Dream Big

A friend posted the lyrics to this song on Facebook this morning, and they resonated with me. So I thought I would include them here.

Dream Big

Ryan Shupe & Rubberband

An' when you cry, be sure to dry your eyes,
'Cause better days are sure to come.
An' when you smile, be sure to smile wide,
An' don't let them know that they have won.
An' when you walk, walk with pride: don't show the hurt inside,
Because the pain sill soon be gone.
An' when you dream, dream big,
As big as the ocean, blue.
'Cause when you dream it might come true.
But when you dream, dream big.
An' when you laugh, be sure to laugh out loud,
'Cause it will carry all your cares away.
An' when you see, see the beauty all around and in yourself,
An' it will help you feel okay.
An' when you pray, pray for strength to help to carry on,
But when the troubles come your way.
An' when you dream, dream big,
As big as the ocean, blue.
'Cause when you dream it might come true.
But when you dream, dream big.
An' when you laugh, be sure, (Dream big.)
to laugh out loud,
'Cause it will carry all your cares away.
And when you see, see the beauty, (Dream big.)
all around and in yourself,
An' it will help you feel okay.
An' when you pray, pray for strength to help to carry on,
But when the troubles come your way.
An' when you dream, dream big,
As big as the ocean, blue.
'Cause when you dream it might come true.
An' when you dream, dream big.

 

Things have just been stressful and busy around here…..

Trying to stay positive…..because I have been worrying about this one….

He has been sick. Very sick. Staying home from work sick – for someone that never ever misses work for any reason, including taking puke bags in the car, and fever medicine before he goes…..it is scary to a wife to see him lay so much.

After a bout of frustration with our own doctor, we wound up at a second opinion who was much more thorough, so what we thought was Lyme Disease has turned out to be Mono.

MONO! In a grown adult! (again something our previous doctor would not have even looked for, since he doesn’t believe it can happen)

No wonder he was seeping 18 hours a day at one point! Also turns out he did get strep on top of it, and thankfully that antibiotic seems to be perking him up slightly and at least has gotten rid of the profuse sweating and weird fevers he had.

But his liver function numbers are still off and his iron is also high (tests that our other doctor wouldn’t even address) – so the doctor is concerned and checking to be sure that he does not have a liver infection also. Ran that blood work this morning.

So for now, he is resting, taking his medicine and at least as enough energy to be up for periods of time, and at least put partial days in at work. Then, he comes home and crashes for the rest of the night. Poor thing. And I am trying to be grateful and remember it could be far far worse.

In the meantime, life goes on around here….doctor appts for everyone all around, check ups and other wise……

Took this one on our first college visit this weekend, that is a whole other post along with another post on her appts.

A last minute plan when we saw the open house advertised on tv. So off we went to spend the day in the city.

Seems she wants to make cakes!

Dream Big fits too. I want her to believe in herself SO much and dream as big as she can.

Great section of the city, nice program, apt building in the shadow of city hall, on the Ave of the Arts…..lots of looking to do yet. Checking into the CIA in Hudson Valley too (hear that Neena?!) since they have a Baking/Pastry degree, not just diploma and she would get 18 weeks of paid internship running the schools public bake shop before she graduates. I have a feeling that one may be what she does, but may put us in the poor house until we are 100!

So, us two girls walked the streets, had a bite of lunch, toured the school,

And this entertained us.

seems this gentleman likes to lasso parking meters, complete with rodeo number on his back…..in the 1800 block of Chestnut St in Philly! Go figure!

Lighthouse

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.” ~~ Dwight L. Moody

 

Cape May Lighthouse August 2010

What is it about lighthouses that fascinates us so?

As I sat and looked at these pictures, I remember how my mom loved it. They went every summer to Cape May and she talked about the light house so often. I never got there while she was alive. So when we were in OC with the kids, we checked out Sunday morning and decided it was high time we saw it.

Is it the height in and of itself, the rich history that each lighthouse has, or what they represent ? The lighthouse is a light in a storm, safe passage, guidance when it is darkest.

Isn’t that we all crave in life?

A stable port in the storm? Someone we know will guide us safely on our journey?

I can’t help it – as I went up and down these….those cochlear sometimes frightening steps…..

I couldn’t help but let my mind wander back and try to think what it must have been like to work in the lighthouse, or live near it. The responsibility of knowing there may be a ship over the horizon that would soon require the lighthouse beacon to warn it away from the rocks and guide it through a channel.

Did any forlorn women waiting for their loved ones to return, sit atop the lighthouse and gaze out to the ocean looking for their husband or lover to appear on the water?  Did anyone ever gaze out knowing their loved one was never going to return to them on that water? Did any young boys climb the steps to gaze out and dream of one day travelling across those waters, or perhaps think of the day they would take over the responsibility of the light.

Yes – I read far too many mid-century historical romances, and yes, I prefer them in coastline settings. *smile*

The captains of those old ships depended on these lighthouses to guide them safely in good weather, and especially in poor weather. Far out dated now, with new sonar and satellite  technology we no longer need the services of these old lighthouses, yet we are still drawn to them, almost like moths to their proverbial flames.

These three are my beacon in the darkness. They give me light when I can’t see it. They ground me. Guide my steps.

And I love how even when they are too chicken to climb the steps with us (more likely too lazy, but they said fearful, so we will go with that)….

 

The lighthouse even provided the shade they needed to wait for us.

My wish as a parent is that I may always be their beacon in the darkness, guide them through the rough waters, and dark storms, but also give them the shade and protection they may need even in the light.

So I remember……

Not that I could ever forget how totally awesome this kid is.

He is so quiet, and none assuming.

Often gets lost in the shuffle simply because he is so easy going and his sister demands so much more time and attention.

Still waters run deep.

Then he goes and makes my heart explode….

He penned this….this week for a school project……I am going to rearrange the order for reasons I won’t say…but he basically had to use short sentences to tell the teacher about himself…..each was highlighted in a different color as the assignment had to “be colorful” – this is what he came up with.

 

Constructing is fun for me.

Has an older sister named K****

Relaxes by watching TV and sleeping

.

I like electricity.

Says video games can sometimes be educational.

Fishy is my nick name. (PS – that was also his dad’s nickname)

I have A.D.D.

Soda is my favorite beverage.

Has a dog named Zoey.

Likes to play video games.

Oh, and I like biking around my neighborhood.

Cancer took the life of my best friends mom.

K**** sometimes annoys me, but I love her.

Ya know……

Ya know you have a few of these …..

In the house -

If you resort to this….

In an attempt to get someone else besides yourself to realize they can in fact put a dish in the dishwasher themselves!

somehow I think everyone here thinks the magic dish fairy takes their dishes from the sink to the dishwasher.

So, I thought a little reminder smack dab in front of them as they stand at the sink would work -

“oh, the dish washer is dirty!? Well then let me turn 30 degrees, pull open the door and place my dish/bowl/spoon in there myself!”

As you can see,

it is not working as well as I had hoped!

I spared you the photo of the sink  full of dishes placed directly under my note……

Hey, yeah , right….

I have a blog!

Yeah. I do don’t I?

I have a ton to post but no frame of mind presently….

So I shall reveal the rest of the Fish-bowl names I think I came up with….

Going with the “alot” theme started by dad, I came up with Miss Textalot for this one…..

any other ideas out there???

Coming up with “alot” for this one, proves a bit more challenging….

I really wanted to go more along the lines of his hairy situation for him…but no “alot” suits that…..I call him my Hairy Monster….so he could be that….. he does grunt a lot, play a lot of video games and sleeps a lot but none of those are sticking as well as Hairy Monster, or simply The Hairy One. A post on his hair is saved for another day.

Be back to post soon – lighthouses, beach and first day of school….