Little mishaps, adventures and stories along the way.

Yesterday was Christopher's first day of middle school and he came home exhausted and starving and worried about the next day's bus ride because apparently the school bus broke down first thing in the morning. "For an HOUR... AN HOUR!!!! We waited in someone's yard."  He has a great flair for drama and likes to spin a tale a bit.... and I love that boy.... because he reminds me of, well, ... ME. 

So I told him the bus thing was just a thing  - one of life's adventures that make it fun - and asked if the lady of the house -  the one where all 30 kids were hangin' in her yard - offered them refreshments for the wait.  No southern hospitality there because no lemonade or cookies or kind words were offered to encourage the young ones along their way.  But they drove off with a story to tell, and that's definitely worth something.

This morning in class - a lady came up to me and said, "You've got a feather on your butt."  Not like a Las Vegas showgirl kind of feather - just something stuck there which obviously didn't belong. And it wasn't really a feather, it was just dirt from our dirty YMCA floor that looked like tail feathers, I suppose.  But a friend loves at all times... even when they have to tell you that you have something on your rear end.  Another adventure and another story to tell. 

Which brought me to this... a collection of thoughts and lessons from the past couple of months.  Kind of a "Things I Know" story.  They are in no particular order, and most of these I already knew, but got reminded of again in some way.  So here ya go. Kristi's life lessons. Volume 1. 

I know that sometimes people are mean.  Sometimes people are nice.  I think I'm a mix of both.  Hopefully more nice than mean.

I know that people care.  And most want to care. They just have to be given the opportunity and the open door to make the offer.

I know that plans change. 

I know not to wear flip flops to climb stairs.  Just don't.

I know that if I forget or choose not to take time to pray, I stand a good chance of all hell breaking loose and having a generally sucky day.

I know that a trip to summer camp brings with it lots of memories, new skills, and in our experience,  nearly severed fingers, lice or diarrhea.  Every time. Every year.

I know that if someone hurts one of our kids.... it hurts the mom just the same.  And we get mad,too.  Like poking a bear with a stick.

Hell hath no fury like a 6th grade girl scorned... be warned.

And sometimes people say one thing and do another.  Actions speak louder than words.  If it looks like a duck, and acts like a duck, it's probably a duck.

I know strong bodies still get injured.  And strong hearts still break.

But like I told Christopher about his school bus, it's a story to tell. The every day stories that make up who we are.    And I want to be a great story teller.