Kelly in NC

My sister called me out on her blog so now I am forced (by the evils of older sister mind control) to do this meme. But let’s be honest…I like doing these things. Right?

1. Who was your best friend/friends?
Oh my- there was a large group of us. Trisha, Kimber, Krista, TIffany, Jessica, Sherri, Courtney, Dee, Natalie, Jamie, Nanette…I think that I remembered everyone. But my best friend? Trisha. She was my best friend since 1st grade. And truth be told, I wanted to be friends with her in Kindergarten, but we weren’t in the same class. For reasons that I can’t remember now, we grew a part toward the end of high school…maybe it was the need to constantly be with my boyfriend? Who knows? Anyhow, Trisha was the one person who knew me better than anyone else in school.

2. What sports did you play?
Just like Renee’ I have NO athletic ability. I also played powder puff and got best defensive player in 11th grade- by a fluke- mind you. I did “letter” in varsity sports though. I took stats for the baseball team.

3. What kind of car did you drive?
1984 Murcury Topaz- it was black and we bought it from someone in the “hood”. The hub caps were gold and I used to hate my mom would she would sneak behind my back and “touch up” the hub caps with a little gold spray paint. I wrecked that car a few years later and then ended my high school career with a 1991 Ford Escort.

4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
In the Fall- Football game. Without a doubt! I went to almost every football game- home or away. In the spring…I usually worked Friday nights.

5. Were you a party animal?
I thought that I was until I went off to college. Then I found out what parties were really about!

6. Were you considered a flirt?
Maybe my HS friends could answer this better. I definitley do not think that I was the biggest flirt in the group…but I can remember a few state conventions when I would chat some random boys up…so yes, I guess I was…

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
In high school- NO. I was bitter about not being appointed drum amjor in middle school.

8. Were you a nerd?
Define nerd. I made good grades and graduated 5th in my class (I think..it’s hard to remember now). But I don’t think I was a nerd.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No.

10. Can you sing the fight song?
Actually, Renee’ SSHS does have a fight song, but they didn’t bring it back until after you graduated. At pep rallies we had contests amongst the grade levels to see who could sing it the loudest. Since I was loud and very spirited I used to sing it often…and LOUD! Unfortunately now, I can’t even remember how it begins…maybe if someone gave me the first line I could sing it.

11. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Wert because I admired her as a person…then she moved away and I had to find a new favorite teacher.

12. School mascot?
Raiders (which I guess is some kind of wolf)-Renee’ I believe that the story behind our mascot is this: originally the mascot for our high school before desegregation was a confederate soldier- the Raider. Once desegregation occured they got rid of the soldier and randomly assigned the wolfe. Wierd…but yea- our mascot was a wolf and we were known as the Raiders.

13. Did you go to Prom?
Yes, Junior and Senior year.

14. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
Yeah. I think that I missed a few parties that would have made HS a bit more interesting and there are some things I would like to change about my senior year.

15. What do you remember most about graduation?
HOw excited I was to be finished with HS and going to college…but also how sad I was to leave too.

16. Where were you on senior skip day?
I went canoing at Wiciva Springs.

17. Did you have a job your Senior year?
Yes - KFC

18. Where did you go most often for lunch?
The picnic tables outside the school cafeteria. We weren’t allowed to leave campus for lunch.

19. Have you gained weight since then?
Yes…try 25 lbs.

20. What did you do after graduation?
I went to the University of Florida- Go Gators!

21. When did you graduate?
1995

22. Who was your Senior prom date?
Craig. My boyfriend at the time.

23. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion?
Yes

24. Who was your home room teacher?
Isn’t it sad that I do not remember…can one of my HS friends help me with that one???

25. Who will repost this after you?
Not sure…but if you do, will you let me know so that I can visit your meme?

By the way- does anyone know where the word “meme” comes from?

Grayson-
Fifteen months. Or 456 days. Or 10,944 hours. Or 656,640 minutes old. You are now 26 pounds heavy and have gained one top right molar-making a total of 9 teeth. You have fallen madly in love with Trucks and repeat at least 200 times a day either “wha dat?” or “wha dis”? This month you mastered how to hold your own popcicle and even learned how to put the popcicle stick in the garbage when you are finished. You love to jump on the couch- but you haven’t quite figured out how to climb up there. You try really hard, but your legs are just not long enough…yet. You enjoy sitting in your own rocking chair and just recently realized that you could stand up in the chair facing backwards and rock like crazy. Not safe I tell you…but you won’t listen to me on this one.
This month your great grandmother, Maw-Maw, your Aunt Jennifer and MiMi all came for a visit. You loved playing with them and especially enjoyed the visit to the zoo. Aunt Jennifer and Maw-Maw catered to your every whim and I know that you were especially sad when they had to leave for Florida. We are looking forward to MiMi’s return visit in a few days when she returns from West Virginia. But don’t worry. In the mean time your other grandparents, Nagy and GB Pops are in town on a visit. I am sure that they will keep you very busy for the next few days.
On a sad note, I returned to work this past week. Sad because I miss our mornings together. We had developed quite a routine. Up at 8:45. Change the diaper and get dressed for the day. Then I would feed you breakfast. After your breakfast you would watch me get ready…your favorite part was always when I would use the blow dryer. After I was ready, then we were off to face whatever errands were on our list for the day. But, now that work has started back Daddy and I are getting you back into the routine of things. No more sleeping in- expcept on weekends. Yeah- I know. I’m not too happy about it either. But I do like my job and eventually you’d like to go to college. Right?
As I started back to work this week, it dawned on me how different my life is even compared to last year. You are not the helpless baby that you were only a year ago. You laugh and run and make my world a bright and joyful place. You have made me happier than words could ever express and I know that I owe it all to you.
I love you each and every day.
Love Always,
Mommy

My dear friend Anna sent me this article from USA Today. It is not for those with weak stomachs.

Ingesting the placenta: Is it healthy for new moms?
By Steve Friess, Special for USA TODAY
Debi French was dreading the birth of her fourth child. She wanted the baby, to be sure, but she was terrified of being visited again with the overwhelming despair that came over her in the days and weeks after her last delivery.
French’s midwife offered her an unusual remedy: She suggested the expectant mother ingest her own placenta as a means of allaying postpartum depression. The temporary organ was saved, dried and emulsified, then placed in gelatin capsules and taken by the mother in the months after the birth in December 2004.
“Before I actually did it, my friends thought it was weird,” says French, 29, of Spokane, Wash., whose fifth child is due in August. “But when they saw how fast I recovered from my birth and they knew my history, they thought it was pretty neat. Now I have a lot of friends planning to do it.”
The practice, known as placentophagy, is far from widespread and is received with great skepticism by more traditional medical experts. But among a small but vocal contingent of expectant mothers and proponents, it is strongly believed that the organ created by the woman’s body to pass nutrients between mother and fetus and is expelled after birth is rich in chemicals that can help mitigate fluctuations in hormones believed to cause postpartum depression.
“I feel that it is what we as women are meant to do with the placenta,” says Jodi Selander of Las Vegas, who offers encapsulation services and is collecting testimonials of women who have ingested placenta for her website, placentabenefits.info.

If you wish to read the rest of the article, click here.

My opinion: WTF? I must admit that I once knew of someone (through a friend) who did eat their placenta. My reaction is the same now as it was then. P-Uke. Of course I am sure that it tastes like chicken!

And no, I am not just referring to the Carolina Blue sky over my house. I am feeling sad. Sad that my summer break is officially over after this weekend. Sad that I spent almost my entire summer working on the new house instead of laying in the sun. Sad that my Maw-Maw and sister Jennifer had to return to Florida. Sad that Renee has left for the beach. Tired of the pitty party??? Yah, me too!

On the bright side- I had a great visit with Jennifer and Maw-Maw who were visiting from Florida. We spent almost a week just hanging out and touring NC attractions. The most fun was at the Lazy 5 Ranch where we rode a horse drawn wagon through acres and acres of exotic animals. The kids (and adults) loved it! Grayson enjoyed the smaller animals (goats, pigs, birds) more than the large ones (giraffe, Gazells). And despite the heat we had an awesome time. As I mentioned above they left yesterday to fly home. This was Maw-Maw’s first time on a jet and I was thankful that she decided to overcome her fears to visit us. She even said that she would be willing to do it again!
As I visited with Maw-Maw, I realized just how old she is getting. While she still has the same spunk and really gets around well for her age ( almost 83) she has slowed down in many ways. The woman who used to walk like she was on a mission, now walks much slower. She isn’t able to lift things very well and on a funny note- occassionaly passes gas without realizing it! I enjoyed watching her crawl around on the floor after Grayson and I caught her on numerous time watching him with a tear in her eye. I wondered what she was thinking. Did she have some of the same thoughts that I did this week? Like that she probably wouldn’t see him graduate from High school or get married. Or maybe they were just tears of joy because she was just glad to get to meet her great grand children. Either way, it made me sad to realize that she wouldn’t be around forever.

My Maw-Maw is the only real grandmother that I have ever had. She is the one who would never give us spankings no matter how rotten we acted. She was the one who never forgot a birthday or christmas. She bought us boxes of valentine candies and even to this day makes our “favorite” foods when we come to visit. I hate thinking that there will come a day when she will no longer be in my life or that Grayson will never have the opportunity to know her the way that I do. This week has made me realize that I must make ever opportunity to appreciate her and visit her while I can. I am already looking forwad to my next visit with her- hopefullyin November for Thanksgiving.

Anyhow, I said that I was finished with the pitty party, right? So, I’ll end with letting you know that you can view all of Jennifer’s pcitures from the past week by clicking on the photo above.

As of Saturday, July 14, I have officially been married for 6 years. Six years. It is hard to beleive that that much time has passed. It’s amazing to think about how much our relationship has changed since the day we said our vows. Six years ago we were still figuring out each other’s expectations and were working to either live up to them or to change the others opinions. Six years ago, we were still walking on egg shells when it came to telling each other when we were upset or angry. Six years ago, we would party like rockstars three nights a week. Man, has our relationship gotten better since then.
Yes, we’ve matured and had Grayson- so no more drinking it up on weeknights and weekends. But now we are at the place in our marriage where we are secure enough in our relationship to truely say how we feel without ever worrying that the other person might doubt our marriage. We are able to read each others minds and finish each others sentences. We agree on most topics and in my opinion compliment each other in just the right way. I feel so lucky to have a husband who I know loves me more than anything in the world (ok-maybe not more than Grayson-that is up for discussion!) and who values my opinions. Tim makes me feel smart and pretty. He often asks my opinion and then follows my suggestions. He knows how to tease me without going overboard and will stick up for me in a second. He works hard to provide for our family and is an amazing father. I often look at him playing with Grayson and think how lucky I am to have found him. Tim is my very best friend and my soulmate. So as I celebrat the past six years, I also pray that my relationship only continues to deepen and that nothing enters our lives to change how close we are to each other.

I just wrote a freaking long post about how sad I am that my summer is over in 11 days. Then I hit the wrong button and it just disappeared! Ahhhh! I hate when that happens. So this is all you get instead! Sorry!

Wow! It seems as if I blogged more when I was at my real job! Now that the summer is here and Tim has me slaving away on the new house, I have really started to slack at both writing and reading blogs. I only have 2 more weeks of summer vacation so hang with me. I ought to be back to my old blogging self once I am back on my usual schedule. Since it has been so long since I have written, I decided that an Odds and Ends post would be the best way to update everyone on the “happenings” around here:

~Well, I had a blast on my trip to Tn. We hit almost every outlet on the way; stopping at all kinds of stores, and due to my self control only buying a few necessitities. The Character Education Conference was in Chatanooga and what a neat city it is! I will definitly plan to visit there again…maybe when Grayson is a bit older. We ate at some of the most delicious diners and restraunts and even found time to visit Rock City. Of course, we really went to TN for the conference and came back with lots of new ideas for the upcoming school year. A few photos from Chatanooga can be viewed by clicking the photo above.
~Since my return home, Tim has had me busy, busy, busy with working ont he house. The framing is finished (for the most part) as well as the mechanical rough ins. Our stairs are installed (altough Tim is second guessing the steepness- I think they are fine). The plumber should be fnished with his rough ins today and the electrical rough ins will start next week. We had a bit of a set back on our windows (this is why the framing is not completely finished). Tim ordered the windows based upon his friend’s word (a salesman) without ever seeing a sample. When the framers began installing the windows, Tim came out to inspect and was NOT happy at all about the quality. Luckily his friend has agreed to take the windows back and now we are at least 2 weeks out on getting new windows. Besides cleaning up the jobsite, my next job is tile selection for the bathrooms. have I stated how happy I will be when this house is finished???

~To celebrate July 4th, we went over to Kate and Marc’s house. The plan was to grill out and then head to the town’s Independence Day festival and wait for the fireworks. We had a great time grilling out and hanging around with family- up until my niece got bit by a dog. She had to go to the emergency room and after a few stitches- she’s fine. It was a scary incident for everyone. On a positive note- Tim did get his wish and didn’t have to fight with the crowds at the festival. This wasn’t exactly how he planned to get out of watching fireworks-but if we are looking for a silver lining- I guess that would be it. Again view more photos by clicking on the picture above.

~:ast but not least, in the past four days I have spent about $50 on lotion. This is the deal. Everytime I find a fragrance from Bath and Body Works that I absolutely love- they end up discontinuing the line. I recently fell in love with the Pear Blossom scent and low and behold they have decided to no longer carry it. So now what did I do? I went on ebay and purchased 7 more tubes! Hopefully this should last me until they come out with another “clean” smell that I can’t live without. Am I the only one who has this problem?