Really Cool Weekend!

My group of friends from high school - we're still causing trouble to this day <3

From left to right: me (pink hair lol), my son in front of me, my friend Jessica's daughter next to my son, Jill, Erin (yellow scarf), Lauren, Lena (back), Morgan (green hoodie), Jessica (back), and Sarah (blue shirt) 

We're missing Katie and Jami. Katie wasn't able to come up from Texas to join us. Friday was her birthday, too, so we toasted her at the bar after the football game. (The kids were dropped off at home before the bar, lmao!!) 

First, we met up at our local Mexican restaurant, La Palma.

 

Lena & Sarah <3

Then off to the football game at our old high school! 

Something must have been super funny to me & Jill lol 

Jill, Lena, & Sarah @ the game 

Lauren & Lena, sisters who actually get along ;D 

I'm in the background pretending I'm not there, lol 

Lauren, Me, & Lena 

The UHS Marching Band's Senior Show 

Ah, the memories! 

Jessica <3

Jack & me at the football game

Doesn't look like much to anyone who wasn't part of our group. ;) 

However, this was THE spot we hung out at during lunch before we got our driver's licenses. We stayed warm here in the winter, too. Our school was soooo drafty!

So after the game and the kiddos were dropped off, we all went out together to the bar and had a blast. I really miss our group - we've all gone off in different directions and most of us have moved away except me and Jessica. But we all still stay in touch regularly and having graduated high school fourteen years ago (omigod!!) that's pretty damn good. 

It's my dream one day to have a picture of all of us and our kids. That's my goal.

It'll be a challenge - Lauren, Lena, and Morgan live in Austin, Sarah lives an hour away, Erin lives an hour away, Jill will be moving back to New York, so...that's why this weekend was so special to me. It's so rare so many of us can get together at one time. 

How was your weekend guys??

*Edit: All photos (except the selfie of me and Jack) taken by Morgan Colbert. Click here to check out her insanely awesome photography skills on Instagram. She's extremely modest, but the girl's got skills. :D *  

Think Out Loud #19 ~ Double Date

Have something you'd like to get off your chest? Want to talk about anything? Join this meme hosted by Thinks Books ! Get to know your fellow bloggers outside the bookish realm. Click here for the 411. The posts go up every Thursday or whenever you'd like. :D

~ The Sad Anniversary ~ 

Last Thursday marked two important events in my life - one happy, one sad. On August 8, 1995, eighteen years ago, I lost my mom to brain cancer. She had just turned forty in June. I had maybe three weeks until my first day of high school as a freshman; my sister was going into fourth grade. My dad had a week until he turned forty. 

I list all of those numbers because I think it makes a huge point - that we were all too young to deal with the disease that was thrust into our lives. My mom was way too young to die. My dad was way too young to be a widow. My sister was way too young to remember our mom, and she barely has any memories of her. I was way too young to lose my mom right when I was on the threshold of needing her more than ever. 

Early that morning, a severe thunderstorm blew through, hitting my dad's CB tower, and a hole ended up being burned into our carpet. When the storm lifted, my dad, sister, and I spent the morning picking up pieces of the fiberglass that had been blown around the yard. I went inside afterward and took a nap on the couch. My mom was lying comatose in a hospital bed in our living room, an oxygen machine breathing for her. 

That machine lulled me to sleep most nights, except for the times I'd run out into the living room at all hours of the night to make sure she was okay and still alive. I didn't want her to die alone while we were all asleep. Eventually, I just started sleeping on the couch in the living room with her so I wouldn't have to keep getting out of bed. 

While I was napping on the couch, I had a dream that she died and that I called my friend, Brandi, telling her I had a dream my mom died. I woke up, and the very first thing I did was look at the clock which read 11:45 AM. I glanced over at my mom, and I knew she was gone and that maybe my dream was her way of preparing me for the inevitable. 

I never mentioned the time or the dream to anyone until well after the funeral. Then I saw it. In her obituary, the time of death was listed as 11:45 AM. I was so shocked, I had a hard time breathing, and my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest. That couldn't be a coincidence, and so to this day, I believe my mom and I were so connected that she knew her death was going to hit me so hard and wanted to prepare me. To this day she still visits my dreams once in a while and gives me advice, which I always take because I know she's always right. 

~ The Happy Anniversary ~ 

On the flip side, the same day also happens to be the day me and my husband's relationship became official when we began dating. We've been together for twelve years now. Our wedding anniversary is coming up on September 14th - we'll have been married for six of those twelve loooong years, lol. ;D My husband doesn't count the August anniversary since we're married, and he says that is the real anniversary. My opinion is that if there hadn't been an anniversary in August, there most likely wouldn't have been a wedding. Duh! On our tenth anniversary, I guilted him into going on a trip, and we chose Vegas. 

So, twelve years, two kids, and three pets later, we're still together. We've traveled over some rocky roads, we've sailed along smoothly at times, and other days are just ordinary ones. 

Now we're getting ready to move on to another stage - we want to sell our house and buy a bigger one. That means we need to get our house ready in the hopes that someone will buy it, and then when we find a sucker home buyer, we can start looking at houses seriously. The bad thing is that the other day we found a few houses we loved only to find out we can't let my sister rent our house. We're actually gonna have to sell it, and who knows how freaking long that's gonna take.

We just want a family room and a basement basically. We're all living on top of each other. There just isn't any room. The way our house is set up is basically like an apartment - we have no dining room, and the kitchen and living room are pretty much the same room. It's crazy. So yeah, we're hoping to move sometime this century. :D  

when did the word "scary" become scary?

There comes a time in every parent's life when you can no longer say the word "scary" without your two-year-old son climbing into your lap, telling you he's scared.

Nah, I'm just kidding! I don't know what I'm talking about. :D While I doubt this happens to every parent, what I don't doubt is that my son becomes slightly afraid when I say something like, "I'm afraid I'll forget to turn in our library books," or "I'm scared I'll forget to do...". Just fill in the blanks with whatever the average person might forget. And since my examples both involve forgetfulness, you can bet I'm a very forgetful person!

My son just recently began saying he's scared or afraid when these two words are used in any context, and he doesn't do this with just me. He does this with all of our family and friends. If someone laughs loudly and suddenly, he claims to be startled by saying, "That scared me." I'm hoping this is a phase he'll grow out of since I don't want him to be afraid of everything, especially the word itself!

He is also now "killing the monsters" that purportedly live in his room. He grabs whatever "weapon" is available, whether it's his lightsaber, sword, various toy guns, etc., and proceeds to attack them--very noisily I might add. I read somewhere that if your child is afraid of monsters, rather than trying to convince your child there are no such things as monsters and that there's nothing to be afraid of, you should ask your child to describe what the monsters look like and then "attack" them with your child. I believe the author advised this strategy to conquer the fear instead of "discounting" it. If your child has this fear or any fear, rationalizing with them probably won't work. Fears aren't usually all that rational. Many times fearful thoughts are worse than what's actually coming up ahead.

I'll try to find the article and post a link for anyone who's interested!

It's interesting my son is already doing this himself. I must admit, I did tell him there are no monsters at first because it was my instinct to do so. We've talked about them many times, and I ask him questions to see if he will describe what they look like to him or not. Or I'll describe them myself and pretend I'm having a conversation with one, assuring my son they're friendly. This seems to be working, since he is now attacking them to keep himself and mommy safe! :D