The girls are gone,

the house is resembling normal and it's time for me to get back to "normal" life. I'm uploading pictures but don't have time to post them here today...but I will. DOn't you worry!!

One word answers...
It is very nearly impossible for me to keep anything to one word but I did my best.
1. Where is your cell phone? charging
2. Your significant other? Working
3. Your hair? wet
4. Your mother? loner
5. Your father? gone
6. Your favorite thing? faith
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? tea
9. Your dream/goal? fitness
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your church? fabulous
12. Your fear? failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? elsewhere
14. Where were you last night? Here
15. What you’re not? fed
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? restoration
18. Where you grew up? everywhere
19. The last thing you did? laundry
20. What are you wearing? shorts
21. Your TV? Closer
22. Your pets? None
23. Your computer? Laptop
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? melancholy
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? sparkly
28. Something you’re not wearing? makeup
29. Favorite store? Goodwill
30. Your summer? Fabulous
31. Like (love) someone? Many
32. Your favorite color? Red
33. Last time you laughed? yesterday
34. Last time you cried? airport

Haven't posted in six weeks...

I remember thinking the night of that Barak won the democratic nomination I should post. I was so moved by Hillary Clinton's speech, not because I like her (really, if you know me, you know I FOAM at the mouth DISLIKE them) but because here was a woman standing on a national platform, putting a woman's touch to politics...and it really made me realize that what I used to proclaim to the world was true. A girl can grow up to be ANYTHING these days. My daughter chose wife and mom, a great choice, but if she had chosen politics, it is a possibility now. Not a dream. My grandchildren will live in a very different world because of Hillary Clinton's run for office.
Then there was the ramping up for my bday and Melissa's trip and my trip to WA. And came home to Paul not acting on the ultimatum I gave him the day I left...
and a trip to a divorce attorney. Five days of crying to the point of my chest hurting, crying in my sleep, and crying some more.
I don't know what's going to happen from here, but I know I need to start reclaiming what was my life before his addiction came to light. So if he wants to do nothing and proclaim that all is well, even with a mountain of events proclaiming otherwise, he can. I just can't live on the crazy train any more.

My countdown

TEN "essentials" that I cannot scrapbook without:
My scrap space. I'm a stay at home scrapper.
A tidy home. No dishes in the sink, a clean floor...
Photos that make me smile.
My cutterpede
Dotto adhesive, although I'm considering others right now. It's annoying me!!
Ink, patterned papers…a day isn't complete without ink on my fingies!!
My water bottle
Chocolate...just one little one
My computer...99% of my journaling is done on it
Time...I like having an afternoon, not 15 minutes. But I'll take that too!!



NINE words I love are:
"I love you", "Are you home?" "I'm stopping by"



EIGHT things that define my happy place:
home, family, friends, sun, relaxation, music, Bible study.



SEVEN things I love about my "every day" life …
Sleeping in. Love it every single time!!
Crock-pot meals...especially on scrapping days
Scrapbooking late at night when the house is quiet.
Playing with my little man.
Time to myself.
Talking/texting my kids and nieces.
Online chats with friends.



SIX places I'd love to visit before I die:
Ireland
The Grand Canyon
Judy...LOL
Europe
Beaver Island again
The states I've not yet seen



FIVE things I do everyday, without fail:
Drink tea
Hug my son
Check emails
Connect with someone
Exercise (day 3...but still)



FOUR websites I frequent:
http://www.comcast.net/
http://www.travelocity.com/
http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/
http://www.scrapscene.com/



THREE layouts I love:

I love this one because of the colors, the title strip and it's me and my little man. There just aren't that many pix with me...as with my kids, I have to literally GIVE someone the camera and tell them to take the pictures







These are some of my favorite pictures. Besides him just being bug eyed and silly looking, he's got so much personality. I also liekd focusing on the one big picture that was my favorite with the others playing "supporting characters". My favorite expressions all on one page!!







I liked this one because of the circle. It's a total sketch layout, but the colors are indicative of the season, the rubons I've had for years and sitll looked good and it was jsut plain fun to do. Gotta love my ink!!






TWO decisions I've never regretted:
graduating college...I almost quit with 2 classes left
having children...I love my kids to death, and no matter what buttons they push (which is pretty rare these days), those buttons were installed with years of love and intimacy and connection. They make me laugh, challenge me as a woman, make me proud...

ONE additional and very important thing you should know about me:
I made this blog even more private. I have things I've filtered out of my own ramblings in case someone read it. I removed people I KNOW haven't respected my privacy and feel one step better about my life...And I'm on the brink of 45 (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???)

Haven't updated this in a while!
Joseph graduated...I'm officially out of the homeschool business and he's officially in college.

Here he is ready for "fake prom"...texting as usual. I really felt the Looooooooooooooove with this one. After about 6 attempts and some cajoling, I got a good one. This isnt' it. Just my favorite!! LOL

Cassie applied back to work...don't know where that will end up, but it was alot of fun to have her join us at Bible study these last 10 weeks and I hope working doesn't cramp her style!! (Or our time together)
Paul's the same...
And our little guy is getting less and less little!! He's rolling over, sleeping through the night, laughing and watching us with great interest. He had his first round of cereal and like it alot, his first time in a walker...liked that too...for about 5 minutes. He makes me laugh every single time I see him... Now he's a drooling machine. We need a bib on him all the time and when he's on his stomach, there's always a wet spot left as evidence.

Been doing some scrapping too. 210 pages so far this year to be exact. Working on the kids homeschool years now...a real trip down memory lane. So far down, neither Cassie nor I can remember who some of the people are!! LOL

I love this one of Cassie and Ronnie. So intent on each other. It was a good day on this day..relaxing, fun, great conversation and laughs.

OH...and I gave my first professional talk on the 17th. Not much to say beyond that. Just want to remember...LOL

What a great Mother's Day

Chock full of happy memories, great message at church, family time. I've officially turned into my mother...all I wanted was to see Cassie and Joseph and the bonus of them getting along and laughing together made it all the sweeter.









Gotta love the "I'll tolerate that lady kissing me" face. He's so darn funny....makes me laugh all the time. Good thing I never have to discipline him. Don't think I'd be any better not laughing at him than I was with my kids!!




Joseph with his new glasses...which I didn't like but like more every time he wears them...and which reminds me that I haven't put in for the reimbursement for their ridiculous price!!





Not the greatest picture of us all..but i certainly captures that point of the day!! Joseph switched his shift at Dippin Dots so we could go to church together for Mother's Day...so he was rushing off to make it there on time, the baby was starting to cry, and Cassie and I were just relaxing and enjoying the day. Her first Mother's Day corsage...hopefully not her last!!

Just a darn good day...with darn good kids...and a darn cute little mister!!

Giving a talk in 2 weeks

and I am at the point where I always get "WHY DID I SAY YES TO THIS?????" I'm speaking at my first retreat, with a theme of "class reunion". My talk is going to be basically: we need to evaluate our lives at least as often as we go to a class reunion. Then talking about how at my 5th reunion, not much had changed, at my 10th I was 9 months pregnant (had Joseph the next day), didn't go to my 15th (there's some analogy there about not being present in my life at that point), 20th decided to go at the last minute and had a blast but realized alot of people hadn't changed much in 20 years; and our 25th we didn't go because our marriage was a mess and I couldn't imagine what I'd say 2 months after all hell broke loose. But they had an impromptu one the next year, and we went (I must say, I looked great) and had a really good time. And a few things I've realized: at each reunion, we've lost a classmate. Some to tragedy, some to illness, and now this last one, to an aneurysm. Lesson learned: don't expect to be at your next reunion...live each day to its fullest and without regrets...and ask yourself (answer honestly): if I passed on between now and the next reunion, would I have left the legacy I wanted to? Would I have left a mark on the world for the better? What loss would be felt? And if something needs to change...CHANGE IT NOW.

Momentum changes one step at a time...over a period of time...so if your life isn't what you want it to be at 23 or 63, change that momentum now. Do one thing today to change it. Then wake up and do another tomorrow. And another and another. Grow your friendships, value your family. Plant a garden (container or big), grow your faith, read a book from the library, take a walk. Laugh. Cry. Watch the stars and night and a good comedy with someone you love. Call someone you love...tell them. Write that book, or article, or journal entry you've put off. Send a card. Buy yourself flowers or chocolate or your favorite treat.

And after awhile, you will see that your life is richer, deeper, more filled with joy. You will not that not many of the things I listed cost money. And therein lies another lesson. Life, between reunions, doesn't have to be expensive to be EXPANSIVE. Live fully today. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Be kind today. We all like to be treated kindly. Start the trend. Forgive someone who has hurt you. Nurture a hope in someone else. Dream...a little dream. Where do you want to be at your next reunion? WHO do you want to be at your next reunion?

As for me...I want to be a woman with rich friendships and a deep abiding faith. I want to be a mom who unabashedly loves her children and whose children respect and love her. I want to be a doting grandma of my sweet grandson. I want to be a mother in law who supports but gives enough space, who celebrates the man my daughter married. I want to be a wife who loves and respects her husband and shows it. On a lighter note, I want to be a few muffies lighter and a few scrapbooks heavier. I want to be AG, the most frequent visitors of my beloved nieces. And I want to keep up. I want to age well. I want to sleep through the night and wake up refreshed (perhaps those cups of tea late at night need to STOP!!). And I want to walk one step closer to serving Jesus well every single day of my life. Because I'm either heading toward him or away. I choose toward.

What do you choose? Choose well...and I'll see you at the next reunion!!

Cinco de Mayo

for us was waking up to the news that the bar across from Cassie's apartment burned down, a loss of electricity, then babysitting (and taking like 80 pix) and crashing. No margarita's here!! LOL
Joseph won his battle of the bands, with great style and enthusiasm. It was so fun to be back in the world of youth ministry. It really gets me excited and enthused!! I love every minute of it...





And National Scrapbook Day came and went with me not scrapping a single thing. And spending too much money on scrapbook stuff. Too much. Sigh. No budget left for May.WOrking on some layouts, trying to stay current and work on backlogs (think decades worth of it!!) on the big weekend crops.
Now that we are on the brink of no school for the rest of my life, in theory, I should get tons of layouts done!! Remember those words..."in theory" LOL

Seriously, is he not the cutest, funniest baby? I've never seen a baby (not even my two) that had as many expressions as this little guy does. I keep telling him "You are a funny little dude"...
And on his 3 month birthday, I was leaving and told him that I was going to go but would see him this weekend and he looked at me and smiled!! WOOHOO!! FINALLY...
and then he smiled at Paul on Sunday and Joseph on Sunday. What the HECK??? I wait and wait and wait...and cajole and beg and we all get the smile at the same time. Hrmph!!