Sunday, January 1, 2012

Tall and Smiling

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of one the best men I've ever had the honor of knowing.

I met Mr. Al Fikse just before the start of my senior year of high school. That was when I got hired at Light & Life Christian School as an after school daycare assistant. I heard about the job opening because my little brother and sister were students at the school.

I don't remember much about the whole process of being hired... just that I applied, waited a day or two, and received the call that I got the job. I figure my application must have had that "WOW" factor because I don't remember being interviewed for the job. Or, maybe I did and I just forgot (it was a long time ago, after all).

As a daycare assistant, part of my work duty included waiting with students on the playground as they got picked up by their parents. Those who weren't picked up by 3:15, got a check mark next to their name to indicate that they would be staying on daycare. At 3:15, my job was to watch the students on the playground... along with about four other daycare assistants.

My first day on the job, I remember seeing this tall man on the campus. He seemed to know every student and parent. He looked like he belonged there, so I figured he did. I'm just smart like that. I learned later that afternoon that the tall man was Mr. Fikse, the principal of the school.

Principal? This smiling, engaging man was the principal? I thought a principal came into this world wearing a stern, disapproving facial expression and harboring an aloof personality. I was a good kid and never got in trouble at school, but my seventeen year old mind was programmed to view principals through leery lenses.

While my first couple weeks at Light & Life passed by in a blur, one memory stands out very clearly in my mind:

I was holding one end of a jump rope while several children were taking turns practicing their moves. Mr. Fikse was on the playground, as he often was. He happened to be passing by as I was saying to one of the students, "Wow! Good job!" Mr. Fikse stopped and said to me, "I like that you are so encouraging to the kids. Keep up the good work." (Or something along those lines).

For some reason, those words meant so much to me. It's as if what he said bounced around in my head like a little rubber ball in a small, four-walled room. From that day on, when I would see a student who looked as if he/she needed some encouragement -boing!- that ball would smack me on the neocortex and Mr. Fikse's words inspired me to take action. When I doubted my ability to do my job well -bonk!- Mr. Fikse's words encouraged me.

Of course, I had many interactions with Mr. Fikse in the ensuing years... many of which were equally uplifting. I think this memory is clear to me after all these years because it sums up so much of how he was. It didn't matter how busy he was, he took the time to offer encouragement. He cared about his students. He cared about his staff. He saw the good in people. He made people want to be better.

When I think of Mr. Fikse, I always see him as I saw him on that first day- tall and smiling.


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

What I'm NOT Doing

Today is just too darn hot to want to do much!  I have so many things I should be doing... such as:

Washing Dishes




Emptying the Dishwasher



Decluttering the Kitchen Counters



Straightening Up the Family Room



Straightening Up the Living Room



Washing Clothes
 


Getting Andrew's Bed Made



Burning Calories



Doing My Summer School Homework



Or Even Making My Toes Look Pretty



But I'm not doing these things... instead I'm doing this:

Treasure Isle




Farmville



FrontierVille



Oh, Motivation, wherefore art thou?

Monday, July 12, 2010

Blogging, Honesty, and Crickets- Oh My!

The problem with coming back to blogging after being gone for so long is that I have so much to write about and can't figure out where to start. Then there is always the little voice in my head that says:

"Who cares, anyway? Nobody probably even reads your blog... can't you hear those crickets chirping in the background?"
I do hear crickets right now but I'm pretty sure they are coming from outside our open sliding glass door. I hope. Maybe I should close the window and see if I still hear them...

Then, I have to question why I even want to write a blog.
  • Do I do it for myself... sort of like a diary or a journal? Heck, no! I have never believed in journals/diaries. My fear of having my deepest thoughts and secrets forever documented via the written word has kept me from falling victim to that weapon-of-self-destruction.
  • Do I do it because I want to keep my family and friends up-to-date on what the Jones' are up to? Nah... my family is pretty boring.
  • Do I keep a blog because I am egotistical enough to think that my profane profound thoughts and words will enrich the lives of anyone who happens to read it? Yes. I think that's it. It's not that I think I have much to offer. In fact, I think it's because I don't have a lot to offer that makes me feel eligible to offer what I do have.
In other words, I have always viewed my blog as an opportunity to be transparent. I am a transparent person in real life and I feel very strongly that we need to be transparent with each other. I like people to be real. I like people who can admit that they are not perfect. I like people who aren't afraid to let their friends see their weaknesses. I like people who can laugh at themselves.

I have had friends who are real... and I have had friends who wear their "my life is perfect" face all the time. I prefer to be around my friends who are "real". I like to know that I am not the only one who has a huge pile of clean laundry in their family room... that I am not the only one who sometimes gets too lazy to be consistent in disciplining their children... that I'm not the only one who resents their husband for hogging the TV remote.

I blog because I hope to make other people/women/wives/mommies feel like they are not alone. If you really are perfect and have the perfect family & life, this blog is not for you. Move on to the blog written by that chick who makes her own bio-degradable diapers while homeschooling six obedient children who are fed only home-grown, organic vegetables and still has time to keep her house clean and her husband satisfied. I'm sure she exists somewhere.

Wow! For not knowing where to start (again), I sure have said a lot!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Something... and More

Something
OK... I finally decided on a new (and hopefully matching) header for my blog. Now that that's done, I feel obligated to write something. So, here we go...

Something.


Ha ha ha! I crack myself up sometimes! I am my own entertainment.

WOW!
On a serious note, I just have to hand out a kudos for my friend/ fellow blogger, Sarah. I saw Sarah at church today and noticed that something was drastically different about her.

Before I go on, let me explain that I am the most unobservant person I know. Really!
Case in points:
  • I used to work at a bank and had to identify a check forger who cashed a $6,000 check at my teller station. The only thing I could remember about the guy is that he had brown hair. Yes... very helpful.
  • It takes several times for me to see someone before I recognize them. It's embarrassing and makes me feel like an idiot.
  • I can look at my husband as he leaves for work and one minute later could not tell you what he was wearing.
  • My friend, Lois, redecorated her entire living room... complete with new paint color and handmade window treatments. I didn't even notice until she told me!
In short, something has to be really different before I will notice any type of change. Which brings me back to Sarah...

Sarah has always been a beautiful lady, blessed with height and nice bone structure. Today I also noticed that my sweet church friend was skinny! She has never been overly-heavy in my mind but today's Sarah was sporting a fabulous figure. I mentioned how great she looks and she told me she lost 55 pounds. That's right, 55 pounds!

How does someone do that?! I have been trying to lose a measly 10 pounds and it feels like an impossible goal. Sarah is an inspiration! If she can lose that much weight- she has four kids, by the way- then I have no excuse to keep that disgusting extra 10 pounds around my middle.

Sarah, I don't know if you are reading this, but I just want to congratulate you and let you know that you are my inspiration. You inspire to perspire. Keep up the awesome work, beautiful lady, you rock!!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Just About the Most Important Blog You'll Ever Read

My, How Time Does Fly!
It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog. And by a "while" I mean months and months. I'm back. Again.

Ch-ch-ch-changes
I like the new template options for Blogger... very, very cool. Now my header picture that I worked so hard on doesn't look right. Sigh... time to get my creative juices flowing and make another one.

Tab Envy
I want tabs on my blog. Why? Just because they would make my blog look cool. Really cool. And important... like I have so much to offer the world via my ramblings. If you know how to do tabs, will you please let me know? Otherwise I am going to have to research it myself and since I need to make a new banner for the top of this blog, I'm going to be a little busy for a while.

That's All, Folks
Gotta go! Laundry awaits.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Random Ramblings

Confession

OK... I admit it... I lied about posting the rest of my family tree blog the "next day". The thing is, I'm still doing my research and my family tree is probably not interesting to anyone else but me. I'm sure I'll blog about the subject again, but I've got to get my mind organized first. It's amazing how many branches diverge off of one tree trunk... I can hardly keep track of who is who in my family anymore.

My Cat

We got our kitten a few weeks ago. She is adorable! She is also, I'm noticing, a bit mentally-challenged. The first time she saw herself in our full-length mirror and attacked the "other cat" in the reflection was cute and funny. Well, she is still attacking herself. And by "attack", I mean full-on, high-speed, battering-ram, flying into the mirror cat-fight! It's still funny. It's not so cute anymore. I worry she is going to shatter the mirror with her head!

She can also be found chasing her tail... while trying to balance on the top of a chair back. This usually results in a nasty spill. She has fallen into the water-filled bathtub a few times, much to the boys' delight. She likes to lick. She especially likes to lick my legs after I go for a long, sweaty run.

Speaking of Run

I went for a great run today! I went longer than I had planned but it was worth it. I discovered some new trails and the weather couldn't have been better. My heel has been bothering me (I have a bone spur in my heel) but I've decided that I might as well get used to it. I've had physical therapy and a cortisone shot and neither has completely taken away the pain. It's sort of a trade-off... my heel hurts when I run but the rest of me hurts when I don't. So, I guess I'll run.

Virtually Me

I love Facebook. Where else can you become "friends" with people who hardly gave you the time of day in high school? Where else can you connect with people who actually live only a few doors down from you? For a phone-hating, verbally-challenged individual like me, Facebook is a social paradise. If only I could include my Facebook life on my job resumes! Who wouldn't want to hire someone with the following qualifications?

  • Voted "Nicest Person" -by people who don't really know me- several days in a row
  • Successful farm owner who took a small, four-plot farm and turned it into a thriving business worth millions of "coins"
  • Winner of numerous Bake-Offs in the town of YoVille
  • Supporter of and participant in several worthy committees, such as "We Hate the New Facebook Home Page", "Six Degrees of Separation", and "I Don't Care How Comfortable Crocs are, You Look Like a Dumbass"

It takes a lot of time to have such a successful Facebook life!

So, yesterday I decided to quit two of my three Facebook farms. I gave away all my Yoville merchandise to a friend and will move out totally once all my cakes have finished baking. I purged myself of my Roller Coaster Kingdom and got rid of my aquarium. And you know what? It felt good! I only have one farm now and it has no crops so all I have to do is water my flowers and I'm free.

Insomnia?

I don't have it. Good night!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Messed-Up Families Have Trees, Too


This has the potential to turn into a long blog. I'll do my best to keep it from turning into a long story turned longer... but I do need to include some personal history, so please bear with me.

What I'm Doing
For the past week, I have been trying to research my family ancestry. No, I haven't converted to Mormonism... although, I do appreciate their excellent family-record keeping skills. There are reasons for doing this and reasons for not having done it before.

Why am I Doing This?
As I was lying in bed last Sunday, unsuccessfully fighting off the onset of a cold, I saw a news report about a group of Cherokee Indians in San Diego County getting together for the day to celebrate their culture. This caught my attention because, supposedly, I have a small amount of Cherokee blood running through my veins. It also occurred to me that I have no proof of this Native American ancestry. So, I figured I might as well try to find it.

What Makes this a Difficult Task?

Here is where the story has the potential to get overly long. I come from a pretty messed-up family. Basically, I don't know most of my family. I haven't seen my biological mom in over 30 years... I don't associate with any of my living grandparents because my two grandmothers are not very nice people.

I have four full-blooded siblings. I have relationships with none of them. I have a half-brother and a half-sister and they are awesome, so we are pretty close. I have some uncles, aunts, and cousins but I don't really know them because they live in other states.

I pretty much grew up with my Dad and my Stepmom. I know I can get some information about my Dad's side of the family... but even that will be scarce, due to fact that my Dad didn't even really know his dad. Heck, the last name I grew up with isn't even my Dad's real last name- the story is my Dad took the last name of his favorite step dad (my grandmother was married five times).

Thanks to a kind step-grandfather I never met, my maiden name was Kish. This is apparently a common Hungarian name. I am zero percent Hungarian. I dated a guy who was Hungarian once but that's as close as I ever came to being one. I've never felt any attachment to that name... I felt no remorse when I became a Jones on my wedding day. Besides, nobody could ever pronounce or spell it. It's just not that hard, people!

Get Out the Violins...
I'm just kidding... leave them in their cases. I really dislike pity and I don't want it but I'm going to tell you all something sort of sad about me. Growing up, I never really felt like I belonged to a family. There I said it. Now, wipe your eyes and read on. I always felt like I was on the peripheral of someone else's family... sort of able to be a part but never feeling totally connected.

I'm sure I am totally messed-up now as a result. I mean, this has got to be the reason I can never seem to get the clean laundry put away. Right? Go along with it, folks... I need an excuse.

Cliff-hanger

I'm going to finish this tomorrow. I'm tired and I'm still trying to get over this cold so I'm off to bed. If you are still reading this, thanks for hanging in with me. I still have lots to tell about my search for a familial identity... including a trip to a cemetery, walks down memory lane, and lots and lots of time spent on the computer.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this picture of the bottom of my shoe.