...and two become three!

Ok, so after much anticipation and lots of wanting and wishing and hoping...we've added to our family. I had the opportunity to make two into three and couldn't pass it up! Our little man is six weeks old and doesn't even weigh two pounds yet. I just love him and am so thrilled to have him. The nights are long and I'm so glad Mark's at home to watch over him during the day. Having him is like having a brand new baby. Every few hours he's up and either hungry, needs to pee, or wanting to play. At 2 in the morning, I'm so not in the mood for play, so he sleeps with us to enable a quick snuggle and then he goes back to sleep. Such a bad habit to start, but it works for right now and he won't be very big when he's all the way grown anyway. He loves Mark and follows both of us around well enough we don't even have a collar on him. He's still working on going outside, but he'salmost got it! He doesn't like to pee or poo in the house, he whines to tell us, but since he whines for almost everything, we're still learning what each one means! He's so smart and makes us laugh so hard, he's so spunky and cute, not to mention he's a snuggler! He's so perfect!

Middle of the Night

It's one AM and I'm not even kind of sleepy which doesn't bode well for my poor body clock. I have the weirdest schedule. I close then open then close all in the same week and I just sleep when I can. I'm talking to Abbey which always makes me smile, and now that we're planning to actually see each other this summer, I can't wait! I'm finishing two little care packages this week and can't wait to send them! I have a new favorite store and they have the cutest crafty things, plus they're in my mall and I can sneak down there without Mark knowing! They know my name, is that bad? This is one of those blogs that will be very stream-of-conscious...so bear with me. I have found that I truly love a few things in my home. One is a clean kitchen with clean dishes and an empty sink. Two is a clean bedroom with room to move around and the ability to craft without moving a pile of clothes first. And third...I love coming home to Mark. He makes me happy and I can't help but smile when I see his face. He keeps me grounded and focused on what the goals we've set. I know that I will spend my life with him and I can't wait for the fun we'll have! I love my job as well and now I'm getting a promotion, I'll be even more involved. With more responsibility, I thrive and I can't wait for the challenges. Just tonight I finished the reset that another girl just couldn't find the time to do in THREE days! No lie, she wouldn't come in at all early and refused to stay late. So, I stayed over an hour on Saturday night and over an hour tonight to help get it done. I loved being able to create in the quiet and dark and know that it would be done and done correctly! I want so badly to have a sewing machine, but we have no where to put one and I'm still holding the hope that my father got me one and I just haven't gotten it because Aunt Judy's not home yet. She's doing really well already! She's talking like normal and can walk with help for nearly 50 feet! It's a step by step process, but the steps are happening. Well, I think my brain is starting to slow, because it's nearly two and the words aren't coming. More later, I guess...

The wonders of Ex-Lax and eBay!

I talked to my dad today and he said my aunt is doing so much better. I will get to see her on Friday and judge for myself, but she's already able to sit up by herself and talk more clearly, so it's a step in the right direction.

Now...I have been bitten. Not by a fowl flying pest nor by a venomous serpent with dripping fangs and slick skin. No, I've been bitten by the crafting bug. I mean, I'm creating again, which is awesome. It's like I've been creatively constipated and just took some Ex-Lax...I know that's gross, but it's the analogy I can best work with. Ideas are flowing from my fingertips faster than I can put them to paper and glue. Just FYI, if you're getting a baby gift from me, it will have crafties in it! I know I can't compare with Jen's pages, but I can't help it. I'm not having babies anytime soon, but that's the majority of what's coming out of me. It's nice though, to sit in the quiet and think...then turn on Pirates and craft til my fingers ache and I can't sit up straight. It's wonderful and totally what I've needed to do for so long. My creations are lost on Mark, so I'm gonna post some photos on here soon...if you see something you like, let me know and I'll make one for you...seriously! I know how hard it is to want to have the time to do something and you just can't find that lever to pause life so you can craft. That's where Aunt Sara comes in!

Next I would like to expound on eBay! It's a horrendously addicting website designed by a ninja to get your money for stuff you could by at Target! I know people look for deals on eBay but when something exceeds the original price that you could have bought it for, don't keep bidding! Seriously, no containers are worth more than 50 dollars, and yet this item is still being bid on! I got this set for Christmas last year. It cost around 30 dollars. And yet there are some treasures, don't get me wrong! If you're searching for a vintage record or old memorabilia, eBay is the place to find it. I just don't understand buying something for more than it's worth. Oh but wait, didn't someone buy a grilled cheese sandwich because if you squinted your eyes and turned your head to the side and held your breath it looked like the Virgin Mary...people are strange. Everyday I'm shocked to realize that people no longer surprise me. So, on that note...LONG LIVE EBAY!!

Life of Purpose

I know that it's been a long time since I updated my life, but I work in retail, and the holidays kicked my rear end. Now for the updates...Mark lost his job two weeks before Christmas, which was awful, but with me working so much it wasn't the end of the world. A few days later came the day the rocked my family.
My Aunt Judy is my dad's baby sister, our little family is incredibly close. She's always been a part of my life and even though she was my aunt and not my sister, we were really close. Well on this day, she had a wicked headache and didn't feel good. Finally sitting at her desk, she couldn't hold a pen anymore and called an ambulance. She had suffered a mild stroke but was still functioning. When the doctors did her CAT scans, they found a massive anuerism. She was life-flighted down here to Dallas where a surgery was scheduled to remove the bubble that could take her life. When her cranium was opened, the bubble burst and caused a horrible stroke on her left side. Her life was saved because they were already in her head. She was in an ICU clean unit, meaning no one could see her without scrubbing up first. And even then, she could only have a vistor one hour a day. So, we waited to see her until she was moved into a regular area of the hospital.
Today was the first day I've seen her since before her surgery. And while I hadn't cried, I am now. The amazing woman that I've known my whole life is gone. Replaced by hollow doppleganger with empty eyes and a dead left side. She was always the one who ralleyed and fought for us. She was the one we went to for fun and a general laugh. Today made me realize something incredible profound. This life is short and unpredictable and downright unfair sometimes. Judy was never able to have children, she had a complete hysterectomy at 20. I was the child she lived through. When my grandpa died, years ago, she moved in with my grandma to help her, to take care of her, to make sure she wasn't alone. Now, this responsibility is falling squarely on my father. He has selflessly given up his life and home to make sure that Mimi is cared for and that Judy has a safe and secure place to eventually come home to. More than anything, today took me back to two years ago...watching my mother...and it scared me.
I've been buying little pink things and little blue things for the friends having the babies. It seems that all around me, life goes on and babies are born and homes are made. But, today made me appreciate, once again, how quickly that can change. I came home and talked with Mark about what's going on and then just sat here in the quiet thinking.
Other than that, work is good. I'm getting a promotion at the end of the month, with more money and benefits. We're buying a couch. I'm cleaning out and throwing away all my leftover boxes of crap form when I moved. And I'm gathering wonderfully sweet little things to send to the friends I love. I have a good life. I'm grateful for it. I have a new appreciation of it. Maybe that's the lesson to be learned. Live every day on purpose. I here and now vow to love more, and laugh more, and live every second of my life with meaning and passion and purpose. Let's see what happens.

It must be something in the water...

Ok, to any of you who read this and know me well, you will know that I have wanted to have a baby since I was old enough to say it! I was one of those rare women who always wanted a family and always thought of names and had them picked out since I was 10. Well, this feeling is not even kind of going away. In the last few months...Heather had a girl, Natalie had a girl, Kate had a boy, Avery had a girl, Crystal had a girl, Jen is having a boy and Stacey doesn't know yet. Seriously, I think it's in the water. We went to Sherman last weekend to see the newest little member of the family and the whole time we were there...I kept thinking "I know it will happen, I know it will happen when it's right. I just have to patient and allow the natural course of things take over." And then Mark held the baby. I could literally barely breathe. I have no doubt that this is the man I will spend the rest of forever with and that we will have a family and he will make an incredible father. But, I am getting a serious lesson in patience and it's nearly killing me. Don't get me wrong, I love living here and being young and uninhibited. I love that we can play all night and sleep all day on the weekends. That I come home from work and can just veg. I love that we laugh and tease eachother and have fun doing anything. And I know that when the time comes to not have that anymore, I will miss it. But, seriously... my biological clock is sounding the alarm. Maybe I should just get a puppy.

I love living in a big city!

Last week I only had to work until Tuesday, then I had off the whole weekend off! So, I went to Sherman for a few days since it will be my last break for a while, before the dreaded holiday shopping shenanigans! My visit was great and the kid is even taller than he was before, I swear my mom puts miracle grow in his cereal.

Dad and I left early Saturday morning and came back to the city. We had plans to go to the Kimball Art Museum and see the Impressionist Exhibit. http://impressionists.kimbellart.org/ It was incredible. I have always had a thing with art from this time period and Claude Monet is my favorite artist of all time. There were rooms of priceless art and most of them were paintings I've studied in art classes over the years. Right there, in front of me, they hung. There was the giant painting "Paris Streets, Rainy Day" by Gustave Caillebotte. This painting took up an entire display wall and towered above everything. It's scale and precision were remarkable, and my dad was amazed at one detail in particular...the dainty vale on the woman's face. It was incredible to see this in person.

There were displays from Gauguin, Seurat, Pissaro, Manet, and so many others. They all show such passion, such talent, such vision! I know I sound like an art groupie, but I'm ok with that! In the painting by Renoir "Two Sisters" (At the top), the colors nearly jumped off the canvas and in others there was light and shadow like a photo.

Then there were a few paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, who always makes my heart skip a beat. This one, entitled "The Bedroom" is so childlike and yet intricate and detailed. To get up close, like we could, we could see the brushstrokes themselves and the attention to the detail that must have taken an agonizingly long time to achieve. There were others of his, but not too many. The museum had recently hosted the Van Gogh collection as it's own exhibit. All the art this time was from Chicago.

Finally I found a little piece of heaven...there was an entire room of Monet. They had a few of the series of haystacks. They had the views of Venice that make you want to go get yourself a passport just so you can see them for yourself. There was this one, "Bordighera" that literally took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes that could not be stopped. I wasn't even embarrassed. I can't help that I have a strong reaction to his art. At last, I got to see the famous "Waterlilies" and others from that time. Again, I couldn't breathe and couldn't look away. My father just stood beside me and looked at the art. At the end of one of the galleries was "Poppy Field at Giverny". It's so beautiful there are no words.

I could have walked thru the galleries for days and not tired of the unadulterated beauty that was all around me. I know many don't like or understand art, but I think I came to realize something. You don't have to understand it, you just have to let it touch your heart. It's almost spiritual sometimes. I was so happy to get to spend that time with my dad and share that experience with him. He loved all of it as well, though he didn't shed any tears, he was quiet and reverent and edified. It was an awesome day.

Quick Catch Up

I have friends all over the map and in a million different area codes. Although my life isn’t full of big moments and babies, they still want to know what’s going on with me as much as I want to know what’s going on with them. So, here we go. I’ll keep this as up to date as I can with pictures and everything. I hope you all enjoy. If you want to know anything, just ask!

Let me start with a quick update…Mark and I have been living together for nearly four months and are so happy. I have a great job that I love, and guess what it is…retail! I know that’s not a surprise to anyone who knows me, apparently being able to sell stuff is hereditary and I got the gene. I take the bus to work and it gives me quite a chance to people watch…more on that later. We have no pets, but we also don’t have much time when neither of us is working. We have been thinking about a puppy, but we’ll see how that goes. We like being able to spend our time doing fun stuff, like:

My birthday on 10.09 fell on a Thursday so we just had dinner on the night. On the Saturday after we went to Dave & Busters. We had a total blast! It’s like Chuck E. Cheese for adults and we had so much fun. We played for hours and won enough tickets to cash them in for a stuffed hippo. She’s adorable and I sleep with her at night. Then on Sunday we went up to Sherman to have a party with my family. We had sandwich stuff and cake and presents. Matthew was there. I swear that kid gets bigger every time I see him. He’s nearly as tall as I am now! We stopped by my mom’s and then stopped by Mark’s family’s house. It was good to see all of our family in one day, but I wish we could have had more time.

Then the next weekend we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was this amazing little oasis in the middle of the city. There were so many totally cool animals. There were monkeys, sharks, manatees, bugs, lizards, alligators, turtles, fish, sloths, and penguins! It was a neat experience to walk amongst all the animals in natural settings. I took a million photos. Then we went to dinner and a movie (Quarantine) and shopping then home! It was a wonderful day and a great weekend.

I find myself thinking about the future a lot lately…it seems that everyone I know is having babies, and of course I want that in my life, but I’ve also realized something. I have a good life. I’m young and having fun. I have a lifetime to have a family and the corresponding stress, but right now, I need to enjoy life and live every day on purpose. I don’t want to waste these opportunities and then have regrets later. I believe that having this time will make me a better mother in the long run anyway. I love my life right now and can't wait to see what happens next.