Mourning. . .

My thoughts are all over today, and I thought I would place a few here. One of Tacey's friends from school, not a really close friend, but someone she knew, laughed with, was silly with, talked with, someone she KNEW, killed himself Friday morning. She called hysterical from school, and I went to pick her up for the day.

When I arrived at the school, I didn't even need to enter the building to feel the grief. It was an absolutely physical sensation that brought tears to my eyes. I checked in with the office, and then went to find her. Kids were roaming the halls crying, kids were sitting at desks crying, some of them were collapsed in the hallway from the overwhelming emotion they were feeling. Mostly, they didn't know how to handle the grief and shock they were feeling.

It makes me wonder about the youth today. I would like to say this was a random event, but it wasn't. Suicide is all to common here in our little town, it also seems to come in waves. Is it because the 'die' so often in video games that they do not understand the permanence of such an act? This young man had attempted to kill himself with an overdose, but when he awoke the next morning and was still alive, he used a gun. Tacey keeps asking me 'why'? I have no answers for her; I don't know why anyone would do something like this. Helping her through this, like many other things, was not in the Parenting Manual. All I can say is; I took her from school that day so I could be the one to help her grieve and come to terms with what her friend had done. She has come to me several times in the last few days and continued to open up to me about all that she is going through. She will be going to the viewing and the funeral, but she will be accompanied by one or both of her parents. She may be a mature 15 yr-old girl, but she is not equipped to deal with this on her own. Heck, most adults are not equipped to deal with it.

To me, the saddest part of the whole thing is that this 16 yr-old young man, so handsome, talented and smart, could be so sad; yet there was no indication of it. That he could have no hope. No hope that things would get better; that his only release from what was hurting him was to kill himself. I am a woman of faith, and I PRAY that if any of my children, or any of you who read this EVER feel this hopeless I will know. That I can be a voice of love and consolation is what ever sea you are drowning in. That is my prayer.

With love,
Danielle

The Face of Football

'nuf said.

Danielle

Just For Laura - SPUD DAY!

Ahhhh, Spud Day.

Spud Day; the day we wait for all year long. Where all things potato are celebrated and therefore mocked by myself and my sisters, and now my daughter.

I am posting this mainly for Laura because she is as big a fan of Spud Day as I am! The rest of you just get the benefits of our obsession.

The theme this year was

SPUD PARTY USA!

Gotta love it! As always the parade began lining up in front of the house early. We gave the Dance Studio permission to decorate, store and line up for their float in our driveway. I will point out that they had permission, but that didn't keep people from feeling like the side access driveway was just another piece of sidewalk that just HAPPENED to be black and just HAPPENED to run RIGHT THROUGH the yard. I had the Dance Studio owners move their cars on to the driveway to make it stop. I also made a point of saying how much I DID NOT appreciate the foot traffic through my yard as a WHOLE BUNCH of people were walking through. I didn't end up with a house that was egged, toilet papered, forked or stink bombed; it is all good!

Here is a Spud rocking out. . . . . Those are some mad Guitar skills!

And the Cub Scouts marched for the 100th Anniversary of Scouting. They just looked so patriotic. Some times I think the things I love most about Spud Day are things like this; moments where the world seems like it is still as innocent as it once was; not the one I know exists now.

Yep, these people brought their goat to the parade. I bring my dog, they bring their goat I guess. I wonder if the goat sleeps in the house like Koda does. . .

Here comes the Dance Studio.

There is Tacey doing her Parade Drill Routine. They did an exceptional job. I do wish, however, that they would have spread their lines a further apart. Then I could have seen her better!

Ahh, again we have cute Kelsey Cox as the official Cox Honey Bee. I do admit, I had never had Cox's Honey before. I bought some the other day, and maybe it is the lack of sugar I have had in my diet, but I SWEAR it is the best Honey I have EVER tasted! You are all getting gift boxes of Honey Christmas. . .

The candy, Yep, the candy. We left with Ice Cream buckets full of candy.

He's holding a ton of candy, it weighed him down and he moved out of the picture. But believe me, it was a LARGE handful.

Okay, there is a Reverend who is working really hard to start a Baptist congregation in Shelley. However, I think the fact he was leading an

ACTUAL BIBLE STUDY

ON THE FLOAT IN THE

MIDDLE OF THE PARADE

is going to make people wonder if he's any fun!

Yep, got to get noticed to get Candy. . .

At this point in time McCade was playing the role of Little Jake in a local production of Annie Get Your Gun. Between school, football & the play he was VERY tired so I didn't wake him up so he could go ride on the float. He was VERY upset with me. When the float passed by I let him go run and jump on it. He rode it for about two blocks then I made him jump off and come back. It was a compromise, he still wasn't really happy with me, but he would NOT have been happy AT ALL if I hadn't let him get the extra sleep.

The free potatoes. . . a MUST on Spud Day! This is Tacey's cute friend Sarah. She has lived in Shelley for quite awhile and she had NEVER had a potato with cheese and sour cream on it! actually, she had never been to Spud Day wither, and I find that wrong on so many levels. I am surprised they hadn't revoked her citizenship. She gave the fattening toppings a big 'thumbs up!'

Tacey got a temporary tattoo. I was NOT pleased with the placement of the tattoo. I gave her permission to get it, but I figured it would go some place that wouldn't be quite so risky to show. I have now learned. IF I even let her get another temporary tattoo, I will be VERY specific about WHERE she is allowed to get it. *sigh*

Miss Russett making sure the mashed potato pit is ready for the best part - the SPUD TUG!

This is my neighbor, Holly. She ends up in the Spud Tug every year. This year she and her team won the Junior Division! GO HOLLY! She still ended up in the potatoes though, her friends 'helped her out'.

And the best part; the Missionaries.

Okay, I was disappointed in the Missionaries this year. They ditched their suits but still retained the 'shirt and tie' look by wearing T-Shirts that had ties and name tags printed on them. The back of the T-Shirt had the tags of their entire team on them. I can't help but wonder; Pocatello, Idaho isn't high on the list of Missions a Person dreams of going to. Do they warn them about the Spud Tug when they get transferred to Shelley?

Getting the potatoes into the pit. . .always a highlight.

At first the Missionaries did a 'demonstration pull' against employees from the local Channel 3 news. You will notice the anchors are no where to be found. They went into the potatoes a bit quickly, I think they lost on purpose. . .

In the end, not only did they NOT wear their suits, they didn't end up in the Potatoes AT ALL!
Total Rip-off!

This is the team that ended up winning. That guy on the end was crawling along the dirty, slightly mashed potato infested ground.

It was a Happy Spud Day!

Missed You LAURA!

Danielle