Category Archives: Life

Good, bad, ugly and a conference!!

I’ve been MIA and so very hit or miss lately….life, ya know? Sorry. I’m preaching to the choir, I know.

It looks like our weekends are slowing down a leeeeeeetle bit here to a more manageable busy-ness which is good and gives me hope to recharge and reboot and refresh and all that because I needs me some down-time, people! Wahhhhh, cry me a river, I know. We are all busy. So. I am done complaining about that.

Here’s a few things my mind is juggling lately, good bad and ugly. Ok. NOT the really ugly, because I’ve already sent THAT email to a few people and I’m just not ready to go live with that. Yet. It is brewing though. It will probably be a total **it-storm when it happens, I’ll say that. Intrigued? Well, guess you’ll have to keep checking back in. wink-wink-wink

Goodnesssssss……all over the place. The busy-ness has been good stuff. Kids music stuff, going to All-county for two kiddos 2 weekends in a row. A certain almost-12 year old birthday coming up and a trip to Plato’s closet to feed her shopping desires and birthday gift!! Last minute visit from an old friend from Tally in town with her daughter’s volleyball tourney. (I didn’t get to visit with her but Hubby did and it does a soul good to have some quality friend time!) A coming visit from Hubby’s Alaskan cousin this weekend for the night. A total nut and very fun!! A great AA dinner party meeting Hubby’s AA friends. Always nice to put names with faces. Even nicer to hear the inspirational stories coming out of these people. My dear friend may (HOPEFULLY) be doing Apologetics classes for middle and high schoolers. Y’all she is DANGEROUSLY on fire and the most AMAZING teacher EVERRRRRR. I am completely committed to bugging her to YouTube the classes because this is something the Church needs…this area is so lacking. So offer up a prayer for her would ya? This cookie dough pie made by our 16 yo. Oh. MY. Deliciousness. **one special note: USE the blender/food processor for the beans. Makes allllllllll the difference in the world. Hubby and I are planning on renewing our vows this year. The big 2-0! Point of contention: our audience. Our church generally does this in front of the general Mass. All several HUNDREDS of people. Hubby is in favor of this venue. This gives me absolute palpitations and anxiety I cannot describe. I’m all for the quiet chapel route. Also, I know I will be bawling and this is not a good look for me. Let’s face it, half of our marriage was the “for worse” part and having come through that……..Phew! Good stuff, but man, oh, man……what a ride!!!

Badness: (I know, not a word, but in keeping with the theme)…..I didn’t get a job I applied for. Again. I DO have promises of other positions in the next few months, so we shall see….but disappointment, I’m really over you. Really. 16 yo broke his foot skateboarding. Not super bad, but definitely waylaid the skating for a while. Good stuff is coming out of that, though…..the ole stepping back and getting a bird’s eye view of friends, new likes and maturing. Colds. Several have blown through this house. 5 of 6 of us have had the flu shot, so holding steady there…… lastly, a friend of mine (son’s 5th grade teacher and the best EVER! and not just because she reads my blog) is suffering mightily these past couple years with a recurrence in her ovarian cancer. The past few months have been tremendously brutal. It’s heartbreaking and I’m so sad for her suffering and for her family and mad. Mad that the prayers I pray for her don’t fix anything. Mad that the dinner I’ll take her family won’t fix anything. Mad that God allows this. Mad. Mad. Mad. And this is so definitely going on my list of conversations God and I will have in heaven. Because I just don’t see the purpose of it. At all.

And on that total bummer note: let me offer up some fun times for you….There is going to be a little conference in Austin, TX this summer. A weekend of Catholic gal fun!! All the deets are here…… my pocketbook can’t swing this, but maybe yours can and I think it would absolutely be worth every second!!!!

Go on and have a super day. Providing you aren’t snowed in for the umpteenth time this winter. We’ll be scooting through the day in the humid 80s here….. tough. tough life it is.

Blessings!!

A conundrum of sorts…

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Holy cow, y’all it’s almost February!!! Where in the HECK did January go??? This month, for us, has had our dance card filled EVERY weekend this month and while it certainly keeps us busy, I am a person who needs some downtime. After a month of go-go-go, we are happy January is almost gone-gone-gone.

Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time: All-state concert, Savannah visit with my mom and her Hubby, All-county concert #1 (followed by #2 concert AND LAST this weekend). All good stuff. I just need to decompress on the weekends at some point and there’s been very little of that. The other problem all this busy-ness brings is the whole “physical health” resolutions has taken a back seat with the extra running around.

The interesting thing, and here is the conundrum, is that while I haven’t been wholly UNHEALTHY, I’ve not focused ONE BIT on exercise (got it in when I could or managed to get out of bed in the morning chilliness), nor have I focused on my food (although I’ve stuck to my mostly normal eating habits). Yesterday, I wanted to brace myself for moving back into regular and scheduled exercise AND food-journaling with our 16 year-old and guess what? Down 4 pounds. You’ve got to be kidding me.

No worries though, now that I’ve typed it and am moving back into focus on health, I’ll be right back up….but hopefully not.

Isn’t life crazy like that?

Live Life

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In my job as a CT Technologist I see a LOT of stuff. In my 22 years of working, I’ve learned to compartmentalize in order to keep my sanity. I’ve seen a lot and I see a LOT. The kind of stuff that regularly makes me shut up about my “little problems” and stuff that makes me say, “Gee, those are the same symptoms I’ve been having and holy……..”, stuff that makes me take a little more time with a patient, go the extra mile, give the extra smile and sometimes even the hug (although generally I save those for my 80-somethings who shamelessly flirt with me). You having a bad day? Come hang with me sometime, we’ll put that pity party to bed. Today was another day.

Today, we had a 51-year-old male newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. 51. 51!!!

A 53-year-old woman with a middle schooler and a high schooler with Stage 3 colon cancer.

And this morning, I learned that a sweet former acquaintance from the Junior League went home from work yesterday not feeling well and laid down for a bit. She never woke up. She leaves behind 3 boys and a husband and a river wide of mourning friends.

I was the early girl today at work and when I got home, my husband was already home. God knows what we need and when we need it. Today I needed his strong arms and shoulder to cry on.

People, get busy living.

Away at All-State: Fun, Fotos and Friends

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this kid RARELY takes a regular picture. Here’s his Mr. Serious pose.

A few months back we found out our son qualified for the All-State Middle School Honors band. Quite the accomplishment for this French Horn player who is on his third year of playing. The boy is disciplined and driven and when he sets his sights on a goal…stand back and watch. It’s pretty awesome. Anyhoooo….fast forward through a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season and two days back in school and then Vroom, we are off. All the way across the state (only 2 1/2 hours thankfully!). Here’s how it all went down.

Wednesday: I worked a 1/2 day so that I could get packed and ready and we could leave after school got out. That meant I was able to use my 6 month old mani-pedi gift from the Hubs and THEN start packing! For the win!! Enjoyed a nice lunch with the Hubs, picked up the kiddos packed myself and helped our EXTREMELY excited and hyper 14-year-old and we hit the road. We stayed at my friend’s outside of Tampa. We used to work together back in the day, pre-kids and have a few crazy stories behind us. She and her family were so very gracious considering it was a school/work night for them and we stayed up WAY too late for both of us trying to cram in the last couple of years of catch up into a few hours but it was so very worth it. She’s a crazy hot mess of extrovert and Type A to the MAX (some of my very besties fall in this category….they balance my TypeB/C/D) and it is like being in an alternate universe when I’m with her and fully entertaining, enjoyable, comfortable and awesome. Great way to start off our weekend!

Thursday: We hit the road with PLENTY of extra time (in my suburban brain) for Tampa “city” traffic and made it to check-in/warm-ups well within the window (10 minutes to spare). The boy took his time, was the last to go in the reseating audition and…….the kid got FIRST CHAIR. Un-FREAKIN-believable. I still get a big ole lump in my throat when I remember the most gigantic hug and gratitude he expressed when we got here to his dad and I. And then he gets FIRST CHAIR. You guys. Just. Wow. The enjoyment in seeing his hard work paying off in such a tremendous way and the joy he experienced in that moment is heart-bursting-over-flowing-this-is-what-its-all-about.

Upon getting him settled into a 4 hour rehearsal, I was then free to explore. In clogs and inclement weather. Where better to do that but a bookstore. Oxford Exchange. And with one of my besties and former neighbor from Tally. A taste of heaven, people. A taste of heaven.

Tea time. Lovely bookstore. Awesome friend. Heaven.

Post-rehearsals the mad dash for dinner was beyond crazy. We opted for a pre-made sub at CVS and hit the room for some down time before his 2 hour rehearsal from 7-9p.m. This kid will have no lips left after this weekend. Sleep was most fabulous, I’ll tell you.

Resting these pups after a day of walking. To and fro in clogs. (not made for walking)

Friday: 6 a.m. forced us out of bed so that we could grab some grub ahead of the masses (40,000 people in town for this conference). Most awesome move, ever. No crowds. Yummy food. (neither of us could eat it all, but I DID finish that coffee mug!).

Holy….who EATS all that?!?!?!

More rehearsal for him and I get to spend time with another friend and then did a little scrapbook shopping and thrift shop exploring with my other friend. Sadly, not only could we not figure a way to bring home a most amazing velour chaise for $50, a migraine crept up on me and delayed our plans a bit for the evening. However, somehow I rallied and we were able to enjoy the All-State Middle school and High school jazz concert. Phenom!

This girl: friends for almost 30 years. Sweetest thing ever. I have no idea what I am looking at though.

Saturday was a whirlwind of checkout, rehearsal and prep for the concert. Truly impressive how well these kids pulled it together after two days of practices together with a new conductor. The hour-long concert went far too quickly. The drive home was blessedly traffic-drama-free as our boy decompressed from a wild ride of hard work, accolades and new friends. We were both glad to be home and the Hubs and other kids got along just fine without us, even enjoying a lunch on the river Saturday. Life is good, friends. Life is good.

Silly faces=universal
Fun friends at All-State.

Next weekend, we get to do it again as the kids and I trek it to Savannah to visit with my mom and her husband! Woot, woot! More pictures to come and any recommended sites, restaurants, etc are more than welcome in the combox!! So bring it!

Early morning walk in the park

Looking back, looking ahead and looking around

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January. Ordinary time. Fresh off the heels of an awesome (although shorter) Christmas and Advent season. A season that we decorate our house to the brim in celebration of a sweet baby who came to save us from ourselves. He came to an unwed couple, on a long and dusty journey in a stinky animal shelter. Yep, he nailed our lives right on the head. Imperfect people on a journey surrounded by a world of stinky temptations. He tops it off with the most magnificent light, guiding us straight to HIM, accompanied by wisdom, preparation and love. What a way to start the year!

From Thanksgiving to Epiphany, it’s a month+ long party and celebration!

And so, this morning, as I drink my coffee and enjoy my quiet time, I plan the day and week ahead and pause to look back on last year’s “Resolutions” and to ponder the year ahead. I’m joining in a link up of 2014 with a lovely group of ladies and see that we ALL want a fresh outlook for 2014, each trying to be a better person one day at a time. I’ve joined in at In Honor of Design, however, they are all linked and you can get to a multitude of fantastic sites from there!

Looking back:

Losing weight. Wellllllll, I’ve stayed pretty steady in the actual numbers department, however, I have definitely made a much more focused and consistent effort in actually working out this past year AND healthier dishes, snacks, etc. I’m certain it comes down to portion size and/or stress eating, so always room for improvement. I feel good though, so I’ll just keep on keepin’ on!
More Joy-filled and focused. Hmmm. I’m going to say that I am honestly so task-oriented that the JOY gets lost in the day-to-day. The fact that I am working on it is a good one, the fact that I am less that consistent is yet another area to just keep plugging along, one day at a time.
Use and learn my real camera more often. Fail. Flat out. Although…..I have recently started pinning photo tutorials and joined a photo website (free) with a bajillion tutorials and areas to join in and have work evaluated in a constructive criticism manner. This might just be the year…..

It would seem 2013 was a big fat failure in the resolutions department OR it would seem that it is what it is….life…not always perfect and just taking each day as it comes and try to do a little better the next time. It’s precious time wasted to moan and complain about all the imperfect moments that I wish I woulda/coulda/shoulda done differently. It’s taken me 43 years to figure THAT out and a daily work in progress.

Looking ahead:

My word for this year will be “Be Present”. Okay, that’s two words, but it’s my blog and that’s what I am picking. Rather than changing all these individual things and ideas and re-working the wheel and all, I just want to be present in whatever I am doing. Chilling the Eff out on multi-tasking when I am with my family and friends. If I’m making dinner, I’ll make dinner—not make dinner, start laundry, change clothes and pack lunch for the next day. If I’m talking to my kids or husband, to stay put and talk, not talk and and half-listen while I putter around taking care of a million small details at the same time. It’s going to be hard. No joke. Honestly, I’m going to have to take a couple of days to really think about what I can do to re-train my brain to just SLOW. DOWN.

Looking around:

There it is, though. Now that I am done blogging this out, I can get dinner going…THEN get ready for work. Because TONIGHT we have a game to watch, folks. It’s going to be a great one!

For more inspiration on 2014, go check out IHOD and the multitudes and get ready 2014….here I am!

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!