Quick Post

Little Man is getting ready to cut his third tooth. And he took his first solo step yesterday. We're on a non-stop train now.

Just so you know...

The computer is completely dead. Let's just say there was an unfortunate incident involving a frustrated kiddo playing a computer game for way too long and that in the anger, the computer lost and is now no longer functioning. So, posts will be even fewer and far between. Hope you are all doing better than me.

Letting myself feel a little at a time.

I miss my house. I can think of so many reasons why I shouldn't be missing it, but right now, with people drinking and talking loudly out in the hall at an unthinkable hour this morning, I miss my house. Most of the other employees that are staying in this apartment complex are young, in the 18-21 range. So, I can understand that they are just blowing off steam from the week and having some weekend fun. But I just wish that I could put up a sign or put out a flier that informs them that there are 3 kiddos in the house trying to sleep and so is their overworked, stressed-out mother. And to please BE QUIET!

The first sign I had that I was feeling the pangs of separation from my house was when we visited the library. I wandered through the aisles, familiarizing myself with the layout, and I stumbled on the home decorating/design section. Normally, I would plant myself on the floor and peruse each shelf in this section, load up on at least 7 or 8 books and enjoy them slowly at home. I would search eagerly through the pages to find some new inspiration, interesting color palette or unique space-saving technique to apply to my own home. As I stared down the long shelves of the decorating books, it hit me...hard. I don't have a house any more, no home to decorate, to paint the walls whatever color I choose. I can't even hang a picture in our place without fearing a fine. What would be the point of checking out any of those books? It would just be a reminder of what I no longer have. And, for the first time, the weight, the heaviness of what we have been and are going through settled on my chest and heart. I have not let myself feel the full weight of it, I have not let myself wallow. But for that moment in the library, I did. And all I could do was shake my head in acknowledgement of my pain and move on to the next aisle...which was gardening. Not much better, but getting there.

Time to play catch up on some posts, while I have a few minutes anyway. First, my birthday last month. I turned 29. My last year in my 20s. While there were some great blessing this last year, I told H that it was also the hardest year on me physically. Having a baby at the end of my 20s is a bit harder on the body than having a baby was at the beginning of my 20s. I was already carrying around about 15 extra pounds of stress weight before I got preggo and it was just compounded after that. The weight is not the only sign of our recent stressful situation. I have added more wrinkles to my face than I have ever noticed before. Wrinkles and aging, I don't mind. I just don't like that they came so quickly in such a short amount of time. The loss of income and some stability in our economic outlook has increased these unwelcome developments much more than I like.

So, the last year of my life has been full of blessings: a new baby, a healthy family, a roof over our heads, food, warmth, friends and family. And I try to choose to dwell on these things, not the extra 20 lbs. or the lines around my eyes and across my forehead. Yeah, I could still do without those though.

My birthday, itself, was a good one. H made me a cake, made dinner, and I got a nice, long nap. The kids sang happy birthday to me and it took all my lung capacity to blow out the candles, and there were only about 12. But I enjoyed a relaxing day and some great cake for a couple of days.

Mother's Day. We went to Nag's Head Beach for Mother's Day. Sunday is the only day of the week H has off, so we briefly attended church and then headed east. The beaches on the outer banks are about 3 hours from us, so we arrived there at about 3 p.m. We changed into our swimsuits and since the ocean was really cold, we only waded in up to our knees. The kids collected hundreds of sea shells and we strolled along the beach, squishing the sand in our toes and savoring the feel of the tide rolling over our legs again and again. It was gorgeous. Little Man did not like the sand on his feet and it took a while before he would even touch it with his hands. One dip of his feet in the water and he shivered enough to let us know that it was too cold for him. It was great to see him reaction to the ocean though. I think that he thought it was a big bath. He also sucked on some of the large seashells. After the beach, we drove by the Bodie Island lighthouse. It was already closed for the day, but it was beautiful to look at. We are hoping to go back soon and spend more time up and down the outer banks.

So, that is an update. Also, Bree is finally here and it's nice to have such a wonderful friend nearby. We are planning a trip to the science museum tomorrow. Tiny is off-track for the next 3 weeks, so I am trying to come up with ways to entertain her. Both the kids love that Bree is here. They adore her. I am hoping to upload some videos and more pics soon. Take care.

Heaven Help Us

Little Man is cutting his second tooth. And can climb. And just figured out how to open cabinets. Oh boy.

Exercise+Brownies=Not a lot of progress

Sorry, I have not had another opportunity to sit and let myself muse the next bit of my story. The stars were really aligned the other night when I wrote that. The kids were playing, Little Man was asleep and the house was clean. So, I'm hoping that I will get to write again soon.

I did get up and exercise this morning, something I haven't done in a looooong time. It felt really good. H and I are working out an exercise schedule so that we are both assured some workout time each day. He is now in the 190's and I am back below 140, thanks to the long cross-country trip without the luxury of brownies and cookies. My goal is to get down between 120 and 125...and I want to be comfortable in my bathing suit. Of course, I say this as I'm snacking on homemade brownie. But I'm not shooting for supermodel status, I just want to lose a few pounds and still be able to eat the things I like. I love my husband, but I couldn't take on his diet of only fruits and veggies.

Little Man cut his first tooth Saturday and proceeded to bite my chest on Sunday. A surprising "ouch" and "no no" from me stopped that though. He can also climb on low things. This makes me glad that we're not in a house with steep stairs anymore.

Mister is enjoying his classes, has made friends and is proud of the budding hairs above his upper lip. Yep, he's fitting in well at the middle school.

Tiny is still sporadically homesick and misses her BFF. She was invited to a campout sleepover this weekend though. She had a lot of fun.

The weather here is getting VERY warm and I think the humidity is creeping closer to 100% everyday. I'm afraid of how hot the summer will be. The pool is supposed to open soon at our apartments though. Can't wait. Little Man is proving to be quite a water baby. I know he will love the pool.

Yesterday, we attended church and were then invited, along with a few others, to an ice cream social at a church member's house. It was great to meet some new people, chat, and let the kids run wild and play.

Well, I better go before Little Man wakes up. Have a beautiful day.

The beginning of something

The following is something that came out of me when I had the sudden urge to write. Please let me know what you think. This may be the beginning of something.


I walked along the gravel-covered ruts through the cemetery. The stone markers were haphazardly strewn throughout the grass, as if the earth were rejecting their intrusion and the intrusion of those they marked. The wind breathed through the tall grass and stirred applause from the millions of leaves on the trees. I couldn't remember the last time my life was this still. Everything around me was speaking, reminding me that it was all alive.

I almost become lost in their voices until my eyes fell upon the rough headstone. SILVER. "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have...ah, what a load of crap." He always did have a strange sense of humor. Like the time we met. I was staring at a poster for the theater group's production of Moulin Rouge on the community board of the campus when his voice interrupted my thoughts with, "Why go and see that when I can just tell you about it right now. They all sing a conglomerate of 80's pop, fall into forbidden love, and the girl dies a tragic, but beautiful, death. There. Now you have that night free to have dinner with me."

I turned to see a mischievous smirk upon the face of a man who could only be described as boyishly charming, as cliche as that was. But I had heard enough pickup lines to know that I shouldn't give in too easily to a witty remark and its accompanying smile, no matter how cute he was.

"What makes you think that I don't happen to love 80's pop, or that I would go to dinner with you, a complete stranger?" I asked him coyly, using emphasis on the word strange.

"Are you kidding? One, nobody likes 80's pop. At least, not enough to sit through two hours of it. And two, I would think it would much more exciting to spend those two hours enjoying dinner with a complete stranger than any length of time listening to an odd blend of Madonna and The Police."

I had absolutely no comeback to this and he stole the advantage by quickly adding, "Great. I will meet you outside of Henley Hall, 7 p.m., Friday."

"Wait. How did you know I live at Henley Hall? You don't even know my name."

"Sure I do. Barbara."
He waited for my reaction, and must have seen my confusion.
"Sara? Beth?" That same smile spread across his face again. "Ok, so I don't know your name. What shall I call the lady that will be haunting my thoughts for the rest of my existence?"

"Paulette. But you still didn't tell me how you knew where I lived."

"Ah, that I will save for you until our date. Until then, I think I will just let you go mad trying to figure it out. And just so we're not on uneven footing, the name is Charles, Charles Silver." He walked away, slowly picking up speed, but still managed to look back once more with that same grin on his face, like he definitely had a secret, and I was it.

INTERNET...Beloved is thy name.

Not to sound sacreligious (sp?), but I have offered a thanks heavenward for our new internet connection. I've felt a bit cut off not being able to read the news, check my email, and update my facebook. On top of this wonderful development, we have also obtained a washer/dryer, and have finally been paid some of our travel reimbursement money. Things are looking up a bit.

H has begun installing alarm systems and is actually going to try his hand at sales. Sales has always been his preference and he feels that this will fit him better. At this point, the installers can't do anything until a sale is made, so I think he will be able to do more selling. We'll see, but I would request some good thought from you all that he will make a go of it and we may actually see some income. I have faith in him.

Let me tell you a little about my days here in NC. I wake up at 5 a.m. to get Mister up and ready to catch the bus before 6. In our area, there are really only year-round schools. You have to travel to another area about 15 minutes out to go to a traditional school. Well, we toured both versions of the middle schools and elementaries. Mister decidedly resolutely that he wanted to go to the traditional school farther out because they offered more electives and it seemed to be a nicer school. Even after we informed him of the really early bus pickup and even earlier wake up time, he insisted that that was the school for him. So, he is finishing up his first week there and is taking Orchestra Strings (cello), Painting, and a NC myth and folklore class as his electives. The last two were not his first choices, but he's pretty happy with them.

Tiny wanted to also choose the farther away, traditional school, but I couldn't make myself comfortable with the idea of her so far away. Her schedule would also have been 2 whole hours behind Mister's because of bussing. So, I chose for her to go to the year-round school right next door to us. The track she's on will not end until the end of June, and Mister's ends at the beginning, but I felt better with her nearby...and Mister is getting old enough to make these decisions for himself.

So, back to our days, after he catches the bus at 6, I am sometimes lucky enough to slip back in bed for another hour. At 7, I wake Tiny and walk her to school a little after 8. After, H and I have been taking Little Man on morning walks with the dog. We found a great trail with a large pond hidden behind a cemetery down the street. We actually saw a salamander, tons of fish, an easygoing turtle swimming to us, and a mother duck with her ducklings. We see something new each time. We then run errands or I clean around the house. H heads to his meeting and then off to work at around 2 p.m. He usually doesn't get back until after 9 or 10 p.m. I pick up Tiny from school at 3 and Mister usually gets off the bus and is in the house when we get back. We hang out, cook dinner, take walks, and they play. The last few days I have been heading to bed earlier and earlier. Getting up at 5 a.m. is not easy.

But I have found some great blessing in our early mornings. I am able to chat and spend time with Mister while we wait for the bus and I get to chat with Tiny on our walks to and from school. I find that I am enjoying my family a lot and counting my blessing more. We live in a great area and the weather and landscaping are incredible. I am really liking it here.

I will post some trip picks in my next post and some of our new surroundings. Take care and hope you are all doing well.

Alive and Well

We are still alive. We made it to North Carolina and it is beautiful. Green and trees everywhere. I told H that this state probably started out as a land of endless trees and they had to clear patches just to build each new place. Our apartment is really nice, brand new and fits us well...especially with 90% of our stuff in storage in Utah. We don't have internet yet, so we have to traipse to the library right across the street to use it or I can access a few sites on my phone. The kids are getting underway with school and we are settling in. H should be starting work any day and I am trying to get our apartment in order.

The people here are really friendly and it's a great neighborhood. I am, however, experiencing a little bit of culture shock and homesickness. I'll live...which is a good thing because that means I will be back soon with lots to update you with and pics from our cross country trip. Take care, all!

FYI

We are in the great state of Idaho until the weekend. That is why I am so sparse. Is that even grammatically possible? Anyway, I'm not sure if I will post again before we take off on our long adventure to North Carolina. If not, take care and I will post pics of our trip as soon as we settle in. Later.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. --Victor Hugo

I rarely watch American Idol. Usually the auditions are enough for me and I already know who is going to be in the top 3. But I happened to catch it tonight and I'm glad I did because they were covering Motown hits. And it got me in the mood for some oldies. Also, Smokey Robinson was on there too. I love that man.

Those who know me well, know that I can sing old country and old R&B songs like nobody's business. The reason? As a kid, we took a lot of road trips and before the wonder of individual CD players, and waaaaay before mp3 players, we had to listen to the tape (yes, I said tape) player. And who was in control of those dials? You guessed it, Mom and Dad. And what did they like? Country and oldies. And they had tapes like "Greatest Hits of..." and "Best Country Hits". So, after 4 hours minimum of these tapes, I had a strong grasp of every word of every song. And I loved them...but I don't know if I ever really admitted that to them.

“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”--Benjamin Disraeli

I have not liked moving since I was 15. I have moved about 15 times in my life. Sometimes to new towns, sometimes to new houses, and sometimes back to previous ones. I was born in Alamogordo, NM. We moved to Spain when I was almost 2, then TX less than a year later, then to Clovis, NM when I was 4. We stayed in Clovis for 10 years and then moved back to my mom's hometown in NM when I was 15. I hated it. I had planned to graduate with all the people I had started kindergarten with, but didn't.

At 16, I moved to TX to live with my sister and moved back to NM less than a year later. After marrying H, we lived in one house for 2 years and then another for 2 more. At 23, H and I, with the kids, moved to UT and have been here for 5 1/2 years. Within that time, we have lived in 3 different places. And now, we are moving again. We've been in this house for 3 years, the longest we've lived in one house since we married ten years ago. The kids have been in their school for 4 years, the longest they've been in the same school.

So, to say that leaving will be hard is an understatement. But I am looking toward our trip as a great adventure. A sojourn that few people with three kids get to take. A flight of fancy, if you will. Ok, that may be taking it a bit far. But it will definitely be an adventure in that it will be something very different and far away from all we know.

I am tackling the packing with a renewed vigor and am making some headway. I am getting tired, but at least the sealed boxes are multiplying and the stuff in each room is diminishing. We will visit some family in Idaho for the first few days of April and then we will set out on our trip to NC. We are giving ourselves a full week to get there and we will have a long weekend to settle in before H has to start work and the kids start school.

The trip will be from UT to Cheyenne, WY. Cheyenne to Lincoln, NE where we will stay with some cousins. Lincoln to St. Louis where we hope to sight-see a bit. St. Louis to Louisville where we will stay with some friends. Louisville to Charlotte. And then Charlotte to Raleigh. It will be a long trip and I have no delusions that it will be easy. One trailer, two cars, three kids, a dog and over 2,000 miles. Not the easiest of equations.

In the meantime, I must finish packing this week. I also have a baby shower to help with, a potluck, a bbq and many goodbyes. It's going to be a busy week. I will try to post again, but if I don't, you know why.

Life's a garden. Dig it!

Corny, but "Joe Dirt" is funny. I bought it for H a couple of weeks ago because we've seen it so many times and I figured we should have it. Another movie I like is "Sahara". Not because it's a great movie, or even because Matthew McC could melt the buttons on the remote. No, I love the soundtrack. Songs like "We're an American Band" and "Sweet Home Alabama" make me wanna rock out.

Moving on...I had a pretty successful yard sale yesterday. We still have some extra stuff to get rid of, but definitely less than before. Having a yard sale isn't as fun as it was before. It's hard to keep an eye out for yard-salers when I'm trying to play with, feed, and put Little Man to sleep. The kids helped a lot though.

So, we're about T-minus 3 weeks from heading to North Carolina. We finally got to look up what apartments we'll be staying in and they are really nice and brand-spanking new. We'll be getting a 3 bed, 2 bath and it also has washer/dryer hookups. Anyone that has had to haul laundry for 5 people back and forth to a laundry room knows how much it sucks and how great it is to have the hookups. The complex also has a theater room, a volleyball court, a workout room, and a dog park. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm really glad that we'll be able to take the dog. I can't imagine how lonely it would be without her.

Today was a nice slow Sunday. After church, the kids and I hung out while H was at work. Later, we headed to the park and fed the ducks and geese. Tiny had brought her basketball and, of course, managed to bounce it in the lake. Thankfully, the lake is mostly drained right now, but it still landed in a good-sized amount of water. Mister and I were trying to figure out how to get it out and noticed that it was not stuck and was floating. So, he and I started throwing large rocks behind it and created enough ripples to move it where we wanted it to go. It took a while and I still had to step one foot in the water before the ball floated into a drain, but we saved it. The things we do for our kiddos. It was fun though, trying to figure something out and working with Mister to get it. I've got some smart kids. And finally, that elementary science came in handy. Now, if only the math was useful...joking.

sahara

Green, the color of hunger.

Nothing new to convey. Just living day to day. Sorry, didn't mean to rhyme. Little Man is closer to crawling. He's doing a kind of crawl scoot. He also said his first deliberate word. We were in bed the other morning and he looked at H and said, "Dada, dada." He is also saying "nananana". I think he is saying "nononono" because I have been saying that to him lately when he is getting into something he shouldn't.

Speaking of that, I was holding him in the kitchen a couple of days ago and while I was washing a bowl, he got his little hands on a glass full of water. It fell to the floor and shattered. We've all been on a roll lately with breaking plates, bowls, and cups. So, I decided that with little hands on the loose, we would need more durable dishes. So, I am chucking all of our plates, bowls and cups and I bought new ones from Target. They are all plastic (melamine, polypropylene, whatever). They are also a great green color. The plates look a lot like this pic and the cups are these same ones, only the ones I bought are green, not brown. The bowls are also the same green. I also only bought five of each thing. That way, it will be easier to keep up with the dishes and everyone can be responsible for washing and taking care of one each. It will also make for lighter packing when we head to NC.












The packing is going very slow. I am only packing a little at a time. I am hoping that it will all add up to enough when the time to leave closes in. But, that is all I can do somedays while having to watch Little Man. I am also weeding out stuff we don't need and selling it online. I sold two lamps and a coffeepot today, my pool cue last week, and the kids' dirt bike. A few things gone, a million more to go.

Us LonDolls are planning a baby shower for Liz. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope she gets everything she needs. I hate that I won't be here for her when she has her baby, but you can bet that kids is going to be seriously spoiled when I get back.

Well, if you don't hear from me for a while...look for me under a pile of boxes and masking tape. But don't wake me. I'm tired.

Two Thumbs Up

I just finished this book and I have to say that I loved it. It was very well written. The characters were interesting and many. When there are many characters in the story, it's easy for the writer to not represent each individually and well. But, Lisa Jewell made each character as interesting as the next. I was anxious to know about each person and how things turn out for them. Each person's story is unique and, in some cases, even painful. However, the story is not heavy. It's a great read, easy to stick with and ends well. I will definitely be looking up more books by this author. And I highly recommend this book if you enjoy a story with diverse characters, a solid story, and a satisfying journey through the pages. I give it two thumbs up.

(I don't know who this kid is...but he's cute.)

North Carolina is the place you wanna be...

That's where we will be spending the summer. H is taking a job with APX installing alarms and it will be in Raleigh, NC. This is good news for a few reasons. One, it's work. And as our friend Dave said, steady work with a steady paycheck ain't nothing to sneeze at right now. It will actually pay well enough to help us get back on our feet. Two, we'll get to travel to a new place. I love traveling. I'm sure it will be a long trip with Little Man, but I'm excited. And three, we will get to spend the whole summer with some of my favorite people, Bree and Ryan. If you know Bree, you know this will be fun. She's like sunshine to be around. Love you, girl.

So, we have a LOT to do before we leave. H can start work around mid-April and that is when we plan to be there. So, I have two months to sort and pack the entire house. I plan to sort it all into three categories: stuff to sell or donate, stuff to store while we're away, and stuff to pack to take with us. I am a bit overwhelmed just looking around and thinking about it. We are hoping that the house will have sold by then. If not, then we will likely still be losing it about that time. So, this job is good timing.

Since we will be leaving in April, we will need to transfer the kids to a school in Raleigh to finish out the last 6 or 8 weeks of the year. I'm pretty sure that this will be tough for them since they've been at the same school for about four years, but I'm hoping we can make it as painless as possible. Apparently, I found out after talking to my dad, this will not be my first visit to NC. We were there when I was a baby. He said that I wouldn't go near the ocean when we visited the beach until I was safely on his shoulders. I remember seeing a picture of this, but didn't know that it was in NC. And now, I'm going there with my own little one...and his twol cute siblings. It's funny that when we went to D.C., Tiny was the same age as I was the first time I went there. Maybe, if this pattern continues, I'll also be taking them to London and Ireland, hopefully before the age that I was when I went.

So, that is the main event in our lives right now. If I am not posting as much, now you know why. I will be trying to pull off a miracle in the next two months. Wish me luck.

Book Update

I finished "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" by Sally Smith O'Rourke and I have to say that I kinda enjoyed it. It definitely didn't ring my bell, but I thought the concept of the story was an interesting one. I can't elaborate without giving the story away, but I could recommend it for a light, fun read that isn't completely engaging or engrossing.

As for "The Bronte Project" by Jennifer Vandever...I must warn you to run away, quickly. The book started with an interesting grasp, a woman searching for lost letters from and to the Bronte's and how they would shed unseen light on their works as writers. The book was interesting in the first part, confusing soon after, and then completely worthless. The characters were fleeting, shallow, and uninteresting. I knew it was time to quit reading when I was skipping whole paragraphs and couldn't care less about what happened to the main character. It became littered with casual, meaningless sex, recreational drug use, and aimless wandering by the characters and the story. I only made it half way through the story, something unheard of for me. I hate quitting on a book, but I knew that if I kept reading I was going to be confused, frustrated and bitterly disappointed to have lost the time and energy spent to finish it. I read the reviews on the back cover and wondered if those quoted had actually read the book, or even got past the first few chapters. Because, if they did, their quotes betray them as either liars or completely without knowledge of what constitutes a good novel.

Sorry for the rant. Hopefully I will have better reviews with the next two books I just picked up at the library. More to come.

What do we do? We swim, swim, swim.

I figured that I had better post while I had a chance. We got an offer on the house and it was significantly lower than our short-sale price. But, it's up to the mortgage company to approve the amount. If it's approved, we'll likely be somewhere new in the next month or two. I can't tell you how my stomach flip-flops when I think about this. Everyone says that they are impressed with how calm I have been about everything. I think I would call it resignation, not calm. Most times, I am pretty mellow, resigned to the fact that all I can do is go with the flow and take things as they come. And then, sometimes, it all catches up with me...all the worrying I'm not doing on those other days hits me all at once. My stomach knots up, I get easily frustrated, and really depressed. I stop talking in full sentences. I feel the need to cry, or yell. I know that given the situation, it's understandable how I feel on those days. But I hate feeling like that. I constantly remind myself that life could be sooo much harder than what I am experiencing right now. I should be constantly thankful that we are all healthy, well, and whole. And besides some stress, we're actually doing really well. We're fed, sheltered, warm, and comfortable. Just stressed. These are my mantras.

The future is looking blurry. I don't know where we'll be living in a couple months. I don't know if H will be working in a couple months. But I'm thankful we have some options. We have a loving family with spare rooms available anytime for us, even if they are in NM, 14 hours away. H has a summer job that is being offered to him with the chance for us all to travel for a few months. Our family and friends are really supportive and understanding that things are tight and unsure. I am just trying to get past the bad days of worry and focus on the positives. I sound like a Tony Robbins recording. But it's like Dory said, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."

Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx

I have been trying to keep up a steady pace of reading. One book I just finished is "The Go-To Girl" by Louise Bagshawe. I loved it. The story was great, the characters were believable, and it ended well. I recommend it for a fun read.I am now reading "The Man Who Loved Jane Austen" by Sally Smith O'Rourke. It is also proving to be very enjoyable. It toys with the idea of Fitzwilliam Darcy having been a real person in Jane Austen's life. I'm about halfway through it. Lined up next, I am going to finish reading "The Bronte Project: A Novel of Passion, Desire, and Good PR" by Jennifer Vandever. I began this while in NM and didn't finish it. But it also seemed promising. I'll let you know how they are.

I feel a story coming on...

Not much to report. Comp cord is still kaput, H's comp went kaput, now we're using Mister's comp. Also, our cell phone is kaput. Fun. Little Man is rolling everywhere and is trying to scoot a bit too. He managed to unplug the Gamecube while Tiny and Mister were playing it. Tiny brought him to me and told me what happened and all I could do was laugh. This, I'm sure, is only the beginning of the mischief.

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT! Whether you're political or not, whether you like him or not...I am so excited. I told H that anytime I see Pres. Obama, I feel proud...and full of hope. I loved the inauguration, bloopers and all. I felt like I was witnessing something very important. I can't wait to see what he has in store and I hope to play a part in making a better tomorrow.

And the last update, I am beginning the first steps of writing a story. I'm hoping it will grow up to be a book, but I am excited. I'll just tell you that my research will be centered in familiarizing myself with the works of Jane Austen. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me. I have read half of her works and will reacquaint myself with them and introduce myself to the others. I will let you all know more as it progresses. Wish me luck.