformation as there were others mentioned, just not memorable to me. The tornado that I witnessed firsthand happened on April 7th, 1980. 
You know the quote… “A mother’s work is never done”? Well – I think it’s more accurate to say “A mother’s worry is never done”. When thinking about what I worry about, I start to think that it’s easier to ask what I don’t worry about.
One of the first self-help books I read in my twenties was written by Dr. Wayne Dyer. He discussed guilt and worry as being the two most wasted emotions. He explained that guilt was about the past and worry was about things to happen in the future. Both of these emotions are out of our control unless we learn from past mistakes, rid ourselves of guilt, and take appropriate action to eliminate worry in the future.
Everyone says that I am a constant worrier. To be honest I think I worry so much that I don’t even realize that I am worrying. It is my way of life. I do have a lot of people that seem to need me to take care of them. (I’m just kidding actually.) I read somewhere that worrying is a total waste of time and energy. I do realize this but just can’t seem to let my worrying go. 
Is there a difference between raising girls vs boys? I definitely experienced a significant difference between the two sexes. I wasn’t prepared for the discrepancy I experienced as I only grew up with my older sister and never had to deal with boys in the household.
At this point of my life, I don’t think I’m a night owl OR an early bird. I know for sure that I’ve never been an early bird. The idea of waking up early in the morning puts absolute dread in my heart. 
