Today's News

What's going on everyone?  I am sure everyone is busy, busy, busy.  I so wanted to keep up on posting, but I have just overwhelmed myself with stuff (at work, at home, and in life) so my little family blog has taken the biggest hit.  

This week I am flying to Tallahassee for a training with CPALMS and FSU.  I am looking forward to the trip, but not to the flight.  I am terribly, devastatingly afraid of flying.  I have no choice, they want me there and the pay is needed, plus I love learning new stuff to share with my colleagues.  I wanted to drive, but nope, not happening.  So wish me luck because I am not happy about this.

Little Miss is doing her thing in college, but I am so glad she decided to do it here, in our home town.  It has been an adjustment from high schooler to college girl, especially since I have to treat her as an adult who makes her own decisions.  In retrospect, it was easier when Big Miss left to college, even though at the time, I mourned that move.  Not knowing what she is doing at every minute is much better than my heart hurting every single time Little Miss leaves the house.  Parties will be the death of me.  I hate that she has to drive to these damn parties and I know what's going on there.  I just have to pray that she makes the right choices and that God is with her at every moment.

She is still dancing, so we do spend a lot of time together going to competitions and such.  This is her last year, boohoo...  Big Miss is working at her second awesome internship, she is just doing amazing things.  She has one year left!  I can't even imagine what will come next for her.  I don't think she will come home, there is just so much for her to accomplish out there and coming home might hinder her progress.  The boyfriend also adds into the mix, so that is part of her decision making as well.  We love boyfriend, he is such a good kid and knowing that he takes care of her and protects her while she is away from home, helps me sleep each night.  

What else... Oh, I have gained so much weight.  So I ordered the 21 Day Fix.  I start in two weeks.  Let's see what happens.  I lost all that weight 5 years ago and swore I would never get back to this place, but who counts calories when you are having fun at life?  Exercise is key, so I will bite the bullet and exercise.  What about you?  How do you maintain weight after a big loss?

That's it for now.  There are other things going on, but I think I have caught you up on the gist of things.  Have a happy weekend!

It Has Been Too Long...

My little blog is still here, she has waited and waited patiently to hear from momma!  Patience is a virtue and time is of the essence, so here I am.  This first weekend of 2014 has promised a good year and to keep in step, I will post once a week to keep everyone (especially myself) up to date on our happenings in our little corner of the world.

Big Miss is back at school at Little Miss will start tomorrow.  Changes have been a happenin' here and we have taken them in stride.  It is good to have my little miss here at home, but it is also extremely stressful.  Here's what I'm talking about:  With big miss away at school, I worry, but I don't stay up at night waiting for her to come home with a pit in my stomach and an ache in my heart.  With little miss here, I die a little bit each time she steps out the door.  I worry to my heart's content and then some, driving my husband crazy and I think I am making myself nuts, to say the least.  We opted out of a curfew (home by 5 am, kill me now..) so she can be just like her big sister who doesn't have mommy and daddy breathing down her neck. The only problem is that I am breathing down her neck, my neck, and everyone else's neck.  What to do, what to do....

Tomorrow I go back to work after a glorious 2 weeks home with my little family.  Routines and deadlines will take over and we will see each other again on spring break, haha!  I am not kidding, people!  I have school and college (working on that PhD), little miss has work, dance, and college, hubby has work, work, work, and more work and big miss is doing her thing away at school.  She starts a new internship tomorrow, go big miss!  She has been doing great things in the world of engineering, this momma is proud!

My OLW for 2014:  PRAY.  That's it, enough said.

Keep smiling peeps, it gives your face something to do!  Until next week....

Wow, It Has Been Too Long

I have so much to say and so little at the same time.  I have let this little blog slip through my hands and I am sad.  This was my first attempt at blogging and I want to keep it, forever.  So, I will post when I can and I will post for me.  If my blogging peeps read along with me, I am happy.  I started this for me, so I will continue on for me.  The girls are wonderful young ladies, I love them to death.  Big Miss is doing well in college and she is in love, so all is well in her world.  Little Miss has started college here at home, so that made me happy.  She has two jobs that she loves and I love having her here with me.  I miss Big Miss all the time and she will be home next weekend, so we will be a happy family.  Hubby will be turning 50, so we will all celebrate and he will be pissy.  He has been pissy and I know it's the 50 thing, but he is denial.  It's ok, we will love him pissy or not!

Here is what happened to me this week


I am in pain, excruciating, mind-numbing pain.  

UTI they said, nope can't be, I don't have any symptoms.  Take the antibiotic, go back to work, you will be fine, they said.  Two days later, I cried the entire day at work.  My back was derailing and I couldn't do a thing about it. The cramps, they were back.  Everyone said kidney stones.  Ok, could be.

Come Monday, I had to be escorted out of work again and sent to the ER.  8 hours later, NOTHING!!!!  Sounds like kidney stones, your pain is indicative of kidney stones, but no stones.  Just infection, now in the bladder and the kidneys.  There might be sand in your kidneys.  Oh, good, that trip to the beach was well worth it.

One week later, I still cringe and cry.  I can't work until Monday and I can't do anything else.  I am writing this to get it off my chest and to ask for prayers from my blogging buddies.  

 Thanks for listening to the ramblings of a Percocet filled mind.  

Who looks like this when they have kidney pain?  Pretend this is me, this is what I look like right now, LOL.

Ups and Downs

Hi there friends, it has been a while.  I don't have any excuses, except that life always gets in the way, but I guess that is a good thing.  There have been ups and downs these past weeks, but I am hoping to eliminate some of the downs and continue facing the ups with a smile.  

Little Miss graduates in a few short weeks, this is both an up and down.  An up, because she is going to venture into the college and working world, while staying home with us.  See, definitely an up.  A down, because I have two women on my hands now.  I will never enter the halls of a high school again, unless I am there for someone else's child.  

Big Miss finished her Sophomore year of college, well, really her Junior year because of the credits she came into school with on her resume.  This is definitely an up because she knows the light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.  It is also a down because I know she will make the decision to continue her career away from home, so I will still have a long distance daughter.

Hubby has started a new venture, while continuing to work in his current (very stressful) job that he has held for 30+ years.  An up- he is doing something he loves... A down- he now hates the paying job and it scares me to think he may follow his dream.  Now, I am not against following dreams, but at our age, money isn't a dream, it is a reality.  So my prayer list is filled with requests of strength and determination, for hubby and for me.

All of these ups and downs (and so many unmentioned) have turned me into a thinking person of late.  I am thinking all of the time about everything, it seems my mind never stops.  This leads to endless internet searches trying to find spiritual sayings, prayers, good thoughts, etc.  One late night search led me to the Hello Morning Blog and now my inbox is filled with positive messages each morning.  This is definitely an up.  I love reading the uplifting advice and stories.  In fact, this is in addition to so many other great reads delivered to my inbox (Joel Osteen, to name one), so I am one positive girl!

That's the gist for now.  What have been some of your ups and downs?  How have you coped with them?  If you want to check out Hello Morning, click the pic below.  The site has not asked me to post about what they do, but I truly have enjoyed what I have read this past week, so this is my way of giving you an up of your very own.

Catching Up (Warning, it might be a little long...)

College girl was here last week since it was her spring break, which was one week too soon, as we are on spring break this week.  I guess it was okay, she got to spend time with daddy (he took his vacation last week so she wouldn't be on break alone).  They spent their days eating sushi and just talking while high school girl and I drudged through our daily routines.  We tried to act excited when they told us about their day, but it was a stretch to smile, lol.
The girls and I did go to Orlando for dance nationals, so that was so fun!  I think I look forward to that trip more than the dance team does (cue dance mom crazy).  Our girls were 10th in the nation for hip hop and 4th in the nation for medium varsity jazz and team performance.  As a mom it is my bragging rights to give you the link so you can see the videos (only if you want to).  In the jazz routine my daughter is Alice and in the others she is the cute blonde.  Here is the link if you would like to check her and the other members out:


NDA 2012 Competition Videos

In other news, college girl has been given the chance to be a research assistant UCF under a grant with Lockheed Martin!  This mama is so proud of her girls and I know all my lovely bloggers feel that pride right along with me.


Well, I should get back to that "Things To Do On Spring Break" list.  Hmmm.... maybe tomorrow, today is already shot, LOL.
        

Just some pics of the 3 dances and then my 2 cutees!

So Little Time...

I have had to resign to the fact that I just can't do it all, no matter how hard I try.  I have so much on my plate right now and none of it is fun, but all of it has a deadline.  So I find myself not blogging as much, but I have decided to forgive myself.  I am going to shoot for once a week, rather than once a day.  If I get the chance to do more, then I am ahead of the game, if not, then no promises have been broken.
I went on my very first business trip as a teacher this week and I was so nervous!  I made my sister come with me because I just couldn't imagine being in a hotel room all alone.  I was selected to do this huge reading project for the state and I sat there for 2 days just thinking, how the hell did you choose me for this? 
The best part was the fact that it was in Orlando, so my big college girl was able to come to the hotel and spend some time with me.  I have actually settled down in the crying department since she has been gone, but I still miss her very much.  I miss her even more when I see little sister tweet "these are the days I wish my sister was here".  Let's face it, mommy can only do so much, but a sister, she picks up where mommy left off.  
With my OLW being RELEASE, I am going to release myself from trying to grade every single paper on my bed and go watch the Super Bowl with the rest of my family.


Go Pats!

Calgon Take Me Away

If only it were that easy...  I suffer from insomnia every so often, actually, more often than not.  I only get about 3-4 hours of sleep each night and I am okay with it, but it never ends.  Last night it caught up with me and I NEVER fell asleep.  I tried all the tricks and it was too late to take a sleeping pill (which I really try to avoid anyway) so I just waited until the clock struck 6:00 am so I can call in sick.  There would have been no way I could have driven the 23 miles and taught with a happy face all day.  


I slept for 4 hours exactly and woke up, still exhausted.  So here we are tonight and I am worrying that I won't fall asleep again (that is a classic symptom of an insomniac), which means the worrying will keep me up.


I am hoping someone out there has the perfect solution, so if you do, please pretty please let me know.

Ringing in the New Year, My Thoughts

Blessings are counted, family is present, peace is abundant, and 2012 is here to stay for the next 365 days.  


What did I think of 2011?  


I thought that it was a hard year, the year I watched my oldest child leave the nest to build her own nest away from us.  I thought it was a year to cry as my niece was diagnosed with Autism and some dreams melted away, but new dreams sprang up in the puddles of the old.  I thought it was a year of absence as I drew further from my spirituality and prayed that I would one day find my way back.  I thought it was a year of hope as I lived life to the fullest, loved to the fullest, cried to the fullest, and smiled to the fullest.  I am glad to see 2011 fly off into years gone by, but I am thankful that I was able to accept the changes she brought me in order to make the changes needed during 2012.


What are my hopes for 2012?


I hope for love beyond compare, peace to fill my heart, a family closeness like never before, prosperity for all, and the Grace of God to once again shine upon me.


Happy New Year!