The Roadtrip
Recently I took my kids on a 7 hour road trip back to my home town in NY. It made me realize how different this excursion was compared to the roadtrips my family took when I was a kid. I got each of my kids buckled in their seats, handed them their electronic devices, snacks and ear-buds and no one spoke for about 3 hours until a rest stop was needed. It was a very relaxing trip. Everyone arrived at our destination calm, refreshed and ready for our adventures.
This was different than the road trip I took in 1977. My parents had just bought a brand new car. Boy was it a beauty. It was an 8 passenger Pontiac LeMans Station wagon. Wowwie. She was two toned with light cream and that ever popular woodgrain. I remember taking the test drive with them. They let me sit in the back back for the road test. The seat in the wagon portion actually faced BACKWARDS. It was like I was on space mountain! Shortly after my parents took ownership of the family hotrod we had plans to go to Philadelphia. All of us. My mother, father, sister, my 2 grandmothers, my grandmothers beagle and myself. It would be a true test of strength for the new family truckster. Back then there were no electronics and no earbuds. There was mydads 1950’s rock and roll cassette tapes or whatever channel my dad chose on am/fm radio. My sister can still sing every 50’s song that we hear word for word!!
On family trips, my dad was ALWAYS the driver. I think I saw my mom drive with my dad in the car 3 times in my entire life. He liked to drive and use his CB radio. His handle was BIG MAC (our name was McIntyre). We all had CB handles… back then it was open mic night all the time. You could talk to the truckers and to other families. You could complain about the road conditions or warn each other of upcoming traffic… or you could just talk about nothing and pretend to have your own version of cannon ball run. My mom’s handle was Aquarius. Wasn’t that cool? My sister was a teenager and her handle was Magic Girl. Awesome. But I was 6. My handle was NOT very cool. My dad told me to pick something that I liked most. So Breaker, Breaker, Mint Chocoloate Chip Ice Cream hit the airwaves!! Oh, I wish I was kidding.
The seating configuration for our road trip was interesting. See my 2 grandmothers did not get along….at all…..ever. Grandma McIntyre was old, and never really walked well. She had various illnesses and was a very bitter, mean woman. She was extremely conservative and did not like conversation. We know she loves us because she had to, but she REALLY loved her beagle Cindy-Sue. Grandma Fiducia was the opposite. A very sweet, gentle grandma. She spoke very little English having been off the boat from Sicily years prior. She prayed a lot and LOVED her grandchildren more than life itself. We had to keep them separated because without fail Grandma Fiducia would do or say something to make Grandma McIntyre upset. SO. Grandma M. sat in the front passenger seat. Because I was the smallest and youngest the coveted middle seat position in the back was usually mine. I usually had to either sit with my feet up on the hump or straddle it for the duration of the trip. But with a packed car, My mom, my sister, and Grandma Fiducia sat in the back seat this time. Then came the question… What do we do with Ann Marie? I could either sit between my dad and the mean grandma in the front OR I could sit in the back, back. Unfortunately though, the back, back seat could not be up because of all the luggage. If I chose the back back, I would have to sit freely on the platform where all the luggage was stowed… with the beagle. It was fun back there. With no seatbelt laws, I just flaled and whipped around with every bump in the road. On extra-large potholes, I even hit my head on the ceiling. So we set out on our trip. My dad made sure that our windows were all sealed up tight because he didn’t want the air conditioning to escape… that made the smoke from his cigarettes stay tightly in the car. Ahhhh the smell of second hand smoke. There were no GPS systems, so my mom had to use a paper map sprawled out over the entire back seat area. The Map was always a conversation that leads to fighting. My dad didn’t believe my mom knew how to read a map; my mom would get frustrated with my dad’s questions. It was a joyous time.
Back then children did not need to be constantly entertained. I had no toys for the trip, no games, no electronics. All I could do for fun was pull at my sister’s hair from behind her, ask “are we there yet” about 1 million times and when that didn’t work pretend that I had to go to the bathroom, just so we could stop for a few minutes. After 7 hours of travel we successfully managed to keep the grandmas from fighting, the sisters from killing each other, the parents from getting lost and all of us somehow escape lung cancer from 2nd hand smoke. We arrived!!!!! But before we could head out for a fun time on vacation, we needed a nap to recuperate.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The Honeymoon is over - Project 6 TM
I wanted to take this time today to tell you all about my honeymoon. You probably think I am going to tell you how I went on this beautiful vacation, with whispering winds and palm trees, clear blue oceans, the white hot sands and the romance…oooh the romance. NO. This was not my honeymoon. Have you ever heard people say the Honeymoon is over…well mine was almost over before it even started!
We went on a delayed honeymoon 3 months after we got married. This was because my husband was taking college courses at the time and we had to wait for a break. We flew down to Miami and the airplane ride alone was an adventure. There we were on this turbulent flight and WHY…WHY do the put 2 large people in front of each other? Dutch was sitting with his arms tight against him the whole time. His knees we up by his throat. He was very uncomfortable. We get to the cruise ship and we wait…and wait…and wait to get on. When we finally make it to “our room” it was gorgeous. It had a balcony, a stocked bar, a king bed. It was beautiful. They put our suitcase in front of the rooms and this was our room…. But it wasn’t. They made a mistake. They put our suitcases in front of the wrong room. OUR room was really down the hall. It was a tiny inside cabin. No window. It had a fake curtain hiding the inside brick wall. The bathroom was barely big enough for my husband to fit in. He LITERALLY had to keep the door open to sit down so he had room for his knees. Well there we were. All of a sudden he tells me he wants to go home. IS HE KIDDING ME? HE WANTS TO GO HOME? This Honeymoon is going to be over, before it even starts!! Well, even though we were newly married, I already knew how to work him. I said, ok, let me see what I can do. I left the room…. Walked around the boat by myself. I listened to the emergency exit training and went back to the room. I told him that I spoke with the captain and crew and that it would cost us more to leave the ship now then to just stay on and enjoy the 4 days. By this time, he had enough time to cool down and he no longer wanted to leave. He just needed time to adjust. We decided to go deep sea fishing as one of our excursions. The ship docked and we got off in Cancun. We see some locals on the side of the road with a sign for DEEP SEA FISHING. GREAT! We gave these locals $250 cash. They barely spoke English. They told us to follow them and we did. We followed them into a car with another local that did not speak English. They take off driving down back alleys and dirt paths. They are talking back and forth in Spanish. Dutch and I are looking at each other in fear. I don’t care how big Dutch is… he was not going to save us from death by dismemberment. All of a sudden we drive out of the darkness in this beautiful, calm, somber ocean bay. There were yachts docked everywhere. They led us to this boat with a 2 man crew. Jorge and Pedro…15 years later I still remember their names. They had a cooler full of Corona’s and all the stuff we needed to fish! I caught the first fish. It was so hard to reel in. It pulled and pulled. I remember Dutch screaming KEEP THE ROD TIP UP. REEL HARDER, REEL HARDER. I finally said “I’m DOING THE BEST THAT I CAN!!” I threw in a couple choice words that I won’t repeat now. It was a 4 foot mahi, mahi! It was awesome! Dutch was next. He got a fish on. He reeled and reeled. I gave him a sarcastic “GET THAT FISH IN… Reel HARDER”. He quietly apologized stating that it sure was harder than it looked. It was a blast!
We made it through our honeymoon and consider it to be a learning experience. When our plane touched back down in Pittsburgh, he turned to me and said.. DON’T EVER make me fly again. It was one time of our lives that we always look back to and laugh. We had some challenging and scary moments and the Honeymoon was ALMOST over before it even got started!
We went on a delayed honeymoon 3 months after we got married. This was because my husband was taking college courses at the time and we had to wait for a break. We flew down to Miami and the airplane ride alone was an adventure. There we were on this turbulent flight and WHY…WHY do the put 2 large people in front of each other? Dutch was sitting with his arms tight against him the whole time. His knees we up by his throat. He was very uncomfortable. We get to the cruise ship and we wait…and wait…and wait to get on. When we finally make it to “our room” it was gorgeous. It had a balcony, a stocked bar, a king bed. It was beautiful. They put our suitcase in front of the rooms and this was our room…. But it wasn’t. They made a mistake. They put our suitcases in front of the wrong room. OUR room was really down the hall. It was a tiny inside cabin. No window. It had a fake curtain hiding the inside brick wall. The bathroom was barely big enough for my husband to fit in. He LITERALLY had to keep the door open to sit down so he had room for his knees. Well there we were. All of a sudden he tells me he wants to go home. IS HE KIDDING ME? HE WANTS TO GO HOME? This Honeymoon is going to be over, before it even starts!! Well, even though we were newly married, I already knew how to work him. I said, ok, let me see what I can do. I left the room…. Walked around the boat by myself. I listened to the emergency exit training and went back to the room. I told him that I spoke with the captain and crew and that it would cost us more to leave the ship now then to just stay on and enjoy the 4 days. By this time, he had enough time to cool down and he no longer wanted to leave. He just needed time to adjust. We decided to go deep sea fishing as one of our excursions. The ship docked and we got off in Cancun. We see some locals on the side of the road with a sign for DEEP SEA FISHING. GREAT! We gave these locals $250 cash. They barely spoke English. They told us to follow them and we did. We followed them into a car with another local that did not speak English. They take off driving down back alleys and dirt paths. They are talking back and forth in Spanish. Dutch and I are looking at each other in fear. I don’t care how big Dutch is… he was not going to save us from death by dismemberment. All of a sudden we drive out of the darkness in this beautiful, calm, somber ocean bay. There were yachts docked everywhere. They led us to this boat with a 2 man crew. Jorge and Pedro…15 years later I still remember their names. They had a cooler full of Corona’s and all the stuff we needed to fish! I caught the first fish. It was so hard to reel in. It pulled and pulled. I remember Dutch screaming KEEP THE ROD TIP UP. REEL HARDER, REEL HARDER. I finally said “I’m DOING THE BEST THAT I CAN!!” I threw in a couple choice words that I won’t repeat now. It was a 4 foot mahi, mahi! It was awesome! Dutch was next. He got a fish on. He reeled and reeled. I gave him a sarcastic “GET THAT FISH IN… Reel HARDER”. He quietly apologized stating that it sure was harder than it looked. It was a blast!
We made it through our honeymoon and consider it to be a learning experience. When our plane touched back down in Pittsburgh, he turned to me and said.. DON’T EVER make me fly again. It was one time of our lives that we always look back to and laugh. We had some challenging and scary moments and the Honeymoon was ALMOST over before it even got started!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Everything is a Battle
Megan started the 2011-12 school year very well. Lots of good friends in her class, personal goals for her classes, and a great attitude. This was our first START of a school year with her diagnosis of dyslexia. We had all the tools in place. We had a plan for after school so emotions do not get the best of us. All of our preparation can be shot down in the matter of one day.
Yesterday, Megan was upset coming in the house after school. The first upsetting incidences of the year happened and unfortunately happened on the same day.
First of all, she failed a reading test… I was ok with this. I wanted to take a look at the test and see what the issue was. She was adamant that she knew the material, but somehow she got every question wrong in an entire section. The closer I looked, I saw that she made a simple mistake that we have all made. She put the wrong answer in the wrong place all the way through the section. She put the answer to # 4 in the # 5 spot. She put the answer to # 5 in the # 6 spot…and so on. I knew this because the teacher made her re-do that section and she got them all right. I am not clear on my feelings as to whether they should change her grade or not, but I think it should be considered. On one hand, I realize she needs to learn a lesson and be more careful, but on another hand, dyslexia is a visual processing disorder.
I wish that was the only thing she was upset about, but it was not. The other incident was more serious to me. The children received their PSSA (standardized tests) scores yesterday. They received them and then they were asked to go to an assembly about the tests. They were told how good the school did and how important it is for them to do their best on these tests. THEN they met with the children individually to talk about their specific scores. The kids had to open their scores in front of the other kids in the assembly and then they had to discuss them with the principal. Having been recently diagnosed with this learning disability, I find this to be extremely unethical. Her perception was that despite the fact that she improved from Basic to Proficient in Reading and Math, the principal told her she needed to improve her writing. She needs to get to the Basic level. He told her it was important to the school. Hmmm ok. Important to the school. What is important to Megan? It is important that Megan not be humiliated. Would they walk up to a child in a wheelchair or on crutches and ask them to run faster? I don’t think so. Why is it ok for them to ask a dyslexic child to write better? Dyslexia is a visual processing disorder. It is NOT seeing things backwards. It is defined by the difficulties that dyslexics have of putting what is in their head, down on paper. It was clear that the principals treated everyone the same. Kids are not the same. There are hard workers and lazy workers. There are kids with parents that care, and kids with parents that don’t care. There are kids that can work harder, and there are kids that no matter how hard they work they cannot make “it” happen. I am ashamed that educational professionals do not know this.
After I did damage control, I hope that Megan realizes that this is something we are working on. She should be so proud that she sets goals for herself. It may take her longer to achieve them, but she WILL achieve them just the same.
Yesterday, Megan was upset coming in the house after school. The first upsetting incidences of the year happened and unfortunately happened on the same day.
First of all, she failed a reading test… I was ok with this. I wanted to take a look at the test and see what the issue was. She was adamant that she knew the material, but somehow she got every question wrong in an entire section. The closer I looked, I saw that she made a simple mistake that we have all made. She put the wrong answer in the wrong place all the way through the section. She put the answer to # 4 in the # 5 spot. She put the answer to # 5 in the # 6 spot…and so on. I knew this because the teacher made her re-do that section and she got them all right. I am not clear on my feelings as to whether they should change her grade or not, but I think it should be considered. On one hand, I realize she needs to learn a lesson and be more careful, but on another hand, dyslexia is a visual processing disorder.
I wish that was the only thing she was upset about, but it was not. The other incident was more serious to me. The children received their PSSA (standardized tests) scores yesterday. They received them and then they were asked to go to an assembly about the tests. They were told how good the school did and how important it is for them to do their best on these tests. THEN they met with the children individually to talk about their specific scores. The kids had to open their scores in front of the other kids in the assembly and then they had to discuss them with the principal. Having been recently diagnosed with this learning disability, I find this to be extremely unethical. Her perception was that despite the fact that she improved from Basic to Proficient in Reading and Math, the principal told her she needed to improve her writing. She needs to get to the Basic level. He told her it was important to the school. Hmmm ok. Important to the school. What is important to Megan? It is important that Megan not be humiliated. Would they walk up to a child in a wheelchair or on crutches and ask them to run faster? I don’t think so. Why is it ok for them to ask a dyslexic child to write better? Dyslexia is a visual processing disorder. It is NOT seeing things backwards. It is defined by the difficulties that dyslexics have of putting what is in their head, down on paper. It was clear that the principals treated everyone the same. Kids are not the same. There are hard workers and lazy workers. There are kids with parents that care, and kids with parents that don’t care. There are kids that can work harder, and there are kids that no matter how hard they work they cannot make “it” happen. I am ashamed that educational professionals do not know this.
After I did damage control, I hope that Megan realizes that this is something we are working on. She should be so proud that she sets goals for herself. It may take her longer to achieve them, but she WILL achieve them just the same.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
New Beginnings
This is my first speech that I gave today at my Toastmaster meeting:
My name is Ann Marie Hepler. I am going to talk to you today about how my life is comprised of a series of New Beginnings. The first new beginning was on August 2, 1972. I was born in the Bronx NY to Maria and Philip McIntyre. My given name was Ann Marie McIntyre and I was so lucky to already have a big 5 year old sister, Maureen. From what I hear, Maureen prayed for me to be born. I spent the first few years of my life living in the Bronx. “The City” as we called it, was always our “home”. My mom and dad were born and raised there and so it influenced a lot of my life despite the fact that we moved to Cornwall NY when I was just a toddler. Cornwall was a new beginning for my family. It was a Norman Rockwell town, with a Main Street, American flags, the Hudson River just outside our doors, and the best fourth of July Fireworks anyone could imagine. For several years we spent the weekdays in Cornwall and the weekends traveling the hour drive to the Bronx to see our friends, my grandmothers and get our “fix” of city living. Our travels were always so much fun with me and my sister singing every single ‘50’s song that came on my dad’s radio station. We loved WCBS radio and Wolfman Jack!! My parents were both only children. So I don’t have stories of loud aunts, crazy uncles or annoying cousins. I only had my 2 grandmothers, my mom, my dad and my sister. A family reunion at my house was just about the same as every day dinner. Pretty quiet. Soon enough we were in Cornwall full time. My sister and I were having sleep overs and walking (ok getting a ride from mom) to and from school with our friends. We lived right in town. We could walk to everything.
I was always shy until you got to know me. I loved to be around my mom and dad. My family friends insisted that I would never move out of the house. They said my parents would never get rid of me. Well, on a chilly, rainy day in August of 1992 I surprised them all when my mom, dad and Maureen dropped me off at Slippery Rock University. A “new beginning” that was 7 hours away from home. I knew nobody. I remember the day. After we moved all my stuff into the dorm and after a quick lunch at what is now the Red Rock Falls Restaurant in Slippery Rock, I said a quick goodbye, gave a quick hug and kiss, and did not look back at the car on the walk up the hill to Founders Hall. Tears were streaming down my face.
My dad thought for sure I would be back home for good by labor day.
I worked part time with the Physical Therapist Assistant license I got back in NY from Community College and went to school full time at SRU. In 1994 I graduated with my Bachelors and decided to pursue my Masters. I was offered a full time job in the Mars, PA area and decided to give it one year. After one year, I would assess the situation and move back to New York to be with my family.
My dad thought that no doubt I would be home in a year.
After one year I was getting ready to revisit my decision to move back to New York when one night I went out with some friends. I was tired, I was the designated driver, I had to work in the morning and I wanted to go home. My friends convinced me to make one last stop. They had to see if some guy was at the local bar. I agreed to stop… but only for 5 minutes. There we were in this dark, dingy, local bar. I was cranky, tired and cold. Three guys walked in after us, all hooting and hollering and having fun. I couldn’t help but be sucked into their fun. Dutch, the tall, broad, funny looking one immediately started talking to me and asked for my number. I was going through a major rutt in my dating life…. My track record was men that were too old, men that were married, or men that couldn’t speak much English. So I was pretty skeptical at this point. After some coercion, I agreed that he could call me…. here we had another new beginning. I made the decision that I would give this relationship 1 year. If things were not more serious in a year, I was going back to New York.
My dad was CERTAIN that I would be home…..
Dutch and I had a blast together. He loved to manage benefit concerts and events. I enjoyed helping him. He was so outgoing and fun. Everyone knew him and everyone respected him. He was a hard worker but he was just so fun to be around. A year later he and I were living together and were talking about getting married. We visited New York a couple times, but the more I visited New York, the more I realized what Pennsylvania was doing to me. It was becoming a part of me too. On my birthday weekend in 1996, Dutch knelt down and proposed to me under fireworks. (it was at the Boyers festival….if you can believe that forshadowing!!!). Our wedding was in October of 1997. What a new beginning.
I think my dad believed I would STILL come home someday.
Our wedding was so much fun. The first few years, we continued to live the leisure life. We worked hard, but we played hard too. I was working as a Physical Therapist Assistant. We had fun on the weekends. We traveled and camped and spent a lot of time with each other. We made decisions for ourselves and had no one else to consider. I visited New York several times a year to visit my family. I always had to get my share of NY Pizza, NY Bagels, and NY canolis. Soon enough we decided it was time to grow our family. Megan Corrin was born in May of 2000. She was a precious little 6lb 6oz little girl. She was our new beginning. What a bundle of joy. She was perfect.
I think my dad wanted to believe that I would come home to NY to raise Megan.
I knew I wanted to have a sister or brother for Megan. I knew I wanted my children to know that when everyone and everything in the world is against you… one person has your back… your sibling. So in 2004, we decided to have a second child. Joshua David was born in June of 2004. He was trouble from the very start. Entering the world as an Emergency, he has given me every single one of my white hairs. We love showing our children the blessings of NY and PA. They experience the best of both. Megan will not eat any other hot dog than a NY Sabretts and Josh has an amazing NY accent impression for a 7 year old. I found it was very important to show Megan and Josh how I grew up and how Dutch grew up. My kids have been to “the city” many times already and especially love it in the winter time.
Unfortunately in February 2007 after a long illness, my dad stopped hoping and wishing that I would move back to NY.
Becoming a mom was probably the most defining NEW BEGINNING in my life. From that point, I started making decisions not only for myself, but for my family. It was as if everything that that happened in my life was on purpose to make me who I am. Today I am married to Dutch for 13 years. Megan is 11 and Josh is 7. My mom moved to PA to be next to her grandkids. I have had jobs in private industry that ranged from a Physical Therapist Assistant, to a rehabilitation director, to a workers compensation agent and finally have been working for OPM for 9 years . I travel 11 minutes to get to work. I am adaptable and ready for change because there is nothing more fun than a new beginning.
My name is Ann Marie Hepler. I am going to talk to you today about how my life is comprised of a series of New Beginnings. The first new beginning was on August 2, 1972. I was born in the Bronx NY to Maria and Philip McIntyre. My given name was Ann Marie McIntyre and I was so lucky to already have a big 5 year old sister, Maureen. From what I hear, Maureen prayed for me to be born. I spent the first few years of my life living in the Bronx. “The City” as we called it, was always our “home”. My mom and dad were born and raised there and so it influenced a lot of my life despite the fact that we moved to Cornwall NY when I was just a toddler. Cornwall was a new beginning for my family. It was a Norman Rockwell town, with a Main Street, American flags, the Hudson River just outside our doors, and the best fourth of July Fireworks anyone could imagine. For several years we spent the weekdays in Cornwall and the weekends traveling the hour drive to the Bronx to see our friends, my grandmothers and get our “fix” of city living. Our travels were always so much fun with me and my sister singing every single ‘50’s song that came on my dad’s radio station. We loved WCBS radio and Wolfman Jack!! My parents were both only children. So I don’t have stories of loud aunts, crazy uncles or annoying cousins. I only had my 2 grandmothers, my mom, my dad and my sister. A family reunion at my house was just about the same as every day dinner. Pretty quiet. Soon enough we were in Cornwall full time. My sister and I were having sleep overs and walking (ok getting a ride from mom) to and from school with our friends. We lived right in town. We could walk to everything.
I was always shy until you got to know me. I loved to be around my mom and dad. My family friends insisted that I would never move out of the house. They said my parents would never get rid of me. Well, on a chilly, rainy day in August of 1992 I surprised them all when my mom, dad and Maureen dropped me off at Slippery Rock University. A “new beginning” that was 7 hours away from home. I knew nobody. I remember the day. After we moved all my stuff into the dorm and after a quick lunch at what is now the Red Rock Falls Restaurant in Slippery Rock, I said a quick goodbye, gave a quick hug and kiss, and did not look back at the car on the walk up the hill to Founders Hall. Tears were streaming down my face.
My dad thought for sure I would be back home for good by labor day.
I worked part time with the Physical Therapist Assistant license I got back in NY from Community College and went to school full time at SRU. In 1994 I graduated with my Bachelors and decided to pursue my Masters. I was offered a full time job in the Mars, PA area and decided to give it one year. After one year, I would assess the situation and move back to New York to be with my family.
My dad thought that no doubt I would be home in a year.
After one year I was getting ready to revisit my decision to move back to New York when one night I went out with some friends. I was tired, I was the designated driver, I had to work in the morning and I wanted to go home. My friends convinced me to make one last stop. They had to see if some guy was at the local bar. I agreed to stop… but only for 5 minutes. There we were in this dark, dingy, local bar. I was cranky, tired and cold. Three guys walked in after us, all hooting and hollering and having fun. I couldn’t help but be sucked into their fun. Dutch, the tall, broad, funny looking one immediately started talking to me and asked for my number. I was going through a major rutt in my dating life…. My track record was men that were too old, men that were married, or men that couldn’t speak much English. So I was pretty skeptical at this point. After some coercion, I agreed that he could call me…. here we had another new beginning. I made the decision that I would give this relationship 1 year. If things were not more serious in a year, I was going back to New York.
My dad was CERTAIN that I would be home…..
Dutch and I had a blast together. He loved to manage benefit concerts and events. I enjoyed helping him. He was so outgoing and fun. Everyone knew him and everyone respected him. He was a hard worker but he was just so fun to be around. A year later he and I were living together and were talking about getting married. We visited New York a couple times, but the more I visited New York, the more I realized what Pennsylvania was doing to me. It was becoming a part of me too. On my birthday weekend in 1996, Dutch knelt down and proposed to me under fireworks. (it was at the Boyers festival….if you can believe that forshadowing!!!). Our wedding was in October of 1997. What a new beginning.
I think my dad believed I would STILL come home someday.
Our wedding was so much fun. The first few years, we continued to live the leisure life. We worked hard, but we played hard too. I was working as a Physical Therapist Assistant. We had fun on the weekends. We traveled and camped and spent a lot of time with each other. We made decisions for ourselves and had no one else to consider. I visited New York several times a year to visit my family. I always had to get my share of NY Pizza, NY Bagels, and NY canolis. Soon enough we decided it was time to grow our family. Megan Corrin was born in May of 2000. She was a precious little 6lb 6oz little girl. She was our new beginning. What a bundle of joy. She was perfect.
I think my dad wanted to believe that I would come home to NY to raise Megan.
I knew I wanted to have a sister or brother for Megan. I knew I wanted my children to know that when everyone and everything in the world is against you… one person has your back… your sibling. So in 2004, we decided to have a second child. Joshua David was born in June of 2004. He was trouble from the very start. Entering the world as an Emergency, he has given me every single one of my white hairs. We love showing our children the blessings of NY and PA. They experience the best of both. Megan will not eat any other hot dog than a NY Sabretts and Josh has an amazing NY accent impression for a 7 year old. I found it was very important to show Megan and Josh how I grew up and how Dutch grew up. My kids have been to “the city” many times already and especially love it in the winter time.
Unfortunately in February 2007 after a long illness, my dad stopped hoping and wishing that I would move back to NY.
Becoming a mom was probably the most defining NEW BEGINNING in my life. From that point, I started making decisions not only for myself, but for my family. It was as if everything that that happened in my life was on purpose to make me who I am. Today I am married to Dutch for 13 years. Megan is 11 and Josh is 7. My mom moved to PA to be next to her grandkids. I have had jobs in private industry that ranged from a Physical Therapist Assistant, to a rehabilitation director, to a workers compensation agent and finally have been working for OPM for 9 years . I travel 11 minutes to get to work. I am adaptable and ready for change because there is nothing more fun than a new beginning.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
First Day of School 2011 - Tears.... NAHHHHH
So all the build up is over. Mom and Dad's money is all spent on shiny new pencil boxes, pink rubber erasers, and folders with duckies and kittes on them. The outfits have been set out, the arm pits have been washed and the "bed time" has regained its popularity. It was the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Josh and Megan jumped slowly drug themselves out of bed, ready for the day. I made them a delicious breakfast sandwich with fresh rolls, scrammbled egg and ham. Slathered with just a little mayonaise. I made this because they asked for it. Both of them asked for it. Megan ate hers. Josh, in his usual difficult-ness... didn't like his. So a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich helped fill his belly. Next they got their clothes on and brushed their teeth. I helped Megan fix her hair and pick out her shoes.
It was PICTURE TIME!!! It wasblissful Stressful!! "Josh stand still, Josh, look here, Josh don't touch her, Josh, here... Josh, here, JOSH HERE!!!"
In normal Western PA fashion, there was quite a chill in the air. Megan states "mom, I'm cold". My reply "go get a coat". Attempt 1...coat had chocolate ice cream down the front and on the arms. Attempt 2...had a nice grease stain on the front. Of course there are tears now and yelling about how I wash CLEAN clothes all the time, but when it comes to DIRTY clothes, they never seem to make it in the wash. Attempt 3... WORKS, its clean. But pulling it over her head makes her hair staticky. ((UH...Really?)
"Josh don't throw rocks at the chicken". "Josh, don't throw rocks at the cat". "Josh, Don't throw rocks across the road". "Josh, ONLY throw rocks at the trees."
The bus pulls up...GET ON THE BUS, GET ON THE BUS!!!!OH THANK GOD THEY GET ON THE BUS!!!!!
((BIG SIGH))......... my 6th grader and my 1st grader are ready to go... up the steps and off they go.
It was PICTURE TIME!!! It was
In normal Western PA fashion, there was quite a chill in the air. Megan states "mom, I'm cold". My reply "go get a coat". Attempt 1...coat had chocolate ice cream down the front and on the arms. Attempt 2...had a nice grease stain on the front. Of course there are tears now and yelling about how I wash CLEAN clothes all the time, but when it comes to DIRTY clothes, they never seem to make it in the wash. Attempt 3... WORKS, its clean. But pulling it over her head makes her hair staticky. ((UH...Really?)
"Josh don't throw rocks at the chicken". "Josh, don't throw rocks at the cat". "Josh, Don't throw rocks across the road". "Josh, ONLY throw rocks at the trees."
The bus pulls up...GET ON THE BUS, GET ON THE BUS!!!!OH THANK GOD THEY GET ON THE BUS!!!!!
((BIG SIGH))......... my 6th grader and my 1st grader are ready to go... up the steps and off they go.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Toastmasters
I decided to join Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a club that educates its members on how to become better speakers and better leaders. Through a series of speeches, the members learn confidence, poise, communication skills, and creativity. The thoughts of giving a speech in front of 25 people that I barely know is enough to give me heart palpatations and make me sweat. My first speech is in 2 weeks and is supposed to be an IceBreaker....about me. About my life. At first I thought, how boring. A 5-7 minute speech about me. There is nothing to say. But then I started writing it. It is still pretty boring, but I definatly have enough material to cover 7 minutes. It was very therapeutic to write down the story of my life. I had to stick to the main points of my life. If I got too detailed, it would take me much longer than 7 minutes. It was enjoyable to think back on my childhood and remember some of the comfortable situations and events. I also thought of my parents as being MY age right now. That is something.... When I was a kid I could not see their perspective... but now looking back, I see my life from their eyes. It was wild. I think back at what my mom had to deal with at my age. I am 39. I have 2 children. Both of them are active in sports. I work Full Time and I help to manage Dutch's business. When I was 11 (Megan's age), my mom was also 39. She worked full time at night. She always helped to manage whatever Business we had at the time at home. Her mother was 79. Her mother in law was in her 70's as well and very ill. My sister and I were active, but not in too many after school activity, but we required a lot of attention. My sister would have been 16. A new driver. A teen that had trouble in school. She required extra attention. My mom had to manage the house pretty much on her own as well. My dad would run the dishwasher, but other than that, not a whole lot of help. But all in all our life was great. I do not have bad memories. As I wrote my speech for toastmasters I wrote about all things that were happy. When it is time for me to stand up and give this speech I will be proud of the person I am not for even trying to improve myself, but I will be proud of the person I am because of the guidance I was given from my parents. There is no way to express that in a speech. I am who I am because of the parents that raised me.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
time goes by
Every time I get interested in the Blog again, I have really good intentions. Then I write a little and have a hard time keeping up. This past year has been a whirl wind. I know I wrote about Megan trying out for the Silver Creek Starz last year. She subsequently made the team and it was a wonderful year. She learned so much and has come so far in one year of training. Most of all she grew emotionally and socially. Megan has a rough time in our community. She does not have a lot of friends. She talks to a lot of people, but doesn't have a lot of FRIENDS. This is very hard for me to understand because she is such a kind hearted child. She always looks out for the "little guy". The group of girls that she became friends with through Starz see Megan for who she truly is. No preconceived notions of who she is, or who they think she should be. She is free to be herself. For a mom of a pre-teen this is a dream come true. We decided to stay with Starz again this year for a multitude of reasons. The training she gets is top notch, the softball experience is great, but the friends are priceless. Megan will be starting school in 1 week. As she moves into this school year, I believe she will have greater self esteem to deal with the daily grind.We are very lucky that Megan is such a hard worker. She will not be defeated and this too is a trait that a preteen needs to possess. We are so proud of her.
Joshua has had a stellar year too. He completed kindergarten with very good grades. He is a social bug. He loves to be the center of attention and often his personality allows him to achieve that. Baseball was his sport of choice over the summer and this year, his team won the championship. His team was amazing. The children that played on his team all come from wonderful families and we had such a blast supporting these boys and girls. The boy that never threw a ball before this season, became the "clean up hitter" by the end of the season. This fall he is playing football. This is a sport that I thought for sure would be "too much work" for him. I thought he would hate it. I was wrong. He loves it. He works really hard and can't wait to have his first game this weekend. Josh is so independent. He has a hard time doing things any other way than his OWN way. That's ok. We hope that he uses this determination as he grows up to fight the temptations that will come before him. We are so proud of him too.
Dutch and I work hard to be good parents. We spend all of our time with our kids and truly enjoy being with them. We do things as a family and the biggest challenge this summer came when we had to separate to attend the kids events. I call it "divide and conquer". Those were the hardest days of our summer. The proudest moment came just last weekend. Dutch was playing in a benefit softball tournament to raise money for a local scholarship fund. Normally, It would be just Dutch playing. But this year, he asked Megan to play on his team and later in the day, even invited Josh to play. He was the only dad who allowed and WANTED his children to play on the team with him. It was the first game that they all played on the same team. I was so proud!
Joshua has had a stellar year too. He completed kindergarten with very good grades. He is a social bug. He loves to be the center of attention and often his personality allows him to achieve that. Baseball was his sport of choice over the summer and this year, his team won the championship. His team was amazing. The children that played on his team all come from wonderful families and we had such a blast supporting these boys and girls. The boy that never threw a ball before this season, became the "clean up hitter" by the end of the season. This fall he is playing football. This is a sport that I thought for sure would be "too much work" for him. I thought he would hate it. I was wrong. He loves it. He works really hard and can't wait to have his first game this weekend. Josh is so independent. He has a hard time doing things any other way than his OWN way. That's ok. We hope that he uses this determination as he grows up to fight the temptations that will come before him. We are so proud of him too.
Dutch and I work hard to be good parents. We spend all of our time with our kids and truly enjoy being with them. We do things as a family and the biggest challenge this summer came when we had to separate to attend the kids events. I call it "divide and conquer". Those were the hardest days of our summer. The proudest moment came just last weekend. Dutch was playing in a benefit softball tournament to raise money for a local scholarship fund. Normally, It would be just Dutch playing. But this year, he asked Megan to play on his team and later in the day, even invited Josh to play. He was the only dad who allowed and WANTED his children to play on the team with him. It was the first game that they all played on the same team. I was so proud!
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