SPRING BREAK!!!!!

Ahhh..... Spring Break.....

It used to mean this:

(*ahem*)

But now - older, wiser, and well, did I mention older?  It means this:

Ahhhhh.....

Notice there are only TWO chairs.

Brian and I were able to get away to the end of the earth for a few quiet, blissful days.

Did I mention it was quiet?

Yes, my wonderful in-laws kept the girls and Brian and I traveled to the Eatern Shore for a little getaway.

We stayed in a friends house, right on the Chesapeake Bay (RIGHT ON THE BAY!!!!).

The house was super cute, but this is what got me....

Hello, Lover......

I've mentioned before that I spent a lot of time in New England in my youth.  Well, a lot of that time was spent on a boat in the Long Island Sound.  

Like, every weekend in the summer, Friday to Sunday.

Oh, how I wish I had appreciated it more when I was young.

I am drawn to little seaside fishing towns, with marinas, and crab pots and wildlife, and calm water, and  docks and boats and boats and more boats.

My dream is to own a house on the Bay or a boat I can sleep on with my family comfortably.

I'd love to own both, but I'll take one or the other.

I like the beach - don't get me wrong - but hands down, 100%, no lie, if given a choice I choose the Bay. 

There's something about walking on grass all the way to the water's edge and walking out on a nice long dock and plopping yourself down in a chair to watch the sunrise, the boats, the sea gulls, the sunset....

There's nothing like it.

I think - after spending this weekend with me at this lovely place my husband FINALLY gets that this is important to me.

I mean, I've been telling him for 15 years but he just never really understood.

After seeing me this weekend, he get it.  And he's on board with the whole -

 I NEED TO BE NEAR THE WATER AND WE NEED TO DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE WE HAVE A HOUSE THIS CLOSE TO THE BAY WITH A BIG ASS DOCK SOMEDAY.

You can have your beach - I'll gladly and willingly visit. 

But give me the Bay as my home. 

And now, a little pictorial of our trip - WARNING  - this post has tons of pictures which will make you want to drop everything, quit your job and move to the shore.

Wait, is that just me? 

Coffee on the dock - ahhhhhh.......

The view from the deck.

One of the drawbacks of going to the shore this time of year is that there is NOTHING open.  Even the restaurants were only open on the weekends.  Crab season doesn't start until April 1st and tourist season doesn't start until mid May, so it was pretty quiet around town.  We stayed in a little fishing town and it was a little sad to see how poor the little town was.

Since there was nothing open we did a lot of exploring...

The Washington Inn in Princess Anne.

Built in 1744, in the Reign of King George II.

It was a beautiful building - there's so much history in my state - we're lucky to live here...

Driving along a little seaside road.

Brian driving - ha!

I couldn't help but take some pictures of some of the cute little houses we saw on our adventures.

Of course, Brian appreciated all of the shouts of "Slow down!  Stop!"  as I tried to snap pictures.

This house was so cool.  Doesn't it look like its straight out of a fairy tale?

Unfortunately, it was pretty run down.  But I would love to see the inside.  That roof fascinates me!

This house was right on the water - stunningly beautiful lot, private street - and it was for sale!

I'm trying to figure out a way to talk mom and dad into buying it.....

When we weren't exploring, we were at the house, sitting outside, or watching movies or cooking fresh seafood.

Brian walking out to join me.

There were several crab pots for our use but we weren't sure of the rules (how big do they need to be, would we get in trouble if we crabbed before the season opened, etc.).

The water was shallow and surprisingly clear.

We went for a lot of walks - there was a commercial fishing marina right next to us.  

Big piles of shell.

Crab pots. 

This was in the fishing marina and was freshly painted. 

I have no idea why this was all the way up here from Hilton Head?  

I spent a lot of time looking at this....

We were lucky we had such great weather. 

And Brian was happy to drink a few margaritas.

My man loves tequila.

And that was how we spent part of our spring break.

We're home now and I'm hanging with the kiddos this week.

Have a wonderful Easter!!

Our first house

Many, many years ago, Brian and I bought out very first house.  

We weren't married yet - heck we weren't even engaged!  But we knew we wanted to live together and didn't want to waste money on rent and we were both committed to the fact that we were going to be together forever so, we took the plunge.

Our house was a little split level in my little farm  hometown and backed up to a farm  and the open space on one side.   

We had only intended on living there for about 5 years. 

We were there for 11 years.  Funny how that works!

Can you tell I am drawn to grey houses with red doors?  

This was the perfect starter house and by the time Brian and I were done with it, it was totally reconfigured.  I don't have the greatest pictures, in fact I JUST found these much to my delight! 

This is the back yard.  We installed that patio the summer after Sydney was born and planted those lelands at the back property line a year or so before that. 

The deck and pergola were there when we moved in.  I loved it but the deck was very small and the wisteria just tore that poor pergola up. 

The kitchen/dining area used to be two separate rooms.  We knocked out the wall to make a half wall, made the range hood and installed wood flooring.  The cabinets were awesome - custom made - so we didn't mess with them.  I always intended to change the counter tops but never got around to it.  The kitchen was very small but so cozy.  I wish I had more pictures.  The support beam in the ceiling was covered with a wood enclosure to look like an exposed beam and I loved it. 

Our family room was quite big.  Originally, it was a family room and really big laundry room.  I decided I didn't need a laundry room that big, so we - once again - knocked out the wall separating the two and installed a bar for entertaining and made a very small laundry room.

I love wainscotting and stained very stinking piece of it myself.  I love the warmness of wood...

This used to be part of the laundry room.

We threw a ton of parties down here. I miss my bar.  When we sold the house, the buyer told me that as soon as her husband came downstairs into the nice big family room with the bar, he looked at her and said "That's it.  This is the house."

I hear they are very happy there.

And finally, our bedroom.  Brian loves red and requested a red bedroom.  It was soooo cozy. 

No pictures of the girls rooms or the dining room (which I turned into a playroom for the girls)  I'm going to try and dig up more pictures.

I miss our little house, but that's exactly what it was  - little.  The girls barely had rooms - more like closets, there was no storage and the street was getting busy which meant I wasn't comfortable with the girls playing out front, walking to a friends house or riding their bikes. 

Our little house served us very well for a very long time and we put our heart and soul into it.  We moved in  as a couple and left as a family of four.  

And the mortgage payment was much nicer. Ha! 

March

As in - holy crap it's 75 degrees in MARCH!!! 

We've been spending a lot of time outside.  I've been spending a lot of time walking the yard, looking at all my daffodils that have bloomed, my forsythia that has completely blossomed in all its golden yellow goodness and my grass that needs to be mowed - already.  (OK, it's WAY too early for that)

All that is to say, we're just enjoying life over here - taking lots of walks with the neighbors (we call them rolling happy hours because we all grab a drink and walk and talk) lots of runs with my hubby, lots of bike rides with the kiddos and lots of ball throwing with the boys. 

I took off the entire week of the girls spring break and  Brian and I are going away by ourselves for a few days and then the girls and I will hang out and do fun stuff - I"m hoping this amazing weather holds.  I wanted to go see the Cherry Blossoms, but they are in full bloom already and will likely be done by the time we could get down there the first of April. 

I picked out all my plants and started organizing what will go in all my pots.  Of course, I'm doing this in my head because with my luck I'll move my trees outside and plant some containers and we'll go from 75 degrees in March to 6 inches of snow in April.  We had our one and only snow storm in October so it's only fitting we should close out winter with a spring blizzard. 

 I officially have Spring Fever. 

That's OK - I'll take the elevator.

Going to my third Boot Camp class tonight - AND I ran a few mornings too. 

What? 

  I KNOW right? 

Each time is less painful than the last.  Thank God.

But I still avoid stairs.  At. All. Costs. 

In other news, we have gone two straight days without anyone home sick!  Brian got the stomach flu on Tuesday so he was down for the count that day.  But yesterday was pretty much the first time in two weeks that everyone was fairly healthy and back in school/work.  It was a bad 2 weeks at the Henrys, fo' shizzle. 

I have tons planned for this weekend - projects I need to get done around the house, etc. - so its a fair bet I'll accomplish nothing but laze around, maybe go see baby Nicholas (and his parents, of course), do some more reading (third book of Game of Thrones - this series is killing me but I just. can't. stop. reading.) and get in a nice long outdoor afternoon at the park with the girls.

Sounds perfect to me! 

February 25th to March 3rd

It's been a full week...

February 25th:  Beth comes into town!!  We go out to dinner and then head to a friends house for a girls night get together.  I had so much fun and I hadn't seen Beth since the Benefit Concert (for my other friend Beth  -don't get confused) and let's face it, I saw NOTHING that day if the truth be told - ha!  It was such a great night.

February 26th a.m.:  Beth leaves. Boo - it was a short trip, but seriously - chicky drove three and half hours each way to hang out with me for less than 24 hours.  She totally rocks. Love that girl!

February 26th afternoon:  Brandon and I make a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate my mama's birthday with the family at my house.  Good times are had by all.  Sydney complains of a sore throat so I give her some Tylenol and she tells me she's fine.

February 26th evening:  I notice that Olivia's jaw/under her jaw are a bit swollen and she complains that her braces have worn a sore in her mouth which she thinks might be causing it.  She's uncomfortable and - having heard from two people about their recent hospitalizations with MERSA - I figure I'm not taking any chances and Brian and I decide that she's going to the doctor in the morning.

February 26th/February 27th, middle of the night:  Sydney throws up.


February 27th:  Brian stays home with the kids and takes them to the doctor.  Sydney has strep.  Olivia does not, but her glands are swollen.  Both are put on antibiotics.

February 28th:  Brian stays home again with Sydney but Liv feels great and the doctor says she can go back to school.

February 29th:  Sydney's still not 100% so she stays with my mom.  Brian and I are in bed by 7:00 because we are both getting colds.

March 1st:  EVERYONE IS BACK AT SCHOOL/WORK!!!  I feel like crap, but since it's been so warm and I'm not running a fever I can't decide if its allergies or an actual cold.  Brian is fine by now.

March 2nd:  Sharon and Justin welcome their son into the world and I want to go see him!!! But I can't be around that sweet baby boy if I'm sick, so I go to the doctor. She sees that the girls were in earlier in the week so she orders a strep test for me.   I tell her Syd was positive for strep, but that Olivia was negative and that neither of us have ever had strep.  She bets me that I have strep.  I bet her that I don't.  I win!  But she tells me it's a cold and that I can't go near baby Nicholas for at least 24 hours by which time she thinks it'll be just about gone.  Dammit. Olivia leaves for a church retreat in Virginia with her friends' youth group.  She's excited, but very apprehensive about going since she and her friend are the youngest kids, it's not close to home, and she doesn't know all of the others very well.  Her friend's mom (who's chaperoning) assures me that she will keep an extra close eye on her for me.  Olivia texts me no less than 10 times in the hour after she leaves to tell me how much she loves me and misses me.

March 2nd, late night:  Virginia gets some wicked bad storms and I can't sleep for worrying about how Liv is doing.  She hates thunder storms and she's homesick and in a strange place and has no cell service.

March 3rd, a.m.:  I get up and haul my butt to my first fitness boot camp.  Holy kick my ass Batman!  I know I'm not going to be able to walk the next day but decide I like it.

March 3rd, evening:  With Sydney at a friends house and Olivia away at church camp, Brian and I find ourselves with a free evening!  We go to the hospital to get our baby fix and then go to dinner.

March 4th, early a.m.:  Olivia starts throwing up and they decide to leave camp early to get her home.  We get the call at about 8:00 am that she's sick and  they are on their way home.  Liv has been sick five or six times by this point but they tell me she never complained, wanted to make sure no one else was sick and didn't want everyone else to have to leave early because of her (they didn't). She's such a trooper - that girl NEVER complains and never has when she's sick.  It's a blessing and a curse - a blessing because she handles it so well, but a curse because from the time she was a little girl I never knew how sick she really was until she was really sick.   Liv comes home, climbs on the couch and promptly falls asleep.  Oh, and I can't walk. Holy pain in every muscle I have Batman.

March 4th, afternoon:  Brian and I go to Home Depot and get a shelving unit for the laundry room and I spend the next 5 hours rearranging, cleaning and hanging shelves in the laundry room all while avoiding any and all reasons to go up or down any stairs because, well, it just hurts.

March 4th, evening:  I'm sitting down, knowing it's going to hurt like hell to get up and go to bed. I'll be home tomorrow with Liv.  But Boot camp #2 is tomorrow night (lordhelpme).

So, here's the thing....

There just really hasn't been too much happening around here. I mean, I have all these projects that are half done that I just can't get motivated or find the time to finish.

I have two daughters that I adore who are becoming social butterflies that keep me busy busy busy on the weekends.  I have decided that I really need to enjoy the next 10 years and take a step back and realize that my babies will soon be grown women themselves. I need to take advantage of  every moment that I can.  This is hard - I work full time, with an hour commute each way and very long days.  Weekends are a frenzy of house cleaning, laundry, dish washing, grocery shopping, family time, fun time, friend time -   seriously.  Who can fit all that into 48 hours? 

Not to mention  - I have a shit ton of projects and creative stuff coming out of my ears that I can't get to and that frustrates me to no end.

But, I have been exercising a lot more - which is giving me a lot more energy - and also provides me with some alone time where I can be by myself with my thoughts.  I work out a lot of stuff on those runs.

All that being said, I want to write down what I hope to accomplish in the next month or so- I hope it'll make me accountable.  (Hope springs eternal...)

1.  Run at least 5 times a week - three of those times being early  morning treadmill runs.  Which I hate.  But I have another race coming up in May and I want to be ready.
2.  Try to lose about 5 pounds.  I'm uncomfortable in my skin right now.
3.  Pick out material for the couch in the sitting room and find an upholsterer.  I just can't make a decision here.  But it's gone on long enough.
4.  Get the pictures I have had for 6 months now hung on the walls in the sitting room.  This is more work than it sounds like.  I'll let you know why when I'm done.
5.  Rework our budget.  We've done a few things to hopefully give us some extra cash.  We will both be needing new cars in the next few years and I'd like to save up a sizable down payment.  Because cars are crazy expensive.
6. Do something fun with the girls at least once a week.
7. Snuggle with my babies before bed at least a few times a week.  I love those snuggles, where we all climb in my bed and hunker down under the big down comforter and giggle and cuddle up together.

I think that's enough for a month, don't you? Stay tuned to see how I do....

And after reading this post I realize I'm a hot mess - I am all OVER the place.

Can you get ADD at the age of 41? 

12

Valentines’ Day of the year 2000

That’s the day I first became a mother.

My very own Snow White was born, with porcelain skin, a head full of dark hair and perfect little red rose lips.

Hard to believe she’s 12 now.  Trust me when I say, I blinked and a decade flew by….

I remember everything about the day she was born.

I remember thinking that I wasn’t ready yet. 

I remember the doctor telling me that it was happening, whether it was three weeks early or not.

I remember the car ride from the doctor to the hospital.

I remember calling Brian’s office from the car.

I remember his co-worker answering – and then dropping the phone and yelling for Brian as he ran across the shop looking for him upon hearing me say “I need Brian – It’s time!”

I remember being in the hospital and hoping that all the grandparents would make it in time to catch a glimpse of their first grandbaby as soon as she was born.

I remember thinking that it was all happening so fast that it was surreal. 

I remember not being scared.

I remember seeing Brian’s excited eyes above the mask he had to wear in the delivery room as they began the surgery.

I remember waiting and waiting and waiting for that first cry.

I remember feeling such relief upon hearing it.

I remember crying when I heard that we had a daughter – and that she was perfect.

I remember telling Brian to leave me and go with the baby – nothing else mattered now but her.

I remember the feeling I had when they first placed her in my arms  - and it is indescribable.

I remember looking at the tears in my parent’s eyes and – for the first time – understanding.

I remember thinking that everything had now changed forever, in a good way.

I remember thinking “Why didn’t anyone tell me how fast and how much I would love this child?”

The years that have gone by since that beautiful day have brought us some amazing memories of our Olivia Leigh, but those few hours before and after her birth are ingrained in my mind with such detail and clarity that they could have happened yesterday.   I suspect that will be the case for the rest of my life and that the births of my daughters will be the last memories I relive before I die.

As the years go by, she becomes more independent and chafes at the parental bonds I tenuously still hold.  We bicker, we yell, we say things we regret…she is, in many respects, a smaller version of me.  

She hates to hear that.  

And I understand. 

I’m sure we have some very difficult years ahead of us as we march into the teenage years.  

But all I have to do is think back to February 14, 2000, and all the frustration and anger fades and all I want to do is grab her and hold her and hug her and kiss her and tell her how much I love her.

Happy Birthday my beautiful baby girl. 

I love you more than the moon and the stars.  

And I always will.

Hot Damn!

Look ma!!

No more dish pan hands!

On Friday our new dishwasher was delivered. 

I'd love to tell you the make, the model and all that jazz...

But, alas..... I really have no freakin' clue off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to get up and dig out the paperwork. 

I CAN tell you that it's black, it's a GE, it's a tall tub, and it cleans like a mo-fo.

And we got a HELL of a deal on it. 

This was definitely one of those "it's not what you know, it's who you know" times.

  

Seriously.  

Someday I'll tell you all about it.  But right now, let's look at what happened here this weekend!

Taking out old Faithful. 

Good bye dear Maytag, circa 1995, who served us (and Judi & Ted) well. 

Now, I should tell you that we have copper pipes.  Copper pipes that tend to be very persnickety and like to get little pin holes in them if you look at them the wrong way.

Baxter - saying goodbye....

Brian was really nervous about taking the dishwasher out because, well, we just weren't sure how the pipes would react.

Would they rebel and spew everywhere to show their displeasure or would they be pleased to serve this new King?  

(Damn - can you tell I'm reading Game of Thrones?)

We had a plumber on stand by - just in case.

Turns out, removal and installation went off without a hitch and within 2 hours I was loading that beautiful bad boy up and turning him on...

Hello Lover....

Most of my appliances are white.  But, I chose black so that it wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb from our dark cabinets.  It's actually not as noticeable as I thought it would be.

Score one for me.

And I have opened it in the middle of a cycle at least ten times - just to make sure it was actually running.  

That's how quiet it is. 

 I pretty much love it.

Although I just looked at this picture and realized that I'm going to be constantly cleaning the front, so it stays nice and shiny.