Beekeeping - 2 weeks in

So... like a proud momma, I was SOOO happy to check on my bees today and see that the queen is successfully doing her job!!

Look at that larva!!

And then I pulled 2 frames apart and saw the MOST amazing thing... a bee bridge!!
This is where bees hold onto one another to allow others to pass.
Crazy awesome!!

25 more random things about me #2

My life sometimes just feels like randomness... so why not go with it??
Here and here are some other random things about me if you haven't read them before...

1. I will pause my TV when I get on my computer. This happens nightly. (I guess I can't focus on two things at once.)
2. I cannot talk and type at the same time (I'm convinced this uses the same part of my brain) and I'm jealous of people that can.
3. I turn down the radio when I am lost. (I'm seeing a theme here...)
4. When scraping icing off the side of a bowl, I make the same movement with my mouth as I did when I used to scrape baby food off the sides of my boys' mouth...  I find this entirely strange, but can't help myself from doing it.
5. If you want me to remember something, I have to see it written or in text... This is especially true with names.
6. People compliment me on my long hair all the time... I'm not impressed with it.
7. Last time I had longer hair, I was also heavier... I'm secretly afraid there is a connection.
8. I miss my children, even when they are asleep in the next room.
9. I hate that only flat boots are in this season and I can't replace my black heeled boots even though I need to and I love wearing them more than any others.
10. I like to have brief but deep conversations with strangers.
11. Because of #10, I'm now not fully convinced that we haven't lived previous lives.
12. If I get to laughing, just the thought of me laughing uncontrollably makes me laugh even harder.
13. My mom used to cut out hundreds of recipes a year and try them out on us... I can almost always tell if a recipe will be amazing just by reading it.
14. I am not a morning person... yet I will sing to my children in the early morning to get them out of bed.
15. I hate ladybugs - an infested house that I cleaned in college turned me against them.
16.  I have a routine that I follow in the shower, a specific spot I park at school, and cannot stand for someone to use "my" towel or mug.
17. I have become more "OCD" about things like in #16 as the years have gone by... I think it is a small way I can show I'm in control of what is happening in my life. (No, I'm not saying this is healthy. LOL)
18. One of my biggest fears is becoming mentally unstable like my father... So I purposefully break away from my own OCD tendencies just to prove it to myself that I am mentally okay.
19. I shaved my arms once as  kid because my mom refused to let me shave my legs.  My arms itched for weeks as the hair grew back.
20. My son, Sam, loves for me to "steamroll" him, so I do.  It makes me laugh every time!
21. I plan to save my first year's extra money from my pay raise from my masters and go overseas.
22. I have always loved babies... and still wish I would have one more.
23. I used to keep pet spiders as a kid and do experiments on them (like see if a small established spider would take out a larger newly introduced spider).  I wish kids these day were inclined to do things like this.
24. I know most people that just read #18 REALLY think I'm weird now, but I don't care.
25. I know several people personally that have written books (and I have signed copies from them) and I think that maybe one day I will write one too...

Sometimes ignoring is the appropriate response

Let me just tell you... ignoring is not what I want to be doing right now.

Walking up to W. and shaking her and saying, "My child has finally gotten over the hurt you have put in his life!  Why must you come back for more??!!"

You see... 2 and a half years ago, R and his girlfriend at the time, W. broke up because she cheated on R.
Colby had grown very attached to her. Because we, as parents, didn't tell him why they were done (that is NOT a conversation you have with your 7 year old), it was hard for him to move forward.

He cried and had nightmares. My heart broke because there was nothing I could do to heal that pain.

Time does a wonderful job of healing it though... along with R. finding a wonderful woman who sees eye to eye with me.

And I thought we were done with that hurt... but W. started coming to the boys' ball games last week and she came again tonight.  She has moved next door to one of the boy's families that is on Colby's ball team. Her reason for coming??  To supposedly support her neighbor.  But what she is really doing is dragging my son back through past hurt.

We arrived home tonight and I got the boys ready for bed as usual.  It's normal for Colby to talk in his sleep.  Many a nights I stand at his door and listen to the "conversations" he has with his friends or with Sam.  But  tonight, it fell into a time that I thought we had moved past. Night terrors.

He thankfully woke up fairly quickly and I took him into my room with me.  But I know it has to do with her.  I know that he still can't process that pain.

I just wish she could see it and understand.
I just wish she that move on and stay out of the vicinity of my children... because if she really did care for them, I would hope that she would think of them instead of "supporting the neighbors".
I wish I could shake her and tell her to "Please just stop!!"
But instead... I will just ignore her and hope my son doesn't see her.

We'll leave the light on for you... or maybe not

#422 Things they didn't tell you before becoming a mom - You will have to find cheaper insurance because the other is breaking the bank.

#423 Things they didn't tell you before becoming a mom - You will pick the insurance that is called "The Well Child" insurance because overall your children are fairly healthy... that and because it would save you the most money. (The catch though is you only have 3 covered doctor's visits.)

#424 Things they didn't tell you before becoming a mom - Your child will get things that will completely gross you out... and could infect the whole family - i.e. pinworms.

#425 Things they didn't tell you before becoming a mom - You will go to the doctor saying you have been infected to save from using one of your son's three visits because you know the doctor will treat the whole family.
...and on that said visit you check into the doctor's office at 4:15.
You are sent into a room at about 4:45.
You wait patiently until 5:25.
Then you decide to check on how MUCH longer...

...except when you walk out... all of the lights are out...
...except for one room across the hall where the door is slightly open and conversation is going on...
You start to walk to the room when a nurse sees you, jumps up, and rushes to the door.
She pulls the door closed behind her and says, "The doctor will be with you shortly." and directs you back into your room.

Only what the nurse doesn't know is YOUR mom was a nurse... and in that split second... you saw the WHOLE staff getting their nightly debriefing.
...which tells you, you were forgotten about.

Yeah... being a mom isn't always easy.

My "People of Wal-Mart" birthday Party

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about by my title... well... you're missing out... or maybe you're not...
Heck, when I go to Wal-mart (a discount store) I don't want to see these things... but then again, it does make me laugh.

So... here is the actual website... if you want to go check out what I based my party on.
Or maybe you just want to watch the video... that's what really prompted my party.

Thankfully though, I have some great friends that have my sense of humor... and are willing to play along.

So, without further ado, My "People of Wal-Mart" party...

We, of course, had to have a cake made like their famous smiley face stickers!

Well... here I am in all of my loveliness... 

I know some of you are out there thinking, "What's wrong with that???" 

But trust me... if you are "discount shopping" you don't need to be in your "clubbing" attire (or lack there of.)

Then we had the "Wurldz Best Mom"... 

Yes, she really is pregnant... NO she didn't really smoke or drink!!

Of course, she proudly showed off all of her "kids".

Then we had the infamous saying on the shirt with a exposure to go along with it. 

We wouldn't want to forget the "cart guy"... I mean how could you miss him in that vest??

Or the person that thinks they are a rock star...

How about the guy that has stains all over his shirt and wears socks with his sandals ??  

Oh yeah, and don't forget about his teddy bear tattoo.

Or the girls who you wonder who taught them to match...

Or the ones who thought pants were an option...

  How about the holy rollers...

 Who believe it's their job to convert others in the store??

 But, of course this couldn't be a full fledged "People of Wal-mart" party without the person who thought crapping their pants and still staying out in public was the decent thing to do.

Yeah... we had a great time!!  

Everyone is already asking what the theme is going to be next year...

Who knows... maybe one day I'll be famous

Soo... guess what I'm doing today??

I'm going to an open casting call for a national commercial.
How cool is that?!

I decided after my divorce (after I had limited myself for so many years) that when opportunities presented themselves, I would take them. It didn't matter if they were new, or scary, or downright "Who does that?!" kind of stuff... as long as it is legal, I'm willing to try it.

So last night, I sat down to watch the 6 o'clock news (something I NEVER do.) and they flashed about a 10 second segment on who to contact to be part of this.

I'm really excited!! (and just a little bit nervous) but you only live once, right?

I *MIGHT* need a 10-step program for overpacking...

This weekend is my annual girls' weekend.
Here's what I have packed in my bag (now mind you, this is for 3 days)

• 5 pairs of shorts with tops to match
• 3 sun dresses
• 1 pair of pajamas
• a dozen pairs of underwear (Don't ask... I don't know why I would need this many...)
• a swim suit
• 3 pairs of shoes 
• a light sweater

I know. I know. It's ridiculous...

But I can't help it.

I hate being unprepared...

...and I don't know for sure what we are doing so I have to plan for the every occasion.

I also packed a book, DVDs, and my laptop.

(Yes... we are planning on doing things.  Yes, I am planning on seeing and visiting with the girls...Don't ask me why I would think I would need these things of distraction.)

So... does anyone know of a 10-step program??  Because I think admitting you have a problem is always the first step.

Happy birthday Mr. President... umm... I mean, America...

I had a moment yesterday.
It was one of those times that you know something is going wrong... but you just.   CAN'T.   stop.   it.
Yeah... one of those.

I bought a cute new blue and white dress for the 4th of July.

I had been invited out on a house boat with some friends of mine.
We swam.
We grilled.
We ate the festive food I made.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies colored to look like the flag

Chocolate, Strawberries, & Marshmallows

Then the sun was setting... we all decided to get our pictures taken in front of the sunset.
I (being the residential photographer) took everyone's cameras in hand and told them to go pose at the bow of the boat.

I was doing just fine.... until a gust of wind came up.

I had a Marilyn Monroe moment.


Except with me... I wasn't in a movie... and I had cameras in both hands that I couldn't get set down... and my WHOLE skirt decided to fly up.  So even though I was pushing down on one side... the other was coming up.


So... what do my lovely friends do??
Do they come to my rescue??
Oh. no.
They take pictures and laugh at me FIRST!!!

So... yeah... nothing like celebrating America's birthday by giving the whole lake a peep show.
Yea me.

Well played.

She stopped by to see him.
She hadn't seen him in a while... not since they had been together... and she had slipped out in the middle of the night.
She didn't do it to upset him... she did it because she was confused.
Her slipping out confused him as well... something she couldn't explain though.
It's not that she hadn't wanted to see him.
She did... but it was just easier that way.

So here she was, months later, stopping in to see him at his work.
While she waited for his secretary to send her in, she held polite conversation with the people in his office, ones she had met during drinks months before.
She wondered if any one knew about her and him.
She hoped not.

His secretary waved her back.
She glided into his office confident with the decision she had made months before.
He greets her warmly and takes her into his arms.
There was an ease between them. Something familiar.
That is what had drawn her into his bed in the first place.
The familiarity.
The security of their friendship.

She was hoping it was still there... the friendship, that is.

They talked "shop" ...avoiding what the topic she knew they both were thinking about.
It was nice to talk to him again.
Their friendship... seemed intact.
She thought maybe... just maybe it could go back to how it had always be.
Maybe he desired to be back to just a friendship as well.

She looked at the clock, it was getting late.
She stood to go and walked to the doorway.
He came around his desk and embraced her in a hug.
As they released, he leaned in for a kiss.
She turned and his lips landed on her cheek.
He gave her a look of surprise and she smirked.
"Well played." he replied jokingly.
The kiss had caught her off guard... being at his work, being in the open door way.
She hoped that no one saw it... or if any of the office staff had they would think it a friendly gesture and nothing more.
Maybe... he wasn't just interested in a friendship.
She walked away wondering what would hold in their future.

Cleaning can be dangerous to your health

First off, I have to tell you I am now officially addicted to Pinterest.
Be it new recipes, styles, funny sayings... I love them!!
But I have also found things for my home.

One thing I found was how to clean my microwave.
Half cup water and a half cup vinegar
Bring to a rolling boil
Easily wipe microwave clean.

Simple enough... right??

Well... if you have been reading me for any length of time, you know I can make even simple things go crazy wrong.

Yeah... this would be one of those times...
I put my water/vinegar mixture in a pyrex dish and put it in to boil...
It started bubbling.
I stopped it and started to wipe. (Normal right??  Just wait)

I then found a still stuck spot...
So I figured, "Eh... I'll just let it microwave a little longer."


What happened next, I would have never saw coming!!

I reset the time.
Stood there staring at it...
I know, I know... a watched pot never boils....
No... actually I realized that I hadn't unloaded my dishwasher yet.
So, I turned and walked away.

Suddenly... BOOM!
My microwave door flew open and scalding hot water spew out all over my floor.
Not kidding.

Not gonna lie... I screamed and a little cuss word might have slipped out.
I peaked around the microwave door sure that the pyrex bowl was going to be in a million little pieces... but it wasn't... and it was dry.
Dry, I tell you!!

I didn't understand how my kitchen floor could be wet and the bowl was dry???
So... of course, I Googled it. (yeah.. I Google everything!)

Here's what I found:
Boiling hot water needs somewhere for bubbles to form, and sometimes in a smooth container(like Pyrex) it can superheat. Then as soon as the liquid is disturbed, it can suddenly explode in a rush of steam.

The worst thing you can do is heat water in a microwave twice, because the first heating will clear out any tiny bubbles, meaning the second time through will be more likely to superheat it.


So... there you have it.
I made water explode! 
I wonder... how dangerous is sitting on your couch eating bonbons?  Cause obviously cleaning is too dangerous for me. :)

Can you put that thing away?!

Let me just preface with the fact that I am all about breastfeeding.
I breastfed both my boys until they were 15months old.
I diligently pumped.
I did all that was needed to sustain that situation for my children.

With that being said... I was conscious of the fact that not everyone wanted to see my hugely engorged milking machines I called breasts.

At my brother's wedding, I ran into my cousin, A. I honestly probably haven't seen her since she was in my wedding back in 1999.  She has a little one about 5 months old. We stood and chatted for a while.

Later after dinner, when I was walking back to my table, she grabbed my arm.  I, of course, looked down to see who had me. I was completely taken aback when I looked down to see her boob hanging out of her shirt... her son was on her lap... and her boob was just there!!! for God and all creation to see!!!

She says to me, "My husband says that you two have never met... I wanted to introduce you." 


I'm not exactly sure as to what I said in response... because in my head I was thinking, "well... your boob and I haven't been formally introduced either, but I sure do feel like we are getting to know each other quite well."

I saw myself in her

Today I got a call...

"Hey Dawn.  I have a little girl in my class whose dad is abusive... and they had to move into a safe house... Well... I know you had to do that as a kid... Do you think you could come and talk to her?"


Of course I didn't mind... but you see... I don't think of that part of my life very often.  In fact, unless someone else brings it up, I don't ever think about it.

My dad was physically abusive to my mom.  My brothers and I used to lay over her... trying to protect her. How does a 3, 5, and 6 year old protect their mom??  Any way we could.  We knew our dad wouldn't hit us... but somehow our 3 small little bodies didn't cover all of hers and he would find a spot we weren't covering... and he would grab that spot with all of his might yanking her out from under us... the whole time, we would be screaming, "Stop. Stop. Please Daddy, stop!"


Even though I hated that he did that... he was still my Daddy... and I loved him.  I felt as though I was betraying my mom for feeling that.  I even had a very vivid dream (that I thought was true until I questioned my mom about it years later.) where I thought I was given the choice of living with my mom or my dad.  I remembering in my dream crying while struggling with the decision.  (You see, I was a Daddy's girl.) But then I decided I couldn't leave my mom... knowing the struggle she went through to get us all out of that awful situation. So (in my dream) I kissed my dad good-bye and told him I was sorry and went running to my mom.

So, as I walked down the hall today, I didn't know what I was going to say.  When I got to the little girl's classroom, her teacher called her out.  I recognized her immediately! I had her in summer school.  She was always overly quiet.  There were a few times that I got her on a topic and it was like she was a changed child.  But mainly, she was quiet.  That was me as a kid.  I knew if I kept my mouth shut, no one would know of the horrible monster that lived inside my house. The horrible monster that I loved. If you were good and quiet, people didn't question you... they didn't wonder of bad things... because you were so good... and so quiet. A little piece of my heart broke that I didn't notice the reflection of myself in her this summer.

But I was glad I was being able to help now and so, her and I went and found a quiet spot to sit.  I asked her if she would like to tell me what was going on.  She told me her daddy would get drunk and mean and then hit them, and so her mom moved them to a safe house.

We talked about how scary people can be when they are like that.  We talked about how her and her family are in a better place because they don't have to worry about the scariness now. We talked about what things are the same at the safe house as at home... and what things are different... and what things she liked there. (She liked the comfy beds. - I told her I liked meeting lots of new friends.)  I assured her that it's okay to love her dad... just not love the scary situations he puts them in. I told her that her and her mom and her sister were very brave to get themselves out of a situation like that and move to a place where that won't happen anymore.

I filled her with things that I wish someone would have known to tell me all of those years ago.  Then I hugged her and told her that any time she needed to talk to come find me... because I know even those you are safe physically, your mind reminds you from time to time what you went through... and sometimes, it's just good to know you have someone to talk to.

They're blue, but they're NOT Smurfs - aka - an Unexpected Gift

The next day, we pulled out of the city of St. Louis and headed to the city of Chicago.
If you have never made that trek before, let me break it down for you... city, vast land of nothingness, city.
I thought we would never get to Chicago!!!
So... when I saw this:

I was tickled pink!!!

As I was planning for this trip, I kept asking everyone what we shouldn't miss in Chicago... somehow, no one could tell me much.
However, I had forgotten that B.P. loved this city... so I texted him as I was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
"Blue Man Group!!!!" I get back from him.
"Sure. If only I was rich..."
"Take your boys, you won't regret it!!"
"I can't."
About 10 minutes later, I got a text from him.
"Are you about to your hotel? ...Because you'd better not be late... your reservations for Blue Man Group are at 8. Pick your tickets up at will call :)"


I couldn't believe it!!  I couldn't thank him enough!  Of course, I had never expected that!!

We quickly arrived to our hotel room.

This was the WHOLE room!!

Which just so happened to be located next to this place...

We unpacked and hopped in a cab.

the boys' first cab ride

Blue Man Group was AWESOME!!!

Everything from the lobby...

To the Black lights...

that make my teeth EXTRA white ;)

To the performers...

Yeah... it was an exceptionally wonderful surprise!!

We be ballin' ... Zorb Ballin' that is!!

Yesterday, The boys and I headed 3 hours east to experience Zorb balling.
What is Zorb balling??  You might ask.

Well... it is a giant inflatable ball that you climb in and roll down a hill.
I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)

I can now die a happy woman - Day 3 Show Me Music and Arts Fest

Let me just start out by saying that I am normally NOT a lucky person.
Sure... I've got a great family and great friends... a roof over my head... food to eat... yada yada
But when it comes to "Luck" as in winning things, yeah... I lose every time.

So when I hear my local music station say they were going to give away backstage passes to see OneRepublic (my FAVORITE band)... I was like, "What do I have to do???"


Design a t-shirt.

For those of you that don't know it... I'm creative.
Rarely do I get to access that creativity though.

I completely felt up for the challenge!!
So Friday at summer school is "Fun Day" and we spend about an hour in the computer lab.
While the kids were playing games, I made my shirt design.

Here was my final product:

I didn't know what my chances were...
I mean there were thousands of people there... any of them could have already won my chance and I wouldn't even know it.

I didn't even get all the way up to the radio station's booth when I hear, "Cool Shirt!" and Robo (the radio station DJ), pulls out the backstage passes!!
I'm pretty sure I started hyperventilating.
"Is this your guest?" he asks pointing towards Rachel.
"YES!" she screams before the question even fully registers with my brain.

I'm pretty sure I summoned up some psycho cheerleading spirit because I know I had crazy spirit fingers going and I was kangaroo hopping all over the place. Yeah... I'm still without a full voice, so even though I was screaming no one heard it. (except for maybe a stray dog wandering by. lol)

Robo(radio DJ), Me, Rach, & Simon(another DJ)

He then said, "Be back here at 5:45."
"No Problem!!!"


We walked floated away from the radio booth.
I occasionally let out a shriek and clapped my hands.
It seemed like a crazy dream.
I really couldn't believe I was going to get to go backstage!!!!

Trust me... there was nothing that could have removed the smile plastered on my face!

We wandered around aimlessly for a bit... mainly because I was in such a daze.
Then we decided, to take FULL advantage of our awesome seats that we lucked into again!!

We watched:
Kelly Pickler

Joe Nichols

Little Big Town

About that time, we decided that if we were gonna eat before going backstage, we probably should.
Where did we eat you might ask??
DUH!!! 

Seriously... If you didn't know, you haven't been following the last couple of posts!!

Finally, it was time to head backstage.
Honestly, we did a whole lot of waiting.
When we were finally let in, we were told that we couldn't take pictures with our own cameras.
(Insert BIG frowning face here)
They did, however, have their photographer there and told us they would send us the pics in about a week. ( I will post them when I get them)

Since they wouldn't let us get pics, I did the only other thing I know a groupie should do... I asked the manager if I could get their autographs.
She asked if I had a pen.
I did not.
(Insert ANOTHER big frowning face)

Then the guy behind me said, "I have one, BUT I want it back before I get to them."
"Sure!!!  Thanks SOOOOOOOO much!!!!" I said beaming.


I told the band how I was their BIGGEST fan!
How THIS was a dream come true for me!!!
We took the pic and EACH member signed my shirt.

Rach got a signature from Ryan Tedder.
The guy behind us got one Ryan's signature as well.
Then the manager said, "No more signatures! Were running short on time!"


OMG!! I seriously couldn't believe that, not only did I get to go backstage and meet them, BUT I got one of ONLY 3 signatures!!!
Yeah... THIS is what dreams are made of.

They made us sneak out as quietly as we had gone in.
It was now showtime!!!
I introduce to you .....OneRepublic (Cheers! Screams! The Crowd goes wild!!)

It really took all of me to focus.
I was still in my fairy tale dreamland world.
But Ryan Tedder drew me back to reality...

He really has wonderful stage presence about him.

 I mean... seriously!!  The man is playing the keyboard without looking!!

Needless to say, I didn't want their portion of the show to end.

Next up was Tim McGraw... and even though he wasn't OneRepublic...

He wasn't bad to look at either...

I mean... check out that smile...

So there you have it... How to spend $99 and have the best weekend of your life!!

Should I recap it??
Yeah... I think I should!!
-Spend $99
-Get "recognized"
-Get free drinks
-Get 2 free t-shirts (yeah 2, One from Train and I caught one that was thrown from the stage.)
-Get pulled onstage.
-Get backstage passes to FAV band

Yep... I think I spent my money well on that one!!