Saturday morning, October 25^th…... Belle and I woke up early and couldn’t wait to get outside to explore our surroundings!  The little cottage we stayed in was precious.  Tee’niny for sure, but as cute as could be.  We wanted to check out the front and back of the house and of course, the pool.  Belle was insistent on swimming, but unfortunately it was much colder than we anticipated.  I also had to rescue my poor bike from the back of the truck.  I just hoped it was still in one piece after the battering it took the night before!  I was shocked to see that it was.  Thank goodness!  Once we got a good look around the premises and I was able to unload my poor bike, we went back inside, ate a little breakfast, and hung out for a little bit.  A short while later we decided we would try out the pool.  I needed to get a feel for my wetsuit and Belle was convinced she could tolerate the cold temps and enjoy an afternoon of swimming.  Poor girl ~ there was no swimming to be had.  I don’t think she even got past the first step!  But she enjoyed watching me piddle around.  The pool was too small for lap swimming, but I was fine with that.  Really I just wanted to familiarize myself with my wetsuit so that I would know what to expect on Sunday.  I wasn’t sure how that sucker worked, but found out soon enough.  I started ooh’ing and ahh’ing as soon as the freezing cold water started seeping inside my suit!  I didn’t know that was supposed to happen!!  (Blond much…?  I know, right…;)  As I have since learned, wetsuits allow the cold water in and then hold it there allowing it to warm up against your body.  Thank goodness I figured all that out before my swim Sunday morning!!  I seriously would have freaked.  After about 15 minutes of me breaking in my wetsuit and Belle laughing at me, we decided to head back inside.  This would have been a whole lot easier to do…if we hadn’t locked ourselves out of the dang house.  Dammit!  Being that Belle and I were there by ourselves, I was careful to keep the doors locked at all times.  The back door was the type that locked automatically whenever it closed, so upon our exiting the house to go swimming, that sucker locked.  We didn’t realize it until we tried to get back inside.  We tried the front door for good measure, but it was locked as well.  Dammit, dammit, dammit!  Standing there freezing cold in our bathing suits with our towels wrapped around us, I tried to figure out what in the heck we should do.  I had nothing ~ no key, no phone, no contact information for the owner of the cottage, notta.  The back door had those slated pieces of glass that open and close so I got the bright idea to try to manipulate those suckers to get them to open up just wide enough for Belle to be able to slide her little hand inside and open the door.  Man how I worked on that thing!  And I got so close!!  Until I ended up slicing my finger wide open.  Nice, I know.  Finally I decided that my breaking-and-entering skills were not up to par and that we should try scouting out the neighbors for help.  I felt like such a dumbass….here I am in my bathing suit in cold as hell temps, soaking wet head to toe with a towel wrapped around me, trying to conceal my new gaping wound so the neighbors wouldn’t know I was trying to break into my freakin’ rental house.  Worse yet, I’ve got my 10-year-old daughter in tow, also wearing nothing but her bathing suit and a towel….as if it’s normal business to swim in ice-cold temps in the middle of fall!  Yeah, I felt like a complete moron….

Sorry to say it, but I’m out of time once again!  Sorry this is taking so long!  Stay tuned though ~ I’ll complete my story eventually…)  Until next time, these are the days of my life…

Be great!

Friday, October 24th.....  I had the day off of work so I finished packing myself, Belle, and the boys.  I also finished all the laundry and cleaning the house.  I had some last minute running around to do too, which was made a bit more difficult because of the freakin’ rain.  Complete de-ja-vous when I finished my shopping only to discover there was a torrential downpour outside!  This time, however, I did not turn around and go back in to buy a cheap umbrella.  I just made a beeline for the car and got completely soaked in the process.  I was completely miserable!  It was freezing cold and raining like a mutha…ugh…!  I got everything done and picked Belle up from school around 12:30 as planned.  She and I came home, loaded up the car and headed out around 1:30.  After a quick stop for gas and a bite to eat we were finally on the road.  We did have to make one more stop for what else but new shoes.  J  I had been shopping around for a couple of weeks for new running shoes and finally decided on a pair at a store located near my place of work, which we hit on our way out of town.  We ended up hitting some traffic on our way out (imagine that), but the weather really cleared up and the sun started shining through the clouds so I was a happy camper.  Damn if it didn’t rain on my happy parade a short while later.  And yes, pun totally intended.  The freakin’ sky opened up and unleashed rain like I’d never seen before!  I was a nervous wreck!!  For one, I am not a driver.  I despise driving.  Especially in the rain.  Especially when I haven’t a clue where I’m at or where I’m going!  I’m directionally challenged as well, in case I’ve neglected to mention that yet.  Anyone who knows me knows this about me.  Come 6:30 ~ 7:00 that night, we were driving in hurricane like winds and rain.  There were accidents galore on the highway, mostly single cars that obviously hydroplaned off the road and ended up in ditches or medians facing the wrong way.  It was totally awful and scary!  I don’t know how many times I contemplated stopping on the side of the road to wait for it to clear up, but I was exhausted and just wanted to get to our cottage and settle in for the night.  I kept asking Belle if she was sure she was buckled up correctly (she tends to come out of her shoulder strap on long rides) and she assured me she was.  She had no idea I was as nervous as I was, which is a good thing I guess.  No need in knowing mama was a complete nutcase on the road!  Once we got off our last exit, I put her to work in reading me the directions line by line.  I had printed them off from mapquest and highlighted them for easy reading.  She was a little trouper directing me through turns and stop lights.  The fact that I didn’t get lost was a miracle in and of itself.  I always get lost.  ALWAYS.   Don’t ask me for directions and don’t expect me to be able to get somewhere I’m not familiar with without getting lost.  I was born with zero sense of direction, seriously…   Anyway, towards the end of our trip, we were driving further than I thought we should before reaching the next street we were supposed to turn on and I needed gas so I went ahead and stopped to fill up and was able to verify that I was in fact on the right path.  Imagine my surprise!!  It almost didn’t even matter that I got completely soaked at the gas pump…;)  Since we were really close to our cottage by that time, we went ahead and stopped by the grocery store before settling in for the night.  I didn’t want to have to get back out in that weather again!  We finally made it to the cottage by about 8:30pm.  It was a lonnnnnng drive, for sure.  I was just glad we made it in one piece!  After getting the car unloaded and everything unpacked and put away, Belle and I ate a little dinner and then I took in a hot bath.  Yum….  We settled in for the night after that ~ Belle with a movie and me with some nonsense tv.  I was a bit nervous wondering what the weather would be like the rest of the weekend.  What if it rained Sunday morning, the day of my event?  I already had myself worked up about it being chilly and about the water temps in the lake being unbearably cold.  How in the heck would I swim, bike and run in the kind of weather I just drove through for 6+ hours?!  Ugh…what did I get myself into…?  I just hoped things would be looking up by Sunday….     

Out of time, folks!  Stay tuned for Part II and more days of my life…

Until next time and as always, be great!

Mission accomplished, I crossed the finish line!  It was an INCREDIBLE experience.  I’m so glad I did it although I cursed myself throughout the entire course of the race…;)  It was hard, but I did it and I’m totally looking forward to the next one!  Everything about the weekend and my trip was just fabulous.  We all had a super fun time!  Details to follow soon, but for now they’ll have to wait.  I’ve got a lot of catching up to do here at home and at work, so stay tuned for another update soon!  Many thanks to all of you who encouraged, advised, and wished me luck.  You’re very much appreciated!

Until next time, these are the days of my life…

Be great!

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Well blog people, I am fixin’ to head out of the office for an extended weekend to do some last minute running around.  Belle and I will head out for Tybee Island tomorrow around noon!  I’m making her go to school for half a day since she’ll be missing school on Monday.  It has worked out so that H and the boys will meet us at the beach either Saturday afternoon or late, late Saturday night.  It depends on their Friday night baseball game and whether they win or lose.  At least I know H will be there for the event Sunday so Belle will be taken care of.  I’m very glad they’re coming ~ I really want all the kids to be there for this!  They’ve watched me train over the past 2 months and they think it’s *so* cool that Mom is doing a “race”.  It’s sure to be a fun time!  Updates to come!!

It’s been a crazy week with work and play…  It never fails, as soon as I decide to go out of town, all hell seems to break loose at work.  Not to worry though, I’ve been able to knock all the important stuff out, so it’s all good. J  Aside from that, it seems like we’ve had stuff going on every evening this week as well.  Some, just the typical running around kind of stuff like haircuts, boy scouts, grocery shopping, cricket shopping ~ you know, the usual…;)  Also, my friend T’s sister was in town visiting from Texas this week so the family and I went over to T’s house last night for an awesome dinner and a mini-party that lasted (as usual) way past our bedtimes.  Ah well, it was a special occasion so it was worth it.  T’s sister is the only family she has and she is such an important person in her life, it was so well worth spending the time with them and getting to know T’s big sis.  We had a fantastic time!  We always do with T’s crew.  Also, my Texas friend K was back in town for a few days.  He’s still traveling around the country, pretty much trying to “find himself” and trying to decide where he wants to settle down.  It really is a cool thing he’s doing.  He’s recently divorced from a 10 year marriage, no kids, and he’s financially set so he doesn’t have to work for the time being.  One day he woke up and decided he wanted to do some traveling and soul-searching, which included reconnecting with old friends (like Val and I), so he quit his job and off he went!  So anyway, he was back in town and I was able to go to lunch with him today before he headed out once again.  As I type this, he’s on his way back to Myrtle Beach to visit his dad.  He says he’ll be back though, so I suppose we will see him again soon!  Neat guy, a bit of drama, but still a fun time reconnecting with an old friend. 

Okay, I’m heading out folks!  Tonight is sure to be a crazy night with me insisting on busting my ass to clean my house to perfection (why do I always choose to do this while packing for a trip…?), doing laundry and packing for myself and all of the kiddos.  Yep, it will be crazy!  I am so looking forward to my one-on-one time with Belle tomorrow and Saturday.  We will have a blast!!  I foresee lots of playtime in the sand, walks on the beach, bike rides around the island, cuddling up at night with a movie, swimming, shopping, yummy seafood and other tasty treats, and maybe even a new pair of shoes.  Or two.  J  Life is good…

Think of me on Sunday…9:30am…and wish me a little bit of luck! 

Until next time, these are the days of my life…be great!

Georgia, OUT         

Did I mention that we found another barn and riding instructor for Belle?  Well, we did.  Actually, we found two of them.  I called the first one and set up a lesson for Sunday (Sunday before last).  Belle and I made the 20+ minute drive to the new barn and when we were maybe a mile away from the place, the instructor had the nerve to call me to tell me she was sick and had to cancel.  Come again?  Did she not know she was sick that morning or even a few hours before our scheduled lesson??  Needless to say, I was not happy and neither was Belle.  Poor girl…  She waited all week for this lesson and she was all puffed up on our way there talking my ears off about this and that.  I felt *so* bad for her.  Instead we ended up taking a drive, looking at barns and horses.  Then we did what all frustrated girls like to do.  We went shoe shopping. J  I had already made up my mind that we would NOT be returning to the new found barn for lessons.  So that evening, Belle and I got on the computer and did some more searching…  We ended up finding a barn that is practically right down the road from us so I called the lady and left a message.  Before I was even done doing so, she was ringing in on my other line.  I spoke to her and she set up a lesson for Belle for the following Wednesday.  The lesson went wonderfully ~ Belle rode beautifully and the instructor decided to place her in an advanced class.  She also told Belle that she could work at the barn over the summer and earn her lessons.  How awesome is that?!  Belle is thrilled!!  Even more good news about our find…I was talking to one of my cheer moms on Saturday and we got to talking about Belle’s riding lessons.  Come to find out, this cheer mom’s younger sister took lessons from Belle’s new instructor for years and is now on a full college scholarship in Equestrian.  I am so happy with where we have her placed.  It is such a good feeling to know we’re in good hands…J

So another busy weekend has come and gone and I’m quite the tired girl!  Games Saturday and Sunday, a cookout with friends Sat night, and another one last night with T and her family.  T’s hubby turned forty today so we celebrated last night with good food, cake…and wine.  Lotssssss of wine…J  T and I are a hot mess when we get together!  Always a fun time with that girl.  Stayed up too late and had a bit of a hard time getting out of bed this morning, but I feel recovered.  Needless to say, I wasn’t up for my morning bike ride and had to put it off until this evening.  Which is cool ~ the boys have ball practice, so it will just be Belle and I.  We’ll head to the park, ride a few miles, and I’ll let her stop along the way on our last loop to scope out creatures and creepy-crawlies.  The park where we ride is fabulous…the riding path takes you through the prettiest scenery ~ lots of trees, thick woods, sprawling lakes…it’s beautiful.  I love being there.

On the agenda for the week ~ school and work, of course.  I also plan on knocking out some major cleaning at the house.  Every time I go out of town I get the major urge to CLEAN.  And organize.  In a seriously big way.  Go fish.  Can’t help it, so I’ll get started with all of that tonight as well!  Training this week will be pretty low-key.  I will probably bike twice, run twice and swim two times as well.  I always swim and run at or above the distance I’ll be doing in my race, but I don’t usually bike a full 16 miles every time.   I need to get at least one more 16 mile bike ride in before leaving on Friday!  Speaking of which, it’s looking more and more probable that H and the boys won’t make the trip to Savannah with me.  I’m taking Belle out of school early on Friday and she and I are driving down alone.  H was planning on joining us sometime on Saturday provided the boys’ baseball team looses their playoff game.  Well…it seems the playoffs aren’t going to start until Saturday whereas they usually start much earlier in the week.  Good thing is, it’s single elimination so if we lose, the boys are completely done and H can make the trip with them.  We just don’t know and won’t know.  At this point, we’re just hoping they can all 3 be there for my race on Sunday!  In the meantime, I’ve got to make arrangements to have someone come along with me in case H doesn’t make it down, to keep up with Belle during my race.  So I’ve asked my niece, who is a college student at Valdosta, and also T.  Because it’s totally last minute, I couldn’t afford to put all my eggs in one basket so I felt like I had to make multiple requests.  If T comes with, she will bring her daughter and leave her son with H.  T’s hubby works crazy hours, so she’ll need H’s assistance with her little guy.  She’s also got an older son, but he’s fine without around the clock supervision.  I told H that if he’s able to come down with the boys to bring T’s son with him as well.  The boys are best friends with T’s little guy so they will love that.  Oh, I also told my niece that she could bring her boyfriend too.  You know what will end up happening…EVERYONE will be able to make the trip and there will be 50 of us all holed up in my sweet little beach cottage…hahahahahaaa…  I will totally love it if that happens.  The more the merrier!  I shall keep you posted on the details of my trip.  I can’t believe I’m leaving in 4 days…I’m both excited and nervous.  Can’t wait til I can see that finish line…J

Not much else to report here.  All is well in the “H” household.  My cheerleading season is over and the boys are winding down with baseball.  Belle is getting ready to sign up for lacrosse.  This will be the first year that our rec league will have lacrosse, so it should definitely be interesting!  ALL of my cheerleaders are signing up for it as well…how fun will it be to have everyone on the same team?!?!  I’m looking forward to it!  Meanwhile, the boys will be able to spend more time with cub scouts.  This will be an interesting change for us.  Hopefully they’ll have fun with it! 

Well folks, I guess that’s about all I have for this entry.  I hope everyone out in blogland is doing splendid!  Thanks for visiting and reading!!  Before I go, I will leave you with this conversation that took place between Noah and Ross on Saturday morning….enjoy…J

[Allow me to preface the commentary below by saying that the boys LOVE watching ESPN or any other “sport” channel for that matter.  Saturday mornings are not filled with the typical cartoon-watching.  Not if the boys get to the tv first, that is!  They prefer to tune into their sports stuff and get a heads-up on all of the upcoming games.  Saturday morning they were downstairs watching said tv when this conversation took place…]

Noah:  Ross, turn it back!

Ross:  In a minute…

Noah: No!  Turn it back!! 

Ross:  Hold on!

Noah: TURN IT BACK…TURN IT BACK!  The BOOBIE COMMERCIAL is on!!

Ross: okay, OKAY!

Noah: Darn it, Ross!  Now we missed the BOOBIE commercial.  Why didn’t you turn it back when I said?!?  You’re dumb.

At this point I woke H up and told him the boys were talking about a freaking “boobie commercial.”  This disturbed me.  Profusely.  What do they know about boobies?  And what kind of boobie commercial were they talking about anyway??  H just laughed at me…he knew what commercial I was referring to…something about a lady…and peanuts…and her rubbing a peanut all over her body, including a boobie-rub of some sort…???   WTH?  I’ve got to tune in and catch this dang commercial…

Until next time, these are the days of my life…

Be great!          

This one will be all over the place.  I apologize in advance, but this is how my brain seems to be working at the moment.  J

I have a confession to make.  Uh-oh…;)  I have a bad case of potty-mouth ~ that is when I’m on the road.  Not road rage.  I don’t get crazy angry on the road.  Moderately pissed off is more like it.  So yesterday when I left work for my wonderful drive home, I decided to pay attention to and take note of my potty-mouth…  I did not even pull out of my work parking lot when I committed my first offense.  Ooooops!  This is just a peek into what I’m talking about.  I am about 2 miles max from the interstate that I take on my drive home everyday.  Before I even got on the dang highway, here is some of what came out of my mouth…

“Nice blinker, asshole!”

“You better keep your big-ass green tank out of my way!”

“I know that f’er is not taking up 2 lanes!”

“I need to get over, ass!”

Nice, I know.  What to do, what to do.  As long as I don’t start chasing people down on the road, or rolling down my window screaming profanities at other drivers while using very expressive hand language, I guess it’s all good.  If these damn people would just learn how to drive, none of this would even be an issue in the first place!  Assholes… J

Tonight is my last night of cheer practice, yay!  As much as I love these little darlings, I am so ready to kiss them all good-bye until next season.  Man I’m burned out!  We did, however, have a very successful photography session on Tuesday.  I took pictures of all of my girls including some group shots and am giving these to some of my parents as gifts at our end of the season banquet.  My parents knew we were doing something other than practice, but we kept our “photo-session” a secret as to not ruin the surprise. 

Oh yeah, since we met up for our little photo session at my family’s favorite park (the one where we ride our bikes), Belle decided to come with.  Girlfriend stayed busy the entire hour and a half that we were there.  Right off the bat she found a stray dog.  She was so proud of herself…  The thing ended up having tags on it so we called the owners and they came to the park to get their dog.  We found out that they actually had lost both of their dogs that afternoon, so one was still on the loose.  Belle made it her priority to find that dog and she searched and searched and searched for it.  Half the time I didn’t know where she was, but when I’d holler for her, she’d answer from somewhere deep in the woods.  Apparently she had a few sightings of the missing mutt, but she was unable to make the capture.  She was so distressed when I told her it was time to leave…“But what’s going to happen to Josie? (lost dog’s name…ugh…) She’s just a puppy!  She probably won’t be able to find her way home!  She’s lost in those woods and it’s so confusing, even for a person…how is a dog…a PUPPY gonna find it’s way out of there???”  She pleaded with me, but it was dark already and honestly, do I really have time to find other people’s lost dogs?!  She was sulking with arms crossed, walking really slow and trailing behind me.  All of a sudden I hear her in a really perky voice.  I think I hear the word “frog” and sure enough, she runs up to me, totally excited, and shows me her latest find.  A big ass disgusting frog.  Or toad, whatever.  She named it Pickle because apparently that’s what its skin looked and felt like.  Gross!  I didn’t get close enough to it to confirm that, but I did see that the sucker was so big that its nasty parts were hanging all out of her little hands.  The thing was huge!  So what do I do?  I let her bring it home with her.  Not to keep as a pet (I’m smarter than that ;), but to let it go in the yard so she could keep tabs on it and feed it flies.  That’s my girl!  But when we got home and showed it to H, he was all up in arms saying that it was going to get eaten by something at our house.  The dogs, or cats…it wouldn’t be able to find food at our house like it would at the park…  Geezus!  He had me so worked up!!  Belle and I in a panic, decided to take it back to the park and release it in its familiar territory, poor frog.  I mean toad.  Then Belle had an idea ~ she’s great friends with this empty-nester couple who lives in our cul-de-sac, and they have lots of woods in their back yard AND a pond.  She thought it would be a good idea to let Pickle go there so he would be safe and she could still “visit” him.  So that’s what she did.  I made her ask permission first so she knocked on their door and disappeared for 20 minutes only to return sans frog, but with a pocketful of candy.  Mission-Pickle, successful.  Thank God.

So my triathlon is in 10 days.  I am still training, but not as hard as I should be.  I can’t with the condition of my knee.  It is extremely painful and the only thing that helps is complete rest.  Since that is not possible, it’s not healing.  Swimming is not an issue, thankfully.  But I’m only running and biking at half the distances I should be at this point in the game.  I don’t know what else to do though, so I’ll keep training as hard as I can and just hope for the best on the 26^th! 

Speaking of which, I just booked the *cutest* little cottage for my 4-day stay in Savannah!  Actually, I’m staying on Tybee Island, which is about a 20 minute drive from Savannah.  My event is in Savannah, but I thought it would be fun to take in a beach-vaca while we’re there.  Savannah is the coolest city ever, but I’m thinking it’s a little more geared towards adults than kiddos, not to mention accommodations in Savannah are outrageous!  I paid less for a 2 bedroom cottage with its own private pool and a hop skip and a jump away from the beach than I would have for a regular old hotel room in Savannah.  I’m so excited!  The boys will likely have baseball games (playoffs) next weekend, so H and the boys will have to drive down Saturday after baseball and meet up with Belle and I.  Meanwhile, I’m taking Belle out of school early on Friday so we can drive down early and have girl-time on the beach Friday and Saturday.  The race is on Sunday and afterwards, I plan on partying like a rock-star.  H has already been warned.  J  I’m really looking forward to this little getaway!

And I guess with that I will close it out here.  I have some other *things* percolating in this crazy head of mine…perhaps I’ll get around to writing about it…then again, maybe not.  We’ll see.  I hope everyone out in blogland is doing great!  As always, stay tuned for more days of my life…

Be great!   

Life continues to move at break-neck speed, which is why I continue to be a slacker in the blog-department… J

I am happy to announce that my cheerleaders did in fact win FIRST PLACE in our cheerleading competition last weekend!  Can you say back-to-back-to-back?!  They did awesome and if I’m being honest here, they clearly out-performed their competitors in their division.  We have 2 remaining games this season, a pep-rally and a banquet.  I have loved every second of coaching this season as in all seasons past, however, I am happy to see it come to a close.  This will free up my time from practices 3 evenings a week and games on the weekends.  I’ll take it! 

Another exciting announcement ~ Belle won FIRST PLACE in the Reflections project she did at her school for 5^th grade photography!!!  If you recall, the Reflections contest is one the school holds every year where they give a special theme and the students can choose whether to enter a project in one of several categories; photography being one of them.  This year’s theme was “WOW” and Belle took a really neat picture of a hummingbird in flight.  With her first place award at the school level, her project will now move to the county level.  I will keep you posted on the Reflections updates!

Training….continues…  I’ve not made mention up to this point, but I have sustained a dang knee injury somehow and it continues to be a problem.  A big-ass problem, and I am not a happy camper about it.  I’ve toned down a bit with my biking and running.  I’ve really had no choice considering it pains me to even walk on it!  A few days of rest seem to do some good so I plan on picking up again with some biking and running over the weekend.  My swimming, however, hasn’t slowed up and my speed (surprisingly!) continues to increase in that area!  I also plan on taking my broke bike to the bike shop sometime soon for minor repairs and a tune up to make sure it’s in tip-top shape for the 26^th, the date of my event.  It’s ON, bitches.  Injured knee and all.  There is no turning back at this point…I will keep you posted!

Last weekend was good!  Nothing of importance to report Friday night.  My girlfriend T, her daughter ended up in the hospital the week before last with complications due to asthma and was in the PICU for 4 nights.  Scary, I know!  Because I had strep, I waited until I was way into my antibiotics before going over to visit the little one so the family and I headed over Saturday evening and brought her a little *goodie* and hung out with them for awhile.  Fun times as always when we hang with that crew... J  My cheer-off competition took up the entire day on Sunday and we were all pretty exhausted by the time we finally got home, so we chilled out and had some quiet family time for the rest of the evening.

So tomorrow we have my football game and the boys’ baseball game.  Then we’re getting together tomorrow night with a bunch of friends to watch the Penn State, Wisconsin game.  GO NITTANY LIONS!  H and I have some good friends (the ones who have the new baby that I photographed 2 weekends ago!) who are raging Wisconsin fans, so this is a HUGE game for us every year.  We always have a good time with it so I’m expecting lots of fun Saturday night!!  Other than that, I just plan on catching up on some cleaning and possibly putting out some Halloween decorations.  I don’t know though…it seems that our neighborhood has been the target of Halloween decoration snatchers this year.  Report after report of stuff stolen…things taken right off of people’s front porches…one person reported a 7-foot casket stolen out of their front yard…lights, pumpkins, etc…  It seems nothing is safe.  So I hesitate just a bit to put my stuff out right now.  Then again, I don’t see how anyone could get past Tiffany-Suzanne.  Although she’s only 7 pounds, she’s got quite a yapper on her…J 

And I think this wraps it up for this update!  Nothing else to report, so I will sign off on that note.  As always, stay tuned for more days of my life…

Until next time, be great! 

I had a dream last night

a dream about him

a sandy beach

the sun

hot

the ocean

and it’s breezes

waves crashing

crawling

sprawling on the sand

we walked

hand in hand

ran

chased

splashed

swam

played

laughed uncontrollably

a piggy-back ride

arms wrapped

around his neck

he dunks me

under water

only to lift me

to safety

again

taking me in his arms

kissing me on the cheek

as if to say

i’m sorry

i would never hurt you

you are safe with me

always

i squirm away

from him

again

out of the protection

of his arms

and promises

i run

run

run

he chases

and captures me

i surrender

this time

and allow myself

to be wrapped up

in him

wrapped up

in each other’s arms

we move

as one

a dance

of our own

eye to eye

turning

spinning

twirling

he whispers ever so lightly

my ballerina

and for a moment

the world is ours

we exist

only

for each other

hearts content

fulfilled

happy

beyond words

happy

the only word to describe this moment

happy

a dream

of happiness

of us

together

happy

day turns to night

darkness abounds

exhausted

i lay down

to rest

he

across from me

does the same

i reach out

for him

my hand

searching

a wanting sigh

escapes my lips

he sits

upright

i cannot see him

only his shadow

i cannot see

his face

his eyes

as from the darkness

he speaks

we dare not

do this

for what if

what if

we fall in love

with each other

all over

again

still reaching

searching

for him

for anything

other than his empty shadow

i cannot see

his face

his eyes

my heart

grows heavy

i feel

lost

lost

so lost

i awaken

to quick

shallow breaths

shaking

heart beating

too fast

tears

on the brink

of escape

lost

lost

lost

in my reality

i turn

to find a baby

lost and scared himself

reaching

searching

mommy

i had

a bad dream

he says in a

scared

sleepy voice

found

and with purpose

i scoop him up

safely wrap my arms

around his small body

and hold him

close

so he can see me

my face

my eyes

as i speak

mommy had

a bad dream

too

baby boy

its okay

you are safe

now

bad dreams

are not real

cannot hurt you

sleep

sleep

sleep

and a tear

silently

escaped

as i prayed

for only happy dreams......

I have totally been M.I.A. this week!!!  It’s been a bit of a hectic time.  Let me see if I can add a quick update here….

Last weekend

Screen on the Green Friday night ~ this was a fabulous time!  This was the event put on by my neighborhood where they put up an inflatable movie screen and had a family movie-night on the soccer field.  Live D.J. before the movie and lots of goodies for the kids.  We went with two other families and met up with our neighbor friends as well, so we had a big crew!  They showed Shrek III.  Ever seen it?  It was hysterical!  Definitely a fun time for all!!

Saturday ~ went for a bike ride with the boys in the morning.  They were actually able to do over 6 ½ miles this time!  It was a good ride ~ fewer stops along the way than the week before when I had a group of scouts under my wing.  The boys had a baseball game later on Saturday, which I missed (again…) because I had my football game.   After the games, we all met up at our local Mexican hangout and ate dinner and had a few margaritas.  Later, I headed over to my girlfriend T’s house with the boys while H went off with my brother and his wife to watch college football at a local bar.  Belle spent the night out.  Again.  Social butterfly, I swear…;)  Later on that night, H and my brother and sister-in-law ended up with us over at T’s house.  We stayed up too late (what else is new) and hit the sack around 2am.  Fun times and another busy weekend…

Sunday ~ easy day….  Went over to bestie Val’s house and our good friend L came over.  She just had her first baby about 10 weeks ago and she’s been wanting me to photograph her, so I was able to take her pictures at Val’s on Sunday.  Precious little thing, and my girlfriend is settling wonderfully into motherhood.  I’m telling ya, if you’ve never experienced the blessing of being a parent, it’s a whooooooooole new world.  If you ARE  a parent, then you totally know what I’m talking about.  We pretty much chillaxed the rest of Sunday and went out to dinner again Sunday night with all the kiddos.  I’m thinking we go out to dinner way too much...geez, how lazy am I that I can’t cook dinner for my family every now and again?!?  J

Onto the work week!  Joy!!  The kiddos are all doing great ~ nothing new to report on the school-front.  I had a little *incident* on Tuesday, however…  I decided last week that I would work from home two days this week because of the ridiculous gas crisis we’ve had here lately.  So I was home on Tuesday and worked very productively until about lunchtime.  Instead of doing the usual and going out and grabbing something and bringing it back to the office to eat, I decided to take a bike ride instead!  I need more long-distance training on the bike and Tuesday was the perfect day for it.  Beautiful day outside…and no little “scouts” to keep up with…  So instead of a “lunch break,” I went for a bike ride.  I loaded up my shiny new bike, grabbed my water and helmet, and off I went.  Until I came to a 4-way stop at which point I heard quite a loud “thump” upon my accelerating after coming to a complete stop.  I looked around and saw a fellow driver frantically waving his arms at me.  Okay, I get it.  My bike must have readjusted itself…  I did a quick rearview mirror check and thankfully didn’t see it lying in the street.  Obviously it was still “attached” ~ just not securely, I was guessing…  So onward I went until I could pull over safely and fix my bike.  As I continued on this short journey, I had 2 more drivers try to flag me down in an effort to alert me to my shifted bike on the back of my truck.  Got it, thanks!  Imagine my surprise when I finally got out of the car and saw my brand new bike HANGING off the back of the truck, completely injured with the handlebars resting on the street…  UGH!!!  I flipped out!  Almost started crying, I was *so* upset!!  But since there were passerbyers, I didn’t think that was a good thing to do.  Instead, I reloaded it onto the back of my truck and made my way to the park.  When I finally had a chance to look at my poor bike, I could see where the cement had completely ripped off the black taping around my left handle bar and another part of the handle bars, which is metal, had been like shaved down creating sort of a slanted edge instead of a rounded one.  The handle bars were also completely out of alignment, but surprisingly I was able to adjust those suckers back into place and line everything back up just so.  Seriously, when I climbed on and took off I was just PRAYING that it wouldn’t fall apart into pieces.  And it didn’t!  It rode good as new!!  Yay me and my new…broke bike!!!  I decided that I didn’t mind a few scratches and dings here and there.  There’s something to be said for a little wear and tear ~ tells a story about where you’ve been…hopefully a happier story than being violently dragged behind a big scary truck, but you get my point…;)  My ride turned out to be awesome!  Except that when I went to take a sip of my water, it wasn’t there.  My dang water bottle must have fallen out of it’s holder at some point during my ride.  What are the odds?  It was pretty warm that day and I did not hydrate very well before my ride.  I was dying about halfway through my ride and even contemplated stopping and drinking from the lake at one point, but decided I’d rather thirst to death than drink nasty lake water.  Through it all, however, I rode for 16.4 miles in about an hour’s time so I accomplished what I set out to accomplish, dry mouth and all.  Just call me Speed-Racer!  Oh, I ate 2 bugs along the way too.  Accidentally, of course.  Pretty gross, I know.  Little suckers just flew right in my mouth and about choked the hell out of me.  Before I knew it, I guess I swallowed them.  That's what they get.  Nice… 

What else to report…well, remember that sore ear I had a few weeks ago?  Well my earache returned ~ this time with a vengeance and accompanied by a sore throat and sinus issues.  Bleck!  It was bad enough that I dragged myself to the doctor yesterday.  I have strep throat and what he guesses is fluid behind my inner ear, because he didn’t detect an ear infection.  Anyway, I’m on day 2 of my meds so hopefully I’m on the mend.  I don’t have time to be sick!!    

I’m looking at what I hope will be a pretty laid back weekend.  Nothing planned for tonight.  Tomorrow, we have games…I’m psyched that I’ll get to watch the boys play baseball!  Our schedules don’t always work that way, so I’m totally excited about that!!  Sunday is the BIG day.  My girls are competing in their cheerleading competition…BIG doings ‘round here…;)  I absolutely love coaching and its times like this where it totally pays off.  I’ve arranged to have an SUV stretch limo pick them up at the ball park ~ a complete surprise for them.  It should be lots of fun.  Here’s to hoping they totally kick ass when it’s their turn to perform!  They’ve worked so hard on their routine.  I just hope it all goes off without a hitch! 

I will attempt to be more diligent in writing in my blog next week.  I just couldn’t seem to find the time this week!  I also hope to download some pics when I get a chance.  So stay tuned, folks!  Until next time, these are the days of my life….

Be great!   

Yay, It’s Friday!!!  I *love* it when that happens! 

Belle finished her school project last night.  I’ll post pics of it, hopefully over the weekend.  She did a really good job on it!

Noah and Ross are doing good ~ totally into going for bike rides every evening after dinner.  I think we’ll head back to the park tomorrow morning and ride the trails some more.  This time I won’t have a string of “cubs” following behind me so hopefully I’ll get a little more of a work-out! 

So the boys were talking about speech class again the other day to one another and here’s how that conversation went…

Ross:  I’m going to speech class tomorrow with Michael (another boy in his class)

Noah:  What teacher are you going with?  That shiny lady??

Ross:  No

Noah: Then which one?

Ross: The white lady

Noah: Oh.  I wonder if she’s nice.

Ross: Yeah, me too.

They’re so fun……J

In further interesting news, guess what I did on my lunch hour today…?  GOT GAS!  Dang, the gas ordeal is freakin’ ridiculous around these parts.  People are going completely nuts over gas.   Gas stations are closed, prices are up, and when you find a place that does have gas, be prepared to wait.  A really, REALLY long time.  That was me today.  I discovered gas at my 5^th stop.  Almost an HOUR later (54 minutes to be exact), I was pulling away with a full tank of gas.  It was insane!  Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  People lined up in all directions waiting to get to the gas pumps.  And good luck to the daring soul who attempts to cut in line or take another person’s turn at the pump.  There is no doubt in my mind that a riot would ensue should that happen!  People are not playing around when it comes to their gas!!  They had to have attendants walking around the parking lot today to keep the peace and make sure things were operating in an orderly manner.  Many people turned their cars off and back on when the opportunity to inch forward presented itself.  Everyone had their windows down.  I’m sure no one was running their air conditioners!  I made friends with an elderly couple waiting in line next to mine.  They were Alabama fans.  I let them know that they were on BULLDOG territory!  We laughed and joked until it was my turn to fill up.  Quite the gas station experience, I tell ya…

Well, not much else to report here.  Fixin’ to head out for the weekend!  I’m seriously thinking about telling my boss that I’m going to start working 2 days a week at home because of the ridiculous gas crisis.  Really, there’s no reason I can’t work from home so I’m sure it wouldn’t be an issue.  I’ll think more about it over the weekend! 

On the agenda…”Screen on the Green” this evening.  My neighborhood is providing a movie on the soccer field this evening so we’re packing up the kiddos and some food and drinks and going to watch Shrek III.  We have some friends joining us as well, so it’s sure to be a fun time!  Tomorrow morning, I want to take the kiddos to the park and ride bikes on the trails.  Then we have the boys’ game and my game.  No riding lessons for Belle.  Poor thing…  I need to get in touch with her instructor asap and set up lessons for her at another barn!  In fact, I think I’ll call her on my way home from work today!!  Saturday night, we’ll hang out either at home or at my brother’s and watch college football.  GO DAWGS ~ AND NITTANY LIONS!!  Odd, I know, for me to be cheering for such different teams.  But I grew up in Pennsylvania until I was 12 and have remained faithful to Penn State after all these years.  Living in Georgia pretty much qualifies you as a UGA fan, but seeing how I graduated from Georgia ~ makes me a HUGE UGA fan!  Love me some Georgia football!!  Sunday, hopefully we’ll get over to my mother’s for dinner since we missed out last weekend.  We shall see…

Well blogland buddies, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  Until next time, these are the days of my life…..

Be great!    

Now accepting gift ideas!!!  I always wait until the last minute to do my Christmas shopping.  Always.  I’m not gonna do it this year though!  Nope.  I actually would like to start my Christmas shopping now.  It would be *so* much nicer to pay that Christmas bill off over the course of three or four months as opposed to one, not to mention I bet it would be nice not having to run to the stores last minute to complete my shopping list.  There is, however, something about waiting ‘til the last minute that just works for me...  I don’t know if it’s the adrenalin rush or the pressure of the challenge to get it done while having to fight the crowds and other last minute shoppers…I don’t quite know.  All I know is that I always wait until the last minute yet I always seem to get everything accomplished that I need to ~ and I kinda like it.  Now that I think about it, that’s how I pretty much roll in everyday life.  If I have a major project to do at work, I don’t put forth full effort until I’m inching near the deadline date.  I work best under pressure.  In everything I do.  Is that a bad thing?  I’m not really sure.  I am sure, however, that I do not intend to be one of those last minute shoppers this year rummaging through the stores on Christmas Eve, hoping against all odds that at the bottom of all the leftovers I will find that *prized-gift* I’ve been searching for….for all of 10 minutes…;)  So, with that said, I need Christmas gift ideas!!!  My shopping list is pretty easy.  H and I gave up trying to buy for everyone years ago.  Christmas just gets ridiculous these days.  There is no need to “gift” every freakin’ Tom, Dick and Harry in your life.  Instead, we stick to the basics.  The kiddos are simple.  No need for ideas on that front.  My Mom is another easy one because my sisters, brother and I always go in together for her gift so we’ve got ideas galore.  H is easy too…  I guess it’s just his side of the family that gives me trouble; mother, father, step-mom, brother (19 yr-old), and grandmothers.  Generally I do the usual stuff ~ framed pictures of the kids, clothes, jewelry…blah, blah, blah…  I’d love to be more original, but for the love of God I cannot think of any creative gift ideas!  So if you’ve got em’, please be a good blog friend and share!!  Thank you very much.  J

So the week seems to by flying by.  Gotta love it when that happens!  I had cheer practice Monday and Tuesday and canceled my third practice for the week.  I’m feeling a little burned out with it so I’m sure the girls are too.  They are kicking ASS with their competition routine.  Damn, I’m good…;)  Nah ~ they totally deserve the credit.  I run my practices like a drill sergeant and they never ever complain or slack off.  They are simply the best and deserve whatever reward they receive next Sunday ~ only 11 days away! 

Training is going okay so far…I’ve adjusted to my new bike ~ or should I say my ass has adjusted to my new bike…;)  Have ya seen the seats on those suckers?!  Geez…tell me, who’s teeny-tiny ass actually fits comfortably on one of those?  Apparently, not mine.  Luckily I think I’ve overcome the sore bum-factor though.  I no longer *cringe* when I climb aboard!  I still love my bike and ride it every chance I get.  I love that the kiddos have totally taken to bike riding again ~ really enthusiastically!  They want to go bike riding everyday, which I love.  If nothing else comes of this triathlon training, I’m super happy that I’ve taken up bike riding after all these years.  I just wish I had done it sooner!  And just a note to my new found blog friends out there…I will be lucky to FINISH THE RACE, let alone achieve a decent time or place….;)  So how ‘bout let’s just cheer me on to cross the finish line in one piece ~ what’dya say?!  J

Not much else to report here…the kiddos are doing great.  Isabelle Rose has a project to do at school.  Every year the school does a program called “Reflections” where they give a particular theme and the kids can participate if they want and enter a project in the category of visual arts, language arts, photography, music, and I think this year dance. Belle has done it before and even won at the county level when the theme for the year was “My Hero” and she wrote a piece about a little boy with autism who lives across the street from us.  I think she was in first grade.  It was super sweet…  This year she’s interested in the photography category.  She waited patiently by the hummingbird feeder this weekend and captured a really cool shot of a hummingbird suspended in mid air.  So she has to fill out all of the paperwork for the project and I’m going to help her mount her pictures on a foam-board background and she’ll be good to go!  She’s thinking of doing another project in a different category, but I’m not sure she’ll have time enough to complete another one!  We shall see… 

In closing, I’m going to replay a conversation I had with the boys the other day on our way home from the ball park.  They say the most random things sometimes…..

Mommy: Have you guys gone to your new speech class yet?

Ross:  No, thank God!

Noah:  Yes, I have.

Ross: What teacher did you go with?

Noah:  That shiny lady.

Ross: Oh…the shiny lady??

Noah: Yes, her…

Mommy: How is she shiny?

Noah:  Because she’s just..…like….shiny...

Ross: Yeah, like her face and stuff.

Mommy: Oh, I see.  Is mommy shiny?

Noah: Sometimes you’re shiny.

Ross: But sometimes not really.

Mommy: Well what is mommy then?

Noah: (takes a minute to lean forward and give me a good look-over) You’re tan

Ross: Yeah.  And sometimes yellow.

So there you have it folks.  Just call me the tan lady.  Or yellow.  Or “shiny” ~ but only on special occasions. J  Take your pick!

Until next time, these are the days of my life…

Be great!      

Another busy, but fun weekend!  Friday after work (and cricket-buying), I set out to find a new bike with H and the boys.  I had been looking online and found one that I really liked and was reasonably priced.  I didn’t want to spend tons of money on a top-of-the-line bike only to have it turn into a dust collector in a corner of the garage somewhere…  So I found my bike AND got it for 50% off the original price!  I was psyched!!  I promptly got it home and rode around the neighborhood with the boys following on their bikes.  They got the biggest kick out of me on a bike, too funny…  It was so much fun!  I was worried at first because I haven’t been on a bike in ages…at least 15+ years, so I was a little shaky starting off.  It only took a few minutes for me to feel totally comfortable on it though and I truly did not want to get off!  Considering, however, that it was pitch dark outside by this time I finally gave in and put it up for the night.  We just chilled out for the rest of the evening and I got to hold a baby while he fell asleep in my lap.  There is nothing sweeter in life than holding your babies while they drift off to sleep… 

Saturday morning we were up and out by 8:30am.  We headed over to a local park for the boys’ first Cub Scout meeting!  Aside from the total chaos that was the meeting, the boys participated in a bike-safety course before going for a 30 minute ride.  This earned them their first “belt loop!”  Since I was one of the only parents (and the only mom) who brought their bike, I was put in charge of a small group of “Cubs” for the bike ride.  So it didn’t end up being quite the training session that I had hoped for, but it was still so much fun!  My group of boys was awesome!!  Sure, we had our moments…like a pedal that fell off about 3 minutes into our ride…and the times we had to stop because some poor little biker-fella couldn’t quite make it up a hill…or the hundred water-breaks we had to stop for...;)  They did a good job off staying together in the group and not racing ahead and being respectful when someone needed to rest.  We rode 4 ½ miles in about 35 minutes.  Not too bad considering all the stops!  The boys had a fantastic time and they are totally excited about the upcoming activities that we have to look forward to.  I’m pretty sure they’re gonna like this Cub Scout thing… 

After our bike outing, we did our usual balancing act of baseball, riding lessons and my football game with my cheerleaders.  By the time we got home, it was 5 or 6 in the evening and H’s mom showed up to pick up the kiddos for the night.  We got them packed and out the door and then got ourselves ready for our night out.  We went to a local sports bar to watch the Georgia game with my bestie, Val and one of her girlfriends and also one of H’s friends.  We had a really fun time watching the game and decided we’d continue our fun at another bar where we could listen to a local band and dance.  I think I got in bed around 2:30-3 in the morning!  Luckily, we didn’t have the kiddos in the morning so H and I took full advantage and slept in.  Later in the afternoon, we headed to H’s uncle’s house for a party for his mom’s birthday.  It was so nice to see so many friends and family members turn out for her birthday; this the first without H’s step father.  The kiddos got to swim and ride around the property on a golf cart and hang out in the hot tub so they were in their glory.  There was a ton of food and beverages ~ overall, just a really nice time for his mom.  We got home at about 7pm, got the kiddos settled in in their jammies, had some down time reading, and then chilled out until bed time.  I was also in bed early because I had to be up early today to start off my week!

I got up at about 5:45am and ran this morning.  I think I’ll run again tonight!  Oh…but I also want to ride my bike…decisions, decisions…  I am such a goofball ~ a few times a day I visit my bike and touch all of its parts and maybe put the kick-stand up and roll it around.  I *love* this bike!  How did I ever live without one?!  I’ve also been looking online at biking events.  Thinking about a 28-mile ride in a few weeks.  We’ll see. 

For the rest of the week ~ I’ve got cheer practice 3 times this week and a project that I need to help Belle with…and I have to go buy the boys’ scout’s uniforms (I cannot WAIT to see them in their little shirts with that scarf tied around their neck…so cute!) and lots of working out to do…and I think that’s about it.  I have cheer practice tonight and the boys have ball practice so H and Belle are taking “Grandma” out to dinner since today is her actual birthday.  We’re giving her a spa-day at a really nice local spa, and the kiddos have all made cards for her.  I’m sure she’ll love it all! 

Cute story…When we met up with H’s mom at the party yesterday afternoon she was telling us everything she did with the kiddos including taking them to the nearby dam.  She said that afterwards they went to a store called the “Dam Store”.  She warned us that was the actual name of the store so if/when the boys started talking about the “Dam Store,” it was really ligit.  Ha ~ I couldn’t wait to hear all about it…  On the drive home from the party we were talking to the kids about what they did with Grandma and one of the boys spoke up immediately talking about visiting the DAM.  You could tell he was pleased as punch to be using the word DAM…dam this, dam that, dam, dam, dam…  H and I were trying not to laugh.  Then Noah spoke up and said, “Yeah, and then we went to the DAM STORE.”  He told us a little bit about the store and then he said, “And it had a sign in the window that said, DAM GOOD FOOD INSIDE.”  H and I busted out laughing at that point, couldn’t help it.  Lord, that child is a handful…

And that’s all I got, folks.  Got me a DAM good bike, had a DAM good time with some DAM good friends, and ate some DAM good food…;)  Looking forward to another DAM busy week ahead…  I will check back in when I have something DAM interesting to share. 

So until next DAM time, these are the days of my life.

Be great!

I Have A Secret…  I am in the process of training for a triathlon, which takes place at the end of October!  I’ve been throwing around the idea of a triathlon for over a year now.  I have a good friend in Denver who’s done a few of them and she’s been trying to convince me to train for one.  I guess the time just wasn’t ever right up until now. Well, I take that back.  The time still isn’t right…as if I’m not absolutely slammed with five million things to do on a daily basis…  I don’t know, I just got a wild hair up my ass and got online and found a triathlon that I liked the sounds of and decided I was going to do it!  I also talked my sister into training for it with me!!  We don’t actually train together ~ we’re 45 minutes away from each other, but we have a training program that we’re following…er, somewhat following, with a few modifications here and there…and we touch base everyday on how things are progressing.  The particular race that I want to sign up for consists of a quarter of a mile swim (500 yards), a 16 mile bike and a 3.2 mile run.  That is almost 20 miles of travel ~ can you imagine?!  I’m so psyched!!  My sister warns that she’ll be cheering me on from the sidelines, but I don’t believe her.  She’s in better shape than she gives herself credit for!  At any rate, I will keep you posted on how things progress on the triathlon front!  Wish me luck!!

Yesterday I had lunch with my two best girlfriends, V and N.  Our Texas friend K also joined us.  He was supposed to be hanging around through the weekend, but decided instead to head north to visit his father for a few days.  He will be driving back through Atlanta so we’ll catch up with him again when he returns.  Like I mentioned earlier, he is a good friend from my past.  He and V were actually like best friends way back when, and since I ran around with V, K and I were kind of forced to run around together as well.  It’s been so neat catching back up with him the past week or so!  He’s such a great guy and we had a really cool connection with each other.  Looking forward to seeing him again when he returns!

For the weekend…I have some running around to do tonight.  I need to buy a new bike for training – and for the actual race, so I’m going to do a little bike shopping tonight.  I also have to stop on my way home from work and buy crickets for Belle’s lizard.  How gross is that?!  I can’t believe I actually do it for her!  It totally grosses me out…those little suckers jumping all around in that clear plastic bag…eeeewwwww!!!  Belle is spending the night out with a friend, so I’ll be hanging out with the boys tonight.  Tomorrow morning we have our first Cub Scout Meeting.  It’s a bike and hike at a local park ~ perfect for my training!  Very much looking forward to it.  I’m anxious to see what the boys will think about these Cub Scout activities.  Aside from Scouts tomorrow morning, we also have the usual ~ baseball game, riding lessons and my cheerleading.  We were supposed to be having a party for Texas K tomorrow, but since he’s out of town, we’ll likely head to a sports bar somewhere and watch some college football instead ~ GO DAWGS!  We have already made arrangements for the kiddos, so we have a free night to do whatever.  I’m looking forward to a fun night hanging out with friends!  Sunday…probably doing dinner at Mother’s, as usual.  Once again, I have a very busy weekend in store for me! 

Well, I think I will close this out now.  Hoping everyone has a super fantastic weekend!  And until next time, these are the days of my life…

Be great!    

Running short on time (what else is new?!) but I wanted to post a quick update on the days of my life…

• The kids are doing great!  We’re staying busy with school, baseball games and practices, and horseback riding lessons.  Speaking of which, the decision was made to look elsewhere for riding lessons for Belle.  Financially, we could not agree to purchase or lease Chester.  Belle was really sad about this, but hopefully she understands.  I think once she gets settled into her new barn with her new instructors, she’ll be just fine.  Oh yeah, since we don’t have enough on our plate already (hear the sarcasm?), I decided to sign the boys up for Cub Scouts!  They really, REALLY wanted to do it, which surprised me, so I obliged.  I think it’ll be good for them.  Meetings are only 2-4 times a month and are not mandatory.  They said that the kids could balance a sport and Cub Scout events, so I signed them up.  They’re thrilled!  We have our first meeting Saturday morning.  It’s a hike-and-bike event at a local park.  Oh yeah, H was not happy with my decision to sign them up for Cub Scouts so he has declared that he will NOT be a part of any of the meetings and/or events.  Nice, I know.  Therefore, I have vowed to be the “Cub Scout Mom in Charge” so I will be responsible for trekking them to and from all of their activities...  This should be interesting… J

• More kid info…  Noah continues to maintain perfect E’s on all of his progress reports in conduct and work habits!  Academically, he’s doing great as well.  This is such a huge blessing, which is why I feel the need to write about it often.  He’s had a rough go of it in years past and I’m just so incredibly proud and happy for him.  When kids actually enjoy school and are comfortable in their school surroundings with teachers who just freakin’ rock, they perform better, as is the case with Noah this year.  Good boy…

• More kid info, part II…  This blog is such a true glimpse into my crazy life.  The kiddos are my number one priority and I love telling their stories…  But back to kid info part II ~ the boys are back in speech.  Again.  We’ve been doing speech since they were two!  They have tested out of the program several times only to be put back in the following school year.  It’s a bit frustrating for them, but hopefully this will be the last round of speech for them!  On the flip side, I just hate the thought of them losing their cute little speech quirks…like the way Noah lisps…and how Rossy makes the “d” sound when pronouncing “th” words…and how both of them have trouble with the “ar” sound, instead pronouncing it as “ow” ~ like car sounds more like “cow” and Marlins sounds more like “Mowlins”…so freakin’ CUTE!  But I know they’ll be so much more confident when their speech improves.  They definitely know they’re not up to par with it so we’re hoping to knock it all out this year!

•  As for me, work remains the same ~ ho hum…  I’ve not actively been looking for the new job of my dreams, but hopefully when cheerleading season is over, I’ll get back on it.  I’m truly ready for a change!  Cheerleading competition is 2 ½ weeks away.  Holy cow!  I just shocked myself!!  Eeeeeks!  The girls will learn the very last part of their routine tonight at practice, praise God, so we’ll be able to critique from here on out.  What else…things on the home-front have been…a little sticky here lately.  I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say it’s definitely not been a cakewalk.  Obviously I wasn’t expecting perfect harmony from here until forever, but damn, I wish things were going a little more smoothly than they are.  We shall see…

• Weekend fun ~ had another busy weekend, what else is new right?  Friday night we went out to dinner, and Belle and I prepared for the next day’s activities which included a pet parade!  The neighborhood hosted a pet-show/parade so the kids took Angel Snowball Twinkle Star (good dog), Tiffany Suzanne (devil/million dollar dog), and Mohawk (albino lepard gecko).  It was a trip!  We had so much fun with it!!  Angel won for “best dressed” and Mohawk won for “most unusual”.  Poor Tiffy didn’t get an award, but there were lots of pets there and we were happy with the two medals we did win.  I will include pics at the end of this post.  Enjoy!  Saturday also included games, riding lessons and cheerleading.  Later that night, I went out with friends and had a fantastic time!  Sunday...dinner at my Mothers where I got to hang out with the crazy fam...

• Long Lost Friends ~ an old time friend of mine and my bestie V recently got in touch with several of our old “running buddies” from when we were about 19 – 22 years old.  He came into town from Texas and V, K (Tx friend), and I went out Saturday night.  We had the best time!!  We went for Mexican and margaritas and talked and talked and talked about what each of us has been up to for the past 15 years ~ that’s how long it’s been since we’ve seen him.  It was really fun and so cool to hook back up with someone from the past.  Last night I hosted a cookout at my house for him and V and her kiddos came over as did our good friend T and her crew.  Again, it was a really fun time.  We’ll probably all get together this weekend as well.  Plans are kind of up in the air right now, but we’ll see. 

I think that’s it!  Geez, what happened to my “quick update”?  Oh well!  I hope everyone is doing great out in blogland and until next time, these are the days of my life….

Be great!

Angel Snowball Twinkle Star ~ aka "Patriotic Pup"    

Tiffany Suzanne in her pink party dress...;)

Belle and Mohawk

Belle and Angel ~ aren't they sweet?!

Ross and Tiffy

Belle getting ready to show Angel

Rossy waiting for his turn with Tiffy...

A crowd gathering around Mohawk after he was crowned "most unusual"

The Pet Show Gang!

The evening had been planned in advance.  It was sure to be a fun time, and a time for “reconnecting” after a two year lapse in our fourteen year relationship.  It’s these simple moments and experiences that will serve as our saving grace in the end, provided that we make it that far.  These outings and social events are both necessary and vital to our happily-ever-after. Yet we don’t regard them as such.  Perhaps we should…

Our night out went even better than anticipated!  We had *so* much fun at the Brave’s game with friends; enjoying incredible seats, a few drinks, and lots of laughs.  I was excited beyond words, the kind of excitement that only a child can experience sincerely, to learn that there was a FIREWORKS SHOW after the game!!!  Who doesn’t absolutely LOVE the magic of fireworks?!  We settle in as the first booming light-explosions take place and I am glued to the excitement, my eyes fixated at the sky above, my mouth giving into the biggest, goofiest grin ever…  And then it hits me.  I feel like I’ve been blind-sided by a train.  Out of no where and like a ton of bricks, it hits me…  For some reason he enters my mind.  A thousand thoughts go through my head totally invading the current time, place, and events of my life and they won’t stop.  Even though I try desperately to will them away, they won’t stop…and so I give into them… 

I wish he was here.  I wish he was sitting next to me…with his arm wrapped around my shoulder and his hand on my knee.  I wish he could see what I’m seeing and feel what I am experiencing..  I want this fireworks show to be a celebration of “us”.  I wish I could turn my head and kiss him…and breathe him in…that scent that used to be so familiar to me…that scent that is “him”.  I wish I could hold his hand and pull him even closer to me; my protector.  I see him in my mind…he would be wearing jeans if he was here, and a t-shirt.  Not a Brave’s shirt, just a regular old t-shirt ~ and tennis shoes, but no baseball hat.  I’ve never seen him wear a hat...?!  I wonder if he ever does and what he looks like in one…  And so I picture him wearing a baseball hat and he looks cute beyond words in it…cute in his handsome-way-cute, of course…  I want to lean into him and rest my head on his shoulder.  I want to enjoy this simple moment with him by my side…  I wonder where he is tonight.  I wonder if he ever thinks this way about me.  I wonder if thoughts of me make his heart ache the way thoughts of him make mine.  Then I remember.  And as I do, clarity slowly overtakes the place of this “invasion”…  Clarity reminds me where I’m at, how I got here, and why…

We never got to experience fun, simple things like this.  We didn’t share a life together or even a real relationship.  We didn’t get to enjoy these kinds of outings together.  We didn’t get Braves games, or nights out with friends...or fireworks... I don’t even know if he wears baseball hats, for Christ sakes!  Maybe he would have dressed in a Braves shirt if he was here tonight, and shorts ~ not the jeans and generic t-shirt as I predicted.  How would I know anyway?  I can’t just turn my head and kiss him, and "breathe him in" as I did once upon a time.  I don’t even remember what that feels like anymore…  I do remember the heartache and the pain of him though.  I do remember why things ended between us and why I chose to pursue my current path…."Keep remembering,” I tell myself, “Keep remembering.”…    

My girlfriend sitting next to me turns to look at me, probably to see if I’m still alive seeing how my non-stop chatter and excitement has suddenly been replaced with calmness and silence.  If she only knew…  I look down to fidget with my camera so I don’t have to meet her gaze.  The tears have spilled over and I need to find a way to erase them and all signs that they ever existed.  A few swipes of my cheeks and a deep breath later, I regain my composure and enter back into the here and now.  The sky continues to boom and flash and I focus my eyes on the display above and my mind on the present, not the past.  What matters is what is right here in front of me.  What I left behind is there for a reason. 

I ask H to put his arm around me and he does and we watch the fireworks, together…

The memories are sure to flood my mind again at some point.  Obviously, I’m not as far past him as I thought I was.  He remains stuck ~ somewhere in my head and in my heart.  But when these “invasions” of him take place and I find myself questioning my decisions and my current path and destination, I simply need to remind myself why I am here and he is not.

We were never meant to be.  And that is why we never got to experience the simple, but important things, like Braves games, and outings with friends...and the magic...of fireworks.

No decisions on Chester yet.  H and I haven’t really had an opportunity to discuss it at length.  I’m thinking it’s not gonna happen though.  It’s just not a really wise financial decision for us at this time, unfortunately.  Looking on the bright side though ~ we can follow the recommendation of our current riding instructor and get Belle signed up for lessons at another barn where I’m sure she’ll be very happy.  Also, I’m 100% certain that the minute Belle meets her new little “riding buddy” she will fall in love all over again.  I imagine we’ll still be able to visit Chester too, so all is not lost.  We’ll make it work no matter what… J

Friday night after work, H and I went to the Atlanta Braves game with friends.  We had the BEST time ever!  We had outstanding seats a few rows up from behind home plate, service from our seats, free food and drinks ~ it was awesome.  And surprise, the Braves won ~ yay!  And we got to enjoy a fireworks show afterwards.  Aside from getting stuck in some mad traffic on our way home, it was a really great night. 

So yesterday we spent the day at the pool and I am FRIED!  I did such a good job of protecting my skin this summer ~ better than I’ve ever done, I think.  So what do I do…I wait until our very last “pool day” to just fry myself silly.  It is ridiculous that I was so careless.  I honestly don’t know what I was thinking ~ obviously I wasn’t.  I made sure the kiddos were taken care of.  I just didn’t pay attention to myself and neglected to reapply my sunscreen after getting into the pool a few times.  So I am now a lovely shade of…reds and pinks, all splotchy and blotchy, complete with the raccoon eyes and a red hot nose that is sure to peel any day now.  Most attractive, I know.  I’m bummed that I did this!  I look a hot mess and my skin is on fire ~ ouch!  Hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson…ugh…

Not much else to report on.  I have this weird thing going on with my right ear…surely I don’t have a freaking ear infection?!  I never EVER get sick (knock on wood) and I refuse to go to the doctor for something frivolous, but something is seriously going on with my ear…and like the whole right side of my head.  Lord have mercy, I’ll wait and see what happens with it… 

I’ve got cheer practice 3 days this week plus a cheer meeting Wednesday night and of course the game on Saturday.  I’m almost done with the new routine, thank goodness.  We’re less than 4 weeks out from our big competition so I will be busting some serious little rockstar-cheerleading behind these next few weeks!!  I’m psyched that I have a late game this week because I’ll be able to catch the boys’ baseball game beforehand!  Stinks because I’ll miss some very important college football (go DAWGS!), but nothing beats sitting on the sidelines of my boys’ baseball games so I’m cool with that. J

And with that I will be signing off for today!  As always, be great!!      

Last week, Belle got a letter from her horseback riding instructor informing us that the barn we’ve been with for almost a year would no longer be providing lessons ~ unless you owned or leased a horse that boarded at their facility; a financial decision, I’m sure.  We also learned that the pony Belle has been riding in her lessons since we started there is up for sale, or lease.  Needless to say, we were heartbroken to learn of this.  “Chester” is an absolute love.  Belle positively adores him.  He’s a 10-year-old rescue pony, chesnut red in color, with a beautiful fluffy mane and “afro” bangs as we like to describe him, just Belle’s size…  So I spoke with Belle’s riding instructor today after her lesson.  She explained to me that she (the instructor, not the owner of the barn) teaches at a local high school and coaches their girl’s softball team as well.  On top of that, she does riding lessons throughout the week.  She told me that she’s currently working about 80 hours a week and she is just overloaded and exhausted.  Therefore, she is unable to continue with her current schedule and must give up some of her lessons…  The barn owner simply cannot afford the upkeep of her lesson ponies and horses (she does a lot of rescue work) without the extra income coming in from the lessons, so they’ve put several of them up for sale and/or lease.  We are relatively new to this whole “horse” thing.  Neither H nor I have any experience with horses whatsoever.  Meanwhile, Belle is extremely passionate about horses and riding and therefore we intend to do what we need to do to keep her in lessons.  As we have already had experience with 2 other barns prior to ending up where we are now, I hate to have to move her again.  The people here are incredible and her instructor is just the best.  She told me that Isabelle is too good of a rider to not continue her lessons and that she would help place her in another highly respected barn if we’d like her to do so.  But we don’t want to lose Chester, or our instructor!  So I talked to her today about the leasing option for him.  To lease him, we’d be required to pay a $400 boarding fee per month plus $35 per lesson for Belle, which is once a week.  This would mean roughly $540 per month for Chester and Belle’s lessons.  The good thing about it is that we would essentially be Chester’s owners.  The barn would cover all of his boarding fees including his feedings and medical care.  We would be paying the flat $400 fee per month to have him designated as “ours” ~ yet not be the actual responsible owners.  Belle’s instructor told me today that Belle is totally competent to be a horse owner.  I was shocked by this!  Owning a horse is HUGE…  She told me that generally, she would NEVER make the recommendation that a 10-year old become a horse owner.  But she said that Belle is absolutely ready for the responsibility ~ that she totally and completely cares for Chester on her lesson days, including feeding him, cleaning out his stall, “tacking” him (?), cleaning his feet, brushing, etc…untacking him, washing him, and everything else that’s required to care for a pony.  Isabelle is completely aware of the latest turn of events.  She knows that her barn will no longer be providing lessons by the end of the month, but that Chester is available for sale or lease and that if he is hers, then she can continue her lessons at her barn.  Belle and I correspond back and forth in email.  So cute and a great way, in my opinion, to stay well in touch with your kiddos.  Sometimes it’s easier to write things down (that would be me in a nutshell) rather than having to be more confrontational and state your opinions, feelings, etc…up front in words.  So today Belle wrote this to me in email…copy and pasted in its exact form…  To preface it, we stopped at the pet store today after her riding lessons, which we always do, to buy crickets for her lizard (gross, I know) and a new goldfish for her since her last one croaked last week.  When I was getting the fishbowl ready for new fishy, Belle started talking about Chester and at one point she walked away from me ~ obviously very upset…  My heart was breaking for her, but I thought it best to let her get her emotions out on her own.  I did ask her several times if she was okay and if there was anything she needed to talk to me about.  That was when she proceeded up to the “computer room” to write me this message in email…

 Dear mom,

Will you please buy or lease Chester?  You're proboply going to say no but here are some reasons you should get him because I've wanted one since I was like 5, and if you don't, then I'll have to switch barns again and I really don't want to do that because I've not been at S_____ R___ stables for very long.  When I walked off when you were cleaning out the fish bowl today, that was what was wrong with me. [I was crying].  I've been really upset ever since we got that letter.  If I had to choose between Chester or have all my friends move into a neighborhood together and we'd get to live in 8 story houses

I’d choose Chester still, because even though that would be awesome, I wouldn’t get to ride Chester anymore.  And if you did buy him I'd be so happy that I'd melt. If this hasn't made up your mind then please think about it.  If you say no then I'll be so sad that there aren't words to explain it.  PLEASE DON'T SAY NO.

Love,

Belle

Oh dear God…she melts my heart…  I would love for nothing more than to be able to lease (purchasing is absolutely out of the question) that pony for her.  But it is so financially wrong for us at the present time.  Money is tight as it is ~ with H being in the mortgage industry and him pretty much bringing in nothing these days…we struggle like we’ve never struggled before to stay on top of things…  Then again, we’ve gotten a little bit of a lift off our load as well.  Remember me writing about our piece of crap mini-van that was falling apart at the seams…???  We’ve owned the thing for over 8 years and it’s totally time to trade that sucker in for a new vehicle.  We like to keep it at one car payment at a time ~ and believe it or not, we’ve been able to do so for as long as I can remember.  My car will be paid off any day now.  We were completely ready to get rid of the van and get a new vehicle, aka, another car payment…  But when H’s step-father passed away in July, his mother graciously gifted us with a new vehicle!  His mom and step-dad owned 3 vehicles (all paid for); his mother’s little convertible (she’s driven convertibles since I’ve known her), “Grandad’s” truck, and then their Lexus SUV that they pretty much drove together…  Well, a few days after we lost Grandad, H’s mother told us that she wanted to give us the Lexus.  She, of course, was met with great resistance ~ afterall, we’re not at all about hand outs and we’ve never sought our families for such.  But at the same time we understood that H’s mother was nowhere near ready to sell that vehicle, and that Grandad would love to see his grandkids being hauled around in that awesome vehicle…  They’d been on us for some time to get rid of the van and buy a new vehicle because they worried about the kids’ safety…;)  That damn van was a great car and never ever gave us an ounce of trouble.  It did/does need some repair and they were always concerned about us driving their grandbabies around in that thing…;)  So we ended up accepting the new vehicle and it has been an awesome new car for us.  The kids are positively thrilled with it, and it is nice knowing that you’re driving around in a good sound, safe vehicle.   My point is ~ we’d be paying in new car expenses what we’d be paying for pony.  I don’t know, it’s still a stretch.  It’s a very difficult decision and one I still need to discuss with H.  We will see what happens…

SO, our weekend has been busy as usual!  The boys lost their first regular season game, though they both did okay today.  I went from riding lessons to my football game (with my cheerleaders) and back again to riding lessons to get Belle.  H went out with friends tonight to watch college football, and I of course, have 2 extra kiddos spending the night tonight.  Tomorrow we plan on spending the day at the pool.  The pool-party that I thought was taking place last weekend, is actually taking place tomorrow ~ so we have plans to hang out there all day tomorrow with friends.  It’s sure to be a very fun time for all! 

And with that, I will be signing off.  I hope everyone is having a super fantastic weekend, and until next time ~ these are the days of my life…

Be great!

Ps ~ any input on our “pony dilemma” would be greatly appreciated!

Belle came home from school this week with an urgent request.  Please Mom…Pleeeeeease!!!  This one has them and that one has them...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! 

Guess what the kid wants.  New shoes!  I kid you not.  And I am totally prepared to buy them for her.  We have issues around here…

Have a fantastic weekend ~ Be great!

Happy Friday everybody!  H and I have plans to go to the Braves game tonight with friends.  The husband of this couple got the tickets through his work and apparently we have some really kick-ass seats behind home plate, complete with “meal tickets” and food and beverage service.  How exciting is that?!  Speaking of which, I think I’ll use my “meal ticket” for beverages instead…nothing like a Braves game and a cold beer…or two…;)

Last weekend was totally busy!  Friday night we went out to dinner with all 5 kiddos in tow; my 3 plus the extra 2 we had all weekend long.  Then when we got home, we made a bonfire and let the kids play outside ‘til all hours of the night.  They love that!  Saturday we did the usual ~ juggled ball practice, riding lessons and my football game during the day.  Saturday night I got together with 3 of my cheer-moms (my assistant coach and 2 team moms) for a “girls’ night out”.  What was supposed to be a casual outing with drinks and appetizers turned out to be a 6-hour affair that ended in all of us needing to call for rides home from the restaurant!  Apparently we don’t get out enough, what can I say…;)  Sunday we were up and out early heading to my sister’s for a family get together.  We always have so much fun at our family gatherings.  My mother and sisters are dear to me beyond words and the kiddos love running around with their cousins.  It was a super fun time and we got home really late Sunday night.  But that didn’t stop us!  We were up and out again bright and early the next day also, heading to the lake to spend the day with H’s dad and step-mother.  We put in a full day of fishing, swimming, and riding wave runners.  Needless to say, we were all completely exhausted as we crashed into bed Monday night…

The kids’ school held curriculum night last week so I got to go meet their teachers and learn about their classroom policies and what to expect throughout the school year.  I am so happy to report that I positively adore all 3 of their teachers!  It is such a good feeling to know that your child is in good hands at school.  A good teacher makes all the difference ~ I have witnessed this first hand.  With that said, Noah has continued to maintain all E’s on his weekly reports in both behavior and work-habits.  This in and of itself is a HUGE accomplishment for him.  This is the first time in his little elementary school career that he is actually enthusiastic about school.  It is awesome…  Belle is sailing along as usual, and Ross has stepped up his game and has been earning E’s too after seeing Noah’s progress report after that first week of school.  So we’re off to a really great school year so far! 

At Noah’s curriculum night, his teacher had a folder full of important classroom information.  Included in the folder was this little piece that I found so very touching…

The teacher

said to the students:

“Come to the edge.”

They replied: “We might fall.”

The teacher again said:

“Come to the edge.”

and they responded:

“It’s too high.”

“Come to the edge.”

The teacher demanded!

And they came

and the teacher pushed them

and they

flew.

  I don’t know about you, but it made me tear up.  Maybe it’s my teaching background…maybe it’s the fact that I feel that education is SO important…maybe it’s because I know that a teacher can change the life of a child…  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did!

On the agenda for this weekend ~ of course the Braves game tonight, the boys’ first baseball game, Belle’s riding lesson, and my football game tomorrow.  If we have anything planned for Saturday night, I can’t think of it at the moment.  There’s sure to be something, though!  Sunday ~ dinner with the family, as usual.  Oh, I also need to finish choreographing the competition routine for my little rockstar cheerleaders.  This is quite a task, let me tell you…  This is my 3^rd year coaching with this particular organization and I’ve had most of my girls since that first year.  We’ve won both cheer-off competitions in 3^rd and 4^th grade so these parents are expecting great things from me!  Oh hell, *I’m* expecting great things from me too, who am I kidding?!  But year after year it gets harder and harder to put these routines together.  I don’t know…I’m a 37 year old mother trying to stay in the cheerleading loop and it ain’t so easy anymore…ugh!  Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

With that I suppose I will be signing off.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and until next time…these are the days of my life…

Be great!

When I got home from work yesterday I was perplexed by what I found on my kitchen island.  I came through the back door and rounded the corner from the sunroom into the kitchen and there it was, sitting right there on the corner of the island in all it’s glory.  It was a bug.  A GINORMOUS bug.  With big ass wings that spanned more than the width of the palm of my hand and a body as thick as my pinky finger.  It appeared to be propped up on its two front feet, totally prepared for takeoff, and I think it had teeth.  I was *so* creeped out by it but could not stop studying it’s presence on my island!  It was the most curious, disgusting thing!!  Belle is famous for her plastic bug and lizard collection.  It’s not unusual to find her spiders or grasshoppers or praying mantis’ all over the house.  Surely this was one of her bug toys…right?  Pleeeease dear God tell me this thing isn’t real!  H was in the kitchen and saw me studying the bug.  He could tell I was nervous.  He said, “it’s real” to which I screamed, threw my purse and keys, and quite literally walked (er ran) on air to get away from the disgusting thing!  H laughed at me and told me it was dead.  Then he got called a not-so-nice name.  After some questioning he told me that it was Belle’s.  She found it.  And then put it on the island in my kitchen for safe keeping.  Wth?  What kind of a household am I running here??  I told H that it needed to be removed immediately, but he refused.  He was too grossed out by it also to touch it!  Okay, I thought, I’ll just tell Belle to move it when she comes inside the house.  Until then, I’ll just ignore it.  At least it can’t fly.  Or bite.  So I go about my business cooking dinner…H had to run to the store for something…and then I noticed it.  The bug was gone!  OMG, tell me that thing did not come back to life!!  I frantically started looking around and then noticed the commotion between Tiffany Suzanne and Tink (dog and cat) in the living room.  Ah, mystery solved.  They somehow got a hold of the bug and were…playing with it?  Whatever they were doing to it, it was no longer in one piece.  Gross.  Oh hell…Belle is going to FREAK OUT when she finds out her dead bug was eaten.  I got on the phone and called H.  Did you move the bug?  No, why.  Because it’s laying on the living room floor in pieces, Belle is going to freak.  He told me not to leave it there – to pick it up and throw it away.  Maybe she won’t freak if she doesn’t see it.  Right about that time Noah came inside.  I told him that he and mommy were on a mission.  We had to get the dragonfly off the living room floor and into the trash.  He proceeded to ooooh and aaaaah over it’s…pieces.  I’m going over the instructions of how we are going to rid of said pieces…Mommy will get the broom, and you will hold the dust pan, and mommy will sweep it…  I was walking towards the scene of the crime, broom and dust pan in hand, when Noah simply picked it up by one of it’s broken wings and threw it in the garbage.  Thank God.  Now, what about the other pieces…?  I got the vacuum out and took care of the rest.  Fortunately when Belle came inside she had Orphan Annie in tow and was in good spirits.  I told some funny kitty-stories and slipped it in at the end that kitty got a hold of dragonfly and ate him.  Luckily, she laughed.  Whew!  No more dragonflies on my kitchen island, Little Miss Bug Collector!

The weekend is coming up and I’m not sure that I will have time to blog until sometime next week.  I’m keeping 2 extra kiddos Friday through Monday as their parents are going out of town.  I’m also keeping their dog.  It’s a labradoodle.  I need my head examined.  Why do I do things like this?!  Tomorrow I have a hair appointment!  I LOVE hair appointments!!  Getting my highlights updated, hopefully not a cut though.  I’m trying to grow it back out.  Not sure what we have planned for tomorrow night, but I’m sure we’ll be out doing something.  Saturday, we have the usual…games, practices, riding lessons…  Not sure of Saturday night plans either.  We’ll probably hit the pool at some point because it’s closing soon.  Sunday we have a family party at my sister’s house.  That is sure to be a fun time!  Love my family…  Monday, we’ll hang out at the pool all day.  The neighborhood is having a big party just like the one they had on the 4^th of July.  Cookout, live DJ, games, etc…  The kids will love it and we’ll have a great time hanging out with friends!  So yeah, I’m pretty sure that I won’t be hopping on here anymore until next week.  I hope everyone reading (hi Bridgette! ;) has a fantastic Labor Day weekend! 

Until next time, these are the days of my life.

Be great!