Spook-a-Ree

Kyle had his first cub scout camping event this weekend...except we skipped the crammed in a tent, sleeping on a half-full air mattress, walking to the outhouse in the middle of the night part of the camping! We did, on the other hand, take full advantage of the cool air, BB gun shooting, campfire making, s'more eating part! I loved it...I loved seeing the boys going full on into the fresh air, loved seeing Kyle take his first shots with a BB gun and a bow and arrow. I had a few meltdown moments when Kyle would get into a tangle with another boy over a STICK (for goodness sake, the forest of full of them...what's so special about that one?!?!?) but all in all, I was crazy about the whole day! At one point I found myself watching all those boys gathered around the still unlit campfire (they wanted to light it at like 2:30 in the afternoon) and they were all tired and dirty, but they were quietly talking amongst themselves and there was just this glow around them...a happy moment that no camera would ever catch and I was just thankful to have at least caught a glimpse of the glow.

Thank you all for your concern over the state of David's company and the possibility of another move, but for now, it all seems to be okay. We're going to go forward with our lives in Augusta and know that when the time comes for whatever is next for us, we'll be ready!

Oh heavens...

The company David works for announced today that they have sold off all of their smaller newspapers...Grand Island, Nebraska; Winter Haven, Florida; Shawnee, Oklahoma...and about 15 others. This will make for an interesting day for David at work tomorrow because fewer newspapers means fewer technology issues, etc. Plus, we still have friends in Grand Island who are probably concerned for their jobs. What's funny is I mentally started making a checklist of things I would need to do to put the house on the market. Apparently I anticipate moving to a new town...again! LOL. Oh well.

On a sweeter note - a while back Kyle was doing his usual stall tactics at bedtime, asking for extra kisses, needing drinks, etc. I was heading downstairs when he asked me to sit on the steps. Oh fine. So I sit down and he sits next to me, puts his arm around me and says, "Mom, you've been my mom for a long time now and I just wanted to tell you you're doing a great job!" Sniff!

Anniversary

Today is our anniversary (11 years!) and we celebrated with a romantic dinner of grilled cheese! Actually, our sitter Rosa is coming tomorrow so we can have our date and really, Rosa coming is like a date for Kyle. She indulges his funny desires to spread quilts all over the floor and watch movies David and I hate to watch (such as "Agent Cody Banks") and they always have popcorn and soda.

Honestly, it doesn't feel like 11 years - a lot has happened in these 11 years, but it feels a bit like the blink of an eye. We had a bit of "baggage" that came into the marriage with us, so I have a feeling most of my friends and family had written David's name into their address books in pencil! Ha!

Let's see...1996:

David and I bought our first house together in July 1996 in Grand Island, Nebraska and then got married at the Roger's House B&B in Lincoln on October 19...I started rehearsals for a play the next day in Grand Island...so much for a honeymoon! David's son Tony was 7 at the time and brought me to tears the day after we were married when he said "I can call you mom now." Although I love being is other mother, I miss the days when Tony called me "Loria" And just to put that "blink of an eye" thing in perspective, Tony is now a senior in high school! Anyway, we did get a honeymoon, in January...with David's whole family at Disney World. I remember not wanting to go because Angela was so close to having her baby - thank goodness Larissa arrived on January 1...a day before we left!

Now...2007:

Living in Augusta, Georgia (who could have predicted that?) in a great house with a wildly adorable six year old. I haven't done a play since that one in 1996 and I really miss it. I think it's time to start looking at getting back on the stage now that David's traveling a lot less and I'm starting to feel more comfortable about Augusta. That adorable New Year baby Larissa will be 11 this January and has an equally adorable sister, Zoe.

I'm going to have to think about something exciting from each year between 1996 and now and maybe do another post with highlights of the past 11 years!

Greenville

I tried to add this to the "Greener in Greenville" post but for some reason it wouldn't work...anyway, here you go! Click on the picture and you'll get a much better view!

Greener in Greenville...

This weekend we wandered up to Greenville, South Carolina. It's about two hours north of here and you can see the outline of the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance. It was one of those perfect fall weekends...cool, but not too cool, sunny and low humidity. And it turned out to be the "Fall for Greenville" fall festival...which mostly was a "taste of" kind of thing with lots and lots of booths selling food. Greenville has this amazing river walk with a cantilevered bridge and waterfall that's just gorgeous considering it's right in the middle of downtown. Kyle was in heaven with rocks to climb and water to splash in - plus the added bonus of hotel living! I even enjoyed the small town highway travel and found myself drawn to learn more about Ninety Six, South Carolina - which we passed in Greenwood county. I mean who names a town after a number???? As it turns out it was mistakenly thought to be 96 miles from the the nearest Cherokee Indian settlement...a miscalculation, but the name stuck. I would tell you more about what I learned on wikipedia.com, but you can look it up yourself!

Hope you have a great week!

Conversation

Discussions in my office are at times mundane and other days lively crazy things - a winding stream of thoughts tumbling over and around each other. This being the south, politics and religion are not considered "polite" conversation so every day is a guessing game as to what the general topic might be. Today, interestingly enough, it was famous people with good and bad cosmetic surgery. It's just so funny to see these well-dressed highly-educated men getting all worked up over whether or not Demi Moore has had "work" done. We also meandered into a discussion on blood types and it's weird how many people don't actually know what their blood type is! Doesn't that seem like something you would want to know in advance of an emergency??? I think these conversations can be great equalizers though - they put lawyers and support staff on the same level and we end up learning interesting tidbits that make us all seem a bit more human...less like worker bees.

It's really not much of a secret that I'm a talker (oh hush up!) but I also think I'm a good listener...an active listener. I'm always frustrated by people who don't make those appropriate "I'm listening" noises like "uh huh" and "really"...you know the type. They just stand there staring while you talk and pretty soon you start to feel like you're just one huge run-on sentence...get embarrassed and clam up. I like people who nod along, murmur quiet agreement (and yes, sometimes disagreement) or say "mmm hmm" at the right times. They make it easier to get to the point.

I have this coworker who is a born storyteller. She can weave the greatest tales out of a simple trip to the grocery store. She doesn't get emotional and wave her hands all around (uh...no...that' me) but she has a way of just drawing you into her conversation until pretty soon there's this little crowd gathered around nodding along to some story about frozen waffles like it was some great secret. Now that's a gift!

Monday Musings on Television

I'm watching "Dancing with the Stars" - it's my first time, ever. Lots of my friends and co-workers watch it and my parents won't miss it so I figured "what the heck" and decided to give it a try. So far, it's not too bad - tonight they can either dance the tango or the jive. I love the tango so I'm partial to the couples who choose it for their dance. Anyway, I don't know if I'll watch again, but we'll see. (By the way, I just watched Wayne Newton tango...and boy, does he suck!)

Let's see, what other shows do I love?

Desperate Housewives
Two and a Half Men
House
My Name is Earl
The Office
CSI (the original Las Vegas one)

Plus I love a bunch of shows on HGTV and Flip This House on A&E.

I know there are lots of people who "never" watch television or who SAY they don't watch television, but I've always loved tv. It's not the end all be all of my life and I certainly appreciate the silence when it's off, but it's good company sometimes that's for sure! Uh, but I don't watch the news. I mean I might flip to CNN if something is happening that's of some import, but for the most part I just never watch or read the news. I just read that again and boy, it makes me seem a bit "fluffy" doesn't it? I really stopped watching the news when we moved to Augusta - local news doesn't start until 11:00pm and heck, by that time I've been in bed for an hour! The 6:00 news doesn't fit into our family's evening routine and honestly, I don't care that much about what's happening in Augusta. I just don't think of it as our "home" very often. It's just kind of the place we live.

Oh and I seem to watch a lot of stuff on History and Discovery channels, too - not by choice. They just seem to be David's channels of choice!!!!

Thanks, I needed that!

I went to Nebraska last week and boy, was it great! It had been a year since I had seen my parents and since that time they had sold the home they had lived in for the past 14 years at the lake and moved into town - something I was really happy about. They lost power for multiple days at least three times last winter and all their immediate neighbors move into town for the winter so there wasn't anyone close by. The new place is a nice three bedroom close to all sorts of stuff and hurray, they got rid of the twin beds that had been parked in the guest bedroom forever and bought a lovely new queen size that is just heavenly! I always approach visits with my parents with both a sense of excitement and dread...I get along famously with my mother, but my dad is something else. We are just too alike to do well together over long periods of time. Stubborn, a bit mouthy...my poor mother has spent the last 40 years as a buffer between us! Anyway, this time it was different. I'm not saying I didn't mutter some choice things under my breath, but I was happy to be there and enjoyed their company. Plus, I got to spend lots and lots of time with Angela doing...well...just stuff. We went out to eat, went shopping, observed an interesting open mic night at the used bookstore...just stuff. I came home relaxed and happy!

Actually, I LEFT relaxed and happy, too! The day before I left for Nebraska I spent the day in Atlanta with my friend Carol who was there for a trade show and she invited me to join her for the various events and an awesome evening at The Four Seasons. Oh yes, I could get used to high-quality hotel life! The beds were heavenly and the shower - oh that gorgeous shower...with amazing French bath products. Whoever invented the in-room mini bar...my hat is off to you! Oh and room service...eggs benedict tastes ever-so-much better when it's enjoyed in a fluffy Four Seasons bathrobe,followed by coffee on the terrace! Yep - I'm thinking the Holiday Inn Express is most assuredly going to seem a bit too pedestrian for me now!

David and Kyle survived my absence just fine. The house was probably a little tidier than when I left it and they did a lot of fun stuff...in fact even now Kyle still pipes up with little tidbits about the stuff he and daddy did while I was gone.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the tooth fairy's going rate is $2 per tooth now. Kyle lost his first tooth on Monday night (thanks for waiting until I got home!) and was ecstatic to learn that this little venture was going to make him rich, rich, rich. He was asking me to count all his teeth and multiply it by $2...my little entrepreneuer!