Tomorrow, Tomorrow,

I love ya tomorrow. You're only a day away. YIPPPEEEE! I only have 19 hours until I am in a car on my way to MY SISTERS. WOOHOO! I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW JAZZED I AM! (Oh wait, I guess you can probably tell.) It will be a really long car ride, right around 16 hours. I hate riding in the car. But I will suck it up and try really hard not to complain. On Saturday we will be going to my Mom's (Aiken) family reunion. All her Aunties and cousins and her sisters and their families and of course Grandma. I am excited to see them...but honestly I'm dreading it a little. A lot of my Mom in one space. I'm not so sure I'm ready for all that. I do OK when it's just me and my memories that I can pull out when I'm tough enough. But how do I deal with 50 or so well wishers? Not sure how that's gonna go. Well, I guess I'll just take a page from Kami's book and smile. What else matters? I'm really going to miss that girl (and her Mom). The rest of the trip will be spent visiting Jim's parents and Grandpa, and spending time with my family. I am really looking forward to that. Jim will be home before me. Jo and I get to stay a while. I am so thankful that he understands how important that is for me. So, for now, I will say see you soon. I hope to be able to blog while I'm there, but I'm not sure yet. I'll miss you.

Yellow Fever

Well, as you all know, winter was very long this year. I honestly didn't think I was going to live through it. When March hit I was feeling a bit crazy. I needed a change and I needed some sunshine. As it usually happens (at least for me) this time of year, I decided a change of color was in order. I started in my kitchen. I put a little of the red that I had in my last house up above my cupboards. I loved it. I didn't take any before shots but the after is great. My friend Heather had to help with a few rooster adjustments and then I was ready to tackle the dinning room. My entire house is painted a very blah beige. I wanted something warm and "country" but not pastel. I tried blue and green (I know not very warm). I even painted a 2 foot square on my beige wall to try out the new color. Nothing worked. Then I was thumbing through a magazine and found a color I loved. Yellow. No way, I actually don't usually like yellow. But this was fabulous. Now to find the same shade in a paint chip was my new obsession. I took it to our local Home Depot but the page was too shiny to use with their color match machine. Bummer. I was determined to find the right shade. I was not going to let winter kick my @#*, no way. After much searching and some good advice from my personal decorator (thanks again Heather) the shade was selected.
I hate the prep work of painting, but I love the finished product. The color makes me smile every time I walk into the room. I love the way the sunlight filters through the ugly mini-blinds and warms the whole space. The decorations are still a work in progress, but the color rocks. Now I am trying to find the perfect color to cover the blah beige in the rest of the house. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

Yes, I did just sing that. The sun is shining the birds are singing and the wind is calm. I jumpped right out of bed at the crack of 8:30 and threw on my walking shoes and headed out the door. Jim and I like to walk to a lake in our town where the ducks and geese hang out. If Jim is with me it takes about an hour round trip. When I'm alone it takes more like 90 minutes. I love to stop and watch the baby turtles, geese and ducks. I am fascinated by them. The things they need to learn to survive is amazing. We were watching the ducks last week when they were really small. The Momma duck was swimming along and the babies were everywhere. I was slightly paniced. I looked around to find some help for her and noticed the goslings were swimming after their Mom in a single file line and were definately looked after. While I was ranting about the dang Mother duck letting her charges become so unruly Jim pointed out something very important. The Daddy goose was following right after the orderly line of gosslings. Momma duck was on her own. Daddy duck was on the bank snoozing. Hhhmmm, I thought. That does seem to make sense. How many times have I said "just you wait until your Dad gets home" (probably not as many times as I've thought it). The geese seem to have the right idea when it comes to tending babies. They even have gosling daycare. I tell you these birds are worth watching. So for the short time that the sun is out today, you will find me at the lake or parked outside in a chair. It's too nice to be inside.

My Friends, My Angels

I've blessed throughout my life with the best of friends. My Mom and Sisters have been there for me since the beginning. No matter how terrible I am to them, they always forgive me and love me despite my flaws. There was that redhead in the 6th grade who let me be her locker partner. And the other pretty red head (i guess I've always been drawn to red heads) who went to the fair with me. She didn't shun me when a classmate of ours puked down my back after a particularly hairy ride. Then I grew up and wasn't sure I'd ever have girlfriends again. I finally met a girl that was so fun to hang out with. She asked if I wanted to be in PTA with her. I sure did, and I never regretted it.When we moved to a new town I was so sad to have to start over. After we'd been there for a while there was a girl sitting by herself in church (she had just moved in). I asked her to sit by me and she couldn't shake me after that. I was so lucky to find her. She was only in my neighborhood for a couple of years but she will be in my life forever. And then as the 6 year cycle goes, we moved again. This time 1000 miles away from everyone I knew and loved. I am kind of shy at first and it is torture for me to make friends. But my Heavenly Father has a plan for me. He put me in the very spot to find more girlfriends. There is one imparticular who has made my transition SO much easier. An angel in disguise is what she is. I love all my friends here and can't imagine my life here without them. I wish I had pics of all of my friends to put on this page. But I guess you only get to see my wonderful sisters and our angel of a Mom.

The Year That Was

This has been a year of firsts and major change. This time last year I flew on a plane for the first time, on my way to go on my first cruise. That was a fun trip that Kevin and I took with the ballroom team. When we got back we packed up the house and moved (for the first time) out of the state. We are now 1000 miles from our families and friends, that was a really big change. I now live in a place that it rains...a lot. We went from watering our grass every night to being laughed at for putting the sprinkler on the lawn. In January of this year we went to Disneyworld (another first) with my sisters and their families. We had a really good time, but we were sad that my parents were unable to join us. My Mom was too sick to travel and she passed away on February 14, 2008. So yet again I was forced to deal with another change. So I guess my blog will be a way to keep my family and friends up-to-date on our lives. I hope you come along for our journey.