Saturday, February 13, 2010

always a challenge!

it's past my bedtime. we just finished watching the olympics....we saw some of the moguls and some of the luge.  it's so exciting.  the energy and determination of these olympic athletes is so invigorating.  they have such passion.....and have such great accomplishments.

i had alot of energy fueled by determination today too....it wasn't the adrenaline pumping stuff of olympic athletes...i had to be the coach and pump my "athletes" up just to get the dreaded job of getting our basement back into playroom condition.  it's been awhile and there has been some slow and steady decline in the terrain....my "athletes" have lost interest.

it was about 2 years ago that we had some crazy noah and the arc storm come our way. for the only time in our homeowner lives, we had water come into our basement.....it poured down from our full gutters.....it trickled down through the bilco....down the stairs....under the door....onto the floor ....juat enough to create a puddle...that grew until it seeped and seeped......and seeped some more into the wall to wall carpet that had only been installed a year or so before

no matter how we tried, that carpet was destined for the dumpster.....which caused me to be down in the dumps.  while other people were off in glamorous vacation destinations, biff and i were hauling wet carpet and the padding up the bilco stairs....lugging it, dripping all over us, across the backyard, and heaving the sloppy mess into the dumpster.

we tried to work out a plan.  life got busy...the plan was hazy....hazy goals produce hazy results.  so, it took us some time to decide how to tackle this problem....would we put in wall to wall just to have this nightmare again.  oh....i should say that i recognize this is not that big of a deal in the scheme of life events....just a wet and squishy waste of money and a whole comfortable room that we had all started to enjoy.

until the poseidon adventure.  tears streamed down my face as i worked with mops and wet vacs and towels and sham wows.  and that project lost momentum just because of sheer fear.  fear....of water and mops and anything wet ....i was shattered.  o.k., not shattered...soaked!  soaked to the gils.  that room had been put together with alot of effort to have a "lego place" for unbelievable lego projects created by t.j. and biff...and grace had a part in it too.  this was a place of major creativity and peace and conversation for the whole family.  we had couches, a t.v., tables for artwork, homework...a ping pong table and my project table for just me.  it was great.  until it wasn't.

we have tried to get it back to that fun place.  it's been a challenge to get my family to join in the reindeer game with me.  i aded large rugs.  i added  a little bigger t.v.  nothing! no one!  the legos were getting dusty...the dollhouse had lost appeal and grace was having friends hunkerdown in her bedroom with ipod tunes, a mirror and a closet full of clothes to share. times they were a changin.

i.ve been working hard to keep my "athletes" updated on these events for quite some time.  the first day of vacation seemed to be the right time to boost the morale and accomplish big things in our olympic training center...our basement.  it was a real challenge and competition was encouraged. thankfully, today we got alot done  ...everyone helped....everyone had a personal best.  we took pictures of the best legos built over time...not the kit stuff..some of the thinking, engineering and creating involved  in these  photo worthy projects was outstanding....and the memories of the moments shared making the piece were even better.

we packed some things up, we painted the whole basement, we sanded the big coffee table.....biff even went to order the rug.....and made plans to get it in.   this was a big day.  we're feeling pumped we're not gold metal material yet.....i think by the end of the week, we may be awarded the silver....maybe the bronze if my team starts slacking.

we have plans to get things done...we have plans to see some friends, we have plans to see some family.....i believe...i believe we can reach our goal. i know we can do anything when we do it together and we all commit to getting the job done.

we may even be the underdog....but that's o.k. because it was worth it just to hear grace and t.j. discuss their accomplishments at the end of the night.  i was so proud of them!  they don't know it, but i always knew they could do it.  when we set our minds on something, we get it done!  sooner or later!  and sooner rather than later is always a challenge!

Live aid - 1985 Usa For Africa - We Are The World

can't believe this is 25 years old!

We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video

love this song...old and new version.