Ready to Relax

Oh it has been a long week!  Or maybe two or three, I've forgotten!  And HOT! Oh my goodness has it been hot!  The humidity has been just awful and no one can stand to be outside for long.  Those things have made for a very tense me!

Today I got to leave work early.  I worked a full shift but it was still early when I left at three.  I drove to Seans school and picked him up, a surprise for him since he thought Daddy was going to do the pick up.  We drove home and I changed my clothes and got ready to relax.

The weather today was just beautiful!!  The temperature has been in the upper to high 90's since June.  The humidity made it feel worse!  Today, the temperature was 88 degrees with very low humidity!  A gentle breeze was blowing and it felt wonderful outside!

I went out and sat down in my lawn chair, ready to look at the clouds.  Mark and Sean came outside and Mark brought me a white russian - one of my favorite drinks!  Oh yes, relaxation has begun!

A New Era

He started kindergarten Monday!

My little boy started kindergarten on Monday!  A new era has started!  He is growing up so fast!  He has become so independent and sassy all at the same time.  He is so smart and loving!  He is self-confident and sure of himself.  He is the best!

Decisions

Today I made a very important decision.  It was a tough one to make but the right one in the long run.  I'm afraid of the unknown but ready for the change.

I manage a Pizza Hut.  I love the job, well, most days I do.  I love most of my team members and the customers are awesome!  However, it is time for me to leave.  I love my family more and my son is the most important person to me.  He starts kindergarten on Monday and I've decided that I am going to spend more time with him.  The years are going by too fast.  I work 60 hours a week at a minimum.  Sean doesn't get that from me.  He gets what is left.  What is wrong with that?  Everything!!!!  Today, when I go to work, I am sending my area manager an e-mail with my two week notice.  I will be applying for a job where I can work less.  Oh, the money at Pizza Hut is great and it will be missed but it's time!

So, my journey takes a new path.  One that, hopefully, will be the right path for me and my family.

The light of my life, the reason for my decision, the reason for living...my ray of sunshine!

Good Morning!

I'm not a morning person.  That is almost an understatement!  I can wake up and get out of bed but I have to sit around and drink my coffee to really wake up.  Not just a cup! Almost a whole pot before I feel as though I can function.  So, for that reason, I'm usually not out and about early.

This morning I had to be at work at 8 a.m.  Now, that's not really too early but it is for me.  I do better going in around ten.  Anyway, I got up and walked to my kitchen sink.  The blinds in the windows don't fit correctly - they are too narrow but they work.  I saw red coming through the blinds.  I moved the blinds and saw the most beautiful sunrise!  I told Mark, "I'm going outside!"  He followed me and the view was spectacular!!  Man, if all mornings were like this I'd get up early everyday! Good morning!

The Dream

It looks alone, unused, abandoned.  It sits there, waiting.  It represents my dream, a dream that I thought would never come true.  A dream that was just a dream.  It tells a story.  A simple childs swing set and yet, a  picture of my dream come true.

I remember, when I was around six years old, my mom asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  "A mommy.", I told her.  "I want to grow up, get married and have twelve babies."  My aunts and uncles used to tell me, "I hope you have a dozen kids when you grow up!"  I would carry my little cousins around on my hip all the time.  They would cry when I put them down.  You know, the kind of cry that a child does when he is spoiled.  When I was 15 my uncle had a baby girl.  Krissy was my baby (or so I thought).  When I started dating, I would take Krissy on dates with me!  I knew that my life would not be complete without a little one in it.

I got married when I was 17.  I wanted babies right away and yet it didn't happen.  I was so disappointed.  But I know things happen for a reason.  That marriage ended in divorce and, several years later, he killed himself.  If I had had a child with him it would have been very hard on that child.

I got pregnant when I was 34.  Oh what a time!!!  I was so excited and happy!  But sadly, I lost my baby.  Another proof that God knows what he's doing and what's in store for us.  His father was a jerk!  He told me that if the baby was a boy I should have an abortion but, if it was a girl we would get married.  After this baby, Spencer, I was told I would not get pregnant again and that I shouldn't.  If I did it would be dangerous and the pregnancy would end the same way.  I had a molar pregnancy and reoccurance is very likely.

Anyway, I always lived with someone, during both of my marriages.  We never had our own home - always with their mother.  Another part of my dream was to have my own home - a place that no one could make me leave or tell me that I couldn't change something around if I wanted to.  It appeared that the dream of having my own home wouldn't come true too.

I met Mark in 1998.  We enjoyed seeing each other on the week ends.  Not dating or anything like that.  He was a musician and I was in a dance class that dance where ever he played.  He knew the father of my child and didn't like him.  We became good friends and that was it.  We eventually started seeing each other and in 2005 we got married.  We  found out, much to our surprise, that I was pregnant!  Oh what a happy and tense time!  Two ultrasounds later we knew for sure that this pregnancy was not another molar pregnancy.  Our baby boy was born December 12, 2005 weighing 4 pounds 7 ounces!  We were (and still are) elated!

In September of 2008, we moved from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Upstate of South Carolina.  We bought a house.  We moved in on Thanksgiving day. Yes, I had a lot to be thankful for!  For Christmas - just after my son turned three - we got his swing set.  My life was great!!

So, this empty swingset represents my dream come true!!  You see, I have a wonderful husband, a home of my own, and a little boy who plays on that swingset!!

Today's Comfort

Today was our family day.  We seldom have a day where all three of us are off together and we had fun.  We went to ShipWreck Cove, which is a local water park.  Sean loves that place!  He's working had on learning to swim.  He is jumping into the water and then moving to the side of the pool to pull himself out.

We took a break and had a little ice cream to help us cool down.

Before we were able to get back into the water, they closed the park down.  They said that the chlorinator broke.  They issued a raincheck so we will be going back soon.

It was a very relaxing day.

My Monday

Normally my Mondays are awful!  I go to work at 9 a.m. and do paperwork.  I make out the schedule for the week and then count my inventory.  At some point, after the schedule is posted, someone says, "Oh, I have to be off on...".  Couldn't you put that date on the calender BEFORE I make the schedule? 

After doing all that I have a regular day (is there any such thing?).  Then, at 10 pm, I close the store and do all the end of the day paperwork.  After that I have to finish the enventory.  I normally get to leave the store between 11 and 11:30 pm.  It's a very long day.

Yesterday I took a break.  I left the store and picked my son up from summer camp.  When I started back to work the clouds were getting thick.  I remember looking toward the mountains and thinking, "I sure hope some of that rain makes it to us."  We need rain!  I've never liked the rain or cold weather.  This year, I can't wait for winter!!!!  It has been so hot and dry!

Anyway, I stopped on the side of the road and took a picture of Hog Back Mountain from the area called Ingleside.  My most favorite view!  I took a picture of the rain on my windshield - cliche, I know, but pretty.

After that, I went back to work.  We got some of the rain, not a lot but better than nothing.  Later in the evening I stepped outside and got a nice surprise.

I know that a rainbow is God's promise that he will not destroy the world with water again.  When I saw this rainbow over my work I felt that it was a promise that Monday's won't always be so bad!