Simply Altered

I love these Senior pictures.

I love having  a Senior.

And…I love her.

My firstborn.  Where did the last 18 years go???

One of my favorite sayings (and I have many!!)

“The days are long, but the years are fast”

This rings SO true with us.

Has this been “easy” ?   no.

But then again, not much in parenting comes easy.  Parenting teenagers is a whole other situation.   It has humbled me more than you can imagine.  I tried early on, to step in and help to avoid the hard lessons of life.  That got me no where. Fast.  It is one of the hardest things to let your kids learn the hard way, but so rewarding when in the blink of an eye, they make judgement calls that remind you that they HAVE been listening afterall.  I see MANY of these moments….especially lately.

Madison is a HARD worker, and she is independent.  Two traits that will carry her well into life.

I am seeing more and more how it must feel to see your children grow up, make their own way and be successful.   I want to see her HAPPY, no matter what it takes to get there.  Each persons version of happiness is different, but happiness is where she is headed.  A good productive solid citizen.    Happiness is key.

We recently had Senior pictures taken.   To each their own, but I see actual professional Senior pictures as being highly overrated.  I have a creative neice, with a great eye for a photo op and a great camera.   Sounds ideal huh??  it was.   They had a good time taking the pictures, the casual environment of two family members together, and the opportunity to take as many pictures as they wanted, in as many locations, hairstyles, clothing changes etc etc etc as they chose.   I think they are EXCEPTIONAL!!!!!   and the price was definitely right.   I had them developed and edited professionally, and we can call it good.

Some spend nearly a thousand dollars (or maybe more) on Senior pics.  That works for them, it does not work for us.

Now…..we move forward with  planning a graduation party, ordering a class ring, cap & gown, etc etc etc….yep, we are going to be BUSY!!!!!

and in 3 more years, I get to do it all again with my son.  :)

Life is getting very interesting and will endure ALOT of changes coming up………

I hope I am ready.

I can’t help it, I have to share one thing I do NOT love.

It is the DRYWALL DUST that is a fine layer over every single crack and crevice of this house.

This is not my hand, or my house.  It is an image I googled, and believe me, mine is every BIT this much!!!

and it is driving me CRAZY!!!!!!!   I mean nearly over the top CRAZY!!!!!

The kitchen is progressing like it should, but considering I wanted this whole thing done YESTERDAY, it is beginning to overwhelm me.

Perfect timing that I would need to take some con-ed classes OUT OF TOWN.   I am leaving tomorrow, for about 36 hours (yep, overnight solo!!!)   and I am gonna love every single minute of hanging out in a DUST free environment!!!!!!!!!!

I remember about 14 years ago when we gutted our kitchen.  The BIG difference is we completlely moved OUT of the kitchen for about a month.  This time, with a partial renovation, we are still trying to function normally with a torn up kitchen….and it is not working.  Period.

……and it is that DREADED month of February again.   { ugh }

….my husband is on a week of furlough

and my S.A.D. is trying really hard to get the best of me.  I am digging deep within my soul to NOT let it win this year.  I refuse, but as you can tell, it is getting dangerously close…..

but a day (and night) away is gonna be good, and WELL DESERVED.

and I promise, I will bring back a list of things I love once again……and hopefully one of them will be  the nice CLEAN house my husband and kids have waiting for me.

God bless them anyway.  :)

(still taking comments for the drawing….hopefully mid week next week)