Medugorje and Dubrovnik

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I'm off to Croatia!!!

It is finally here! I fly out later today. I go to Chicago, Frankfurt, and to a place called Spit....doesn't sound very nice, but it's an adventure. Am I pack....NO! I have things in piles. I'm still working on homework...yep, still hate school, takes all the fun away! I ran around today, and I'm pooped out from Jessie and Bobby's beautiful wedding. I completed a 300 picture Smilebox, rather hastily I might add. The wedding was beautiful, the couple radiant! Hopefully, the photography end will all come together. I think it was the dancing to "Flash dance" that put me over, my legs and feet are so swollen! Candy and I both walked around like a couple of geriatrics. I hear Liz is about the same......misery loves company! LOL My Brother's Birthday was on Friday! It certainly has been busy. Oh yes, and I was sick....went to work and wasn't feeling that bad, but it progressed worse and I ended up with a lovely rash! I already begged for antibiotics for my travels, just in case...and low and behold, I got worse, ended up with a rash and had to go to employee health....strep she guess, my guess too, and I have swollen lymph nodes in the back of my neck...another sign of strep. My throat is fine, yet I had a whopping sinus infection (yet again). I was one big red rash from shoulders to feet on Thursday but I'm better. I heard through the grape vine that my travel buddy was warned that she should wear a mask around me.....hmmmmmmm. I have extra medication should I need it!!! I pray for safe travels, a renewed spirit, and will pray with renewed energy.

The months roll on...

March came in with like a lion and it is still growling! The good news is there are are six more weeks of school and I'm done! I've been working like a dog to get things done, because next week is a busy one...I don't know how it could be busier than working 11 in a row, but it is. I have a day to do school work on Monday, have diabetes teaching and school on Tuesday, then work the following three, do pictures for a wedding on Saturday the 14th and fly away on Monday the 16th! Whoohooo!!! Of course, the amount of work I have to do before I go, is a lot, but cest la vie! My biggest concern is my loss of my wonderful hour of sleep since it is now time for Daylight Savings. I do like the extra hour(s) of daylight since I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, but I still miss that wonderful hour of sleep. The past few weeks I've been a bit preoccupied with Facebook. I've been able to reconnect with some wonderful friends....it is fun getting caught up, it's just a shame that life gets so hectic that we loose touch of such awesome friends. (Thanks to ShabbyMissJennDesigns.com for the wonderful desktop calendar template!!!)

Valentine's came and went....

Valentine's Day was on a Saturday this year. I've been prepared for several weeks. Natalie and Caitlin's stuff was given early. Paul wasn't at home. Callie was at home so was the only one I got pictures of, although she loves to make faces!!! Manuel called me when I was shopping and wanted to know if I wanted a card, candy, or flowers...now there's a sign of true love....LOL I had bought little round cheesecakes with chocolate on them and chocolate covered strawberries...yum.

Today, was a day when many things were scheduled. I went up to Bradenton to meet Natalie for lunch. I had the Wii Fit for her also...mom/wii fit/mom/wii fit...hmmmm we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and had a nice visit and got caught up. It was nice to get together. We parted and I went home and she was in the area of a friend so they met up. Callie was in the Edison Children's Parade. Over the years all of the kids have been in it. This is the first one I didn't see with one of my kids in it... :-( Once I was home, I had to finish up homework for a class....grrrrr 1/2 way done. I add another class on now also...does it end???? No mater how close...it feels so far....

Chilly days and cold nights.....

The days recently have been chilly and the nights have been cold and damp. This doesn't last for long, and it is a nice break. The days just spin on by like flipping rapidly through the pages in a book. Caitlin celebrated her 21st birthday. We met up with her and Adam for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Always great food! She was thrilled with her gifts and took Natalie's gifts back with her. Natalie was enjoying her time in Las Vegas. I finally finished my Greece/Israel book with Picaboo.com. It came licketysplit! I was so surprised. I think it's 83 pages and it is a wonderful memory keepsake! I only have nine more weeks of school! YES!! I'm tired of the classes that I'm taking currently, I just want to be done. It sounds horrible, but I just miss doing fun things, it's been over 18 months since I last used my sewing machine, and I want to get more proficient at the photoshop, etc. On the bright side - my knee has quite a bit of fluid today, but my walking in the past weeks has improved though not 100% yet. I know I'll be walking alot on my trip to Croatia. I'm going to add a slide show to my blog. I made it the other day using slide.com. My desktop calendar is compliments of shabbymissjenndesigns.com. I've once again changed the backgrounds on this blog. It's getting easier. I have used Zoe Pearn's kit, Shabbymissjeendeigns.com alpha and elements, and a pea font from kevinandamanda.com! It looks cheerful!

Where does the time go?

Does anyone really know where time goes? It seems to be in a blink of an eye that many years have gone by, yet it feels like it was just yesterday! Now how does that happen? Many years ago...well it doesn't seem like that long..but when I say it out loud...yikes!!! So, since I don't want to appear as old as it may sound I will just say it was in the not so far past....as if that makes it any less OLD! :-)

Anyway, back in the past and not so long ago, I had the most beautiful baby girl! I'm am telling you she was like a little dolly! She had the darkest hair and eyes and she was pudgy and so beautiful, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. My labor was a piece of cake, I had been to the doctor's a few hours earlier just for a routine check and after I got home and had french toast for dinner, I was whinny which irrates me never mind anyone else and my husband said I needed to just go and take a warm bath. A nice way of saying "be quiet and stop your whining". So off I went to get a bath and my water broke! Lots and lots of water....I had indeed sprung a leak! Once my husband was aware he was running in circles telling me I needed to go to the hospital. I'm trying to tell him he needed to get things ready for our son so we could take him to the sitters. We got all the things done and arrived at the hospital, and I got sent to the Maternity floor. I was all alone, not another woman in labor, just one in the delivery room giving birth. It was packed full when I had my son, but this night was empty, just me. My husband went off to work and I just walked and played solitare and one every game, without cheating I might add. There was no monitoring which was nice. The doctor was called and said "I just saw her, she wasn't in labor then...". My labor progressed nicely and then the nurse came in and I said, "I think I need to push"...."ooohhhh I HAVE to push". Off I went to the delivery room where the doctor and my husband both arrived and soon after Natalie was born. Fast forward to the current time, she is still beautiful! She is of course smart, whitty, humorus, intense, and high strung! She is also picky about her clothes just as she was when she was eighteen months old and refused to wear things....she has brought much joy into our lives, and I hope her birthday celebrations are fun and happy.

Today was inauguration day. The transition between the out going President and the incoming President. The job which is thankless and has so much responsiblility that people going into it have a hair color and generally no wrinkles come out with white hair and many wrinkles! There is always hope and promise when a new President is elected and we forget that no matter how much "power" they have, it isn't limitless and there are Congress and the Senate to contend with, yet they don't seem to be as responsible as they should be. While we can hope that things will change, the process is slow and there are many bumps, challenges, and conflict along the way. May the outgoing President know that I personnally appreciated not having another terror attack on our soil and wish him peace and happiness in all the years to come and for the incoming President to have the wisdom to keep our country strong and safe, require excellence over mediocrity, make wise and informed choices, and to be mindful of listening to both sides of the isle, and people must be responsible, productive, and be held accountable, best wishes. May God Bless America!