An Exercise in Brevity

I'm challenging myself to give an update from the past several months, but without spending the next hour typing about it. I have about 15 minutes, before I pass out due to exhaustion so here goes:

1) My newborn is now a 12-week old. He will be officially 3 months old on Friday. That time FLEW by! He's holding his head up now, and sleeping through the night, as of last night. Life is good! He spits his milk back up a lot more than his brother and sister did. I'm keeping an eye on that because it makes me a little nervous; but in my heart of hearts I believe that everything is completely fine.

2) My 5 year old and 4 year old are such a joy, even at these hyperactive ages. I love them so much. They are both so brilliant in different ways. I see a little bit of young Tami in the both of them. Good and bad qualities. Math comes easy to one of them, the other one is completely vain, one of them doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, while the other can be knocked down with a feather if you don't give her praise. It's simply amazing. And they're such sickeningly beautiful kids inside and out. God TRULY blessed me in a way that I can't ever measure.

3) Haven't been able to find work, so I'm enjoying being a stay-at-home mom. I go on the kids field trips with them, I make dinner (and dessert) every night, I'm involved at their school more and have established a small network of associates in the other moms, I go on play dates with other stay at home moms, and most importantly, my 3 children get ALL of me, not just the ragged, worn out parts leftover from a grueling day at a thankless job. Many would argue that being a mom is the most thankless job ever, and I wouldn't debate them. But I don't think you can beat greeting your kids at 3pm, being home by 3:15pm and having an entire time with those innocent angels FREE from stress. I wouldn't trade this for anything.

4) Hope to have great news to share this upcoming Friday. If the news isn't good, I won't say anything...if it's great, you'll know about it; the whole world will, if you leave it to me! :-)

5) Been working out INTENSELY the last two weeks. I found a wonderful trainer online, and he set up my daily meals and my daily workout plan. Haven't stuck to the diet as well as I should have, though. But I've lost a good 8 -10 lbs and have lost another pants size (fitting back in my 8's; my goal is to get back into my winter pants which are a size 4 -how could I ever have been that skinny????) I'm going to be a fine mofo by Christmas or bust!!



6) Still have an unhealthy obsession for Simon Baker. Pretty pointless to deny it; even my hubby is hip to it. He's not ecstatic about it, but he's known me for the better part of 14 years now...he knows that I'm ALWAYS going to have some type of fascination/obsession over some type of celebrity. Fame intrigues me; always has for some reason.

7) Cultivating, pruning and watering my friendship garden. There were a lot of weeds, that were causing me a lot of grief, and making it impossible for me to enjoy the beauty of the real friendships that were waiting to blossom. I have some really good friends that really love me, and it's high time I start expressing how much I love them as well. I'm getting better at this.

8) 35 in about two weeks. Having a yummy brunch at a wonderful location in Dunwoody the week after my birthday; waiting a week after my actual birthday so that my sis will be back in town and can be there. I can't wait to spend the morning/afternoon having brunch with people I love!!

9) Hubby is enjoying his new job. In-house counsel for an insurance company in metro Atlanta. He brings home the bacon and I fry it up in a pan...and always make him feel like he's the MAN!! Okay, you get the gist...:-)

Not bad for someone who runs their mouth like an out of control faucet. I can update more often if I can keep it simple like this. Until next time!!

Last weekend of summer

I've got a touch of insomnia right now. I started lying here reflecting on what I will miss about Summer when Autumn rolls in next week. I know that the signs of summer won't be completely gone for quite a while, and yes I reserve the right to interchangeably capitalize or lower case the names of the seasons as I see fit.

I love warm weather and long daylight hours to a fault. I always miss this once it begins to get bitter cold. I can never appreciate the beauty of summer until I'm looking back on it. How I will miss all of the pretty colors of summer. Makeup, wardrobe, plants...nothing pops quite like the colors of summer. You probably already know that I need blue skies and sun on my face to always be conscious of the endless possibilities of life. When the sky is gray and the air is cold, it's harder for me to stay in my "anointing" if you will. You'd think I was a plant.



I can't help but think about what the last few months of the year will bring. I usually get excited about this time of year. Halloween, Thanksgiving and even Christmas decor is everywhere. The kids and I had breakfast with my mom and dad last week at Cracker Barrel and my mom and I got in the holiday spirit just being surrounded by such beautiful ornaments and nice smelling candles. The oranges, browns, wintergreen, and chrysanthemum colored fabrics. The seasonal beverages such as warm apple cider and eggnog, and desserts such as pumpkin pie. This is the time of year that I always look forward to, and have for the past 33 years. So why do I feel slightly choked up about Summer leaving?

Part of it is just that I'll dearly miss the lazy, carefree days. Sitting out on the screen-in porch until 9pm, with complete, full on daylight the entire time. Dandelions and lightening bugs everywhere. These things keep me feeling young. I never feel too old to pick up as many dandelions as I can hold in my hands and blow as hard as I can. I always giggle to myself as the light, feathery florets drift to the ground. But this is only part of the reason.

Fall was rough on my family last year. We had a couple of major losses that knocked my immediate family off of our feet. It took me almost to Summer to get back to myself and feel some type of lease on life again. And here we are a couple of days away from Autumn. I'm not one to dwell on negative things, so I shouldn't start now. I think that this Fall will be one of the best yet. So many great things are still possible. I'm not just saying this because it sounds good either...I really believe that this year can still get better, even in the Fall. The hubby and I are going to take advantage of this last weekend of summer 2008. My parents will have the kids and we will be going to dinner and a movie hopefully.



Goodbye Summer. 'Til next year.

Monday musings

It's 6:15am. I'm working from home today, as the kids have their checkup with the doctor late this morning. I'll try to get in an hour or so of work before the kids wake up. No Atlanta traffic to deal with today...the day is already starting out great!

So, OJ is in jail. 12 years late, but at least they're able to keep him imprisoned for something. Now he will be forced to get somewhere and just sit down and shut up. Book deals, and such. Solitary confinement without bail isn't punishment enough for the pain he caused.

The Emmy's aired last night. I tried to care, really I did. But I just couldn't bring myself to watch. I did see Katherine Heigl's acceptance speech, and she looked especially beautiful and sincere.

Fall is less than a week away. Thank God! As much as I love shorts weather, this summer was too much for me. My only regret is not going to a beach AT ALL! Not only was there just no time for that, but it was WAY too hot all summer long. The beach would have been just miserable, I'm sure.

I'm getting sleepy again. Maybe instead of working right now, I'll get in one more hour of sleep. :-/