Im Alive

yes, im alive, still trying to be 100% better.
strep isn't fun as an adult - thats what i have learned this past week -
this weekend i have a big review for my real estate test which with all the sickness - i am totally not prepared for - all the prayers you want to send up for me i will be so thankful for.
thats all i have time for now, i will have to catch up later!

winning my heart

My sweet husband is getting me the nicest gift. I love a clean car. I hate driving a dirty car, and its $7 - $10 bucks a pop to go through the automatic wash. (which I prefer in Iowa due to the snow we have 11 months out of the 12) HA! I generally like to make sure my car is clean for Sunday just because - I grew up that way. My brother was and is a car detailing machine. Josh not so much. I think the times that its been detailed like I wanted it done - I did it, not to throw off on Joshua - he is just not a detail guy in general. So, in this whole financial overhaul we have done at our house, we decided to move me into the paid for Chrysler LHS and to eventually get rid of the Suburban, which hasn't happened yet but is in the works.
In the discussion stages of this I told Josh, I don't mind to drive an old car, I just want it to be clean, and I want it to look nice, and I don't want the headache of keeping it that way. In this southern girl's mind, taking out the trash, mowing the yard, and keeping the car clean is a guy's responsibility. I totally understand that this is not reality for the majority of the world however, and so don't take offense if this isn't the way your family functions. So, Back to my present! - Josh found out that Mr. Car Wash here in town has a wash card for $19.95 a month - and you can wash your car as many times in the month as you want. This is so awesome. I wash my car at least twice a month, many times more than that. This is the perfect way to control what I spend at the car wash and not mess up the "car care" portion of my budget. Even better - they will vacuum out the inside and take care of all of that for just $5. - Which I will do on a as needed basis! I know this might seem so stupid to be excited about but - what can I say? My love language is acts of service, and my husband is letting me go through the car wash three times a day if I want. To me, Roses pale in comparison. Call me weird, but I am so excited right now!

Home Again

Im so happy to be home and soon to be back in a routine with the kids and house work. After two days on an airplane, yesterday was a migraine all day. Im feeling a bit better today and just getting ready to make a list of the things around here that I need to get done. Just normal stuff.
Florida was beautiful and green. It rained EVERY evening and some afternoons. When it wasn't raining we were getting a jump start on the summer tan. There were times when it was just blaring hot, and I didn't want to get back on a plain to the cold rain here.
I had not seen Anna's Mom in 8 years and it was so good to see her and get to hang out with her, as well as get to know Anna's friend Cheyene better. She is a gymnast coach in Texas, I have a cool picture of her doing a hand stand in front of the Epcot ball.
As far as Disney goes, it was different than what I had expected. I do want to take my kids, but I think that them both being just a bit older would be a good idea. Although they would have fun at any age there, I am purely thinking from a mother's convenience standpoint.
I found a cool teapot at Epcot in the "Japan" area. It is a green/yellow crackle glaze with a wicker type handle, and four little bowls that are the cups. It is beautiful. I picked oysters that had pearls as well, and had some earrings made. Those are beautiful. So I think Japan in Epcot was my favorite spot. Epcot I guess over all was my favorite, all the different cultures and food, and shops were so much fun.
Anna turned 30 in the rain, but we made the most of it! I had the best fun with Anna when we were eating at the two Mexican Restaurants in her hometown! Pasada's just rocked, it was delicious. We ate at Rosa's as well which is my Dad's favorite down there. (For semi-fast food Mexican).
I missed the kids terribly, and found that I had just as much fun on the bus rides to and from the parks talking with the other little kids on the way back to the hotel. Somehow, I made a friend on nearly every bus ride. I met a journalist for the Chicago White Sox, a small portion of a high school band that was going to be in a Disney Park parade, a little boy named Zachariah who had fire red hair and a hilarious laugh. He killed me probably 30 times with his new buzz light year gun, that Colin now has one just like. He also had a Shark hand puppet - so I had to teach him the Daddy Shark, Momma Shark, Baby Shark song - it was so funny seeing this 2.5 year old do the motions. I met a family + their grandma who were from Kansas City the two little boys had been up since 1:30 AM to catch their plane, and now it was 3pm they were on their way to a park, and it was raining. I felt so bad for them. They experienced the same storm that blew through Neosho a week and half ago. All in all, I found that the world is small on a long bus ride too and from places, and if you just make the first move to say hello, people enjoy talking about themselves - it makes the trip shorter and alot more interesting.

What I Heard

I got on the plane with a very pleasant African American Family who we had seen in the Resort at Disney where we were staying. Their mother was a classy lady, wearing a beautiful detailed Chambry denim outfit, and matching coach hand bag, her children - three girls who looked to be triplets and one boy sat on the row with her, and behind them was their Daddy and another boy. Before the plane took off I hear her say, ok kids, lets pray. She began, "Father we thank you for safety, we thank you for your traveling mercy's, dear Lord we thank you for the wonderful time we have had, and we ask you for Safety on our way home. We thank you for Safety. In Jesus name we pray, and everyone said - AMEN! I joined in her prayer, I bowed my head and I said AMEN! My spirit was totally bearing witness with what she was saying. You could tell, the thought of taking all her children up in the air in the hands of the pilot had a wory on her mind, but I HEARD her say "it's in the Lord's hands anyhow..." as she let it be a peace to her spirit, as we took off. When we landed I remembered her words,
"Dear Lord, We thank you for Safety!"
I appreciated her boldness, I appreciated her manner with her children, and I thought about what she had taught them in turning her fear, and anxiety over to Jesus. What a mom. I loved how her girls all had on matching outfits too - they were so stinking cute! How well behaved. I felt like I was not alone in the world as I heard her say, "Victoria, when I said to put that away - I meant the first time." Go Godly Momma wherever you are in Texas tonight!

What I See

I love to people watch. Im in Minneapolis MN. observing all sorts of things:

Im headed South to Dallas and I can't wait to be there, but as I have a few minutes to grab lunch the thought "welcome to America" enters my mind, wishing the guy taking my order at least spoke the national language - If your gonna run the register - you need to speak english - all Im sayin. I love him, but come on!

As I approach the gate I see a group of three women, all classy older ladies who are obviously headed home to TEXAS. They are decked out with big hair, matching earrings, and their big chunky neckalces with huge pendants. I hear one of them on the phone say in sweet southern accent, "How are you doing?" What a familiar friendly tone of voice, that I had just told Josh over the phone I was missing, here in this snow covered lay-over. This was all due to an ole dude that didn't want to give me directions to the chinese restaurant down the hallway, - I settled for Quizno's.

Upon boarding the plane the typical happens. All the first class passengers are male business men with something to prove, in a huff to be boarded in order of importance you could cut the ego with a knife walking through their section to get to coach. Not one woman was willing to pay the extra to sit in those seats. Even the business woman of the year I met a year ago, on a plane to Austin sat in Coach. As a woman, we have been through child bearing - we have no need to prove anything really. The smartest amoung the passengers, I would guess, is not in the front 4 rows of the aircraft.

After being seated on the plane I am happily behind these southern women who are a cheerful bunch and probably between 55-75 years of age, two of which are wearing huge diamond rings. The eldest of the group, proudly sports a purple tweed blazer, with long pink fingernails, 'perfect make-up, complete with metalic lipstick. ( I thought that after you hit a certain age metallic lips were sort of the wrong thing to do - but I guess at this age - you do whatever you want!) You know she has to be a fun granny just observing her demeaner.

The younger one announces "IT'S APRIL FIRST TODAY - This was ONE OF my anniversaries!" This is a cheerful announcement - she says "my first one actually - back in 1979!" She calls someone quickly to get directions to a delicious restaurant they want to try in route back to their hometown from the airport. And its then I know that her cheerful disposition about all aspects of life - (as quirky as I understand they might sound reading this) and her love of great food is one that I can relate to. While Im not an Alpha Male sitting in the first 12 seats, drinking a beer at 2 in the afternoon, or a true Northerner, Im caught in the middle and very ammused.

The guys in the front should look around. Not one charming woman resides in their section - if they really thougt this through, they could save money and meet a charming southern belle, who is setting in front of me.