celebrating getting old and being cold

those who know me well, know that the traditional gift in a box with a bow is not particularly welcomed around here.  and i really don't think much of holidays and birthdays.  i prefer not to have a calendar tell me when i should remember someone or something important, or when i should be nice to someone.  if you wouldn't normally think of me, then no worries.  but don't pretend that you would.  so, i'm not much into celebrating my birthday just for the sake of societal tradition.  but i WILL use any excuse to spend time with doc M!

i don't remember very many birthdays and probably even less birthday gifts.  i apologize up front for all those who have given me things that i've forgotten.  no offense or hurt is intended.  but i do have about 3 gifts that stand out above the rest and i've 'carried' with me all these years.  one was my 16th birthday that was a surprise limo ride from high school, with some of my friends, to the awesome Farrell's.  another was a pair of fabulous, priceless, timeless, silver doc marten boots that i got from my mother-in-law about 13 years ago.  but the one that tops it all, and always will, is the one i received 16 years ago in my mailbox the morning AFTER my birthday.  it came in the form of a card left in my mailbox.  it had a fuzzy zebra on the front of it, and it was delivered by this crazy boy i had met the night before.  (if i ever unpacked fully after a move, there might be a picture of it here...but no such luck).  yes, 16 years ago on my birthday, the doc and i met.

i am grateful to the Lord for putting him in my path.  and i am grateful that i didn't have a clue what i was doing back then at that young age, or i might've just said i wasn't ready to get married.  because i'm sure i wasn't.  but i'm also grateful for the person he is.  i'm glad i don't get random, impractical, plants in vases as gifts.  i'm glad i don't get credit to some girly store to go shopping.  i'm happy he is the kind of person who wishes he were with me while he's working, even though he absolutely LOVES his job.  i'm so glad i don't have to live with an allowance each month or follow some sort of 'to do' list. i don't live by a long set of rules that he deems necessary for my stereotypical role.  i enjoy that he treats me right all year long, and not just on my birthday and holidays when i put it in some sort of request as a gift.  i love that we have differences, yet are always together when it comes to life philosophies.

alright, enough of that silly stuff.  here's the eye candy from our trip that you've been waiting for.

P.S. and in case you were wondering... weekend in atlanta, fabulous cirque show called OVO, great food, great walks, great scenery. I LOVE BEING IN THE CITY!!

can't get no satisfaction...

so that pastel background was torturing me every time i loaded my blog.  and this one is still a bit on the christmasy side, so not sure how long it will last.  at least it's better than that pastel blue.  i'm not happy about the reference to cutestblogontheblock... but i'll live.

post about bday wkd in atlanta to come soon.

NOT new year resolutions

can i make resolutions even though it's not the new year yet?  by the time i spend all my energy dreading christmas and then christmas is finally over, i'm usually so sick of hearing about new year's resolutions, that i make a resolution NOT to make any.  cuz against the grain is just how i roll.  so here they are, a whole month ahead of time.  (don't expect me to stick to any, mind you).

• school the yahoos on a schedule so it gets done more often
• learn about leonardo da vinci and his 'non-painter' world
• travel as much as possible
• go to concerts
• write in my journal during the happy times, not just the sad
• send more snail mail to people
• pay my bills on time
• figure out who i really am and stick to it
• discover my gifts and grow them so they can be shared
• finish getting this house set up (scrap/craft area, overnight guest space, toy room)
• be more diligent with gospel basics
• determine where they sell the jars of unselfishness
• continue to grow my dvd collection
• build a wardrobe that i love instead of one i dread 

looks like 2011 is gonna be busy...

CERTified

i took this class recently to learn more about emergency preparedness.  CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team.  i thought i would enjoy it more, but it got to be kinda dry.  i'm still glad i did it, and i got a big bag of supplies at the end.  SCORE!  it then became someone's crazy idea to put all my gear on and take a picture.  not sure why i went along with it.  but here they are for y'all to have a good laugh.

southern fishing

my kids have never been taught how to fish.  a couple of them haven't ever held a fishing pole in their hands.  it's one of the things i wish we would've had more time for over the past years.  the doc was invited by a couple people from work to bring us all up to a cabin in the middle of nowhere on a lake stocked with fish.  the kids had a blast and can't wait to go back again.

 

marz caught more fish than anyone!!

 

 

yes, that makes sense dash.  how else would you get the fish to stop moving?

 hmmm...lemme see how squishy the eyeball is.

a southern dinner isn't complete without deep fried fish!

mmmmmm...hush puppies from scratch!

one rut to another

spent the entire day out of the house yesterday.  it reminded me of 'back when' i used to do that every day.  it's been 8.5 yrs since i've had to be gone all day on a daily basis.  i don't think i would have the energy to return to that.  kudos to all the working moms that do that all the time.  i don't know how i did it back then. 

back in the day it was 2 little kids, at least one up a few times in the middle of the night, alarm goes off about 1/2 hour after the last time i return to bed.  leave the house to drive to work in the dark, many times return home in the dark.  saturdays the kids spent eating and sleeping in the car all day as we ran errands from morning til night.  sundays we spent driving all over town between church and visits to family and friends.  monday morning we'd be back at it again.  most days i felt like we would never get ourselves out of that rat race to take a breath.

12 yrs later, life seems like the complete opposite.  if i leave the house at all it's an achievement.  if i shower AND leave the house before noon, it should be documented.  laziness seems to be the drug of choice these days.  and on days when the sun isn't shining, well... we won't even go there.  i have kids who cook, clean and babysit.  i have kids who read to other kids.  i have computer apps that teach the kids math and such.  i have a cd player that reads the history.  i have a very helpful husband, and friends who keep my kids when i want to run away.  after all that, some days, it still doesn't seem like enough.

i wonder how i jumped from one rut to the next without seeing the in between?  how did i miss the plateau?  and how do i cure this escape i wish for, from things that others would give anything to have?  anyone know which store sells the jar of contentment i need?

halloween 2010