Feeling better already!

It may be 3:45 in the morning and I may have been awake for awhile, but my mind is at ease! I just found a handy-dandy list maker via Android. Hopefully this will calm my brain down long enough to get a few hours of sleep!

Trying to find Balance.....

Well Hello Friends! It's been a couple of days, since I have been on my blog. I have missed it. I have thought about it often, and kept thinking about posting, but I am having a huge issue with balance the past couple of days.

 Balance......seems easy enough. Right now we are in the slowest time of our life. By that I mean, the kids aren't playing soccer. We aren't running to practice a couple of times per week or games on the weekend. In fact, I haven't seen my children most of the summer. So why am I so unbalanced?

Well, let me tell you.

 I work full-time outside of the home. 

I'm married.

I'm a momma to two great kids. (No really, they're pretty great.)

I sell Scentsy.

I sell Velata. (Part of the Scentsy Family)

I like reality (trash tv).

I have 4 dogs.

I started running again. 

Try to help keep the house running smoothly. 

The Olympics.

I like to read.

I like spending time with my friends.

Oh yeah, and I blog!

All of these things have taken bits and pieces of my time for one reason or another. I feel like I am spinning in circles, trying to balance it all, yet I feel like I don't do anything a lot of the time. 

I need to keep up on my coupons, but I don't have time. I need to balance the checkbook more often, but I don't have time. I need to read book 3 of 50 Shades of Grey, but I don't have time. But in reality, I do. I just have poor, poor, poor time management.

In fact, I feel like I was cruising along pretty smoothly, balancing the fam (easy to do when we are down 2 kids), working, blogging (sometimes even blogging when I am supposed to be working - shhh don't tell on me!)

And then.....

Something new came along and I started pouring my attention into it - allowing it to consume 2 whole days of my life. Leaving the blog, leaving the checkbook, leaving the fam (sorry guys), and even leaving work behind....

Scentsy. 

Scentsy itself isn't new, but they just announced their new brand last Thursday and I was intrigued.  

Something new. Something different. Something that could be the reason I quit Corporate America.

Something else that is going to require time, attention, and balance.

I need to focus. I really need to get time management in order, because I don't want to fail. I want to be successful in my ventures. I have a down-line. A team that relies on me (well some of them do). I want to be a mentor, a friend, and a successful business partner to each of them, but I am unbalanced. I need to figure out how not just one, not just two, but 3 business ventures will fit into my life successfully. I have a great opportunity in front of me, but it will be tough to balance it all. I have put my Scentsy business on the bottom of the list many times, because I don't have time. If I could make the time, I could be very, very successful while working from home. People do it all of the time. I have 3 opportunities in front of me that could make this a reality to me, but I am scared.

You know what they say, "Jack of all trades, master of none." (I don't want to be that guy).

Just so you all know, I have worked on my coupons today. I have watched a bit of trash tv, and I have worked my Velata business a bit, I did my Couch to 10k workout, and I worked (really I did work) at my Corporate America job 95% of the day.

I'm working on being intentional with my time. I am working on balancing things out. 

How do you keep your life balanced?

Now hop on over to Life of Meg and Mingle!! 

Random Thoughts....

* My family of 4 was back together for like 1 day. Now the kids are spending the night/week with friends. 

* Found a fun little game on Facebook and Android app store. (Also in iTunes). It's called Song Pop. Get it. Now.

*Super sad to be missing out on all of the fun in Vegas this week. My Scentsy Sisters are about to have the time of their lives. (It's not too late to call in sick, I suppose. And besides, the kids ARE gone.)

*Need to step away from the totally trashy reality TV. Kendra on Top and Dance Moms were on the list tonight. I still need to catch up on the Kardashians. 

* Felt like running again tonight, but didn't. Trying to keep an every-other-day thing going.

* Since the kids were gone, Scott and I ate a cottage cheese concoction and Jalepeno Dip Starter (Tastefully Simple) w/cream cheese for dinner. Champs right here. (Cottage cheese concoction = cucumber, cherry tomatoes, cottage cheese, red onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Cut all veggies and fruit (tomatoes) and mix with one tub of cottage cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste).

* Learned how to use my camera this weekend...kind of! I do have a boatload of pictures to upload. 

(Forgot to snap photos of our delish meal tonight...doh).

* Need to deep clean this house. Having people over on Saturday!! Going to introduce our friends to our homemade Margaronas, Cerveza-ritas, Coronaritas, or whatever else you might want to call them. 

* Have to start counting calories again. Ugh! Why can't losing weight be as easy as gaining it?!?!?

* Need to start/finish the final 50 Shades of Grey book. Gah...I can't believe it's been weeks since I have read about Christian and Ana.

* 1 month ago today, I was cruising around Table Rock Lake on a Pontoon.  *sigh*

Hmmm, I don't know that I can get any more random than that! Hope you enjoyed!

Peace out, little homies! 

 

Couch to 10k

Today marks the beginning of the Couch to 10k program for me. Although I never completed the Couch to 5k program, I decided to give the Couch to 10k a try.  So I dusted off the treadmill and got to running. 


Week 1, Day 1 complete. 


This workout was not easy, but manageable. It was 8 repetitions of running for 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds. I remember not that long ago that running for 60 seconds was literally hell. This time, I felt good. I felt accomplished. 


I will do this whole program over 10 weeks....3 workouts per week. I peeked ahead and the workouts look pretty tolerable until about week 7, then I think it's going to get tough.


My goal with this is to not even run a 10k in a competition, but to complete a 5k - running the whole time. I may end up doing 10k's eventually, but I want to better my 5k time. My first race a couple of years ago, my time was 43 minutes. When I ran in March, my time was 36:24, so I improved 10 minutes. (Keep in mind, I was completely hungover when I ran 43 minutes). My ultimate goal is to race competitively in the 20's. I will be happy with high 20's. I think I can do it. 


I love how I feel after a good run. I'm completely excited for the day that I can go run 5 miles like it's not a big deal at all! I'm focused again on exercise and I'm ready to see my progress. I think I might throw in a little "Slim in 6", too! I need to work on my arm flab.....gross! 


29 running workouts to go! 


Now, hop on over to Life of Meg and join in on Mingle Monday!! 

Heavy Hearts

Today is typically the day we celebrate Friday with a great link up of Friday's Letters. Unfortunately I will not be celebrating "Friday's Letters" today, I only have one letter to write and that is to Our Heavenly Father.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please watch over the innocent victims of this terrible tragedy in America. Please be with their loved ones as they grieve the loss of those who passed and please heal the wounded. Please give them peace and strength to heal quickly. 

We ask that you unite America, again, during this devastating situation. The residents of Colorado need our unity, so they can pick up the pieces and recover from this horrific tragedy.

I ask this in your name....AMEN

America is struck by tragedy, again. Tonight I write with a heavy heart after seeing/hearing news feed about the horrific shooting in Aurora, Colorado. 

I'm sad, angry, and feel completely helpless. 

The individuals impacted by this devastating situation had no idea that going to a movie would end up so deadly. I just can't fathom their fear as they heard the gunshots firing over and over again. 

I truly hate that we have such violence in our world. I truly hate that there are people in this world that think blowing up a lot of people is okay. It's not okay. We have men and women over seas fighting for our country, fighting for our freedom and we are turning our backs on each other? Killing fellow Americans?!?! I don't get it. I don't get how this happens. 

Please say a prayer for the victims, their families, and the emergency response crews that are working countless hours to remedy this situation. 

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Yay! Two posts in one day! No, I am not an over-achiever. I'm apparently blog-dumb. I scheduled the post about the Color Run for 7/17/2012 at 6:00a.m. Yeah that didn't happen. I don't know what gives, but I posted that bad boy anyway.

Anywho, on to bigger and better things. "What I'm Loving Wednesday!" (One of my fave link-ups to do!)

I'm loving....

 ...that my son will be home in a few days! It's been a quiet 3 weeks without him.

 ...we are purging stuff! Once and for all it is going away....and we are making $$$. This Facebook 

    Garage Sale site is the bomb dot com. 

...Dance Moms. I seriously got sucked into 2 hours of Dance Moms last night. Maybe since RHOC is 

   off until next season, it will be the replacement. 

...Bachelorette Finale is Sunday. Even though I read the spoilers and know what happens, the 

   previews indicate she won't pick either one. 

...School shopping is in full swing. We still have a lot to do, but we have at least started! 

...I'm already getting ideas going for Christmas gifts! 

...that Scentsy is going to launch a new brand next week. We are all dying to know what it is. I hope 

   it's good!! 

...that Scott's grandma turned 92 today! How awesome is that? We will be making the trip to Kansas

   this weekend to celebrate!

What are you loving this Wednesday? Link up here! 

Color Me Rad

This was the most fun!

I would do this race again and again and again and again. It was a blast!!! 

Stressed spelled backwards = Desserts

Or is it Desserts spelled backwards = Stressed? Either way, that statement is true. I think I took my "carbing up" for the ole' diet this weekend a bit too far. As I am sitting here now, typing my blog, I keep thinking to myself: "Get up. Get on the treadmill. You will feel so much better." However, here I sit. Doing nothing, except wishing I could take a nap. Just a nice, little siesta is all I need. 

Why am I so freaking sleepy? Seriously. Just because I noshed on onion burgers, popcorn, ice cream, and chicken alfredo (all yesterday) doesn't mean I should be zonked out all day, does it? 

I'm telling you.....I take this carbing up thing seriously. 

I think I need chocolate. Pronto.

Pronto? As in Pronto Pup? 

Peace! 

                   

Friday's Letters

Dear Work: You seriously sucked this week. And thanks to the powers that be that took our working from home rights away. Sorry for caring about our workload! 


Dear Attitude: I love you when you come out all snarky-like, but apparently the "supervisor" doesn't. Let's try to keep it on the D.L. because you may have pushed some buttons today. (Good girl!)


Dear Color Me Rad Race: Finally you are close enough to cause excitement! I'm so anxious to be showered with colors, while laughing and running! 


Dear Boot Camp: You are a new little thing to our town and you are offering a warm welcome. Maybe - just maybe I shall try you out. 


Dear Tyler - I hope you don't forget who your parents are. Life without you is becoming more and more normal. I don't think I like that. 


Dear Pool: Sorry I neglected you this week, because now it looks like I could have enjoyed you this weekend. 

It's Okay Thursday

Linking up with Neely today for It's okay Thursday

It's okay....

....that I sleep with a flashlight when I am home alone. (huge flashlight) It's my weapon just in case I need to kill beat the living s***t out of anyone who happens to intrude in the middle of the night. 

....that I haven't gotten hardly any sleep since Sunday. (Really, it's not okay, but it is what it is)

....that I am writing this blog on Wednesday (not Thursday) at 4:30a.m. (see above)

....that I am super-duper excited for Big Brother tonight.

....that I am even more excited for RHOC Reunion Part #2 on Monday.


....to be super Thankful that the race on Saturday is "just for fun". I'm not ready to compete against my own time, even if I have running with my daughter as an excuse to go extra slow. 


....to know that some of you are thinking my flashlight is not really a flashlight. Pervs. I promise it is. I know what you are thinking. I have been to those parties before..=)

....that I may have thrown a 2 year old-like small tantrum last night when I thought I was denied access to work from home via my laptop. I was denied access, but for other reasons then what I thought. Gah! I freak out way too easily sometimes. 


....that I haven't cooked dinner since Sunday night. Maybe I will tonight. Maybe.

What I'm Loving Wednesday....

Linking up with Little Daisy May for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that my eyelids are so heavy right now, I hope I can sleep like a baby tonight! 

I'm loving that my daughter and I (along with my friend, Lauren, and her friend, Michelle) are running in the Color Me Rad race on Saturday.  Hope to get some photos for you!

I'm loving the rain we have gotten this week! It has been amazing! 

I'm loving this song:

I'm loving this line from RHOC Reunion Part 1:

Go Heather!! 

Decisions, Decisions.

If you have been reading my blog this week, you will know that I have disclosed some pretty raw emotions up in here. 

After writing about our story of Jason, I was questioning my honesty. Was I too bold? I don't intend to scare anyone off, but I intend to be real, honest & open. 

Am I right to be angry? Yes. Am I right to be sad? Yes. Am I right to have all of the emotions intermingling through me during this whole situation? Yes. Why? Because I am living it. This situation is super abnormal in so many ways.

Here's my beef. I typically confide in the girls at the office for insight. Problem #1. One person doesn't have children, but has been married to a guy who had children. Of course, she has to be the most outspoken person and thinks she knows all there is to know about everything. I know this going into these conversations, but I take it. I do get a little bit defensive, because she has an "attack" tone to her, but I try to reason with her the best that I can. (drives me crazy!) 

Anywho, we are in a very rough position with Jason at this point. He has been "gone" for nearly 8 weeks, with no decision made as to whether he is coming back or staying with his family. 

I sent his mom a message via Facebook last night about our dentist appt next Thursday. Side note: We were kind enough to put braces in Jason's mouth 2 years ago, so he has to see the dentist once a month for new "whatever it is they do". End Side note. The rest of us happen to have our 6 month cleanings at the same time as his appt. next week, so I told his mom if that specific appt. didn't work for her and Jason to feel free and call the dentist and change it to whatever works for them. 

A few hours go by and she calls me. She said Thursday works for her and she will just plan on bringing Jason to our house on Sunday, so he can spend a few days with us before our appt. Thursday. "He really misses you guys. He really misses Tyler. We will be going to Blah Blah Blah Casino while he's with you and we will just get him sometime after his appt." I told her that Tyler was in Kansas right now and probably won't be home until after the dentist appt., so Jason probably won't want to come hang out without Tyler being here. She agreed and said she would just bring him Wednesday or Thursday, or whatever she said. I don't really know....I think I was still in shock. Who does this?!?!? Really.

I immediately called Scott as I wanted to hear his response. He pretty much had the same response as me...."Wow". We continued to discuss this "unknown" rut we have been in with Jason and all of these scenarios. We love him, he has been apart of our world for 5 years, but he comes with a lot of baggage. (I hate using baggage, because it sounds like such a bad thing). Well in this case, it kind of is. It's not his fault. I don't blame him, but I don't know what we are supposed to do. 

His brother is currently in jail. His daddy has spent most of the last 5 years in jail, and his mama should be in jail. They are trouble. Walking, drinking, trouble. We want Jason to love his parents, no matter what and have told that to him over and over again for the past 5 years. Love your parents. No matter what happens, love your parents. 

They are toxic. All of them. It is completely disturbing, but that is just my opinion.

Back to my point....I mentioned this phone call I had with Jason's mom to the girls at work. Of course, they are all opinionated and told me what we are doing wrong and how we shouldn't let this be Jason's decision about whether he comes back or stays with his family. I get that. However, I don't want a child living with us against his will. He's 14. If he doesn't want to be here, I don't want him to be here, because he doesn't deserve to be miserable.  (Nor do we)

I did get some good out of opening myself up to the lady vultures at work. They agreed that we need to tell Jason's mom that if he wants to come back, we will take him back, but we will have legal, more permanent rights to him. No more mister nice guy. This is life and it's expensive and we don't have money trees in our backyard. We have spent more time, attention, and money on this child that doesn't belong to us, then we have our own kid. NOT. EVEN. EXAGGERATING.

We want the best for Jason and if he (they) thinks staying with his family is the best thing, then so be it. It's toxic and he will learn right from wrong the hard way, but he is aware of this. He knows how flighty his parents have been for the past 14 years of his life. He knows nothing will change.

We also know that when/if Jason comes back to our house, we are subjecting ourselves and our kids to all of this baggage I mentioned above. I'm not willing to sacrifice my kids anymore, for a child that doesn't belong to me. Call me mean, but it's the truth. I want "all or none". 

Here's our stance....if Jason is coming back, we want him by August 1st and legal papers in the works for custody. Period. 

Scott tried to contact Jason's mom tonight via phone to discuss our position, but they were in the middle of a water line crisis, but she promised to call back. We'll see. 

We have suspected by words dropped here and there, that they may just tell us that they want him to stay with them and the whole legal/custody convo doesn't need to happen. That makes things easy and nice. I'm hoping for easy and nice. I don't want to fight. I want to have this as peaceful as possible as there is a child involved....one we have grown to love as our own. 

I totally see what custody battles are like now. IT SUCKS.

Jason - The Story (Part 2)

Before Jason's mom left to go back home, she told us she would give us Jason's portion of the child support she receives from his dad. I told her that it wasn't about the money, but if she did that we would make sure that Jason got it and used it wisely. To this day...no money was received.

After realizing that Jason didn't have hardly anything to get him started in school, we took him shopping. I will never forget this face. His eyes full of excitement as he had never had brand new supplies before....at least in full packages. He had never had a backpack, new shoes, or new clothes.

When I grew up, that was our time to shop. Back to School shopping was a big deal. New supplies, new clothes, etc. I then made that a tradition for my kids. It was always a big deal to go school shopping, so I couldn't imagine how a child could do without. 


$500 later, Jason was ready for school. He was loaded with supplies, clothes, and love. The good thing for us is that the boys could share a lot of the same clothes, because they were similar in size for awhile. 


As the days and months went on, Jason was adapting well to our family, and our family to him. We hadn't told a lot of the extended family, because we weren't sure how long we would actually have him. When Christmas time rolled around, we took a family photo as we did every year, and sent it home to all of our loved ones. Of course, with most of them not knowing what was going on, we got questions and our parents got questions, but nobody thought anything of it. He was welcomed into our family with open arms, by everyone. 


Contact with Jason's family was pretty steady for the first little bit. They would ask to come get him for the weekend and they would bring him back as they said they would. As time went on, the visits happened less and less. Communication between us and the mom was infrequent. We wouldn't hear from her in months, only to find out later she had been in New Mexico, or in another town in Oklahoma. 


They didn't call on his birthday. They would take him for Christmas, but never did anything with him. It was sad.


Jason just molded into our family. We got stares for awhile and then we got used to it and everyone else did too. He became one of us, a Cunningham, and we grew to love him more and more each day. 


Of course we had our ups and downs, as all families do. We had our fights. We had our moments of him screaming "I don't want to live here anymore." We had our run ins with grades and homework...the whole thing. It is tough. As a parent, you try and do the best thing for your kids. Then you become new parents to a child who is 9 and have to adjust your lifestyle. Mistakes were bound to be made, and we made them. 


Jason soon became a needy kid. Not needy, as in needy like he was when he moved in with us, but needy as in he wanted the best of the best and we were expected to give it to him. And typically we did. We have always been very giving to our kids, and felt like Jason shouldn't be treated any differently. He was essentially our child too. Unfortunately, we kind of created a monster when this happened. We were constantly shelling out money for this, that, and the other. If Jason's friends had it, he wanted it. I'm all for buying nice things, but I expect respect in return. I expect decent grades, a good attitude, and effort. We were getting none of that in return.


Both of our kids are very easy going, as far as clothing, styles, etc. Tyler, our son, is the happiest kid in a pair of sweatpants. Jason - not so much. He has to be decked out in head to toe brand name, with the best of the best. We think it's because he didn't want his friends to know he came from a poor background and by covering up in brand name goodness, nobody will ever know. I get that, but we tried telling Jason that they aren't your real friends if they only like you for what you are wearing and not who you are. Jason doesn't understand that.....Jason wants to be accepted and brand names will get you accepted. 


Jason went from being an okay athlete to being a star soccer player. He is amazing on the soccer field. He is not amazing at school. It was a constant battle. He would simply tell us, "I didn't feel like doing it (his homework)." It was a constant battle. Day after day we would fight about his schoolwork and would even have to get his coaches involved for a little nudge. Jason is the type of kid that if he doesn't want to do something, he's not going to do it....even if he knows he has to do it. He doesn't care. It got to be so frustrating and tiring. We grounded him from video games, cell phones, soccer, Facebook, etc. It didn't matter. He wasn't going to do his homework on a consistent basis. We never understood how someone could have so much determination when it came to sports, but lacked all of that determination when it came to school. 


Here we are 5 years into this arrangement with Jason. He went with his family (for the first time ever) for the entire summer. We were a little worrisome at first as this has never happened before, but I think we were all ready for a break. He needed a break from us and we needed a break from him. Adding one child to your life, no matter at what age they appear, it changes the dynamics. Considerably. Jason was the one getting most of the attention at first, because he was going through a lot of emotional issues. 


Since Jason has been gone, we have felt more at peace. More relaxed and....happy. I love Jason, I really do. He is a 14 1/2 year old boy, who is currently free of adult supervision, and any rules that we would have had at our house. Do you know how hard that will be for us all to adjust to, should he come back in August? It will be like starting all over again. Going through the same emotional roller coaster we did 5 years ago, except now he is older, and he has learned how to manipulate the system.


We visited Jason a week or so after he went with his mom for the summer. We told him that if being with his family makes him happy, then he needs to stay. Jason needs to do what will make him happy, but right now after seeing all of the crazy activity on Facebook, I don't want it to be his choice. How do you tell a child who is wanted only when it's convenient for his parents, that his "other" family doesn't want him either. We do want him, though. We don't want the drama, the emotional roller coaster, the games, and the disrespect. And unfortunately, I don't know that I am ready to bring all that back into our family again. Our lives. Our house. 


If Jason's family would turn him over to us and give us all of the rights to him, I would take him in a heartbeat. The problem is, is when she does that, she will lose out on any child support his daddy is still paying to her. His daddy knows he has been with us, but he's been in and out of jail so much, that he hasn't attempted to contact Jason when he is with us. 


We would pursue adopting him on our own, but he's part Native American and we have heard that with us not being a single bit Indian, we won't have a chance in H$LL to win. We were hoping Jason would have just said "Hey I want to live with my mom right now" and that would have been great with us. I don't want to have to tell this kid basically that we don't want him. He's been told that his whole life. However, it is going to take a long time. A long time to undo everything they have done to him this summer. He has been running the streets, chatting with girls on Facebook/text, taking inappropriate pictures of himself and putting them on Facebook, etc. etc. We don't allow any of that. That is not how we let our children act, but how do you discipline a child who doesn't belong to you (technically)? 


We hope that one day, no matter what happens in the next few weeks, that Jason will look back on these 5 years and realize he had a good thing once upon a time. We showered him with everything we could possibly give him.  We hope that he knows right from wrong and will take something from our time with him and make his life better. I hope he doesn't end up in jail like his brother currently is, in and out of jail like his father has been, and running from warrants like his mother did. I want him to be happy, healthy, and give the world that same dimply, toothy smile we fell in love with.

Jason - The Story (Part 1)

Most of my readers don't know who I am. The only person (that I know of) that I actually "know" that reads this is my husband. I intended on doing this post yesterday, which would have lead up to today's events, but well, I didn't. So there. :0)

We moved to Oklahoma 9 years ago....June 3rd, 2003 to be exact. All due to my husband transferring through his job. It wasn't a necessary move, but we were young, naive, and had two small children (Great combination, right?), and thought - why not? I can find a job in Oklahoma, I could go to school in Oklahoma, etc. It ended up being the perfect time to make a transition as our kids hadn't started school yet. (Our son was just about enter into Kindergarten, so it all worked out.)

Fast forward to the Spring of that school year...around April/May 2004....Tyler's birthday is this time of year. we decided to do a party at the local Pizza Hut and then we invited a few of the boys over for a sleepover. (Boys don't call them slumber parties - ha!)

One of the boys didn't make it to the Pizza Party, but his mom called around 9:00p.m. and asked if he could still come over. I said sure...bring him on over. The party ended well and everyone went home early the next day, except for Jason. Jason stayed. It was into the evening on Sunday that we finally were able to get Jason home. 

From that point on Jason became a frequent visitor of our house. Every weekend he would call for Tyler, asking if he (Jason) could come over to our house. 

All of a sudden we stopped hearing from Jason. Jason had been transferred to a different school at the request of his parents, as they were going to hold him back in Kindergarten. We didn't hear from Jason for a year or two. 

Then one day Jason started calling again. Asking to come over. The weekends were always full of Jason. From Friday evening well into Sunday evening. His parents never checked up on him or anything. One Sunday evening we went to take him home and his parents weren't there. We had to take him home on Monday morning, before school, because his mom and dad never showed up. Never called. 

This became a pretty regular thing. Jason every weekend. Jason for a week at a time in the Summer. Jason this. Jason that. He was a great kid. He never caused us problems and he loved playing with our kids. He smiled and played and laughed.

Tyler and Jason decided to play youth football one summer. Practices everyday of the week and sometimes weekends. We had to pick Jason up and drop him off every day. One day I said to my husband, jokingly. "Maybe Jason should just live with us. He is here all of the time anyway." 

A few weeks later my husband was traveling out of town for work and I had to pick up Jason for football practice....alone. I was scared. His family lived a "rough" lifestyle in the "rough" part of town. I was just uneasy the entire time. I get to his house and open up the door for Jason and his football gear and his mom comes up to me and says "So I hear you want Jason to live with you." I said, "well, Scott and I were just joking about it, because Jason is at our house a lot. However, we do know that there is stuff going on at home with you and his dad...." She didn't hesitate for a second and said "I think it's a great idea, but my mom (Jason's grandmother), doesn't think it's such a good idea." I said "We would love for Jason to come stay with us." She said, "Great! I will bring his clothes over later this evening when you get home from football practice." 

A few hours later, she comes to our doorstep with her son and a plastic bag with his belongings inside. His belongings consisted of a pair of boxers, a pair of shorts, and a couple of shirts. The shoes he wore to our house weren't his and he had to give them back upon arriving at our house.

Mind you, we were two or three days away from school starting and this boy had nothing.....nothing to get him ready for school. No supplies, no clothes....nothing. Just a plastic bag with few belongings....and a toothy smile.

To be continued.......

Friday's Letters

Dear Work  - For the first time in a long time, I brought you home with me on the weekend. You're welcome. You better be nicer to me next week, or else. 3 new clients in one week is entirely absurd and completely unreasonable. Job Security? Yes. Insanity? Double Yes. (Guess you have to take the good with the bad, right?)


Dear Husband - I'm super bummed that not only do you have to leave for Texas on Sunday, but you have to go to training all day on Saturday in Tulsa. I know you can't help it, but it still sucks. I plan on using my time wisely and being super productive around the house. 


Dear Unfinished Projects - I am going to own you this weekend! Boom! Coupons, Recipe books, filing, laundry, etc. etc.


Dear Son - I miss you. I know you are having a great time in Kansas with the family and enjoying camping with Gpa and Gma H. this weekend, but I miss my baby boy. 


Dear Facebook "Online Garage Sale Site" - You are completely high maintenance, but I love you. I worked my arse off selling some of Little Miss Jayden's stuff. She appreciates the $80 I made her in two days, so she can buy herself a new pair of Miss Me Jeans, but you are completely exhausting. What do I get out of this?!?! 
(Readers: Go to Facebook right now and search for an online garage sale page for your community. It is the BEST THING EVER! (okay, maybe not the best thing ever, but you get my point.) I am selling items left and right. People buy the craziest stuff...it's almost comical to watch. The thing I love the most is you can charge above normal garage sale prices and PEOPLE PAY IT!!!)


Dear Running- I'm bbbbbaaaaaaaacccccckkkkkkkk! The 5k "for fun" run I did on 4th of July was pretty amazing! I did pretty well since I haven't ran in awhile. Maybe I will just enjoy a run tomorrow morning. And Sunday. And maybe Monday. It's therapy and I need all of the therapy I can get right now. 


Dear Big Brother- OMG! Only a few more days until your premiere. I am so.stinking.excited. Although, you demand so much time and attention by being on 3 days a week, you are well worth it.


Dear RHOC- the big reunion will be here on Tuesday. I am so ready to see Alexis and Vicki get a beat down by Heather, Gretchen, and Tamara!!!! 


Dear Followers: You are all precious! Thank you for following me. Thank you for your comments. If I don't currently follow you, I promise I will be soon! xoxoxo.


Have a fantabulous weekend, my lovely readers! 

It's Okay Thursday!

It's okay....

....that I have emails pouring in right now, but instead of working, I'm doing this post.

....that the hubby and I drank alcohol all afternoon (yesterday), while hanging out in the pool. (That's what happens when we are kid-free and have no plans on a Holiday!)

....that I am getting a little anxious that my husband is leaving town for work on Sunday and won't be home until the following Friday. This means me and the mini-me are home all week, by ourselves. I freak out, ya'll. FREAK OUT! I seriously think that someone is lurking around our house, waiting for him to leave, so they can kill us. (This scenario is entirely possible....I have crazy neighbors). 

....that I just bought myself a Canon DSLR and not have the slightest clue how to operate the dang thing. Maybe a Kodak Easy Share was just right for me! :0)

....that I haven't balanced my checkbook in weeks. 

....that even though today feels like Monday all over again, I am super excited tomorrow is Friday. This work week sucks.

....that I have let me diet go by the waste-side this week. Next week for sure..Promise!

Oh How Pinteresting.....4th of July Edition.

I love, love, love 4th of July. My hometown ALWAYS has a big to-do for the 4th.
This post is dedicated to all things patriotic since today is, well, the 4th of July! Enjoy!

I made this dessert Sunday evening....my star did not look this good!

My poor fruit tart. Not as pretty as the one above, eh? 

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!!