Wow. Amazing. Mind Blowing.

*The boys and I have volunteered the last week for a disaster relief training. It has been a gamut of intensely useful information, eye opening experiences, and awe in the capabilities of my children.

*Summer has been mind-blowingly fast, furious, and incredible, between volunteering, training, and VBSs.

*Justinb, as part of volunteering, fixed a computer technical problem on stage during and for a power point presentation when two other adults couldn't. I was floored.

*Justinb, Shawners, and I, all got to participate as actors in a disaster simulation designed to train rescue teams complete with dark rooms filled with smoke and debris. I alternated between the unconscious one who needed a chin lift to breathe again, finding my dead friend and not wanting to leave her body, and being traumatized. What an incredible learning experience. Justinb and Shawners started off together with a timber on Justinb. Unfortunately one of the rescuers DROPPED the 2x4 on him and he was out for the count with a big goose egg. Poor guy. Shawners took a break, but came back to be unconscious with me (the first time no rescuers found us and left us in the destroyed building!!), then wondered around confused with another actor. Incredible, incredible learning experience, and I can't wait to go through the training myself!

*My sister is an incredible motivator. As her friend puts it, children need roots and wings. My sister is incredible at giving them wings. I have totally placed their volunteer desires in her hands and she gives them responsibilities I would never dream they were capable of. And they take it and run with it and do better than an adult would with it!! It floors me.

*Since Justinb is hitting middle school, I have turned into a chauffeur. What a different role than Mommy who makes every decision and plan. Now he makes the plans, I agree, and I get him to where he needs to go to make his own decisions. We're still figuring out the issue of still needing to respect Mom and Dad even with all this independence. He's aware of it so that's a start.

*My email addy is changing so I am going through the much needed done any way job of culling Brando's old contacts and emailing my current contacts with my new address. Needed, but mind-numbing, especially because it's taken two hour and I still have contacts to email. I can only email so many at a time. I wish I had more brain power to write this post, but I got to what I want to remember.