My First No First Day Of School

On more than one occasion this summer my husband and I have expressed the relief of no longer having to buy school clothes or supplies and to no longer have to plan things around school schedules. When we have been out with friends and they have voiced their concerns about standardized testing, school accountability, demographics, staff, bullies, etc etc... my husband and I have just exchanged smiles knowing that we are both thinking something along the lines of "been there done that and we are not going back"

So, no one was more surprised than me when this morning as I rounded the corner on my way to work I found myself tearing up as I saw a group of parents and children anxiously waiting at the bus stop. As I made my way through the neighborhood, on every corner there were children with their new clothes and backpacks, and parents snapping photos to commemorate the beginning of a new school year. By the time I got out of the neighborhood I was sobbing.

Where the heck did that come from????

Wasn't it just twelve hours ago that I was sipping a glass of wine feeling gleeful that for the first time in over twenty years I wasn't spending the night before the new school year packing backpacks or ironing clothes or running out to the grocery store for things to put in lunches? Now here I was having to redo my makeup before work because the realization that a season in my life had come to a close.

So with that epiphany, I decided to have a good old pity party for myself. I was ready to sit down in my stretchy pants and eat a bag of Oreo's while I waited for the grim reaper to come and take my old past my purpose on this earth self home to glory. But literally as I was typing this blog post, my daughter called me to tell me about her first day of school. This time as the teacher. It was nice to hear about lesson plans, class mascots, new faces and the first day down with many more to go. It felt good to listen to her share her day - kind of like she did back in the day but different. So maybe I'm not quite past my purpose. I may not be needed to shop for school clothes or pack lunches, but I'm always here to lend and ear to my kids on their first days or any other days they need me.

Now on to those stretchy pants and Oreo's.

Doing Life

Today I remembered my blog.

It started with my son showing me this picture from instagram.

(yes I know there is a watermark on the photo which indicates the photo was not actually purchased by the poster but I'm feeling sentimental so I'm choosing to overlook that)

Seeing this photo made me remember that I had a picture of these three boys young men back when they were still boys. Since I have had multiple computer crashes through the years, I could no longer find said picture on my hard drive, but I remembered that I had put it on my blog.

So since I had not visited my blog in two years I started to read through my posts and I realized I missed posting ( is it just me or does this all vaguely sound like the children's book If You Give A Moose A Muffin?) Anyways since two years would make for a very long and boring post, I will use visuals of the highlights.
So as indicated in the first photo, this happened:

Yes! My last baby bird finished school!

Just a few weeks before that this happened:

Baby bird number two graduated from college!

A few months before that, this happened:

Baby bird number two got engaged!!

But a year before that THIS happened!!!

Life got so much sweeter because baby bird number one gave us cupcake !!

Life is good!

A Politically Incorrect Father's Day Post

I have a couple of girl friends that consider themselves radical feminists. If you are one of those friends please stop reading this post. Trust me when I say that you will not enjoy it because there will be no man-bashing or trash talking of men in this post. Nope, today I will proudly highlight the many reasons we need men in our lives.

There has been a growing trend in the media lately to characterize men in a unfavorable light. You can turn on almost any sitcom these days and see a male lead portrayed as either a bumbling, clueless husband/father, or a slimy, over-sexed deadbeat just looking for his next female conquest. Anytime there is a show that has this type of male character in it, there is sure to be one or more female characters that are identified as being the smarter more able person. I'm not sure why or when it became desirable to marginalize the male gender but from my viewpoint it's a disturbing trend that can adversely effect future generations.

I was blessed with positive male role models in my life. My dad and my brother being the first. Without them I wouldn't be the person I am. Through my dad's love and commitment to his family, a sense of worth and belonging was instilled in me. Growing up with my brother cultivated my sense of humor, as well as teaching me how to "take things" and "dish them out". (He also taught me how to be tough as I was his personal target for every snowball, spitball, rock, BB etc.... but that's a different post all together and I've totally gotten over those things and I'm not bitter at all..... really.....not at all) Learning these things didn't happen over night or by osmosis. They were picked up little by little at every family dinner we all sat down to, every vacation we went on, and every argument we had over sharing the bathroom and phone. ( yes future generations that will read this, we only had one phone and "gasp" it was attached to the wall) At the time they didn't even seem like significant learning experiences, but now I can see how they effected my life. You see through my dads example, I learned how a woman should be treated by a man and when it came time for me to find a man to share my life with, I knew I didn't have to settle for the first one to come along. No, I held out for a man who loves me, gladly serves as the head of the household, models for his daughters the way a man should treat a woman and shows his son how a man should be a man. Through growing up with my brothers torment example I was well equipped to roll with lifes ups and downs with a little bit of humor and a lot of backbone.

Now, if you are one of my feminist friends and you didn't heed my earlier warning and are still reading this, you might be thinking that I am some sort of shrinking violet that gladly defers to the men in my life on every subject. Let me just clarify that my mother is a strong competent woman who raised me and my sisters to be strong competent women, and we in turn raised our daughters to be strong, competent women. I simply refuse to buy into the notion that somehow men are no longer relevant or influential in today's contemporary society. We need men! Not just as donors to keep the world populated, but as leaders who are willing to step up to the task.

So, to all the dads, brothers, uncles, male role models out there being a positive influence in other peoples lives, let me just say, you are needed, you do matter, and thanks for not shirking your responsibilities as men. Happy Fathers Day!!

The Good Stuff

Twenty-Six years ago today I was one month out of my teens and a brand new bride.

Twenty -Five and a half years ago I was ready to call it quits on my marriage because quite frankly, marriage was not all that I thought it was going to be. You see like many brides, I had put thought into the "getting married" part but hardly any thought into the "marriage" that would follow the getting married part. Suddenly all those little things that I thought I could live with or change about him drove me crazy ( I'm sure he didn't feel that way about me at all * insert sarcasm here*) . One day I'm enjoying my egocentric life, thinking I just had to let him adore me and make me the center of his universe, and the next thing I know, I'm expected to be supportive, loving and caring to someone other than me! What???

Did I mention I was young?

Immature doesn't even begin to describe it.


So I did what any princess would do, I went to my dad, because I knew he was going to fix this and get me out of my predicament. Over lunch I told him how difficult this whole marriage thing was and that it just wasn't for me. Then I waited for my dad to tell me the date and time I could expect the moving van to come and bring my royal self and all of my worldly possessions home. Instead he told me that "being disenchanted with marriage was not grounds for divorce and that I was to go home and make my marriage work".

Thanks dad, but that was not exactly what I was looking for.


It may not have been what I was looking for, but it was what I needed. I did go back, and well.. something was working in our marriage because a month later I was pregnant with our first daughter and here we are twenty-six years later still defying the odds.


Life hasn't been easy, in fact there were times we both wanted to give up. But thankfully God has blessed us with enough of the "good stuff" to keep us going. Sure there has been the obvious "good stuff" such as births, vacations, family gatherings, and many more priceless times we have shared together. But then there are the numerous trials that could have easily broken our marriage but instead of jumping ship at the first sign of trouble, we chose to hold fast to our faith and work through them. Now that we are on the other end of those trials, we can see the bigger picture and see that they are part of the "good stuff". Without a doubt there will be more of the obviously good stuff and the good stuff disguised as tribulations, but with a lot of faith and a little bit of stubborness, we will get through them together just like we always have.

Recently, I met an elderly man at the hospital. His wife of 56 years had suffered a stroke and the doctors didn't think she would make it. As we talked he told me about how they met and when they were wed. He talked about the births and deaths that they had gone through together, the financial hard times they had weathered as well as the times of abundance that had afforded them trips to exotic places. He had a number of pictures that he had brought to put in her room and he remembered where and when each one was taken. Talking with him was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Heartbreaking because a life that he had shared with his best friend was coming to an end, yet beautiful because as he reflected back on it he didn't recall the mistakes, or arguments, or disagreements I'm sure they had. When he looked back, it was all "good stuff" because they had gone through it together.

I know we will be able to do the same some day.

Happy Anniversary Honey! Here's to more "good stuff" to come!

I'm going to end this post with a video called The Good Stuff. While it is written from a man's point of view I think the point crosses both genders. The irony of this is that Paul is not a fan of country music at all but for 26 years he has endured it for my sake. Now that's some good stuff!

Make Like Your Going To Walmart..... But Don't!

The title to this post is actually one of my favorite quotes from my Father-in-law. He used it once to give someone directions. If you knew my father-in-law and were schooled in the Cajun language, the directions to "Make like you are going to Walmart ... but don't" would make perfect sense to you and you would know to drive in the general direction of Walmart, but turn before you get there. I'm not sure if the recipient of those directions ever made it to their destination, but I know that that line is one of many "papaisms" that always makes us smile.

Papa was a Cajun through and through. He grew up in a large family, knew what it was to have much, and knew what it was to have nothing. His early years were sometimes difficult and he had to learn to take care of himself at an early age. What he lacked in formal education he made up for in drive, ambition and tenacity. He was truly a self made man as it was only by his own determination and initiative that he became successful in life.

I remember the first time I met my then future father-in-law. It was at his favorite place in the world - his lake house. He immediately made me feel welcomed and made sure that I was well fed which I learned through the years was his way of showing affection. He loved to feed people and everyone was welcomed to come and eat at any time. If by chance you couldn't make it over to his place he would bring the food to you. Many a neighbor and acquaintance found themselves on the receiving end of Paul's great cooking.

He wasn't one to share his emotions and he didn't subscribe to using terms of endearment to show his love, but looking back there were many times when in his own stoic way he showed that he cared. On many occassions early in our marriage when finances were more than tight he and my mother-in-law would show up with groceries and much needed baby things. There was no condemnation associated with these gifts, only the silent understanding that this is just what family does for one another. Or when I suffered a miscarriage and had to go into the hospital for an out patient procedure, Paul showed up at the hospital and sat with his son while I was in surgery. There weren't many words exchanged between the two as they sat there together, but just the simple act of him showing up on that sad day spoke volumes to both Paul and me.

So as we gather together to say goodbye to Paul Sr. there is sure to be some tears, undoubly there will be laughter as we recount the past, and there will probably be some sort of food because to quote my sister-in-law, " He never liked to see anybody go hungry"

Good-bye Papa, you will be missed.

Date Night!!!

Ciara came home for spring break so we had a mother/daughter date night at the movies. We shared a lot of laughs, some girl talk, popcorn, and a yummy dessert. I know from experience it is just a matter of time before some guy comes along, sees the treasure that she is, sweeps her off of her feet, and then date nights with mom will be few and far between. In the meantime, I'm going to savor every moment of mother/daughter time I have!

Love Is In The Air

I'm not one to go for chick flicks, or sappy love songs, and I don't fall for charm or flowery phrases. I prefer people to be honest and up front with me even if it is going to cause a little upset or anger. I like the direct approach and I would rather get it all out there and move on than to be left wondering about someone or something. I think after all these years Paul has come to appreciate this more "low maintenance" side of me. Oh trust me there are areas of my being that are not low maintenance, ( stop nodding your head in agreement here Paul) but my non-romantic tendencies make ostentatious holidays such as Valentines Day a proverbial "piece of cake " for him. That being said, he doesn't totally get off the hook because it just so happens that my love language is gifts so that means I like to be given gifts. Often.

Now I have heard the argument from some people that a gift should well thought out and personal, and that things of a practical nature should not be given as gifts. I understand that point of view but I don't necessarily subscribe to it. I'll be the first one to admit I love when someone remembers when I say I would like something in particular or knows me well enough to get that gift that they know I will love. Even a heartfelt card or note goes a long way with me. But if my vacuum breaks right before Christmas and you buy me a new one as a Christmas gift I will be just as thrilled with it as I would be anything else. To quote an old cliche , "It's not the gift but the thought that counts" and I feel like any gift that is given to me means the giver thought of me.

So last night I was laying in bed reading my Nook ( which happens to be a gift my husband gave me) when Paul turned to me and said "Hey I know our morning is going to be crazy, so I'm going to give you your present now". Let me just say, that was not the first time I have heard something of that nature come out of his mouth while I was reading in bed so I didn't exactly expect a fancily wrapped package, but to his credit he produced a tangible gift in the form or a gift certificate for a private hand gun class out at the shooting range.

Right now my romantic leaning girlfriends are saying "What??? You let him get away with buying your Valentines gift at the shooting range when he just happened to be out there in the first place???"

Oh yes I did and I love it! He knew it was something I would like and the way I see it, while he was hanging with his buddies out at the range, he thought of me long enough to want to get me a present. That works for me.

Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that there is a new pistol in my future..... perhaps sometime around Mothers Day????

A Burning Bush Isn't Always Necessary, Sometimes You Just Need To Listen

Paul and I have prayed for our children since before they were born. As they have grown some of our prayers have changed, (we no longer pray to survive the toddler years – thank you again God for your Providence during that time) but some of our prayers have stayed the same and I’m sure they will until we take our last breath. For instance, we have always prayed for our children’s health, wisdom, integrity, relationships, and even that their current/ future spouses would be loving and strong in their faith, and that together they would fulfill God’s plan.

Let me just stop and say if by chance this is the first time you have ever read my blog and you are starting to think that I have it all together and am some sort of “Super-Christian Mom” you need to start reading at the beginning of my blog so you will realize just how ridiculous that notion is. And to those of you that have known me longer than a week, you can now stop laughing hysterically at the thought of me having it all together and continue reading.

Lately I have really had it on my heart to pray a bit more fervently for one of my children. That doesn’t mean I stopped praying for the other two (I can just hear my children now “I knew he/she was her favorite she even prays more for them”) it just means that at this particular time one of my children is weighing heavier on my heart than the others and it seems that this week has been particularly straining on our relationship. My daily walks are a great time to commune with God and as I set off on my walk this morning I immediately started on my litany, “ God please let them have the wisdom to see your plan for their life” , “Give them maturity so they will stop focusing on the things of this world and more on eternal things” “ Let them feel your presence and know your in control and have a plan for their lives”, “ Give them the faith and discernment to do the right thing when the rest of the world is telling them otherwise” and the list went on and on. Then it happened. It wasn’t a burning bush or rolls of thunder, it was just a still small voice telling me that all these things I want for my own child are things that God wants for me as well. So instead of handing him my suggestions on how to change other people I’m going to ask that he change me first. Oh I will still pray for all those things and more for my children because I know that God hears and answers my prayers, but I will first do a self-check and make sure I'm where I need to be first.


One last thing, if you happen to live in my neighborhood and you passed a woman out walking this morning who was bawling her eyes out don’t worry. That was just me pouring my heart out to God. I’m sorry if I grossed you out by continuously wiping my eyes and nose on the sleeves of my sweatshirt as I didn’t anticipate needing a box of Kleenex on my daily walk today. The sweatshirt went directly into the wash when I got home.

Hey I’m nothing if not honest. Right?

There Could Never Be A More Beautiful You

For the past nineteen years you have brought joy to our lives. Your fun-loving spirit and dramatic flair have brightened many a dull moment through the years. The fact that you are comfortable at the shooting range, riding a four-wheeler, and burping like a frat boy but at the same time love nurturing children, volunteering your time, and doing girly-girl things makes you a wonderfully unique paradoxical princess who is beautiful from the inside out.

Happy Birthday CeCe! We love you bigger than a hangaburger!!!

Nina

It's been a long time since anybody has called you that. The name Savannah is quite a mouthful for someone who is just learning to talk so you shortened it to "Nina" and that nickname stuck for many years. Eventually you grew into your name and it has been such a blessing to be your mother all these years. You are proof that my prayers did not fall on deaf ears. Happy Birthday Nina! We love you!

Tis The Season

Yesterday I went shopping with the bestie. Our intention was to shop with purpose and knock off some of the names on our Christmas lists. I don't know what we were thinking because we don't shop well together. Oh we have a good time laughing, sampling yummy things we shouldn't be sampling, and talking each other into buying things for ourselves, but doing productive Christmas shopping for others just never seems to work out on our excursions. While I came home last night with two really cute shirts for myself, I didn't put much of a dent in my Christmas list so I ventured out this morning to conquer the mall.

And it was awful.

The first stop was Target. It was quiet and surprisingly not crowded. In hindsight I should have made that my only stop and just bought everyone on my list Target gift cards Oh hindsight you are so smart.

Shortly after I exited the Target parking lot en route to the mall, I noticed a man in a truck next to me trying to get me to roll down my window. Thinking something was wrong with my car I rolled down the window so I could hear what he was saying and this is what he said: " Hey baby what's your name?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Thinking this guy was either smoking crack or just coming out of prison and seeing a woman for the first time in years, I gave him a not so nice look and took off. He must have mistook that not so nice look for a come- hither look because he continued to follow me and try to get me to tell him my name. Seriously does that really work for anybody? Looking back I should have been more alarmed than I was ( there's that hindsight again) but I was actually just getting ticked off so I took out my cell phone and acted like I was taking his picture and then slowed down to get behind his truck to take a picture of his license plate. I say acted like because I really don't know how to use the camera on my phone but I must have looked convincing to him because he took off and I continued on to my destination.

Ahhh the mall on a Saturday right before Christmas..... need I say more? Probably not... but I will.

After finally finding a parking spot and while walking a mile to get into the mall I mentally mapped out where I would go, and what I would get while spending the least possible amount of time in the mall. Basically I was shopping like a man.

What is that saying about the best laid plans?

Yeah, my plans were not in line with the hundreds of other people clogging every square inch of the mall. As I made my way through the throngs of people, I was assaulted by smells that I swear were not human, sprayed by a line of barbie dolls selling perfume, and run into by a toddler who's parents thought it was adorable that he wanted to push his own stroller.....in the middle of a mall filled with hundreds of people. Yeah.

As soon as I left the mall I headed to the liquor store.

I must say the liquor store is the ideal place to shop. There were no funky smells, no toddlers with deranged parents, and I didn't get sprayed with anything. I was in and out of there in five minutes and I was able to scratch my brothers name off of my list.

I was definetly in the Christmas spirit when I left there and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the samples they were handing out.

Thankful, Melancholy and Rockin the Turkey Shirt

Yes I busted out the turkey shirt much to the dismay of my family. Well most of my family. Ciara has seen the light and decided she wants a turkey shirt of her own and since my daughter and my niece are both talented seamstresses, I'm thinking I will be hitting one of them up to make some Christmas presents. Hmmm....

While I'm certainly dressed for the occasion and the house looks and smells like Thanksgiving this year is again tinged with sadness as it is the first anniversary of my mother-in-laws passing as well as our first Thanksgiving without my dad.

It will be difficult to not have my father sitting at our table with us but I know for a fact he would not like his family to dwell on his absence, or to pass up a good meal because he is not here to enjoy it with us. So with that in mind, we will stuff ourselves until we are miserably uncomfortable, catch up on each others lives, share a lot of laughs and it will be good. Just the way my mother-in-law and father would want it to be.

There are so many things that I am thankful for in my life. I have truly been blessed. But today I am especially thankful for the two people that are not physically with us any more because without them my life would not be what it is today.

So take a minute to thank God for all of the people he has brought into your life ( yes even the ones that make you a little crazy at times) because his ways are so much better than our ways.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Birthday Wishes

Today is my best friends’ birthday so in honor of this momentous occassion I thought I would write a blog post. Plus I haven’t gotten her present yet so hopefully this will suffice until I can get to the store but don’t tell her okay!

Kelli and I met in high school but since we went to rival schools, we really didn’t connect until after graduation. Perhaps it was because we were both northern transplants to a smallish town or perhaps it was because we were both just too cool for said smallish town, but whatever the reason we seemed to have an instant rapport and we formed a friendship that has lasted longer than most marriages. Like a marriage we have been through our share of highs and lows and there is no other cohort that I would rather sail through life with.

We have seen each other through births, and deaths, proms and weddings. From our children’s first days of school to their graduations and every stage of growth in between. Our families have been on week long vacations together and one particularly funny vacation that lasted only a few hours. She is always the first person I call when I have news that needs to be shared, if I need advice or if I simply need to vent. I know I could tell her anything and she would still stand by me and defend me against any of my adversaries. I know she always has my back!

At this season in our lives we are sometimes so busy with family/work/friend commitments that we can go for a week or more before we get a chance to talk. Our friendship is comfortable enough that we can pick up right where we left off no matter how long we go before reconnecting. That’s a good feeling.

Many years ago while we were on vacation, Kelli bought me plaque that is in my kitchen where I see it everyday. It reads “You will always be my best friend, you know too much”. That pretty much sums us up. We have been through a lot together and we know a lot about one another. I hope one day when we are old and grey between the two of us we will remember all the good the bad and the ugly because having a friend to go through the bad and the ugly with makes the good all that much better.

Happy Birthday my dear friend! Remember you will always be older than me!!!!!

Facebook: Friend or Foe?

That all depends on who you ask around here.



There was a time when I would have never dreamed of having a Facebook account. In fact I even blogged about it here . But then I ate my words and ended up getting an account which I blogged about here. So now I am a dyed-in-the-wool Facebook fan. My initial aversion to this particular form of social networking was in part due to the few times I would check out what my daughters were doing on Facebook and from my vantage point all I could see were senseless bits of drivel such as "OMG Sushi is so good!" or "I want a cute puppy". No thanks! I have enough senseless drivel in my everyday life, I don't want to log onto some website to get more. However after delving into Facebook ( and learning how to block useless drivel) I have found that I love being able to reconnect with people, keep up with friends, and communicate with my children.



That is where Facebook becomes a foe, at least to one of my children.



For the most part the girls have no issues with me being their friend on Facebook or commenting on their walls. At least they have never voiced the fact that they have a problem with it. Trey on the other hand - well let's just say he has a big problem with it.



Trey only recently obtained a Facebook account as he was an avid My Space user, but apparently there is a mass exodus from My Space to Facebook, and he eventually followed the trend. I of course immediately friend requested him because I just knew he couldn't wait to be my online friend! I thought it was odd that I had to remind him a few times that he never accepted my friend request, but eventually he did and I was able to view and comment on his posts. For the record I only commented on two of his posts, but in his book that was two too many and after a very short period of time he un-friended me. What???? When I mentioned to him that it is a violation of Facebook rules to un-friend your own mother ( no he didn't buy that) he said "Mom! You keep commenting on my stuff". Oh how silly of me! So I told him he would make me his friend again or I would never do his laundry or cook him another meal and he begrudgingly told me he would next time he logged on.



Sure you will dude!



I actually didn't have to wait to see if he would be true to his word, because he inadvertently left his account logged in on my computer so I took it upon my self to re-friend me for him.



I like being helpful like that.



So for the most part I have kept my comments to myself as not to put our fragile online friendship in jeopardy. I did make him remove a comment from one of his sisters posts that I thought could be perceived as derogatory. But other than that I have been the perfect silent friend. Until last night when I logged onto my home page and saw that Trey had commented on someones post and he used an acronym that made me cringe. Oh I suppose he could have meant Where's The Fun? or Want To Fish? But I'm pretty sure he didn't mean either of those things. So I played dumb and casually asked "Hey Trey, What does WTF mean"? He said "Huh?" I guess he was playing dumb as well but when he saw that I was logged on to the computer my question suddenly made sense to him and the best he could come up with was "Oh".


Now I don't think my son makes it a regular practice to go around spewing foul language when he is not in my presence. I would like to think he used that acronym to try and add some street creds to a cool guy reputation he is trying to cultivate, but nonetheless he used it, so he immediately had to remove it and listen to my sermon on how cursing is really just lazy speech, makes a person appear uneducated, yada, yada, yada. When I was finished his response was "see mom this is why I un-friended you in the first place". To which my response was "no, this is why you will never un-friend me again or all of our computers will be password protected and you will have to communicate with your friends via smoke signals and carrier pigeon".

With that we came to an agreement.... or at least I feel we did.

Motherly Advice

Waiting in the car for Trey the other night, I tuned into the radio long enough to hear something about "the best advice your mother ever gave you". That started the wheels in my brain turning.

I know my mother must have given me a lot of advice. But I also know the type of child/teenager I was so that good advice was purged from my mind shortly after it was given to me. I do remember her telling me that if I read at the table I would marry a drunk, but I believe that really couldn't be classified as advice and would be more of an old wives tale because I read all the time at the table and other than the occasional margarita at a Mexican restaurant, P is not much of a drinker at all. Needless to say, I didn't pass that useless tidbit down to my family.

Seeing as I could not immediately remember any sage advice that I had received from my own mother I decided to text my daughters and ask them what the best advice I had ever given them was. While I was waiting to hear back from them I mentally made a list of the things that I thought I had effectively harped on counseled them about:

* Be who God made you to be. Don't pretend to be something you are not to try to impress someone or fit into a certain group. You are wonderful just the way you are.

* There is a lesson to be learned in everything that happens in life. Even in the not so good stuff that happens to us.

* Never wait in line for a guy to decide if he likes you or not. (This one comes from my disdain for shows like The Bachelor. I never wanted my girls to be just another "item" on some guys "buffet".

* Trust me, one day you will like your siblings.

Surprisingly when I got the messages back from the girls, they were almost the same. They both said the best advice I ever gave them was "Be who God made you to be". Yay! I imparted some good advice! Savannah also remembered the advice "never wrap your BRAND NEW $150.00 retainer in a napkin because you might throw it away and then your mom will freak out and you will swear she is a creature from a horror movie" which was really not advice that I verbally gave her but it was definitely a life lesson she will never forget and is sure to pass on to her children one day.

Shortly after getting the texts back from the girls, Trey got into the car and since I was feeling pretty darn good about my motherly advice skills, I asked him what the best advice I had ever given him was. His exact words were "ummm I guess the best advice you have ever given me is be a man because girls don't like weenies". Okay then....not exactly the feather in my cap I was hoping for but it did bring to mind one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received which happens to come straight out of Proverbs - "Pride comes before the fall"

I guess the best advice isn't "motherly advice" at all but straight from The Father.


Oh and thanks for helping me keep it real Trey!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Obviously I didn't blog on my summer vacation!

I thought about it, I really did! But for some reason I couldn't bring my self to put my thoughts down. I would call it a case of writers block but since I am not a writer, that term doesn't fit. Perhaps bloggers block? Yeah I like that!

This summer I suffered from a severe case of bloggers block.

I actually toyed with the idea of discontinuing the blog all together but then I read my last post and realized that I could not leave the blogosphere and have that last post as my swan song. I sounded a bit despondant in it don't you think?

So here I am to recap my summer so all those future generations I hope to reach one day won't think I jumped off a cliff in a desperate suicidal frenzy in June of 2010.

Our summer started with the kind of drama that you can only experience if you have a teenage girl in your house. Lots of crying and storming upstairs over an incident that now seems trivial but at the time was a source of much turmoil around here. I can say however after the storm cleared, I had the most enjoyable summer with my youngest daughter. We had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together and we shared many laughs and made some great memories that made it well worth the bit of turbulence we had to experience at the start of the summer.

In July we made a very long very fun car ride to Michigan. Unfortunately Greg was not able to join us as he broke his ankle in mid-June and was not able to make the long trek with us. We had a lovely celebration of my fathers life while we were there. I know he would have been humbled by the friends and family that came to reminisce about how he touched their lives. It was so wonderful to see family and friends that I haven't seen since I was a girl and it really made me realize that the people that are brought into our lives, even if it's only for a short time, are truly blessings to be cherished.

August found us preparing to send Ciara off to college and Trey to High School. Preparing for college i.e shopping for dorm paraphenalia took some serious time and effort in finding the perfect marriage of colors, print, and textures to make Ciara's home away from home the kind of place that will inspire much studying. Ummm Yeah.... Preparing Trey for High School required purchasing one pair of jeans. No worries about the perfect marriage of colors or patterns for him!

So here it is September. As promised, God has provided for all of our needs. He has provided a job for Paul and at this moment in life things are on an even keel. No, I'm not lulled into a false sense of security that things will be peachy from here on out. If there is one thing I have learned in my many years of living is that change is going to happen. Sometimes it's good change, and sometimes it's change that brings you to your knees. But we serve an unchanging God that helps us navigate lifes ups and downs and really that's all the reassurance we need.

Hopefully I will be inspired to blog again soon. I think prior to my self imposed hiatus, I had at least three people that read my blog. I'm sure they had given up hope that there would be another post and have since moved on. But I know my husband checks on occassion, and hopefully with this post he will stop saying "hey you haven't updated your blog in a while". I hope you enjoyed this update honey, but you were kind of there through it all so I'm afraid this might be a little anti-climactic for you.

The Rollercoaster That Is Life

Back in the day when I had a lot of time on my hands, I was an avid reader of novels. During the aftermath of hurricane Ike when we went without power for days and days, I actually read a novel a day for four days straight. (It's amazing how much time you have on your hands when you can not go to work, thouroghly clean your house, go to the store or do any other time zapping activities that makes up an average day.) I especially liked the books that followed a family through ups and downs and in the end everything usually works out and life goes on.

Okay, I'm a nerd... I admit it.

While I love reading how fictitious heroines shoulder lifes burdens and come out victorious in the end, this past year and a half has been a rollercoaster ride that has left me feeling less like a heroine in a novel and more like someone who is on the verge of losing her grip on reality. Okay that might be a little dramatic as I don't think I'm quite ready for a padded room, but man, I don't think I can take much more drama in my life!

Here is what has happened in the past year and a half:

We saw daughter number one get engaged, and planned said wedding in four months.

A few months later daughter number one graduated from college.

In November we unexpectedly lost my mother-in-law.

A little over a month later we unexpectedly lost my father.

Two days later I started a new full time job and was promoted to a more stressful position within two months.

Spring time found us visiting colleges and preparing for the graduation of daughter number two.

This summer started with us preparing to send our son to high school and daughter number two off to college.

And now we are dealing with Paul's job loss and anticipating all that we will be facing in the near future.

Sprinkled in the midst of all of these major life happenings are the mini-happenings that make life so sweet. Things like family weddings and births, family vacations, making new friends and relaxing with old friends...etc.. etc..

When my children were growing up and something that they percieved to be major in their lives would happen, I would always remind them that there is a lesson to be learned from everything.

I suppose that is what my heavenly father is telling me right now. I think it might be the lesson to just sit back and trust in his soverienty.

Doesn't Everyone Name Their Cars?

We bought a new car today.

Well let me re-phrase that..... we bought a "new to us" car today. You see we haven't actually bought a brand-spankin right off the car lot car since 1991 but we have bought a few "pre-owned" vehicles through the years and the one thing the girls in the family find it necessary to do once we get a new car is to give it a name. I say the girls in the family because for some reason the guys in the family don't think giving names to inanimate objects is important. But we girls feel that they have to have names so we can coax them to start when they are a little hesitant to fire up or prod them along when they aren't picking up speed as quickly as we think they should. Okay that sounds slightly off.... but I know some of you talk to your cars and know what I mean even if you don't want to admit it.

I'm not sure when we started naming our cars but I think is started with Savannah's old beetle which was called "doodle". As a side note, about the same time she had doodle her cousin had a green truck that she named "Booger" thus proving that car naming is either a universal practice or at least a genetic trait. After doodle came a newer beetle that was also called doodle because we just think all beetles should be called doodle. It seems to fit their personalities.

Our volvo is called the "loser cruiser" by the kids and it kind of fits since it is a station wagon and well in my kids eyes it doesn't get much dorkier than that.

My car aquired it's name a few summers ago when the air-conditioner went out and we decided "Hot Flash" was a great name for it. Even though the air has since been fixed the name has stuck for various other reasons.

When Ciara got her truck it was aptly named "Mater" after the character in the Cars movie. We named it that because it is an old red truck and we are quite sure if it could talk it would sound like a goofy hillbilly just like the truck in the movie.

So a few weeks ago my mom decided that she was going to buy a new car and we decided to buy her old one so Ciara would have something a little more reliable than Mater when she goes off to college. This car should be more reliable because it is the epitomy of a "little old lady's" car. While it is older ( 2001) it only has 42,000 miles on it, has been kept in the garage it's whole life and the maintenence on it has been like clock work. So as we were driving over there to pick it up we were mulling over name possiblities. In the past 10 years there are three places that the car has been driven to consistently every week.... Church, Walmart, and the bingo hall.

So.. Ciara is now proudly driving her new car ... "Bingo".

The City Of Brotherly Love

This week finds me in Philadelphia. I'm so happy that I actually made it through the plane trip since seriously I would rather have a root canal than fly. But since I had to be here for work and not for pleasure, driving wasn't an option. I have however met some other women that are here for the same training and our hotel happens to offer complimentary wine and snacks each evening, we had a great time sharing "war" stories about or respective jobs. Since Philly is famous for its Cheese Steak, our group is on a quest to find the perfect one. Asking a native of Philadelphia where to find the best cheese steak is like asking a Houstonian where to get the best barbecue. Everyone has their own opinion. With this in mind, we may just have to sacrifice and try a couple of different places. Oh and there happens to be an ice cream parlor/chocolate factory right across the street from the hotel.

Traveling is hard work!

Remember the movie Rocky when he ran up those stairs as part of his training? I found out today that was filmed here in Philly. Instead of participating in the planned mall outing later this week, I think I will follow the "Rocky Workout", and run up those stairs a couple or twenty times so I won't have to buy an extra seat for the flight home.

Today I Was Cool For Almost Five Minutes

For exactly four minutes and fifty eight seconds this morning my son thought I was cool.

Today being cleaning day, I logged onto my Rhapsody account and cranked up my play list to make my cleaning a little more bearable. As I dusted to Michael Buble, sang along with Beyonce while vacuuming, and mopped the floor while dancing to Madonna, my son continuously made it known that he considered my taste in music "lame" and "old school".

Then it happened..... A classic ( albeit darkly disturbing) song - "Hell Is For Children" by Pat Benatar came on and he stopped and said "MOM! You Like This Song? This song's cool. The guitar is great in it"

... OH Pish Posh my boy... I've was jamming to Pat Benatar long before I became a middle-aged mother of three!

So for almost five minutes we shared a common bond as we listened to that song. He enjoying the talented guitar playing of Neil Giraldo, and me enjoying the fact that my son realized that I wasn't born a "mom" and I had a little shred of "coolness" in me. The spell was quickly broken when the next song came on and I was once again a relic with poor taste in music in his eyes, but it was good while it lasted.

One of these days I'm going to tell him about the time when I was eighteen and some girlfriends and I just happened to be staying in the same hotel and on the same floor as a couple of popular eighties bands...... on second thought he doesn't need to know about that. Some things are just better left unsaid.