Gosh I LOVE quotes

Rudy Giuliani, Republican Party Presidential Candidate, tonight in his concession speech after coming in third behind John McCain and Mitt Romney in the Florida primary,

"Leaders dream of a better future, then they help to make it a reality."

Now, I'm not trying to brag, but I had a dream, I was a leader, and I made my dream happen. I took over 10 years of hard, hard, work, but I made it happen.

I remember my kids, back in the mid-nineties, when I'd be up at 3:00 a.m. working on the rules & regulations for The Moms' House, sayings, "MOM, go to bed!" But, I'd keep on, knowing I'd have to get up in a couple of hours and go to work at my STATE job. Two full time jobs for three years, not to mention going out as a time-keeper for forest fires during the summer for 10 years.

When I put Ernie in treatment for smoking pot at 16, (he didn't have a horrible drug problem, BUT I wanted him to LEARN about what he may have inherited, alcoholism and drug abuse wise, and about the long-term and REAL issues that go along with using and abusing.) He hated me for it at the time, but like I said before, he ended up being a VERY smart and wise beyond his years young man, earlier than I thought he would.

The treatment program provided a week long live-in co-dependent's treatment thing for parents and spouses. EVERYONE said I was a workaholic. I had never thought I was that, but it was the first time that my desire to do SO much became evident to me. Especially when I compared myself and my activities to the other parents/spouses.

Back to the I have a dream thing. It's not that you have to have a dream, per say, but we all have ideas, and some of us want to make things better and bring your ideas to fruition. I had an idea.

The Moms' House was an idea and what happened was my boss, Terry Kirkpatrick, the best boss ever, sent me and a couple other of my DNR co-horts to see Steven Covy. He's a motivation speaker. I took notes, and it was THEN that I thought - I CAN DO THIS.

I began joining Boards, Committees, etc. I was already a foster parent and very involved in my kids' lives and had gone and met with Jim Koval, the Associate Superintendent of the N Thurston School District after my youngest completed middle school of which I thought both boys might as well as not even gone to. Two years a waste of time. Their specific needs were barely met, especially Ernie who had ADD. Teachers calling all the time, "He disruptive," I'd say, "Where's he sitting in your classroom?" and the answer would be something like three rows back blah blah blah in alphabetical order, and I'd say, "Are you aware that children with ADD should be seated at the front of the class?" NO, OF COURSE NOT!! I had to advocate for Ernie and pulled him from school almost a month before the end of eight grade. It wasn't until he got to Puget Sound High School, the district's alternative, that he began to excel. They acknowledged different learning STYLES. Not every child learns through books, some learn through listening. I used to say about my program, "Not all kids are circles and we need different safety nets out here, triangle nets, circle nets and square nets. Different nets for different kinds of kids. My YUP! program is targeting a specific group of kids, and they are coming in droves. Up to 40 kids are showing up on Wednesdays for our meetings in my little living room. They LOVE that these important people are coming to talk to them in this informal setting, AND they're getting a nice dinner. They even get shrimp on their salad. :)"