A rough couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have held more than I can handle.

• A close family friend from my childhood committed suicide. I can't believe she is gone. She was a good Mom and I feel awful for her children and grandchildren.
• My grandmother had a heart attack. She is ok now, but will have to have stints put in. Disturbingly, she does not remember how she got home from the hospital. My uncle came home from work and found her there. She has the uncanny ability to fool those who do not know her that she is of sound mind...those of us that know her can tell when she is confused.
• My mother is having surgery today and I cannot be there with her. To top it off she is concerned about how fast she will recover so she can take care of things with my grandmother.

Prayers would be greatly appreciated...

Friday Five - Summer Reading

As posted by Songbird:
Back in the day, before I went to seminary, I worked in the Children's Room at the Public Library, and every year we geared up for Summer Reading. Children would come in and record the books read over the summer, and the season included numerous special and celebratory events. As a lifelong book lover and enthusiastic summer reader, I find I still accumulate a pile of books for the summer.This week, then, a Summer Reading Friday Five.
1) Do you think of summer as a particularly good season for reading? Why or why not? Yes, I always joined the library's summer reading program when I was a child, and I still associate summer with lots of reading. (and I make my kids sign up for the summer reading program at the library too)
2) Have you ever fallen asleep reading on the beach? On the beach? Nope...on the couch...all the time.
3) Can you recall a favorite childhood book read in the summertime? Nancy Drew mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries, Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (and other Judy Blume books)...too many books to list...
4) Do you have a favorite genre for light or relaxing reading?Mysteries
5) What is the next book on your reading list? Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini, Reservations for Murder by Tim Myers...

Happy Reading Everyone!!

About Me...

I was tagged by Iris for this one so here goes...

Ten Years Ago...
I was a junior in college majoring in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology and a minor in history. (I am still 4 classes away from finishing my degree...) I was dating the man who became my husband 1 year later.

Five Things on Today's "TO DO" List...
1.Work
2.laundry
3.dishes
4.take some time to sit and read
5.try to figure out a way to pay for the new roof we are going to need soon...

Three Bad Habits...
1.I drink way too much Coke/Dr.Pepper
2.I worry alot
3.buying craft supplies when I have tons that haven't been touched yet at home.

Five Places I've lived... (I only have 3)
1.small suburb on the Lake, Ohio
2.smaller village next to small suburb on the lake, Ohio (This was my grandpa's home which we moved into after his death...my mom grew up in this home...they had to sell it a few years ago and it still breaks my heart)
3.suburb 5 minutes from small suburb on the lake, and small village, Ohio.

Five Jobs I've had
1.customer service/cashier
2.Cook at a hot wing restaurant
3.Associate at a Hallmark store
4. Inside sales/purchasing/office manager/customer service at current job
5.MOM/WIFE/FRIEND - the jobs I value most

That was fun...If you haven't played already I tag You!!

Thankful...

I think its time for a Thankful list...

• watching my daughter play softball...and seeing how much she has grown as a player since last season.
• 13 more school days until summer vacation for the kids
• my new bookshelf
• cozy mysteries
• long phone calls with my Mom who is also one of my best friends
• decluttering the house
• forthcoming long weekend with my husband
• watching my kids sleep
• new friends for both my children...
• Ice cream after softball...at the same stand my Dad went to as a child.
• Revgals
• coffee

bonus cute thing that happened yesterday...daughter came home from school with a piece of construction paper in her back pack on which she had written..."you are invited to a pool party at A>>>> house on June 20" and she had listed about 20 kids names on it...there's only one problem with that...we don't have a pool. :)

Nightmare

***Sorry I haven't posted in so long ***

I had vivid nightmares last night. In all of them I was running and trying to escape something.
This is the one I remember the most...I was sitting in a church with my kids waiting for the service to start when all of a sudden I felt terrified. Then the doors to the church burst open and "something" evil came in ( I cannot be more descriptive because I don't remember if I actually saw this thing or just knew it was there)...All that I do know is that it was urgent that my kids and I get out and hide now...I grabbed their hands and ran and ran down a maze of hallways to get to the exit. When we got there I pushed the doors open only to find another set of doors, and another, and another, until finally we were outside and able to hide...then I woke up...
I don't know if it has any meaning, but I do know that has left me with a jumpy, anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach...

Digging out

Sorry its been so long since I've posted. I don't have a good excuse, life has just been kind of blah lately....
We got hit with a huge snowstorm this weekend...the kid in me still finds this stuff fun... in the backyard the snow is almost 3 feet deep in most areas...it was great fun to see the dog's reaction the first time we let him out in it...yesterday we took the kids sledding...it was so much fun and they made a new friends at the sledding hill too...
Everyone else is complaining about the huge amount of snow we got, but I am choosing to delight in it instead...for now...of course I'm hoping the warmer weather is just around the corner.

Quick Update...

Sorry I haven't posted lately, life has been keeping me busy. Husband started getting sick about two weeks ago and wasn't getting any better...finally went to the doctor last Saturday and found out he has pneumonia... He is still weak and pretty sick (lost over 20 pounds in 2 weeks) but slowly getting better. The rest of us are sick too, to a lesser extent. Bad colds but nothing like he's been going through. The thing we are grateful for is that because he has had time scheduled off for the holidays he has only missed 2 days of work with this...that is a major blessing...
We are trying to stay positive even though Christmas was not what we had imagined and are looking forward to the new year. Another good thing is lots of time spent as a family hanging out and watching cartoons and occasionally (when we could muster up some energy) playing with the Wii that Santa brought...Hope everyone is having a good New Year.