On the off chance that I'm not busy enough

I accepted 2 new things to add to my calendar today. I had been approached about "teaching" a cooking class. NOTICE I did not say baking - as in cakes. Cooking as in on top of the stove. Or maybe throwing together some casseroles. Or using the crockpot. I can handle that. That is twice a month and should be OK. I'll give it a whirl and see how it works out.

All the kids are signed up for Scouts and this class will be on the night the boys are all at Scouts. Big Guy has told me he would help out with that since they will be in different troops, so I'll be taking him up on that. I suppose Carly will be going to cooking class with me.

I also got a call about being a CASA volunteer. I have taken this training and I have a lot of respect for this program and the good it accomplishes. After the call, came a little meeting at my house with the man who is in charge of our county's program.

A CASA is a Court Appointed Special Advocate and every child who is in a court situation is appointed a CASA worker by the judge. The volunteer then works through the court system and files reports for the judge's consideration as to what they think is BEST for the child. They solely have the best interest of the child as their focal point.

THIS is near and dear to my heart as I am sure that a large part of why we have Wesley in our home is because of the Guardian Ad Litem reports. In fact, it was Wesley's advocate who is in charge of the program and I would be hard pressed to tell that man no, I'm too busy. Not that I wanted to though, because the CASA worker can make all the difference in the world to one person - the child they are representing.

After I got done with my meeting and set up another one to go over some cases next week , I called Terry and talked about this decision and wondered aloud to her if I was crazy and do I have enough time and what about this and how about that and on and on and on.

She mentioned a quote by Erma Bombeck, who was always one of my most favorite authors. I found it and I can say I agree with Erma on this one.

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

With that in mind, I am honored to have been given the opportunity to make a difference to a child who might otherwise remain in a dangerous situation or be lost forever to foster care.