Nostalgic

I was just looking at some old baby pictures of Tiger. His keyboarding teacher is having a contest about who can match the musician to their baby picture (I think that sounds fun!) Tiger refused to bring in a picture ("This is a stupid contest.") , so I scanned it to her, hahaha.

Look at what I scanned to her.



How can your uterus not sing a little song when you have a cutie like this to love on?

He's two months old in the first picture, with my stepdad George.
About ten months old in the second picture. He loved that little rocking thing. He was already walking by this picture.
About six months old in the third picture, with Mr. R on the Harley. Yes, we used to own a Harley. Mr. R wants another one. Not until my car is paid off!

Sigh...my hormones are killing me!

I Love Breakfast!

I kid you not when I say breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I can't skip breakfast. I am usually starving the second I wake up. Which is not a good thing, because I don't have time to cook in the mornings. Between getting three children up for school, taking care of the dog and four cats, and working on my...well, WORK...I usually end up skimping or eating a bagel. I do love me a bagel, but it's clear I need more than that in the mornings. Bagels should be a back up, not my main choice.

So I present to you this morning, MY BREAKFAST. While up in NC, my dad has a penchant for those Jimmie Dean breakfast sandwiches. Yes, they are delish, and if you get the ones with turkey sausage and egg whites, not so bad for you. But expensive! So I decided to make my own. I used pumpernickel bread (one of my faves. Love!) a scrambled egg, two strips of bacon (if you're kosher, use turkey sausage of course!) a slice of cheddar and a slice of onion. I did this ten times, made ten sandwiches, and froze them. Then I pulled that sucker out this morning, zapped it, and I am in breakfast heaven. NOM.

With my trusty cup of coffee, which is of course in my favorite mug, my glasses, my calendar and my computer, I'm going to have a great day!

I Missed You Guys So Much!

We will start my return by embarrassing the fudge out of Tiger, on the way to his band concert. He had to wear a tux. Like I wasn't going to take pictures? Pshaw...

Here's my boy. I think his exact words were "Daaaaaad, Mom won't leave me alone!!!" Whatevs. 8lb 4oz out the hooha, and I get to take pictures of you for the rest of my life. That's the law, bub.


Can you tell I don't do yardwork?


He's really, really sick of me.


Mom. Stop. Mom. Stop. Daaaaaaaad!


Now I'm getting the evil eye and the silent treatment.


I know! I'll take a dorky picture of myself! That'll embarrass the snot out of him!


And one of that cute guy who is always driving. Just because. And yes, that's a ponytail. Don't get me started on that thing.



Back to my victim...errrr, son.


Finally, out of the grip of Momma with the camera, I now commence taking blurry shots of Tiger with the band.


The clearest shot I get all night, is of the band director's butt. Fabulous.


They put my boy behind the tubas. THE TUBAS! What a waste of talent. (my boy, not the tuba players. They were good. They were pretty much all you could hear.)



I chuckle because the tuba is bigger than the tuba player.


He's behind the the two tuba players. Really.



What is up with that boy ignoring me? It's like I'm following him around school with a camera or something!


Yay, I got him with the entire tux on! Vest, tie and everything!


And, Tiger with his friend Kyle. They're both in seventh grade.



And there is my adorable musician boy!

Goodbye for Now...

We're going to NC to visit my stepdad, stepmom, stepbrother.
Basically, we're just steppin'. LOL. Talk to you guys soon.

The Importance of Being Pulled Together

Do you ever have a day when you decide, Awwww, SCREW IT. I'm not going anywhere today, so I'm going to schlep. I'm going to wear gray stretchy yoga pants from Old Navy, and my bright yellow Tommy Hilfiger shirt which is so stained that I only wear it when I go fishing or I'm cleaning, painting or dyeing my hair? I'm going to put my hair up in a bun, and put on zit cream, and wear my glasses while I drink coffee?

Yeah. Bad day to get called into the high school to pick up your sick daughter, isn't it?

Unfortunately, I had no clothes to wear. I'd worn everything this week. I seriously don't own a ton of clothing. I'm super duper picky over what I wear, which means I wear what I have a lot. And since I decided to go to a once a week laundry schedule, I'm down to the dregs come Monday (my laundry day is Monday.)

Anyhoodles, I had just settled into my yoga pants and comfy shirt. Cup 1 of Joe down the hatch. And then the phone rang.

"Mommy?" came the whimper. Of course. Missy. On my way. I look down. OH NOOOOOO. I look like twenty pounds of poo in a ten pound bag. Well, who's gonna see me? ONLY THE ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL. On my way!!!

So I drive to school, park the car, and I'm on my way to the front door. "Young lady!" I hear a woman bark. I didn't even look up, I kept walking. Finally, a hand on my shoulder: "YOUNG LADY!" I was so surprised, I turned around, my mouth hanging open. I'm sure she got a shot of my coffee breath. "Where is your pass!" She snapped at me. I'm totally confused. Pass? I'm not even inside yet! I said, "I'm going to the office now." She said, "You know you're not allowed to walk around this campus without a pass!" It finally dawned on me what she meant..."Excuse me, ma'am. Do you think I'm a student? I'm here to pick up my daughter. She's in the clinic." This old lady didn't believe me until I pulled out my driver's license which showed the super sexy year of birth 1975 which I think proves that I'm not a high school student. I was finally allowed to go to the clinic, pick up my little girl who was born in 1995 and head home. But that was pretty funny. I don't generally think I can pass myself off as 18. Maybe 29 on a good day when I've done my hair and makeup. Anyway, that is a very good reason to make sure you are not a schlep when you go to high school....some old bat will insist you need a pass!

What Do You Think I Should Do?

I received an email from my dear friend Andrew at my FB account, asking me to call him about our 2x2 ministry. It is a ministry near and dear to my heart, as it is what got me going to our current church. Here is a snippet from the church website regarding the ministry:

Two by Two is the name of our Special Needs Ministry. This is a reference to Noah and the Ark; that we are better together and that no one gets left behind. Deltona Lakes Baptist Church embraces the two greatest commandments: Love God and Love People. Mathew 22:37-40 We want to affirm with your child the love of Jesus Christ. Our hope is to mainstream your child in an age appropriate Sunday school class with a “Bible Buddy” when possible. Alternatively we staff a stand alone class room with educational activities.

If you'd like to find out more, I'll direct you to the church website: http://deltonalakes.org/ministries/

My friend Andrew, who is one of the founders of the organization, asked me to be the 1st service leadership in this ministry. There is a couple who is in charge of the second service, Tim and Sheila, and they can't possibly do it all. Apparently, Tim, Sheila and Andrew all got together, prayed about who had the most leadership qualities and passion for the ministry, and decided it was me. I cannot even begin to tell you how shocked I am. First of all, yes, I'm passionate about it. But I don't ever consider myself to be a leader. I laughed and asked Andrew if that was his polite way of telling me I was bossy. When I first started going to this church about four years ago, this was the program that got me. I could finally drop Bucket off and go to worship, which I hadn't done in years. Last year, I finally got involved as a volunteer, and not just a parent. I work with a delightful young girl every other month. I thought that was going to be the extent of my service.

I told Andrew I needed to speak to Mr. R about it, and then pray. Being a leader in a ministry was not at all on my game plan. I keep saying the same old things: working full time, student part time, momma ALL THE TIME. This position would very likely only take about two hours a week, all on Sunday, plus possibly making phone calls during the week to make sure volunteers are lined up for the first service. It's not a huge time sucker. But I'm still not ready to commit. And for one reason only: I'd be leaving my three kids at home every Sunday morning for about an hour and a half, and they would have to be self-motivated enough to eat breakfast, get dressed, and walk to church without me standing over them. I'm pretty sure Missy will be fine. But those boys? I am not convinced.

I just have a lot to think about.

Contemplative

Did I spell that right?

Anyway, it appears another apology is in order, because I have not been blogging consistently at all. I know I get bummed when one of my fellow bloggers doesn't do a post and I wonder how they're doing. Well, I'm doing fine. No, really.

First of all, work. Oh my goodness. They are getting their money's worth out of me. I clock out in the afternoon and I want to fall over. My eyes hurt, my back and neck ache, and all I want to do is lie down and rest my eyes. Second, school. So there is no laying down and resting my eyes, because what I do is get up, get some chore started, take an hour break from the computer, and then get right back on it for school. Third, kids. They're great, but just because they're older doesn't mean they require less work. So I'm helping them with their chores, apparently feeding all of their friends, making sure Bucket takes a shower (he tries to get away with no bathing...why do boys do this?) plus getting them to their various friends' homes, lessons, church and the like. So after all that, the very last thing I want to do is log onto the computer AGAIN just to tell you that nothing is going on. I hope you understand.

That being said, my mind is just as busy as my life. I've been thinking a lot about the future, my home, my career (or lack thereof), my fertility, my wardrobe, my hobbies. Just a lot of jumbled up thoughts whirling around in my head. Sometimes I go to sleep, and I swear I'm still thinking. I wake up, certain I never slept. My mind is tired, too!

So with that being said, I am super glad that I have a bit of a vacation coming up. Mr. R and I, and of course the kiddies, are driving up to Charlotte NC for a long (short?) weekend on October 16th. We will be back October 19th. My first stepdad (my sister's dad) lives there, we are going up to visit. Plus Mr. R is taking the kids to see a Metallica concert, to which I am not going. Not because I don't like Metallica (I do, actually!) but the tickets were pricey, and I have schoolwork. Indeed, during my little vacation, I'm bringing my laptop so I can take a test. Dedicated, no? I hope to take lots of pictures. From what I understand, leaves could possibly be changing in Charlotte and wow I have not seen autumn in over 20 years. So I'm totally stoked. I would so very much like cooler weather. The high for today in the Orlando area is about 92 and frankly, I am pretty sick of running my air conditioner.

Anyway, I'm not going back to work until October 21. Even though we will be back on the 19th, I'm assuming I will have a ton of laundry to do. Plus Tiger has a band concert on the 20th. I'll be taking pictures of that too. He has to wear a tuxedo shirt and tie! Tee hee...

So that's all I have to report. Not much, actually. But I wanted ya'll to know I'm still alive down here in the swamp.