And That's All I Have to Say About That.

     One last post today...just to do a quick update.  Things don't really seem interesting enough to blog about until there is a ton of stuff going on at once it seems.
     We went to see Laurel's friend Barlow's play.  It was a LOONG three hours because of my lack of sleep lately, but it was funny.  "Dirty Work at the Crossroads" is a black and white silent movie era story, complete with a victim tied to train tracks.  It was exactly how you imagine a high school production would be. 
     Just last week we signed up for The Fresh 20 which has made dinner the last week easy, and enjoyable.  I have come to loathe making menus and grocery lists, but these guys do it for you!  Low budget, healthy (Turns out WW friendly!) food that tastes great.  I polled the family, and they all want to keep these recipes and do them again.  That is a major compliment, and I highly recommend!
     I embarrassed the heck out of myself on the 16th... Jay asked me to lunch with him and some of his soldiers...I was wearing my soft star shoes, and I slipped in the light drizzle. I hit my knee, and slammed my finger into a pillar when I tried to catch myself. If Jay hadn't been holding my hand I would have face-planted.
You should have seen the look on the waitress' faces when they asked if I was okay. They looked as if I was going to sue! I had to giggle a bit. They were really nice and brought me ice, though.
     Jay and I got Samsung galaxy phones from our home phone carrier last week. I asked if we could get rid of the home phone to save money, and the lady said that it would end up being the same price because I "have a reeeealy nice package".
She did not laugh when I said "Why, THANK you!"
Jay and I almost cried, we were laughing so hard. Thank god it was over the phone, or she would have thought we were nuts.
     One of Jay's soldiers was at the Boston Marathon last week.  It doesn't seem to have bothered him that he ran past two bombs, and was spared a horrid experience merely because he trained well and ran fast.  He was on his was to the airport when the bombs went off, and just got out before everything was locked down.  I was in my car, yelling at Sean Hannity and calling him a moron, when he cut himself off to relay the news. It instantly occurred to me that this soldier was there, and I was worried.  The initial reports after an incident like this are unreliable, and wild and I had no idea whether this was a small matter, or another 9/11.  This is part of the reason I agreed to get a cellphone. I had no way to call Jay to find out what was going on, and it drove me crazy.  This particular soldier was fine, but another soldiers family was there and got injured, so it was nerve wracking. There isn't much I can say, except I wish this sort of thing would stop happening...and I wish there was something we could all do to make that a reality.
     One last thing.   I got into a fight with my extended family a little while back.  Now, I try to keep the very personal things out of my blog, the intimate details of my life that are not internet fodder, but for this one subject I am making an exception.  I think that I have waited a reasonable amount of time, allowing for thought and reflection before I just open my mouth.  The argument was rather simple, really. A while back, my brother mentioned on his blog that he wanted to write a book about his life and how he grew up.  By extension, I thought, this meant he may mention me, or my father (Who passed away when I was 14 and is then obviously no longer here to defend himself against my brothers poor and prejudiced memory.) I asked my mother to talk to him about this, and let him know that I didn't want anything about me written anywhere.  My story is mine to tell, and mine to edit as I see fit.  I thought that she understood what I meant, and she had a conversation with him about it.  To my surprise, not but a couple of weeks later, my mother herself wrote a story on Bub's blog about me and a friend of mine that was not in the last bit flattering.  Now, I might not have been nearly as mad if I hadn't been very specific about my wishes just a short time before...but there it is.  I called them both on it, and it only took a day for the post to come down, but of course, things are never gone when it comes to the internet.  I decided that the best course of action was to not argue about it. I just shut them off and out.  I am extremely careful about the people I surround myself with...and all of them are people I love and trust. I refuse to have to deal with people that call me names, refuse to let me grow, are negative, and suck the happy right out of me. So if you are still reading my blog, there is your answer.  And if you are one of the people that read that post on my brother's blog, I'm sorry to the friend with whom it concerned, and I have grown up since that incident.  The funny thing is, while my brother was screaming at me to own up to being a bad mother, and my mother was trying to say it didn't make me look bad, neither of them actually knew the whole story, and it was a damn sight better than you thought.
 And that's all I have to say about that.

A Life Too Ordinary

If you've ever wondered how short I am...I can't reach the floor!

     I've been blogging for five years now.  It's incredible to think of all the changes that have come and been accepted in that amount of time.  We have moved twice, our beloved dog Chet died, I've taken a semi-permanent break for volunteering, Laurel is half done with High school, Miah has grown up considerably and made astounding progress in school, Jay has been home more than he hasn't....too many things to number.  I haven't been the constant blogger.  There have been long stretches of time where nothing of note really happened, and facebook has turned into a daily accounting of my life.  It's funny though.  The in-betweens are my life.  All of the stuff that is too dull to mention, the little irritations that are more fitting for a facebook rant than a full blown blog...
     I have thought of putting hands to keyboard several times this past year, only to get distracted by life.  I did finally get around to posting my New Orleans pictures, but never got around to writing about what we did.  Now that I think about it, its probably not interesting enough to get into.  The basics are that Jay and I found a beautiful spot to renew our vows to each other on our 13th anniversary, just like we had planed since we first got married.  We both spent almost an entire year writing those vows, and it turns out, we were on the same wavelength the entire time.  I got to see a gator up close and personal, and we had time alone together.  The heat was miserable, the parking was expensive, and I won't be going back, but it was more about being in the same space together, and not about the space we were in.
     I wanted to cheer a few months ago when I found out that Sara is moving back to KY.  I had to hold on to that bit of news for a bit though.  I can't believe how much time has already passed since I saw her last.  I am so excited to have her closer to me I just can't stand it.  There just aren't words!  I just hope Jay is prepared for how much driving he'll be doing.
The other wonderful, exciting thing is that we are going on vacation with Sheila and Scotty this year.  We haven't gotten a lot of chances to spend this much time together since Jay and I got married, and I can't wait for June to roll around.  We will be in a cabin in the woods for Miah's 13th birthday, and I hope we don't disappoint her too much.
     This year the girls both have major milestone birthdays, 13 and 16.  I am beside myself with disbelief. Where did all that time go? I find myself thinking that more and more these days.  As Laurel approaches the age I was when I got pregnant with her, my paranoia grows.  She did have a boyfriend that I was getting nervous about, but she decided against pursuing that relationship.  I surprisingly did not breath a sigh of relief though.  I am very fond of this particular young man.  We even spent the evening with his entire family one night, and while it was awkward, I did really enjoy meeting his grandmother in particular. She struck me as a "Me in 30 years" type of person.  He still walks Laurel to the car though, so I think he hasn't yet given up hope.  Me either, kid.  He reminds me very much of Jay when he was that age, and we all know what great potential that has.  He is going to be a good man one day.
     Jay and the girls have added a new tradition to Pancake Day.  The three of them have started playing D&D together.  Now, before you roll your eyes (I did that already) I have to say that it is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.  I had a grown up male friend that I watched play this game in the back of his store, and it was ridiculous...but when it's Daddy and his too little girls  it rivals the cutest kitty on Reddit.  Seriously, you have not lived until you hear them slay a dragon together.
     I got Jay to join Weight Watchers with me. He has lost almost 18lbs already, and we have started walking 9 miles a week together, on top of the 30 minutes of stationary bike I do every morning, and the PT he does.  I'm almost at my 10% goal, and the exercise is getting easier.  I'm not terribly fond of the meeting leader, she is several years younger than me, and complains about not being able to drink enough...but thankfully I am still friends with my favorite leader from Georgia. I just can't see me relying on help from someone who is so much younger than me...and I have been going to meetings off an on for more years than I'd care to count.  I could be a leader myself if I had the inclination.  I don't think I have enough enthusiasm to be a good leader though.  I have seen good leaders, and I have seen bad ones, and I know how much of a difference a good one can make. I refuse to be half good at anything.
     Jay bought me an IPad for my birthday last year.  I tried to get him to take it back, because I already had an IPod, but he refused.  I reluctantly fell in love with it.  It has ruined my ability to type, and it does not have a blogger ap, so it's not perfect, BUT I spend a lot of time on it. Part of the reason that I haven't blogged much has been the IPad.  I really need to establish a routine so that I don't have to force myself to sit a the computer.  The whole point of the blog was to communicate with my friends and family, and to document our lives together.  Facebook is a good communication tool, but not a good way to record a life.
     Speaking of which, I have that life that I need to get back to.  Washing machine repairmen are on the way, Jay's car needs to be taken care of, the bills are due soon, and I swear I think I just heard my IPad alert me to a facebook message....

13 Days Until my 5th Blogoversary

Jay spoiled me for almost the entire week for Valentines Day.

We woke up to snow one day last week, but after the sun came up it only lasted a couple of hours.

It was beautiful for a while though.

I remember Laurel hating the blue hair. I had to talk her into it, and that was just for one day!

Now Laurel has opted for permanent blue AND black hair. Strangely, the same week she also had her first babysitting  job.