This Song is for You, Filled with Gratitude

Tonight my 28 year old daughter is having dinner with my first love.

It is a long story but here is a short version:

I met Todd in 1987. We dated for about 4 years. He taught me so many things about love. Have you ever known someone that made you feel like you were kindred spirits? That was us. Sometimes we would even know what the other was thinking. It was amazing.

But my insecurities and my past held me back from going to that next level with him and I know that I made the right choice, but it was painful. Very painful. Painful for me and for my children who were very attached to him.

I think our biggest problem was that we both were 'follower-type' people. There was no one strong 'leader ' and we both were just lost, not knowing how to get through the smallest of difficulties and not having a healthy frame of reference to guide us though.

Anyway, Todd found a wonderful wife and now has a beautiful, happy family.

I struggled for many years making mistakes and trying to fill the emptiness in my life that was left behind.

And all the time I thanked God that Todd was put in my path to teach me about love, to teach me to delve into the little things in life because they are the most important...to laugh, frequently from the depths of my being.

I honestly don't think that I would be here today, loving my husband, loving my life, and loving God if it wasn't for Todd.

This life is but a blink of the eye and I know that one day, when this earthly life is over, we all will be fellowshipping together again - without all the baggage, mistakes, insecurities and hurts.

updated: Jen called me after the dinner to say basically the same thing I just posted. "Mom, I learned about love from Todd, he taught me things that made me the person I am today. He taught me art, appreciation for little things, he was such a great influence in my life".

Do you have someone in your past that changed your life for the better?

Next I'll be Taking Geritol

Pookie just came home from school. She's been at her mother's all week and now her and her brother spend this week at home with us.

As she most often does when she first gets home here she went to the cabinet where we keep the goodies.

"Hello Lucky Charms", she exclaims.

And then she pours herself a big bowl and adds milk. Organic Milk.

"I guess the organicness of the milk cancels out the unhealthiness of the colored marshmallows", she says matter-of-factly as she sits down and eats her after-school snack.

That's just one of the reasons I love her, you can never argue with her rationale.

My husband and I went to open school night at her school last night.

I haven't been to one of those since 1996 when my children were in high school. And back then my children had about 2,000 children in each grade.

Here, 4 local towns join together for middle school totalling 350 per grade.

I learned many things last night.

Did you know that students can get their text books on a disk? What is that all about? What happened to the heavy text books that they had to schlep back and forth each day?

When my kids forgot something from school their punishment was to bring home the entire contents of their desk for a week.....it always worked. That's not going to work these days.

And what is with those Smart Boards? They do look like a lot of fun, but who gets to clean the chalkboard erasers these days? That used to be such an honor in my day.

Reading that last sentence makes me feel really, really old.

But the most amazing difference between 1996 and now is the fact that you can track your child's school work, homework, projects and grades online everyday. You can even give your kids quizzes on the things they've learned that week.

My head, it was a'spinnin' last night.

I've got a lot of catching up to do if I'm going to keep up with these Whippersnappers. (there I go again)

Magically Delicious, I Don't Think So

This past Saturday my husband insisted on going shopping with me at the Commissary.

Not actually insisted. Actually, not even close. But lets say he came with me because he was available and we didn't have any children with us. And I was going anyway. His eyes did roll when I told him that it was our next stop after Home Depot. We were at Home Depot at the time.

So he came with me.

It's really not considered kidnapping when you're married, is it?

It was the first time in his 25 years of service in the Armed Forces that he has been to the Commissary. I have been shopping there since I received my military ID because the prices and the men in uniform make the shopping an experience to be remembered.

Sometimes I get weak in the knees from all the low prices.

Or that could be because of all the Navy men. *swoons*

I will confess that I have always had a thing for men in uniform. I think my husband should come home in his once in awhile, but it's never happened in the whole two months that we've been married.

But I digress.

So we walk into the commissary and immediately Capt (my husband) goes nuts.

NUTS!!!!

One of the first things he eyes is the breakfast cereal. He grabs a box of Lucky Charms, reads the price and throws it in the cart. "A dollar fifty for cereal? Wow, you can't beat that!", he says as he proceeds to fill the cart up with various other popular sugar-filled cereal.

Now, here's the strange part:

In all the years I have known Capt and his children I have never, ever seen any of them eat breakfast cereal.

When Pookie, age 13, wakes up on a school day she usually has two pieces french toast. Maybe once a week she will have a ham and cheese omelet.

When The Boy, age 11, wakes up on a school day, he ALWAYS has pancakes, made from scratch (as in butter milk, eggs, flour, etc.) along with yogurt, fresh fruit, four pieces of raisin bread toast with cream cheese, instant oatmeal with peaches and sometimes a breakfast sausage and more.

And just in case you have an image of a rather plump child - you are mistaken. The Boy is thin.

(If you have a child on ADHD meds, you understand.) The next time he will eat anything substantial will be right before bed.

On the weekends I make even bigger breakfasts for them. I don't eat a big breakfast, usually I eat oatmeal.

So, as you see, there isn't room for breakfast cereal in the schedule. And they have never asked for any.

But now we have 6 boxes of sugary and marshmallowy cereal in the cabinet above the stove, each for $1.50.

And I doubt that it will ever get eaten.

But, my husband is excited about what a bargain we got.

In the interest of actually saving money, which is the whole idea, of course, I will go alone from now on.

How it all went....

I just got back from my 'date' with Peggy. Her and her family just moved from NY last month. She had so many questions about this little town. I've only lived here 9 months, but since I work in the center of town, I was able to explain some.

This town is so different than NY......it is quaint, down-to-earth , friendly and just plain lovely in so many ways.....and so not on the pulse of fashion and trends. And if you need to purchase something from a store, plan on at least an hour adventure because there is nothing close by. Nothing.

But if you are into coyotes, deer, beaver, hawks, chipmunks, heron, bear, AND LOTS OF MICE, then you are living in the right place.

We met for lunch at a local restaurant, a restaurant where George Washington once ate at, and didn't stop talking until I took out my cellphone and realized that it was 2:30pm! Peggy had to be home at 2:20 to get her teenage daughter off the bus. (Her backpack is very heavy and she has to walk 1/2 mile from the bus stop uphill to her house.)


And for someone from NY, where everything you want is a few steps away, that's a long way!


I really enjoyed our lunch and I hope that the next time we get together it will be as easy as today was.

BFF's 4EVA

For me, blogging has been a great way to meet friends. Although, I've yet to have the opportunity to actually meet one of them face-to-face, I've had the pleasure of speaking to a few over the phone. And, of course, e-mail. And some via AIM.

I've meet some wonderful friends by blogging and reading blogs...friends who care, pray for me and my family, are supportive through the tough times and those who laugh at my silliness.

It's been a great outlet for me to vent and share the struggles of my life and the lives of my family.

There are times when I don't put a lot of effort into blogging and there are times when I do.

I'm not one of the 'popular blogs' - you know, the ones that get a whole lot of traffic, the ones that get invited on all expense paid visits to far away countries to 'live blog'....the ones that....well you know.

And that's okay with me. I've never been one of the popular people.

Even when I run into someone from high school I'm hardly remembered.

But college, well, I was big in college. I was 30 years old when I went to college, though I looked like I was 20. I had confidence in myself, I had to, I was raising 3 children as a single mom. I was so into being the best student possible that I made a name for myself and my professors knew me.

Anyway, I've been living in my new house, in this new state, since January. That's 9 months now.

And this is a very, very small town. And it has been difficult to adjust after living in fast-paced New York. And just going to get something from the local store is an hour adventure. And getting a hero from a deli, well, you just can't do that here. Pastrami on rye is just not done here.

I hope you are all sitting down for this one:

Fashion and fine dining is no big deal here either. And I love fashion and fine dining.

The women are very friendly and very busy getting their children to and from sports events.

And, well, I haven't made a 'best friend' yet.

But I think that's about to change because a few days ago I briefly met someone, Peggy.

Peggy moved to this town last month from NY. She's all about NY. She's having trouble adjusting to this small town, although, like me, she loves it here. She has twins, a boy and girl, just like me.

We are getting together for lunch on Monday and I'm so excited. I just hope, hope, hope that we are not sitting there uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.

My goodness, I feel like I'm going on a date.

I guess in a way I am.

And I'm a bit nervous.

I'm just hoping that it all turns out okay, because I could use a real live friend lives who here.

Build a Better Mouse Trap and the World will Beat It's Way to Your Door.

I HATE mice.



There I said it.



They have hearts, lungs, kidneys, eyes, ears.....things that normal bugs and insects just don't have.



Lions and tigers have hearts, lungs, kidneys, eyes, ears and you don't see them breaking into your house sneaking around, scampering across your kitchen floor while you let out a blood-curdling scream which causes your loved ones to run to you expecting to see that you just accidentally cut a limb off- do you?



Because I live in a wetland area, white-footed deer mice enter the neighborhood houses around this time of the year to settle in for the cold winter.



Last year we hired a mouse expert to get rid of them.



For $300 he threw packets of poison in the attic and basement. He then proceeded to give us extensive medical and nutritional advice in a very low Southern accent for over an hour. If anything it was entertaining. And expensive. And unsolicited.



And when the mice died, they died in the walls, which smelled awful.



This year I'm taking a different, less expensive route....with plain old, run-of-the-mill, mouse traps.





One down.

Let this be a warning to all mice, Yew Nork Babe's got her game on!