The Girl Who Cried Gas

Imagine this: you are sitting on your living room couch and you are freezing cold. You think to yourself, “why haven’t I called the gas company to turn on the furnace yet?”. Next you think, “why hasn’t The Hubs called the gas company to turn on the furnace yet? Yeah, that’s it. Let’s blame him!” Next thought, “It will take the gas man a week to come out and light the pilot light. By then you and your children will be icicles and that’s no good.” Final thought, “Let’s call the gas company and tell them you smell gas. Yeah! That will get them out here ASAP. When they get here the smell will be mysteriously gone and they can just light the furnace. I’m brilliant!”

And so it was. What happened next? The gas guy showed up an hour later and found an ACTUAL gas leak. Also, a leak in the vent. What does that mean? Not only do we have no heat, but now we have no hot water until the landlord fixes the problem. FUN! Exciting! So hilarious!

What is the moral of this story? If I had never cried wolf/gas, we would have hot water tonight. However, we would also have a gas leak we didn’t know about. I can’t figure out the lesson in this tragic comedy, except that GOD THINKS ITS FUNNY TO MESS WITH ME.

Also Back By Popular Demand…

(Well, at least I demanded it…)

My secret TV boyfriend who is no longer on TV.

Gratuitous, pointless and altogether completely crucial photo:

AHHHHHH. Its like crack. I feel so much better now…

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful holiday. See how pretty the table looked? It was only one short year ago that our Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays were filled with turmoil, as we received Charlie’s diagnosis. Charlie was at his “worst” at that time, and I remember feeling so hopeless. I had no idea how the Autism diagnosis would impact our lives, all I knew is that it felt like we were in a glass box. Everyone staring and examining us and our son, but we were unable to escape any of it. Its hard to say it, but the truth is that those holidays were awful. We look back at the pictures and our eyes fill with tears. In those pictures, you can’t help but notice Charlie always on the edge of any picture, not with the group. Staring off, no expression on his face. Not wearing any clothing because he refused, he wore only a diaper. His hair all messy and long because he refused to let us comb or cut it. Definitely an outsider, not connected to us, or anyone.

What a difference a year makes! Our Thanksgiving this year was smooth, the food tasted fantastic and best of all, Charlie was PRESENT. He had no especially difficult behavior, and even gave everyone a hug when he went off to bed. Of course, all excitement follows with a few days of difficulty. It took over 30 minutes to put on a shirt and pants this morning. However, we will look back at the pictures of this holiday and SMILE. Charlie has a new skill, he doesn’t always use it, and most people take this skill for granted, but he used it for this picture. The skill? SMILING!

Listen Up, This is Deep

I feel renewed after a week long leadership conference in San Diego. Things don’t feel so hopeless, and peace of mind is priceless. I understand now that when bad things happen, either caused by me or out of my control, they do not have to define my experience of Life. I know that I am on this journey of life and only need to take as many steps as I can each day. Some days will have more steps, others will have less.

One of the many things I was able to experience during the seminar was fundraising for a non-profit which helps homeless people. The challenge: we had a window of time of about 5 hours to “collect” various items like 80 towels, 80 blankets, 20 sets of dishes, 10 gallons of indoor paint, etc., as well as a goal of raising $24,000. There were 160 of us and we could not use any of our own money. We managed to get donations from all the local stores (Home Depot, local hotels, etc.) and raised OVER $103,000! It was fantastic and was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. We helped so many people, in just 5 short hours, imagine what we could do if we focused on things like this more often?

I heard quoted this beautiful prayer:

May I become at all times, both now and forever, a protector for those without protection, A guide for those who have lost their way, A ship for those with oceans to cross, A bridge for those with rivers to cross, A sanctuary for those in danger, A lamp for those without light, A place of refuge for those who lack shelter, And a servant to all in need.-Tibetan Prayer

What impact will you make on your community, your world, in your lifetime and beyond?