Days of New

I've started a new job. This is my first time to work full time in about 9 years. I am LO-VING my new job. I don't mourn my loss of being home with the kids as I anticipated that I would. From the moment I got the call for the interview I was ready. There's something about being home with children that can take care of themselves (for the most part) that makes you feel a bit stagnant. It was wearing on me. That, and the one income. Thank you Mark for stepping in and saying "It's time". He had no idea how "time" it was.

I'm enjoying this next phase of our lives. Tired? Extremely. I will adjust. (won't I?) I enjoy waking up knowing I have a purpose...a place where I would be greatly missed if I overslept.

A buddy of Mark's came to poker last week and asked me "arent' you a little overqualified for this job?" Yeah, maybe so, but I LIKE it. I like staying busy, having multiple tasks to tend to throughtout the day and people that expect me to do certain key tasks each day. I LIKE it. So yes, I'm over-qualified to be an office manager, but I can see myself waking up and doing this job for years. Crazy, I know. I am challenged. I'm not doing what I've done for the past 14 years, but I'm ok with that. I drive 13 minutes to work each day, make a decent paycheck and I'm off by 4 to be home with the kids. I'm good. All is good.

Work Woes...maybe not

Where did I leave off on Friday... interviewed with two preschools last week and applied for a 90% perfect job on Saturday. Fast forward to Monday (today),
I log on and start my routine of searching want ads.
Once again, nothing.
Only it was worse; the job I applied for on Saturday had mysteriously disappeard. And there I sat, once again starring at screen full of jobs that I'm not qualified for. So there's the start of my day, as it has been for weeks. I sit, I ponder, I drive myself deeper in to dispair. Maybe I will read some more of my History text, for the class I haven't even started. (Yes, that is pathetic, I know)

It's not that I NEED this job.
But really, I do NEED this job. I need something. The kids are getting older, need less of me, and I NEED something more.
Fortunately, I was preoccupied with the notion that the pool worker bees would be showing up "any minute now", and that helped me not get too deep in my funk. So I paced from window to computer screen, to window and back again to computer screen, thinking somehow, one or the other will provide me with some sort of hope. Neither prevailed. It's amazing how busy one can be doing absolutely nothing. 2:30 rolls around, and low and behold, a work truck appears. YES! We will make progress today!
Or so it seemed. The guys pile out, spend 30 minutes repairing the broken backhoe and then get to work. Finally, I have something to preoccupy myself. So I sit. And I watch. And I watch some more. By 4:45 they decide to call it a day, and they pile back in to their truck and they're gone. **Sigh** I'm pathetic. Just pathetic. Unmotivated, unstimulated and in need of SOMETHING.
And then it happens.
I notice I have a voicemail.
It's the Castleberry.
After being "on call" for what?? 3 months I guess it was, he calls! He's ready for some help. He needs me 3 to 4 hours a day asap.
And finally, I can exhale.

Work Woes

This past week I interviewed at two preschools in the area. The first was at Primrose School, a private preschool (not sure I understand what that is supposed to mean), and Private Kindergarten. This school is awesome...classrooms are oversized, bright, cheery with plenty of play and work stations for the children. Each room has their own door leading to age appropriate playgrounds. The cirriculum was excellent and chock full of fun. They integrate sign language and Spanish at every age level, from babies to Kindergarten. Anyway, the interview went well, it mostly consisted of me observing a few rooms for about 30 minutes each. I was very impressed with the program and anxious to sit and chat with the director. "Interviewing" with the director was a bit surprising, she was really much more interested in finding out if my hours would work than finding out about how I teach, discipline and react to certain situations. I don't believe she asked me a single question pertaining to children. A bit of a let down. As we got further in to the "interview" I realized that this "competitive pay", "flexible schedule" (as stated in their ad) job was not for me. Number one, they were not flexible with the work schedule, not at all. And the pay, well, I did expect it to be low, but was amazed to find out that $8.50/hr is competitive. It makes me so sad to see the way our society views the important job of caring for and teaching children. It has to be one of the most important jobs, yet, even at a professional level, pays so, so poorly. Obviously, those that work with children do it for reasons other than pay, thank goodness, but really our priorities are so screwed up in this country in regards to educators. It's so disheartening.

Pros: Awesome cirriculum. Beautiful school.
Cons: Director not as "warm" as I would like, and not up to par as far as I'm concerned. I also forgot to mention that I did speak with an assistant teacher. I asked her about how she liked the job. She doesn't. I'm sure it's all relative, but I got a bad vibe about management from her.

On to the next school. The Goddard School, just blocks away from our old house. I was impressed with their entry system. They have a fingerprint scanner, and unless your fingerprint is on file, you cannot enter the facility. The director was wonderful. Very caring, good natured and welcoming. She was very different than the previous director I interviewed with. She gave me a tour of the facility, which was nice, clean, no "day care" smell, and the employees seemed to be happy and enjoying their jobs. Good sign. After the tour we sat down and talked a bit. She asked several questions relative to caring for children, and followed through with explaining their procedures. Very thoughrough. She was interested in hiring me, however, there was not a current opening for the hours that I am willing to work. She said she'd try and adjust some things and see what happens in the future.
Pros: I know I'd be happy with management. Willing to work with my schedule.
Cons: 15 minute drive, and low pay. Education philosophy is not entirely on board with my philosophy. They seem to be a bit Piaget based than I care for...but I don't know that for sure. They don't believe in timeout either, which I found a little strange.

So the search continues. This morning I did my regular job search and ran across an ad for an Admin. Assistant for the drafting department at a manufacturing company here in Georgetown. The job description and requirements could have been quoted from my resume. The position would be perfect for me AND it's right here in G-town. The pay is much, much better, however, this is an 8-5 job. Not so good. I went ahead and shot off my resume, how could I not. I'm sure they'll want to at least interview me for the position, since there's nothing on the ad that I don't have documented experience in. I figure if I get far enough to receive an offer, I can see about negotiating a little with the hours. If that's not possible, I have a lot of thinking to do.

le pool

Yesterday, I opened my email to find this:

July 16, 2008

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Urben,

THE INSTALLATION DATE FOR YOUR POOL HAS BEEN SET FOR_____7/25/08______(approximately). DEPENDING ON WEATHER, WE WILL STAY ON SCHEDULE AND KEEP YOU UPDATED OF ANY CHANGES.

I am just so giddy with excitement I can't stand it!

We have a lot of work to do once this puppy gets here... Mark and I will be installing a privacy fence on a large portion of our yard, and because we're on a hill we'll also have to build a retaining wall around the pool area. This will certainly be a challenge, but one I'm sure we can live up to. I'm planning on documenting the process from start to finish, so you guys can follow along and enjoy in our excitement.


On Tuesday, I took Miss Ash and three of her friends to Claire's and we all got second ear piercings. Yeah, I said *we*. And for the record, Nana started it. (Oh yes you did!) While she was visiting for the 4th she gave me a pair of diamond hoops and told me I should really get second holes. And that's when the wheels began a turnin'. I'm not sure why it had never occurred to me before then to get second piercings, it's just something I never thought about I suppose. Maybe somewhere in my subconscious I knew that this was something my 11 year old daughter and I could share someday. Ha! That's it!

So now imagine the four of us girls driving down the road, I reach for the radio and turn the blaring top 40 music all the way down to silence, which also silences the backseat full of pre-teen American Idol wannabes...what mom, whydja do that?
All right girls, it's time!
Everyone turn and jiggle!
And on cue, the four of us reach for our sensitive new additions and together we turn and jiggle our new jewelry.

Silly girls.

Basketball Slideshow

Here's the slideshow I made for the end of season party for both of Ashley's teams. It's a joint party, since most of the players are on both teams.

Warning: It's long, but worth it!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Starting Over

Yesterday was Mark's first day at Apple. He left at 7:45, and was home a little after 6. As much as I missed him, I have to say, it was such a relief for me to get my routines back. Since he's been home, we've all been a little out of whack, with no real routine to speak of. No real defined roles...we just sort of flew by the seat of our pants. That was fun. For a while.
While he was home, we both did an incredible amount of nothing. With two of us responsible for keeping the household running, there was much more down time than either of us have ever had in our own home. If you know me, you know that when I'm at home, I'm typically on my feet. I don't sit back and relax, and really, I wanted to, I just didn't know how to let it all go and allow myself that luxury. Nothing a crash course in relaxation couldn't fix.

So, here we are, back to normal, and ever so thankful for the opportunity to have it all back. I broke out the Fly Lady checklist on Sunday. God I love checklists. This is my list of chores broke down in to daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. It's fail proof. I've had these checklists for about 3 years now and I've learned that with the checklists momma's happy. Anyway, breaking out the lists was like seeing an old friend again. That checklist and I have a lot of catching up to do, and strange as it may sound, I'm anxious to rekindle that relationship we use to have. Like a slice of normal pie.


Something I thought was pretty cute: Any guesses as to what Mark can get for free all day long everyday from the cafeteria at work?

Pretty lil bama

More pics from Alabama. It's hard to take a bad photo with such georgeous landscape and colors. Make sure to click on the slideshow to get the full size, these colors are just gorgeous full size.

Birthday, Summer and other schtuff

I'm officially in the 30 club...Now that I'm 31, I'm no longer just a newbie, I'm officially making my way to 35 err 40. I'm not sure how this happened so fast, one day you're in your 20's just getting along with all the new changes, marraige, babies, dreams coming to fruition and then BAM! Suddenly, you're the age your mom was when you remember thinking how OLD she was and how that was eons away and truly, you're invensible and that probably won't every happen to you anyway. So here I am, 31, with a soon to be first grader and a soon to be SEVENTH GRADER, going on 9 years of marraige. Wow. I remember being a kid wondering why it had to take sooo looong for that next birthday to arrive...now they just sneak up on me and before I know I'm ANOTHER year older. Time flies when you're having fun I suppose.

Well, the kids are on their first official day of summer break. Yesterday was an interesting experience. I drove Alex to his last day of Kindergarten, his last day with the most precious teacher on the face of the earth, and the last day for me to ever have a kindergartener. I was reflecting back to the first day of Kinder and remembering how uncertain I was that this was the right thing to do. It was probably the hardest day of school I had all year. I did so well, dropped him off virtually tear free...and then I hit the doors leading out of the school and BAM, the emotions took over like a storm and that was all she wrote. The floodgates opened and I felt like I'd just left my soul in that Kinder room with a bunch of complete strangers.

Ironically, the ride to school yesterday was quite similar. Emotions were in full swing, but this time it wasn't momma, it was my little pumpkin. He fought back tears the whole way to school and eventually he lost the battle and wept for his Kindergarten year coming to an end. It touched me to see how special this year has been to him, and to know that I did make the right choice by sending him to public school. He had an incredible kindergarten experience that I know has set the foundation for so much that is yet to come.

Miss Ash, well, as thankful as she is that she can temporarily shut off her alarm clock, she's as equally forlorn that she'll be missing her buddies...girls AND boys. She's changed so much this year, so much that sometimes it's hard to tell if this really is the same little girl I sent off to sixth grade some 9 months ago. I'm so proud of all she has accomplished, despite how hard it is to let go of this little girl. I went to her awards ceremony, where she received awards for all A honor roll, UIL Spelling, and UIL Math. She's an amazing growing girl and I'm still trying to figure out how to hold on to what I know I must begin to let go of. I would like to hold on to this time and refuse to let go, because I can clearly see what's on the horizon, and quite frankly, it scares me to think of what comes next. It feels like our grip is slowly releasing, and as normal as I know this is, it's much harder than I ever imagined it would be.

Since I started this post a day has passed, the kids are now in Florida with Nana ready for their Disney trip at the Animal Kingdom Resort. Mark and I have a week to ourselves. I think we've spent more time asking each other what we should do with ourselves than we have actually DOING something with ourselves. We went to Burger Tex, off Airport for lunch, the burgers were certainly not what I had anticipated, dehidrated beef is really what we ate, next time we'll go with what we know is good and just make the trip to Top Notch...but we were alone and that's what matters, right? We made a trip to Target to pick out a book, since the one I just started just wasn't working for me. I found a book on my "To Read" list, The Bell Jar, by Slyvia Plath. I've spent the last hour or so sipping a rita and reading my book out on the back porch in a lounge chair with the soothing sound of my dripping water fountain settting the mood. Mark's in the livingroom listening to Lyle Lovett and Bonnie Rait live. It's only 8:30 on our first of 7 nights alone.


That's all for now, I'll update with more of our kidless week soon.

Happy Mother's Day to meee

And my gift to myself, this handy dandy wall fountain, that I just couldn't live without. $189.95 here....but for me, $35 on Craigslist. *brand new* teehee!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a fantastical-icious Mother's Day!

I wanted to share my special gifts from the kiddos.

Alex made me several masterpieces at school, one of which is a tie dyed butterfly magnet that reads:

Butterfly hover
near my mother.
Tell her that
I really LOVE her.

This already has a special place on the fridge and has done it's job of warming my heart time and time again.

Another handmade gift from my sweetness is hand print lilys with a sweet poem and a picture of the handsome little man himself.

And the most precious of all his hand made gifts, a card, written by Alex:

My mom does not have a job
but she still works hard.

Moms are special. I love you.
Moms are sweet because they give hugs.

I love my mom because you sometimes
let me sleep with you.

Love,
Alex

And sweet Ashley wrote me a letter that I have to share. This one had me completely choked up.

Mothers are a special gift.
When you're sad, moms let you cry
but make you feel better,

Moms will always laugh at your jokes even when they're bad.

Even though at times they don't like it,
moms watch you grow up.

Moms cook you wonderful meals.
Moms are there when you get home.

Sometimes moms hit a bump in the road
but moms NEVER give up.

Moms are your worst enemy,
and your best friend.

Moms have big jobs
and even bigger hearts.

But most importantly they'll always love you.

Love,

Sissy

These are the best mother's day gifts a mom could EVER ask for, and I feel so, so fortunate to have two of the best kids around to share my life with.

B is for DAMN IT

Just checked my grades...got a B on the final and a B for the class. Wah. I was really, really hoping to pull off an A, but hey, I did it, I didn't give up, and it's OVER!

Rains, pours

After being gone from work for a week, I came back to find that several people were let go. This is not a good time for the land surveying world. Fortunately, I didn't get "let go", however, I will no long have regular employment. They will be using me on an "as needed" basis. Who knows what that means. It's already Friday, and I haven't been needed yet, so really, this could mean anything. I'm still contemplating what to do...with Mark still being out of work, I'm feeling a little antsy about just waiting for them to call me. I've put word out to the environmental firm, but apparently they're fairly slow right now too. I feel like I'm at a crossroad right now, and I'm not exactly sure which way to go. On one hand, this timing is absolutely horrible, on the other hand, I had intended on taking the summer off to be with the kids anyway (providing Mark found a job). And with Mark being in Alabama for two weeks, I really wasn't quite sure how I was going to do it all, work, school, basketball, etc. on my own. So I'm a little uncertain as to what I'm feeling right now. My mind is ok, but sensitive tummy is reminding me that there are decisions to be made.

Yes, this is a rough time, and it when it rains, it does seem to pour. However, lets not forget what happens AFTER the rain. I remind myself that rain brings life, and blooms and helps to cleanse. The outcome will be positive, I am convinced, and can't wait to see where this road leads us.

Rock on!

Some pictures of my latest project designed to prevent runoff from washing my beds away...and hopefully once I add plants will be asthetically appealing as well.

Algebra Update!

Yahoooo! I've been checking to see if my latest test score has posted everyday since Wednesday, and finally, it was just posted!
These are the two tests I've taken so far, and the average grade column is the average test score of the entire class.

It's so strange posting about MY school grades and not the kiddos, but as much time as I've put in to this, and as much as I've neglected just about everyone, I decided I have some braggin' rights! ;)

Click to see full view

Up to our eyeballs in dogs, life

New changes in the Urben household this week. For starters, we have "aquired" a new family member, Abby. Abby is a 5 month old, 30 pound Golden Retriever, White Lab mix. Abby and her sister Ally (formerly Lily and Lisa) were surrendered to a local shelter by their owner, who was moving in to an apartment and could no longer keep these two precious sisters. It just so happens that our good friends, the Fords, have been looking for a golden for quite some time and jumped at the chance to get these girls. However, their interest in a golden stopped at 1. They adopted them both, with the plan that they could convince the Urben suckers to take on one and the sisters would not be entirely separated afterall. And now we officially have "sucker" tatooed on our foreheads, and a sweet little-big Abby to prove it. ;) Do they know us well or WHAT?

She's gettig along well with the other dogs and making progress with crate training. She is just the sweetest most precious little pup. Now that I have found my battery charger for my camera, I can take some pictures of her to post.

Let the crazy dog people comments begin!

As far as the human Urbens go, we are all doing well; Mark is enjoying his freedom from the big "D" and keeping busy with laundry, housework, golf, lunches with friends and some occasional handyman work. He's done some work for Joe and Bill, and just this week he put up a mailbox for Nana and Big Daddy's rent house, which led to another neighbors request to fix theirs as well. So far, Mark seems to be enjoying his new found freedom and working with his hands has proved to be very theraputic.

My new job is going well; I just completed my first project, and look forward to more work next week. Finding the time to fit in the new job has gone fairly smooth so far. I feel much more at ease now that I've let the cat out of the bag and informed my other boss of my new job. He was very supportive and appreciated me letting him know.

I just took my first test at school, which I'm pretty positive about. Algebra is much more interesting this time around, I'm actually ENJOYING it. I suppose growing up has helped a bit.

We're hoping to make a trip out to Nana and Big Daddy's next weekend, since the kiddos have off from school the following Monday. (yes, we're inviting ourselves Dad and Ruthie!)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that's all I have time for right now. I'll update with pictures at some point.

Grannie Franny....in case you're wondering and haven't spoke to Mark yet, Abby was named in memory of your sweet girl by Miss Ashley. The name fits her well.

It's official

Holy guacamole! Yesterday, the environmental firm that I mentioned previously, sent me job offer, which I oh so promptly accepted. I will continue working at my current job and squeeze in some time here and there for the new one. It's less than 10 hours a week, 100% from home. You just CAN'T pass up such an opportunity.

Less than 24 hours later I have already received my first assignment. I'm a little nervous about how well I can hold it all together, but I've already decided that if I get too overwhelmed with my schedule I will have to taper off the volunteering a little...JUST a little.

At some point I will find the time to post some pictures of Ashley and Mark from their special day this past Friday, which was spent playing around at a few museums in San Antonio. Soon. Very soon.

Revin' up the engine for 2008

The first step in making progress of any kind is to set goals. Here goes.

In 2007 I began reading regularly...something I've always wanted to do, but never believed I could. I set some goals, and followed through with those goals. This past year I read 21 books and picked up a very fulfilling pastime.

Goal #1

In 2008, I will read at LEAST 21 books. I have other goals that will more than likely interfere with my reading, so I don't want to set that goal to an unachieveable height.

This past year has also been a time of self discovery. I've discovered that I want more out of this life than I have allowed myself to believe I'm capable of. I have limited myself and had not realized this until I really sat back and listened to what I was teaching my children. I want them to believe that they can do anything they want, and that there are no walls, or ceilings in this life. There is NOTHING they can't do.

Ding dong.

Gradually, after hearing these words come out of my mouth time after time, they finally echoed back to me. I realized that I'm teaching this, but I don't live this, nor did I believe it to be true for myself. It's not as though I've ever told myself that I CAN'T do something, I've just never allowed my mind to grasp that I CAN.
I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I really don't believe that it's beneficial to me to expand on that thought.

All I know is that something has sparked inside me and I know that I'm ready to do whatever it is that will make me happy. What this equates to is getting an education, finishing school and allowing myself to dictate my future. I want to teach. Why can't I teach?

Well, I think that everytime the thought entered my brain I refused to allow it to process, because I KNOW that in order to teach, I must have a bachelors degree and for some reason I had sold myself short and decided that this goal was unattainable. I've finally allowed myself to realize that I CAN DO THIS!
I WANT this!
I'm 30 years old and don't have a degree. At 30 I'm finally realizing that there is nothing standing in the way of what I want out of this life. Which leads me to my next goal for this year:

Goal #2

This year, I will tackle the most challenging classes first and not allow the fear of them to hold me back.
I registered for College Algebra yesterday and start in two weeks!
I will take at least one class each semester of 2008.
I will also continue to believe that I too, can do whatever I want in this life, and by doing this, I am in turn teaching my children far more than than I ever could with words.

I tend to do things a little backwards, but somehow in doing this, things tend to work out far better than I could ever imagine.

Goal #3

In order to get the best results out of the previous goals, I must be healthy and strong. I will make better food choices and put forth my best efforts to excercise EACH WEEK. I have really not given adequate attention to my body lately and in turn feel the results physically AS WELL AS mentally. I have a gym membership that I will use each week.

I have many more personal goals relating to friends and family, but I thought I would document just a few to get me started.

I challenge ALL of my friends and family to set some of their own goals, without the thought that this is some sort of cliche' attempt at doing what everyone else does at this time of year. I challenge you to set goals that matter to you, that you genuinely believe that you can and will follow through with.

If you have a blog, consider this a meme that I'm passing on to you, just DO IT! :)

Happy New Year everyone!

If this is a dream, please, don't wake me up

Ok, so as a family we have reached a major turning point in our lives. I am a stay at home mom who cherishes her job every single day. I love being with my kids, taking care of the house and being able to take some of the day to day stressors off of Mark's back. I love that he can come home and not have to worry about dirty laundry, yardwork, etc. He works his patootie off all day and I am so incredibly grateful to have a husband that is dedicated to his work and supporting his family. I really feel that we are some of the happiest most fortunate people in this world. So, back to the turning point. Alex starts kindergarten in just three itsy bitsy weeks. My job as a stay at home mom is nearing it's end and naturally, my role must change. It's heartwrenching enough watching the best job I've ever had, and the best years of my life slowly slip away. Add the emotions of watching my favorite little boy take his first steps away from his momma's nest, knowing that never again will we have that precious, precious time together. And you get one very distraught momma.

Mark and I have been full time working parents. Before Alex was born, that's just what we had to do to get by. There was no question, there was no other option. And that's just reality for most families. What's also reality is that it sucks. Coming home after a 30+ minute drive in traffic with an interstate full of people with lousy attitudes who are tired and just want to get home before dinner is just a small piece of the nightmare. And what are we all rushing home to do? To pick up the kiddos from the child holding tank and get home in time to throw some sort of mostly nutritcious dinner on the table. It's hurry this, hurry that, brush your teeth, oh wait there's homework, and throw in some laundry because Ashley has to wear her school shirt tomorrow, clean up the dinner mess, and there's soccer practice, and kids that want to play with thier friends, and when it's all said and done you've spent all of 2 and a half MAYBE 3 hours of chaotic time with your precious family ALL DAY.

BUT, we say...there's always the weekends, right.

Well yes, there are the weekends, but what do we REALLY do on the weekends? We bust our a$$es to get the laundry done, and we get the house, and yard picked up so that we might not go completely insane the following week from looking at all the things we WISH we could get done. And you know a messy house does nothing but create tension. But, we also would like some "me" time, because afterall, all we've done all week is take care of everyone but ourselves. Spending extra time with your spouse and children sounds ideal, but in reality you just want to do what you want to do. You end up doing one of two things: You take the small chunck of time for yourself and only partially enjoy yourself because you have this looming cloud of guilt hanging over your head for not doing what you know is right, which is spending time with your family. Or, you: Spend your small chunk of spare time with the family, with your less than par attitude because you are once again feeling like you're living your life for everyone BUT yourself. Unless of course you have a dream job in which you are completely fulfilled at and actually enjoy most of the time.

Ok, so there are some days that aren't as stressful as this, but from my own experience, having been on both the parental and the childs side, this really is the reality of it MOST of the time. And while a lot of people do this because they have no choice, what breaks my heart is that there are so many of us who think they're working to survive, but really they're working to pay their fancy SUV car payment, and to have that big "mines bigger than yours" TV that they don't get to enjoy nearly enough because there is no "spare" time. Instead it serves a new purpose, it keeps the children entertained while the parents play catch up, or have some of that much needed time to themselves. And it doesn't end there, we're also working to afford a house big enough so that everyone can have their "own space". And don't get me wrong I like nice new pretty things, and nice new fancy cars too...but where do you draw the line?

These are all the things that have been going through my mind lately and quite frankly I'd rather pull out my fingernails with needlenose pliers than go back to that. And strangely enough, I actually LIKE the work I would be doing if I went back to full time. However, I do like my sanity, and seeing my family happy far more. So, after a LOT of thinking, and planning and looking and talking Mark and I have agreed that working full time is out of the question. Yay! That's a big step in itself. So, how do you find a job where you can work part/part time, have school holidays off, do what you like, close to home and make decent money? (Well if that isn't the question of every stay at home mom I'd be surprised) You keep your connections and don't burn bridges. Ha! To be perfectly honest I didn't do either of those things, (and I'll have to save that story for another post) but somehow it has all worked out. You get really lucky, that's what you do. Ironically enough this job opportunity defies all of that...this dream is coming to fruition. And all I had to do was ask.

So, my new job is 7 minutes from home, I will work four hours a day and have all the school holidays off, better yet, I will be doing work that I enjoy. I can drop the kiddos off, pick them up, help them with homework and even have a small chunk of time each morning to either volunteer up at their schools, get in a workout, or keep up with the housework. I am so, so thankful to my employer for being so open to my demands, and to my husband for allowing me to do what I want to do...and for putting up with all of my crazy ideas. I finally feel like I can relax and not worry about what the future holds, because I know that no matter what becomes of this, everything WILL be ok, because between Mark and I we always seem to find a way to make things fall in to place.

And because I'm a total sap, and this guy is so talented...

So sexy it huuurrrts

Mom just sent me this pic. from a few months ago. I'm so proud. This is me after a day of trimming oaks. Unfortunately, due to Oak Wilt, every branch we trim must be sprayed with pruning spray (ie: TAR!). Hmmm...wonder whoose job that was?? Sadly, it took Mark laughing his a$$ off before I even realized I was downwind. I was covered..arms, face, neck, HAIR!!! COVERED. I ran inside and scrubbed only to discover I was scarred for life and no amount of scrubbing was going to remove my new friends. I had no idea what to do next...so what do I do? What any girl would do. I hopped in the truck drove the around the block to moms. I showed up at her door almost in tears begging for HELP.

Aaand she laughed.
Aaand she took pictures.
Aaand she laughed some more.
Aaand I felt like a complete moron.
Several different concoctions later, I was free from my new friends and coated in a very thick layer of baby oil.

Happy Birthday to meeeee

I suppose I'm supposed to be distraught over this major life event, but I just haven't quite got there yet. 30 just doesn't seem old to me. Now don't get me wrong, it seems much older than I FEEL, but I just can't bring myself to mourn this new era. If anything I should be celebrating. My 20's were about learning to feel comfortable in my own skin, accepting who I am and learning from my mistakes instead of regretting them. I feel like my 30's are going to be just as significant, how can I fear that?

We spent the holiday weekend at Dad and Ruthie's where David, Cara and Keller so graciously joined us. I know their 5 hour trek from Plano with an 11 month old could not have been pleasant, but despite the little obstacle in the backseat, they came, and I am so, so grateful for that. Keller is walking all over the place now, and is just getting bigger and bigger each time I see him. The kid eats more than Alex. He's a TANK! He's such a good little guy and so fun to be with. Ashley is just in love with him and spends time chasing him around and playing baby games with him. Anything to get her hands on him. Alex, on the other hand, is Alex, and tries to pretend he doesn't exist. Seriously. He does a pretty good job of it too. It's nothing against his cousin, but Alex has always had an aversion to "babies". He says they always "bother" him. I know it sounds awful, but really it's quite entertaining to watch Keller try to get Alex's attention. Alex's eyes bug out and he just stares at me as if to say "MOM HELP ME!" You just can't help but laugh. Of course, I required "mandatory" love and bugged him to "give your cousin a hug", "give him a kiss" etc. Translation: "Do something cute so I can at LEAST get a picture." I drove him absolutely crazy and more thank likely this worked against me since remember, this is Alex.


While we were there we got to check out dad's insanely lush garden. This year he used organic turkey (or was it chicken?) compost mixed in with his regular stuff, and he also raised the bed. His garden was so green and full of veggies, it was just gorgeous. Dad saved the kids some cucumbers and zuccini to pick, and as you can see the zuccini was more than ready! I just can't get over how lush it is, and tall, it is just so tall! In a week or so, he's going to have soooo many ripe tomatoes, too bad he doesn't even LIKE tomatoes! Ha! I can't wait to go back next time and see if the corn stalks produce. I guess he has about 5 or so stalks and a couple appear to be growing pretty good. I think this is his first time to attempt corn, so his expectations aren't too high.


























So yeah, I fully expected to wake up on the 30th anniversary of my birth and find my boobs sagging to floor, my back aching, and an undeniable desire to nag at my husband. Fortunately, for me (and Mark), that didn't happen. Instead, I woke up to my three most favorite people in the world singing happy birthday to me with a tray full of yummy breakfast treats in tow. They made fried eggs over hard, just the way I like them, bacon, an everything bagel with cream cheese, a bowl FILLED with fresh strawberries, banannas and apples and a cup of perfectly sweetened and creamed coffee (mind you, this is no easy task). The four of us lounged there in bed together picking at my breakfast and chatting about whatever silly little children chat about. It was the perfect start to a perfect day.

The rest of the day was just as perfect. Ashley and I went shopping, just the two of us. We spent a good two hours trying on clothes and just being girls. We had so much fun shopping together and probably tried on half the clothes in the store. We left with our loot and went home to Nana's where we had an early dinner of homemade fried shrimp and I forget what else...does it matter really though? I'm telling you, Nana's fried shrimp is the best anywhere. I don't even order fried shrimp at restaurants anymore, I'm always disappointed. I just hold out for special occasions at Nana's and make up for lost time by eating and eating and eating. After dinner we had homemade chocolate cake with dark chocolate icing a la mode. DE-LISH! It was so good, that we had a second helping later that night. (shhhh)

You know you're old when you get gifts like these...and you LIKE IT!

Camera used to take above pictures *not pictured. :) Thanks Dad and Ruthie!!!


Thanks to all my sweet family and friends for making my birthday special...and Mollie, for making me smile when I read your text message. :)