Fun Things in Confluence, PA

~Slipping and sliding up and down snow covered mountain roads.

~Sitting in the car on the side of a mountain road while Jason walks for help because we can't make it up the hill.

~Opening Christmas presents on Thanksgiving Day.

~Seeing Dylan really "get" the whole present thing.

~Having to keep Dylan from rolling his new toys on FILs cabin floor (he had just had them refinished). Try explaining to a 2 year old that he can only push his new toys that Poppy (FIL) gave him on the carpet on in the kitchen - it's not that easy.

~Riding four wheelers in the snow. Dylan did it everyday that we were there. He had a blast.

~Just playing in the snow with Dylan.

~Sledding.

~Building a snowman (it was Dylan's first).

~Leaving to go home.

I've Been Tagged . . .

10 Random things about me you may not know:
1. I have sung at Carnagie Hall (with my high school choir).
2. I love my son more than I ever imagined I could love another person.
3. I am intolerant of stupidity.
4. I hate auditors, especially when they are asking for something that you can’t substantiate to their satisfaction and they make an audit point, but they fully admit they know you are doing things right.
5. I see neediness as a major character weakness in adults.
6. I am not as affectionate as I want to be, but am finding it really hard to change.
7. I have been to individual and couples counseling and found out that most of the things about myself that I don’t like will be hard to change. I am just wired differently than most people.
8. I am scared of divorce. My parents, my Ils, and my brother have all been through or are going through divorce.
9. When ever I enter a scary situation, I always prepare myself for the worst possible outcome. 10. I never set goals for myself. That way I am never disappointed when I don’t reach them.

9 Places I've visited:
1. Paris
2. Las Vegas
3. Disney World
4. Switzerland
5. Pittsburgh, PA
6. Chatanooga, TN
7. New York City
8. Chicago
9. Savannah, GA

8 Ways to win my heart:
1. Tell me how smart I am
2. Tell me how beautiful I am (though I will probably call you a liar)
3. Compliment my son
4. Bring me flowers for no reason
5. Listen to me and actually hear what I am saying
6. Never talk down to me
7. Don’t be too aggressive
8. Don’t lie to me

7 Things I must do before I die:
1. Go back to Paris
2. Go skydiving
3. Hot air balloon ride
4. Parasailing
5. Have another baby
6. See my child(ren) grow up
7. Attend all important events for my children

6 Things I'm afraid of:
1. Outliving my child(ren).
2. Snakes
3. Someone breaking into my house
4. Car accidents
5. Driving on snowy mountain roads
6. Being miserable

5 Things I don't like:
1. Fake people
2. Rude people
3. Bad drivers
4. Too much time with Ils
5. Fighting with anyone

4 Ways to turn me off:
1. Comment on how “hot” I used to be or how much my face has changed.
2. Just grabbing random body parts
3. Stupidity
4. Fakeness

3 things I do every day:
1. Go to the bathroom
2. Hug and kiss Dylan
3. Kiss Jason

2 things that make me happy:
1. Dylan
2. Holidays

1 Thing that is on my mind right now:
1. How I can adjust my working hours to spend more time at home without losing any salary or flexibility.

So, what's going on . . .

• Dylan is recovering from some type of stomach virus. I got a call from daycare on Thursday afternoon and he was out of school Friday and really clingy through the weekend. I think it's the same one that Jason had last weekend.
• Friday, we just stayed home. But about 5:00, we needed to get out, so we went to Wal-mart. I completed my Christmas list for my nephew. Dylan helped to pick out the last two toys. He vetoed my first choice. LOL!!
• Saturday morning we went and Dylan got his haircut. He cried, but a lot less than last time. That's progress, right?!?
• I had a blast on Saturday night with Dylan. We went to Toys R Us. We spent about 2 hours just wandering around the store and playing with everything. He played at the train table (we must get one of those as soon as we get a bigger house), trucks, trucks, trucks, bicycles, jeeps, trucks, trucks, trucks. As we were leaving, I was letting him sit in one of the rides (this one was an ice cream truck). I hadn't put any money in it, he just likes to sit and turn the wheel. Well, a little girl walks up, so Dylan climbs in the back and lets her "drive". Her grandma puts some money in and Dylan got a free ride. Normally, when the thing starts moving he freaks out, but he really enjoyed it. Sigh ~ he is growing up so fast.
• Sunday we went to the park. Again, more proof of what a big boy he is getting to be. In the past, whenever anyone would walk up to him, he would just shut down. If he was climbing a ladder and someone walked in front of him, he would let go and try to get down as fast as he could. Now, he just keeps going. You can tell he is still a little uncomfortable with the new kids, but he's not letting them stop his good time.
• We are all getting ready for our Thanksgiving trip to visit Jason's dad. It takes a lot of planning and 9 or 10 hours of driving to get there, so I hope it's worth it. It would just be so much easier if he would just come to us. Jason and his sister live within an hour of each other. And we both have kids. UGH!! I guess I should really stop complaining. This is the only time of year we ever travel to see him. But, then again, he only visits 3 or 4 times a year at best. And, I think he lied to us. He told us that his DIRECTV would be down for the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend (Wed-Sun). It seemed fishy that an entire area would be planned to be out of service over a holiday weekend, so I emailed DIRECTV asking if there was a planned outage. They actually got back to me and said that they couldn't find anything for area that we are going to be in. They even went so far as to say that they only schedule outages for the middle of the night (to affect the fewest # of people possible) and they only last about 15 minutes. I actually believe that FIL is going to do something to unplug his service. Last year, his girlfriend got upset that Jason and BIL were watching football games instead of visiting - so I think she put him up to it. I haven't, and probably won't, say anything about what I found out because we are bringing a portable DVD player so I can watch movies. It just makes me mad that I think they are lying to us.
• Really must spend some time cleaning the house and doing laundry this weekend. I don't want to come back to a messy house after the holidays.

Christmas list shopping update:

1. Dylan - almost done; need to pick up 1 or 2 more things
2. Jason - not sure; I just ordered his main gift, but don't really know what we are going to spend on each other this year.
3. Mom - almost done; 1 or 2 more things
4. Dad - almost done; 1 or 2 more things
5. Mike - only have 1 thing, but can't decide if I should just give him money for the rest of his present.
6. MIL - only have 1 thing, but I think I am going to leave most of it up to Jason this year.
7. FIL - done; we do Christmas for him @ Thanksgiving
8. SIL - not started
9. BIL - not started
10. nephew - done
11. GMIL - leaving it up to Jason, but he better get on it because we exchange with her @ Thanksgiving
12. FIL's GF - leaving it up to Jason, but he better get on it because we exchange with her @ Thanksgiving

LOL!!

Your Birthdate: August 30

You have the type of personality that people either love or hate. You're opinionated, dramatic, intense, and very outspoken. And some people can't get enough of you - they're totally addicted. Others, well, they wish you were a little more reserved. Your strength: Your flair Your weakness: If you think it, you say it Your power color: Scarlet red Your power symbol: Inverted triangle Your power month: March

Weekend in Review

Who went: Dylan and I - Jason stayed home and wound up getting really, really sick. So sick that he couldn't/wouldn't play with Dylan at all when we got home because we were afraid he would get Dylan sick.

Where we went: South GA - where my mom, dad, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and most of my cousins live

How long it took to get there: 4 hours

Who we saw: My mom (Grandma), my dad (Papa), my brother, (Uncle Mike), my grandparents (Mammaw and Granddaddy), my uncle (Uncle Allen), my aunt (Aunt Judy), my cousin (Kim), and Kim's daughters (Makayla and Brinsley)

What Dylan saw for the 1st time up close and personal: tractors, school buses, cows, horses, mules, chickens, and inactive electric fences (Dylan started running toward the cows and wouldn't stop even though we were yelling at him to stop. The yelling made the cows start mooing and now Dylan is scared of cows. LOL!!)


Special highlights: Dylan didn't pee in his diaper all day Saturday. He went potty everytime. He even woke up dry Saturday morning and from his nap. YEAH, DYLAN!!

It was nice to see my family. It was also nice to realize that Dylan is now old enough to remember them from visit to visit. We talked all week about going to Grandma's house and he was so excited for the trip. He couldn't wait to see Grandma and Papa and Uncle Mike. If we are lucky, we see someone in my family every other month or so, but we aren't always lucky. We try to keep Dylan aquainted with them through phone calls and pictures. I think it is working. For a while, it took Dylan up to an hour sometimes to warm up to my mom or dad. The only person who he never seems to forget is my brother. He would always run straight into my brother's arms whenever he saw him. That just have that kind of connection, I guess. All in all - a good weekend.

ABC's of Me (Stolen from EE's Blog)

A is for age: 28
B is for booze of choice: wine cooler (I hate beer and liquor gives me hives now)
C is for career: accountant
D is for your dad's name: David
E is for essential items to bring to a party: whatever we were asked to bring
F is for favorite song at the moment: Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) – Green Day
G is for favorite game: Trivial Pursuit
H is for hometown: Meigs, GA
I is for instruments you play: Piano
J is for jam or jelly you like: Strawberry
K is for kids: Dylan
L is for living arrangements: me, Jason, Dylan, and Maggie (our dog)
M is for mom's name: Glenda
N is for name of your crush: Jason (yes, I still have a crush on my DH-most days)
O is for overnight hospital stays: 2 (c-section and mastitis)
P is for phobias: someone breaking into my house when I’m at home
Q is for quotes you like: You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her. ~Author Unknown and Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. ~Harvey Fierstein
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: this one – started dating in 1996 and got married in 2000, so we have been together over 9 years.
S is for sexual preference: men
T is for time you wake up: s/b 6:30, but is usually 7:00
U is for underwear: yes, thongs usually
V is for vegetable you love: sweet peas
W is for weekend plans: Taking Dylan to get a haircut and then SIL is coming to the house and we are putting together a photo album of pictures from her and DH’s childhood to adulthood. She had to make copies from MIL’s pictures. FIL asked for this for Christmas since MIL wound up with all of the pictures in the divorce.
X is for x-rays you've had: dental x-rays at each visit (2x a year) and chest x-ray when I was younger
Y is for yummy food you make: chicken pot pie
Z is for zodiac sign: Virgo