Vegas recap

It has been a busy Dec. as I am sure most can commiserate with... but I have finally gotten a bit of time to put up some pics from Las Vegas. We had a wonderful time and I pretty much broke even gambling... Jeff says I actually came out ahead because I didn't have to pay for one drink the entire time we were there. :D

We took an afternoon and drove through Red Rock Canyon- it was absolutely gorgeous!

Beautiful country!

Neat red line of rock through the middle of that mountain- our Geology major cheergirlie explained that the rocks were exposed to higher oxygen levels when this part of the mountain was formed which produced the reddish color of the rocks. (I think I got that right?!) 

 

My handsome hubby!

Me

Still going strong after 27 yrs...but man my hair is a wreck- YIKES!

A wonderful trip together!

MOB shopping

So today I did it...
I finally went out shopping for my mother of the bride dress....
I have been dreading it... putting it off.... because I am not happy with how I look these days...

Jenny and I went out... the first place we went to... all I can say is BLAH... 
talk about matronly dresses... YIKES!

My mood headed south as I tried a few on... and the expense... holy cannoli!

So we moved on to David's Bridal...
Wow what a great selection! AND  *drumroll* ... SUCCESS!!!!

I found it... the DRESS! (and it was very affordable!!!!!!)

Take a peek-

I LOVE IT! & the color will be great with my coloring!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Gearing up for Thanksgiving- we have decided since the weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow (said while looking at the downpour outside) that we are going to purchase a turkey fryer and try making a deep fried turkey tomorrow.  I have a 12 lb turkey completely defrosted (yes I have seen the videos of the whole thing engulfed in flames) and am hopeful that we can pull it off. 

 What we hope does NOT happen!

Cheergirlie has to go back tomorrow night because JMU made the playoff and they are flying the team & cheerleaders to Eastern Kentucky Fri. morning for the game on Sat. She is super excited to be able to go and we will hopefully be able to watch & catch a glimpse of her on one of the ESPN stations!

Have a SAFE and wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

So hubby has a conference in Las Vegas next month... and this time... I get to go :D   

So has anyone ever been there? 

Any suggestions of must sees? 

I know I will spend some quality time with the slot machines while he has meetings but since I have never been there I am open to suggestions. We only have two nights...

brown recluse kiss my a**!

So last night hubby & I spent 2.5 hrs in the ER. Last Sat. morning he was cutting down the ornamental grasses by our pool and when he was done asked me to look at his leg, behind his knee.
I told him it looked like the got some kind of bite- it was pink and about the size of a dime.

Sunday- the "bite" is now the size of when you put your forefinger and thumb together to do an "ok" sign.... hubby is feeling under the weather- maybe he is coming down with something???

Yesterday I get home and the red part is now about double in size and there is pink radiating around it about 4" all around- it looked NASTY! AND he felt like crap- said he felt like he was getting the flu- all achy etc.

I told him to get in the car- we were going to the ER.
He of course said I was over reacting.....

Guess what? They think he was bitten by a brown recluse spider....

he is now on an antibiotic and they did a lyme test on him "just in case". Poor guy!!!!!

Nice surprise!

Last night cheergirlie surprised us and came home early. She was originally going to come home today and turn around and borrow a car and go visit friends at another college for the weekend. Then come home Sunday return the car and go back to JMU.

Usually my family finds it difficult to surprise me- but she got me! It was great! She came home just in time for dinner with her father and I and then we had the evening just to be together.  So nice!

The engaged one just began another (#3) new job at a local coffee/muffin shop. She already had two other jobs but has been feeling the financial crunch with the wedding soon approaching so she decided to find another job. She is really enjoying it so far and they LOVE her!! My kids are such hard workers!

This weekend is Homecoming for QB1 and tonight is the Powder Puff football game- for which he is the senior girls Offensive coordinator. He made his "girls" a playbook and everything- he is really enjoying it!

The weather this weekend is supposed to be cooler 55-60* but sunny! I am looking forward to it!
Hope you and yours have a great weekend!

Two Horses/ Author Unknown

I received this in an email today and loved it so I wanted to share:

Two Horses/ Author Unknown

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing.... Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.
This alone is amazing.

If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow.

As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting that he will not be led astray.
When the horse with the bell returns To the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.
He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need..
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives.
Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way....
Be kinder than necessary- Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly....... And leave the rest to God!


FOR WE WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT!

JMU bound!

This coming weekend I will be heading to JMU to visit cheergirlie for Parents weekend. Last weekend the Dukes lost in overtime to Maine so I am hoping they beat the pants off of Villanova this upcoming weekend. Cheergirlie sent me a pic as she was leaving for the game.

This is the face of a Geology/Environmental Science major- go figure huh?

It should be a fun weekend- I haven't seen Cheergirlie since early August so I am looking forward to the visit. 

the truth about teaching

Today I came across an article which pretty much sums up how a lot of educators feel these days....http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

I could associate with so much of what was written in this article. I love kids, I really do- even the so called "difficult" ones because I can usually get past all their bravado and can get them to work for me. It takes patience, faith, and the building of trust.

I work primarily with special education students, many of which will never be able to live on their own so I "get" that these parents have had and will continue to have a tough road.  I don't envy them that, not only do they need to plan for their own retirement but have the worry of who will care for their child when their gone.   

I wish parents could just trust that most of us who teach aren't in it for the money- we truly care about our students

All that said- truth be told...If I didn't have one child getting married in less than a year and two more in college next year I too would be leaving in large part due to many of the things discussed in this article. Parents like the ones described bring on a kind of stress that eats away from you.

However, teaching & the connection I have with my students minus the "parent factor"....

is  AWESOME!

I'm BBBBAAAACCCCKKKK!

I am finally back after being away all summer. My summer was so unbelievably busy - you cannot even imagine.
Over the course of June, July & August I was only home 2 full weeks all summer. I traveled quite a bit. In June I flew to Atlanta for 8 days visiting my sister in law & her hubby. There were all kinds of issues traveling there & back, but the visit itself was wonderful! The girls flew down and joined us for 5 of the days and we took them along with us to visit Savannah, GA for 3 days and 2 nights.

We got home just before 4th of July weekend then we left and went to our cabin in the mountains for 5 days. The rest of July we traveled back to the cabin each weekend for 3-4 day weekends.

Then the last week of July I drove my 72 y/o mom to Maine to visit my aunt. (9 hrs. UGH) My uncle passed away and they had a memorial service the 30th. We came home on Monday Aug. 1st and then I had 4 days to prepare for Jenny's engagement party/pig roast. (we had 50+ ppl) All went well and after that I FINALLY had a week @ home.

Then I had to take Stef down to JMU and stayed 4 days.
Whew! It makes me tired just rehashing it all!!

Now I am back at work and on a schedule again... so hopefully I can be more regular with my posts!

end of the year

School is winding down and there are 3 more student days- can we all yell a big 'ole HOORAY!  This year went by so quickly- I don't know if that is a testament to it being a fairly good overall or the fact that as we grow older time seems to fly by- I mean we are 1/2 way through 2011 already!!  The final teacher day is next Thurs. hopefully I'll blink and it'll be here! But then the summer needs to go S...L...O...W!!!!

The girls and I are flying to Georgia around the 22nd to visit my SIL Suz- this trip should be SO MUCH FUN! I cannot wait! Suz text me the other day and asked if maybe we could come earlier- I'll have to see if we can swing it. Since the girls are 23 & 20 we don't HAVE to travel together and could go in shifts.  
This summer should be fairly busy- lots I want to accomplish around the house- hopefully I can be strict enough with myself and get it all done!  

But for now it's back to work... gotta get my end of the year reports completed!

this & that

Sorry it has been so long since I posted.....

Have had a lot of personal stuff going on... not all good unfortunately.   It is very frustrating.

At school we are down to 19 student days remaining (YAHOO!) We teachers finish up on Thurs. June 16th- not that I am counting or anything (only one month to go...) 

Cheergirlie came home last Wed. night so I have all of my chicks at home for the time being.

This summer is going to be a busy one... We are looking into getting new flooring- long overdue, and I want to repaint a couple of rooms.  I was able to finally get my flowers/veggie garden planted outside and we had everything mulched last Sat.    

This past weekend was QB1's prom- he looked very dapper and he and his new gf looked adorable!

                                              They are really cute together :)

When did my hands become OLD…?

Sitting here trying to think about what I want to write about…. Looking down @ the keyboard and all I can think is “wow… my hands look OLD?”

When did my hands become OLD…?

I definitely would not be able to be on one of those commercials where they put a ridiculously young looking mother & her daughter and you have figure out which is which but can’t because she uses a certain dish washing liquid.

Now that I am in my (gasp) 50’s things have begun to shift and sag a bit more than before… more and more often when I look in the mirror I get a brief glimpse of someone who looks like my grandmother.  

And when exactly did my freckles join forces and become the beginnings of age spots???  WTF???

*Sigh*

I was looking @ the new Oprah magazine last night and they had an article about things you can do as you get older to look younger… they did a side by side photo layout and evidently retouched one of the photos to show what the models face would look like dependent upon what she did… from creams, to acid peels to face lifts… it was kind of eerie- and expensive to boot…

Normally in the summertime I spend a good portion of my time out in our yard by our pool… but for the first time I am rethinking how much sun exposure I really want to get this summer… Don’t get me wrong- I love being tan (well as tan as a redhead can get) but then come winter you see it more and more on my face…

My oldest “the engaged one” gets jealous b/c now that I am older I actually do tan better- but I just attribute it to having “old skin”.    

I moisturize, exfoliate etc… but I think I am finally @ the point of no return… 

I have been pretty careful about sun exposure the past 25 yrs, so  I don’t think I ACTUALLY look my age right now, but pretty soon I WILL…

It sucks that wrinkles and a little gray look good on men. Personally I think hubby looks hotter than ever… but me? 

Not so much… ;)

my guy is now a GUY

So QB1 just told me this afternoon who his date for the prom will be… after my questions and cajoling. I mean why is this such a big secret??? 

Sometimes I REALLY don’t understand boys… about two weeks ago he was supposed to go with a young lady from our high school. Then they decided since they didn’t really know each other’s circle of friends… it would be awkward and to make it null & void- no hard feelings etc.

Then he was going to go with a good friend who just broke up with her longtime boyfriend, but… she will be participating in the district track meet and doesn’t know if she will even be able to go to prom.

So today he tells me he is taking a young lady from the local catholic high school who he has met on several occasions, and is a “friend of a friend”.

Unfortunately QB1’s sole stipulation for his prom date was that she be “good looking for pictures”.

His mother is “oh so proud” *sigh*

I get that his life is busy and that he really doesn’t have the time to maintain a relationship. I’m actually kind of glad he doesn’t have a girlfriend right now; he is more focused when he is single. 

But at the same time my cute loving little guy…..(he's on the right- beside cheergirlie)

Is becoming  such a GUY. *sigh*  :)

sad

I've been really busy with work etc. lately - and now that my guys are home I actually have to MAKE dinner every night...  

and now it is looking like the weather is not going to cooperate to do yard work this weekend...

I have found the past few years that yard work that used to take a couple of weekends now takes like a month and a half to get done. I hate all the prep crap you have to do in the spring, but realize it is a necessary evil...

I AM psyched that we are opening our pool next month.. it looks so ugly all covered up... that is the REAL sign of spring as far as I am concerned!

Now if Mother Nature will just warm things up a bit!!!

Ty decided to move out and move in with his aunt & uncle. (I think this is a front, and I think he is living with his mom again and just telling the school district that he is living @ his aunts)

He is 18 now so we are no longer his guardians... he can sign himself out of school and quit should he choose to...

I still worry about him... I see his grades in the toilet, and since they have been home he has been "sick" about 5-7 days in the past month.

We tried, but I am afraid it was simply too late when we got him. He doesn't really care about school or his grades etc. It is a way of thinking that I simply don't understand. This makes me sad- but again... we have no say.

So I will pray that he makes good choices and hope that he doesn't throw his life away by quitting school.

a new venture

Woke up this morning very sore- my workouts with Paul have seemed tougher lately- he has upped some of the weights he has me lifting and boy oh boy do I feel it! So @ 5:30 I schlepped my old sore bod down and got into the hot tub to loosen up so I can function @ work today....
Did I mention it was pouring down rain....NICE...

What a way to begin the day- a cold hard rain seeping through the deck overhead onto me while I am in the tub....

Today I have to go out of the school building- on site to a work site @ our local special education agency, where one of my students works in a job study placement. It should prove to be interesting. This week is relatively easy and my work load is finally lightening up as I only have 6 more IEP conferences between now and the end of the school year. Some people might say..6?! ugh! but when you begin the school year with 50+ then 6 is nothing! :)

I am really excited about some co teaching lessons I am doing with another special ed. teacher beginning next week.

Many of the students I work with are eventually going to end up in workshops, or supported employment positions- meaning they may not actually be able to get a job within the competitive job market. They may get a nominal salary but not receive "regular" pay- many of these kids function just too low. 

There is a  group however who have the capabilities to secure a "regular" job and get paid minimum wage at a grocery store, fast food restaurant, retail store like Walmart stocking shelves etc.... These kids are the ones who are not of average intelligence, but do not physically appear disabled say for example-as a downs syndrome student may appear. Often these kids are just labeled as being "slow" by society.

It is this group that we are targeting. Sue (the other special ed. teacher) and I are going to begin a unit on job interviewing. We plan on hitting every aspect they will need to know- from what to wear, what to say (and not say!) all the way through to how to follow up after the interview. Most of these kids have NO CLUE what to do or say when applying for a job. Many of them have a difficult time filling out a job application on their own. When asked to tell you a strength they have they look @ you in confusion.

Most of these kids also don't really understand that the economy is really tight- and that jobs that were once perfect for them are being taken by other people who have been laid off & who will take any job to get a paycheck coming in. In our area it is tough all around- but in some ways it is really tough for teenagers ... many of the jobs that were previously predominately filled by teenagers are being taken by adults with families to support. 

This whole unit is new and has never (to our knowledge) been done in our district before. Two years ago (when we were still able to order materials for school) I ordered a series of videos called "First Job Survival Skills- Surviving the First 90 Days". Part of the unit will include the students watching some of these videos as well as them doing "mock" interviews with various staff members as practice. We are planning on video taping their "final interview" and then letting them watch them afterwards to see what they are doing right/or wrong to help them.

I am really excited about this new opportunity and hope the kids will learn from it. Many of them have a good work ethic, but are overlooked by employers because they appear "slow" or "special". Everyone regardless of their mental capabilities should have the right to secure employment and lead productive lives. Hopefully this will help some of them to be able to do just that!   :)

BIB BIG NEWS!

I actually have GREAT news! Hubby, QB1 & Ty have moved back home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond happy! 
QB1 actually asked to make the move back- I think he realized how hard this has been on the family/ (and me...) So they began @ our high school and had a great first week.

QB1's face book status has had different versions of how happy he is to be home. The only downsize is having to make dinner every night.... I forgot about that!   

This past Thursday my SIL Suzanne flew up from Atlanta for the weekend & cheergirlie came home for her spring break!!!!

On Sat. we girls went wedding dress shopping!!!! The four of us went and the engaged one tried on wedding gowns, and cheergirlie aka the maid of honor tried on bridesmaids dresses.

I am happy to report that WE FOUND THE DRESS!!!!!!!! 

We knew the minute she came out of the dressing room because she began crying and said "I think this is it"!!! Needless to say we all began crying (except cheergirlie who began jumping all around) :)  The dress is absolutely gorgeous and incorporates everything the engaged one wanted. 

If you would like to see the pics let me know- and give me your email and I will send them along in an email... this is a very high security situation so we are taking no chances that "the fiance" stumbles upon the pics by accident! ;)

Think Spring!

This week the temps are supposed to moderate and we might actually hit 60-65 this Friday! Yay!!

It will be short lived and we will be back to the 40's next week.... BOO!

I am ready for spring...

I am tired of the gray, brown ugliness that is the landscape these days.

I am ready for my world to turn green again... ready for the first signs of spring.

I am looking forward to getting my yard cleaned up, planting some flowers, starting a vegetable garden (oh how I long for fresh grown tomatoes!)

I want to get all the covers off of the lawn furniture, off of the pool, to be able to sit outside in the sun and feel the warmth. 

With the coming of spring also comes the knowledge that summer is around the corner and I can hang out here:

                                            this is my little slice of heaven @ home- our pool :)

That groundhog better be right! :D

My 5 things

Skippy over @ I Make Soap  tagged me to answer "5 Things You Couldn't Leave the House Without."

I got to thinking about it and in some ways  my first one is kind of a cheat- because #1 is my purse.

I say it's a cheat b/c within my purse is the following: my wallet, my checkbook, my make up bag,  change purse, pencils, pens, hand lotion, a flash drive, tissues, aspirin and assorted coupons.I used to have a JMU button in my purse, but took it out a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my purse!

#2 is my cell phone- I don't remember what life was like before my cell phone...

#3 are my glasses- I have to take them these days because without them I can't read anything...

#4 are my sunglasses- I have a condition called Addy's pupil which is one of my pupils stays dilated so I HAVE to wear sunglasses outside

#5 would have to be my keys... on my keyring are house keys- car keys and work keys... all kinda important :)

Should they choose to answer the challenge- I am passing this along to:
hed over @ Head Above Water
Mrs. Blogalot over @ Mrs. Blogalot 
Michaela over @ Oxygen Masks Will Drop
Alexandra over  @ Good Day, Regular People
Diane over @ Just Humor Me

Romance is in the air....

My girls...
The engaged one is well... engaged! ;) and the wedding planning has begun full force. She is embarking upon a new chapter in her life - an exciting time- stressful yes, but joyous as well. She and her fiance are excited to see each other and try to spend as much time together as they can.

Cheergirlie called me today from JMU- it seems this weekend she met someone... The boy young man is a friend of a friend and the attraction was instantaneous. The young man does not go to JMU but lives about an hour away- and she met him Fri. saw him Sat. night and he asked if he could come back Wed. night to take her out to dinner. He also wants to come back next weekend to see her as well. She is flattered and excited to say the least.

I love romance... I read romance books... I love romantic movies...

Hubby and I have romantic moments... from time to time... but after 26 years you tend to take each other for granted- it's inevitable. The fact that we don't get to see each other every day makes us excited to see each other- but that isn't the same thing as romance.

We both still do the "little things" to make each other happy, but again- it's not the same.

I miss romance- the giddy feeling of anticipation you get in the pit of your stomach. The "looks" you give each other, the flirting...(well we still do that with each other)

The most romantic time I can remember recently was when we took our last vacation together to Jamaica a little over a year ago. Granted our current situation is not conducive for romance. But I think we need a weekend away- just us.

So am I the only old married lady who feels this way?

What do you do to foster romance? Any ideas? :)

Snow day!

                 Our mailbox

                                             Our house                

                                 Believe it or not there is a pool under all of that snow

                                            Snow pups...   Let us in mom! 

We got over a foot and a half..... on the bright side- no school....  :)

A cabin, fireflies, and why I will never get mom of the year ;)

I was trying to think of something to post about but let's face it my life is kind of boring right now so I decided to post about something that happened a LONG time ago.

Hubby's family has a cabin in the mountains about 15 miles west of Gettysburg. His grandparents built it back in the 1930-40's. It's a real log cabin and has been handed down and now we pay for have it. When we were first married we had very little money. Then the kids came along and we had even less money - so if we wanted to take a vacation we had no limited options so we would go to the cabin on vacation. [Let me state here that my idea of a vacation is parking myself on a beach, then going back to an air conditioned hotel with both a maid & room service]

Anyway, our girls were about 2 and 5 years old at the time and I think I was pregnant with QB1. It was summertime and the girls had decided they wanted to catch fireflies in a glass jar. The idea being that if they got enough fireflies they could use them as a night light. The way the cabin is set up is that there is a screened in porch on the back of the cabin where we spend a lot of time. So one evening it was beginning to get dark and the girls begged to let them catch fireflies. Cheergirlie being only two needed to practice because she had a tendency to "catch" them too hard aka squish them. The engaged one decided to "teach her the right way"- yes she was bossy back then too ;)

So hubby and I are sitting there watching them catch fireflies and I suddenly had an idea. The girls LOVED playing monster with their dad- so I told him why don't you go out the front door and go up into the woods and come out like a monster????

So my poor little innocent daughters are out beside the cabin and from the back porch I start directing them. 

"You need to get closer to the woods girls- that's where the best fireflies are". 

So they moved closer. Ever trusting...

"No a little farther up the little hill"

Now at this point it is almost dark....then all of a sudden hubby comes crashing out of the woods growling and making monster type noises.

Both girls screamed, and jumped up in the air and in doing so then ran into each other (hard) knocking each other onto their butts... then they got up and raced onto the back porch screaming the whole time and then crying.

And what might you ask was I doing as this all occurred? 

I was laughing my ass off- honestly I wish I had had a video camera because if we had sent it into Funniest home videos we would have won hands down! I was laughing so hard I was crying and I almost peed my pants.

The girls eventually calmed down and of course poor daddy ... felt bad because he REALLY frightened them!

Me? I was still laughing & to this day when we reminisce... It still makes me laugh remembering...

Yeah, I definitely had mom of the year wrapped up for that little episode!

What can I say- it's what I do *shrug*  ;)

snow day

Today we had a snow day- we ended up getting about 6" of snow- it was light snow easy to shovel.
Surprisingly enough I got very little done today- a day in which I did whatever I felt like- it was nice!
Went and had "the engaged one" put some highlights in my hair. Then later baked banana bread muffins for hubby QB1 & Ty and then hubby came home for a bit and made him dinner.
Was able to catch up on some of the blogs I follow- so all in all- a great relaxing day!

Tomorrow is back to school and then a three day weekend! Yay!

50 things you might not know about me

1. I am a natural redhead
2. I have three children, but have been pregnant 5x-b/c I miscarried twice
3. I love strawberries
4. I am deathly afraid of snakes *shudder*
5. I had my first kiss when I was in 7th grade
6. My best girlfriend is Tobie, she was my college room mate
7. My favorite color is blue
8. I love the beach/ocean
9. I like to cook
10. I love fresh summer tomatoes
11. I once jumped off a cliff into a sink hole in Cancun
12. I am 5'6
13. I have trouble staying asleep at night and usually only get 4-5 good solid hours of sleep
14. My favorite soda is  coke zero
15. I was a cheerleader in college
16. I once chased a purse snatcher who stole my purse when I was 4 mos. pregnant(I didn't catch him)
17. My favorite liquor is vodka
18. I actually have a really nice singing voice
19. I am very generous
20. I can touch my tongue to my nose
21. I often "talk" for our dogs and the kids will argue with them (the dogs)
22. I have a knack for computers and have taught myself a lot
23. I suck at sewing
24. I am a really fast reader because I read so much & I have read the Twilight series three times
25. I cry at Hallmark commercials
26. I. LOVE. ITALIAN. FOOD.
27. My first dogs name was Herbie
28. I like wine
29. I snore
30. My favorite cereal is corn pops
31. If i had it to do over I would have chosen a different major in college
32. I can be a bitch
33. I am good at bartering
34. My favorite season is summer- since I am off from work- But I also really like the fall when it is cold enough to wear a scarf and sweater
35. I love to swim
36. I love (most) animals, the exceptions are reptiles and insects
37. I love movies- some favs include "While You Were Sleeping", The"Twilight" movies, "Day After Tomorrow"
38. I have had artificial nails for about 16 years
39. I once won a mini grant @ my first teaching job which included an Apple computer and $1500 of software- I then never got to use it b/c #1 child was born and I became a stay @ home mom
40. I drive a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee 
41. I have only ever had one speeding ticket (over 20 years ago)
42. Ironically I tend to be a lead foot when driving
43. I have to wear sunglasses outside when it is sunny because one of my pupils stays dilated due to a condition called Addy's pupil
44. I lost the hearing in my right ear five years ago & also have tinnitus in that ear (which is really annoying)
45. My favorite flavor of ice cream is anything chocolate
46. I have a warped sense of humor
47. I had major surgery on my back when I was 40
48. I can remember life without cell phone, the internet, & microwaves
49. I am good at Wheel of Fortune
50. I am a good mom
    

another year

I am not going to do a recap of my year or make any New Years resolutions because quite honestly I rarely follow through on them.

What I am going to comment on how I feel, right now- this minute. I am going to just type whatever pops into my head...

As I sit here still in my jammies with a now cold cup of coffee, the tv on in the background and my dog Cali loudly chewing on a bone I feel relatively happy. OK, happy is not really accurate- content?... no...hmmm OK... yes, I feel OK- not happy but not sad either.  No one in my family is ill (thank God) no life threatening illness, no major crisis going on (that i know of) so I guess for now life is alright. God that sounds pathetic- life is OK?

We had a nice Christmas, hubby surprised me with diamond studs, (very nice!) and my oldest got engaged. We have begun looking for a venue for her May 2012 wedding and I have shed a few tears in private at the realization that I will only have her with me another year and a half. :(   The dynamics of our family is subtlety changing, we are going to have a son in law... that is a weird concept, but like many other things I will get used to it.

Paul, my trainer has gently gotten on my case and told me I need to get serious in my quest to lose weight and get in shape... and he's right *sigh* and is using the wedding to blackmail me into getting into shape...so I will have to suck it up and get back into it. ugh.

My younger daughter "cheergirlie" will go back to JMU a week from Sunday (not looking forward to that) and my hubby and son will head back to the apartment tomorrow and our house will become QUIET again. I can remember when my kids were very young wishing for alone time, and now that I have it, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I don't think I've ever really commented or explained why our lives are like this. Two years ago we decided to pull our son from our local high school to put him in a catholic high school. Long story short, the school principal filed a complaint and  he lost eligibility to play football for his sophomore year. So he & hubby moved into an apartment out of state about an hour from home. They live there full time and I see them on the weekends- either I go there or they come home. The first year was VERY difficult for me. In a 2 week period hubby and QB1 moved out and cheergirlie left for her freshman year of college. The engaged one and I were left @ home and we work opposite hours. I went from a bustling house of five to being virtually alone. It has been hard. Very hard. But amazingly enough you get used to it.

I miss my husband. I miss all the little things he does (good & irritating).
I miss my baby boy. I hate that I feel like I am missing his high school years.
I hate that I don't know his friends the way I knew the girls friends.
I hate that I don't have a gang of teen-aged boys hanging out at my house.
A lot of hate in those last few lines...

It's emotionally draining, and it's lonely.

One thing this experience has taught me is patience. I find I pray more and I don't let the "small stuff" get to me as much as I used to. I pray for the strength to accept whatever God has planned.
My hope for 2011 is to just get through it-