Speechless. Amazed. Blessed. Part II

But wait, there was more...

Friday night was the ultimate surprise party to date--with my parents and siblings and good friends and family flown in, and I honestly thought it couldn't get any better!

Then, Saturday night happened. OH. MY. HECK. We were going to dinner at Firebirds in Southpark. I am thinking just with the family. I walk in, and Hubby has ANOTHER surprise party with local friends and don't worry, my childhood friend, Aimee, who I hadn't seen in 15 years, was there! I am embarrassed to admit there was a good deal of jumping up and down and screaming, but afterwards we spent a wonderful dinner catching up and listening to family and friends take turns talking about me. A little overwhelming, but what a great time! At this point, I was wondering if my name spelled out in fireworks or a hot air balloon ride back to the house was in store (hehheh). Little did I know, Hubby had also arranged for me, Aimee, and my MIL and SIL's and girlfriends to spend the morning at the spa getting Swedish massages and manis and pedis. Then we shopped, we ate, laughed, lounged by the pool, had the BEST. TIME. EVER.

I can't thank enough all my wonderful friends and family, especially my bestie Kim, and EVERYTHING she and her family did to help my Hubby plan and execute everything so beautifully and perfectly. And to my Hubby, what can I say? You are amazing. I'm lucky to have you.

The best part? I didn't have a clue any of it would happen. Honestly. NOT ONE.

Speechless. Amazed. Blessed.

Yesterday I was rendered speechless. The surprise was perfection. I have to say, I didn't have a clue. They dropped false hints and clues and had me going in different directions. My wonderful AMAZING husband and family and friends, they planned for months and flew in from all over the US and coordinated a massive 40th birthday party, for ME. Can you say humbled and awed? Seriously, when I walked into that party last night, and saw my family (from both sides!) and dearest friends all there, I felt like the luckiest person in the world.

I am the luckiest person in the world. I am so blessed to have amazing people like this in my life. I'm still kind of speechless. And you know how often that happens.

So, to my astoundingly AWESOME Hubby and family and friends, THANK YOU, I can't manage anything other words. You made yesterday one of the best days of my life.

XOXO Lara

I'm Amazing.

Okay, I'm totally NOT, but it got your attention, right? ;-)

I just made up a phrase. It seriously just came out of my brain. And I'm sure there's 979468 variations of it out there (I googled and didn't see any but it's not like I'm going to sift through 10584769586 pages of hits to verify).

ANYWAYIRAMBLETOOMUCH, here is my inspirational saying of the day:

"After trying and trying, sometimes it's best to acknowledge the existence of a brick wall. That's when you go and get yourself a sledgehammer."

That's me sometimes. I try and try, and FAIL, miserably (as I suspect some of you do) and I guess sometimes we just need to think outside the box, and try a different approach. A sledgehammer is definitely harder than my skull, so there you go. ;-)

I am off and running today--the kids' basketball hoop is going in tomorrow! They poured the concrete for it last week, and tomorrow they set it up, but I have to run to Home Depot and get gravel to weigh down the sandbag thingies on the ends of the ball return net.

Am starting to not like the fact all my favorite stores are at least 15 minutes away...

Oh well. Happy Thursday!

AND I'M BACK!!!! DIDJA MISS ME???

Yes, I have now joined the Land of the Living. Three weeks. THREE WEEKS of being sick and finally battling a sinus infection. (Heh heh, one of those weeks was spent tending the other sickies in the family.) I've always wondered why we can't win the lottery with viruses. Instead of getting a nasty virus all at once and all of us being sick in one week (and DONE) we get sick ONE. AT. A. TIME. and when you have a family of six, you're down for a month solid. I think my washing machine will fall over dead from shock if I program it to anything other than the "sanitary" cycle at this point.

So, all is well in the household. I am super busy, but busy is good. I started working out with a personal trainer on Monday (is it bad that I'm still so sore I can't go DOWN the stairs and I scream whenever I have to sit down on a toilet seat?) and he's got me on a nutrition plan (BOO) and a workout plan (YAY) and I'm lucky because Hubby is super fit and we have a whole room in our house full of workout equipment. A gym, elliptical, treadmill, free weights, bosu, medicine ball, bands. etc. etc. etc. and really the only thing I had to buy was a large and ridiculously heavy workout thingy called a kettle bell. A 20-pound thing I have to swing between my legs and up into the air. (I don't question the trainer, I do the ridiculous things that will somehow mold this pudgy body back into shape.) Even if I look...special while I'm doing them...

I'm dejunking my house, writing away on my sequel (I already have 25K!) and every once in a while I glance at my "to be read" pile of books wistfully, but that just isn't going to happen anytime soon. Because even when my family goes on vacation, we don't RELAX. We run around and around looking at all the cool stuff and cramming activities into our schedules until we fall, exhausted into our beds at night. (Kinda like being at home, only in a more tropical setting.) So, my stack of books will probably get read sometimes in late 2014. No one's perfect.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday!!

Letting a Head Cold Get Me Down...

I've been battling a sinus infection. We're talking MAJOR teeth and face pain. I went to the doctor, got my three-day course of antibiotics, and six days later---I still have some pain. As in, really? The antibiotics didn't work? Of course while looking it up online I stumbled on stories where people have sinus infections for so long their facial bones become infected, etc. etc. so you can bet I will be heading to the doctor tomorrow, AGAIN, if this pain doesn't go away.

Just finished the last round of edits for my book and sent them off to my editor. STRESS! Luckily they were just little things, but sometimes, even a misplaced comma can change things drastically. You know the old example:

Let's eat, Grandma!" He yelled.

vs

"Let's eat Grandma! He yelled."

See? Little tweaks can make all the difference. :-)

I'm toiling away on a novel between dejunking my house, room by room. It was Thing Four's room a couple days ago. I organized all the toys, drawers, closet, etc. Everything is perfect. Now on the the next one!

I just hope I kick this. Being sick sure puts a crimp in one's life...

Summer Cold (whymewhyme???)

First off, I'd like to give a shout out to mah hubbs--HAPPY SIXTEENTH ANNIVERSARY, BABE! It feels like it hasn't been that long. Truly. On most days. ;-) (I'm kidding!!!)

Okay. I have a head cold. More like my head is deciding whether it's filled with cement or wants to explode, somewhere in the region around my right eye. Let me tell you, I am a HUGE wimp when I can't breathe through my nose. HUGE. As in, I freak out. So, I take all the drugs I can and hope they work, and I use my trusty standby, Severe Congestion Afrin Spray (the horror!) but only at night. Although I will say, every time I use it, I end up with a sinus infection. So, which is the lesser of the two evils? Five days of cement head stuffiness, or a day of woeful-wanna-rip-my-eyeballs-and-teeth-out pain, followed by a 10-day course of antibiotics.

Hmmmm...

Difficult choice, right? If you're a freak like me, who can't handle NOT being able to breathe through her nose, sometimes you opt for the latter. You should see me when I snorkel. Complete mess.

Anyway, lots of stuff to do today--I spent a lot of time writing yesterday, so today I must pay the fiddler--in the domestic sense. I have a kitchen and laundry room screaming to be paid attention to--so I'd better get on it.

And then it's off to the Dr. for my antibiotics. Boo.

Gas Woes.

I am super jealous of my one friend, Michelle, who has a Prius. I mean, it gets 40+ miles to the gallon! Then there's my gas-guzzling monster, the Sequoia, which gets...drumroll please...a whopping 14. (**Lara hangs head in shame**)

I had to get gas in North Carolina today, because silly me, I forgot to fill up after we got home from the beach and I was headed for the carpool line when my gas light went on. After dropping off Thing Four, I drove to the nearest gas station and filled up. Eighty dollars. EIGHTY DOLLARS. For one fill-up! And it wasn't even a completely empty tank!

Hubby suggested we get a smaller SUV, but we need the 8 seats. And none of the big SUV's are exactly gas sippers, if you know what I mean.

So, I am thinking of all the moms out there, who like me, drive their kids everywhere. School, Sports practices, games, activities, and on top of all that, run errands. And then there are the moms who drive to work ON TOP of these things. I can only wonder how these sky high gas prices are affecting them.

Let's not stop there--I think this is affecting everyone. They are saying gas will be $5 a gallon by summer.

Time to tighten the belts a little, non?

Back from Vaca!

We took the kids to Myrtle Beach for Spring Break, and got back last night. It was sooooo nice! The kids got major beach time, and I know the best pancake houses in the vicinity! (har!) We left on Friday. It was relaxing and so very awesome.

Now, it's back to reality, of course. My pre-Spring Break Cleaning plans sort of fizzled because I was running around buying beach gear and planning for the trip, so next week is my cleaning week! Right now I'm just enjoying having Hubby home while we run around and nap, alternately. ;-)

I resurrected an old WIP (I know that's writing blog material but I had to mention it here) and I have been pecking out a few words a day on it. I love how all you need to do is read and all the thoughts and ideas you had come rushing back. The world is very real right now, so I'd better run with it.

I think we have birds in our attic. SOMETHING was making a lot of rustling and thumping noises above our heads last night, and they definitely weren't there before we left for vacation. Either it's BIG, or it's a LOT of mice. EW EW EW. I guess we'll find out tomorrow when our pest guy comes!

I hope everyone is having a lovely week!

Now, I'm off to do about 17 loads of laundry!!!

Lara

WEEDS

One thing I detest about a new lawn: weeds. Especially since the sod is new, and really all we could do last year was fertilize it, because WEED and feed would have hurt it. Now, I'm wishing we might have taken the risk. Our back yard, for some reason, looks fabulous and thick. But our front (of course the part EVERYONE sees) has horrible, and I mean HORRIBLE weeds. Broadleaf weeds, the hardest to get rid of. We had Tru Green spray last week, and all the other weeds are dying, but I swear the broadleaf weeds are thriving. UGH.

Let me give you an example. We mow the grass, and the NEXT day, we have weeds sticking up above the grass. Do we mow the whole thing again? I have taken a weed whacker to the lawn and let it live up to it's name, but it's still a pain. These weeds MUST GO.

I am driving around a little silver Chevy Impala. My rental car du jour. Well, make that for this week. I have to say, as cramped and tiny as the kids and I feel in it, it gets AWESOME gas mileage! I would already be down to half a tank in my Sequoia. (A gas-sipper, it aint!) And the gas needle in the Impala is JUST below Full. Amazing.

I still miss my car. I get to pick it up Friday morning, and it will be all shiny and dent-free. Nice.

I forgot to take my Zyrtec D this morning, and I'm starting to pay for it. Because, like a fool, I just went out and weed-whacked the weeds. ACHOO!!!

*sigh*

Car-less. *Sniff*

A while back, I had an unfortunate run-in with a gas pump. As in, I was trying to back up and whacked into it with my front left bumper of the car. Big dent. I also got a THIRD flat tire from all the construction debris in my neighborhood, so the spare is on the car. I also need an oil change.

SO, I am turning in my beloved Sequoia this morning, for FIVE WHOLE DAYS, while they replace the bumper, and the tire, and the oil. I will get a fixed-up car back on Friday, (HOORAY!) but, I have to schlep around in a little pinto for five days! (or whatever they give me at the rental place!) Not so fun. I live in my car. And you know what rental cars smell like. BLEAH. I guess it could be worse. I could have NO car...

Spring Break starts next week. We are going to the beach and my kids are so excited. We've never been as a family. Because we've never been close to the beach! We've always been land-locked wherever we've lived, and vacations were always to VACATION spots, like Disneyworld, etc. Can't wait!

Anyway, I have decided to deep clean the whole house, in anticipation of Spring Break. Because when we get back, it will be nice to have a clean house. It's going to take a lot of work, and I expect to be severely grumpy this week, but I can do it.

Had a good weekend, except we're all coughing with sore throats. Nice to have THAT on top of all the allergies. Thing Three and I are going to the Allergist to get all pricked up and figure out what's been kicking our butts these last few weeks. Although I can venture a guess! Hubby's black car is YELLOW with pollen! Everything around here is! They say the pollen level for NC is three times the level it was this time last year. That's what we get for a hot/early Spring! Today is supposed to be 85.

Makes me a little nervous for summer....