Happy belated Thanksgiving my friends!

Well, I have so much to be thankful for this year. Not only did I have my husband home to celebrate the holiday with me and the children, but we also just returned from a wonderful vacation. Of course, it was one of those vacations where you need another vacation to recuperate from it. You know the type, right? What can I say, with three small children in tow, there typically isn't much relaxing on vacation, unless, of course, you had a nanny or mother's helper along with you. We entertained the thought but realized money would be better spent in other ways on the trip.

At any rate, we are home. And, as they say, there is no place like home. Going from a small hotel room with 2 adults and 3 pint size individuals and lots of luggage, anything slightly bigger would have been inviting. Mama needs her personal space you know.

Oh, and how I missed my big, comfy bed. Although, I will say, my big comfy bed may be too big or too high off the ground. Our first night/morning back home (around 0530) I fell off the bed (sort of) and busted up my shoulder. The baby was beckoning me by screaming "Mama Mama" from his room. In an effort to rescue the little critter, I decided to pick up my middle child (who snuck into our bed in the middle of the night) and return her to her room first. With her in my arms, I started to get off the bed, slipped but quickly regained my balance. Nevertheless, as soon as I did that, I tripped on something (a shirt I think) and down we fell faster than you can say "oops".

Well, that hurt like the dickens. Somehow I saved our heads from crashing into the closet or the corner of the wall and only injured my shoulder by landing on my side. My dear sweet girl says to me (as I'm screaming in pain) "Don't worry Mama, I've got you." Made my heart melt.

My husband leaped out of bed and consequently, so did my eldest daughter to see what happened. Well, folks it wasn't Santa landed on the roof or an earthquake, it was just me at my finest. And, that my friends, is why another one of my nicknames is "Grace". Honest. It all began with me walking into a glass wall at a bank once upon a time, but that's another story for another blog post.

The jury has been out as to whether I busted my rotator cuff or just pulled a muscle. My mother has been urging me to go to the doctor while my hubby says I should tough it out, like he does. I've regained motion (for the most part) and some of the swelling has gone done. Thanks to, the hardcore military medical regime so many of us are accustomed to. What is that? Why, it's 800 mg of Motrin and water of course. It's the miracle cure. ;)

Oh, and what to wondrous eyes should appear when I returned home, but a fabulous new blog to follow (created by one of my favorite bloggers and artists and her friend): Glam Gals. Glory be!

Ciao for now.

Tomorrow, tomorrow....

Is only one wakeup away. Yippee! We're going on vacation. We're going on vacation.

Can you feel the excitement! I can. Heck, I don't even know how I am going to work tomorrow morning. My adrenaline is already kickin'.

I'll be back around Thanksgiving to give you the lowdown and hopefully share some photos.

Have a great week everyone. :)

Pull up a seat, grab a cup of tea, stay a bit.

So, my friends. Here I sit for a moment. How are you? I trust that life is treating you well and you are enjoying the ridiculous early holiday season we are experiencing. Seriously, Christmas music? Either I haven't been paying attention or it gets earlier every year. One station has been doing the 24 hour holiday music since Halloween. Give me a break. I'm all for the holiday spirit, but it's too much for me at this early date. I will say that the rumors about this has to do with the government and/or retailers desiring to stimulate the economy does make me chuckle. Um, ok.

On another note, I am pooped. Since I entered back into the workforce and became a fully taxed citizen once again, my life has been a whirlwind. Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful to be gainfully employed, but boy, juggling it all takes a toll on a girl.

I was nominated for MSOY, thank you very much. That was a nice happy thing to happen to me recently. There are so many wonderfully deserving nominees. Seriously, after reading what these folks do and have done, you will want to do more too. Last year's winner, Chelle Brewer is a gal worth reading about too. She is remarkable!

On yet another note, I am going on vacation soon. Yes, that's right, a real live vacation where I can sleep-in. Hah! Nevermind, I forgot have three kids, I highly doubt there will be any sleeping in. Of course, I'm sure it will be a marvelous time despite the lack of sleeping. I'll fill you all in when I get back. We leave next week and return just before Thanksgiving.

Since I haven't been blogging lately, I am having withdrawals. I can't believe I didn't even post about the election. What a historical, time, eh? No matter what your views, this was such an amazing and intense time in our Nation's history. Of course, because I like to remain non-partisan and spare you from my personal politics, I'll leave it at that.

I promise, I will try my darndest to get on this blog and post some more before I jet out of this area for my vacation. I hope you are doing well and I'll try to stop by and visit your blog. Let me know you were here and I'll swing by and say 'hey'!

Cheers!

A day of honor.

Happy Veterans Day to all my Veteran readers! Thank you for your service and thank you to your spouses/families who have supported you allowing you to serve this great Nation.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

No, no, not Christmas. I am talking about autumn. I have always loved this time of year.

Today, the kids and I enjoyed the backyard. Well, I should say, I raked and raked and they then scattered my leaf piles all over the place. Needless to say, that was not 100% fun for me, but they had a good time. I felt accomplished. Silly me though, I know more leaves will fall and my backyard will once again be a rainbow pasture.

Oh, and great news on the troop front. We FINALLY have a meeting place. After ignores or "no's" from churches and schools, we had one place that said YES today. Yippee! I've got to make all of my parent phone calls this week to let them know where and when we will be meeting and what to expect for the first meeting.

This week, will be a crazy one for me. Isn't it always though? Sheesh, I need to stop making myself sound SO important. I may or may not be tapping my toes tomorrow night. The jury is still out on that. I have a parenting group on Tuesday. Wednesday is a jumping jive class. Thursday, well I think I can breathe on Thursday and then poof Friday is Halloween. The little goblins are going to be an adorable dinosaur, Ariel (the Little Mermaid) and Cinderella (which was supposed to be Giselle and has changed). Is it next weekend yet? I'm tired just thinking about all of this. Oh yeah, and work. Can't forget that.

Have a great week all!

Boo!

Peek-a-boo.

Life is one big race these days. Days are melding together, the weekends are not nearly long enough and my feet hurt. That's right, the tooties are sore. That' s only because I spent the day tapping away in 2 1/2 inch heels though. I don't do that every day--though it might do wonders for my thighs if I did.

Tonight, we had an ice-cream social of sorts with the kids in lieu of trudging out in the cold for a local pumpkin festival. Ironic. We stayed in side to eat cold ice cream instead of going out in the cold.

The job is marvelous. The boss is great, thus far. No complaints. The hubs is being very domesticated lately and is making my transition back into the working force rather smooth.

I miss blogging. There, I've said it. I know you missed me too. I'm trying. I will try. I will get a schedule and have better blogging-management skills. Scout's honor. Just give me awhile to work on that. ;)

Apologies.

I still breathe and live. I reside most days at a desk that has proven to be relatively lucrative and requires me to wear snazzy shoes and speak smart words.

Just lettin' you know I'm still here. Sort of.

M16 Dreams.

Tell me why I had the most bizarre dream last night about fighting and sporting an M16 (me and my friend Amber together were be instructed by some crusty SgtMaj). Separated from my friend, I was then some odd combat situation wherein the goal was to retrieve/protect some egg (something like the snitch in Harry Potter, I guess).

Anyway, there were folks from my high school designs who were to be in some sort of relay team wherein they would run at the enemy hoping to survive. You know, like the lines of battle in archaic fighting, think lines of battle and company columns. Many of them perished. At one point, I recall thinking to myself (in my dream) that I was glad not to be a fast runner.

There was much more to the dream, but as they day goes on my memory is already getting foggier. I have no clue what the point or moral of it was. It was just plain weird.

Have you had any weird dreams lately?

Balancing Act.

I have survived and enjoyed my first week. Seriously, I really am digging the new job. The paycheck is nice too. I love volunteer work, but it's nice to get paid too.

Here's the question of the week now. How do I successfully balance the volunteer stuff. I'm managing okay thus far, and am open to delegating some of my tasks. Still, I am a bit of a control freak and like to run the show, if in fact I have the chance. My friend and biggest supporter and my VP/co-chair/Design Guru/Spouse Extraordinaire (we really need a title for her) is wonderful. She has offered to take on a lot more work for one particular organization that I have/share what-have you. Still, I feel a bit guilty.

You see, she is a giver (bless her heart) and she likes to do a lot for a lot of people. She is worth her weight (and then some) in gold. Though, I don't want her to take on too much. Know what I mean? I'm having this dilema as she is a million miles away helping out another friend of hers and knee-deep in that admin stuff. Again, she is a giver.

What suggestions do you all have for:

a) Maintaining/increasing the success of an organization without delegating too much; and,
b) Recognizing someone who means so much to you that is often an unsung hero?

I am here, sort of. My day kicks off now about 5 a.m. when the buzzer alerts me that morning has come far too fast. Rushing everyone here there and everywhere, I do drop offs and commence my commute. Arriving at my destination, only 2 days into the job, I am swamped.

I love it though. I am thrilled that I'm busy and not bored to tears as is often the case when you are 'training'. Still, I think I bypassed that stage completely and I was just thrown to the proverbial wolves.

My day typically closes when my head hits the pillow at 9pm far earlier than I have gone to bed in a long time. Of course, a long day drains a girl. I need my beauty sleep.

Tick tock goes the voting clock.

Are you ready? Have you done all you need to? Are you registered? Are you set up for your absentee ballot?

Voters who are Military/Spouses/Dependents: be sure to get your act together in time.

REGISTER