Day 07 – Your best friend

oh, this is a tough one!  i think i've talked before about the fact that i don't have just ONE best friend. they truly are equally important and equally ... well... best!  


i have been so blessed by the friends in my life, is what it is!  


toni, who has been my sister and my bestie since we met when she was in 5th grade and i was in 4th.  i spent so much time with her during my elementary years, it really was like we were joined at the hip except during classes!  there are things i still always have to carry in my purse because of the "emergency bags" we created as children.  the way i pack for road trips was also influenced by those bags.  

april, who has been a bestie since 7th grade.  through moving 1/2 way across the country the following summer.  through marriage & kids & moving across the country again.  through a period of time where we didn't speak often.  she was the ONE person i never shied away from talking with on the phone.  we could talk for hours about nothing - or SMK and soap operas! - even after spending all day together AND writing 12 page notes to each other.  

julia, who's been a bestie since 8th grade, filling the physical void left by april's leaving.  knowing each other since 2nd grade and being at odds for a lot of that time, forced to hang out through car pooling.  finally forging a real friendship that has lasted all these many years.  her kids, sarah & andrew, are a niece & nephew.  sarah is my very first!  she's a bestie in her own right.  : )  

erin, who's been a bestie since high school.  our schedules are really wacky in adulthood, but we make time to hang out when we can.  she's mom to my puppy-niece, daisy.  : )  she's a miracle, her whole life is a miracle, and i'm so grateful that she's here and in my life!!  

linda & carol, besties since HS.  carol introduced me to romance novels and different views of the world and of the Lord and His love for us.  linda, who is now living in japan, was so outgoing when we met.  her first day or week at a new school, and she's chatting at me like we've known each other forever.  way cool, way impressed, and way thankful to be her friend!  so happy i got to see her & her daughter this summer, as well!!

this would be vicky & abby, linda, carol, me, juli & families! 

joy, who's been a bestie since college.  she's one of my favorite road trip besties, along with sarahbug & debi-bob.  : )  we all clicked right from the minute we met, our personalities just mesh.  which isn't to say we agree about everything, certainly!  *laugh*  we finish each other's sentences, tho, so that has to mean our brains are quite in sync!  there was a rough patch w/ one of these 3, but we worked through it & have one of the strongest friendships now, partly because of that hardship perhaps.  God knows what He's doing!

boo, bug, bob(holding our newest nephew, chase) & joy

trish, my most recent bestie.  i think it's awesome to have found someone i'm so close with this late in life.  not that i'm old.  LOL  it's just that, to find someone who you have SO MUCH in common with when you're almost 30, who you can argue with and still be friends, who you can hang out with outside of work on a real level, who you can enjoy hanging out with every day and whose FAMILY you can enjoy hanging out with (and who enjoy hanging out with you!)... it's just a huge blessing that i'm, again, very grateful for. 

on a parental level, my dad was my best friend.  we shared a love of bowling and roller coasters and harry potter and travel and donut sticks and breakfast.  among many other things!  he gave me my sense of humor, and my love of the Lord.  he & mom taught me that marriages don't have to be perfect to be full of love.  he was my champion, my hero, and that kind of a best friend.  

of course, my most important best friend is THE BEST FRIEND anyone can ever have, the Lord.  : )  He is all I need, but because He knows my life is richer with all of these other besties, He blesses me.


and there you have it!  : )  i have been blessed with many friends, some who i also count as family.  i love them (YOU)!  and then, the sad side of it, i've had others who i considered besties in adulthood, who dropped out of my life.  they're still in my heart and still on my mind often.  and i miss the besties from childhood who aren't still around - looney, ryan, olivia, megan, kelly... i'm sure they're around somewhere (except for ryan, who passed away) just not in my life anymore!  


okay, i could go on & on about the amazing ppl God has put in my life recently, including new blog buddies (micaela!  marianne!  jess!  jana!) but i'm writing this at 2 a.m. now & it's fixin to storm & i guess i should go to bed!  : )  good thing i'm writing this post early & i don't have to go to work tomorrow!


take care & ttfn!  LOVE ya!

Day 06 – Your day

what a lovely labor day for me!  i think i did what i was supposed to - i slept for 13 hours.  : )  


not really, not exactly anyway.  i went to bed at 2 am, and i was up at 8 because of storms.  all the weather reports last night said the storms should be gone in time for parades, but if parades started at 9... anyway, so i was up for 1/2 an hour or so, then went back to bed.  then mom was trying to get ahold of me at 11:30, so i called her back & did a little internet research for our trip next weekend.  or, the 18th, idk if you consider this weekend next weekend.  LOL  


we found some pretty neat hotels in the area we're going - small town iowa, but they are having Thomas, so we're going on a trip w/ leyton!  yay!  can't wait, can't waaaaaiiiiiittttt!!!  you know how much i love road trips, of course, and at least the last one to DM w/ leyton was amazingly fun, so i am finding that road trips w/ leyton are even better than regular road trips!  (actually, even tho william was trying to escape from his carseat almost the whole trip, the trip from omaha to mason city & back w/ joy, kathryn & william was uber fun, too!)


after our chat & look up, i went back to bed til 3.  : )  i really would have slept more, it was a very comfy sleep.  good dreams.  daddy was in one.  i think my post about love seeped into my subconscious or something, because in the first part of the dream, i was in a wedding dress & dad was in a tux & i think the wedding was taking place at an amusement park.  and i was marrying victor alfieri.  niiiiice. *laugh*  and i don't even like him THAT much, he's just pretty.  


however, i did get up, and i took a very long time washing my hair, and then i went to WM for milk & yogurt & stuff.  : )  lady in the express lane in front of me had about double what you're supposed to have.  nice.  i mean, if you have 25 instead of 20 items, okay.  i can understand that, especially if some of those are duplicate items (i.e., you have 4 yogurts & 5 2-litres or something).  but when you have a cartfull, and you have to load up that small counter space like 5 times to get all your groceries out of the cart... well... you have to know you have more than 20 items!!  


when i came home, i almost went back to bed... LOL  just kidding!  sort of!  i'd picked up some LJS to eat, so i really wasn't going back to bed.  i was hungry!!  i watched some Vanguard - really is the most interesting documentary show.  i watched episodes about the ecstacy production, contraband in the LA prison system... and then decided to catch up on GH!  i haven't watched my soaps in SO LONG, because there have been so many awesome summer shows to watch.  lol  so, i have about 2 weeks to catch up w/ everything going on in port chuckles & llanview before all the new shows start for fall!  


and oh, fall!  i'm so happy that it seems to be coming.  i am so excited for long sleeves & pumpkin things (donuts! coffee! chai! pie! oohhhhh, yum!)!!!  : )  


what else did i do today?  oh, i picked out some more of jana's photos that i'm going to ask her to make into postcards for me.  : )  have to get my paypal all loaded up first, tho!  lol  i may also need to work out a deal for her pumpkin chocolate chip cookies... ; )  


and that sums up my day!  LOL  can you FEEL the excitement??  work tomorrow, so i should go to bed before 2 tonight, right?  we'll see ... no, really, midnight is my goal!!  


how did you spend your labor day??


ttfn!

Day 05 – Your definition of love

Wiki says:
"The word "love" can have a variety of related but distinct meanings in different contexts. Often, other languages use multiple words to express some of the different concepts that English relies mainly on "love" to encapsulate..."

Carrie says: 

drawn with love from me to you!  : ) 

found

i don't remember where i found this one.  LOL  

and, of course, the man who will always hold a piece of my heart... 

found at the post gazette

sometimes ppl confuse love and lust.  (which i was not implying at all by the pictures above.  they are just some of the men whom i would LOVE to meet...*grin*)  sometimes ppl (myself included) use the word love to mean want or for different levels of like. and i think that's okay.  as long as we (myself included) remember what true love really is.  


true love is what God has for us.  what Jesus demonstrated by giving His life for ours.  


true love is when you think of someone else before yourself.  now, imo, that doesn't mean that you always choose what they want above what you want, just that you think of it, and really consider it in any decision you make.  as a parent, friend, aunt/uncle, co-worker.  even a stranger on the street.  having love in your heart means that when you see someone stranded on the side of the road you help them if you can, say a prayer for them if you can't.  


romantic love isn't the end.  i'm not saying it's bad, just that it's not... what ppl make it out to be in books and movies.  or, rather, books & movies tend to show the beginning of the romance, instead of the fact that the romance is just the beginning.  once someone is woo'd, so to speak, each party still has to ... think of the other person before themselves.  you don't just "fall in love" and "live happily ever after."  you have to work at it.  ppl say love isn't work, but it kinda is.  it's a choice.  for those of you who are married/engaged/living w/ your significant other, you know that sometimes they do something you don't like.  and you have to choose to ignore it, say something about it, leave because of it... ya know?


even with family - you choose to love your family "because they're family."  there are plenty of families who choose NOT to stay together, not to support each other, not to subscribe to the belief that "blood is thicker than water."  there are thresholds to support - but to love?  isn't it true that if you love someone, you love them forever?


if it's true love, yes.  if it's romantic love, not necessarily.  


IMO.  : )  


and of course i have more experience with familial and friend love than romantic love!  yet, my favorite books are romances, my favorite movies romantic comedies.  so i'm definitely a ... fan... of love.  *laugh* 


most of all, i think the Bible got it right in Corinthians - Love is kind.  all the other stuff, as well, but what i hold on to, what i try to emulate even when i don't feel like it, is the kindness of love.  


and, i can NOT do a post on love without sharing this: 

and if i could do a collage of all my nieces & nephews, it would be here, too.  i should work on that, actually. (my dream, if you must know, is to have all of them in one room sometime w/in the next few years.  if that room happened to be on a disney cruise or at WDW....well, i wouldn't complain!  *grin*)  


************


so, wow, that was a little more and a little less than i'd intended.  just a brief anything about my day, then, because i mostly slept, watched hulu (Huge, Persons Unknown, and AGT), read, went to happy hour at the remaining sonic in town... 


weird happening - mom's number was on my caller ID at 1:30 in the morning, and then phil texted me at like 2 saying, "what?"  i have no idea why.  it was just really strange!!  *laugh*  


so, Huge is a show that i just discovered on hulu, but they don't have episodes 6(? i think), 7, 8 or 9 available right now.  : (   but then they have episode 10, which is a part 2, available?  really, hulu??  come on!  *laugh*  so, i stopped 1/2 way thru, and i'll watch the rest when it's available, i guess.  i really like it, tho!  then we have Persons Unknown.  i had to catch up on the last 4 episodes, which as it was a mini-series, were the last 4 episodes.  *laugh*  and boy, what a trip!  seriously, at the end i was screaming!  it was like Lost but in only 13 episodes instead of many seasons!  so, i would say to my fellow Lost fans - give it a chance!  : )  i'm still not sure if i LIKED the ending, but i thought it was clever and interesting, and the characters will stay with me!  


okay, now i'm off to watch AGT & pray that the power stays on through it!  : ) 


ttfn!  <3 ya!!!  

Day 04 – What you ate today

LOL  this one made me laugh.  what did i eat today?  nothing exciting - some oyster crackers, bowl of strawberry (flavored, LOL, jana!) mini wheats, a few bites of leftover pumpkin curry, a cheeseburger and 2 small pieces of sausage pizza from casey's, a couple apple slices...  oh, also some orange kool aid, mt dew and water.  see?  boring!  the pizza was good, tho.  love casey's pizza!  


***************


so... my tummy's sore from all the coughing & sneezing & nose blowing.  apparently i use odd muscles when doing those things?  is that normal?  *laugh*  i guess if it's normal then i'm not using "odd" muscles?  idk!  but it hurts!!  


i did go over to play w/ leyton tonight, tho, and had lots of fun!!  we were mostly outside because the weather was gorgeous.  : )  

playing in the sand is hard work and takes lots of concentration! ; ) 

a previously unknown talent of leyton's - starting daddy's car!  

of course, he's always loved keys/ignitions, so it shouldn't surprise me.  : ) 

is it just me, or do those look like a bunch of little tornadoes??  

they weren't, but that's what they made me think of.  

how far can i kick this balloon?  in sandals?  hmmm... 

oh, prior to that, i went to the PO to mail a package & some cards, and had an interesting line experience!  my friend carol's mom was in line behind me, so we got to chat for awhile.  then she was able to skip outta line (she needed something that she didn't need to pay for?) & the guy behind her was kinda chatty.  it was a long line and he brought up a very good point about it being the saturday before a holiday & shouldn't they be fully staffed to avoid long lines?  they only had 2 ppl working a 4-spot counter... 


i watched Eddie and Serenity this afternoon & read last week's People.  got this week's and a postcard in the mail today.  : ) 

and now, i'll either be going to bed early (weird how that happens - i COULD stay up however late i wanted to, but knowing that i have two more days off takes the pressure off.  LOL) or reading for awhile & then going to bed.  hope your saturday was beautiful & fun!  


ttfn

Day 03 – Your parents

well now!  i'm not sure what you don't know about my parents.  or, dad, i guess.  so, i'll try to give some new info!  : )

my parents met at work.  mom worked there first, and she got married while she was there.  her first husband was a real piece of work, didn't treat her very nice.  they were only married for 2 years, and the last year they weren't together, but it took mom awhile to finalize the divorce.  (idk why, we haven't discussed that, as of yet!)  she & daddy started hanging out prior to the divorce being final (ooh, scandalous!  lol) but in a group.  a bunch of them would go dancing & drinking at the bars.

even after she liked him, mom wasn't sure she wanted to marry him.  well, really, after her first marriage, that's understandable!  : )  so, things were going along in that direction, and then mom decided to go to florida & ... clear her head?  decide what she wanted to do?  hang out for a week and date some other schmuck that the friend of aunt jan's she stayed with set her up with.  lol  good times, right?  thank God that date was a schmuck!  heh.  who knows what would've happened?

anyway, that trip cemented my mom's decision & she & dad decided they wanted to marry each other.

March 3, 1973:

1983

no idea what year:

and, you've seen the 2006 picture from dad's birthday.  : )

there's a lot of middle stories, but in closing i'll just say this - i love my parents.  i'm SO BLESSED to have been born to them.  idk if i got to choose them or how that all works, but it was a good idea.  *grin*  when i was little, we would go on a family trip every summer.  usually st. louis.  : )  we'd go to six flags, the arch, the bowling hall of fame - and that was one of my favorite places!  i would like to go now, actually.  see what's new in the bowling world.  see if it's still there in this age of modernity.  that's not a real word.  i know this.  : )

i'm sure there's so much more i could say, but i'll leave it at that.

***********************

of course, i won't leave the POST at that, because what would a post be w/o a little snippet about my day?  and i could just do another post, ppl do that - have post specific posts & multiples in a day.  i like when that comes across on my blog roll!  *laugh*  i just don't think i'm going to do it, at least not today!


so, friday!  TGIF!  we had a mini-food day, but it completely slipped my mind even after being reminded yesterday.  i think it's because i didn't organize it.  i know, isn't that selfish?  and i'm sorry!  i don't like to be selfish!  i did forget, tho.  i wasn't going to partake, even though when i organize a food day i always say "you don't have to contribute to enjoy a treat!"  then my helper bee said, "have some food!"  and so i did.  : )  there were bacon wrapped, brown sugared lil smokies (turkey smokies, even!) and cinnamon rolls and chex mix and beer bread and dips.  soooo good!  it was deli day for lunch, too.  holiday friday, so there was like NO ONE around, so i ate by myself.  or, i would have if pablo hadn't been there.  we had a nice chat about his daughter & their plans for the weekend.  : )  he's a good daddy.  


the word of the day - again - busy!  i love it, even when i don't love the "pressure" i love the busy-ness and the sense of accomplishing lots of things during a day.  


after work, i went to the walgreens and the bank, then met aunt jan at exotic thai.  i was so excited that she had time tonight, because she has been SO BUSY herself, and we haven't hung out in so long! we had an interesting appetizer sampler, which was mostly enjoyable.  *laugh*  then, pumpkin curry.  okay, you know of my love for this dish.  it's practically the only one i get at ET anymore.  so, it comes out & i'm all excited & then... it was WAY TOO CURRIED!  :(  normally, pumpkin curry, while CURRY, is more sweet than heat.  this batch, tho, i couldn't even eat most of it, because of the heat.  it was still GOOD, but i couldn't taste the flavor through the heat.  : (  i let our waitress know & they remade it for me & it was perfect.  they're really so sweet there, too, i felt bad sending it back.  but i knew i wouldn't be able to eat it, and i just couldn't pay that much $$$ for a meal i couldn't eat!  


jan & i had planned to go to a movie or ice cream after dinner, but were so exhausted we decided to just call it a night.  : )  i came home & jammied, watched Burn Notice & some episodes of Huge.  talked to mom a bit & wrote this!  *laugh*  oh!  and i received this in the mail from micaela, who is such a sweetheart!  


{will try to remember to insert picture here when my picture option stops being a buggar!} 


on the back she wrote, "You look BEAUTIFUL TODAY!!!"  : )  which, aside from a very good hair day, is not so much true, but thank you, dear micaela!  i appreciate the card SO MUCH and it made me smile and i'm still smiling looking at it on my desk!!  


and now, i shall play a game or two of bejeweled and then i must go to dreamland.  tomorrow i need to go to the PO to mail a package to a direct swap requestor & then i might get to hang out w/ leyton & mom.  *beam*  that will certainly make me SO HAPPY!!!  there's a lot going on in the area tomorrow, things that would be so much fun to take the kid to.  but, we'll see what happens!  


have a great night & wonderful tomorrow!  : )  ttfn!

Day 02 – Your first love

Well, goodness me!  my frist love was named jamie, and he was my boyfriend in kindergarten.  we held hands, talked on the phone, went to each other's birthday parties, and played boy chase girl and kissed in the tunnels.  


ya know, sometimes as adults i think we forget about the silly things we did as children, when it comes to boy/girl things.  we forget how innocent it was to us at that age, and get all up in arms when kids do the exact same things now.  we put adult labels on kids, and i think it's part of what messes ppl up as they grow up.  the 5 or 6 or 7 year old chasing girls (or boys) is not "sexually harassing" them.  they are PLAYING.  when little kids give kisses, they are not thinking grown-up thoughts.  they are thinking, "i kiss mommy and daddy and gramma and auntie and uncle and brother and sister because i love them and i like them and it's what you do to say hello or goodbye or goodnight or whatever.  i like suzie/johnny and i want to let them know so i'm going to give them a hug and a kiss."  


anyway, *laugh*, back to jamie... we ended up going to different schools after 2nd or 3rd grade, but we kept in touch by writing letters up through jr high or HS.  he was a neat guy.  well, he's still a neat guy - we got in touch on myspace a few years ago.  he's gay now, but still jamie.  : )  of course, we talked for a couple weeks & caught up on stuff & then... 


and so it is, that some ppl come into your life for a period of time, and some come to stay.  those that are only here for a moment are no less important.  another thing to remember!  : )  


***************


so!  today ... wow.  thought my stuffiness was better, but after a couple hours, i was all blah again.  thankfully still very BUSY and so mostly my mind was kept off it.  except every once in awhile when i'd realize i couldn't breathe very well & i'd have to blow my nose, and then i felt like i was disturbing ppl.  *laugh*  sorry!  end of the day was hard.  had to talk w/ my newest helper bee about different ways to audit a claim, and she took it as she did something wrong - which she didn't but it'd been a really long & emotional day & so i tried to make her feel better but idk if it worked.  :(  hopefully tomorrow will be better!  it's friday, anyway.  and friday before a 3 day weekend, woot woot!!  : )  


i didn't stay late tonight, because i had to meet mom & leyton for dinner at incredible pizza.  first i had to GET there, tho.  found out that i wouldn't be getting a slushie, as the sonic in our parking lot was boarded up & is apparently out of business!!!  : (  no more slushies right after work!!  the one on elmore is staying open, happily, but still!  the one by my house is closing, too.  anyway, so i stopped at dunkin donuts for something to drink - discovered their pumpkin stuff is in!  yay!!!!  of course, the guy taking orders didn't know they had an iced pumpkin coffee.  LOL  it was like a comedy sketch.  i seriously wouldn't be surprised to get a note in the mail advising me i could be on some prank show.  i see the billboard next to the squawk box.  i order a pumpkin iced coffee.  (oh, after waiting a couple minutes because they were busy.)  the guy says, "a pumpkin donut?"  me, "no, a pumpkin ICED COFFEE."  him, "we don't have that."  me, "well, i'm staring at your billboard that says you do. *laugh*"  him, "*pause pause pause* *asks manager* oh, i didn't even know we had that.  okay, is that it?"  by that time it was!!  lol  oh, there was also an exchange in there about how i wanted a small but all the sizes were 99 cents so i might as well get a large.  *laugh*  


so, i have my coffee, and i head down the road.  my normal ramp to the bridge is closed, so i figure i'll go around to the river drive ramp, because the 7th avenue ramp will have a line & i'll have to wait through 5 lights.  it did, but then when i got close to river drive - TRAIN!  d'oh!  and it was a long one, and then it stopped & i said ARGH! and turned around & went back to 7th avenue.  oh, what a time!!  *laugh*  


finally got to incredible pizza, and mom & leyton came to greet me - they'd been there for 1/2 an hour, playing.  we headed to the buffet & who should come up to us but friends from our old church!  i'm FB friends w/ nick, but hadn't seen him in person since he was probably in jr. high!  *laugh*  and his uncle paul, i don't think i've seen him since phil & jen's wedding, which he officiated at.  so, that was really cool!  


we ate some foods & watched thomas & blue's clues, and then it was GAME TIME!  mom went across the parking lot to get her glasses at the vision store, while leyton & i played some air hockey (he won!) and basketball & rode the carousel & there was a game where we had to throw balls at a screen & try to hit some gophers.  that one was so cute, but kinda sad because when you hit the baby gophers they CRIED!  *sniffle*  and why were we throwing balls at poor defenseless gophers anyway?  lol  oh!  there's a game where you throw balls at a fence inside a horse's mouth & knock out the planks.  that leyton was pretty good at, too!  still working on his aim... i of course had to play a couple rounds of skeet ball...!  and mom & leyton played a lot of DEAL or NO DEAL!  leyton likes to make deals.  LOL  


when we left, it was raining, and the sky was the most amaaaaaazing colours!!!  oh my heck!  i took some pictures, but i'm not sure how well they turned out...   

oh, i did remember to give leyton his bulldozer that turns into a saw.  he was excited.  i hope he likes it when it's outta the packaging!  like, i hope it's a fun toy to play w/... 


anywhoo!  that's my day!  now i feel like i could sleep for a week - but there's still one more day of work to go!  


oh!  i got a postcard from france today!  gotta send out about 4 plus a package to the netherlands on saturday.  : )  

happy thursday evening & have a FAB FRIDAY!  : )  ttfn!!!

A Month About Me

... Cuz, you know, the rest of this blog is never about me...  LOL


You can check out the full list under the All About Me page toward the top of the blog there.  


As this is Day One - Introduction, I'll give a brief synopsis of me at the moment.  Because how I describe myself changes from day to day.  I mean, it's all me... just what do I want to share at that moment?  *laugh*  Anyway, today - 


My name is Carrie Marie.  My dad named me - he liked to joke that he named me "Carrie" because the plane "carried" him home just in time for my birth.  He was in Texas & got here just in the nick of time.  : )  Marie is after my great grandma, Veronica Marie.  I've often thought of Veronica as my "other name" or my "what if" name.  I think if he'd named me Veronica, I would be Ronie instead of Carrie.  


As you probably saw in the About Me area - I love the Lord with all my heart, and am SO THANKFUL for His salvation and all the blessings He's given me.  


I like to read, especially when sci fi & romance meet.  I love.  LOVE.  LOOOOOVE Tv.  Lots of different Tv.  I like to go to movies and eat movie popcorn.  I like soft pretzels, but not at the movies because they're like way overpriced, and even though I don't have a problem paying for overpriced popcorn, paying for an overpriced pretzel messes w/ my sensabilities.  Heh.  


I grew up with my mom & dad & little brother.  Later, I finished growing up with foster cousinsiblings, and foster sibs.  I grew up in Iowa but went to private school in Illinois, crossing the Mighty Mississippi every day.  I went to college in a little town in Iowa.  I have worked over 20 jobs, and currently am in a job that I like a lot and think God created especially for me because He knew it would be perfect!  : )  I get to be kinda a social director along w/ the other stuff I do, and it's really neat (most of the time! LOL).  


My dad passed away on Halloween 4 years ago.  I miss him every day.  I'm writing a book about him for my nephew, Leyton.  


I have a really large extended family.  My dad had 9 brothers & sisters & mom has 4.  I have ... I counted once... I think I have over 70 cousins (1st, 2nd, maybe 3rd).  In a family that big, of course I'm closer to some aunts/uncles/cousins than others, but I love and am loved by each & every one of them. We get together every year for Christmas and in the summer, and at other odd times throughout the year.  I was talking to someone the other day who also comes from a large family, and they don't spend any time at all w/ their brothers & sisters & nieces & nephews.  They're okay w/ it, but it really made me sad, to think about being completely ... autonomous like that.  


I have 10 nieces and nephews, soon to be 11.  My brother, Phil, has 2 boys, Anthony is 12 and Leyton is 3.  You see pictures of them all the time on this blog!  My friend Julia has a girl & a boy, Sarah & Andrew.  My friend Joy has a girl & a boy, Kathryn & William, and one on the way.  Sarah has 2 boys, Stephen & Chase.  And Debi has 2 boys, Jacob & Adam.  They all hold little pieces of my heart.  : )  


God has truly blessed me, and I'm thankful every day for His gifts!!  


I don't like to go to bed, but I LOVE to sleep!  If I could work 5pm - 1:30am, doing the job I do now, I would love it!  Since that's unlikely, I should probably stop staying up past midnight.  *laugh*  


And that's the introduction to me for today!  One other thing that probably goes w/o saying once you've made it this far down... I like to write and I usually have a lot to say about nothing at all or everything at once.  : )  And all of this is probably stuff you know, if you know me or have been reading my blog for awhile!  Sorry about the repetitiveness.  That's not a word, is it?  What word am I looking for there?  


ANYWAY!  *laugh*  I'll try to come up w/ something you might not know about me for future posts.  Keep you on your toes or somethin!  ; )  


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And just a quick blurb about today... Rather interesting one at work, some crazy stuff goin on for the first of September!  After work, I made it to the JD Store for my friend in the Netherlands - got a postcard & a little surprise.  Also got a surprise for Leyton, if I can remember to bring it tomorrow!  : )  


Came home & I was all excited to make my butternut squash ravioli... and it was MOLDY!  Gross.  So I made regular bowtie & mushroom pasta, and it was good, but ... ya know.  Chatted w/ April, watched Secret Life & White Collar & What Would You Do & oh, started a new show, Huge.  Only have seen 2 epis so far, but I am really liking it!  ABC Family has some good shows, I'm tellin ya!


And now, really, bed!  : )  Have a great one!  


ttfn.