No More Elementary School…

Well, it’s official. School is out and Tyler successfully completed the 5th grade. We attended the 5th Grade Recognition Ceremony this morning. The kids sang two songs, the principal spoke, the teachers handed out “Candy” awards and then they were each presented with their Certificates of Completion and Report Cards. Tyler had prepared me ahead of time for the songs, telling me they were meant to make the moms cry. I did my best, but my eyes did get a bit watery. Tyler’s candy award was Rolos, because he rolls with the punches. His cousin, Ashleigh, received gummy worms for being a great reader (book worm). There were lots of different awards. Tyler said he was surprised by his, but really liked the Rolos.

This means both boys will be at the Middle School next year; Blake as an 8th grader and Tyler as a 6th grader.

Wow! Where has the time gone? I remember when I was much younger, my grandmother would tell me to slow down and not be in such a hurry to grow up. She told me time would start moving faster the older I got. And she was soooooo right!

I’m looking forward to this summer. We haven’t loaded the calendar quite as full as in summers past. I’m looking forward to a slower paced summer. I’m sure the boys will find ways to fill it with swimming, friends and other activities… but I see plenty of family time and play time in our future.

Happy Summer Break!

Congratulations to all the Graduates!!!

Water Update

Turns out the water damage was minor. Luckily it was caught quickly! The carpet guys are supposed to be at the house today to put down new padding, then the carpet will be stretched, cleaned and fluffed! So now the carpet will be extra, extra clean! Mom says the house looks and smells good and the insurance adjuster said there's no drywall or wood damage. Yippeee!!!

A special "Thank You!" to my neighbor, Ms. Cynthia, for calling the realtor when she saw the water!!! Another special "Thank You!" to our Realtor, Diane, for jumping on the ball and getting people out to the house pronto! And a big "Thank You!" to my mom and brother-in-law, Jason, for going out to meet the adjuster at the house! Everyone's help was and is greatly appreciated. It made a stressful, long-distance situation a lot easier to handle!

Water

My realtor called me this morning. I was very excited to see her name pop up on caller id, but I knew within seconds it wasn't an offer call. Turns out my neighbor called her to let her know there was water coming out of our garage. Our realtor was hopeful it would be the hot water heater... that would be an easy fix. Unfortunately, it was not the water heater, it was the supply line to our hall bathroom on the opposite side of the house. My brain kind of got fuzzy at that point. This is the second time we've lived this scenario... house sitting empty for sale and experience internal flooding... all I good do was laugh! So, the water's been turned off, A/C's turned off, carpet guys been called and Steve's contacted our insurance company. I'm just going to continue laughing for now and try to finish a presentation.

Ahhhhh... I keep hearing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" in my head... :)

No Offer

Well… it just wasn’t meant to be. The idea of an offer on my birthday was fabulous! The idea alone made my birthday that much more exciting. But, no offer was presented. Turns out the realtor got ahead of himself. The husband was prepared to make an offer, but the wife didn’t want to live in that particular neighborhood.

Oh well… It’s all good! I know the right offer will come at the right time. And I still had a fabulous birthday!

Birthdays and House Offers

Okay… I called our Realtor in Oklahoma this morning to check in and see if there was any new movement/news on the house. I’ve been doing this every couple of weeks. Turns out she'd just received a phone call letting her know she'd be receiving an offer on our house this afternoon! She didn't want to call us until she had the offer in hand. She didn’t want to get our hopes up and said there have been a lot of low-ball offers coming in due to the market.

As soon as I heard the word offer I got goose bumps and tears in my eyes. I said "Diane, do you know what today is?" "It's my birthday!"



What a birthday present!!!

Everyone say a little prayer, cross your fingers, think happy thoughts...

"Thank You"

It's amazing how good a "Thank You" can sound!


It's the little things, you know?!

My oldest son thanked me this morning, without prompting even. I hadn't done anything overly remarkable, I simply handed him something he hadn't asked for and I wasn't sure if he'd even want it or take it. The graditude was quite unexpected and it's made my whole day. Manners these days can be very touch and go... It's almost like starting from scratch at times. But not today. Today he said "Thank You" and even flashed me a smile!



If I haven't told you "Thank You"... well... Thank You!

Thank you for reading... for caring... for commenting... for calling... for advising... Thank You! :)

Eyebrows...

It’s an interesting feature - eyebrows. They can really affect the way a person looks, how a person’s emotions and reactions are perceived. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some people let them grow freely, some keep them neat and trim, some wax, some pluck, some change the color, some draw them on and some even get eyebrow tattoos!

I’ve always had decent eyebrows. Fairly low maintenance, good color and they seem to work well with my eyes and face… but as I get older they continue to grow in various directions; up, out, under… it’s led to a necessary relationship with an eyebrow wax professional.

This past weekend I was severely overdue with no appointment and my eyebrow professional had no availability. I’d plucked and snipped but there was no getting around it, I needed help. I probably could have waited another couple of days, but it was making me crazy! So I packed myself up and headed out to try someone new.

I explained I didn’t like them too thin or too short. I even demonstrated the desired look. Explained I really just needed help cleaning them up a bit. Well… she cleaned them up alright!

Take a standard size post-it note and fold it in half. The short side is the current length of my eyebrows. You may think it’s not that bad and I’ve seen other women with similar eyebrows, but I look absolutely ridiculous!!! Right at the point where my eyebrows should start to arc back down - they stop. It's to the point I’m considering purchasing some fake brows to paste along with the ones I’ve still got. And don’t suggest adding to them with a brow pencil! Penciling in the part that’s missing looks worse than leaving them as they are!

I know they’ll grow back eventually. Can I just tell you, I literally jump every time I see myself in the mirror. Maybe it's time to cut some long bangs or something!

Wow! All this from eyebrows…