So where are we this weekend?


A city we've never been to.


A city I've wanted to see since high school.


A city one blog-friend lives very close to.


That's right, we had a tour guide for the day.




Actually we had three. Chris and his family showed us some sites. Here we are at the top of the Empire State Building.










Then we went to the American Museum of Natural History.



Where we saw dinosaurs. :)


I was going to post a few more pictures, but blogger has become special tonight.

Hershey

Yes Kaliblue, our little detour was Hershey, PA. We visited Hershey World. Just a quick distraction, I mean attraction. We are now at our second and last hotel. Tuesday morning we head home.

So where are we now? It's north, way north.

And let me tell you about this waiter we had at Chili's tonight. He was a little hottie with the cutest accent.

On the road again

Tomorrow morning we will check out of our hotel here in Washington D.C. and hit the road again. We are making a little detour to stop at a sweet tourist spot before reaching our next hotel. Then we will spend the weekend in...


Nah. Not gonna tell you.


We saw several museums including the National Museum of the American Indian.

















Where we found a bit of our own ancestry.




















































The view from the window at the end of our hall.

We're here!

We arrived at our hotel about an hour ago. We will be at this hotel for four nights, Friday morning we head to another location.

We drove through mountains all day! It was gorgeous. None of us have been up this way. I was planning to leave a bunch of hints to let you guys guess where we are, but I'm just too Bushed to think of any.

Totally freakin' excited

Ok, so just a minute ago it finally hit me. I am totally freaking excited about this trip!

I've had a really rough weekend too. First Little B had a mysterious fever Thursday, it came and went and actually broke and came back! Then Friday she woke up with a big white sore inside her mouth. I took her to the pediatrician and he said it was a simple childhood viral thing (and the bump was not a fever blister) that would pass in a couple of days but she might get a little rash. I told him about the trip, and he said it should be fine. As of now her fever has been gone for good over 24 hours, the bump in her mouth is gone, she is acting more like herself, and the tiny rash that popped up on her neck and side of her face is fading fast.

And that's not all folks. Friday night my upstairs air unit konked out. The same thing happened to the downstairs one last year. Probably just needs freon. I'm putting it off until we get back. The downstairs unit is working fine and our foyer is open, so it isn't getting too hot up here.

Saturday I whacked my head on a doorframe turning around too fast. My youngest sister who is going on this trip with me disappeared from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. And I got up Sunday morning to find the refrigerator handle half off! I fixed that.

So yeah, definately a weekend to forget. Mostly anyway, I did finally make it to see the movie Cars with my oldest. Very cute.



hehe. The spellcheck suggested "foreskin" for "freakin" and "reproduction" for a badly misspelled "refrigerator".

Road Trip and links

We leave first thing in the morning on our road trip. I thought instead of telling everyone where we are going that I would just leave a few hints. But I'm having trouble coming up with anything that won't give it away too easy. I'll think on it and try to put something up later.


I finally updated my links. Several of the new places I have been going to for a while. The newest is Adventures of a Good Girl. She writes in a way that will make you sigh, laugh, cry a little, then start over again with the sigh. I especially love it when she writes about Blue. *sigh*

See what I mean? Go meet GG, you'll be glad you did.

Googlism

I saw this over at Xmichra's and thought it looked fun.


kathryn is lonely
kathryn is a silly moose
kathryn is a crazy person
kathryn is on vacation just now
kathryn is a licensed cosmetologist and massage therapist in the state of florida
kathryn is here
kathryn is strong through her gentleness
kathryn is a writer living in melbourne
kathryn is the killer with the heart of gold
kathryn is a great teacher
kathryn is collecting a small stash of toys
kathryn is also gorgeous

Go here to try it for yourself.

A picture

Here is little B at her cousin's birthday party in May. It was her first pinata.

Once you've learned to be lonely

I've been listening to Reba today, because that's what I do when I'm a little down. I listen to country music. One of her songs has always struck a familiar chord in my heart. The lyrics are very powerful.

• But once you've learned to be lonely
  And lonely is the only thing you've known
  It begins to feel like home
  It becomes your comfort zone
  Once you've learned to be without someone
  And settle for the silence of an empty room
  Oh,it changes you
  There's a lot you have to undo
  Once you've learned to be lonely

Lonely is doing things yourself without asking for help, because you've become so used to having to.

Lonely is taking care of your eight month old with only the help of your six year old less than a week after galbladder surgery.

• It becomes a habit of the heart
  To be afraid and even start
  To try and love again

Lonely is not believeing in Soul Mates.

Lonely is not being afraid of being completely alone when the children grow up, it's knowing you will be alone.

I'm really not as down as this post sounds. This is just some stuff that's been accumulating and needed to come out.

Desire

My breath quickens
As my thoughts stray.
A delicious distraction
From the day.

Passionate daydreams
Leaving me burning.
For an end to
This intense yearning.

Savvy?

First, check out the spiffy count down clock I put on the sidebar for my vacation! I also have some people to add to my favorite places, but haven't gotten to it yet. It's coming soon, I promise.

Today I took the girls to the mountains. We ate sandwiches at our favorite spot then went down by the stream/river/whatever which you have to go over rocks to get to. It's our favorite thing to do. It was nice and cool and breazy up there and we took our shoes off to get our feet wet. The water was very chilly. Then we took a ride around the loop at Cades Cove again. We saw a pretty large buck, and several does in different spots. A good time was had by all, unfortunately Mommy forgot the camera.

Saturday I went to the movies. On the way there I saw the funniest thing. I passed a truck, as in eighteen wheeler and there was a cockatoo looking at me! Yes, a big white bird. I didn't have my camera then either. I have to tell you about one preview too. It is a movie coming out around Christmas Night at the Museum it looks hilarious. Hell, just look at a sample of the cast, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke! Yes, Dick Van Dyke. I love that guy.

As for the movie, I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean. It had funny moments, silly moments, and even a few completely ridiculous moments. And I loved every minute of it! Johnny was, well, being Johnny, and everyone loves Johnny! Orlando Bloom is easy on the eyes and ears, even when he isn't being an elf. Kiera Knightly is pretty, funny, and spunky, although she really needs to gain a few pounds. Speaking of, she was in Pride and Prejudice, and the tiny little short guy in that movie is in this movie too. I have no idea what his real name is. It just sort of cracked me up to see him as a completely different character. Davey Jones, now there's a character. His head is a squid or maybe an octopus. But he only uttered two sentences before I figured out what actor was underneath. I had to look his name up, Bill Nighy. He's one of those guys that has little roles here and there, but you can't put your finger on what, which is odd considering how distinctive he is.




I know a lot of people didn't like the movie. But my inner child hasn't quite matured all the way and pirates are fun, who wouldn't want to be a pirate? They are tough and fun and free and wear awesome boots! Sword fighting, treasure hunting! And of course there is the thought of being a woman, not taken, but willingly submitting to a scruffy yet handsome bad boy pirate...umm..yeah. You know, I think I'll save that little train of thought for later. ;)

Found at Xmichra's

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you as a bit small and insignificant. People pay more attention to you than you think. Your near future is a lot like the present, and as far as you're concerned, that's a very good thing. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Yard work, broken swingsets and mormans

I've been neglecting my yardwork. Which really wasn't that big of a deal because most of the grass has stopped growing and turned brown. I suppose I could water it, but then I would have to mow more, now wouldn't I? So I fought with the weedeater, and won. Then I mowed. While mowing the backyard I became frustrated with having to go around the swingset. It's broken anyway, has been since hubs was here last. Apparently he moved it and a bolt came loose. So I flipped the thing over twice out of my way. Once I was done with the yard I got out my tools and took it apart. I had a little help with the last piece, it had rusted together and a neighbor happened to be out and helped me pull it apart.

So how do mormans come into this? Well, I'm sitting on the front bench watching my toddler play when a minivan pulls into my driveway. A minivan with an older man driving and a couple of other guys. Then they get out and the two young guys have on the white button up shirt with the black name tags. Oh yeah, I can spot them a mile away. So I'm thinking, WTF? And they ask if this is the ****** residence and I say yes before it occurs to me to flat out lie. So he's like "good we're in the right place." And I, sitting there in my not so modest tank top I did yard work in, and my nose ring reply with "You are?" The sarcasm flies right over their heads and they come over and introduce themselves. To cut some stuff short I tell them Jeff is in Iraq and stuff and that I didn't even know he was still in contact with their church. And the older dude explains that they track their members for all eternity (ok, he didn't use those exact words). They ask for an address and I give them jeff's email because he never has gotten a physical address to me. The same neighbor accidently rescued me. I had loaned him my riding lawnmower because it was about to rain, and it would be quicker than his push mower. He pulls up right about then and I explain he was bringing it back, mumble something about me being Methodist (but left off how bad I am at it) and pretty much totally ignore their exit.

You know. Now that I have it typed up, I realize that the mormans were the funniest part of my day.


I'll leave you with a picture of my toddler and Charlie. One of her newest favorite phrases is "Dats my Chawee!" (That's my Charlie). Well, the other day he was in her room at naptime and she wanted to pet him. So I put him up there with her. She hugged him to her and they both went to sleep!


How cute is that?

FYI

Gmail is working again, some problems I had with the stupid bank are fixed, and I feel much better now.

AAAARRRGGGGHHHH

Gmail is down! And it's really, really, really, really upsetting me!!!!!!

Healing

Hiding within myself
I've been alone for years.
I long for someone to hold,
Someone to erase my fears.

Torn and forgotten my heart bleeds.
An ache I long to heal.
Used, abused, afraid to love,
Learning again how to feel.

My favorite place

At night, when the kids are in bed, this is where I watch TV. Yes, I have Tinkerbell sheets. Aren't they cute?

Rambles

Well, I had planned to do a big long rambly post last night, but then I didn't feel like it. I suppose I should have typed it all up when I had it on my mind, but life interrupted. I went to Blockbuster last night. They do have the first season of Grey's Anatomy. One copy, and of course it was rented out. So I'll just have to keep an eye out for it. I rented The Pink Panther instead. Steve Martin is always good for a laugh. It was funny in a stupid kind of way.

I have this old computer that I wanted to give my mom because the old one she has (which Bubbles was sweet enough to give her when she got a new one) is starting to act up. But my old computer was all messed up and needed to be wiped clean. Only I couldn't find the original startup disks. Well, yesterday afternoon I was puttering around and came across a half empty box from way back when we moved. The disks I needed were in there. Don't you love it when something you have been looking for a long time finally shows up when you least expect it?

I'm going completely backwards on this post. Early yesterday I dropped my mom off at the store, and while she was shopping the girls and I went to get something to eat. I didn't want to eat inside the restaurant, so we went to this little park I hadn't been to in years. They had a new play area, but the old wading pool they used to have isn't used anymore. I met the two most interesting women. They both had boys with them, but looked grandmother aged, not mom aged. And one had two dogs. A black fluffy one and a yellow lab. Both of them sat right by my foot at different times, (the dogs, not the women) and they didn't even know me. The lab cracked T up because she stood on her hind legs and drank out of the water fountain. Funny as hell, but makes me never want to use water fountains again. They were all so friendly. I told the women how I played there one summer as a kid, but then we moved further down and I didn't go back until I was in middle school and was old enough to walk that far to the library that's right above the park. But the most interesting thing is the ginormous tree I loved as a kid is still there, and so are these huge rocks that erupt from the ground that they just left there when they made the park instead of busting them up and moving them. Stupid me didn't take the camera, but I suppose that just give me an excuse to go back, don't you think?

We leave on our vacation two weeks from next Monday. We are going on a road trip and we have four different destinations we want to see. I am taking my laptop with me, so I will try to check in with everyone at least every couple of days. I don't think I've already posted about some of the places we want to see. Wouldn't it be fun for you guys to guess where we are headed? I could post hints about it while we are there and then let everyone know where we were when I post more hints for the next location! But there are a few of you that already know, so no fair you guessing. The only thing is I usually do all my photo stuff on my home computer. But I guess I could do just my vacation pictures on the laptop. Anyone have any more ideas?

Looks like I ended up with a long rambly post after all.

Grey's Anatomy

So I've seen bits and pieces of this show before, but never had a chance to get into it. Tonight I caught the first one by chance. I am so hooked! And in the second one, that conveniently came on right after the first, the main chick makes out with Patrick Dempsey in an elevator! I love this show. I'd also love to make out in an elevator. ;)

Now I'll have to rent the DVDs. Two seasons worth. So if I disappear from the blogosphere, that's where I'll be.

HNT ~ Because it's been a while.

Still Madonna

I changed my song, but it's still Madonna. This one is actually what I have as my ringtone on my cell phone. Not the one I wanted, but the best one they had when I got it.

Happy Fourth!

First of all a I want to wish all my American friends a Happy Independence Day! For my non-American friends, Happy Tuesday! lol.

I also want to thank everyone for the encouraging comments. I started this blog to rediscover me. I think I have done that and grown as well. I have also met a lot of wonderful new friends! Your encouraging words mean a lot to me.

As a treat, here is a new picture of my little niece. She's six months old now!

Goals

I have so much to say here, and yet so much I can't say. I feel like I've been living in a cave for nine years. I was going through some old stuff last night and came across a journal I was keeping in 1999. Most of what I put in those are stuff about the kids. But there were also my own personal thoughts. I came across one entry that I could have written six months ago. The same worries, the same problems, the same insecurities. Seven years of the same exact problems? They went away for a while a few years ago. Or maybe I just deceived myself into believing things were better for a short time. Right now I have two goals.

1. Get out of debt.
2. Go back to school.

It's a two year degree I'm going back for, although I may be able to finish it in a year and a half because I already have credit for some of the basic stuff from when I went before. So where will I be two years from now? I suppose I'll just have to be patient until I find out.

Failure to Launch

This is a pretty good movie. It had socially misfit girl, a geek, a pretty girl, dolphins, sailboats, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates, and of course Matthew McConnehey's bare abs more than once! How could it not be good? It was a cute little love story, with plenty of funny parts.

Finally, a night out!

Yes, really! My mom spent the night at my place, I put my kids to bed and went out with my sisters. My sister Sassy has joined a roller derby team and they were having a thing at a local bar downtown. My youngest sister, the Brat is underage, so she got to be the designated driver. How handy is that? We danced, we goofed off, I got a bit drunkish. ;)