I think careful cooking is love, don’t you?  The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who’s close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give.  ~Julia Child

Kyle hanging with the Star Wars Boba Fett or Janko Fett at LegoKidsFest 2012 in Pittsburgh

My family is like many who enjoy cooking and cooking together.  We really don’t eat out a lot, hence the congregation in the kitchen when hunger pains arrive.  Seriously, we don’t even really eat fast food.  In fact, the only fast food joints I support when I am in a pinch, or if the graving takes is Chick-fil-a, their service and friendly demeanor is always awesome and contagious, not to mention I love their chicken; or SubWay, when I need serious food and I want to control what is put on my sandwich; or Panera, when I’m looking for better tasting quality food, quickly; or Jioio’s when I want my thin, slightly sweet crust pizza; or any other pizza joint for that matter.  Every now-and-again I will make my appearance at a 5 Guys Burger & Fries or a Sonic or a Dairy Queen, but again that’s rare.  Nope, eating out is a rarity not a daily choice.  I was raised that way, and so I continue to keep the tradition.

I’ve said it before and the same still holds true, I enjoy cooking, especially with Kyle!  No matter if we are talking about breakfast, lunch, dinner or a simple snack, cooking together always makes it more fun!  Kyle really likes being in the kitchen, but he prefers to develop his food with the assistance of others.  Not that I can blame him, cooking together is way more fun and sometimes exciting when we start experimenting with ingredients.

In the past, cooking was a way for me to reinforce Kyle’s reading and his math by making him read the recipes to me and forcing him to figure out the measurements himself.  (Inner Conflict, Egg Sandwich Spectacular, Healthy Smoothie Sunday) Not to mention it was a great way to introduce him to different dishes, expanding his pallet and to teach him about the health benefits of specific foods, or lack there of in some cases.  Yes, I don’t always make the healthiest of dishes, but at least I am aware of what goes into the items I consume.

Kyle & his pappy getting ready to mentor deer hunt. We eat a lot of deer meat throughout the year. 2012

Same goes for Kyle.  I have always stressed the importance of eating healthy, however I have also demonstrated the moments of weakness and giving in to temptation.  When I splurge and steer clear of nutritious foods and swap them with junk food, I am also aware of how much I consume and how often.  Not to mention I have always lived by example to burn off the food through various exercise.  I’m not saying I am the poster child for physical fitness, but I do try and make a conscientious effort to demonstrate good healthy behaviors to Kyle.  I’m not saying he completely listens to me, but I know the information is being stored up in his cranium cavity…somewhere.  It’s my job to guide him in the right direction, even if I’m pushing him up a very steep hill.

This week has been wonderful, spending every day with Kyle.  For his birthday, I bought him two Bricks 4 Kidz Lego Camps at Saint Vincent College.  He’s been going all week with a morning session and an afternoon session, allowing us to hang out together for lunch.

A rare treat at IHOP. Kyle wanted caramel hot chocolate. He was reading the Hunger Games while enjoying his dessert drink! c. 2011

All week we’ve been doing breakfast, lunch and dinner together!  And you what?  He has been eating healthier.  I’ve seen his improvement over these few short days.  When we cook together and eat together, Kyle is making better choices with his nutrition.  Plus, having the right foods on hand is a big part of it.

Everyday, he gets to help pick out what he wants for lunch and every day we make the meal together!  Like I said he loves being in the kitchen, helping to prepare the food, cut, stir and flip.  When we’re done, he is truly proud of what he’s made and knows I approve of his eating choices.  This situation just makes everyone happy!

Speaking of happy, Kyle has been seriously energetic and upbeat!  Keep in mind he’s been building Lego’s every morning and night, and this week, one of his rewards for his great report card came in the mail, in the form of another Lego.  So those certainly can sway a child’s attitude, but it also has to do with what is digesting in his gut.  When y0u eat right, you feel right!

Example, Kyle used to like vegetables when he was little.  Then all of a sudden he refuses to eat them, even though I know he doesn’t hate certain veggies.  One day this week, Kyle and I made a huge salad, per both of our suggestions.  He helped me chop up the salad stuff including the carrots and mushrooms.  More importantly, he was excited to make the salad large enough so his Gigi and pappy would have some for dinner.  He not only ate one salad for lunch, but he ate two and then one for dinner!  Granted it was coated in French dressing (low fat), but it wasn’t covered in cheese and no croutons made their appearance.  Just good old fashioned vegetables.  He LOVED the salad and was proud of what he made and his choice for consumption.

I am still amazed over what a difference a few days make, when choosing to eat correctly!  Granted, he does eat pretty good on the weekends, but a lot of the time, that’s our cheat days, which unfortunately is just a continuation of Kyle’s normal week.

Sometimes Kyle tells me what he’s had during the week, and although it sounds fine, the food items he eats are all processed crap.  Full of fat, sodium, not to mention the extra junk they throw into food bought off the shelves that alter our natural body’s chemistry.

The more I learn, the more I’ll continue to teach Kyle and try to live by example.  After all, it’s my job to fight for his health as much as it is for his spiritual well-being and his brain development.

Wander what he wants to eat for lunch today?  I can’t wait to pick him up!

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful.  One moment you’re just a mother.  The next you are all-wise and prehistoric.  ~Pam Brown

Mom & Kyle 8/12/01

Gigi and her Kyle.  When there needs to be a negative comparison it’s usually between these two, for those seemingly unfavorables, appear to stand out.  Yet there is more than meets the eye.

Kyle has always pointed out that he shares Gigi, his Aunt Nikki and his dad’s blue eyes.  I was told, “Ya not you Aunt Heather, you and pappy have brown eyes.”  Yes that’s certainly true, but I didn’t realize his blue eyes made him royalty.   Regardless, Kyle does have really pretty blue eyes and I’m glad that is a shared trait between him, his dad, his Gigi and his Aunt Nikki.

Does Kyle and Gigi both share their aversion for physical activity?  You bet they do!  Even so much as to mope around with their heads down when they have to do a little bit of work, or walk an extra two feet.  It’s complete torture for them.  They both drive me crazy when it comes to that.  Do they both like to complain?  Again, a big YES!  It’s actually kind of funny.  When neither one wants to do something or they disagree, they sort of grunt and make noises.  Dad calls it “Letting the air out of the tires.”  Just to share in this trait, so does Aunt Nikki.

Is that all the similarities between mom and Kyle?  Nope, not even close.  Even though he tends to favor my sister more, and there is no secret that Nicole and mom are a lot alike too, sometimes too much, Kyle did pick up more from his Gigi.

Kyle & his Gigi hanging out c.2003

Besides the physical traits of having the blue eyes and lighter hair color, Kyle also shares some personality traits as well as behavioral ones with mom.

On a side note, I do want to call out that Kyle shares mom’s, dad’s and his dad’s talent for having a sense of direction.  The department Nicole and I miserably fail in.  What a great quality!

Let’s start with innovation.  Yes, mom is such an innovator, if that’s the right word for her.  This goes on all aspects of life.  When it comes to cooking she doesn’t need a recipe, or specific ingredients.  Mom can make a great meal out of cupboard items and miscellaneous food found in the refrigerator, on the fly.  No preparation, no research, just mixing and matching and voila!  A unique meal, that is favorable to the taste buds (as long as she doesn’t burn it).  Kyle is following mom’s knack with food experimentation.  He is certainly taking her lead when he is mixing items together, even something as simple as a smoothie.  Kyle is already breaking away from the standard and the ordinary and is creating his own.  That, I must say takes, guts, talent and skills, maybe a little adventure, which I completely support and encourage.  There has been many a time when I wouldn’t have a said ingredient and mom would say, “Ahh just use this instead.  Not as good but it should be alright.”  The word “should” throws me every time, but I always trust the Gig (our shortened term for Gigi or mom).

Mom is also innovative with everyday household items and situations.  If something is broke or missing, mom can adjust accordingly on the spot to make it work.  Yes sometimes it involves the use of duct-tape.  Her substitutions, however crazy they may appear, usually work.  Kyle can also think out of the box and adjust to to solve a much larger problem.  What really cracks me up, both, mom and Kyle usually think this way to eliminate additional work.  They truly love to take the easy route.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, except if you will not carry on with an activity because of the perception of it being too difficult due to the laziness mind set.  Once when Kyle was a much smaller tyke, maybe four or fives years old, he said, “I want to build Gigi a robot to help her do housework, so she doesn’t have to.”  Yep, somewhere the Olczak engineering gene resides in both of them.

Usually accompanying innovation are details.  Yes, the smallest part of a plan or story.   When mom is telling a story she will give every minor detail before she gets to the point at hand, always having to prod her along.  Now I know where I get it!  At least my details reside in the form of writing and event planning, another trait of mom’s.  Kyle follows all details, no matter how small, especially when it comes to putting his Lego’s together.  Yes again, that must be an Olczak thing, the tiniest of all details is never overlooked.

Mom is also a passive aggressive person, which is not my favorite by far.  Instead of getting to the point or spitting it out, she will go around and around till you figure out what she wants.  Not me!  I would rather just say it or have someone do me that favor.  I do tend to appreciate candor more than politeness.  Can you guess who else does this?  Yes!  The one and only Kyle Piper.  He will go around and around on a topic or subject without just asking the question or getting to the point.  There have been so many times I’ve said, “Kyle what do you want?!  Just spit it out, I can’t read your mind!”  I’ve always encouraged Kyle to ask, but also not to expect him to get his own way.

Gigi & a little bumblebee Kyle 11-18-03

There is one topic that will get Kyle and his Gigi to spit out their feelings, that’s blood and gore.  Yep, both have a really weak stomach for such things including needles, surgery and even a pronounced scratch.  Can’t say that I understand.  The only thing that really gets to me is feces, which can I be blamed?  I’m talking about real life and not TV drama.  Mom could never stand it when we got hurt, including dad.  Every time one of us broke our leg roller skating (Nicole), nail stuck up the foot (me), sliced our head open from the debarker at the sawmill (Ryan), mom would never look in our direction.  She would either call my cousin Paula who is an RN, or my cousin Karen, who doesn’t mind, or another one of the our family friends in the medical field to inspect the damage, seeing if it was hospital worthy.

Side story.  When I was around five or so, my grandparent’s dog, Lady, bit me along the side of the head, just missing my eye.  Not to mention scratched up my chest pretty good.  Naturally I had to get stitches, without Novocain!  As the doctor had my head turned sideways to apply the stitches that I could see go into my head, I also saw mom in the near distance.  She was sitting in the corner of the emergency room, with her legs crossed, bouncing her one leg up and down, and looking away from me.  Wouldn’t even come near me to hold my hand!  She kept her distance even after all the crying for her.  Yep, mom can’t deal with emergency situations!

Kyle on the other hand, is the exact same!  Last summer I got a bad case of Taking On Poison Sumac.  I had to go to the MedCare to have it looked at.  Yes, it was that bad!  The entire time Kyle, who was trying to be supportive said to me, “Boy Aunt Heather I hope you don’t have to get a shot!  I hate shots.”  Guess what?  Yes, they needed to give me a steroid shot.  Kyle took one look at that needle and about turned green.  It’s not just for other people he has no stomach for blood, for himself too.  If he flosses his teeth too hard and they draw a little bit of blood, forget it!  He’s in complete panic mode.

Maybe it’s the idea of pain that scares them.  Mom and Kyle are both babies when it comes to pain.  Pain upon themselves as well as others.  I’m not saying I like any physical discomfort, but I know I can take quite a bit.  I would rather have pain inflicted on myself than to watch another suffer.  Mom and Kyle, can’t deal with either.  If Kyle gets a scratch he is wailing and thrashing around with perceived pain and agony.  Even from a small one inch long thorn scratch.  Maybe they both have extra sensitive skin.

Dad, me, mom, Nicole & Kyle at Kyle’s First Holy Communion at Sacred Heart Church

Of course, dealing with real life situations are usually accompanied by chaos and panic, I get it.  Neither mom nor Kyle can handle such stressful situations.  They don’t respond to pressure.  But to see it on the big screen?  Even when it’s fake?  Nope, neither one has a stomach for it.

Usually gory and graphic is accompanied with suspense and thriller.  Words that most certainly are not accompanied with mom or Kyle.  Scary movies?  Forget it!  I’ve seen Kyle nearly rip the arm off of the couch when he’s watching a show, and it doesn’t have to be a thriller, any show that causes tension.  Kyle will almost get so engrossed into what he’s watching, it’s like he’s living it.  Mom on the other hand, will bury her face in a pillow like an Ostrich and cover he ears so she is as far removed from the sights and sounds around her.

I don’t get it really.  Mom and Kyle both have a flare for the dramatic.  Remember when I was talking about pain?  Yep that’s usually when their theatrical performances take center stage.  Even if something doesn’t go accordingly, and let’s face it, in life when does it ever, that is their time to drip in drama.  I’m sure many can say the same for me, however I am able to keep a level head in a crisis situation, at least the ones I have experience thus far.  Although, I won’t deny my love of the theatrical arts.

We may seem like we’re being mean because we are blunt and able to call out each others faults, however, I’m glad!  No person is perfect and to truly see another, even a family member, for who they really are is a rare quality.  No ego stroking in the Piper family.  We don’t put on disguises, or act like something we’re not, we accept each other for who they are, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Read more comparisons

Who Does Kyle Favor More, His Dad?
Who Does Kyle Favor More, Pappy?
Who Does Kyle Favor More, Aunt Nikki?

Home is where the heart is.  ~Pliny the Elder

Mom, Kyle & dad are packed & heading to Parker Dam. The boys (Seven & Scooby) are in the back. 6/13/13

Making another voyage to Parker Dam this past weekend, proved to be as nice of a time, as our other trips.  It was funny though, for some reason I really payed attention to my neighbors.  First, I’d like to explain that we always camp in the area approved for dogs.  Our favorite spot is lot number 90.  A nice little section out of the way, just outside the woods and near the restrooms and not far from the showers.

On Saturday, when Kyle and I were coming back from the Parker Dam beach, while riding my bike waiting for Kyle to drop his attitude and catch up to me, which incidentally he was moving so slow he could have grew moss, I people watched.  On a side note, I was reminded of something said to me last time we were riding our bikes at Parker Dam.  Kyle said, “Aunt Heather, we are on self propelled two wheel transportation devices.”  I have no idea where that came from, but it shot out of his mouth and almost made me fall off of my bike.  Anyway, as I peddled along, for some reason I really paid attention to the eclectic group of individuals staying on the camp grounds.  Some visitors only stay a night and move on, while others set up camp for what seems like a lifetime.   As different and unique as our fingerprints, same goes for the camp site setups and their dwellings.

Sunday morning it rained at Parker Dam. Look at Nicole heading to the restrooms! I was dying when I saw her…yep she blends. Is she going to the bathroom or hunting? 6/16/13

Looking around at the different types of campers, meaning the vehicle they reside in while camping, not a reference to the person, I was utterly amazed!  Some camp sites are very rugged, getting back to the basics with a simple tent on the ground, while others set up a second home complete with satellite TV and a name plate posted in front of their temporary residence.  To be honest, I never noticed everyone else before.  We tend to stay to our own little rented out corner until it’s time to depart.  Personally, I really don’t care what everyone else it doing.   I, like my family, enjoy a little solitude and peace with nature, however as I peddled along my eyes were wide open.  I couldn’t believe what I saw!  I mean lights strung up in all shapes and sizes including chili peppers and ice-cream cones; a neon palm tree stuck in the ground with pink flamingos positioned all around; potted plants hanging from awnings; and huge tents to fit a wedding party staked to the ground.  Can you believe others take all that extra time for such embellishments while camping?  You better believe it!

I’m a pretty simple traveler no matter the destination Traveling Habits, only taking the essentials, not extra stuff.  That certainly holds true for camping.  Before we left and started packing up the camper, I thought to myself, ‘Boy this is a lot of work just for one weekend.  Is this really worth it for a two hour trip, a three day stay in a camper?’  I can’t imagine how long it takes those elaborate campers to pack up for their weekend stay, let alone set up camp.

You know, at first I can sit back and kind of make fun and laugh, but the more I looked, the more I noticed something, these little pieces of grassy lots holding all this stuff, is a home.  It certainly is that way for us.  In fact, there was a couple of times mom would say, “When we get back home”, meaning our camper.   It’s true what they say, ‘Home Is Where the Heart Is’.  And as I watched everyone have a great time, their heart was fully into camping, maybe not so ruggedly but the experience was there.  It almost made me feel like I was a part of something bigger.

Seven & Scooby are packed & ready to head out to Parker Dam. They love the ride! 6/13/13

My parents had a neighbor, the Davis’ who used to take their RV camping.  They even had an electric golf cart so they could drive around the camp grounds visiting friends and socializing.  We are not that outgoing, but we did manage to break away for our isolation to chit chat with a few of our neighbors, who were nice and very interesting.  The one lady was in a wheelchair, yet she liked to camp, so their beast of a camper called the Wolf Pack folded down in the rear, allowing her to drive her motorized transportation up into her safe haven.

There was another lady walking her dog and kitten.  Yep!  Kitten!  A cute little tiger striped eight week old kitten.  The fury feline walked alongside the lady and her husband, while he walked their dog.  Now that kitten got me to stop and make a friend, as did Kyle.  He was obsessed with the fur ball!  When I told her I also brought my cat, she said, “O ya!  I had to, she’s still on the bottle and I didn’t want to leave her with my other cats.  I thought people would think I’m weird, camping with a cat.”  I totally laughed and said, “Cats are as much apart of the family as dogs are!”  Yep, we were surrounded by interesting and really down to earth people.

The weekend turned out to be another enjoyable trip.   It started off on Thursday night.  Kyle rode up with mom, dad, Seven and Scooby and the camper packed full, while Nicole and I left Friday during the day.  We were suppose to leave Latrobe around nine, however my sister convinced herself it was Saturday and apparently she wakes up later on the weekends.  Me?  I prefer to get up the same time all week long so my body is used to it and it becomes habit. Now I’m not saying I do wake up at 5:00 am every day of the week, but I do set that alarm to keep me in the rhythm.  Anyway, Nicole didn’t get up until around 8:00 am and she had a four hour drive to get me.  What?  Really?  Yep!  She finally got to the house at 1:00 pm and we made it to camp around 3:00 pm.  Not bad, even though I was looking forward to fishing with dad and Kyle in the morning, but no harm done.  Dad said the fish weren’t biting anyway.

Throughout our time at Parker Dam, we did a little biking, a little swimming and playing in the sand at the beach, we traipsed around with the dogs in the creek, made mountain pies and s’mores over the camp fire and relived the last time we were at Parker Dam.  Somewhere between Kyle’s need of an attitude adjustment and the fun and pleasant young man I know, he was singing uncontrollably.  All sorts of songs, including Christmas tunes.  What really brought a smile to my face and a song to the my lips, is when we were cautiously walking around in the creek and Kyle started singing Señor Don Gato!  I love that song!  I taught it to Kyle when he was just able to speak.  What brought that on?  I have no idea, but it was the perfect song for singing, while splashing around in a creek, in the middle of the woods.

Saturday night they had movie night!  They played Brave at their outside amphitheater.  It was really cool watching a movie in the middle of the woods outside in the nice cool air, while sitting under a blanket.  I loved it!  Almost like the drive in, only better!  While we were there we met a lady who was originally from Latrobe.  Incidentally, she was good friends of my parent’s neighbor, who were also friends of the family, the Ferry’s.  What a small a world!

Check out the Piper bonfire! We never do anything small, not even hanging around a campfire at Parker Dam. 6/16/13

Funny story:  Sorry I can’t remember her name, but she is a manager of the park.  She also previously came across my blog, finding it on her Google alerts for Parker Dam.  She read my last few blog posts about our camping experiences at the park.  Smart lady, doing her homework and hearing first hand what others are saying.  I can only say good things about Parker Dam.  The facilities and amenities are very clean and really nice and the park rangers are very pleasant and respectful.  I’m not the only one who thinks so.  I have a friend who goes there twice a year, they’ve been doing since she was a little girl.  Well done!  Two thumbs up for Parker Dam!

Sunday morning rained.  Did we care?  Nope not at all!  We were in our very own dry safe haven.  It was just like being at home.  Nicole, Kyle and I played card games, Three of a Kind was the game of choice, although sometimes we broke out a mean game of war.  I brought the chess set, however it never made its appearance.  Kyle and I both read, I was working on Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring and his journey took place in Lord of the Rings The Two Towers.  Mom, dad, the dogs and Storm?  They laid around and nodded off and on.

With all this “stuff”, guess what also managed to make its appearance?  Yes you guessed it the Legos!  On Saturday night I sat with Kyle on our big rock by the camp fire and helped him set up the battle and played a little.  Funny story!  Kyle thought me and his Aunt Nikki were taking my car to camp so right before he departed on Thursday night with mom and dad, he loaded my car up Legos.  I mean loaded!  They covered the backseat, the passenger seat and the floor of all three places.  When I opened the door I thought I was at war.  Kyle said, “Ya that’s so when you get there, I would have already set up my battle and you can bring the reinforcements.”  Naturally, that’s exactly what I was thinking for our camping trip, to drag around a ton of Legos.  Only a few made the trip.

Now looking back on the weekend, and realizing what I am remembering are now memories, memories of fun, memories of togetherness, memories at our home away from home, I realize all the packing and hulling stuff, setting it up and tearing it down, ‘YES it was totally worth it!’  Can’t wait to do it again!

Read other adventures at Parker Dame

Fishing Towards Independence
Just Had to Take It to Parker Dam
Parker Dam State Park Story
Lego Love

There’s things that happen in a person’s life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there’s no forgetting them.  ~John Boyne

Yep, that’s Kyle among a sea of kids, dancing around at his school’s Folk Festival. He was hiding from me after I busted a move to YMCA. Sometimes you just have to get it out. 6/3/13

It’s true, sometimes there are events and situations that occur, which can never be forgotten.  For those pessimists out there, I don’t believe these episodes are all bad and I believe any situation we encounter in life shapes us one way or another.  Heck, sometimes they are even really funny and will be brought up around the dinner table or campfire from time to time, just for a good laugh.  This is one of those stories, witnessed by many, remembered by me.

Yesterday was Kyle’s folk festival.  His very last assemble of elementary school!  Yes it was a bittersweet event.  In fact, Kyle, knowing I would want to see him and knowing that I would come, called me to remind me of the shindig.  He called me while I was meeting on the . The Chad Delier Scanlon Story.  While I was confirming the date and time with my little man, this crazy thought popped in my head. The Heel Toe dance!

The Heel Toe dance is a dance, done every year during their Folk Festival after the students perform their required practiced square dance or line dance.  When they announce the Heel Toe dance, the students go running into the audience to select a parent, sometimes a teacher or a friend to partner-up with.  It always looked like so much fun!  As the memories of this dance come rushing into my head, the excitement was already building.  I mentioned the dance to Kyle, to plant the seed, as I do every year.  He just ignored me.  When I asked him again if I could dance with him, he just sort of laughed and then moved off of the subject before getting off the phone.

Kyle with his other friend Logan. Logan danced beside me at the schools Folk Festival, while Kyle ran… Surely he wasn’t embarrassed? 6/3/13

On a side note, I new nothing about the Folk Festival until Kyle called to remind me.  Thanks buddy!  It’s a good thing I’m working for Thrill of the Hunt, a division of The Piper Corporation or I wouldn’t be able to take off work, on such short notice.  Although I’m glad he included me!

Mom and I made our appearance, armed and ready to take video and pictures and to clap and cheer him on.  It was a nice cloudy day and the Folk Festival was held out in the school yard.  All the parents and onlookers circled the kids in the lawn chairs.

Slowly, the show moved along until we got to the long anticipated for, sixth graders!  At this point it was nice to see the kids do their square dance and to pull their loved ones out of the audience to dance the Heel Toe Dance, but my patience and interest was fading with every grade.  That is until Kyle and his class took center stage among the trampled down blades of grass.

Instead of a typical square dance, they did a line dance, which didn’t seem to amuse Kyle, at all!  He was barely moving through the motions and seemed annoyed at the assembly.  Keep in mind this was a child who called me a few days prior, excited to tell me about the festival and wanting me to be there.  Kids!

Then came the big moment I was waiting for, the Heel Toe Dance!  Yes!  After coming to all his assemblies and watching years worth of Folk Festivals, I wanted to be the one picked to dance the Heel Toe dance with Kyle!  I will confess, I sort of practiced it prior to, only from watching others perform it and paying attention.  I’m ready!

Naturally, as the kids move around gathering up their partners, it was pretty noisy.  I stood on the sidelines waving my hands yelling to get Kyle’s attention to show him where I was standing.  (Just in case he didn’t see me.)  Then mom chimed in and said, “Go up to him so he can see where you are.”  At that point, we both thought Kyle would dance with me, and let’s face it, I was excited!  So like an idiot, I went running across the lawn, in front of parents, teachers and the entire school of kids, with my arms flailing around as I was yelling “Kyle! Kyle!”

Just as I reached Kyle, in-the-nick-of-time before he chose someone, I wrapped my arms around him, startling the little package.  Granted, I know better, hugging him in front of the entire school was not accepted, but I couldn’t help myself.  Beside shooting me a big surprised look, he did give me one of his ornery grins.  Admittingly, I was sporting a huge smile on my overly energetic body.  I said, “Kyle are you going to let me dance with you?”  Like an idiot, I had it all planned out in my head, mom was on standby to take the video, and my dreams have finally come true.

Until he looked me square in the eye and said as a matter of factually, “No.” then he elbowed me to get away from him!  What?  Denied!  Are you kidding?  I was instantly removed from my fluffy dream of running through the green fields toward Kyle, only to end up spiraling down a black pit!  Did I take the wrong road?  Pick the wrong kid?

Nope, it was all true and was witnessed by some.  One being Kyle’s friend Luke’s mom, Sue.  Kyle picked his friend Logan, right in front of me!  Not knowing what to do next, I walked away with my head held low, in utter shock.  As I got to my mom all I could say was, “He told me no!”  Just then Sue busted out laughing.  Not that I can blame her.  I mean I looked pretty ridiculous running out there among the kids yelling, to only get turned down.

After the shock wore off, I found the humor in the entire situation, that I incidentally created for myself.  After all, Kyle never agreed to dance with me and there wasn’t anything in the rule books on the subject.  So, excepting the situation for what it was, I join Sue in the laughter.  By then, she was really busting a gut.  Of course, so was I when I did a play-by-play account of the last few minutes of my life, adding in the part when he elbowed me.  We were both dying!

This was a good story for the books!  No matter, if he wasn’t going to dance with me, I was going to make him.  Just to pay him back, as the entire class danced in the grass to YMCA, I got up and ran behind Kyle to bust a move.  He had no idea I was there until his friend pointed to me and Kyle turned around, with a mix of humor and horror on his face.  He did get a little red in the cheeks, but he couldn’t help laughing at me dancing and throwing my arms in the YMCA letters.

Putting this silliness aside, I am very proud of Kyle.  He just receive a letter from the school stating that after an evaluation of his work and test scores, he was going to move into advanced math next year.  Yep, so he will be a seventh grader taking ninth grade math!  I guess those flashcards I got him and worked with him when he was two, paid off.  Although that may have been a start, he always had the interest and intelligence to do math.  He worked hard for that accomplishment and it is all his.  Way to go buddy!  God Speed to you in junior high!

Maybe one day, the Heel Toe Dance will be mine!

I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.  ~Mother Teresa

Life’s Not Fair… sometimes you get a bloody lip from your walking stick. Kyle & Nick were acting like Jedi Masters…my little Yoda 2013

“That’s not fair!” has been exclaimed from Kyle’s mouth time and time again.  In fact, I heard it proclaimed this past weekend at the fishing derby Gone Fishing!.  “Why is everyone else getting fish?  That’s not fair!  Why am I the only one?”  and on and on.  It’s fishing, no one ever in the history of the world said that every fisherman was suppose to catch the same amount of fish, let alone at the same time, all being the same size.  It’s called life!

I know, I’m guilty of muttering those words too, for various reasons, mostly from my youth.  Being an adult, I really don’t care to keep tallies and to track fairness.  I realized long ago, everyone has their cross to bear and what may seem unfair, is ultimately in the hands of the Almighty One.

Is life suppose to be fair?  It was never promised, by anyone at any time, not even in the bible.  Yes, it’s true it talks about being fair and just to others but that is instructed of us, the ones with free will who sometimes stray from what’s right.  Even with dictatorship rulings and socialist countries, everything is seriously not fair.  There are always going to be those born into wealth or have status and opportunities that others don’t.  Some are more intelligent and have great ideas etc.

Dodge Ball, sometimes you win… sometimes you loose… sometimes you get smacked in the face. Kyle did twice! Planinsek Fishing Derby 5/11/13

Two Friday’s ago Kyle lost his molar.  Yep, poor kid will be going into the seventh grade and is still loosing baby teeth.  Maturity is not a strong trait in the Piper family.  Anyway, we went to see Iron Man 3, which was great!  He always has to get popcorn, except this missing tooth threw a monkey wrench in his behavior.  He said, “O man, now I can’t have popcorn with the movie!  Not with my sore gum.  That’s not fair.”  My parents said, “Just eat to one side.”  He wouldn’t hear of it.  That’s not the way you are suppose to eat, and he would not do it.

On a side note, Kyle is a bit of a weakling, putting it mildly, when it comes to any sort of physical pain.  No matter how minor.

As we drove to the movie theater, he commented again on how that wasn’t fair.  Really?  With all the poverty, starvation and lack of proper nutrition in the world and him not eating popcorn for a movie on opening night is not fair?  Someone needs to reevaluate his position.  Better yet, let good old Aunt Heather put it in perspective.  Keep in mind, this whole conversation was based on the fact he couldn’t eat popcorn!  He could very well eat the snack, he just needed to adjust his chewing.  That too ticked me off.  Before the whining could begin, and before I seriously lost my temper, I go into one of my rants of how children are starving and don’t have the opportunity to go to the movies, especially on opening night.  Kyle quickly dropped it, only because he didn’t want to listen to my ‘Everyone has it worse’ dissertation.  I stopped because I didn’t want to hear his ‘Poor me’ arguments.

Kyle at the Friday night showing of Iron Man 3, we are big fans! 5/3/13

That got me thinking, life just isn’t fair.  And I’m grateful for that!  God made each and everyone of us unique in our way.  Every person has strengths and weaknesses, which means there will never be complete “fairness”.  He made us that way on purpose so we rely on each other to exist, to socialize, to be his children, his family.

Let’s discuss physical traits that can and cannot be helped.  Some people are short, some are tall, fat, skinny, fair skinned, dark skinned, and the list goes on and on.  Some may say, that’s not fair she has prettier eyes or a better smile than I have.  Those, ‘That’s not fair’ comments is what makes us all unique and different.  It brings variety to life.

Since the physical traits are all different, doesn’t the same principal go for all other aspects of life?  Example time.   Does everyone need to have the same amount of money as their neighbor?  I don’t think so.  I love the fact that I always worked, and worked hard for what I have, never accepting hand outs.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve received assistance in one form or another, but isn’t that what life’s about?  Helping our neighbor when they’ve earned it or in time of need?  I also don’t believe a ‘time of need’ is every minute of every day.  Sometimes you have to stand on your own two feet and pave your own path.  After all, how can you feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of purpose, a sense of giving, when you are always taking?

Since everyone is different, and to the best of my knowledge that is a very true statement, wouldn’t each person treat all situations differently?  Maybe some people need to be driven or they can never accomplish anything or learn.  You always respect and appreciate the rags to riches story.  The person who came from nothing and made a better life for themselves.  Maybe that person needed to be put in a poor scenario to establish drive and motivation.  If that was taken away because of even distribution of wealth, then how would that life have ended?  Also wouldn’t the starting out in humble beginnings allows one to appreciate the flip side of life?  It may or may not instill a humility, but the option is now there,  as well as all the other lessons of life.

Sometimes you get the toy you want… sometimes you give your turn up to another kid with only 1 prize. Way to go Kyle! Planinsek Fishing Derby 5/11/13

That’s what drives and motivates me, knowing I can reach a goal and be rewarded for it.  When I see a challenge I want to tackle it, taking it on ten fold.  If I have a goal to reach, I will work myself silly trying to reach it.  However, if I was just handed “things” and never felt the sense of pride or contribution, then I would not respect the handout as much, if at all.  I would never want to strive for what I think is better.  Worse, if what I worked for was taken from me, not by my choice, and given to someone else.  How would my actions change?

Sometimes lessons of life do not create a fairytale ending.  Sometimes they are just horrible and tragic.  But doesn’t that give us the opportunity to turn such darkness into light?  It’s not fair my brother died so young and sudden, for no apparent reason except God said it was his time.  It’s not fair that my nephew will never know his dad or grow up without a father.  Our family has made the most out of the cards we were dealt.  We never walk around saying, “It’s not fair.”  Never!  Instead, we’ve all stepped up our game, as with other friends and family.  I’ve been blessed to witness and be apart of such acts of kindness and sincerity over the years from others.  Sometimes it was just a pat on the back or words of encouragement and sometimes it came in the form of action and activity.  Even a simple invite or inclusion into an activity makes a world of difference.  I’m blessed in my life, and no it’s not fair but I’m fine with that.

I made Kyle pose in the Monster’s Inc. display before we saw Iron Man 3. I was cracking up! 5/3/13

This is a bit silly and simplistic, but I think it’s just the story to put my thoughts into plain English, common sense.  My cat, Storm believes she is one of the dogs, our Labradors.  She want’s to do everything they do, including taking hikes through the woods.  Alas, this would not be safe for her if she ever wondered off while we were hiking, or worse, adventured off on her own at night.  She meows at the door and angrily flips her tail to show her disdain for the situation.  It’s just not fair.  Nope, it’s not but it’s the way it is.  Storm is allowed to do things the dogs can’t, like being on the furniture and she gets to take more car rides than the dogs and so on and so forth.  The dogs get to take hikes but get more attention than the cat.  I understand I am making a rather feeble attempt at an Aesop’s Fable (I have no idea if there is one similar to this story) but certainly worth the calories burnt to ponder the simple thought.

Instead of focusing on “Life’s not fair”, shouldn’t we be exclaiming the obvious question?  ‘What can I do to help my fellow brother or sister?’

My CCD teacher told us this story and I always come back to it.  Forgive me for butchering it, but the lesson is the same.  He was in a very poverty stricken area, I can’t remember where, maybe South America doing missionary work.  He told us of this small child who was bouncing a ball.  Just playing with this rubber ball up a dirt road, which overlooked a very steep bank filled with garbage, sewage and rats.  As the child was self entertained, the ball happened to hit a rock sideways and was projected out of control.  Yep, you guessed it, the fun bouncing ball made a direct course of action for the filth down in the ravine.  Lost forever!  Did the child whine or cry?  Nope!  The young person, wearing only rags, continued on their route toward their straw hut with a dirt floor.  That was the only toy the child had, and now there was no more.

Sometimes you win the race & sometimes you take it slow and enjoy the sights & conversations! Me & Holly at the Great Race 2012

My teacher was actually on the way to visit the family, helping with the child’s sick sibling.  That’s how he knew the living conditions.  What my teacher witnessed made an impact on me.  I can’t even imagine the thoughts that would have erupted, if I witnessed this story first hand.  Is it fair that some live in extreme poverty?  Nope but that’s why we are called to reach out with what resources we have, to make a difference.

Mother Teresa is a perfect example of that.  She wanted to make a difference.  She never said, “It’s not fair” that no one is helping me with the sick, or no one is giving me money.  Nope, she took the resources she had and made a difference.  Is it fair that she had such a strong relationship with God and I’m not that tight with him?  If I want that, then I need to work for it.  God gave us plenty of opportunities to establish and build that relationship.  Each one of us have a different purpose in life and are called for specific reasons.

So really, maybe ‘Life isn’t fair’ should be tied directly to respect?  If we truly respect one another and respected all the things we have, then we wouldn’t be saying ‘Life isn’t fair’.  We would be more willing to lend a helping hand or give generously.

If a friend bought me something, more often then not I would take extra special care of it.  However, if I was given the same gift without a face or a reason behind the charity, then it would loose some of its value and not be treated with equal importance.  Charity and giving is all about the intent.  Not the notoriety and certainly not for selfish reasons.

It’s our job to help our brothers and sisters far and wide.  To help, from one person to another.  That’s what really makes the impact.  Not being forced to give my money in the form of taxes or some other undercover way, even if it is to assist those in need.  Yes, helping others is the end game, but the road traveled to get there is equally as important.  Giving, should be benefiting both parties involved, those that gave and those that received.  Naturally, the rewards are very different, yet equally as important.

So I guess, when I see that something “is not fair”, that really means, there’s an opportunity there to make a difference.

Elrond: So that is your purpose? To enter the Mountain?
Thorin Oakenshield: What of it?
Elrond: There are some who would not deem it wise.  ~J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit 

Ironically, I just stared reading The Hobbit.  Kyle read that book and has since proceeded in the subsequent books and is now currently reading The Lord of the Rings the Two Towers.  I got Kyle that series for Christmas I believe.  Partially because he was interested in the books, certainly a big fan of the movies, and secondly because I always wanted to read them myself.  Win.  Win.  Kyle loves it when I read books he’s already read or visa versa.  He loves discussing the stories, the characters, the events.  As do I, but I really enjoy hearing the story come to life through his eyes and straight from his imagination.

On a side note, Kyle has really come a long way with reading.  With his love of books, not only is he escaping into his own adventures, but the activity has certainly reinforced his schooling.  Reading class goes without saying, but also spelling and I believe social studies.  Looking back, all the trying to get Kyle to read and the arguments were well worth it!  I’m glad I never backed down and just accepted the situation as it was, of course with the help of my parents and my sister.  Not to mention the draw of movies helped assist me in my quest.

Kyle reading Hunger Games at the IHOP. He wanted breakfast for dinner before piano lessons 2012

The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey was made into a movie and was released December 14, 2012.  That I know for certain, because that weekend happened to follow my birthday.  Kyle said he wanted to take me to the movies in celebration.  Let’s get real, he really wanted to see the movie, much like myself, birthday or not and it was an excuse.  I’m fine with that!  Great reason!

On a side side note, Kyle is finally trusting my judgement in books and taking my books suggestions seriously.  Without questioning me, he will take any book and open the pages, knowing I would never steer him wrong. Love him!  As I’ve always told him, we are team!  Enough with the pats on my back, on with the journey.

Yes reading a book, especially a highly acclaimed children’s novel written in the 1930′s can certainly be an adventure.  Most books are to me, and I love every page.  But this journey is different, this is real life, a real leap of faith.  My life is moving in a new direction, an unexpected journey if you will, and I am extremely excited to partake.

It really hit me this past weekend and certainly all week.  Last Friday, was my last day at the office, last day of employment.  What now? Being there nearly eight years,  I walked out those doors, never looked back and was set on a new course of action.  The destination?  Virginia, to meet up with my sister.  Yes, all without a job.  So why head to Virginia?  You see, we sold one of our Thrill of the Hunt birthday scavenger hunt packages to the Falchetta family, who also happen to be my sister’s friend.  I was there to administer to the birthday party, as part of the purchased package.

I guess Storm wants to read the Mortal Instrument Books & the Infernal Devices Books by Cassandra Clare. My favorite is the City of Fallen Angels & Clockwork Princess

The family bought the Thrill of the Hunt Discover Scavenger Hunt for their daughter Isabella’s fifth birthday.  This package was designed specifically for children of five years and up.  Suitable!

It was a perfect day!  Chilly and windy but certainly sunny and pleasant.  The party was a hit, with the children and parents alike.  It was sincerely my pleasure to join in on the fun and share in the celebration.  I look forward to many more Thrill of the Hunt scavenger hunt events.

Ok enough of my Thrill of the Hunt plugs.  Seriously, God has always taken care of me and led me in the right direction (or helped when I made bad choices).  I know He will continue to take care of me and lead me in the right direction, on my new memorable journey.  I guess everyone has a different journey, I see it on the news every night.

I found this blog with very insightful comparisons between The Hobbit and Entrepreneurship.  Enjoy… 9 Quotes From ‘The Hobbit’ That Social Entrepreneurs Can Relate To

Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims.  An end must be put to this.  As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror.  ~Vladimir Putin

Yesterday was a typical Monday.  I went to work, got things done, maneuvering through the day like any other, waiting impatiently to leave and pick up my little man for piano lessons, then the Breaking News alerts went off on my phone.  Boston Marathon bombing!  What?  Are you kidding me?

Pulling up the news on my laptop, there were already articles and news stories of this horrific event.  Seriously, I was in awe and my mind was colliding with reality.  I know the tragedy off 9/11 was not that long ago, but I guess I got into a safe zone, I got comfortable with daily life, secure.  I’m really not sure why that is, I mean I know North Korea is itching to launch a nuclear weapon at us and let’s face it, the war in the middle east is far from over.  But as I read on, my security turned into uncertainty, then horror, especially when I found out it was an act of terrorism.

Yesterday, Monday April 15, 2013, the day when most American’s are rushing to get their taxes post marked, the world was stopped by an unnecessary affliction, to again innocent people.  At the finish line of the Boston Marathon, a shrapnel-studded bomb was planted and another 50 to 100 yards away.  The first explosion happened at 2:50 pm, roughly five hours after the marathon began.  Then, as I read through the uncovered information being uploaded as it was made available to the general public, there was a third explosion occurring near the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, several miles southeast of the marathon’s finish line, in Columbia Point Sector of Dorchester, around 4:15 pm.  What is going on?

All the eye witness reports were gruesome, commenting on missing limbs from the victims and reports of someone’s leg flying past them.  What a horrible sight!  As far as I’ve read, three people perished and 144 were injured.

At that moment, I just wanted to talk to my family, especially Kyle.  We are roughly 550 miles, about nine or ten hours from the incident, so it was not personal fear we were in any immediate danger, but it does makes you realize just how vulnerable we are and how quickly life can change.  I am a walking testament to that, that life can change drastically in the blink of an eye whether you want it to or not.  God’s the only one in control and I respect that.

Soon after taking in the news, I received a text message from Kyle saying he wasn’t feeling well.  My poor little man.  I called and talked to him, which is not the same as seeing him but I will take what I can get.  He said he had a headache all day in school and he felt nauseous.  Hearing his misery, I ended the conversation shortly after it started, allowing him to get rest, even though I wanted to continue talking to him.

After I hung up the phone, I wondered how I would explain this to Kyle?  How am I to convey the importance of physical fitness and the fun of a race in the face of this horror?  Kyle used to like to run, when he was too little to know any better I guess.  But times have changed and he has told me he doesn’t like to run and wants nothing to do with it.  I’ve been trying to sign him up for small races locally for years now, and he has been resisting.  He will certainly use this in his favor, not be smart, but sincerely because he would be afraid.  Living in fear is not one of my traits, but I’ll admit this will definitely stick in the back of my mind.  Considering the next big marathon is the Pittsburgh Marathon.  Maybe that’s what the bombers wanted, to just cause sheer fear and chaos.  They never asked for a ransom or voiced a political cause.  What is the reason?

Even this morning as I was reading the news and looking to see what new information was released, I found out that yesterday marked the 238th annual Patriot’s Day, commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the Revolutionary War in Boston.  Was this the reason for the demonstration?  Or was it completely unrelated?

The read the FBI raided an apartment of a suspect in the bombing, but nothing concrete yet.  In fact, no one is taking credit for the bombing, not even Pakistani Taliban, who has threaten to bomb the United States in the past.

As I was writing this blog post, I received another Breaking News alert on my phone, “At Least 40 Reported Dead After Massive Iran Quake.  And so another day begins.  Prayers and thoughts go out to anyone facing tragedy, friend or foe.  God Speed!

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  ~Matthew 16:18-19

Pope Francis 2013

Yesterday, the announcement of our newly chosen pope came in the form of white smoke exiting the Sistine Chapel.   That was the first sign the conclave chose our successor to St. Peter.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires  has accepted his elected position as our new Catholic leader at the age of 76.  He has taken the name Pope Francis.  Immediately, upon hearing his new identification, with which the world will refer to him, I wondered as many have, why the chosen name of Francis?  The Huffington Post commented:

It’s unclear if the pope’s name is a reference to St. Francis Xavier, a 16th-century priest who was one of the first Jesuits, or St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century friar who founded the Franciscan order of priests.

In addition to making history as being our 266th Pope, Pope Francis is also the first Latin American Pope as well as the first Jesuit priest.

The secret voting of the sworn in cardinals, concluded within just two days of the conclave meetings.  There were five rounds of voting, resulting in Pope Francis receiving 77 votes out of the 115 eligible cardinals in the conclave.  This was the minimum two-thirds required to become pope.  A little comparison, Pope Francis’ predecessor took two days and four voting rounds before former Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005.

The Pope is walking into office with a lot of upheaval, unrest, scandal and transformation.  Really?  I don’t think this election is unlike any previous one, unfortunately.  There are always issues to address and sin to worn against and debase.  I am very happy to hear that Pope Francis is upholding the conservative and traditional views and doctrine of the Catholic church.   As long as he holds true to the word of God, he can’t go wrong.

Pope Francis’ actions have already exemplified his chosen position of God’s servant.  I read on the Huffington Post:

But Francis, who was rumored in 2005 to be the runner-up to Benedict, also brings a more pastoral sensibility to the church, said the Rev. Raymond J. Kupke, an adjunct professor of church history at Seton Hall University. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he reportedly rode the bus to work, did his own cooking and visited the poor in Argentine slums. Instead of living in an archbishop’s palace, he chose to live in a small room in a downtown Buenos Aires home.

The Rev. James Martin stated, “The name Francis is a clear indication of his desire to focus on the poor.”

Pope Francis is expected to uphold and maintain the Catholic values and doctrine of the church including topics on sexuality, abortion, marriage and contraception.

He has also shown compassion for people with HIV and AIDS; in 2001, he visited AIDS patients in a hospice where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 patients.

On Tuesday at 4:30 pm Rome time, during the feast of St. Joseph, Pope Francis will formally take the position of the Pope, even though he is technically considered Pope presently.

As with tradition, Pope Francis will descend to the grottos of St. Peter’s Basilica, where the first Pope St. Peter is buried.   In front of the cardinals he will recite “I leave from where the apostle arrived.”  Then, he will lead a procession to St. Peter’s Square and begin the installation Mass.  During mass, Pope Francis will receive the Fisherman’s Ring, the ring of the pope.  Of course, part of his immediate responsibilities will include meeting other members of the clergy, becoming acclimated in his new surroundings and such.

There is a lot do to turn this world around.  God Speed to Pope Francis!  I pray we see good things from God’s mediator and our chosen apostolic successor.

Music is a moral law.  It gives soul t the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.  ~Plato

Kyle hanging out on the Big Piano FAO Schwarz. ‘Aunt Nikki & Kyle’s week of Fun’ in New York City, NY 2011

Yesterday was Kyle’s sixth grade music recital.  Yes, it was his last music assembly of elementary school.  He sang and played the trumpet along with the rest of the sixth grade class.  He’s grown up so much in many ways, and yet he is still truly just a kid.

Mom and I were in the second row enjoying the musical theme, From the Inside Out.  Dad and Nicole were both working, so I did my best to video tape some of the assembly, giving them a glimpse of what was presented.

As Kyle mounted the stage, I caught his eye.  He gave me one of his trying-not-to-smile smiles.  Naturally, I had to give him a wave to confirm my presence, and to instigate a bit.  I was sincerely excited to see him sing and play!

Kyle with his friends at his 6th Grade Music Recital 2/21/13

As he was clapping and singing and stomping and playing his trumpet, all the memories of Kyle’s love of music floated in my head like a painting.  Kandinsky’s theory came to mind.  Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) said he could see sound as color and visa verse.  The music I heard came across my mind as images of Kyle over the years, like I was seeing a symphony of pictures tied to their memories.

Always having an adoration for music, even as a tiny five month old baby that could barely hold himself up, Kyle would keep the beat and sway to music, or at least try.  Either for Kyle’s first or second Christmas, my grandma got him this stuffed musical penguin that played Jingle Bells.  On a side note, maybe that’s why Kyle has such a bond with that song.  When we played the penguin, Kyle’s eyes would light up, he would smile and his body would go into motion.  The best part, the penguin moved from side-to-side and Kyle would try and mimic the motion.  It was too funny!  I have no idea what ever happened to that beloved piece of entertainment, but Kyle’s love of music prevails.  I’m not talking about just music on the radio or pumping from my iTunes.  Any music or rhythms coming from anywhere and everywhere picked up by his ears.

Kyle’s 6th Grade Class. “From the Inside Out” 2/21/13

Watching Kyle view a movie is hilarious.  The best part is usually the end while the credits are rolling and the theme song is playing.  Without knowing he’s being watched or without a care, Kyle inadvertently busts a move to the tunes.  Actually, that goes for any show or commercial.  While sitting on the living-room floor either assembling or playing with his Legos, sometimes certain tunes will project from the TV.  Kyle’s body is automatically swaying to the music as if he’s a puppet on strings.  He loves music!

At the very beginning of last semester’s piano lessons, the instructor asked Kyle to bring in his old practice books so he could review and brush up on the basics.  During the lull in time while Kyle didn’t have piano lessons he got rusty, like anyone would.  So to ensure Kyle was learning properly and advancing, David his piano instructor, reinforced his foundation.  Great idea!

Kyle bust’n a move on the dance floor 2003.  Proof I did get him in a shirt & tie!

I remember that first lesson so well.  As we sat in the Seton Hill common room waiting for Kyle’s turn, he started to read through the piano book, a piece he hasn’t looked at for literally years.  Of course what’s old is new again, and Kyle being such an astute student, started looking thr0ugh his music books recapturing knowledge from the first songs that started out his piano training.  Always coming prepared with a book to read, I couldn’t focus on the words on the page for the distraction in front of me.  Kyle was flipping through the pages and humming the songs to reacquired himself with his old friends, the music.  Yes, he was actually humming to himself turning the pages rapidly as if cramming for a test.  His actions were not intended to bring attention to himself, but to prepare for his piano lesson.  He was so engrossed in his own thoughts, he really didn’t notice everyone in the room smiling in his direction.  As I sat there and stared at him, thinking he would notice me, he continued with his train of thought and didn’t break concentration.  I was ready to bust a gut and laugh out loud, that is until he was saved by his piano teacher.  David’s appearance interrupted Kyle’s focus and brought him back to reality.

We used to laugh and say music would sooth the savage beast, referring to Kyle.  It did!

I love seeing the joy and inspiration that music brings to Kyle.  For the sixth grade field trip this year, the students went to Heinz Hall and listened to the symphony.  He came home and told us all about it with sheer excitement.  In fact, while we were driving, Kyle remembered his trip to Pittsburgh because he started searching the radio for a specific channel.  He was trying to find the classical music station on the radio.  He said, “Aunt Heather, they told us we could listen to the music on the radio.”  Once he found it, he beamed with delight!  Since then, Kyle has been listening to the classical music station when we are on the move.  Nice change of pace!  Good thinking Kyle!

When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about having close relationships.  ~Andy Warhol

With Christmas behind us, many people are putting their new gifts to use, especially the electronics.  This year, my sister got me the iPad3 with retina Display.  Boy was I surprised!  I didn’t expect that at all, and a really gracious gift it was.

Me & Ryan with Ryan’s “new” TV- not my sister’s.  He eventually blew it up when he decided to take it apart to see how it worked, he forgot to unplug it.  1980′s

While I was online reviewing accessories for my new toy, I got into talking to my friend Kelly.  She was helping me pick out the perfect messenger bag for toting my iPad.  I have no idea what made me think of it, but the memory of my sister’s dedicated television set just shot in my mind, no doubt due to the sheer humor of it.  Perhaps this walk down memory lane is so amazing because of the world of disposable goods we live in, but regardless it’s a tale worth sharing.

On the previous thought, let me rant for a few.  Everyone is used to getting rid of what they have for the desire of something new.  Personally, I think that’s a shame in most cases.  What really cracks me up, are those individuals who purchase the items that are old because they are retro and now the trendy thing to have again, when in fact, they probably had the same thing years prior and paid a lot less for it originally.  I will admit I have fallen into this trap a time or two, but for the most part I’m pretty content with what I have and I never feel the need for the newest, or something perceived as better or bigger or flashier or whatever.  I’m a pretty practical person and I love items that will be of use.

As with everything there are exceptions to the rule.  If I had serious loot, I mean Mark Zucherburg moola or Warren Buffett’s checkbook, I would have the grandest of all art collections.  Even though I am simple, I do appreciate the finer things and especially those that represent beauty and history.  A Caspar David Friedrich would certainly be at the top of my list since he is one of my favorite artists.  Admittingly, one of my biggest indulgence wishes would be to own a piece of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelery collection.  I do love jewelery!  Did I mention it’s an investment piece that has longevity?  So in my mind a practical one.  Perhaps that’s the secret formula to my justification of purchases, will it have longevity?  Maybe, but what about items that are not suppose to last for decades, literally?  Again that’s why God made us all different, so we have to rely on one another to survive.  Plus I think it makes the world more interesting.

Now I’m back on track to outline my sister’s loyal TV story.  Way long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, Nicole and I received a color television set for Christmas.  Who’s TV set it really was, I have no idea, but we did get it sometime in elementary school, mid 1980′s.  Back then, it was a special thing to have a color television in our room, at least in our family.  We loved it!  The screen was probably a foot square and maybe 18 inches long with rabbit ears and no remote control.  Believe it or not, it was fresh off of the store shelves and represented a new shiny toy for us.  It meant more than something new, it mean TV freedom!

We only had the one large television set, which resembled a piece of furniture in the house.  It resided in the living-room.  The actual TV set was color, encompassed in a fake wooden box with rabbit ears sticking out of the top.  Only having a single TV unit in the house made watching our choice of shows far and few between.  Not that there was a lot to watch on TV back then, but the evenings were owned by dad.  The shows included the news and I’ve seen every episode of National Geographic and Marty Stouffer!  Reflecting back on it now, I really did enjoy those shows.  I am a big fan of the NATGEO channel, Animal Planet and the History Channel, as is Kyle.  But being young and not having an option, I didn’t welcome such shows into my list of favorites and put my nose up to them.  To not make it sound like we were always chained to undesirable shows, I must give a shout out to Saturday morning cartoons.  That was our time to watch whatever we wanted, up until noon.

Nicole graduates from Penn State with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering 1997

Nicole and I set the TV up on our desk and pointed it toward our twin beds, which ran parallel to the room.  We made sure we both had full access to the small screen while stretching out.  In our minds, this was the life!  We struck gold!  Now in the evenings or anytime mom and dad were watching something we didn’t want to view, we could retreat to our room and change the channel.  The TV was not beneficial when Nicole and I couldn’t agree on anything, but again lucky for us there weren’t a lot of choices.

That TV brought whole new worlds to our small corner of the globe.   Nicole introduced me to Saturday Night Live, she was always a night owl in the summer, perfect timing for the show.  To this day I remember watching Love Connection hosted by Chuck Woolery over our summer vacations.  We loved that show and would take most of the afternoon to plan for it, preparing snacks and making sure the TV was on the channel so we wouldn’t miss a beat.  Before MTV came to fruition, we would watch a music video show that was on late at night, can’t remember the name.  This was as hip as we could get, still about a decade behind everyone else, but we didn’t care.  Sometimes, Ryan would accompany us, pick a bed, and join in on the fun.  That was the perfect rainy day, lazy day, sick day, avoiding work day, gift.

As time passed, the TV would be moved around in our bedroom, but always positioned in plain sight.  That is until we reached senior high school.  Nicole was involved in her activities and I had colorguard, winterguard and my Friday Night Bonkers’ plans.  So no one had time for the now outdated and too small TV, but we always kept it.

Once Nicole went to college, she decided to take the TV with her.  This rejected but once loved piece of electronic, accompanied Nicole for two years at Penn State McKeesport before lugging it all the way up to main campus.  Come to think of it, I believe I was the one who physically moved it.  Then, while at Penn State main, the TV followed her to her different apartments before she graduated in 1997.

After that, Nicole moved home for a brief period, getting a job in her field locally.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when she brought the TV back!  It made a full circle over the course of five years.  I wanted her to get rid of it but she refused and that trusty TV was still working.  At this point that television set was roughly 15 years old!  What name brand?  I have no idea, but I was sincerely impressed.

Mom & Jake… check out the old TV & VCR behind

Then, within a months time, or so, Nicole got a job in Maryland.  Yep, you guessed it, the TV set traveled with her!  Being in shock, that first of all the TV still worked was one thing, but that my sister wanted to haul this outdated television set with her, was another baffling thought all together.  She did, with pride!  Having your first apartment outside of college and your first real job, I get it.  After all she really didn’t have anything, she was basically just starting out her life.

Then Nicole moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she remained for around five years.  Did I mentioned she moved there on a job promotion?  Staying with the same company all that time and making her way up the corporate ladder, Nicole kept her roots.  Let’s take inventory.  TV set still working and with Nicole?  YES!

Now I’m going to fast forward a few years, when Nicole lived and worked in West Virginia before landing to present day Virginia in the D.C. Metro Area.

First Nicole live in a townhouse, where her TV set had a place to call home.  By this time, we’ve all gotten used to this television set, so when visiting Nicole, wherever she resided, we started to look for the TV.  It’s funny but once when mom was talking to Nicole, dad yell out, “Ask her how her TV is doing?”  I cracked up over that comment.  Good one dad!

In recent years, now that we’ve hit the twenty first century and Nicole bought a house, one would think she would have dropped all dead weight, especially since her purchase of a brand new flat screen TV was welcomed in her living-room.  Nope!  Nicole kept that TV around.  But I’m not talking about putting it in storage.  It always had a shelf and was still used!

On my first trip to stay at Nicole’s, after moving into her house, I must say I was completely dumbstruck, as were mom and dad who were with me.  Kyle didn’t seem to think anything of this TV or our confusion.  Nicole seriously had this television set sitting on a shelf in her bedroom.  I was dying!  We all stood around and gazed at it as if we were in a museum and weren’t allowed to touch it.  I swear I saw the TV give us a defiant grin.  If you would have seen me, mom and dad standing there staring at this ancient piece of electronic, which projected entertainment from the eighties, you would have thought we just witnessed a miracle.  Dad even rolled his eyes!  Too funny!  Nicole laughed and showed us how it still worked, although the on/off switch was no longer there so she had to plug it in and unplug it to power off.  It still had the rabbit ears!  Now, that was dedication on my sister’s behalf for keeping this old TV around.

Eventually, the inevitable happened.  We got a call informing us the loyal television set, fired up for the last time and then turned off forever!  Wow, I must say mom and dad got their money’s worth.  That happened a few years ago, so I would have to guess the TV set was about 28 years old when it retired.  Not too shabby!  Maybe we should have given it a proper burial, but at least we always have the memories!

I didn’t want to do a throwaway, mindless movie with fart jokes just to make 6-year-olds laugh.  I want to provide my children with some substance.  ~Fred Durst

I’m not normally the slap stick, stupid humor type of writer…well sometimes I am, but this one is silly yet educational.  My family is going to kill me for sharing this humor, so I will keep it general and not give too much detail.

First, I want to comment on how tight our family is.  Probably too close according to some.  Not only do we speak our minds, anything that appears up in the cranium cavity exits our mouths; but our rear-ends are free to speak as well.  We are not shy about belching and we certainly are no strangers to flatulence.  Some may say we are simple honest open people, while others may say we are gross and improper.  Now don’t get me wrong, we don’t act like barbarians in public and around others.  We do practice our manors, but I’m talking about behind closed doors in the privacy of our own home among family.

To be honest, I thought everyone was like us, well maybe not as dedicated, but certainly open.  Nope!  I was just recently talking to a good friend of mine who commented that her and her husband do not fart around each other and they’ve been married for over a decade.  Having to confirm what was just declared, I had her reiterate that they do not fart around each other.  Seriously, I was in shock!  Really?  I just couldn’t believe it!   You don’t fart around one another?  To make a comparison from my point-of-view I explained the general Piper practices.  I’m sure there are others who agree with her, but that wouldn’t be my family.  And come on, EVERYONE farts!

Now sticking to the theme, I want to tell you about a joke in our house.  My dad was watching something on TV, probably Dr. Phil since dad has this infatuation with him, I don’t know why but I’ll move off of that topic.  Dad said “I heard on TV when someone farts they are lowering their blood pressure.”  The minute Kyle heard this he busted out laughing.  Moving forward, every time there was an exchange of gas Kyle would say, “I guess you’re lowing your blood pressure.”  It’s actually too funny!  Once, Kyle passed gas and shot me an ornery grin and said, “I just lowered my blood pressure!”  I died!  It really was so spontaneous and funny, I shared it with the rest of the family.  Dad especially got a kick out of it.

So back to why am I sharing this very personal stories?  Mom sent me this email titled Fwd: Facts about farting…very educational.  You know the emails that have been forwarded ten thousand times, literally.  Evidently, my cousin Ray emailed it to her, then it ended up in my inbox.  Mom knows I hate those generic forwards.  I pretty much delete them right away, however, this one mom made it a point to call it out to me.  She wanted to make sure I would read it.  Ok, I thought, this must be a good one, I’ll bite.  When mom was asking me about the email, Kyle happened to be standing in close proximity actually paying attention.  He looked over at my mom with curious eyes and very quizzically asked, “What Gigi?  What’s it about?” as he joined my mom, sporting a huge grin.

Needless to say, mom showed Kyle the email, upon his request and he intently read through it.  During the entire weekend and flowing over into the following week, Kyle kept quoting from the information he read.  Out of no where I would hear, “Aunt Heather I can’t believe termites are the top farters and they give off more methane gas than cows!  How can that be?”  How do you respond to that?  I would laugh and nod my head and say, “I have no idea buddy.”  Then he would bring up vegetarians saying, “Vegetarians fart more than people who eat meat.  I love meat so I must not fart as much as them!”  That’s a pretty good deduction and one way of looking at it!

From vegetarian to dog, Kyle compared his new found statistics with Seven’s flatulence history.  Poor dog resides in the group of silent yet deadly.

Through all this, Kyle’s number one favorite fart fact, was the information on farting after death.  He just thought that was amazing and funny at the same time!  He said, “Aunt Heather a person can fart after they died!  Can you believe that?!”  Yep, we are a wealth of knowledge around the Piper household.  I wish I could say this was the strangest conversations we’ve had, but alas I don’t think it was.  I guess it goes to show that anything can be made into a conversational piece.

You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps.  Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it.  But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it’s really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas.  ~Stanley Kubrick

Aunt Heather & Kyle Piper playing a game of chess at Fort Ligonier Days. 2009

Kyle has been really back on a chess kick lately.  I’m the same way, sometimes I just want to play the game and sometimes I forget all about it.  When Kyle was three years old, I remember sitting down with him and teaching him to play chess.  I never had any reservations about this young man learning the game.  At that point in his life, he already mastered Candy Land, Chutes n’ Ladders, and Monopoly Junior.  Pushing for Excellence  He was also working on puzzles with at least a thousand pieces and he knew his addition flashcards.  Again, going back to my same theory, “What’s it going to hurt?” SpyRing is Born – Education Unlocked!

I remember the day, very distinctly when I introduced Kyle, to what will be his longtime love of Chess.  I asked Kyle if he wanted to play a game with me and naturally he was all for it.  He went through his list of standard games trying to figure out which one was on my mind.  Mentioning the game as I passed him to retrieve the box, he gave me a look of ‘What is chess?’ before asking me about the game.  I sat down without saying much only “You’ll see” and I gave him a smile and a wink.  I went straight to work, placing the pieces on the board.  His eyes were wide and curious while examining this intriguing game that he’s never seen before.  I will admit that my mysteriousness was making this new experience more dramatic and exciting.  Even I was falling prey to it, becoming more excited to play.

Kyle was squirming in his seat with anticipation when I started the role call, introducing him to each of the pieces.  First, I unveiled each figure by name and then I followed up with the maneuverability instructions for each piece.  Kyle sincerely got it!  I even remember letting him go first, which has become an unspoken rule with Kyle over the years.  As we moved around the board I would reiterate the moves of some of the pieces, but overall he seemed to understand how to play.  Now the strategy behind the game came a little later, but the love of chess was immediate.

Grandpap Chester made this table c. 1937  Refurbished by Mike Olczak (cousin)

In fact, my cousin Casey who is Kyle’s godfather, called and asked me what Kyle wanted for Christmas.  I usually try and give him different options and one was a chess game.  That Christmas, Kyle received his first chess set and he was excited!  I think I played more games of chess than I ever did in my entire life during that time. Casey certainly got his money’s worth.

Now the love of the game never disappeared, it was just stored away for a rainy day.  Every once in a while, we would pull out the game and play but Kyle’s video games started to take priority.  Then a month ago, while we waited to pick up our take-out dinner, Kyle took my iphone to play a game.  This is standard behavior when he thinks he’s “bored” for the whole five minutes of waiting.  I asked him, “What are you playing bud?” followed by his response of “Chess.”  I said, “Wow Kyle, we haven’t played a game of chess in a long time.”  As he remained focused on his game he lifted his head to give me a smile and a head nod.

After dinner, Kyle decided he didn’t want to play against the computer anymore, he wanted to play a game with me on my phone.  Now I was a little rusty, but graciously the game highlighted options for my potential moves.  That was helpful at first, but then slowly started to irritate me.  I will need to look into turning off that feature.  It was nice reengaging myself in the game and I really enjoy seeing Kyle using his cranium cavity for more than sending a stick person down a hill in a shopping cart.  (Shopping Cart Wars).

Side view of Grandpap Chester’s checker table. c. 1937 Refurbished by Mike Olczak (cousin)

Recently, chess has become Kyle’s game of choice.  That’s all he wants to play, no video games, no ipod, no Nitendo DS, it’s all about the game of chess.  Last weekend my sister was home for her class reunion, Go Wildcats!, and he made her play against him too.  Would you believe that more than not, Kyle won against us?  Friday night, I played him a game, and I will admit that I was only half paying attention, clearly not taking my opponent seriously.  Yep, that bit me in the butt when he crushed me!  He didn’t just win, instead of finishing the game when he had me in checkmate, he decided to continue the game to capture as many of my pieces as he could.  He displayed his killings proudly, even telling my dad, “Look pap pap, it’s my trophy room.”  What a stinker!

When we did a rematch, I reminded Kyle of the dangers of arrogance and cockiness.  I could feel it leak through his pores, and I don’t like that at all!  He needs to remain respectful and composed.  I’ve even explained to him that those traits destroy people and causes them to fail, in everything they do in life.  Sometimes I like to take opportunities presented, even a simple situation, and use it as a life lesson.  This one was the best example.  As we continued with our game, I played like a champ; no more under estimating Kyle, no more distractions and absolutely no mercy!  Finally I won!  He smiled like a good sport and understood that I knocked him down a peg or two.  You know what?  Kyle didn’t care.  He didn’t get mad, he didn’t make excuses, in fact he commented on how he could improve his game next time.  Very impressive!

Every game we played, Kyle was definitely getting better and better.  He would even sacrifice certain pieces and set me up for traps to devastate my army.  An example, which was flawlessly executed, involved me taking Kyle’s pawn with my queen.  It looked like a no brainer, but after his move, I learned it was a set up!  Again I under estimated that child, he was learning strategy before my eyes.  I wasn’t paying attention to his knight, that is until he rode the horse in to capture my queen. What?  Very clever!  Great move!

Grandpap Chester signed the inside drawer of the checker table. Made in 1937 Mikey found this when he was sanding.

On Monday night after school, while we were eating Kyle set up the chess game again.  We started to play before his piano lessons, until we ran out of time.  Unfortunately, when I got back to the house, I came to the conclusion that Storm wanted to play too.  All the pieces were scattered all over the table, which she is not allowed on, and some pieces were on the floor.  As I gathered up the crime scene, I noticed I was eight pieces shy.  After I cleaned the house on Wednesday, I found four of the eight missing pieces, which leaves four chess pieces MIA.  Where could they have gone?  Maybe they are with the mouse and sticky pad? Of Mice and Me…Part 3  Kyle is not going to be happy about this!  I’m actually upset for him and kind of nervous to break the news.  Maybe it’s time for a new set!

Check out Mikey’s other furniture creations on his .  He is a true artist with wood!  He doesn’t do refurbished wood projects, although he made an exception for me, since it was my grandpap Chester’s table, Mikey’s uncle.

Send Mikey a message… 

It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.  ~Deng Xiaoping

Cowboy Kyle…he loved that hat (courtesy of Uncle Sonny)

My disdain for mice is no secret!  I have no clue why I have such an aversion to those little rodents, but I do!  I’ve never really liked mice, but since a certain incidence occurred, when Pudd’in caught a live mouse and brought it into my bed to play with, while I was “asleep”, I can’t deal with the squirrelly rodents.  Let’s face it I don’t do mice!  Anyway, why am I rehashing my terror again?  Because I have another mouse!

First, I want to call out that I have no idea why the mice are picking on me.  Yes I believe they have a list of houses they want to infiltrate for one reason or another and my invasion has the goal to simply torture me!  Granted, I know everyone who has lived, has had a security breach with a mouse in their living quarters, at least most people.  And those who have not, AMEN!  Good for you!  I envy you, big time!  Being aware, that I have a pretty good life, I am also aware this single mouse spotting could be worse.  I don’t sleep on a dirt floor with flies swarming around my face and rats climbing over me as I sleep.  That would give me a complete meltdown.  But now my mouse saga continues.

This past week, as I stepped through my threshold of my castle, Storm didn’t greet me.  What?  She always runs to the door to see me, just like Scooby and Seven, but alas this time no Storm.  I called her and she was nowhere to be found, even after looking in the living-room and the kitchen.  Initially, I thought ‘She must be fast asleep’.  To be honest, I wanted to wake her up and surprise her.  Well, she got the last laugh when I walked into my bedroom, my private, secure, safe haven of a room, where I found Storm creeping low beneath the edge of the my dresser.  Instantly, I recognized the position of her body, and the flick of her tail, she was in hunting mode!  O crap!  Just then I saw the movement of something small under the dresser as Storm pounced side-to-side trapping the living squeaky animal.  Yikes!!  What to do?  I had to leave with her, but I didn’t want the mouse running around my house, but I didn’t want Storm to catch it alive, but I didn’t want a dead mouse in my house.  This is where I thought, ‘How can I train my cat to catch and kill a mouse without a mess and throw the deceased rodent in the trash and never speak of it again?”  I’m seriously working on that.

Did I mention, while I was trying to come up with an immediate solution, I heard the mouse squeaking?  Gross!  Storm must have sank her razor sharp claws into the large problem, which happens to came in the form of a tiny package.  Gross! Gross! Gross!

Chad holding a lion (Kyle). First Halloween – outfit courtesy of Aunt Nikki 10/2002

Well, until I train storm to be the terminator I needed to resolve this.  I retrieved a few of those sticky pads I had purchased from the last mouse incidence and strategized how this was going to work.  First, I put the one sticky pad down, while I was reaching for Storm.  I didn’t want her to get stuck in the gunk.  Then, as I was holding her, I placed another sticky pad down on the other side of the dresser, all while watching to make sure I wasn’t going to get jumped by the invader.  For a grande finally, I placed one in the hallway, leading out of the bedroom.  I was pretty sure I covered all bases.  Of course I didn’t have a choice in the matter, since I laid down all ammunition that I had on hand.

Storm and I exited stage right.  After I got situated in the car, I called my mom.  When a stressful situation like this one surfaces, always defer to mom.  As I was explaining the events that just unfolded, aside from wanting her to stop laughing at me and my phobia, I wanted her to come up to my house, once she got Kyle off of the bus, and defuse the situation.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough time.  Really?  Whatever!

Ok, so it looks like I’m going to have to face my fears and deal with it like an adult.  Even thought I did ponder the idea of asking friends of mine, I decided it was my problem.   When Kyle and I managed to get back to my house it was dark.  Incidentally, neither one of us can handle mice, we looked like the ‘geeked out’ leading the ‘grossed out’.  As we creeped inside, I realized I couldn’t let Storm run free, not with the sticky pads placed on the floor.  I barricaded her in my office with the closed door.  The entire time, she meowed and she exposed her paws out from under the threshold.  Kyle and I were both laughing.  We even started to play with her paws as they poked out and extended the width of the door.  Minor distraction before we got down to business.  We first checked the trap in the hallway, nothing.  Then we proceeded to move into my room.  At this point I was torn, I wanted to see a dead mouse in the trap, but then again I didn’t.  I just wanted to rid my house of mice FOREVER, if that’s even possible.

Kyle’s first Halloween outfit. I was the lion tamer. 10/2002

Immediately, I saw one sticky trap, which contained a bug but no mouse.  Ok, so in my mind the last sticky tab contained the mouse and it was under my dresser.  Good?  I guess, again in my mind I just wanted to end this.  I grabbed the flashlight and headed back to the bedroom.  At that point I asked Kyle to get down and look under the dresser.  He just gave me a look of ‘Ya right’ and then said, “Umm why don’t you?”  I responded, “Cause you need to help me.  Nothing is going to jump out and get you.”  I must have been convincing because he approached the dresser with the flashlight in hand before turning back to me saying, “I just can’t!”  Logic must have taken over Kyle and he realized, I could be doing this and not him, so I did.  What do you think I saw?  Nothing!  Well that’s not entirely true, I found a photograph that somehow found its home under my dresser but nothing else.  No mouse, but also no sticky tab.  What?

Now at this point, fear and disgust was replaced by frustration and curiosity.  Where did the other sticky pad go?  Then Kyle and I went on the search.  One, because I didn’t want a dead mouse lying around somewhere, and two, I didn’t want Storm to find the sticky pad.  Kyle and I searched high and low.  Nothing!  We literally searched the entire house, under furniture, behind things, in closets.  Nothing!  I went even as far as to go to my basement and inspect everything.  Nadda!  No mouse, dead or alive and no black sticky pad.  Are you kidding?  My nightmare just went into limbo, into something worse…the unknown.  This is killing me!

I seriously must have the smartest mice ever!  This one pulled a Houdini on all of us.  No traces of a mouse, anywhere!  Once I got over my shock, I started to second guess myself, thinking I only put out two traps, when I knew very well I put out three.  While Kyle was there I didn’t make the missing trap into a big deal, only because I didn’t want Kyle to worry.  He would stress about Storm’s safety and I didn’t want the kid to feel afraid to walk around my house.  But the truth is, I was concerned!  Did the mouse pick up the trap and exit the house never to return?  Did it place the pad somewhere to catch me?  Was it waiting till I was fast asleep ready to place the sticky side down on my face all in the name of revenge?

I tried to put those thoughts out of my head and focus on my little man, not my little problem.  Kyle is too funny.  After we gave up, I gathered my trash to take out to the curb.  As I was heading outside, Kyle stopped me and said, “Aunt Heather where are you going?” with a very stressed out voice.  I told him, “To take the garbage out.”, while I displaying the overly stuffed trash bag.  He said, “You’re just going to leave me in here?”  He was mortified and I couldn’t help but laugh.  I will admit I would have been leery too, if I was alone after that anti climatic mystery ending to this story, but he is just so funny.  I said, “Kyle, nothing is going to come out charging you, besides you have the best weapon, Storm and her razor sharp claws.”  Immediately as the words fell from my mouth, he looked toward Storm and made the motion to pick her up, before she ran away from him.

After the evening settled down, my next biggest concern was sleeping.  I have a fear of Storm (any cat really) bringing a mouse, dead or alive and placing it in bed with me while I sleep.  Some may say my imagination is going a rye.  Not really, it actually happened!  I lived to tell the tale and I have never recovered from that nightmare.  I understand that, that’s the greatest honor for a cat, to bring their owner a live mouse, but I’m good.  I don’t need presents.  I don’t need the cat to prove themselves to me.  I don’t need to know they killed the enemy, as long as I don’t see it.

Believe it or not, the mystery is unsolved.  I started to clean out corners of the house, searching everywhere, but have found nothing.  If anyone would find the missing weapon, I would think it would be Storm, but she’s come up empty too.  On a side note, to make me feel better, I want to call out that my house is spotless.  Aside from getting behind on dusting, it is clean!  In fact, I haven’t really had any food in the house.  My refrigerator is bare, and I mean empty!  I’ve been meaning to hit up the grocery store, but haven’t had the chance.  So what is so interesting about my house?  How are they coming in?  What else can I do to keep mice out?  HELP!

Read more on my encounters with mice
Of Mice and Me…
Of Mice and Me…Part 2

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.  ~Aristotle

Kyle sporting his SpyRing Gear c. 2011

Kyle, my nephew has always had good grades for the most part, specifically having a fascination and an attachment for math. When he was a little tike, around three years old, I bought him addition and subtraction flash cards. My thinking was, “What’s the harm? So he might learn something”. He did! Kyle loved those flash cards and he loved to learn.  He wanted to push his knowledge and show it off. Subtraction was a little more challenging but he certainly enjoyed the attention he was receiving from me and the idea of learning. What a little a sponge! I know I’m probably being bias, but Kyle was always pretty bright. He’s a logical thinker, which I still see to this day.

When Kyle was in second grade, his report card grades dropped across the board one quarter. I knew he was smarter than that, and I was not going to stand back and let this situation become his new standard, nor was I going to idly stand-by while his future education was being compromised.  Really?  Did anyone think I was going to accept his grades as they stood?  Did Kyle really think he could fool me when he said he was “Trying his hardest?”  Nope, nope and heck no!  I knew better and I believed in Kyle! Unfortunately, being Kyle’s aunt I don’t have complete privilege to his teachers or daily homework, only once a week and on the weekends.  Roadblock!

To be honest, I was utterly sick over the situation. It was that bad! Not to mention I had no idea why. There had to be a reason for such a sudden change. I asked Kyle if things were good in school, or if there was bullying going on, or anything. He really had no idea what I was talking about.  He felt bad that I was really upset over his grades but he was also basically saying “O well, I tried my hardest.”  That is until I grounded him.  Boy did he change his tone.  It’s amazing what taking away video games and TV time will do to an attitude.  I never did find the reason for the sudden downward spike in grades, but we did get past it.

Me at the CA Baby & Kids Expo, LA CA 1/21/12

Granted I know the days of Kyle learning for fun were over, or wore they?  Now me being me, I decided to take this upon myself and help this child out. I’ve always purchased workbooks for Kyle and helped him uncover the knowledge in the pages.  He used to love them, but the times-were-a-changing, he was giving me resistance with workbooks and flash cards. Yikes! It started to build up fights between us, unnecessary ones.  The last thing I wanted was for Kyle to really hate school and learning.  I also didn’t want there to be constant struggles with our time together, which was a huge concern of my mom’s.  Mom was the one who kept saying, “You need to make it more fun for him.”

Since Kyle is a logical thinker, usually explaining things to him helps to turn on his light bulb.  Not this time.  I explained why I was requiring him to do the extra work.  I even threatened him saying the school was going to hold him back if his grades didn’t improve by the next quarter. And to be honest, if his grades kept up in that direction, it could have happened, especially since he was the youngest in his grade.  For the school, that would have been a logical step.  Nope!  Not on my watch. He was bright and he certainly could do the work without much effort.  I will admit Kyle was lazy when it comes to school work, only doing what is needed and going through it half way. I’m guessing he’s not alone in that manner, but I’m not responsible for other children, or so I thought initially.

Nicole at the CA Baby & Kids Expo LA, CA 1/21/12

During this time, we went to visit my sister, who lives in the D.C. Metro area. Like every visit, we always do something new in Washington, D.C. This time we decided to go into the Spy Museum. Wow, that was cool! I really enjoyed reading about the spies and seeing the spy “tools” or what I like to call them, spy toys. My sister, dad and my mom walked through, reading and taking in the knowledge displayed everywhere, while Kyle and I acted like spies ourselves. The museum had an air-duct type of display, allowing visitors to climb in and spy on the people below.  We had a field day!  When possible, I would read the information displayed on the walls.  Sometimes Kyle would stand still long enough for me to read to him and explain the story at hand.  I must say Kyle made the museum more exciting.

Well, needless to say that visit sparked an idea, unbeknownst to me at the time, that would turn into something a lot bigger.  From that moment on, the wheels were in motion for the birth of SpyRing.

SpyRing was originally created as a scavenger hunt for Kyle.  I designed it to reinforce school subjects in a fun and interactive way.  Kyle and I would take Scooby up in the woods, (Seven was not apart of the family yet) and we packed our book bags with the spy essentials and headed out on our missions.  We would make our way through the woods and track our progress by creating a map of our travels.  Along the way, I made up questions that led to other questions.  Kyle answered the trivia and occasionally he would pull out his binoculars or something he brought along to really play out the spy story.  We both had a blast!  The scavenger hunt not only reinforced what was being taught in school, but it also got Kyle off his backside to stretch his legs.  This relatively simple action with a little effort, not only helped  to create the SpyRing scavenger hunt, but it helped to build our bond.  I was no more, ‘Mean Aunt Heather making me do all this extra work’.  I was ‘Fun Aunt Heather who loved hanging out and learning was something fun’.

Ethan & Kyle playing with the SpyRing cards 2011

It wasn’t until my cousin Casey and I took Kyle snowboarding that the idea to take SpyRing to the marketplace really became a serious thought.  I remember distinctly Casey saying, “Why don’t you sell the game?” At that point it was a custom scavenger hunt made specifically for Kyle. I knew I needed to develop it into a game for all kids no matter where they lived. My goal was to allow other kids to reap in the benefits of learning in a fun and interactive way.  During this time, it was interesting to run into other parents and listen to them discuss their child’s struggles and challenges in school.  This is when I knew I could help.

Suddenly it hit me like a ton bricks! I woke up one morning and I knew how to make the game assessable for all children with a reasonably low cost investment. God must have been working overtime to plant these ideas in my head.  Knowing initially it was going to be a card game, I went to work on actually developing the structure, build the contents and establish the design.  Kyle worked with me on the development of the game, even helping to create some of the questions.  Throughout the process I tested Kyle’s skills on ALL the information.  Pretty amazing, I set out to help Kyle with his schoolwork and we were doing just that, intensified.  I must say it was a fun process.  Kyle was apart of something bigger.  He knew it and he loved it every step of the way.  This is when Kyle’s business side of the brain was revealed.

By the next report card, Kyle’s grades had jumped.  Some grades where back to where they began and others were slowing moving up.  Kyle was proud of himself and now understood what needed to be done and how to do it.  Or least what I expected from him.  I believe without setting expectations, children will not know what to strive for and the right direction they need to move towards.  You see I believe parents are like coaches.  They know how to push their players to get them to strive for excellence.  That is their job as coach, to never settle for average or ‘just ok’.  They need to know the limitations of their players, but also know how to overcome them.  However, coaches also know how to work with their players and set them up for success.  It certainly takes effort from both parties to make this happen but when the game has been won, everyone benefits.  Children should be respected and shown they are important and smart.  They should also be given the opportunity to learn, excel and shine in this world.

Sometime during the developmental stage of SpyRing, I was discussing the game with my sister.  She instantly loved the idea and believed in the goal, to help reinforce education for children. She went to work and started The Piper Corporation with the flagship product being SpyRing. As of now SpyRing is an interactive card game of questions and answers, however we are now developing the SpyRing scavenger hunt, as it was originally created.  Thrill of the Hunt, another division of The Piper Corporation will be hosting a SpyRing scavenger hunt called Your Passport to Education this Saturday at Legion Keener Park in Latrobe, PA.  A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to help rebuild Playland!  Stop by!

The response was overwhelming.  I like to share what I have learned with others about everyday happenings as well as issues that make a difference in the world of business.  ~Bob Parsons

This past Monday, in the middle of the day, I noticed all my websites were down.  Yep, that means good old AuntHeather.com was down.  At first I thought it was something I did while making updates the night prior.  In disbelief over this outage, I turned to Facebook to see if others were experiencing issues.  I first saw the breaking news on Mashable – GoDaddy’s DNS Servers Go Down, Along With Thousands of Sites.   Evidently, anyone who had web hosting and domain names pointed from GoDaddy, were all down due to a hacker issue.

Monday night I had Kyle for his piano lessons.  During dinner I flipped on Channel 4 news, a bad habit while eating, and among other stories, I caught the one about GoDaddy going down.  As I was listening to the news, Kyle was half paying attention, strumming his guitar and playing with Storm.  I did make a comment on the GoDaddy situation, but again it didn’t seem to mean anything to Kyle and I didn’t think much of it until later that evening.

As Kyle and I were heading to his music lesson, a friend of mine was texting me, letting me know GoDaddy was back up again.  Naturally, Kyle checked my text messages while I was driving and read me the contents.  All of a sudden, he got this look on his face of complete fear and disbelief.  He asked me, “Aunt Heather does that mean our sites are down?  Even SpyRing?”  I said, “Yep, but Kelly said her sites are back up, which means ours should be too.  I’m going to look when we get inside.”  Spoken like a true business man, he said, “So how does anybody know about our stuff, if they don’t see it on our websites?”  Answering him, I said, “They won’t, that’s why it’s such a big deal, everyone associated with GoDaddy is down.”  Still in business mode, Kyle requested that I check our sites immediately when we get in the building.  He makes me laugh out loud!  I was planning on it, but it’s funny to see that Kyle feels the need to manage and direct me.

Upon conclusion of his piano lesson, he immediately went back into businessman mode and asked me about our sites.  “Aunt Heather, how’s SpyRing? and Thrill of the Hunt?”  I said, “All looks good, Piper Corporation and Aunt Heather are all back up.”  Naturally he didn’t care about my blog but it was neat to see his understanding for the value and importance of the company websites and his sense of urgency.

The next morning I read a story from CNN Tech – Hacker claims responsibility for GoDaddy outage.  The article claimed

“A person affiliated with the hacking collective Anonymous — named @AnonymousOwn3r on Twitter — claimed responsibility for the outage.”

Really?  Was that necessary?  If hackers need something to do, then I have a laundry list to put them to work.  There is no doubt, these hackers are a brilliant bunch and very intelligent, but they claimed to want to check the security of GoDaddy.  Really?  Was there act so selfless?  If that was the case, then don’t take down the company who in turn effects a large part of the population and their businesses, and not certainly for a better part of the day.  But then again, I’m no hacker, so what do I know.  Putting a positive spin on the situation, maybe GoDaddy has beefed up their security.

I can honestly say, I am a customer of GoDaddy’s and this situation has not changed my view of the company.  In fact, I thought they did a pretty good job returning things to their original state.  Personally I think GoDaddy is reasonably priced and they have GREAT customer service.  In the years that I’ve been a patron of GoDaddy, I’ve never had an issue.  I know I’m not the only one in this camp.  GoDaddy!

Also, thank you GoDaddy for the credit I received today because of the mishap.  That really helped to strengthen my view of your customer service.  I know you value and appreciate my patronage.

It was last Friday and I happened to be in the store when an elderly woman, accompanied by what appeared to be her daughter, was haltingly pushing a shopping cart.  She was kind of leaning on the cart, using it to help her keep her balance I guess.  ~Lida Krieger

Cousin Katie playing with Kyle

Those that know me, know I HATE to push shopping carts.  Not only shopping carts but strollers and such.  When Kyle was just a baby, I carried him around in this papoose contraption.  It was the coolest thing!  Kyle would hang off of my stomach facing me when he was really little until graduating to facing out, then as he got a little bit bigger, I wore him like a backpack.  My hands were free to shop, get groceries etc.  I never wondered off away from him, not even an inch, and I felt like he was safer being strapped to me.  Basically my point is, I didn’t even push a stroller or buggy.  Then, once Kyle was old enough I had him walk everywhere.  Great exercise and it wore him down, allowing for perfect naps and a great night sleep, for everyone.  Kyle has always, and still always goes with me everywhere.  I guess I got my money’s worth out of that papoose.

This brings me the shopping cart discussion.  Why you may ask am I bringing this up?  Well, my dear friend Kelly said she found my match the other day.  Evidently, this guy was at the grocery store walking back and forth to fill up his cart. That was too funny!  Kelly said she instantly thought of me, and it’s true!  I do that!  Here’s the way it goes.  I get my cart at the entrance of the grocery store.  Then I take it to the middle of the produce section and I walk back and forth to fill it up.  Then, when I’m done in that area, I push the cart to main isle of the grocery story and proceed to maneuver up and down the different shelves gathering items.  This all happens while my shopping cart remains fixed in one location.  Once my hands are full, I swing by the cart to unload the goods.  This continues until everything on my list is crossed off and then I push the load of groceries to the checkout.  Also a little known fact, if I can manage to carry all the bags in my hands, then I ditch the cart.  If there is a substantial amount of groceries, then I will concede and push the buggy to the car for unloading.  That pretty much wraps up my shopping procedures.

If I don’t need a buggy, I love to carry those little plastic baskets on my arm.  I feel like little red ridding hood.  I carry the arm baskets everywhere in the store.  Well, that is unless I get too many items, which is usually the case and I have to leave it on the floor somewhere until I’m ready to check out.  At that point, I continue with the standard walking back and forth filling up the arm basket that is now residing on the floor somewhere, until I’m ready to heave it to the checkout.

Pushing a buggy makes me feel like I’m weighed down and I can’t move freely.  Maneuvering through people is difficult, especially if it’s crowed.  That drives me crazy!  I don’t have the patience to wait till shoppers step aside from their slow moving motions and get out of my way.  Believe it or not, if there are a lot of people in the isle, I will go to another one to continue shopping before returning to that specific isle to get what I need. If I am forced to adventure down a crowed area, I’ll do it, but being trapped in an isle with a grocery cart and several other shoppers and their carts makes me completely claustrophobic!

Since I will walk back and forth a zillion times and not push the cart, it probably takes me longer in the grocery store, but I truly don’t care.  Now I’ve never conducted time tests on which is more efficient, pushing the buggy through crowds of people or parking the cart and going back and forth.  I bet with the speed that I walk at, it’s a wash.  Sounds like I take extra steps?  Yep, I do, but who cares, it’s great exercise and I don’t feel confined to a buggy.  I’m also the believer that every extra step does a body good.

This also sounds like I don’t have a system when retrieving groceries.  However, I do, but I have no issue changing it up on the fly to make my shopping experience more enjoyable.  Not to mention, gaining a little extra movement in my adventures in grocery shopping is actually a goal of mine.

Naturally, I have a different shopping adventure when others are joined with me, like mom or Kyle.  Shopping with mom is slow moving, ever since her knees have gotten bad.  In fact, now-a-days she takes the motorized carts, which totally crack me up!  But when she has the regular old shopping cart, she tends to be a leaner.  She pushes the cart and leans on it the entire time like she is using a walker.  This works out, since I don’t like to push the cart.  Mom used to go through the grocery store and stop to retrieve the items around her, while she instructed me on the items to grab. I would run around and come back with the packaged food items in my hands.  Now that’s a perfect team!

When I was in high school and mom was more in her prime, I would dance around the grocery store while mom pushed the buggy. Yep, I did!  I would jazz run up and down the isles, leaping and making up routines in the middle of the store.  Now I really didn’t do this when other patrons where in close proximity to us, but when the shelves only saw us in view, look out.  I couldn’t stop my feet from moving.  Usually mom would ignore me, and sometimes I got on her nerves, especially when I would get out of control and practically run people over.  Generally speaking, I would dance around mom as she filled up the cart.

Then you have Kyle on the other hand.  He’ll push the cart for me, only because he knows I don’t like to, but he just can’t leave it in place while I run around and fill it up.  He has to keep it within a foot from us and that makes me want to loose my mind.  Sometimes I feel like I can’t escape the shopping cart, like its the possessed car from Christine!  That’s even worse, than if I was pushing the cart the entire way through the store.  At least I would have the opportunity to free myself from the ball and chain.  With Kyle, he has to have it right beside us!  I do realize there is no doubt, I drive him crazy with the way I shop.  Sometimes, I’ll compromise and park the buggy at the end of the isle, as opposed to the middle of the store, and walk up and down the shelves of groceries before returning.  He will start walking up the isle with me, and then turn around and grab the cart and push it towards us.  Every time!  I have been known to loose my temper and say, “Kyle!  Just leave it, we’ll be right back.” followed by Kyle’s justification of “No that’s ok, I’ll just push it.”  Then I declare, “No one wants to take our groceries, it’s not like we paid for them yet.”  He just can’t handle it and ignores me to continue on his course of action.

On that note, I’ve actually had people take my buggy thinking it was theirs.  Also, visa verse, I’ve accidentally walked off with someone’s cart.  Usually, I’m pretty quick to notice and return it without incidence.  But I can’t say that’s always happened to me.  There were times when I never got my selected items back in my possession.  What did I do?  What else?  I started all over.  I might have been a little irritated, but I understand the consequences behind my actions and I’m willing to take the chance.

Gigi sport’in a smile & wave.  I think Kyle took this picture years ago.

I will admit the dumb part of this entire process is when I leave my money in the wide openness of an abandoned shopping cart.  I’ve heard of theft happening from this action, even though I’ve been blessed enough to not have experienced it.  Usually, if I don’t have my purse with me, I will keep my wallet tucked under my arm, and the cell phone in my pocket.  But if I have cash and Kyle’s with me, I hand it to him and he usually tucks it away in his cargo pockets.  Skeptical?  I’m not at all!  Kyle is extremely responsible and I trust him explicitly.  He’s always been my little side kick.  Plus, I use that as a way to teach him responsibility.  I know the consequences if this decision would go a rye.  But you know what?  To teach Kyle responsibility and show him how much I trust him, I’m willing to take that chance, even if it costs me a couple hundred dollars.

Usually, if mom needs groceries she hands me a list that I follow.  This allows me and Kyle to divide and conquer.  I park the shopping cart in one location and give him the task of retrieving a few items.   Yep, I’m making him walk back and forth, but it does speed things up.  This is also a learning lesson, giving Kyle the opportunity to find the items and learn where they are located on his own.  He also has no trouble asking workers for assistance.  Good experience!

OK, I do want to call out that this habit doesn’t just happen in grocery stores.  Quick story.  When I was in high school, I went to the discounted clothing store, Gabrielle’s to do a little bit of shopping.  It was winter and naturally I wore my heavy coat.  Me being me, I slipped out of my coat and placed it in the buggy before beginning to shop. Eventually, I worked my way, away from the cart, probably for a considerable amount of time, looking through racks of miscellaneous cloths.  At one point, I realized, I haven’t seen my buggy in a while.  Please note, my car keys and money where in my coat, in the cart.  Yikes!  I started running around the store looking for the missing assistant on wheels, but no luck!  Just then, something caught my eye.  It was MY coat, placed among a rack with other winter coats!  What?  I double checked the pockets, and sure enough my gloves where in there with my car keys and money.  Now, the rest of my selected items have since been returned to their previous residence, but at that moment I didn’t care at all.  My brother was there with me, and after I told him about dodging a bad situation, he just rolled his eyes at me.  To this day, that cracks me up.  I almost had both of us stranded and he just rolled his eyes at me and said he was driving us home.  No problem, I never really liked to drive anyway. Especially, since Ryan was always a better driver.

I guess everyone has their own corks and hiccups, mine is the aversion to pushing shopping carts, buggies, strollers etc.  Am I alone on this one?

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.  ~Victor Hugo

First day of 6th grade…his fashion sense hasn’t gotten any better… 8/27/12

Kyle is officially in the sixth grade!  Wow!  I know to expect these milestones, but every year I’m taken off guard and it’s still a surprise.  This past weekend I kept reminding Kyle about school on Monday and I kept teasing him of all the homework. He kept grunting and giving me the look of ‘O No!”.

On Friday night we just hung out, kicking back, relaxing.  Kyle went to the grocery store with me to pick up a few items for dinner.  We finally agreed on steak, since we were having corn on the cob, cooked on the grill.  While at the grocery store, we ran  into my cousin Karen, coincidentally the one who gave us the corn from her garden.  Yep, Friday set the stage for the rest of the weekend, the theme of laid back.  Usually Friday’s are all rush, rush, rush till bedtime.  Nice change of pace.

Saturday morning we loaded up the truck with the pistol, Kyle’s .22 rifle and a couple of dad’s rifles and headed out to the shooting range.  Which reminds me, I need to get a new set of headphones like the ones dad and Kyle wear.  I don’t like the foamy ones that are placed in the ear.  I’d rather have my ears engulfed in padded protection.  Anyway Kyle mostly shot his .22 rifle at a target about 50 feet away, while dad was shooting at 100 yards, testing out the different mixtures he loaded in the bullets and the accuracy of the rifles.

My job, to keep an eye on Kyle.  There was another group of guys there who were shooting clay pigeons.  I had to make sure Kyle didn’t get in their way, stayed out of his pappy’s danger zone, and didn’t put anyone in danger through the reinforcement of proper rifle handling.  Shooting is fun, but it’s certainly an activity of responsibility.  I gave Kyle all the shooting time he wanted.  Dad hooked us up with a full box of .22 bullets.  Every once in a while, I would sneak in a few shots.  Kyle like to share his rifle and time behind the trigger. I think he enjoyed the togetherness of the activity, not to mention I think Kyle liked to see who was the better shot.  Plus it gave him a break, he’s not really die hard with anything except his marathon of playing video games.  He didn’t do too bad at all.  He shot standing free hand and sitting, but his favorite was using the sticks and sitting on a bench.  He hit some dead on!  Way to go buddy!

After a few hits to the target, I could tell Kyle was getting bored, so I got out the .22 pistol.  It’s a neat little pistol that I’ve shot countless times, one that I’ve always favored since I was little.  As I loaded the clip I showed Kyle where the safety was, how to line up the sights and how to load the chamber.  As I handed the pistol to Kyle, he almost leaned away from me, as if saying ‘I don’t know’.  Picking up on his body language I said, “Did you want to shoot the pistol first?”  With the beginning of an inquisition, he said, “Does it have a kick?”  I simply stopped him from going down his list of questions and debunked his anxiety by saying, “How about I’ll shoot this clip first and then if you want to take a turn you can, but you don’t have to.”  Happily he nodded his head and presumed his position behind me.

How did I do?  Well not very good free hand.  Actually, very disappointing.  Shooting off of the sticks or a support I’m alright, but shooting free hand was nothing to brag about.  Kyle was the same.  I guess we need serious practice.  After I shot in a clip of about eight or nine rounds, I think Kyle felt a little more comfortable with this foreign firearm.  You know I always forget, I’ve grown up around guns so there was never a fear of them.  In fact, I don’t remember the first time I shot.  I was little, in fact, thinking about it, there was never a time where I didn’t know how to shoot a gun.  As a family, we would go up on the ridge and target shoot pretty frequently with other family members and friends.  During that time,  I was able to see what each firearm sounded like and how it handled with the shooter.  That’s knowledge that Kyle has not really been privy to, at least not consistently.  I don’t think he has ever seen my dad clean the guns either.  When we were little, I used to complain about the smell that accompanied that action.  Now don’t get me wrong, being a part of the Piper household, by default Kyle has been exposed to firearms since we was born, the result of a hunting family.  However, Kyle’s exposure was not in the same way that me, Ryan and Nicole were.  Actually, I was always a decent shot.  Even to this day, I still enjoy shooting.  I wish I would have kept it up over the years, frequency means accuracy, but alas life gets in the way.  From what dad has told me, mom used to be a dead on shot.  She doesn’t really shoot anymore, but Nicole is getting back into it again.

Kyle with his pappy at the shooting range. 8/25/12

After a few hours at the shooting range we headed back to the house for lunch.  It was a hot one on Saturday, so the desire to be outside was not there.  Instead, we decided to plug in a couple of movies, Hunger Games and I Am Number Four.  Mom and dad didn’t like Hunger Games.  What?  How can that be?  Maybe they should have read the books first and then they would have understood the movies better.  I took Kyle to see that movie in the theater when it first came out.  Eventually he wants to read the books.

Sometime during admission, I ran to the Dairy Queen (DQ) to pick up some cold treats before retreating back to the cool insides of the house and starting the second movie.  Now that was my idea of a near perfect day, eating DQ, hanging out with the family, spending time with Kyle and watching movies!

Alas, now the day was escaping us and we waited till the evening to take the dogs for their weekly hike.  The entire way, Kyle talked about the movie I Am Number Four.  He wanted to see if there was a sequel.  He said, “They have to have another movie, so they can finish the story.  They have to find number five and seven, eight and nine.  They just can’t end it, we have to know what happened.”  I was cracking up.  I told him, “I don’t know buddy, maybe they will.  But if they didn’t make enough money on the first movie, then they probably won’t make a second.”  A little concerned over that comment he said, “They have to finish the story!  Did they find number five?”  While I was laughing, I said, “Honey, I don’t know.  I don’t even know how old the movie is.”  Not accepting that answer he asked me how I know about up coming movies like Iron Man 3 and Avengers 2?  “I know that because I read it online, different articles and news feeds.”  He couldn’t stand it that he didn’t know anything about a part two of I Am Number Four.  He even started to name the sequel, saying “I Am Number Four, two”  Naturally I started laughing just as Kyle realized what he said.  He then decided that since Aunt Nikki was the one who suggested the movie, she would have the skinny on the sequel.  He said, “I’m going to ask Aunt Nikki about it, I’ll have her look it up.  She would know.”  Kyle is too much, very persistent!

Kyle shooting in his .22 rifle, we also shot in the .22 pistol 8/25/12

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.  Church on Sunday morning and a lot of loafing around for the majority of the day.  It was another hot one, so Kyle and played with Seven, Scooby and Storm inside.  I was actually going to take him to the movies, but the idea didn’t hit me until it was too late.  Sunday was a perfect “nothing” day before Kyle had to be back to the responsibility of school.

Did I mention that Kyle was gathering loose change and counting it all weekend?  That kid, if he doesn’t become a banker then he might be missing his calling.  He also talked nonstop about this Lego chess set he saw online.  I think he thought since I have no issue with him playing chess, either online or the actual physical board game, which I actually encourage, he feels that it’s a shoe in for him getting the game for Christmas.  Yep, Kyle is already prepping for Christmas!  He kept searching different sites for different Lego chess sets and different price points to give me options.  Oh, it’s never a day with Kyle without at least the mention of Lego’s.

Yesterday morning I saw Kyle off for his first day of school.  I kept that tradition ever since he was in kindergarten and this year will conclude it.  Watching him grow up has been fun and helpful to my own personal growth.  He is going to like sixth grade, I just know it.  I called him last night to see how his day went.  He didn’t seem enthused, but I was probably interrupting cartoon watching, since I’m sure he was going through withdrawal.  Sixth grade, his last hooray before junior high…I have a feeling this year will fly by FAST!

Kyles target… he started hitting the center the more he shot… even though the rifle was not shooting accurate as we later found out. 8/25/12

Sometimes I make bad decisions.  ~Heather Piper

Storm ready to leap off of my books 2012

Last Wednesday, after a day at Idlewild Park with Kyle, (Round Up the Math at Idlewild Park) we headed back to my parents house to visit before calling it a night.  I will admit I was beat, not getting much sleep the night before, being up at the crack of dawn, and spending the entire day at Idlewild Park.  Mark this one in the calendars, Kyle wore me down!  Before we left mom and dad’s I started to fall asleep in the chair.  Kyle was gracious enough to wake me up and get me moving. (sarcasm)

As I gathered my things up, I headed out to the car with Storm.  Kyle gave me the “Ya I’m going, I’m going.” all while he was watching a cartoon on TV.  Me being tired and impatient, I waited in the car for a few minutes before deciding to extract Kyle from the house.  With a little irritation, I left Storm in the car to go back inside and find out what was taking Kyle so long, even thought I new it wasn’t a mystery.  During the entire time it took me to get my stuff together, wrangle up a cat and head out to the car and wait on him, Kyle still didn’t even get his guitar in the case!  He was glued to the TV.  I said, “Come on Kyle, it’s getting late.” as I turned off the TV to show my sense of urgency and irritation.  Just then, he jumped up and gathered his things and headed out with me.  As I proceeded to board the car, I was surprised to find it locked.  Locked?  Yep Locked!  At first I was sincerely confused, ‘Did I lock the door?’ Where are my keys?’ and the thoughts circulated until I came to the realization that this was BAD.  Instantly feeling sick, I found myself staring at Storm on the other side of the window with the car keys in the ignition.  I never thought about Storm hitting the lock button on the door and trapping herself inside! What the heck?

Poor Storm didn’t understand what had happened.  She was pawing at the window toward me and meowing.  She wanted out!  I wanted in!  O crap, really?  Not to mention, just before we left I didn’t realize she we up under the recliner and when I went to stand up, she got caught.  Yikes!

My sleepy kitten 2012

Ok, I’ll admit my first reaction was to yell at Kyle.  Now on my defense, I said, “Kyle!  This is what happens when you’re slow and everyone is waiting on you.”  Only because Kyle is notorious for being slow moving and he takes FOREVER to get his crap together when we’re leaving.  On HIS defense, I know he doesn’t like to leave us and it’s his way of delaying.  I did comment, “I’m not saying it was your fault for the car being locked, but this wouldn’t have happened if you moved your feet!”  Again, not nice words especially since he didn’t do it, and in fact it was my fault for leaving the cat in the car with the keys.  But regardless, I’m human, and at that point, a tired grumpy one.

Evidently, while I was outside trying to think of a reasonable solution without freaking out, Kyle went inside to get my mom.  Later, mom told me that Kyle was saying, “It’s all my fault Gigi, It’s all my fault!” as he cried and whimpered.  At that moment I might not have noticed the obviously upset child, but now when I hear the story, it does break my heart.  He felt so bad!  It really wasn’t his fault at all.  It was an unforeseen accident.

Being desperate, I even tried to coax Storm to step on the button on the door.  I knew it was a long shot but I had to try something.  Even Kyle tried it too.  We checked all the doors and window because sometimes I am known to leave a window or two open.  In fact, while we were at Idlewild that day, I came back to the car with my back window down.  My car was an open book all day, but not now, now it was like Fort Knox.

Mom came out and said, “Let me take you to your house, don’t you have a spare car key?”  Just then, Kyle and I looked at each other because that morning when we were on our way to Idlewild, I happen to notice my spare house key in my consult.  I told mom, “When I came back from Seattle, my neighbor gave me back my spare key when I was heading out of the driveway.  I just dropped it in the console.”  All while I turned my head to stare at the sealed up car containing a stressed out cat scratching to get out.

So let’s get this straight,  I have my cat locked in the car, in my parents driveway, with the car keys in the ignition, with the house keys on that key ring, the extra set of house keys in the console, and I didn’t know where my extra car keys were located.  Really?  Not to mention it’s going on 9:30 in the evening, nearing my bedtime.

Mom tried to lighten the situation, more for Kyle’s sake.  She said, “You know Kyle, you did the same thing to us in pappy’s truck when you were a baby at the Piper Reunion.”  Mom gave him a very warming and understanding smile.  She said, “O it happens to everyone, even your Aunt Heather has locked her keys in the car.”  followed by Kyle saying with a quivering voice, “Ya Gigi, but at least a person locked in a car would understand to unlock the door.”  O my poor little man!  That really melted my heart!  I could tell he was not only upset because I was, but because Storm was a little on edge and he was nervous for her.

Storm hanging out on some good reading material 2012

Mom, still trying to lighten the mood said, “Well, let’s think about this.  At least it’s not really hot, the sun is down, so we have a little bit of time to figure this out.”At one point I said, “Ok, what are my choices?  Either I break the car window to get in or I break into my house.”  Mom interjected by saying, “Well I can call a locksmith.”  I stopped her by saying, “But I have no idea how long it will take him to get out here and who knows how long to get in the car.  Plus it might be cheaper to pay for a broken window”  At that point, I thought if only I could get in my house, I might have the spare key to the car in my key display.  Mom again suggested for me to get in the car and she would drive me to my house.  However, I didn’t want Storm left alone.  I said, “It’s a waste of time for you to drive me to my house.  I would rather someone stay her entertaining Storm.  Give me the keys mom, I’ll be right back.”  Reluctantly mom handed over her car keys, to a very frazzled upset driver.  At that point, she knew I was going to go mock speeds to get to my house.  And I knew she knew that, because she said, “Please be careful.” with a serious look projected toward me,  as I grabbed the keys and threw myself in her car saying, “Ya Ya”.  Then I heard a “Do you have your phone?” as I nodded before backing out of the driveway.

Admittingly, I did floor it.  I don’t think mom’s car has ever exceeded the speed limit.  As long as I’m focused, I feel fine driving, which means no talking.  Perfect, since I was by myself!  Now things would have been different if Kyle was with me.  Even being upset and stressed out, I would have been more careful.  But he wasn’t with me so I was free to ride.

As I pulled in my driveway, I remembered I had another spare key at a local friend’s.  Excellent!  Once I retrieved that piece of the puzzle, I entered the house.  I immediately went to my key display, courtesy of my friend Lisa Zettelmayer who purchased it for me as a house warming gift, and started rummaging.  At that moment, I felt like light rays of sunlight were shining on me with music singing Halleluiah, like I just found the Holy Grail.  Now some stress was exiting stage right.  I almost grabbed my extra Honda key but then realized I needed my Nissan key.  Found it!  Great! Now let’s end this nightmare.

All along, God must have been on my side, because I never had to sit at a red light the entire trip, no wasn’t really any traffic, and all seemed to be turning for the better.  While I was on my way back to mom and dad’s, I wanted to call and let them know I had the key.  But alas being distracted would not have been a safe move, so I chose to wait for a red light, which never really came.

Typical cat, sleeping on the job. Storm 2012

As I pulled in the driveway, no one was out there!  Kyle immediately ran out  when he saw the headlights.  I jumped out of mom’s car saying, “Why aren’t you keeping Storm company?”  Looking sick and clearly upset, he replied, “Aunt Heather, Gigi told me to come in.  I wasn’t trying to be mean.  I tried to get her to stand on the unlock button.”  Ok another set of poorly chosen words.  Poor kid!

Now after all this stress and worrying, the funny part of the story.  I get the key and hit the unlock button and nothing happened.  Kyle and I just stood there stunned.  Then I remembered, I switched keys because the battery died on that key.  Kyle and I both stood there looking puzzled like ‘Now what?’.  I could tell his heart just sank when our only solution didn’t work.  The funny thing was, I didn’t think to use the key like it was designed to be used.  We live too much in an electronic remote control age.  What really struck me as humerus, I don’t think Kyle has ever seen someone use a key to unlock a car door.  Too funny!  He is certainly a child of the times.  After my moment of idiocy passed, I used the key to free the wild cat.

I don’t know who was happier, Storm or Kyle.  Or maybe Seven, when he saw I came back.  NOW, we were ready to head out.  During our car ride it was my chance to make sure Kyle was aware it was not his fault and I wasn’t mad at him.  I did say, “Well, I guess God wanted this to be a learning lesson.”  He said, “Ya Aunt Heather, it could have been worse.  It could have been in the middle of the day when it was really hot.  Or the car could have been running.  That would have been bad!”  I must say, he was right!  That all would have certainly been worse.  Ok, I learned my lesson.  Note to self, never leave the keys in the car with the cat inside.

Another funny part of the story. Kyle informed me that at one point Storm turned on the lights.  Still trying to lighten the mood, I said, “Was she planning on going for a spin?”  Kyle snickered, more out of relief than humor.  But he did manage to throw a smile my way.  I told him I don’t like him stressing so bad, especially over things out of his control.  I commented that moving forward, instead of worrying, I want him to say a prayer, or many prayers.  He needs to realize that ultimately God has control and he can change the situation in a heartbeat.  Have faith in Him.

Later on when I talked to mom about the situation, she said that Kyle was pacing back-and-forth while I was gone.  I guess he even asked my mom, “Gigi what kinds of toys do cats really like to play with?  What’s Storm’s favorite toy?”  Mom asked him why and he said that and apparently he was going to use it to distract Storm and try and get her to stand on the unlock button.

Mom: “Well she likes her fishing pole.”
Kyle: “I don’t know where that is.”
Mom: “What about her mouse.”
Kyle: “Ok”

Mom said Kyle would take Seven outside with him since he is scared of the dark, would pace around and then come back in.  She said, he was also waiting by the phone, waiting for me to call.  And I did manage to get the phone to ring once, but then the light changed before I even came to a stop, so I hung up.  I guess Kyle was right there and answered the phone.  Kyle walked around the house with his head hung low the entire time I was gone.

I am blessed to have such a caring and heartfelt little man!  I love Kyle with everything I have and then some.  He is a special kid.  I wish he wouldn’t carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, he’s eleven and he’s always been like that.  If that was me in his shoes, I would have been upset, but I don’t really internalize stress, not like he does. Dad was mad at me, blaming me for making him worried, however  I informed the old man that it was a learning lesson for all of us.  God spoke loudly and clearly!  Point taken.

Now it is the time of night
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite
In the church-way paths to glide. ~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Nicole with Grandpap Chester We still have large picture window in front of the house c. 1974

With the release of summer blockbusters, Kyle and I have a list of movies we want to see.  While vacationing with my sister he saw Madagascar 3- Europe’s Most Wanted, The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave, and Ice Age- Continental Drift.  Naturally, when we see a commercial for Batman- The Dark Knight Rises or Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, we both want to see these movies as well.  Yes, Kyle wanted to see Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter except it’s rated R, so he’ll have to put that one on his future list.  Every once in a while we’ll see an advertisement for a scary horror flick.  I can’t help myself.  I always ask Kyle, “Do you want to go see that?”  Every time he rolls his eyes with a look of fear and ‘ya right’ and always sternly reply’s “NO!”  Ok I know I’m teasing him, but it does crack me up.  When the movie, The Woman In Black starring Daniel Radcliffe, Mr. Harry Potter himself, came out I asked Kyle if he wanted to see it.  Now Kyle is a big Harry Potter fan, but every time the movie trailer appeared, he almost always turned his head in fear and wouldn’t watch the advertisement.  Now this is probably the only aspect of Kyle’s existence that is not like my sister.  Nicole used to read Stephen King books and she loved to watch thrillers and scary movies.  Did I mention she goes ghost hunting periodically?  Yep scary thrillers are her thing.

I don’t mind suspenseful thrillers and scary movies but I’m not a die hard fan.  The other day I was thinking of childhood movies that I loved, and one that came to mind was The Watcher In The Woods.  A 1980′s movie starring Bette Davis.  I brought it up to mom, getting her opinion on renting it for Kyle to watch.  It was mutually agreed upon that if I do, I would never be able to get him back in the woods again!  That’s one of those thoughts that just should be deleted.

When did this fear of thrillers and suspense resonate with Kyle?  I’m not really sure.  Kyle was not always like that.  I’ve heard stories about children who hear and see more than adults, spiritually speaking.  Ironically, most adults don’t listen to children, assuming they know more than them or don’t have the time or whatever the reason.  But what’s amazing, I do believe their innocent ears and eyes pick up more than anyone.  Adults have a way of looking at something without truly seeing it.  Our minds are filled with so much crap we can’t sort it out and we can’t see what’s in front of us.  When I think like that, I remember the scene from the movie Where the Heart Is.  During the movie, Ashley Judd was referring to that horrible man who was very inappropriate with her children.  Now I’m going to paraphrase, but she said something along the lines of her children saw him for who he really was, all she saw was a Buick.  That really stuck with me!

My bible study teacher told us this really powerful story of a child in church.  It was during a silent mass, a child turned to her parent and commented on the beautiful music she heard.  First I’d like to explain that silent mass is the opposite of high mass, no singing, no music, just internal reflection and reverence.  You see, it’s said that during mass, heaven and earth join together, the sky opens up and all the deceased, the saints, and angels join us on earth for the celebration of mass, specifically during the Eucharist.  During this time heaven rolls out beautiful sounds.  It is also said that the music coming form heaven is the most glorious and spiritual tunes ever heard!  So maybe that’s what the child heard?  Now doesn’t that story give you chills?

Nicole coming out from the hallway 1974

Kyle has always loved music and dancing, as have I.  So guess what you get when you leave a toddler home alone with me on a Saturday night?  Yep, you get dance party!  When he was smaller, maybe two or three years old, we used to do ‘dance party’.  This didn’t happen too often because, well let’s face it my parents never go anywhere, but on the occasion there was something going on and I would have Kyle all to myself.  Just to shake things up a bit we used to turn off all the lights, decorate ourselves with glow sticks and turn on the music really loud, stand in the living-room and dance our butts off.  Kyle and I would totally bust a move!  It was a blast!  He would move his tiny bum left and right and would throw up his hands, mimicking my motions.  We would dance till we were so winded and covered in sweat that we had no choice but to take a break.  I’m sure anyone who looked in from the outside, through the picture window thought we were crazy, or there seriously was a major party going on.  But alas it was just the two of us having a good time. No wonder Kyle loves playing Just Dance and Michael Jackson on the Wii, of course so do I.

One time during ‘dance party’, we plopped ourselves down on the couch for a breather.  As we sat there pretty much in the dark, except for the glow of our light sticks, Kyle nonchalantly mentioned about the ghost watching us.  What?  I said, “Did you say you see a ghost?”  Very calmly he said, “Ya Aiya.”  Of course, I jump up and turned on the lights and moved my way back to Kyle’s side on the couch.  As I looked around, I saw NOTHING.  Then I started the questions,

“Do you see the ghost now?”
“Ya.”
“Where is the ghost?”
“Over there” as he pointed to the door leading back to the hallway.
“Do you see it now?”
“Yep.”
“Does the ghost see us?”
“I don’t know, I guess.”
“What does it look like?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Like a man?”
“Umm ya I guess.”
“What was it doing? Dancing?”
He laughed at that one and said, “I don’t know just standing there watching us.”
Have you seen it before?”
“Yep. I guess”

Ryan back by the hallway 1979

Well, I was a little uneasy, but very intrigued.  Treating it as if someone else was really in the house, I walked back the hallway to check, and to turn on a few more lights.  Kyle didn’t seemed alarmed, frightened or phased by his announcement.  I can’t say that I felt the same.  As I suspected, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, nor did I feel anything threatening or scary.  What was really funny, was me walking back the hallway whispering, “Ryan if this is you, you better not scare me!” and “Ryan it better be you and you better not show yourself!”  Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to see my brother, but at that moment if I did see him I would have needed a heart pacer.

Weeks later, I did bring this instance up to Kyle again and he didn’t seem to really remember what I was talking about.  He gave me a puzzled look and kind of remembered discussing the ghost but couldn’t give me any specifics.  I like to think it was Kyle’s dad checking in on him.  Maybe Ryan wanted to join our party!  Actually who am I kidding, Ryan was probably laughing at me and wondering why I was teaching his son to dance like that.  Or Ryan was going to finally get even with me for torturing him as a kid and scare the skin right off of me.  Now that I believe!

A year or two ago, I took Kyle to Gettysburg, one of my favorite weekend getaways.  Nicole was there following her alumni Paranormal State and Kyle and I just wanted to get away.  I must say I love taking ghost tours, not that I think I’m going to see a ghost, but usually those tours are so full of history and really fun stories that peek my interest.  They are enlightening and you always learn something.  While in Gettysburg, Kyle and I decided to take a ghost tour, which he insisted on.  Naturally it was at night and our tour guide was dressed in period attire.  At the very beginning of the tour, she started talking about the ghosts around the area.   She posed the question to the group, “How do you know you’re looking at a ghost?” with everyone just looking at each other waiting for her response of “They don’t have any feet.”  Just then Kyle, grabbed my arm and was gasping for air, while pointing to the lady’s feet.  The way her dress flared out cast a dark shadow under her skirt and made it look like she had no feet, just hovering over the ground.  I almost died laughing, yet I tried to bring rational thinking back to Kyle to calm his mind, so we could get through the tour without having him age ten years.  I had to ask the lady to pull up her skirt to show her feet.  That satisfied Kyle for the moment, although he never really did get too close to her during the tour and gave her a look like it was a trick.  In fact, he was pretty much up my butt the entire way, almost tripping me several times as we made our way past the campus.

One of the story’s our knowledgeable tour guide told us, involved spirits and an open closet door.  For the life of me I can’t remember the details, but the saga stuck with Kyle.  As the narration was being told, Kyle pulled on my arm and said, “Aunt Heather what am I going to do?  My closet doesn’t have a door yet?”  Kyle always picks the worst time to talk, because I was trying to the listen to the tour guide.  It didn’t even dawn on me that he was associating this story to himself and it was geeking him out.  I was too busy paying attention to the history lesson.  By the time we got back to the hotel, Kyle’s fear of the closet was very apparent.  He took one look at the closet, which happened to be right beside our bed and about crapped his pants.  He didn’t even want me to take a shower, for fear of being left along with the closet.  The night prior he slept on that side of the bed, closest to the closet, but on that night he switched with me and practically slept wedged under my body, to completely hide him.

As Kyle got older, I never heard of the ghost again and as far as I know he doesn’t have issues with closets.  Now-a-days Kyle is afraid of the dark, strange noises, the thought of something scarey and the list goes on and on.  Even if I would comment that there was a ghost in the hallway, Kyle would never go to his room again!  If I would bring up the closet story to him, he would instantly own a fear of it, even though I know he doesn’t remember.  I guess that’s just kids in general, they go through phases.  Some I’m glad he is done with, others I which I knew more about, particularly the ghost in the hallway.

Leadership:  The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.  ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Kyle at the Medieval Times Tournament & Dinner with his Aunt Nikki in Maryland

I’ve been posing the question, “Are Professions taught or born?” for a while now.  As Kyle matures, I see glimpses of his future self, his true nature shinning through and I tend to wonder if a chosen profession is a part of the person from birth, or is it just simple education and environment.  Not that I want Kyle to grow up too fast, but he has shown serious signs of being an engineer and/or a businessman.  This hasn’t just happened recently, this behavior has been peeking through Kyle’s personality since he was a baby.  Yes I said baby!  While observing Kyle over the years, it really gets me thinking.

About two months ago, during one of our hikes through the woods with the dogs, Kyle went off on a tangent – Lego Obsessive or Driven?.  Listening to him ramble, posing specific questions  and coming to his own conclusions, he really made me stop and listen to him.  His observations and speculations where spot on.  He has a very business like mind and way of thinking.

Kyle was saving up and earning money that weekend to purchase a new Lego, which apparently just came out in May, and he had to have it for the last day of school that Monday.  Not only did Kyle repetitively detail the Lego and describe his excitement over the anticipated purchase, but he also deviated slightly to understand marketing and different business models of retail stores, specifically Wal-Mart and Toys-R-Us.  Kyle began talking about Wal-Mart, how they have toys but not the entire selection that’s offered in the marketplace, along with groceries and other things.  Then he did an immediate comparison to Toys-R-Us stating they only offer toys, “but nothing really for adults”. He said,

“And Aunt Heather, Wal-Mart always seems to be cheaper, but they don’t always carry everything, so you have to go to Toys-R-Us anyway.  They may cost a little more but they have more of a selection.  It seems like, Wal-Mart is cheaper and there are more of them, but they don’t have everything, but Toys-R-Us is more expensive but they carry all toys, even rare ones, and ones that just came out.  Wal-Mart has a little bit of everything even for adults, and Toys-R-Us doesn’t really have anything for adults, well I guess they do.  Some things like video games ’cause adults like those too.  And Wal-Mart is open 24 hours, well most Wal-Marts, some aren’t open all night and Toys-R-Us is only open during the day.  They close early on Sunday’s.”

Yep, this one sided store comparison went on for the duration of our return trip through the woods.  He kept reiterating his dissertation, almost as if he was really organizing his thoughts to truly make sense of the business models.  Do all kids think in these terms?  I was actually quite intrigued with his thinking and I made no effort to sway him one way or another.  I just kept listening, wanting to hear his conclusion.  Then I did say, “Wow you have it all figured out.” with him responding, “Yep Aunt Heather that’s the way it is.”  Laughing at his candure I said, “Well buddy, you just did a comparison of two different business models.”  With a  blasé “Ya” he dismissed my thoughts before I could even get them out and continued talking about the new Lego he wanted.

While on vacation, “Aunt Nikki and Kyle’s week of fun” my sister texted me saying…

They just saw a commercial for used cars.  It said that you shouldn’t buy used cars from strangers and then it said to basically buys used cars from them.  Kyle said, “They just said not to buy used cars and they are selling used cars.  That’s just poor business.”

When I got that texted message, I about fell over laughing because I could totally hear Kyle saying that!  He is an observant little bugger and a thinker.  Nothing gets past him.  If it doesn’t make rational sense, then he will call it out and discuss it.  When Kyle was younger, if we told him not to do something he didn’t care.  But if we exclaimed the consequence or the outcome if he did what he was instructed not to do, he would listen, maybe ask a few questions, remember that conversation, later abide by the rules, and decide to take on the role of rule enforcer.  Example, I told Kyle that he was not allowed to ride around in a car without his seat belt.  He used to argue, that is until he knew it was illegal and I could get a ticket, not to mention it was more dangerous.  Ever since then that seat belt is on immediately and he has questioned my parents, who aren’t such sticklers.  It made sense to him that we weren’t just dictating orders, we were following established laws.

Being business-like minded  isn’t the only skill that Kyle has demonstrated.  He is always thinking about building or the logistics of structures.  While watching Journey 2 The Mysterious Island, the entire island was about to go under and Kyle began to think about the structure of the land.  He said, “Ya but how is the island going to go under water and still be the same with all the big cracks in the land?  It wont be the same when the lava fills in the cracks.  And how is the city going to stand?  It will fall over when ocean covers it.”  As I sat there with my family watching the movie, I will admit at first I shushed Kyle.  I wanted to see what was going to happen in the movie, then it dawned on me where he was coming from.  He didn’t seem to care everyone else was not wondering the same thing and that I asked him to be quiet, because he went off saying, “It doesn’t make any sense, the island is breaking up.”  Then finally my stern voice bellowed, “Kyle it’s a movie!  Just watch it.”  Then I realized,  in a way, I was dampening Kyle’s curiosity and his way of thinking.  So I gave him a wink, patted the top of his head and said, “O my little engineer.  Kyle you are a thinker!” trying to encourage this behavior, well maybe not talking through movies, which he does all the time, but allowing him to think differently.

After that, I’m guessing Kyle took my little words of encouragement to heart because he went off on a another tangent.  You see, he is also concerned with time management and technical details.  Now the next logical train of thought included doing a comparison between Journey to the Center of the Earth and Journey 2 The Mysterious Island.  He started to come to his own conclusions, which movie was easier to make and which one took longer.  Can you believe it?  This is Kyle’s thought process.  He is amazing!  He began to site specific scenes in each movie and give his explanation why they would be difficult scenes to shoot and which movie was more complex. Please keep in mind, Kyle does not know the slightest thing about making movies, especially on green screen.  Now that I’ve said that, I could stand corrected.  Kyle’s pretty intuitive and he may have watched some behind the scenes episode of making movies that I am not aware of.  There is no doubt, he knows more than I realize.

Now, let me entertain my way of thinking.  Since Pittsburgh has become the new hot spot for Hollywood, I wonder if Kyle should get into the film making industry?  I’m not saying acting, although with some training and coaching he might be good at it, he is dramatic and animated.  But there is so much more behind the scenes, technically speaking, that he might really enjoy.  Note to self: explore options locally to introduce Kyle to the movies.

With the posed question, Are Professions Born or Taught? and Part 2.  I read this story a while ago and I wanted to share it.  I agree with both gentlemen to a degree, but I tend to sway toward Michael Carson’s theory.  There isn’t one secret concoction for making a great leader, but there are specific qualities that one is born with.  I also believe those qualities are shown at a young age, but I do believe as Christopher Early stated, they can be honed in on and developed more.  I feel, being a natural leader is a part of a person’s DNA.  Kyle for example has shown to be a leader. In fact, we do joke around calling him the supervisor or the consultant.  But it’s true, he does posses  “(1) self-awareness, (2) personal conviction, (3) courage, (4) creativity, (5) curiosity, (6) ability to inspire, (7) ability to listen, (8) ability to innovate, (9 & 10) eagerness to experience and willingness to reflect.”  But it’s not to say that some of these attributes need coaching and to need to be matured, such as Kyle’s ability to listen.  I do believe that comes over time.  He shows that he listens now, but only when it suits his argument.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses in our personalities, and we should identify them, if for nothing else, just to be a better person.  But I don’t believe that a person can practice and practice at a trait and develop it out of nowhere.  If a person is not charismatic, then, in my opinion with some coaching you can become an eloquent speaker, but never truly be charismatic.  Of course, this is my opinion and by no means do I have facts to back up my theory.  Being a leader seems to be in Kyle’s blood, although I would be happy if he was a follower, a worker bee.  But I don’t see that in his future.  Like I’ve always told Kyle, in order to become a good leader, you need to be a great follower and know when to step up to the plate.  I guess time will tell what Kyle’s future holds.

http://www.inmagazine.cgsm.org/indepth/two-views?p=all

From Beginning Until Now…

Are Professions Born or Taught?
Are Professions Born or Taught? Part 2