We did absolutely NOTHING this past weekend. Saturday we stayed home and worked on cleaning the house and washing clothes. Fun (not).

Sunday we had full intentions of getting the kids out of the house. Just like us, they get a bit stir crazy if they stay cooped up in the house for more than a day or so. What can I say, none of us have ever been "homebodies" that's for sure.


We really had full intentions of taking them to the park, the science center, children's museum or something. But no, Sunday morning it was peedle pouring outside and cold and wet and just plain ole yucky outside. So it was another day of hanging around the house being bored. Fun. Like I should bitch after just spending a week in the Caribbean and then a weekend at home in Tennessee. I'm never satisfied.

Sundays are my days to sleep in. I slept in until 9:30 a.m. It was sheer heaven. For some reason I had a hard time falling asleep Saturday night and then I couldn't seem to drag my butt out of bed Sunday morning. The kids weren't screaming, yelling and fighting like normal. Jonathan had fed them and all was well with the world. But if I had slept any later, I definitely would have felt guilty. So I drug myself out of bed.

Jonathan and I watched You, Me and Dupree Saturday night. It was the longest and dullest comedy we have seen in awhile. For some reason I had also put Donnie Darko on my Netflix list. I knew going into it that it was a pretty weird movie, but 20 minutes or so into it, we just shut the thing off. It was S-T-U-P-I-D. Maybe we should have given it more time, but we just couldn't. So we ended up watching last night's episode of the Amazing Race on the DVR. Such an exciting weekend.

Again last night I couldn't fall asleep. Jonathan was snoring logs beside of me in his blissful sleep, and I was laying there thinking utterly stupid thoughts.

I was thinking, "You know, we've lead a pretty interesting life." "I really wish I had kept a journal of our history together." "Maybe I should start writing our history down or something...."

Don't even ask me where this stuff is coming from. But as I was laying there I got about 15 chapters into my thoughts. I know no one really gives a crap about my life, but still it might be interesting to write it down. I'm very interested in my family's history and I have always loved hearing stories from my grandmother, father, aunts and uncles, etc. I really wish that someone would have taken the time to write some of our family stories down. Most of them are probably forever lost as each relative passes on.

I'm sentimental in ways. I have every single letter that Jonathan has ever written me. The letters start in the fall of 1989, the month that Jonathan went into the Army. I have them in chronological order from 1989 to 1999. After that we didn't use "snail mail" anymore. No one actually writes letters in this day and age. Its a thing of the past.

But anyway, the letters start in 1989 when Jonathan first went into the military. The two of us were just friends. We had tried dating (for about 2 weeks) way back in high school. But for some reason, we had just always been friends. Very close friends mind you. But only friends.

We spent a lot of time together in the last few weeks before he left for the Army. But he met this girl right before he went in and fell madly in love (well lust). So the letters start out in a friendly kind of way talking about this girl he met and how basic training is going and what not. Just general stuff.

But as the letters progress we grew closer. I only have his letters to go by. I used to write him NOVELS. I mean like 10 and 15 pages of typed letters. I'm sure he probably took my letters with him to the john to read, they were really that long. His letters are just a couple of pages. Sometimes he would write really big just to fill up more pages because I fussed that his letters were so short.

As time moved on we talked about our lives. I discussed my current boyfriend at the time and he told me he was going to be stationed in Germany. I was sad because I knew we probably wouldn't be seeing each other for a very long time. I made plans to visit him at his basic graduation, but one thing lead to another and I didn't make it down there. (My mistake).

He ended up meeting someone when he was in AIT (the training you take after basic to learn your military specialty. Its usually about 10 to 12 weeks long). Its funny, he never really mentioned her in his letters. It was an "AIT Romance." You know your missing home, you find someone who you have something in common with and you latch on to that person.

So as the time drew closer and closer for him to ship out to Germany, I kept promising myself I was going to drive down to South Carolina to see him. I wasn't quite as adventurous in those days. I was afraid I would get lost going down there, it was a long drive to make by myself. You know excuses.... So I never made it down there to visit him before he left for Germany sometime in early 1990.

Once he got to Germany the letters continued. We grew closer and closer through letters and phone calls. I had met someone new and been dating them for about 6 months. The two of us became engaged....

All through high school Jonathan was my person who I told all my secrets to. He was the person I talked to all the time about my boyfriends, my life, my dreams, etc. He always listened and never judged. And best of all, he agreed with everything I said (he still does that to this day to keep peace in the house). ;-)

So when things went bad with my boyfriend and we were on the verge of splitting up, I picked up the phone and called Jonathan in Germany. It was 3:00 a.m here in the States, but it was early morning in Germany. Jonathan picked up the phone and I began sobbing and telling him about my current mess. He was like, "Oh come on over and Huck will make it all better." "I'll give you a hug and you can tell me all your problems and we'll work it out."

And I was like, you know what, I might just do that. He kind of laughed and told me to come on. I know he thought I wasn't serious. But we hung up the phone and I made a few phone calls and found a flight for $300 round trip. I was going to Germany to visit my buddy.....

TO BE CONTINUED........

In the Beginning

Nothing much going on this weekend. I was so far behind on laundry, I've spent most of today working down the massive piles of it.

The weather was actually pretty nice today. I think its around 56 degrees now. The kids spent about an hour and a half playing in the backyard on their swingset and playhouse. Me, I was still in my pajamas at 3:00 in the afternoon. No reason to get dressed up to do laundry. After walking outside to see what the kids were screaming about and seeing neighbors walk by, I figured it was time to haul my ass back inside and put some clothes on.

The picture on this post is actually a photo of The Caribbean Princess. Its the ship Sam and I cruised on a few weeks ago. Its their newest ship and was quite lovely. But I wasn't as impressed with it as I was Carnival's Liberty.

This photo was taken while we were on Princess Caye. They tendered us in from the ship. Sam and I stayed on the ship until late morning. We didn't want to stand in line to get a tender from the ship. I love the beach, but can't handle more than a few hours of it. The water was ICE cold, so we really didn't swim very much. Of course you couldn't tell it was cold by all the people in the water. But it was definitely too cold for me. Princess Caye is somewhere in the Bahamas.


This is a picture of Megan's Bay in St. Thomas. Its one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Jonathan and I spent 4 days in St. Thomas back in 2005, and we went here almost every day. This photo was taken from the mountaintop. There is a small restaurant and gift shop there that sells "world famous" banana daiquiris. Since neither Sam nor myself are really drinkers. We passed on the alcohol and just enjoyed the view.

The water in Megan's Bay is just gorgeous. Can you imagine having a house up here looking down at the ocean. It would be wonderful.

Speaking of pre-planning. Our 16th Anniversary is next month. We usually don't do very much for our anniversary. Reason number one is we don't have any family near to babysit the kids. Reason number 2, well we've been married 16 years and we have pretty much seen and done it all. Reason number 3, Jonathan is pretty slack when it comes to anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, etc.

However, this year, I think we will try and go out of town to celebrate our anniversary. It will be nice to have a couple of alone days away from the kids. Not that we didn't just have an entire alone weekend in January when I won the trip to Charlotte. I guess I didn't blog about that, but I won a 2-night stay at the Hilton in Charlotte and suite tickets to a Bobcats game. It was pretty sweet. We had a great time and it was a lot of fun. However, babysitting for the weekend set us back about $100. If we had family that lived by, we wouldn't have to spend the extra money. But again, that's the price you pay with no family near. Oh well, bitch, moan, groan....

Well anyway, its getting late and I need to get supper started. Its pork chops tonight. How much do you wanna bet that the kids won't take two bites and will ask for hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.

One of Jonathan's high school buddies sent him this picture. Its of Jonathan way back in high school. Just thought I would share. Jonathan has very few pictures from his younger years. So it was nice to see one. Thanks Richie!

I know, I can’t believe it myself. I’m updating again and its not been six months! I sat back and I thought, “You know, I really miss my blogging.” Blogging on my own personal website was refreshing sometimes. Just getting it out there and talking with other moms and acquaintances about family/child problems. I even started posting most of my (well a trimmed down version) of my posts on my personal myspace page. I miss the girls I used to talk and blog with. I know we all get so busy with work, kids, family, etc. its hard to stay in touch sometimes. Not to mention sometimes you just don’t feel like blogging or listening to your own problems, much less anyone else’s. But sometimes its therapeutic to write things out and get them out of your system. Not to mention its nice to have someone who can relate to what your going through. I think that’s what was so much fun about blogging for me. And when your gone for so long, you kind of lose touch with those girls you kept in touch with before.

But anyway, this has been a pretty crappy week. This week I was fortunate to have the dreaded Norovirus. Oh the joys of that one, let me tell you. Having your bodily fluids spill out of both ends is not fun, let me tell you. Poor Jonathan just had a whole week of single fatherhood while Sam and I were on our joyous Caribbean “girl’s only” vacation. It started about 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Its funny as Jonathan and I went to bed Tuesday night, we were laying there and I said to him, “I have a feeling of dread.” He was like, “Oh hell, you and your “feelings.” Little did I know that feeling of dread was about to hit me in about 5 ½ hours. Oh the horror of a stomach bug. Nothing can be worse. The bad thing was I had eaten Hummus and some pita bread for dinner. I think I will never ever eat Hummus again. You know how you just can’t get something like that out of your mind. It is not lovely coming back up, let me tell you. Like you want to hear about that.

So I was down for two days. Jonathan just started his new position this week and here he was having to take care of both kids, by himself once again. Speaking of Jonathan’s new position. I know I originally wrote about it on my last post. But I had to go back and remove it. I was so excited about it that I put it up on my blog, but then realized that it hadn’t been announced yet, so I pulled it back down. Nothing like one of his employees reading it on my blog before the district manager had made any announcements or anything yet. Doh! Me and my big mouth. But everyone is in the know now, so we are good to go.

Last weekend Jonathan, the kids and I packed up and headed home to Tennessee to see family. We hadn’t been home since Christmas and Jonathan really wanted to see his grandmother. Not to mention our trips home are the only time Jonathan and I get to have much “alone time” or going out to dinner time or anything. I’m thinking this is where I probably picked up my lovely virus. Mom came down with something Saturday afternoon. So Jonathan and I went out to dinner on Friday night and Saturday night. Sometimes its nice to just get away without the kids. But the funny thing is, we end up talking about work and the kids anyway.

Poor Little Man is still in shock over me leaving him for a whole week with Daddy. He won’t let me out of his sight. Every time I step out of the room he is like, “Mommy pease don’t weave me!” “Momma, where are you going?” I know he loves his Daddy deeply. But he is definitely a “Momma’s Boy” right now. I think it hurts Jonathan’s feelings just a wee bit that he is constantly wanting me. I told Jonathan its just a phase, that eventually it will be Daddy and Son. But he is most definitely a momma’s boy right now. Sometimes he’ll just turn his head and completely ignore Jonathan. He wants “Momma to do it!” I think it all suits Jonathan just the same. Since he is constantly asking me for stuff, its just one less thing Jonathan has to deal with. I will give Jonathan credit, where credit is due. He loves his kids more than anything else on this earth.

We have absolutely no plans for this weekend. I am so far behind on laundry, it isn’t even funny. And the sad thing is I took all of the kids’ laundry home with me to my parents’ house last weekend. How pitiful is that? But since I was gone two weekends in a row with my trip with Sam, I was already so far behind. And then us going home last weekend, it put me even further behind. Laundry. I hate that word. It never ends. I have a never ending laundry pile! I see dirty clothes in my dreams at night! I’ve pretty much given up on ever having a tidy and clean house again. I think sometimes you just have to prioritize. Hmm, playing in the floor with my kids or mopping the kitchen. Why playing with the kids of course comes first!

I’m sorry I don’t have anything more exciting to talk about this week besides stomach bugs and dirty laundry. Its just the ever boring life a working mom and mother. I would update with a bunch of pictures of my trip. But I only took like 4 pictures on our entire trip. So nothing exciting there. I can’t wait until its warm weather again so we can get the kids out and do some stuff. Staying cooped up in the house is for the birds. I hate winter.

So anyway, enough boring stuff for today. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Maybe I’ll have something more exciting to talk about next week.

What Another Update?!?!?

Ok, I'm not sure what is wrong with blogger, but I can't get the paragraphs to separate. Forgive me for the way this post looks....

I know, I haven't blogged in like 6 months. Things have just been so hectic here in our household that blogging wasn't a priority. I couldn't even begin to catch you up on what has been going on in our household, but I will at least try. I haven't even had much of a chance to read my favorite blogs like Carolyn, Jess, Nance, Robyn, Krista, etc.

But anyway... I do have one good piece of news. Jonathan was promoted yesterday. He is now the General Manager of the entire truck stop. Woohoo! Its been 7 years in the making. I know he is excited about finally being able to make GM. I was excited for him, but was also a bit nervous. In the last year he has got things so nailed down in the shop that he could leave every day at 5:00 or 5:30. No more working the 16 hour shifts. Its been so nice to have him home in time for dinner and to help me with the kids.

Jonathan normally picks up Skyler from school and I pick up Chase. Then we eat together as a family (on the days that I cook) and then its homework time, bath time and bed time. He is such a huge help with the kids. Sometimes I sit back and think of how single parents do it. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be. I think kids are hard and my husband is there to help. So if you are a single parents, more power to you baby. Kudos to you!

I just returned from another cruise a few weeks ago. My girlfriend Sam and I did a "girl's only" cruise to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and the Bahamas. It was so nice and relaxing. But really the whole time I was on the cruise, I was thinking about Jonathan and the kids. Especially Jonathan because he normally always goes with me. I really enjoyed myself with Sam, but I missed Jonathan so much.

I don't have any photos to share with you from my trip. I think after the 3rd or 4th cruise, basically everything was the same and photos just weren't as much fun. I do have a totally awesome tan. Which is great in the middle of January. I'm sure it won't last long though.

This time we took Princess instead of Carnival. I was really disappointed. Not that there is anything wrong with Princess or anything. But the age of the crowd was so much older. Not to mention it was more "refined" and "laid back" than Carnival. Now I know most people say that Carnival is the "Wal-Mart" of cruising and that only rednecks and partiers choose Carnival. Well place me in there with the rednecks and partiers then because I prefer Carnival to Princess any day. I like the hairy chest contest, the busy discos,the wild and crazy shows, and the midnight vulgar comedians. Give me that over Bingo and ballroom dancing any day.

Jonathan and I will be married 16 years next month. Sixteen years people! That's like a lifetime it seems. We were so young when we got married. I see people now who don't marry until their early 30's. We married when we were 20. Just young pups. Sometimes I look back at the photos over the years and wonder where all the time has gone. Before I know it our kids will be in high school and graduating college.... Time really does fly by as you get older.

I've ran into a lot of old friends on myspace here lately to. One of my elementary classmates was telling me how amazed he was that Jonathan and I were still married. He said most people in our graduating class married young, divorced, remarried someone else and have divorced again. So I guess we must be doing fairly well compared to others. He said he thought he had "missed the boat" when it comes to marriage. He wasn't ready for marriage at 19 or 20 and by the time he was mature enough and ready to marry, all of the older women won't have anything to do with him and the younger women are just plain ole dumb. I thought that was pretty funny.

I know I'm just rambling on about nothing in this post. But it has been so long since I have blogged, I don't even know where to begin.

Skyler and Chase are doing great. Chase just started a new daycare this week. We have had the same home baby sitter since Skyler was born. But a few weeks ago she decided she was going to finally retire for good. She keeps her own grandchild now and Chase and that was it. But she felt it was time to retire. So we enrolled Chase in the daycare where I attend MOPS meetings. Its a Presbyterian Church near our home.

The first day was hell. I have tried to take him to MOPS several times. But whenever I left him at the daycare and left, he would run screaming up and down the halls, "Mommy where are you? Mommy come help me!" He is such a momma's boy. Jonathan is really getting upset with this "Momma's Boy" thing to. Ever since I returned from my trip, he has like been attached to my hip. I think its really hurting Jonathan's feelings. I'm sure its a phase and he will get over it soon though.

Jonathan kept both of the kids by himself while we were gone. I was so proud of him. I know some husbands who wouldn't even spend an evening along with the kids, much less an entire week.

Anyway, back to my daycare story... So we took Chase to daycare on the first day and I took him into his classroom. He immediately started screaming bloody murder. He was so upset the Director asked me to bring him into her office for a bit so he wouldn't upset the other children. So we went in there and I finished filling out the final paperwork. He was playing with a little Thomas the Train set and he kept looking back at me and saying, "Momma don't weeve me." "Momma, pease don't weeve me here."

It was finally time for me to leave and so I was trying to sneak out the door without being seen. No such luck. He came screaming out the door. The Director took him back into her office and told me to go on to work. About an hour or so later she gave me a call at my office and told me that he had cried for about 2 minutes and then he was perfectly fine. Go figure.

So that afternoon when I picked him up from daycare I asked his teacher how he had been. She said he was great. The only problem she had from him was when they laid him down for his nap they play music. She said he kept saying, "Turn that off!" "That's too woud!!" "I can't sweep with that music, its too woud!" That cracked me up. We have always put him down with a fan for background noise, but never music or a tv. We learned our lesson in that department with Skyler, that's for sure!

She also said she was amazed at his verbal skills. She said he talked better than most 4 year olds. My reply to that comment was, "Well he has a 5 1/2 year old sister who never shuts up." So I guess he must have learned how to yap his jaws from me and Skyler. :-)

Skyler is doing great in school. Although we did have one little incident out of her last week. Apparently there is this one little girl that Skyler doesn't get along with very well. My personal opinion is they are both dominant and just happen to bump heads over everything. The teacher had mentioned to me in our first conference how they had been sat together in the beginning, but they just couldn't get along. Anyway, Skyler said that the little girl kept "staring" at her during their drama class. Now does this not sound like something from high school or what. Ever since Skyler was a baby if you stared at her, pointed at her or laughed at her she would get really angry. I think she gets the temper thing form Jonathan.

Anyway, so after class I guess Skyler walked over to the other little girl and asked her why she staring at her. I don't know what the little girl said to her, but Skyler said the other little girl pushed her and apparently it ticked Skyler off and she back slapped the little girl. So Sklyer got into deep doo doo over that one. Luckily the teacher didn't tell the principal or anything, but Skyler wasn't allowed to participate in Fun Friday at the school (which is a big deal to her). We had to sit Skyler down and explain to her

that we NEVER hit anyone, no matter what the situation. Oh the joy of children....

Ok, enough rambling. Maybe I will get back in the swing of things with this blogging.

Hoping to catch up on all my blogs I read. I really have read some on occasion, I just haven't had the chance to comment. Back at ya soon!

Its Been So Long....