And we're off

This is my last day at home for a month - starting tomorrow I'll be living at a hotel in Walterboro, SC.  I'll be answering to a whole lot of attorneys who want everything one minute ago.  I'll be making sure everybody has what they need, when they need it, oh and read minds about what they really want, not what they ask for!  I've never been away from my family this long and I doubt I'll be able to come home until maybe the 2nd or 3rd weekend.  I know they will do just fine without me, but I can't help but feel a bit sad and distraught about Kyle starting 2nd grade while I'm away (school starts August 11...doesn't that seem crazy early?) and that David gets to do the back-to-school and school supply shopping.

BUT...I get to spend a month doing what I love, doing what I swear I was born to do.  Organize, orchestrate and handle anything that comes my way.  Anyway, I'll post if I can while I'm away, but while I'm away please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

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Psalm 121

15 minutes of Fame?

Andy Warhol, right?  That's who said we each get 15 minutes of fame?  Apparently I'm getting someone else's 15 minutes as well as my own.  I've been interviewed several times by newspapers in towns where I was living and I was recently interviewed by the Augusta paper regarding my reading and techno-based reading habits.  The reporter came across my reading list on GoodReads.com and sent me an email asking if she could interview me.  They had planned to include a picture from my book club, but we never ended up connecting on the photographer thing.  I had no idea when the piece was going to run and it had kind of slipped my mind until yesterday at work when people were talking to me about it and giving me a hard time.  So here's my 15 minutes of fame...again! 

Birthday Boy

He looks 7 doesn't he?  

My Heaven

I'm currently reading The Lovely Bones and it has me thinking a lot about "my heaven" and what it would be like. My heaven would be at the beach in a big open house with a wide balcony and airy, open rooms. And people, there would be people. Loads and loads of people eating, talking, playing games, running through the house on the way to the beach and napping lazily on the balcony. In this life I have missed out on having a big extended family that bickers and loves in the same breath. I would want that in my heaven. A sort of never-ending Norman Rockwell painting that I was a part of. Kite flying, sand castle building, dog walking and fire works...an eternal summer.

A new chapter

"Chapter 8, the adventure continues..." this is what Kyle said a little bit ago on our way home from his day camp.  We had just celebrated his 7th birthday (which is tomorrow) with his summer friends, a bunch of cupcakes, oodles of chips, and some drink pouches.  I mentioned on the way home that it was the last time he would go to Sunshine House as a six-year-old and of course Kyle who always thinks of things in terms of books and adventure realized he was starting a new chapter in his own life.  So far I think his book is a best seller!  Not a day goes by when that kid doesn't say or do something that either makes me laugh like a loon or stare at him in amazement.  

Seven seems like a magic age, a time when he's on the cusp of turning into a bit of a gangly, big-toothed kid but for the moment he's all glowing skin, lovely eyes and never-ending imagination.  Our friend Reid had is golden birthday at age seven.  In case you're unfamiliar with the golden birthday it's the year your age matches the day of your birth.  So I had my golden birthday at age eight since I was born on April 8.  Of course Kyle will have to wait for his golden birthday until he's 28!  

We're celebrating his birthday with Kyle's grandparents and a fun-filled day tomorrow.  A coffee house breakfast followed by the present opening at our house.  Lunch at home followed by Wall-E the new Pixar movie.  For dinner Kyle wants Pizza Joint pizza, root beer floats for dessert and sparklers after dark.  I think we'll all be exhausted!!!

Updates

So lots of people have been asking how the carpool thing is going.  So far, so good.  This week is pretty much a zero carpool week as I was out of town yesterday and David is out of town until Thursday...BUT I can already see a bit of difference in our budget and a huge reduction in my post-work cell phone usage!  LOL.

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It has been so hot here lately - over 100 for day after day after day.  It just seems too early for all this heat and humidity.  The heat here can be just as crippling as the cold and snow in Nebraska were - you get worn out just going out to the car, cooling it down, and then getting out and starting all over again later.  Thank goodness for air conditioning!

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Kyle's alien picture was chosen for a student art display at the Morris Museum of Art!  We are very excited.  The show is supposed to start in August and run for eight weeks so I'll let you know how it goes.

Tooth Man

Kyle has now lost his top front teeth - a sight that still makes me giggle.  He just cracks me up with this little toothless grin.  At dinner tonight I was telling him about the song "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" and he immediately took to the song giving it his typical Kyle twist.  It ended up sounding more like a rock song.  During his shower he continued to sing about teeth, the lyrics went something like this (sung loosely to the tune of "Bad to the Bone"...whatever): "I went to the store to buy some teeth.  I went to Dollar Tree and went to the tooth aisle, but all they had was molars.  I went to Dollar General but they had incisors, I said no, I need front teeth.  Give me some teeth...give me some teeth."  Man I wish I had my video camera going at that moment.  However tomorrow I'll see if he'll let me video him doing the Christmas song!