You've Got a Friend or 2, or 3, or 4, or.............

After re-reading my first few posts I realized that I sounded like a real whiner & that bothered me. I have always thought of myself as a "glass half full" kind of person, so I have been trying to make a very conscious effort to count my blessings.

This past week was a doozey-busy, stressful, chaotic, you name it! By Friday night I was exhausted. However, Mr. Man suggested we go out to eat & use a gift card we've had for awhile. It was really nice to get out together! We had a nice dinner & even got a free dessert because they didn't bring our appetizer out before our dinner. Score! We thought about a movie afterwards, but I had BIG plans for early Saturday morning, so we will save the movie for next weekend.

After 2 years I have realized that one of the perks of being an empty nester is being able to spend time with my friends. Yesterday 3 friends & I went to Ohio's Amish Country. Some people, including Mr. Man, would think that a 2-1/2 hour drive is too long, but with all 4 of us jabbering away in the car, the time just flew by! I was thinking this morning how blessed I am for the wonderful friends God has brought into my life! When we moved to this small town 14 years ago we didn't know a single soul, but we felt God pulling us here, so we listened, & we have NEVER regretted it. I have such a wonderful group of gal pals, sisterchicks, whatever you want to call them. What did we talk about for 2-1/2 hours in the car? Our children of course! I realized that one of the reasons that we all get along so well is that we all have a common goal-to raise our kids to love God & be the best people that they can be. Our kids are fairly close in age, some in high school, some in college, some out of college, some married, a few of us even have grandkids. That is part of the beauty of our friendships, we always have someone who has "gone through it" before who we can go to for counsel. We are genuine, open, & honest with each other. We laugh so much together, but we've done our share of crying together too. I couldn't wait to get updates yesterday on what was going on in everyone's lives. I am feeling guilty today too because I don't pray nearly enough on a regular basis for these wonderful ladies whose friendships God has blessed me with. I WILL do better with that!

We only had about 5 hours in Amish Country, but we packed it in with as much as we could! We spent over 2 hours in Miller's Dry Goods in Charm, Ohio. www.millersdrygoods.com What fun! We all walked out with bundles of fabric-pillowcase & pillow cover mania here I come!! Now I'm just praying for a snow day when I can spend the day making the Singer hum away for hours. You will also be proud of me.....I was not the top spender at the fabric store! Although we were all pretty close!

In other EXCITING news....we had a call from Boy #2 last night & he has secured a summer internship at BLDG, a gallery/print shop, in Covington, Kentucky. Whooo to the Hoooooooo! He is very excited & we are extremely proud that he was the person his advisor & mentor recommended for this internship!!! Way to go #2!! Although this means that he'll be living in Cinci full-time this summer & not coming home to live, I am being "half full" & thinking about all the wonderful opportunities this could afford him, not about how he won't be here with me (sniff, sniff). Mr. Man, #1, & I will just have to plan some weekend trips to Cinci. I know Mr. Man would love to take in a Reds game!

Well, enough rambling. It's almost time to head to church. Have a wonderful week!

I did it! Over the past 2 days I have painted the inside of the pantry Gaucho green & reorganized all the shelves! I have to admit that taking everything out was much worse than painting or loading the stuff back in! And the winner for the "Most Expired Product" goes to a jar of Cider Spicer from August 2002-Congratulations! 1st runner up goes to a package of Enchilada Sauce Mix from April 2007. Boy, I was a lot younger then!! I forgot to take before picts, but here are some "in process" picts of the total disaster I made!

I did manage to make a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup & a dessert for our small group in the middle of this mess, so I thought I did ok! I took all of the shelves out & gave the pantry 2 coats of paint. Today after church I rushed home to complete the pantry transformation. My question is, "Why does a family need 6 cans of cream of chicken soup & 4 cans of cream of mushroom?" Guess we'll be having casseroles sometime soon! Here's a picture of the empty pantry-the paint looks gray here, but it is actually a really nice shade of green, the same color as the accent wall in the kitchen & family room. The white shelves look so fresh & clean! I really didn't want to put the food back in because it would block the beautiful paint!

I bought 3 white baskets at Lowe's yesterday to contain some of the small, loose things like tea bags, Propel, & Crystal Light packets. After loading the food in, the thing that surprised me is how the labels & boxes were so much easier to read. When the walls were white everything just blended in to them. Check out this picture & see if you can see what I mean.

You can't see the lower/floor level of the pantry, but I found a large, white, jute basket & used it to contain all the chips, pretzels, etc. I think now we will really be able to know/see exactly what we have. I sent the boys a picture of my masterpiece because I know they get a kick out of how excited I get about things like this & #1 sent me this reply, "It won't look that way once I get home." You can insert an evil laugh at the end of that!

I absolutely love doing projects like this. I think that's because I don't get a lot of closure in my life; my job as a speech pathologist never really has an "end." I am always thinking about what I need to work on next with my kiddos & since they are all preschoolers, typically I'm not working with them when they get to "graduate" from speech. A project like the pantry gives me a sense of completion & satisfaction. I can do a happy dance & say to Mr. Man, "See what I did!" If I am being completely honest I have to confess that I didn't want to close the pantry door. I just kept walking by & smiling!

I Guess January is Good For Something

Well, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself right now. I actually got some things accomplished today! Why is it that January always makes me want to re-organize things like closets & cupboards? Do you feel that way too or I am just a little weird? I think it's a good thing because if I didn't feel this way I'd be sitting on the couch eating Kettle Cooked Salt & Vinegar Chips all day long! I'm itching to paint the inside of our pantry-green, of course, to match the accent wall in the kitchen. That way I'll have to take everything out of the pantry, forcing me to pitch a lot of the stuff that got pushed to the back & is expired. I found small, orange, wire baskets at IKEA (they are supposed to be pencils cans for the desk) on sale 2 for .99! I bought 6 of them & thought they'd be great for holding things like tea, Real Lemon/Lime, & those individual packets of Propel & Crystal Light. I wish I would've bought a few more. I may have to make a quick stop at IKEA when I take Boy #2 back to Cincinnati on Monday! Anyway I keep picturing my pantry all painted & organized & it gives me a small thrill. Simple things for simple minds, right? I think the pantry may have to wait until next weekend, because I promised myself I'd spend the day after church tomorrow catching up on paperwork-ugh! I'll be sure to take pictures of finished pantry project. Maybe I should do before/after photos, but that might be a little embarrassing! Do you have any good suggestions for organizing cupboards & closets? I'll be close to The Container Store on Monday too! This could be dangerous-The Container Store & IKEA in 1 day!!!!

Feel like I'm just rambling tonight, so please bear with me! Had a fun time outside with Hope today. When she came inside she had little, frozen snow balls hanging off the hair on her legs. Filled all the bird feeders so all my feathered friends are happy now. I love watching the birds-reminds me so much of my Grandma G. Going to get the sewing machine out tonight & make a few more pillow covers for the family room-another nod to my Grandma G. I think I become more & more like her the older I get, & I'm OK with that. My Grandma was a really wonderful woman-I wish she were still living. There are so many things I'd like to ask her, but I wasn't smart enough to think of them when I was younger. I am so thankful that I got to grow up with all 4 of my grandparents living in my hometown. That is almost unheard of anymore. Wonder where my grandkids (of the very faaaaar away future) will live & how much a part of their lives we'll be able to be?

Better get that machine out or I'll lose my motivation. Thanks for putting up with my ramblings! Oh, several of you have said that you tried to leave a comment, but were unable to. I think/hope I have fixed that problem, so please try to leave a comment again.

If I Didn't Have Hope

Well Boy #1 and his GF just left to go back to college. Mr. Man had to be at church, so I was here to send them off on my own. I should've taken a picture of the GF's car. Both #1 & GF are clothes horses, so the car was packed to overflowing!! Of course being a worrisome mom I was panicking about GF not being able to see out her rear window-I sounded just like I remember my Mom sounding!

After 3 years of saying goodbye to #1 I have learned to make it short & sweet, and to try my hardest not to cry in front of him. You'd be proud of me, I didn't shed a tear! Well at least not until they drove down the street, off to their own lives that I am not a part of. As soon as I closed the front door, boy the tears began to flow. It was such a good 3 weeks with #1, and I keep thinking that someday in the not too distant future #1 & #2 will not call this place home, that they will have their own apartments or homes & that coming here will just be a stop at the holidays.

They only thing that saved me from curling up in a ball and crying for the rest of the day was HOPE, our beautiful 6 year old Briard, who we rescued from the shelter exactly 11 months ago today. As I sat on the steps crying Hope came up to me & looked into my eyes & straight to my soul. "I'm here. I love you. I need you to take care of me. I won't leave you." she said, & then she licked a tear off my cheek. I thank the Lord everyday for bringing Hope into our lives, both literally & figuratively. Hope came into our home at a time when Mr. Man & I were both really struggling with the boys being gone. We were both so sad & depressed that we really couldn't help each other. I decided that we needed a dog since we had had to put our Carin Terrier, Angel, to sleep last December. Mr. Man was not on board with getting another dog & told me that it would be "your dog & your responsibility." God lead me to just the perfect dog. He gave me Hope! I thought we were going to change Hope's life, but it has worked both ways for sure! Hope is a daily reminder to me that God has plans for me. Plans that are better than the plans I have for myself. Out of sadness and loneliness came Hope!

Here's a picture of our Hopey. We call her our Big, Beautiful Briard. She is the light of our lives, one well loved, spoiled girl!

How Can This Be?

Today is Boy #1's 21st birthday. I am still in shock. How did this happen? Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital, looking so tiny in that ginormous car seat? Weren't we just going in to check on him during the night while he slept to be sure he was still breathing? Didn't I just cry as he entered his kindergarten classroom? Weren't we just trying to jam those chubby, little Fred Flintstone feet into his first pair of soccer cleats? I am about to burst into tears remembering these precious memories that seemed so ordinary at the time. I wish I could go back and relive those moments, to soak them in & enjoy them the way that I should have. Why didn't anyone tell me? We were so busy just trying to get through life-baths, homework, dirty dishes, groceries, laundry, & work that we didn't truly enjoy what was happening in those moments. If someone would've told me would I have "gotten it," or is this one of those things we can only see in hindsight? I am beginning to understand why people get so anxious to have grandkids, so they can go back & do it better, to cherish & enjoy every moment, to see the little things as the gifts they really are.

This is the first time that Boy#2 will not be with us for Boy#1's birthday, well except for #1's first birthday, before #2 was born. I wish he was here. I just want the 4 of us together. I am thankful that they birthday boy doesn't return to college until tomorrow. It would be so hard not to be with him on his special day. There will be four of us celebrating #1's birthday though. #1's girlfriend is here for the weekend to help us celebrate & tomorrow she & #1 will head back to college. Then I will really be a sad mama. But for now I am not thinking about that. I like the GF very much. I am proud of #1 for choosing such a smart, sweet young lady, even though I wish I was still his "favorite girl." I have accepted that those days are gone, although I have to laugh when he talks about his GF & says, "She's short like you." They seem very compatible & she appears to be strong & independent & able to put up with #1's quirky sense of humor. We are going to the Japanese Steak House for our celebration dinner tonight. That should be fun! The last time we were there was to celebrate #1's high school graduation & now he is almost 3/4 of the way through college. Yikes!! More time passing, but hopefully I am more mindful of savoring & enjoying every single minute!

Resolutions & Revelations

Well, here it is, the 2nd day of the New Year. I'm not a big one for making resolutions, but there is something about this time of year that makes me think about "doing life better" than I've done the past year. I made a promise to myself that I would not vow to lose weight this year, although Lord knows I need to! My goal, not resolution, is make better use of my time; to not waste time sitting mindlessly in front of the tv & yes, to not waste so much time on the computer. Great time to start a blog, right? I really do feel so "in flux" as I continue to adjust to our empty nest. I want to live a meaningful, fulfilling life. I want to do things that really matter. I want to feel peaceful and content, not rushed & stressed like the man in the circus who is trying to keep all the plates spinning. (Showing my age, aren't I?) I want to sit down to read a great book and not feel guilty about all the other things that I should be doing. I want to make a difference in people's lives. I want to be a much better wife to the wonderful husband I don't deserve to have (Thank you Lord!). I want to enjoy my sons and what they're doing right now, not pine for what !is past. I want to be an example to others of a woman who is growing in her faith and her walk with God. I want people to say, "I want what she's got."

Several of my sweet, dear friends have commented on my 1st post, & I can't thank you enough for your words of wisdom! I don't want to waste my precious time whining about what was. I vow to look forward with expectation to the future! I am so blessed with 2 wonderful sons! They couldn't be more different, but each is excelling with his God-given talents. They are making wise choices for their futures & I can't wait to see what is in store for them. They make me proud to be their Mom & I need to express that joy & pride to them more often, no matter how old they are. Do kids ever get tired of knowing that their parents are proud of them? I don't think so! Thank you Lord for blessing me with this family!

So I think from now on maybe we should have New Year's Revelations, looking at the positives in our lives, instead of those pesky, negative Resolutions. What do you think?