Musing While Driving

Yesterday I drove Ally and her friend Chelsie to Primary Children's Medical Center to visit their friend McCall. McCall had surgery to correct a severe curve in her spine, caused by scoliosis. She now has two rods in her back and stands a whole inch and a half taller. She is doing well now, though it was a rough surgery.

While driving, I got the chance to just be quiet and think, something that really doesn't happen very often these days. Ally and Chelsie sat in the way back and kept each other engaged pretty much the whole time and didn't even complain about my music. I have to say it was a nice ride.

One of the things I decided was that it is a good idea to budget for unexpected expenses. (Ok, so probably everybody else already does this. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake.) It would be nice to have an extra $100 per month for when "life" happens. That way when you need to unexpectedly drop everything and go somewhere or buy extra groceries for a meal for someone, etc. you have money to put gas in the car or do whatever you need to do for someone, or your family and just not worry about the cost.

This would probably be a more effective idea if we actually had a budget and tried to stick to it, but it's a good theory. I think from now on if anything unexpected comes up and it costs less than $100, I won't worry about it, I'll just say it's coming out of the "life" budget.

Another thing I've been struggling with lately is the fact that I feel like I waste so much time. And sometimes it is because I let other people waste my time. From now on, I'm going to try really hard to not let that happen, either with other people wasting my time or just wasting it on the computer. I will also try to be more aware of not wasting anyone else's time. Time is more precious than money these days to me, especially with Austin only in school a couple of hours a day. We have caller i.d. for a reason. I need to take full advantage of it.

I think I've also mentioned before the fact that the older I get, the more I realize there is no such thing as black or white. I've been reading a really good biography on Charles Lindbergh and it is so disappointing when good, heroic people make such bad choices as he seemed to do sometimes. It's interesting to read the family history, which I'm sure leads people to the choices they make. Of course I am nothing close to perfect, so why should I expect anyone else to always do the right thing?

This also lead me to think about people in general and the different personality types. I am one definite type. If you know the color personality test, I am not one speck yellow. I can't remember if I am more blue or white, but I am the type that tries to be very responsible. In fact, I cannot understand how anyone can be a yellow (fun loving type) and not feel guilty. I just go nuts when people are late or leave me or other people waiting and don't really worry about it. How can you not worry about how the other person is feeling? I really think I try to look at things from other peoples' point of view. I like to try to work with other peoples' personalities and get frustrated if I don't feel like they are giving me the same courtesy. (But really, you are SUPPOSED to be on time. - See, you can tell there are some things I have a pretty firm opinion on. It's one thing to have something come up to delay you once in a while, but if someone is perpetually late, it gets to be a problem. It pretty much tells you how important you are - or not. Ok, jumping off my soapbox now.)

One last thing, I came across a great quote the other day, "You are only young once. You can stay immature indefinitely." Although, I'd like to say I draw the line at immaturity, there is a little bit of a void in the fun department in my life these days, I'm so focused on what needs to get done. Especially with Hal gone most of the time due to work and church commitments. I try to make things fun for the kids, but I need fun too. I am going to make a more focused effort on doing things that are fun for me. I have some really great friends, I just don't make an effort to do things with them so much any more. I also need to make more of an effort to make Hal feel appreciated for the things he is doing for our family. If I'm not having fun, it's nobody's fault but my own. I've recently gotten in touch with some old roommates and friends from high school, so I am planning a couple of get-togethers with them. Hopefully it will be fun!

These are the things I thought about and I hope I can incorporate them into my life and make it just a little bit better.

So, thank you McCall, and I hope you get well soon!