Sk8ter Boy

Last Friday I took Joe and 3 of his friends to a skateboard store and a really hard skate park downtown KC. Four little 11 years old boys and me, a 41 year old mom that is totally out of my element. But lucky for me I do have some history in the skateboarding life. For a time in my life I was involved with Stephen Baldwin's Ministry. But he was just the face of it, the real man in charge of it, I will call him Mr. Southern. The legendary skater Christian Hosoi was one of the lead speakers/skaters. I was in charge of finding a venue, local talent, and raising money. Unfortunately, the Ministry went under and we never were able to have a show in Kansas City.

I think that skaters have a bad reputations. They are very stereo typed of being on drugs, drinking, fighting, and just getting in trouble all the time. I'm not saying that there aren't any of those people in that community, but there are skaters that are good people, Christians, and out there to spread God's word, but they are always over looked by the troubled skaters. But I blame that on the media, society, parents, and on the skaters.

The media only reports about the crime that happens up there. And trust me I know there is a lot. Lots of drugs, liquor, cigs, and fighting. But, there is also NOT ONE PARENT UP THERE. The parents just drop them off and are done with them until the park closes. It just seems that parents don't care what their kids do anymore, just as long as they are seen (for a second) and not heard. It is so unhealthy, and it is such an easy fix. Parents want to put them on antidepressants, ADD meds, anxiety meds, anything to tame them down so they, as in the parent, don't have to deal with the real problem.

The kids are lost, and when an adult sits down with just one kid, you will notice that several other will start to gather. They are just like everyone....They just want to be heard and validated. And to me they have some of the coolest ideas. Someone needs to believe in them, love them, keep promises (such as their parent's staying married).

Ok, I'm off my soapbox. The boys and I went to the Escapists store downtown off Broadway and Southwest Blvd. That store is so nice but about $20 higher then the prices here in Olathe, KS. But they had some great stickers. So we bought stickers and by the time we were in the parking lot the boys were putting them on the bottom of their boards. Then off to the skate park we went.

It was great, we had it all to ourselves for a long time. Penn Valley Skate Park really is not for new skaters. Luckily my boys have had some time at the park in Olathe, Two Trails. After about 1 1/2 hours these 2 guys show up and they ripped up the park. We were talking to them and they have been skating for 8 years. One boy broke his wrist twice, ankle twice, and arm once. I was explaining to the boys that you have to do these tricks and just know that you are going to brake something sometime......but just not that day on my time :)

They were cool with the broken bones, it was dropping into the bowl that terrified them. Go figure. We all agreed it was one of the best days ever. Then we decided to go to a restaurant down off Metcalf Ave. But to make that long trip fun everyone had a straw, a napkin, and spit. So at every red light we blew spit balls at the cars around us. It was great we got windows, doors, and gas lids. We were laughing so hard. It was a great day of boy fun, luckily this lady has a great sense of boy humor.

You Gotta Laugh!!!!

If you have been reading my blogs you understand that for me, my life changes in a heartbeat. Well, there are these nice periods of time that things are quite. It's like the "calm before the storm", honestly it is. My older sister, Kim, always tells me in a boggled laugh that she can't believe all this happens to my family. Unfortunately, I have to agree with her. There are to keys to surviving these storms, 1) Pray & Put all Faith and Trust in Jesus 2) Step away from the situation and just watch how it plays out.


This year has had its ups and downs, but it seems as if it will end on a bad note. You know how I started this blog to share my family's funny stories? Well, in the last several months we seem to be running short on those. It totally sucks because I am not that kind of a person. I could always see the best in something bad, or could make a joke out of something. Lately my jokes and laughter are few and far between.

So here is what I am going to do, I will just list the short details of what is going on over here:

1)In 2009 Joe had the lenses in both eyes removed and synthetic ones put in. With "bags" stitched behind the lenses to keep in place. We just found out he will have to have another surgery to cut holes in the "bags" because his lenses are cloudy

2)Everyone knows in Feb, 2011 I suffered a 2nd grade concussion and ended up loosing my job that I loved. In August I suffered another concussion and my Post Concussion Syndrome was back (it never went away). We have now hired a lawyer and are trying to get Disability.

3) Mike had 2 part time jobs but no benefits, and we need them. He finally got a job with benefits, he was there for about 4 months and decides that job was not for him. So now we have 2 weeks benefits and to get all of our medical issues done.

4) Our oldest daughter Sarah-Kate keeps on saying that after graduation in December she is moving down to Texas to be with this boy that she has been talking to ONLINE for almost a year.

5) My health is not the best. But it is better not to tell anyone in my family because everyone is already dealing with a lot of crap. I feel this is my crap and will tell them when the time comes.

6) Our house is on the market, but we have had not had any showings in forever. That is fine because for some reason all the neighborhood kids think my house is theirs until bed time.

7) Even if we do sell it we have no idea where we are going.

Oh my gosh, as I am typing all this stuff out I am laughing. This is funny, this is the stuff movies are made of. I have 7 bad things that I easily rattled off, but I have about 100 good things I can also rattle off just as easy. It is so easy to get caught up in the drama of life and forget what the real purpose of life is. God wants us to be happy, joyous, trusting, and loving. I can be that, but "Life" gets in the way. Writing burdens out like that can really put things in perspective. I highly suggest it. Thanks for reading my complaining. Kristen