Climbing Mt. Everest

That has never been a life goal of mine, but my Mt. Everest was my own bed. We all know the feeling of coming home to our own bed after being away. When I came home from the hospital, my excitement was building as I was thinking of being in my own bed and getting some rest. If you have ever been in the hospital, you know you don't get any rest there!

As I got ready to snuggle into bed, I stood beside it and there it was, Mt. Everest. I had forgotten how tall my bed was. My trusty hubby was beside me on the ready to give assistance, but scared he would make me hurt if he touched me wrong. So one big breath and one knee up, wow, where the heck was my finger hold to pull myself up? I found my body pillow, held on tight and pulled up my other leg. There I was, on all fours, finally on my bed. Deep breath. Now what? I had to turn around to lay down. As I scooted around on all fours, I looked like an animal tampering down the area before settling down. Quite the site I'm sure.

As I sat down, I slowly began the process of laying down, I now looked like a turtle not wanting to be on her back. Holding my breath, grunting, ohhing, yes, another pretty site, but the comfort of my bed, oh so worth it!

After a nap came the task of getting out of bed. I don't have the luxury of the hospital bed so here it goes, getting out of a completely flat bed. I was figuring out how to roll onto my right side, so now I looked like one of those beetles stuck on it's back with arms and legs grasping at air. I rolled to my side, got my legs untangled from the covers, big breath! I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of the bed, phew! My feet are far from the floor, but luckily I can sort of slide off of the bed.

Wow, how many times am I going to go thru this ordeal? But today, I am feeling better and I have mastered my Mt. Everest.

Summer IS Over

Some may think our summers are very short, okay, they are but that's the way I like it. My kids have been back to school since August 11th and 12th. My oldest will leave this Wednesday.

Though the summer was short, a lot of change occurred. My son got his first job, my oldest daughter had her first full-time job. Then came their growth personally. With summer came maturity. With maturity came appreciation. With appreciation came an enjoyable summer.

Though we had to endure a month of remodeling(remind me to never do a remodel again)we all had a wonderful summer. With my oldest daughter heading back to school Wednesday, our household will change once again for the year. All the kids have their set responsibilities with school work and holding a job during school for the two oldest.

For my youngest daughter, the year will be full of 7th grade and competing regionally and nationally on a very high level cheerleading team. Will be a challenge for her, but a good challenge, one we are all looking forward to.

With our kids back in school, the year brings change for my hubby and myself. I go in for surgery this Friday and I will gain the freedom I have wanted for such a long time. I want to vamp up my traveling again and this will allow me to do just that. For my hubby, he will continue to face the challenges with his job. Though frustrating at times, he has gotten a grasp on how to handle it better. With my new freedom coming up, that frees up the worrying my hubby does regarding me.

We are all looking forward to this upcoming school year, summer was great, but here's to a wonderful fall!

Pet Peeve

Or am I just too OC? Most would probably think the latter. When it comes to my bed, I am very picky, not about how gorgeous it looks, because it truly needs help in that category, but in how it's made.

I have always been very picky about how a bed should be made, like in the military. The sheets need to be very tight and tucked in, no bumps anywhere and should be even on all sides. And no, I don't do the quarter test, but don't even go there.

Then it comes to sleeping in the bed. You guessed it, I must sleep with the sheets and blankets completely straight. Even during the night and rolling around, the sheets must be straight, so in the morning, all that needs to be done is to pull the sheets and blanket back into their rightful place.

Looking at my side of the bed in the morning, one would think no one even slept in it. Now my hubby's is a way different story. His sheets and blankets are everywhere, even the fitted sheet corner has come off the mattress. There lies the issue, the pet peeve. I have tried everything known to mankind out there to secure that darn corner, the good ole garter looking thing, the clips, extra deep pocketed sheets...still no luck...until NOW!

Ta Da!:


It doesn't look like much, but wowee, zowee! It works! These unfold so you wrap on top of the corner then put your fitted sheet over it and wham bam, thank ya mam, the fitted sheet stays put!! (can you tell I'm excited over this?) My other hint, put one of these directly on the mattress, then put the mattress pad cover over it, then another one of these handy dandy things on top of the mattress pad for the fitted sheet.

Now I can get a good night's sleep knowing the fitted sheet corner is in it's place. The rest of hubby's side, I will just have to look away...

Looking Back...

25 years from high school graduation this past Friday night was fun and enjoyable. This reunion was very casual which made it nice for everyone in attendance. We had a nice turnout, not too many, but with late notice, it wasn't bad.

I sent out 416 invitations, but not too many show up for these things. Not sure the reasons behind it, besides the usual distance and busy lives. As the person 'responsible' for planning the reunions, the title I gained because my hubby was class president, thanks dear, I do it to give people the opportunity to catch up with old friends and find new ones.

Talking to many of those that attended, everyone had very positive reactions and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was great being able to catch up with everyone. The life stories varied, I found out my class has some strong people with what they have experienced thus far. It's amazing what you learn as adults of a classmate's background when all that seemed important in high school was who you were friends with and what you were doing. Everyone was genuine and so grown up! Always nice to see grown ups acting like grown ups.

I had one classmate tell me that he really appreciated all of my hard work and that this reunion was what he really needed at this time in his life. His perspective has changed thru/out his life with the many challenges he had faced in his past. Being able to reconnect with his high school friends was very important to him and that his priorities in life are now about people. THAT makes all the hard work and headache so worth it to plan these.

I thank those that attended, it was great catching up with everyone. I wish everyone the best for the next 25 years and I will see you again to celebrate!

Change is Coming

And I am SO looking forward to it. It's about my health, my lifestyle, my well-being, physical and especially emotional. I am probably in the very minority(seems like I am always in the minority)thinking the way I do, but for the past few years, I have been miserable.

This is what is right for me, it may seem drastic, but I believe in being realistic and taking things head on and getting it over with now and not have to go thru multiple trials.

I am looking forward to a bright future, being able to live life the way I want to, not being 'caged' in because I know what to expect or being surprised by the unexpected.

And no, this has nothing to do with my marriage! I am happily married and love my life. I just get to enjoy it more and really to the fullest...soon!!

First Day of School and I Celebrate!

Why is it that I feel like I am the only parent that ever celebrates the first day of school? Do I look like a horrible mom that doesn't want her kids at home? Um, no. I just know that I don't like to hear the words, "I'm bored" in the household and my kids know NOT to even udder those words in my house.

Going back to school is good for everyone, even if my kids don't realize it. They need a day and week of school to appreciate the weekend and the sense of freedom. The weekend is enough time for socializing, correct? Heck, before my kids realize it, they will be celebrating their last day of school!

And now I can have my days to myself, again. But they are filled with the daily tasks of laundry, picking up the house, updating calendars, grocery shopping, dinner planning, etc. All the fun things!

As my kids start school and countdown the days to the last day of school, I will continue to cherish everyday of silence.

Back to Normal

We had a very busy weekend, but our household is finally back to normal, meaning we are done with the remodel! Fine-A-Lee!! It's been a long remodel, but that is to be expected, right? Ugh, no more projects!!! Okay, maybe one more...if I can remain sane! This one isn't that big of a deal though, really, yeah, uh huh....

We switched my oldest daughter into the upstairs room and the guest room downstairs. Both look great! I'm just glad it is D-O-N-E!

Basic Skills for a Cause

I learned how to knit when I was very little, but never got past the basic stitch. I learned how to crochet when I started my career after college. Once again, I never got past the basic stitch.

Once I learned how to crochet, everyone in my family received blankets that year. Then a few years later, everyone received scarves that I had knitted.

So with all this 'creativity' streak, I had a lot of yarn left over. I have been meaning to donate it to my church to use towards quilts. Here we are today and I still have that box of yarn. Sure sign of laziness on my part.

But, I can redeem myself. Yesterday, I read my church's newsletter and there it was, a call for prayer shawls. I called the person in charge and I asked her if I could make the shawls with my basic skills. 'Of course you can!' she told me. So there was my solution for the box of yarn that was intended for my church anyway.

I had heard of prayer shawls a few years ago. That fascinated me, but I never went further with the fascination. Now I can. I can use my basic skills, pray over the shawl and make a difference in someone's life. Such a little gesture, but something I am able to do. I find it heart-warming to know that my little gesture will give someone comfort, a hug, a prayer in their time of need.

Now that box of yarn for my church IS going to the church, a few years late, but in such a great form! I hope the person(s) that receives my prayer shawl(s) feels the comfort, love, gratitude, blessing, and prayer for healing I have put into making the shawl. Amen.