30 years ago...

I became a sister for the first time.

Now I was only 16 months old and, at this point, was probably fairly oblivious to how much my world was about to change, but I am sure glad that it did!

Constant companion...constant rivalry...endless hours of fun (with a bit of fighting thrown in too along the way)...one of my closest friends.  30 years ago today brought many things into my world and has made my world a far better place.

And now it's no longer just her, but it's also a wonderful brother-in-law with a nice family that we enjoy spending time with when the opportunities arise.  And it's four lovely little faces that feel my heart up right to the top each time I see them!

That's the thing about a sister (or sibling in general for that matter) that no one really ever tells you...when their world expands a little bit more...so does your own!

She has been very blessed to have her own world expanded in so many good ways just as we have been blessed right along with her as it has expanded!

Emily, I hope you have had a great birthday weekend (if you need another glass of wine or a beer tomorrow, just give me a call! ;)

Thanks for just being & here's to, at least, another 30 happy years more!

Happy Birthday!

Life (Before being "Mom") & Death

I found this video tonight and this song always makes me chuckle :)

"Mom" could never have been cool or done anything cool and all of you "Mom's" know it ;)



And I found that video while I was looking for this one...



I had not heard this song for a very long time, but I heard it tonight while driving home from class.  It always brings a smile to my face!
Enjoy!

2012 Book #1

Until We Meet Again by Michael Korenblit and Kathleen Janger

-An amazing story of one couple's survival during the Holocaust, which I had previously read a couple years ago, but is still just as powerful with each rereading.
-The most powerful sentence for me is the very last one of the book, "Of the 8,000 Jews of Hrubieszow, these three were among the fewer than 200 who survived."

It truly is a miraculous story!

What a Welcome!

I got home around 8 p.m. tonight.  I chatted with Scott for a few minutes and asked if Luke went down okay at bedtime.  He stated that he had gone down really well, then I headed upstairs.

I was just getting ready to wash my face and change into my pj's when I heard the sound of a doorknob turning and little feet running down the hallway.

My first thought was, "I thought he was sleeping, what is he doing up?"

Then I saw a huge smile and heard "Mom! It's so nice to have you back! I missed you!"

AAAAWWWWW!!!!!  (heart melting :)  "I missed you too buddy!"

"Mom will you lay with me in my bed for a few minutes?"

"Sure, let's go."

What an awesome way to be greeted (and such nice manners too, I thought!)
My little man is definitely one thoughtful and sweet little guy!

A Full Mind

A full mind is never a good thing, well, at least in my case anyway.
In my case, when my mind is full, it becomes all "swirly" and focusing on any one thing becomes very difficult.
My brain feels like it has been bombarded over the past two weeks with both ongoing and completely new things.

My family is always my top concern.
I am constantly thinking about my child, his well being, the judgements of others, and the relationships that he holds so dear yet struggles so much with because of some things that I believe are not always completely under his control.  And he is only 4 years old...
It makes us very grateful for those in his life who are patient with him even when it is VERY hard and for those who try to understand and help, instead of walking away from him.  We are so very grateful for an understanding teacher/school staff and for those close to us who do make time for him, despite the challenges that can bring at times.
He is and always will be my little man and I love him beyond belief and will always want to do the best by him! And I hope that those closest to him will never give up on him.

School is becoming a new priority too.
I began "the grind" this week.  Two days a week of driving an hour plus each way for class.  Sitting in class two hours plus each night and getting home after bedtime makes for some long days. 
Luke and I have made the most of our morning quality time.  I try to get most of the stuff I would usually do in the morning done before I go to bed.  Then all I have to worry about once I'm dressed and ready to go is eating breakfast (drinking coffee too, of course!) and playing with Luke before leaving for the day. 
Scott has done a wonderful job of adjusting to it all this week!  We'll see how he's doing by the time Week 16 rolls around ;)
Somewhere in the midst of all this, I will find time for homework and research papers too!


I am very much looking forward to a night out with some very dear friends next week!  It always does a mind good to get its "rants" out  within  a "safe zone" and these girls are DEFINTITELY a huge part of my sanity keeping! :)  I am also glad to be a huge part of THEIR  sanity keeping too! ;)

I trust them with my family, my "issues" and my life! And I'm more than happy that they trust me with theirs too. Thanks, in advance, girls!

Our Hero!

WOOHOO!!!

The hero at our house today is.....

Scott aka Dad!

With a new tool in his hand and three or four attempts at making it work tonight, he managed to get the main floor toilet working! (We had been without it working the entire weekend and several days last week.)

Why was it not working?

We'll just say that a younger person (who shall remain nameless at this time) likes to unroll toilet paper and fill the toilet with it whenever he needs to spend his time in there dropping a deuce.  He prefers to use the kiddie potty, but manages to use his time wisely when he's in between deuces (during the same visit) or when he's finished, but not completely ready to clean up yet.
The grownups of the house were trying to remember to always put the toilet paper away on a high shelf after using it, but one lucky day (for the aforementioned younger person) and not so lucky day (for the toilet and the adults) the lady of the house forgot to put the toilet paper back on the shelf.  BINGO!  Half a roll of toilet paper + an attempted flush with it in the toilet (never before tried btw) = one majorly clogged toilet and the better part of an evening spent trying to unclog it!

NOT GOOD!

Scott did some internet research and purchased a toilet auger and after 3-4 attempts tonight, there was a magical sound...

a flushing toilet!

Like I said, Our Hero! :)

Lazy Weekend!

It is so nice to have a weekend with nothing on the agenda! 

We are getting back into the swing of things around here and have done a good job so far of trying to start some new habits/routines.  Of course, we did not get them all perfect (and, of course, never will either), but we did get some insight into which areas we need to do a better job with this week.

The joy of having nowhere that we have to be is getting to hang out at home and work on things together.  Today, most of the Christmas stuff was taken down.  The tree will come down tomorrow.  Some cleaning got done and groceries were purchased.  Plus, there was still lots of time to just relax!  It was a good day.

I finally got back to running this week too (after an almost month long unintended hiatus) and places that I have felt "loosening" have started tightening back up in just a matter of days.  It has amazed me actually :)  My goal is to do another 1/2 marathon sometime this spring and at this point it is just a matter of picking which one.  I have also signed up for a series of 5K events to be held in our local community throughout the year so, hopefully, that will help to keep me motivated in between the bigger events I plan on participating in.

Getting back into the school routine went much easier than I expected.  I am anxious to see how this week goes with me starting back to school myself.  Two back-to-back long days every week and fitting in time to study/work is going to be quite the challenge, but I think the family and I are up for it and as always, THANK GOD for a wonderful sitter who doesn't mind having to keep the little guy a few extra hours on class nights!  I sure will miss him on those days though as I probably won't see much of him from the time he and I get to school until the next morning :(

Anyway, here's to the end of a long ramblingish type of post and to the beginning of a new challenge!