Catchup

I'll start out with a "thank you God" that my kids are still well, and a knock on wood...I was smacked down by the flu last Saturday and today, a full week later, is the first day I have felt like a normal person since. I have never been a person to get sick often, maybe once every few years, and I hope it is a looong time before it happens again. I have my normal voice back today...I think the kids enjoyed my not being able to yell at them! The only good parts of this story are that 1) I caught up on my movie-watching, I highly recommend Slumdog Millionaire, Marley and Me, and Seven Pounds, and 2) I lost some weight! Never a bad thing to not have to do my crazy dance to get into my jeans!
I am 33 now. Creeping up to that age that, when I was a kid, I deemed "old". I had a low-key birthday, did some shopping and some work in the flowerbeds, then my family had a little party for me at my grandparents' house with a pretty red velvet cake.
Spring Break with the kids gets more and more fun every year as they get a little older, more mature, and able to appreciate vacations. This year I kept it simple, and we drove to Dallas to spend a few days with my mother-in-law Letty. The kids adore their grandmother, and the Haest Homebase is a wonderland for the grandkids. Lots of toys to play with, a creek to explore, a park three lots down. I wasn't quite sure Sam was going to survive the lack of caffeine in the house though! Letty only has water, milk, oj, and wine! She is an extremely healthy eater and drinker! By the third day, we had to grab Sam a 2-liter of Dr Pepper to keep him from going over the edge! Poor kid. We went to the Dallas zoo while we were there, ice skating at the Galleria, where the kids had the entire rink to themselves for about a half and hour, until other people started arriving, then it still wasn't crowded at all. It was Sam's first time to ice-skate, and I don't think he had to grab the wall at all! He is a natural. Mariel had a lot of fun with it too. They skated for a full 2 hours, giving Letty and me plenty of time to visit. We took the kids mini-golfing, which is always fun. We played Parcheesi and spent lots of time out in the sun, it was lovely! The only downside to the trip was my discovery that my very favorite clothing store, La Mariposa, has been closed down. I had been so excited to go there and buy lots of new outfits for spring and summer and was so bummed! I made the kids endure a half-day at the outlet mall on the way home instead. They got some pretty good stuff out of it so not tooooo much complaining. My son has discovered labels. Suddenly he wants Hollister t-shirts, and everything else has got to be Puma or Nike. Oh boy, it starts. I am finally going to get paid back for my pre-teen obsessions with Pepe, Guess, and Lawson jeans and Dooney and Burke purses!! Yikes! I got myself some sweet new running shoes so I was pretty happy. I cannot wait to get back into the gym to try them out!
School is back in session and now Sam is counting the days till Summer vacation. Mariel loves school and being with all her friends so she doesn't care. I don't like getting up early these days so I am looking forward to Summer as well. I am thinking of ditching the country club here in Greenwood for Fianna. I want to play tennis and Mariel needs to learn too. We have a vacation planned at Clearwater Beach in July, I am sure I will never want to come home from there! I am a beach person, and it's a wonder I haven't packed it up and moved somewhere more near a beach by now!
Well it is Saturday, and I hope everybody has a fabulous weekend. Stay healthy and safe!

What's new with moi

Well "it has been a minute" as all my beauty school sistas would say...the holidays and computer issues have kept me away, plus this that and the other...
What is new in our world? Not a whole lot, but I have gone back to school. Doing hair is NOT for me, I probably could have told you that halfway through cosmo school. I don't like it, and I'm no good at it. If I were good at it, I would probably like it. And if I liked it, I would probably get much better at it. Maybe. But who cares, I don't want to do hair and that is that. I'm applying for the nursing program at UAFS, because that's what I've always wanted to do in the first place. I'm basically ready to apply, going to do so in the Spring. I have had to retake a couple of classes because it has been 5 years since I had them. THAT stinks because they are hard classes and I did well in them before. My brain is older now and Oh Lordy it's tough...So I am filling up all my spare moments with studying and homework, and you can tell by looking at my messy house. Oh well! I know my Dad will be so proud of me when I finally get my degree. He was the one who convinced me to go ahead back to school. He has always been right about everything, and I haven't taken his advice nearly enough, especially when it comes to the big stuff! Changing that now...

Nov 2

Everybody is doing so well in the aftermath of my Uncle Monty's death. There have been tons of visitors and phone calls so there haven't been many quiet moments for Aunt Susan to really reflect on what has happened, which is a blessing. I have been helping out with Monty's young grandson, took him trick-or-treating with us Friday night, he had the time of his life and has enough candy to last him til next Halloween.
TV Channel 40/29 came to the house and interviewed Susan yesterday and she was happy to have the opportunity to let people know how special a guy Monty was. The family is really pleased with the piece they did. Here is the link:

http://www.4029tv.com/video/17867116/

A very bright light has gone out

When somebody I love dies, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of wanting to go back in time and start the day over, like it could really happen if I pray hard enough. My Uncle Monty was killed in a motorcycle accident last night and I think we are all in a state of shock. He is one who will be missed more than most. He was an incredibly special person who put everybody ahead of himself. He was kind and gentle and fun.

This all happened on an evening when I was not in such a great mood. I had had it up to my ears with my kids fighting and smarting off to each other and I had been flying off the handle at them all evening. Of course I regretted it immediately every time mean words came out of my mouth, but that didn't matter, the damage was already done. When the news came, I was overtaken by feelings of regret and remorse over the way I had been treating people in my life. I don't think Monty knew just how crazy I was about him and how much I thought of him, because I always thought there would be another day that I could tell him. It's time to make sure everybody understands how much they mean to me, not just because you never know what could happen, but because they deserve it.

The next few days will be more than difficult, I am sure, and especially for my Aunt Susan, who has been married to Monty for 35 years, since she was 16 years old. I have Halloween and all the kids' activities to keep me busy and my mind occupied, but everytime I snap back to reality and remember what has happened I am so sad. Monty had taken the entire day off work to ride his Harley, and it was such a beautiful day for riding. If there is a bright spot here, it is that he died doing something he absolutely loved. I wish I had a picture I could put up of Monty, but I have searched and I don't. Because HE was always the one taking the pictures.

So today I resolve to make it perfectly clear to everybody in my life how much they mean to me. And btw I hope everybody has a super spooky Halloween!

You Can't Scare Me~I Have Kids!!!

Welcome to mah world. I'm Tracy and I'm 32 yrs old. I have two kiddos~Samuel, aka Sam, Sammy, or Mokey~is 10, and Mariel, aka MarMar or Marikate, is 7. I can't believe I am in my 30's, not so long ago, that seemed SO OLD to me. And I really can't believe I have a kid whose age is now in the double digits. I'm raising the kiddos by myself and there are definitely days where I think I am going to lose my mind. This blog is going to be fun-if you know me, then you know I am a woman of few words, not because I'm not friendly but because I'm super shy. But just because I don't say a lot doesn't mean I don't have a lot to say! I got stories! Some of them may only be funny to me, others you may appreciate more. I LOVE to bake so I am sure I will share some recipes on here too. I am obviously just getting started but as I learn to navigate this thing, I will hopefully fancy it up a bit. Hope you like!