Happy 8th birthday Colby!

Kids have always been my thing.

I am drawn to them.

I want to hold them ...and kiss them... and make them laugh.

But it wasn't until eight years ago that I knew that my job in this world would be to hold you, kiss you, and make you laugh forever!!

I love you son!  Happy birthday!

I are a teacher

Tomorrow is my boys' birthday party...

good thing caught this before the guests arrived!!

Oh, yeah... and I teach kids for a living.

Forget Custer's Last Stand... how about Molten Lava Cake's Standoff??

So I went on a date the last night with a fireman... (I know... every girl's dream, right??)
We had a great time.
I laughed almost through my whole entire meal. (that's a good thing)

He ordered dessert. (yea for me!  I love dessert but I find it presumptuous to order it if I'm not paying for it.)

Then it came down to the last bite.
I refused to eat it ...and so did he.
At first, he was being polite telling me to go ahead and eat it.
Then our waitress said she would settle it for us... She asked who was paying. 
 "I am." He said.
Pointing at me, she said, "Then you have to eat it." (Smart waitress... she knew who was paying her tip.)
"Nope." I said.

Then, it became a showdown. He told me I HAD to eat it.

Now, if you don't know anything about me... you should know this: I don't HAVE to do ANYTHING! 
I tell guys I don't like to make decisions (because I don't... I have DMD) ...that and I like to see where they will decide to take me if THEY have to decide.  But when I take a stand on something... I don't waver! ...even if it is the last bite of dessert. :)

I stood my ground.
I told him that bite would NOT be eaten... at least not by me!

Our waitress who had been playing along with this banter finally piped up, "She may not go out with you again if you make her do something she doesn't want to do."

Smart Waitress.

Applying what they have learned?? - Post-it Note Tuesday

 

A Hoppin' Good Time!

My weekend was a whirlwind!

First... there was coloring eggs before my boys left with their dad for the weekend.

Then... there was my brother, Nick, who had different uses for the wire egg dippers...

Third... there was staying up half the night to finish a bridal shower cake!

After that... there was a nice bridal shower for my brother's fiance'.

Soon after... I got the chance to give my niece her first real apple.



The next morning... I got to see her enjoy her first Easter.

... and her pretty little Easter dress.

Finally... my best friend from HS and her family invited me for Easter dinner. It has been too long since I have seen Erin.  Things never change between us ...and that is why we are friends.
(Somehow I didn't get a picture... next time.)

A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue.

wow. You all are good!
Seriously.
I mean... try to leave one tiny little smidgen of a detail out on a blog post... and BAM!
I get called on it.

It's okay though.
You all have given me advice when I needed it.
You have been there to cheer me on in my lowest of lows
and jump for joy on my highest of highs.
... so I guess I will share.

I went to the Elton John concert on a date... you all knew that.
What I didn't tell you was that it was with a guy I swore I would never go out with again.
It's not that he was a bad guy... in fact, he is very nice, BUT (yes, there's that word!) he is not a talker.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a talker. A conversationalist. I know not a stranger.

But when I am on a date, I don't want to be the only voice that is heard!
I am WAY curious.
I ask a LOT of questions!
But in the same sense, I want questions to be asked of me, as well.
(Guys... this is how a gal knows you care!)

So... on our last date, I would ask a question, he would answer, and the conversation would end.
I mean, I freakin' ate my WHOLE salad without saying a word!! (and no, I did NOT inhale it like teachers are known to do - What??!! I'll give you 15 minutes to eat a whole meal and see how well you do!)

So, because of that, I decided that would be our last date.

Three weeks went by... I hadn't heard from him.
I was relieved.
I don't like to have that conversation (though I do).

Then I got a Facebook friend request.
I know. I know. Why accept him??
I'm just that way.
I don't like to snub people... guess I have been snubbed one too many times in my life.
Facebook is like that for me.
I don't go around requesting people to be my friends very often, but if they want to be mine, why would I say no?
(The answer to that question is a whole other post!!)
So I accepted him as a friend.

He IM'ed me daily.
One day he asked me if I liked Elton John.
"Who doesn't?" I responded.
"Well he is playing here, would you like to go?"
Freak out city!!  My worst fears were coming true, but I played it calm.
"I can't afford that right now."
"I have already bought your ticket, silly! Just say yes!"

I guess you could said flattery does get a guy somewhere...
My previous men haven't lavished me with fancy gifts.
So when I know that a guy has dropped 80 bucks for me not knowing if I would say yes...  it gets him a "yes."

The date went fine.
We went out to dinner ahead of time.
I paid. (My bestie, Laura, rolled her eyes at me when I told her this... she believes a woman should never pay for dinner!)
I paid because it cleared my conscious.
He contributed to the night by buying the concert tickets.
I contributed by buying dinner.
That way I didn't feel quite as guilty... like I was taking advantage.
I had honestly decided last Wednesday that I wasn't going to go.
Then he mentioned that we would be going with friends of his... 3 other couples.
Laura told me I couldn't leave him high-and-dry... that if everyone else was a couple that was going, it would be worse to not go than to "take advantage."

So I went.
You already saw, I enjoyed myself at the concert... because I entertained myself!
Yeah... humor comes from all angles for me.

After the concert in the parking garage, I hear my name being called from a car waiting to leave.
It was my cousin, Andrew, and his wife.
I literally crawled in to hug them.
I hadn't realized it until that moment that I was starved for conversation.
I couldn't stop talking!
I asked questions.
They asked questions.
I was just so happy!!

In that moment, I knew that no matter the flattery, I would never go out with him again.

So... the next day, when he IM'ed me on Facebook....I let him down easy.

What??  I said I had those conversations... I never said they always happened face-to-face.

I never was good with numbers

Yeah... this post was supposed to happen yesterday.

I have been paying attention to numbers for weeks now... knowing my BIG celebration of hitting 500 posts was coming.

I mean... I'm not sure I have ever done 500 of anything before.

 Okay... I take that back... I know I have texted approx. 500 texts in a single car ride before (my brothers threatened an intervention afterwards. lol)

I'm sure I have changed 500 dirty diapers or wiped 500 snotty noses. But who wants to do that 500 times? Really.

I'm sure my name has been said 500 times within a week's time... but that isn't really me...

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that 500 posts for me was HUGE!!

... and then I blanked.

... and Elton John trumped my 500th post.

Should have known I'd be outshined by a superstar

on my OWN freakin' blog!! ;)

It was a SHOW alright! Post-it Note Tuesday

 

Imagination rules the world

I love that my boys have awesome imaginations! I come onto scenes like this a lot!



"I have pickle spray!  Hands up!!"



"Excuse me Ma'am. We have a criminal here. Stay back!!"

"No fighting! You're under arrest! Get to jail!"





"Get in and NO escaping!!"



"Help me Mom!  I'm innocent!!!"

Yeah... SO glad technology hasn't corrupted them completely... I say this after Colby took over my Facebook IM this morning and was IMing both of his grandparents at the same time!!!

When all else fails, laugh - Friday Confessional

I confess...
that even though it is VERY nice to come home and find out that my retired neighbors took pity on me and my pitiful yard ...by making sure that my hedges were trimmed, my edges were weed-eated, and my backyard was completely cut... I don't know how to repay them... and a "Thank you" doesn't seem like it would be enough. *sigh*

I confess...
that my my best friend moving to 2nd grade is going to be harder than I realized... and that I have to restrain from crying any time anyone mentions it around me. So, in turn, I make jokes to lighten the mood.

I confess...
I have been making a LOT of jokes lately.

I also confess ...
that I have a feeling I'm going to be ostracized by the other 3rd grade teachers next year since together Laura and I held strong against them, but on my own I might get steamrolled. (Yes, there is DRAMA in our grade level.)

I confess...

I was never part of "girl drama" in high school or college... so I really don't know how to go about it.  Because, honestly, I find it completely ridiculous!

I confess...
that finding out from my date that we are going with 4 other couples (all his friends) to the Elton John concert makes me a little less excited about going... that I almost backed out of the date.

I confess...
that going with 4 other couples (in my eyes) presents us as a couple as well... and I'm not there with him yet.

I confess...

that things like this make me laugh. (Even though I know it's dirty)

I confess...
that I had a video as well on my original post that contained a dirty joke.... but because of how I was raised, I felt guilty and deleted it.

I confess...
that I find it amazing how powerful "guilt" is sometimes... especially when it is enforced by no one but you.

I confess...
I will still watch that video because it makes me laugh.

Collector of Stones

Never take a person for granted. Hold every person close to your heart...cause you might wake up one day and realise that you've lost a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones.

I collect stones.
Stones are safe.
I walk around with my collected stones because even if I don't have a diamond...I have something, right?

My last date went well... I thought he might be more than just a stone.
We talked every day ...until we didn't.
I know it shouldn't matter to me.
But it does.
I don't like to be tossed away like a stone...
I'm a diamond...just haven't found a guy that FULLY knows it yet.
My diamond luster tends to fade when that happens... I start to feel like a stone.

God must have known that I felt like a stone today because I got an email from a guy that I had dated in the past and even though it didn't work out between us, we stayed friends.  He is now in a wonderful relationships with a wonderful woman.

He just said, "Hey, hope things are going well.  Things are great here! Just wanted you to know you're an awesome person!"

It made me smile.
That little pick me up that I needed.
So why do I feel like I tossed a diamond instead?