The Vanity Set

Nova and Maddie love the new vanity set... remember what I wrote about.... sell stuff and then it cost you....

Taking time to account...

As I was driving home from work the other day... I was thinking of being thankful. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, 1,100 people were laid off at my work. Although there was a 1% chance I'd be apart of that group, it still had an effect. In this economy... during this Great Recession... I do not think it would be fun to look for a job - let alone need to find one. I feel it is out of my hands 90% of the time, but I also feel the need to account for the many many blessings I have been afforded. Someday, it will matter not what my bank account looks like or how many times I did what I wanted on a given moment. What will matter is how my sole mate, children, family, and friends thought of me. Next week, I'm going to turn 37. When I am 43, my youngest daughter will be 10 years old and my oldest will be driving a car. Time is not going to slow down per se, rather have the illusion of speeding up. What will keep that from happening is the ability to take account, carefully measure, and most of all be thankful for whatever blessings come to maturity.

My dad will turn 70 this year. Happy am I to walk in his image and do my part to share his story with my children.

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Today, well in a couple of hours, we have our spring neighborhood garage sale. Debra is selling everything it seems, but the sad reality is the replacement cost looming in the near future. Crafty gal... she will tell me in a few hours of the money made.. later next week.. it will be the savings she secured... in the end I have learned that garage sales do not make us money... it costs money! (As she goes out replenishing sold items!)

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Next week for my B-day we are pulling the kids out of school and going to St. Augustine. For those that do not know, it is the oldest city in America. The weather should be good and the time with the family on an extended weekend outing / mini-vacation will be great.

Pics.

Here is another draft...

I was suppose to put pics here. We all know Mom and Dad are the worst with pics... boxes and boxes of pics... we need to scan and make into electronic media.

???Note to self.... high quality scanning tool. Or price how much for 300 scans without purchasing the equipment.???

Dusting off the computer...

I'm back. We are into weekend trips. The kids are of age and the sites are plentiful. Last week, we saw a civil war battle at at local historic site. One of fondest memories growing up was my Uncle Jack taking me on these wonderful summer trips through the country of MD, PA, WV, VA, and upstate NY. (No - never Jersey... the toxic waste state)

This weekend (tomorrow) we will put our feet in the white sand on the gulf coast. The water will still be too cold to swim, but that will not stop my 8,6,and 4 year olds!

I highly recommend weekend trips. Next week, I'll get around to posting about the prior couple of months. As well as my upcoming trip to AZ... if I have never mentioned it... I love AZ... everything that is wonderful for me... started in AZ. Well - a couple of things are from AZ that needed to present themselves in NY... but that is for another post.

Sports... is it a curse or a blessing?

I need to keep my eye on the goal. Sports is not suppose to me re-living my youth. I need to embrace my kids talents regardless of what I think of them. After a weekend that included my team get struck down by a should-be-retired QB, I accepted the truth... Mike will not be a flag football star!

I am proud and support, but secretly I am crying... I want him to score a TD... know the feeling... but I may wait a long time for that joy. For now, my joy is centered on seeing him get a flag on defense when the game is out of reach.

It is not sad. It is what the Dad of the left bench warmer looks forward to!


All kidding aside, I am proud he is out there trying... he shows up for practice and gets on the field with less time on the clock than it takes to boil an egg... but he is out there! I am really happy the team is pretty strong so those moments where it does not matter come often!!! (No really I am happy... not bitter at the lack of stardome... not at all!)

A post lost... and dated accordingly... drafts work, but if you forget to post... it is old news

The summer is going by fast. The family returned safely from AZ. The trip was not exactly my ideal vacation, but the value it presented for Debra and the kids was not something I could be selfish about.

To recap: I took 8 days off and in those fun filled days off I drove approximately 4,626 miles while spending 6 of my 8 vacation days in a minivan.

Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed time with my friends (3 days), which erased the long drive... and I loved watching my kids playing with their kids. Mike made some new friends and my darling daughters were very excited even though most of the kids were boys!! ( the girls are on the way )

Of course, I realized how much I miss AZ and crave to move there.... but still cannot seem to figure out a way to get out there!

Well once we got back from AZ we celebrated Madison's 4th birthday! But before that celebration could happen and yes after just returning home from the return leg of the AZ drive, I drove 60 miles each way to Disney. Disney is running a FL promo... free FL resident entry pass for 1 day, but it must be acquired on your birthday. You can use it within 6 mos with the option to upgrade to a three day pass for 50 bucks. So, on 4/1, 4/10, 7/26, 8/8, and 8/23 - yup you guessed it... I get to drive to Disney with a kid that really does not understand the term... you need to wait to use it.

So, we will have 6 months from purchase to use the tickets... well April 1 to Aug 23 works pretty darn well and covers all of us. The kids each enjoyed their birthday presents, but we saved some of the spending for Disney... the kids truly love that place.

The major bonus was JP and family heading into town and gave us the perfect reason to use our tickets!!

Milton..... did he bet the game?

for me... that is the question... to do this is not logical...


http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/milton_bradley_to_give?utm_source=a-section