Boy Jesus....

This memory pops into my mind randomly throughout the year, but at Christmastime, I think of it often.

In December 1995, Austin was asked to play boy Jesus in our church Christmas musical. Austin's wasn't a speaking part, only a visual during a song where the wisemen and shepherds had finally arrived in Bethlehem to honor Jesus. How excited we were for Austin to have a part in the musical. I play in the orchestra, so I had a front row seat to watch him at rehearsals and he understood well what was expected and most importantly, he understood who he was portraying.

The first big night arrived. My call time was earlier than Austin's, so I went on ahead and Andy would bring him later. Ready to go, Andy buckled Austin into his car seat and off they went to the church. Austin was being very quiet and said he didn't feel good and that he didn't want to be boy Jesus anymore. Have you ever had to bribe your child into doing something? If you say you haven't .... I'm not sure I believe you :-), if you have - you know where this went next. It's the night of and ditching the boy Jesus gig is not an option. Good thing it was Andy with him and not me. I'm not very merciful, patience is not one of my virtues and I'm afraid boy Jesus might have gotten a little attitude adjustment. Andy begins the bribery, sugar pouring from his mouth - nothing but sweetness for our little boy Jesus actor. This was a whatever it takes situation here. Suddenly ... Austin threw up (in the car). Is there anything worse? Well, this might change things just a bit. Maybe he really was sick.

What happened next still, to this day, brings a tear to my eye. Austin was quite familiar with his Bible stories and knew who God was and who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus belonged in Heaven right beside God. In his innocent little mind, he thought that being boy Jesus in the musical meant that he would have to leave us and go to Heaven to be with God and he didn't want to leave his mommy and daddy. He had agonized over being boy Jesus and all that he thought went with it to the point of making himself sick.

We assured Austin that we would never leave him and that he would never have to leave us. Some days I'm ready to send his all-knowing 17 year old self out the door and on to college, but then there are those days that this story comes to mind and I'm reminded how cute and innocent he once was.

Pictures of boy Jesus below ... :-)

Bragg .... Party of 30

Thanksgiving was at our house again this year. This time, however, Thanksgiving was for both sides of our family!! Yes, there were 30!! Lots of people in one place at one time, but we had fun and everything went very smoothly. Everyone was well behaved (children and adults) and there was PLENTY of food for everyone to eat.

Our bonus room is a fun place for a kid to hang out. And since there were 10 children ranging in age from 4 to 11 (someone pass me a drink, please) .... there was a fair amount of time spent by them in the bonus room. There are dress up clothes galore, barbies too many to count, you could start a zoo with all the stuffed animals and of course there's the Wii, the electric keyboard, puzzles, games ... the list goes on and on. Lots of fun pics resulted from the wizards, fairies, powder puff girls, cowboys, lady bugs, etc etc that would emerge down the stairs awaiting approval of their outfit of choice. With that many kids, you'd think that clean up would be a cinch. Really? Why do kids dislike clean up so much? Of course, I think it was mostly the adults who got things back in order. Don't care who done it, just glad it got done. :-)

I am thankful for every single person that was there and I am thankful for having a home to provide for our gathering. I am so blessed. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's a picture from last year's pre-Thanksgiving feast. Fewer seats last year, but basically the same set up. (I forgot to take any pics this year.) We use real china, silver and crystal. Andy's mom provides all that stuff for me. Just have to run downstairs and pick it up. :-) I do name tags for each seat so people don't have to wander about and worry where to sit and I whip up a cute placemat in Publisher with a Happy Thanksgiving note and a Thanksgiving poem, print it out on white paper, back it with colorful construction paper to add a little color and flare to the table. :-) This year I also added a small amount of colorful confetti on the table.

The 3 Mutts-kateers....

I told you about the stray mama and her puppies we inherited on my last post. Since then, we found homes for the three babies. Yay! That was more work than I thought it would be to add 4 dogs into our everyday routine for over 3 weeks. Once the slideshow was posted to youtube and a few flyers were posted around town, it was only 1 week until they were all adopted. We were pleased with that turn around time. The new owners of Cody, Meg and Pumpkin (the puppies new names) are so happy with their new additions. So that leaves us with mama dog ~ Shadow. Looks like she's a keeper. She goes in for spaying and shots on Monday.

I've been slowly introducing her to Minx and Molly's daily routine. She's been sleeping in the garage with them at night for a while (although they are in crates, up until now, she's been sleeping on a bed of towels in the corner). I've put her in the fence with them several times during the day. The first couple of times I literally sat in the kitchen and watched out the window the entire time to make sure Minx and Molly were nice to her. I felt like I was watching The Dog Whisperer. Dog behavior is very interesting. And this weekend, she got her first taste of being in a crate. She really didn't like this idea at all, but was willing to comply (after a little shove).

I want to take a picture of our 3 doggies all together. Not sure if that's even possible, but thought I might give it a try with Austin & Chandler's help. We'll try later this week and post the results of the photo session. :-) Until then, following are individual pics of our canine friends.

Minx

Molly

Shadow

Puppies....

We had a stray dog show up on our street mid September. She wouldn't come close to us. She looked like she might have recently had babies and she always looked hungry, so we started giving her table scraps every day, not really expecting her to stay around. End of September she started focusing mainly on our house. She hung around and slept in our side yard and would stare at us when we were outside, looking sort of sad really. We kept her fed and watered but still couldn't get close to her. She finally warmed up to us in early October. She would let us pet her, she slept in various places around our house and we were feeding her dog food regularly. Still, we were not looking to make her a permanent fixture at our house. Babies were still not evident, but suspected. We came home from church on Sunday, October 11th and when she rolled over wanting a pat on the belly, it was obvious that she had just been nursing puppies. We immediately went to the spot where she favored the most - the side yard on the edge of the woods. Andy went about 20 feet into the woods and low and behold what did he find? 3 babies! Of course, we weren't and still aren't in the market for 4 new dogs, but we certainly couldn't abandon her and her puppies at that point. I took the puppies to the vet on Wednesday 10/21 for their first round of shots. They are 6 weeks old and ready for someone to take them in and love them. We have thoroughly enjoyed playing with and loving on these puppies for almost 2 weeks now. They are healthy, playful and would each make a great pet for someone. We've also enjoyed loving mama doggie, but she needs a home too. She likes to wander around a bit, so I'm thinking someone with some land where she can love her home and have freedom to investigate her surroundings. :-) Attached is a link to a short slideshow I made with pics and info on each dog. Hopefully we'll find them each a home very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIe_aCo6h1s

Homecoming 2009...

It's not the first time I've written about this recently and certainly it won't be the last. Austin is a senior in high school this year and there are days that it still does not seem real. There are also days that this reality is harder to accept than others. In less than a year, he will begin his journey into independence.

Watching him prepare for and go to the homecoming dance this year was particularly interesting. He took a girl with whom he has been friends since 9th grade. One of his preparations gave him a glimpse into father's protecting their daughter's and what said father's think about the boys their daughter's want to date. :-) His date's father had not personally met Austin before, so he required a personal visit with Austin at their house before he gave the final OK. Austin was obviously nervous, but I never was even a little bit nervous for him. For me, it was one of those moments in his life that I felt like the ground work Andy and I had spent the last 17 years laying would pay off for him. And pay off it did. Meeting her dad was a success - permission for the date was granted. :-) Austin survived and is probably a better young man because of the experience. He and his date had a great time at homecoming.

Seems like it was just yesterday that Andy and I took Austin to the Valentine's Dance at Kids R Kids and now he's off to dance on his own. Of course, this post would not be complete without - you guessed it - Valentine's Dance 1993 photo (no wise-cracks about the hair) and JHS Homecoming Dance 2009 photo.

I Sold Rachel ....

.... and I didn't mean to. :-(

This summer I sold a bunch of stuff in two different consignment sales. I have always been a pack rat when it comes to my kid's stuff. It seemed to me that if I kept the clothes they wore and the toys they played with, it would somehow make them growing up easier to deal with. Sort of like I'm not completely letting go of the past only to have pictures to look back at. Sounds crazy, I know .... don't know any other way to explain it. Anyway, I went through the bonus room for the first sale and rounded up lots of toys that I wanted to get rid of. Still, as I picked up each item, I could picture Austin or Chandler playing with it. There were a few things that just couldn't make the cut .... they are still here. Maybe next time.

Chandler sometimes gets involved when I'm organizing my things for a consignment sale. She'll suggest a price or comment on how she used to wear an article of clothing or play with a toy. After the first sale, she noticed that a little white wicker doll bed was missing. She inquired, I told her I had sold it. She then asked if I had seen Rachel? You know that sinking feeling you get when you know you've made an irreversible mistake? Your face gets flushed, your stomach gets a knot in it, you break into a sweat. Yikes. I thought to myself, I'm pretty sure I sold Rachel with the doll bed. Chandler no longer plays with dolls, but she does have a few items that she has been partial to keeping over the years. Rachel was one of those items and I just realized I sold her. I wanted to cry, but instead I try to cover.

Me: What did she look like?
Chandler: Mom, you know Rachel. She was about this size (holds her arms like she's cradling a doll). She was really soft. Her eyes close when you lay her down. She doesn't have any hair. And here are some of the outfits that fit her.
Me: Hmmmm. I'm not sure. (In my mind I'm going a thousand miles a minute. Can I call the person who put on the consignment sale and tell her there's been a terrible mistake? I wonder if it would be humanly possible to track down the doll. Oh My Gosh! What am I going to do?)
Chandler: No words. Just looking at me for an answer.
Me: No words. I'm shakin' in my shoes because I'm gonna have to come clean here in a minute, just trying to decide exactly how that's gonna go. Think, think, think. There's must be a solution to this problem.
Chandler: Mom. Do you think you sold her?
Me: No words. Still thinking. Nothing is coming to mind. I think I'm gonna cry. Pull it together.

I finally decide to come clean and I tell her the truth. I tell her I'm pretty sure the doll she is describing is the one I sold with the doll bed. She's not mad, but I can tell is disappointed. Seriously, I went downstairs and cried for a minute. Not because of the doll, but because I disappointed Chandler. I was so mad at me for doing such a dumb thing.

It's been a few weeks since "the incident" and I have been completely forgiven. Isn't unconditional love grand? :-) I hope Rachel has a happy family.

The Beat Goes On ....

The 40th running of the Peachtree Road Race was the 13th running for Andy and I. We (well I) thought it would be special to begin a new tradition this year by having Austin and Chandler join in on the fun. March - applications mailed; June - numbers received! We were placed in time group 3. Yay! I was so excited with our numbers this year.

As race day aproached, I put together our plan for wake up and leave time the day of the race. Also worked on the meeting plans for post race. Andy and I shared fun stories about things like Marta rides pre- and post-race and how pre is much more pleasant than post; the trombone player on the bridge who never actually plays a song just blows random notes; all of the cheering spectators along the race course; the run past Sheperd Spinal Clinic; the variety of cool bands playing along the way; and more. I was sort of anxious about being separated from Austin and Chandler during the race, and assured them there was no way to make a wrong turn or to be abducted from the course. They would be perfectly fine. Who was I trying to convince anyway? Me? :-) We went over the plan carefully and even reviewed the code word from daycare days. As a mom you can never be overly cautious. Right?

OK, so race day is quickly approaching and Austin's biggest concern is what our pre-race meal will be on Friday night. Austin and Chandler are not very happy and wonder whose bright idea this was when I tell them that alarm clocks need to be set for 4:30am and our leave time is 5:00am!! Race day: we left on time, made it to the race safely, finished the race, successfully met up at the end and made our way back home. The jury is still out on whether they will join us again next year .... and the beat goes on.

p.s. Recognize the title of this entry as a song? Give it a listen. Sonny & Cher The Beat Goes On or an updated version Britney Spears The Beat Goes On. Fun Song. :-)

Movin' On ...

Yippee!! I found them, I found them. Well, sort of "I" found them. The certificates are safe and sound still in the frames!! Much to my mother's chagrin, I still have many boxes of "stuff" at the trailer. For those of you who might not know, the trailer is where I grew up and where my mom stays when she comes to Georgia. It was another storage area during our move in 2006. Mama figures that after 2 1/2 years I must not need the items that are still there. She "reorganized" it all about a month ago and when I finally mentioned to her last week that I was searching high and low for the certificates ... low and behold she knew exactly where they were!! I'm so excited. What a relief!! Now I can move on.

Perfect Attendance ...

Here I am almost 3 years after we packed and moved from our old house and there's something I'm looking for that I can't put my hands on. Don't mind that I still have approximately 50 boxes in the basement that haven't been touched in over 3 years!! I've been on the quest to find some particular items for about a week now, and I'm actually losing sleep over it. So here's the deal - I'm trying to find Austin and Chandler's perfect attendance certificates. At one point, I had them in frames, hanging on the wall. Then there were so many that it looked terrible because I couldn't keep them all lined up. Took them all down. I think I actually wound up taking the certificates out of the frames and then donated the frames instead of moving them with us. I'm losing my mind over here!! I've been through so many scenarios about where those things could be. I even imagined that I forgot to take the certificates out of the frames and donated the frames, certificates and all!! That one literally makes me sick!! So I had (actually still have) boxes and boxes of Austin and Chandler's school papers. Seems as though I never threw any of their stuff away. Last week I tossed 3 trash bags full of papers that really had no meaning, other than having my child's name on them. I'm talking all the way back to Austin's kindergarten year in school!!!! Since Austin will be a senior next year, I had this fabulous idea that I should make a list of all the awards that he's ever received from the time he started school (even found some from daycare and Pre-K). This list will be good for what you ask? That I've not figured out just yet, but it sounded like such a good idea when I started. Now I can't stop!! Furthermore ... you guessed it ... OCD has taken over me!! I started the list, started going through boxes and boxes of paper, knew the perfect attendance needed to be on the list, hence my current situation. I'll let you know when I find them!!

Kids Say The Darndest Things....

Another school year gone. Looks like my 2008-2009 subbing duties have come to an end. Turns out, I really enjoyed subbing and I plan to remain on the "sub" list for the 2009-2010 school year. I subbed for 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Each was a real adventure. It's funny, really, the things that children will say. Thought I'd share a few memorable lines with you. Enjoy.

A few comments I received after introducing myself:

Are you related to General Bragg?
Do you live at Fort Bragg?
Do you like to brag?
I'm gonna be braggin' on you today.
That's a funny name.

Random comments from various times of the school day:

Can you tell us a joke?
What's your favorite song?
What kind of music do you like?
Why are you here?
Where did you get your shoes?
Are you going to make us do work today?
Are you someone's mom?
I'm going to irritate the sub today.

Have a fun summer!!

Happy Mother's Day....

Funny (and gross) real life mom story ..... It's approximately 1970. My mom was a young, working mom. At the time she worked at the IRS and she had just been laid off from her job. An important task that she needed to take care of was a visit to the unemployment office. When you don't have a job, you can't afford day care, so off she goes to accomplish this task with a 3 and 4 year old in tow. (that's my brother Gary and I) Once we arrived and were inside, she needed to get us settled in somewhere while she took care of business. She sat us in two chairs right beside each other and told us to stay there until she came back. We were never out of her site and stayed right where she left us. When she finished and it was time to go, she noticed that we were both chewing gum. We had not arrived at our destination with chewing gum and she had not given us any chewing gum, so the obvious question came to mind ... where did the gum come from? She asked the simple question and we gave the simple answer. We got it from the underneath side of the table in front of us. At that point, she did what any good mom would do ... she let us continue to chew the gum. Happy Mother's Day!

#happymothersday

My Jefferson Baseball Dragon...

Much to the dismay of my 11th grader, I'm still a doting mom. Here's the thing ... I still can't believe that (on the day I'm posting this) he's an 11th grader who is only 15 school days away from being a 12th grader!! It's almost unimaginable. I vividly remember the day we brought him home from the hospital. I walked through the front door of our cute little house in Auburn. I was wearing an outfit that was too small. I remember putting that dumb outfit on at the hospital and thinking to myself, why am I still this big? Somehow, I thought I would magically drop most of my extra weight between the time I went to the hospital to give birth and the time I went back home. I can be a little naive sometimes - good example of that, I suppose. Anyway, I stood in the family room holding our new creation in my arms and so profoundly I said (out loud) "what do I do now?" Andy suddenly wondered exactly what type of pain medication I had been given prior to being released from the hospital. He lovingly offered to remove his pride and joy from my arms.

We decided early on that baseball would be one of the sports that Austin should learn as a little guy. Andy was very good at baseball when he played in school, so it seemed a natural choice. We planned to sign Austin up every season while he was little in order that he would gain the know-how and experience should he decide to keep playing as he grew older. He began playing t-ball when he was 5 years old. You haven't fully enjoyed life until you have attended and watched an entire t-ball game. Cute, funny, confusing, stressful, loud. All that and more!

As baseball seasons came and went, Austin enjoyed every minute and continued asking each season to sign up and play again. I think it's important to add here that Andy was Austin's coach every season (with the exception of one fall season) until he started travel ball. The coach's son is not an easy position to be in. It's an early lesson in playing any position on the field, when asked, with no complaints. Austin could essentially play any position at a moment's notice and rather well, I might add. :-)

I'm proud of my favorite Jefferson Baseball Dragon and the contributions he has made to the team during the season. The Jefferson Dragons clinched the Region 8AA title last week against North Oconee.

.... Austin then ....

.... and now ....

Balance .... Where Did You Go?

I began working at the ripe old age of 18. October 15, 1984 to be exact. And I worked at the same company for over 15 years. From the beginning until March 1986, it was only me to worry about. Not too hard to figure out where I want to go, what I want to eat, not too many clothes to wash, an apartment to keep clean, no lawn to worry with, a few bills to pay, pretty low stress as it were. I was perfectly in balance with me.

Andy and I married in March 1986. From then until 1992, it was again a fairly easy game of balance to play. We were young and care-free. Balancing our daily life: family, church, work, home, and pets was a fairly easy thing to do. We balanced well together.

June 1992. Austin comes along. I went back to work when he was 6 weeks old. September 1996. Chandler comes along. Again, back to work at 6 weeks. With both of these wonderful transitions, I learned there was a little more to balancing life as a working mom and then working mom of two. I should mention that it certainly helps to have a husband who is willing to pull his weight when it comes to housework and caring for our children. I probably wouldn't have had such an easy transition if not for him. ;-)

Fast forward to December 1998. I leave the corporate world to become a stay at home mom. Surprisingly, it took a little bit to find balance in this new phase of life. Once we got there, it's pretty much been smooth sailing for the Bragg family. Here we are today and I feel like balancing life is a challenge again. I'm not even working every day, so what is the problem? Maybe it has something to do with this quote I found: "For many people a job is more than an income – it's an important part of who we are. So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life." ~ Paul Clitheroe

I'm not sure who Paul is, but I think he's on to something here. Maybe what I'm feeling isn't necessarily the loss of balance in my life, but instead unsettled for the moment. Of course, there are are only 15 school days left after today. I'll sub when called upon over the next three weeks and then back to full time stay at home mom for the summer. Oh, I think I see balance just around the bend .....

i'MtheMoM ...

Last week on Monday was my 6th day to sub at the middle school. Thus far, I've subbed for 7th and 8th grades in the subjects of Social Studies and Language Arts. Chandler has escaped the total embarassment of having her mom as her sub. I should mention here that I feel I've made great strides in the realm of subbing at my child's school. Why, you ask? Chandler and a friend actually came to the class I was subbing in the week before. She walked through the door and in my head I hear an angelic choir in unison ... I waited for her to say she was just coming by to say hello and then maybe a hug and my day would be complete ... insert sound of dragging a needle across a (vinyl) record or maybe screeching brakes of a car coming to a stop while traveling at 100 miles an hour - she needed money. Well, I still enjoyed the fact that she came by.

OK, back to my 6th day of subbing. I get a text on the drive to take Chandler to school - they need me to sub in a 6th grade class and I recognize immediately the name as Chandler's science teacher. I get a little nervous as visions of Bill Nye The Science Guy dance in my head, but surely I won't have to perform any experiments! Chandler asks who I'd be subbing for, I tell her, and her slightly delayed response is ... oh, I have her. I then get a quick run down of do's and don'ts. I promise not to embarass her, send her off with all my love, and assure her that this won't be the worst day of her life.

As Chandler and friends arrive to class, I make it a point not to act overly excited to see her. It was sort of funny that we kept slipping each other glances and smiles during class. I couldn't help but stare at her and watch as she worked, but I'd quickly look away when I caught her looking at me. Fast forward to the last period of the day ... as I introduced myself to the class, someone raised their hand and asked ... are you someone's mom? I said yes, Chandler Bragg's. The response? A simple "cool".

The Vent ....

Camping + Rain = me very ill

pic of our little home away from home ~ obviously not taken on this trip

So, we decided to go camping at Fort Yargo for Spring Break since Austin needed to be around for baseball. Fort Yargo is close enough to home that it wouldn't be a huge hassle to drive back and forth for games and practices. Plus, we LOVE to go camping! Can you believe that the last two camping trips we've taken (fall break in October 08 and now spring break April 09) it rained every single day that we were there?! I can handle one day of rain during a camping trip, but the entire trip? Not so much.

We arrived on Tuesday to rain; it stopped and then started again at about 1am on Wednesday morning; rained on and off all day Wednesday; started raining again on Thursday at about 2am and has rained on and off all afternoon again today. Currently (3:56pm 4/2) there is an 80% chance of thunderstorms tonight, which is supposed to be our last night of camping. Yay. And I thought we were in a drought? Maybe I missed a newsflash that we're finished with that?

I know we need the rain and I should be thankful, and I probably will be .... in a few days. I woke up in such a bad mood this morning, but my spirits soon were lifted when Austin sang "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, where? down in my heart" ..... you know the rest of the song. I did manage a smile and then we played spoons for a long time and that too brought a smile to my face.

Not sure why I'm even writing this post. I'm not overly thrilled and don't have anything great to say. I guess I've come up with one more use for this blog .... venting.

Hail To The Teacher.....

Several weeks ago, I signed up to be a substitute teacher. Of course, it's not as easy as signing up these days. I had to attend a workshop, fill out an application, obtain references, get finger printed (that was fun) and then wait for the school board's approval. With all that said and done, I received my first call last week on Thursday at 8:22am asking if I could be there ready to fill in by 9:30am. Yikes!! I hadn't even showered yet. And it was a Social Studies class! Is that where I teach them geography? I can't get anywhere in Georgia without a GPS or printed Mapquest directions. Or would it be something about the Constitution or how laws are passed? I have a few School House Rock tunes filed away in my brain that could help me through this. My mind was going a mile a minute while I was getting ready. I think I'm glad it was a last minute call so I had less time to stress over my first day.

One of the requirements to become a sub is to attend a 4 hour workshop. The one I attended was led by a woman who is a retired educator. She did a great job squeezing lots of important info into 4 hours. One of the things she stressed to us was not to go away from a subbing job discussing specifics about the teacher you filled in for or the students. While I won't ever give those specific details, I will probably share funny stories or happenings along the way. The other thing that she stressed more than once is do not touch the children. She warned that those Kindergartener's have hug me written all over them .... but DON'T do it. A pat on the head, high five or knuckle bump, nothing more.

I was soooooo nervous on this first assignment because not only was I was subbing for a Social Studies class, but they were 8th graders!! I sort of remember being an 8th grader and I've lived through raising an 8th grader of my own. Everything in their life is VERY important and somewhat dramatic. And they are stuck in that weird place of going from middle school to high school .... they are somebody! The good news is that I had help from neighboring teachers since it was a last minute sub assignment, and everyone still thinks I'm a smart sub. (shhhh) I had 4 different periods of students and each one of them were a good group of kids. Some of them knew me and asked "are you Chandler's mom?" Much to Chandler's dismay, by the time I picked her up that afternoon, she had already heard that I was a sub at her school that day. How embarassing is that? Not for me, but apparently it was for her. I think she ended up feeling OK about it, because my reviews were mostly positive. :-) I returned for a second day of subbing on Friday and much like Thursday, it was a good experience.

My two little days of subbing pale in comparison to the long term committment that teachers have made to make the world a better place by teaching the children!! Take a minute to tell a teacher how much you appreciate them. (then give them a high five) :-)

Where it begins ...

I've owned lots of journals over the years. I've written down random occurrences and memories here and there and even looked back at them from time to time. I also keep a small notepad handy in my purse so I can jot down a fleeting thought or something great I hear or read while I'm on the road. I recently applied to become a substitute teacher (I think this might net me a good story or two) and in telling this via email to my BFFs Dana & Kim, I may have made them laugh a little. At dinner a few nights later, Dana suggested that one day I write a book. I believe the suggestion was based on the emails I've sent to them over time describing different events that have taken place in my life. I do like writing for the enjoyment of others. I find that my stories sound better on paper because my introvert self can be a little more extravert, more creative in word choices and presentation in order to capture my audience's attention.

So, Dana ... I don't know that my stuff is book worthy, but blog worthy? I think maybe. I might pull out an old family, friend, kid or animal story that is too good not to share. I LOVE researching and looking for stuff on the internet. There are LOTS of people out there that are smarter than me and I have bookmarked some of their really cool sites over time; bought their books; and watched their shows on TV. I might even share that kind of stuff. I have friends with cool jobs and hobbies and would love to give them a shout out. Ask anyone who knows me, I don't cook anything well that doesn't come in a box with specific instructions; I can sew on a button, but that's about it; and any place in my house that looks fitting for a live plant is referred to as "the death ledge". Even though I'm not good at those things, there are lots of people I know who are and I'd love to share their ideas and know-how with you. I also have family and friends that I don't get to see often enough and although I keep up with some of them on FaceBook, this too will be a good tool for keeping in touch.

Who knows how often I will post and Lord only knows who will read this thing. I'll make my husband, kids and mom faithful followers of my blog, everyone else ... you're free to choose. :-) And I'm off!!