Mad Manatee Mentors 2013: CLOSED (exc/ Pop Tart bribes) (Page 353)

i really fancy Mandurah!  Dammit though i doubt i'd be ready - not to worry.  fibreglass next Friday after another xray to see if it's mending right.  then i can go and do kick drills at the pool.

I have taken the day off and thought i'd go get my hair done coz i can't do it at all now lol

Yet another late nighter. Busy days lately as I'm trying to get my evenings free for family time. This afternoon didn't work so well since I couldn't get my swim in until almost 7. Baby girl decided to put off nap for almost 2hrs today 

Good news for the weekend! We're going to Zion again.  DH's friend isn't coming, so we decided to use our time wisely   Ooooh, and DH found a new toy to take. Hopefully I'll get to share some fun with the pod when we get back.

Next weekend is my first race since May. All of you that are ending your seasons...HA! Most of us AZ people are just getting going again. I'm feeling the nerves though, and pretty antsy.

Took kids for a bike ride yesterday. HUGE lake-like puddles around the neighborhood after 2-3 days of some rain. Could launch kayaks in some of them! This one is down 4-5ft since we went by...sidewalk was totally covered.

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That's a lot of rain.  I'll have to ask my brother if he got any where he was.  He was just telling me that he was to the point where he could start exercising again.  He's not getting baked outside (Tempe) anymore.

Not so secret anymore, Princess ;-)

And of course you can!

Jealous about the Zion trip!

You've been doing a lot of training since May.  You so have this!

Oh man Was hoping for just a sprain/bruising. ("hoping" in a good, less-than-broken way. lol)

Time to kick butt on the trainer!

Last time I was home, I looked through some of my grandma's pics. Wow! Great Depression and WWII poor, working class Americans. Then I look at my life and laugh at my "hardships". 

I do know that my grandparents expected their daughters...and eventually me...to work hard and "keep a stiff upper lip".  We all worked in the fields when we were young, and I earned my spending money working in a commercial laundry during my HS vacation time. When I turned 16, my grandma surprised me with a check for $500. I started crying and told her I couldn't take it, but she insisted, saying that she had been saving it up for me. I kept most of it in savings for years.

So, yes. I can relate to the values, but not really to the way of life.

Erin, think about that money your Grandmother gave you--back when she earned it was probably still backed by the "gold standard" which was done away with in the 60's --then a dollar really meant a dollar.  It took a LOT to earn and save.    That was a gift beyond money

I really appreciate the way I was raised. I was given a true gift, I believe. Being taught to work for everything I have but also never knowing what it is like to truly be hungry or without, well, anything necessary.

Even going through the economic downturn, as a young college graduate was nothing in comparison. You know? 

I don't know. I just feel truly blessed.

Didn't have anything much planned for the weekend.  The school's health science department is sponsoring a 5K walk/run around the campus on Saturday morning.   I normally don't do these but a co-worker and friend of mine wants me to pace her in this event.   I told her I would.    Will run it in a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts and five fingers.   She wants to try for a sub 25 minute time.     We haven't discussed whether she wants to me to run beside her or in front of her.     Pace booty and all that.     Females like pace boot, too, methinks....  

This is me as well.  My grandparents didn't have much, but they worked hard, and saved every penny they could.  It was a completely different era of growing up for my parents - my mom would spend a lot of days working in their garden and became a teacher so that she could help pay for my uncle's tuition as he became a doctor.  A completely set of values were given to the two of them, and quite frankly, my mom is the one that should have been the doctor, but that's not how things were. 

I know my parents didn't have a lot while we were growing up (my dad was a teacher too) and yet my brother and I never went without.  I still have no idea how my mom was able to pull it off, but they also somehow managed to afford to keep me at a very highly competitive level gymnastics and had to pay for all of my international travel on their own. 

Thinking about all of this is making me miss my family.  

Originally posted by amd723

My father came to this country when he was 5 or 6. His family was very poor, but much better off here than the family left behind in Ireland. As soon as he was old enough he started working and contributing not only to his household, but sending money back to Ireland. He went to college on a scholarship and should have gone on to medical school, but he had the continuing obligation to help support family here and Ireland. So, medical school was a no go.My mother's family has been in this country longer and were much better off, but still they worked hard to get to where they were. Education, hard work and family were ( and are) the most valued things. My mother is a college graduate ( not too many women went to college when she did, she's about to turn 84!), but after she and my father married, she stopped working until the last child was in school. Since there are 6 of us, that took a while . She then took a job at a school to make sure she would be home for her children. My mother may be the smartest person I know and could have had a much more "important" job, but for her being with us was most important.I always thought we were rich as we never wanted for anything we needed and had most of what we wanted - or at least it appeared that way. We went on family vacations every year , got new school clothes each season and had great xmases etc. it wasn't until I got older that I could appreciate that although my father made a nice living, we were not rich ( monetarily). How my parents did what they did with the income they made and 6 of us and continuing to send money back to Ireland, I'll never know.I do know that they gave us great values and passed along their love of family, education and hard work ( she writes as she goofs off). Thanks everyone for sharing their stories. Thinking of mine makes me remember how lucky I am and how much I still miss my dad.

Wow. Awesome stories!

My parents moved to Colorado from Iowa when I was a wee one because they wanted to break away from the socio/economic ruts of their parents/families (mostly living on gov't assistance). My dad has a third grade education (his parents made him quit school to work) but he learned a craft and worked his tail off. I don't think he's ever missed a day of work. He's 72 and "semi-retired". Mom and Dad were married before Mom graduated high school but she did graduate. She worked some when we were kids but I remember her mostly being home. We were latch-key kids as we got a bit older. We were never hungry but I remember a time when we rented a house that didn't have running water (this was in the 70's). I get most of my values, and my work ethic from my parents. Thankfully they are both still alive and I let them know how much I love and appreciate them.

ETA: DS1 likes to talk about how far "we've" come (financially) from my grandparents to my parents to us.