Ever had one of those weeks where everything goes wrong and your usual cheery dispensation has gone sour? Where every little thing sets you off, and you wonder why bother to get out of bed, let alone out of your pajamas?

The kind of week where I second-guess myself, and the seeds of doubt run amok in my head. Why bother writing? Very few read my stories, and even fewer read my blog.

The kind of week where none of my children listen. Whether, trying to give counsel (i.e. the oldest auditioning for a musical – "Come on, Mom, what do you know about theatre?") or teaching (i.e. my youngest dragged his feet all week on all his lessons. Focus is a four-letter word in his vocabulary). My children at each other’s throats, fighting over XBOX games and who did not do their chores.

Did I mention it is raining and the arthritis in my lower back in flaring up? And I have a pimple on my chin and one on my cheek.

The Roadshow that is supposed to be performed the following Saturday is not ready. No set, no costumes, big problems.  

Nothing checked off hubby’s "honey do" list this week and the list just keeps getting longer.

Paid $425 dollars to the plumper who searched for an elusive leak that was never found.

I had to take the oldest to the dentist. I think I might have to call the people over at the Guinness Book of World Records for I am sure he must have broken the record for most cavities. . . ever!

My visiting teachers came by for a visit and after noticing a sink full of dishes, volunteered to wash them. I don’t know why I was insulted—did this reflect my housekeeping skills?

I lost a day – how did I lose a whole day? I was supposed to take my homeschooler to the science fair on Tuesday and next thing I know—it’s Wednesday. I looked all over for Tuesday—it must be under my oldest son’s bed.

Yes, we have all had those kinds of weeks. So what do we do?

Step back, take a deep cleansing breath, and put things in perspective.

I write because I love to write. 

I’m grateful for working with my two older boys and the youth in the church. The improvisation of the rehearsals has made me laugh so hard my sides ached. 

 I live in Washington state—it rains. 

At least Ed and the boys cleaned the garage last weekend. 

The dishes got done. 

Not much we can do about the water leak except begin digging in areas where the plumper thinks are suspect (Thank goodness waterline is not under the asphalt driveway, as we thought). 

We have dental insurance. 

And finally, I still love my family. 

If you are interested in reading scripts from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, PDF files can be found on the fanpage smk-land.com. You can find them in the "Steno Pool" section, but you must sign-in first, because the scripts are password protected. I submitted some from my own personal collection. I enjoy reading the scripts and "seeing" the differences of what made it on the screen and what was cut. There are also a few never filmed episodes and the original "Honeymoon" episode before Kate Jackson's illness forced a rewrite and was changed to where she was shot and not in most of the scenes, except for a few short moments. Now, I am grateful Kate caught her cancer early and is a cancer survivor, but how much a difference it would have made to the final six episodes had she not been sick. 

Several proud momma moments regarding my middle son, Steffen, this past month. 

First, I received this email from his science teacher about a week ago;

"I want to let you know how much our class benefits from Steffen. He asks the tough questions and gets some really deep conversations going. He is such a great young man. I know you are proud of him and his accomplishments.

He has earned our highest science seal. But, more than that, he is my only student to earn 4s on every standard in a science unit so far. That is quite an accomplishment! " 

Second, the Skookum Rotary Club of Shelton will be honoring him later this week for Excellence in Academic Achievement. He's in the top 10% at his middle school. 

Last, but not least, tomorrow he has his Eagle Scout Board of Review. Once completed, he will be the youngest Eagle Scout in our Ward. He achieved all this before the age of fourteen and is only one merit badge away from his Eagle Palm. Way to go, Steffen! 

I'm thinking about submitting a story for The SMK Anniversary Committee, but I don't have any story ideas currently at the moment. For other SMK fan fiction writers, The Anniversary Committee is now taking fic submissions for a SMK fanzine to raise funds for the 30th Anniversary celebration.

Any fic submitted must be:

- an original fic (not been published/posted anywhere else)
- submitted by the author
- publishing-ready (proofread, edited, etc.)
- no higher than a PG-13 rating

Please note that submitting a fic means, if it is chosen to be in the zine, you agree not to publish it anywhere else until after the 30th Anniversary celebration.

You may submit more than 1 piece for consideration.

Submit your fic(s) by June 30, 2012, by emailing them, preferably as an attachment in Word format, to the following email address:

smkanniversaryzine@gmail.com

Authors of fics selected will be notified by the end of July. The zine will go on sale by August.

Thank you in advance for your fics!

- The SMK Anniversary Committee  

You would think someone who has had to go through bankruptcy twice, due to outrageously high medical bills after catastrophic events would support the new health care mandate—that could not be further from the truth.

Now, I believe we need health care reform, but not what was passed two years ago, and not what is currently being argued in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. I believe in portability, affordability, and tort reform.

First, we need to allow health insurers to compete across state lines to be able to reduce costs. People move and people change jobs. Our insurance should move with us.

Second, insurance should be more affordable. When my husband was working for a small logging company, we had no health insurance—not that is was not able, because it was, but the premiums were too high compared with his income. Now, if small independent companies (i.e. several small logging companies) could form a co-op, and were treated like larger companies, the savings would be passed on to the consumer.

Third, I think there should be a requirement to eliminate some of the huge tort costs from medical care. The number one thing I believe keeps healthcare cuts high is litigation and run-away settlements. Sure, I believe we have the right as citizens to sue for medical malpractice, but I also believe there should be limits on payouts. I had a wonderful ob/gyn who delivered my oldest son and although a young doctor, he gave up the practice, because of the high costs of liability insurance.

I have several issues with Obamacare itself. First, I do not like it was pushed through without being read. Nancy Pelosi said, “We must pass it, to see what is in it.” What!?  In addition, if the plan is so great, why does it exempt Muslims, Native Americans, the president, congress, senators and their families?

Nor do not like the government ‘telling’ us what to do. If they can force us to buy health care, what else could they force us to buy? I thought we were a nation formed on the principals of freedom. Now people are required to buy health insurance or they will be fined and the IRS will hire over 16,000 people to help enforce this mandate. I am a strong believer in smaller, less intrusive government. Lastly, as long as a country, we continue to allow illegal aliens access to free health care, I cannot and will not support any form of health care initiative. 

I also think the whole argument of car insurance versus health insurance is invalid. Auto-insurance places requirements on the voluntary act of driving and not on life itself. Second, states impose the insurance requirement, not the federal government, because states license drivers and vehicles. Driving is a privilege and not a right. Most states require car owners to purchase liability insurance that protects other people from damages caused by the at-fault driver. However, states do not require drivers to have collision and comprehensive insurance. In addition, what about those who choice not to own a car, they are not required to buy car insurance. Finally, there are risk factors included. If you are a teenager or drive a sports car, your insurance is going to be higher than a 30-year-old woman driving a minivan is. In other words, one size does not fit all. 

For these reasons I do not support the Health Care Mandate. 

Today, I stumbled across an old journal of mine. I believe the time frame was around middle school, maybe early high school years. Oh, my gosh, was I really that much of a geek? Never mind, don't answer that.  

Do you remember in middle school when we would play the paper folding game M.A.S.H. (Mansion-Apartment-Shack-House)? It was our own paper fortune teller and much better than a Magic 8-ball.  The game would answer what type of house of we would live in, where would we live, who we would marry, what kind of car we would be driving, what occupation we would have, and how many children we would have. I wrote down the answer to the number of children and thought I would share my geeky answer. I wrote down four children: 2 boys and 2 girls. Their names were going to be Phillip-Michael (notice the hyphen) and Douglas Scott for the boys and the girls were Amanda and Laura. (No middle names for the girls--I don't know why). If the girls were twins--their names were going to be Rachelle and Michelle.

Insert a big eye roll here.