sappy mother moment

Yesterday as my daughter, Emie, and I were leaving the mall she opened her mouth really wide and laughed and I saw a tiny white spot on her gums. Upon further inspection I discovered her first tooth! I was so excited and she looked so cute! But then as I got in the car to drive home I became an emotional wreck! It's amazing how such a small milestone can conjure up such strong feelings and thoughts of how my little girl is growing up and isn't a tiny baby anymore. I was a teary-eyed mess all the way home. Time goes by so quickly and my children are growing up way too fast. My son is almost 4 and is ready to start school. He asks me questions about school all the time. "Mommy, what will I need to pack in my back-pack to take to school?" "Mommy, what if I forget to bring something? Will the teacher help me?"
Thankfully he won't be going until he is 6 so I have two more years to prepare for that. I've always been a fairly emotional person, but since becoming a mother I cry over everything! Those Johnson and Johnson commercials that show cute little babies and say "Having a baby changes everything" are so true. Having children does change everything, they change everything for the better.

I miss my Friends

Whatever happened to the Sitcom? I grew up on Sitcom's and now all you find on TV are reality shows and most recently game shows. I miss the good ol' days when you could watch Cheers, Family Ties, Growing Pains or Friends. I would still rather watch any one of those shows as opposed to "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" By the way, I am not smarter than a 5th grader which is perhaps why I would rather watch Friends. There are a couple of new shows on TV that I do really like, Army Wives on Lifetime is a good show. I also really like Grey's Anatomy. But neither of those satisfy my need for a good laugh like I used to get from watching Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe.

I was tagged

Ok, so I haven't been online in a few days and I come back to find out I've been tagged by my cousin and now have to tell you 8 things about myself that you don't already know. So here are 8 things about me that you may not know depending on who "you" are.

1. While in college I drove from Columbia to St Louis at 3 a.m. with 2 friends to eat at White Castle.
2. I've been bungee-jumping.
3. I went up in a plane to go sky-diving and changed my mind.
4. I get sea-sick every time I go on a boat.
5. I love Silver Dollar City. My favorite ride is the Great American Plunge.
6. I read cheap romance novels.
7. Lola is not my real name. It is the alter-ego bar name I used to give to guys who hit on me.
8. I've been keeping a journal since I was 10 years old and I still have them all.

bits of news

I look forward to reading the Springfield News-Leader every morning. I sit down with my glass of OJ and try to read the entire paper before I do anything else. My favorite parts of the paper are the Ozarks Voices section and the comics. My favorite comic is "For Better or Worse" I get really wrapped up in the storylines. I read somewhere that Lynn Johnston, the creator of that strip, is actually about to retire. I hope it isn't any time soon because I'll really miss the Patterson family. On a related note, I also read that Captain America was killed. I have to admit I only learned who Captain America was recently due to a Spiderman and Friends game that my son has, but I was sad to learn that a superhero named for our county died. It's seems that far too many of our nation's heros are meeting an untimely death.

Thanks Aunt Di

I just have to say a great big THANK YOU to my sister-in-law for the gift she gave my son tonight. She brought him a bug house. Sounds innocent enough until I tell you what just happened in my house. Let me set the scene for you.

Husband: Sleeping soundly in our bedroom
Daughter: Sleeping soundly in her bedroom
Son: Sleeping soundly in his bedroom (or so I thought)
Me: Playing on the computer

As I'm writing my last post my son comes tip-toeing down the hallway and says "It's ok, I've almost caught all of them" Alarm bells instantly go off as I realize my 3 year old son has released all the lightening bugs that he and his cousins caught & put in the bug house that his Aunt Di bought him 3 hours ago!!!!!!! I go into my bedroom to try and wake my husband with a shrill "He let the bugs out!" I'm greeted with a mumbled "Damnit" as he rolls back over to sleep. So off I go into the chaos of a toddlers bedroom and begin trying to catch all the recently freed bugs to the cheers of my son saying "It's ok Mom, that one can sleep in my bed." It took every ounce of patience I had not to scream at him "What the hell were you thinking opening that up in my house!!!" Thankfully I was able to maintain my cool and I am happy to report that they have all been captured and placed safely back into their temporary home. At least that is what I'm telling myself!

Summer favorites

Two of my favorite things about summer involve ice cream. I love the ice cream truck that comes into neighborhoods to deliver push ups and bomb pops, in my house we call him the ding ding man. That is what I always called him growing up and I have not been able to break myself of the habit. I also love the Pineapple Whip girl. I don't actually eat Pineapple Whip but I like to shimmy my hips when I see her and sing "Pineapple Whip Girl". These are two things I am passing on to my children. A love for the ding ding man and the desire to shake their hips when they see the pineapple whip girl. It's fun to relive childhood with your own children.

Thanks for the offer

After all this time searching for a job I've finally gotten an offer. . . . and I've turned it down. I really did consider accepting it. I found a pre-school for my son, worked out arrangements with family for my daughter, I even negotiated for additional money and for a flexible schedule and then I turned it down.

I was discussing all the benefits of this job with my husband--better insurance, great retirement plan, opportunities for travel, tuition reimbursement, etc. Bob just sat there not saying a word and finally I said "Don't you have anything to say? What do you think about this job?" He looked at me and said, "Do whatever makes you happy." I said "But what do you think? Does this sound like a good fit for me & for our family?" Then he asked the question that made me really stop and think "If you take this job are you going to be back in this same spot a year from now? Are you going to be unhappy again and looking for something else all over? Are you going to be stuck in an job that doesn't provide you with the sense of accomplishment and fullfillment that you are looking for? Are you settling for a job now because you think I'm pressuring you to get one? Are you still going to be wishing for that dream job that you don't have?"

OK, he actually only asked the first question which led me to ask myself all the other questions. I knew I would be settling if I took that job and I was amazed that my husband knew it too.

So now I have a plan to go after a dream I've had for several years, I'm going to teach. I'm applying to substitute teach for now and I'm applying for a teacher certification program at MSU. Since I already have my Bachelors I can apply some of my coursework toward my certification to save time and money. I'm hoping to get into the accelerated program which will allow me to get my Masters degree at the same time.

It's going to be hard to go back to school at age 33 and begin a whole new career but I really believe it's never too late to chase your dreams.