Yes!!! Only two more Fridays left in this school year!! Ahhhhhh...... I am loving life right now!!! It will be even better in eleven days!!! :) SUMMER BREAK!!!! A teacher's favorite words!! Well, next to "SNOW DAY"!!!

I think I'm just about as happy as I could possibly be!! Many new beginnings on the horizon...Morgan will be starting college in the fall...(bittersweet beginnings..sad to see her leave the nest, but, excited for her possibilities)...Jake and Amanda are having their first baby this summer...and who knows what the future holds? I think it's looking pretty wonderful right now!

Never went back to sleep!! Now, I have this lovely headache...coffee time...Lord, please help me make it through this day!!

Why is it that I slept like a rock last night, through all the storms and tornado warnings, and yet, tonight, I have a horrible case of stinkin' insomnia?? Go figure. I mean, I slept hard last night...best sleep in a long time. Tonight, no can do. Ughhhhh..... Could it be I have just a few hundred things on my mind??? Hmmm....let's see, what could that possibly be? Let me count the things...

1. Baby girl has only three days left of her Senior year. :(

2. Said baby girl is not feeling well tonight. She had a migraine at bedtime.

3. She also thinks one of her lead wires (for her pacemaker/defibrillator might
disconnected). She tells me this right before she goes to sleep, with me.
That also tells me she is worried about it, when she wants to sleep with me,
I know she's worried or scared, or both.

4. I also just find out late this evening that there is an awards assembly at
her school tomorrow. Who tells me this? The school secretary calls me. Have
I been asking Morgy about this for the last couple of weeks? YES, I have. Did
she ever tell me when it was? NO, she didn't. I just hope my boss will let
me take the afternoon off so I can go watch the assembly. They have been SO
understanding, under the circumstances....me missing nine days in a row, when
Morgy had her surgery.

5. So much paperwork to do at school, and only eight more days to do it!!

6. So much packing and cleaning to do in my classroom, and only eight more days
to do it.

7. So much cleaning to do at my house!!! UGH...

8. Morgy will be going off to college in just a few short months. I won't be
there to make sure she takes her medicine. This is my biggest concern. She is
so not there yet, and it's all my fault. I am guilty. I have not made her be
responsible for her own medicine. This summer is our last chance to get this
accomplished. I've told her if she can't do it on her own, no college. It's
a matter of life and death. Most of her meds. are for heart failure. One
CAN'T forget to take heart failure meds. It's just not an option. Teenagers
shouldn't have to deal with that. Kids shouldn't have to deal with that. So,
I guess I dealt with it a little too long. It's her turn now. This will be
the hardest thing to turn over to her. I thought the driver's license was
hard. Lord, help me. Lord, PLEASE help her to remember...EVERY DAY.

9. I feel a great need to get my house in order. Me, Miss Unorganized Woman of
the Century, feels a very strong urge to clean and purge!!

10. I feel over-scheduled already. My summer is already scheduled!! Massages all
over the calendar. That's a good thing, I mean, for my business, however, I
kind of miss my teacher summers. :( I have tried to keep a three or four day
weekend in place though, so I can enjoy a little bit of my summer.

11. Swimming pool...ugh, here we go again....needs to be cleaned, scrubbed, and
refilled. What a chore!! However, my son, Jake, has so graciously
volunteered to help me with that!! It was so nice last summer to have him
living right next door, and so ready to help with the maintenance of the pool!

12. Many, many other things on my mind...lots of things to do, to consider, to
complete, to take care of...what happened to the concept of "slowing down" in
your old age? I think I'm busier now, than I have ever been in my entire
life!!

Now, that I have worked through this and jotted down the thoughts that are possibly
contributing to my insomnia, I am actually starting to get a little sleepy, but, alas, it is almost time for my alarm to go off!! Ha!! I see extra coffee in my very near future!! Eight more days of school, THEN, maybe I can get caught up with most of the things I need to do. Goodnight, all.

I guess I should say we've survived March and April with very few tornadoes. However, it appears that tonight may be a very different story. They are calling for multiple, large, long lasting tornadoes, winds up to 80 mph, baseball size hail, etc. This is normal for our part of the country.

I have our survival kit ready, which consists of my daughter's gallon size baggie of all of her various heart medications. That's it, pretty much. Oh, and socks and tennis shoes. Something about a tornado warning, just makes me want to have on socks and tennis shoes. Not flip flops. Not sandals. Not boots. Just good 'ol socks and tennis shoes. Don't want my feet to get all wet and slippery. Need to be ready to run, you know, just in case....

I don't usually stress over this stuff. Growing up in this state, it's just a normal springtime occurrence. I have seen several tornadoes in my lifetime. Not fun. No, not at all. But, the good Lord has spared me and mine, thus far. I am thankful for that.

The new Children's Hospital...this is where M & I have been going for almost eighteen years now, to see her Cardiologist. Across the street, at Presby, is where she had her last surgery in March, after her defibrillator shocked her SIX times!

M and her prom date/boyfriend, C, right before prom. This is less than six weeks after her surgery.

Long time, no write.... :( I've missed my blog, and neglected it severely!! Can't believe it's been almost three years since I posted something....Been living life in the fast lane the last three years, I suppose....Ha!! It's called two jobs and a teenager who is very busy with all sorts of school projects, activities, trips, etc. Sadly, things seem to be winding down, somewhat....my baby girl will be graduating within two weeks. I'm not sure, no, I KNOW, I'm not quite ready for this particular milestone.

Tonight is Nanowrimo Eve!!! YAY!!! Can't wait to start working on my "novel in 30 days"!!! Last year was my first year to try. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days, during the month of November. I didn't quite make it to 50,000 last year, but I did get a little over halfway there....can't remember the exact word count....I'll have to look that up!!!

I've always wanted to write books!! Wouldn't it be great to write THE "great American novel" !?!?!?!

Must go to bed now & get rested up for the upcoming writing marathon!!! Good night & good luck to all fellow Nano participants!!! ZZZZzzzzzzzz :)

Back to School...

Wow, I've actually been back in school for five weeks now!! It has, surprisingly, flown by. Again, just like last year, so many changes have taken place. I'll be glad when all of the kinks have been worked out. I have been going 90 mph trying to keep up with all of the changes.

THE WEATHER!!! Oh, MY Goodness!!! It was beautiful yesterday and today!!! I love this weather!!! It feels like fall, my favorite time of the year, besides Spring. I love sweater weather, the leaves turning colors, pumpkins, etc. We had such an unusual summer. It rained 28 or 29 days in June. It was really hot for two, maybe three weeks, tops. Now, it is cooling off, and was actually a little chilly this morning.

Morgy is getting ready to show a heifer in the local free fair this weekend. This will be her first time to show a heifer. Last year, she did the pig thing. Her pig's name was Izzy Ella Bella. She finally decided on a name for the heifer ---Gracie Lou....I like it!! We looked up lots of names on the internet the other night and could never find one that we both liked. I'm surprised she even paid any attention when I said I didn't like certain names!! I didn't think my vote would even matter, you know how teenagers are. If I found a cute name I liked, she'd roll her eyes & say, "No, that's stupid, Mom." She didn't like "Gee Whiz, or Buttercup, or Flossie", or anything! I even suggested "Maggie Moo" because she (Morgy) likes the ice cream by the same name. She said, "No, Mom, I can't name her that, Granny Maggie's feelings might get hurt!" I said, "Oh, yeah, I didn't think of that, I was just thinking about the ice cream, & it's cute." She said, "No, Mom, not Maggie Moo!" Then, when she'd find a name she liked, I'd say, "Nah, not that one." I figured she'd just pick one she liked. Then, today, she came up to me and said, "Hey, I think I came up with a name --Gracie Lou." I just looked at her, speechless. She said, "What?! You don't like it?" I said, "Gracie Lou,... Gracie Lou,...yeah, I like it!" She was shocked. She said, "Oh, my gosh, that's what I'm naming her, then, because we haven't agreed on any names, up until now!" I looked at her and said, "Do you know WHY I like it" She said, "No, why?" I said, "Well, your great grandma's name, on my dad's side, was Grace, and my mom's middle name was Lou." She said, "Are you serious?" I said, "Yes." She said, "Well, that settles it, I'm definitely naming her Gracie Lou!"

Back to Reality...

My friend and I got back from our first cruise a week ago tonight. We had fun, or at least I did. She was seasick, sore foot, etc., so she didn't have such a good time. What an experience!! This is something I've always wanted to do and I'm so glad I did!! It was sooooo relaxing. We met so many really nice people on the ship. That was the best part of the cruise, I think. And of course, the food was good, just as everyone had told me. But, what surprised me the most was how peaceful and relaxing the sleep was!! The ship rocked me to sleep every night. We had an inside cabin, so it was pitch dark inside the cabin. It was actually the best sleep I've ever had in my entire life. Amazing to think of all the things I did and saw on the fun-filled journey, but the thing I enjoyed the most was truly, the good night's rest for seven nights in a row!

We stopped at Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. While at Jamaica, unfortunately and sadly, seventeen people on a tour bus from our ship were robbed at gunpoint of their money, cameras, passports, and other personal belongings. There were even several children on this bus. Thankfully, none of these people were harmed physically, but I'm sure they were terrified, nonetheless. There is an article about this occurrence on the web-site CruiseCritic.com, under the "news" section. There are also suggestions on this web-site about precautions one should take when taking shore excursions while stopped at these ports.
As first time cruisers, we learned a lot of the do's and don'ts of cruising by asking friends and family members about a million and one questions. We definitely did not get any of the good tips from our travel agent. Now that we have a much better idea of what to expect, the next cruise should be less stressful and way more relaxing. Our next cruise is less than a month away. My friend is not too excited about it, since she was miserable the whole time. However, I am looking forward to it because my daughter(who will turn 15 four days before we leave) is going on this one, along w/one of her friends, and another one of my friends from junior high & high school is going on this one. It will also be a shorter cruise - 5 days, as opposed to 7 days. I think that will be much better. Seven days was a bit too long for me.

The people we met were the best!! I fell in love with one family, in particular. It was a grandmother and grandfather, who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary!! The grandmother was in her 80's and was just beautiful. She didn't look a day over 60!! Their daughter, Jeannie, and grandson, Mike, among other children and grandchildren (I think 14 in all) were there, as well, to celebrate the occasion. We ran into Grandma, Grandpa, Jeannie, and Mike almost everyday after we met them at Margaritaville in Jamaica. They were the sweetest people, we just loved them to pieces. There were several other couples that we met who were very nice and friendly, but our little 60th wedding anniversary family was our favorite!!

More about the cruise later!! Take care & God Bless. :)