i keep falling off of the face of earth

well, not actually falling off the face of the earth...just being very busy living life.  this quote sums it up today:

finish each day & be done

with it.  you have done what you

could. some blunders & 

absurdities have crept in;

forget them as soon as you can.

tomorrow is a new day. you shall 

begin it serenely & with too

high a spirit to be encumbered

with your old nonsense.

-- emerson

blessings,

i fell off the face of the earth...

yep, i did it again...kept meaning to blog, but got so busy with life it just never happened!  so i will have to catch you all up with the bluedot happenings since may 2012.  but not today....

today i am going to tell you about my awesome, wonderful, fantastic, great weekend!  friday night we grilled out and enjoyed a night in with great food, company and a movie.  saturday bluedotdad and i snuck away for breakfast at overeasy.  we had a fun afternoon picnicking with some friends and their children at veteran's park, followed by watching auburn almost get beat and alabama rolling all over arkansas.  our saturday night was spent with our life walk group.  i cannot even begin to put into words how much i love these people!  sunday began with bible study and worship, which was awesome!  then, bluedotdad and i used our living social deal from my birthday at the gun range.  we went shooting!  i loved it!

it took me a minute (half an hour) to get used to the gun shots without jumping.  but then i got pretty proficient at loading the magazine and shooting.

ok, my first target i didn't realize was a hostage target and i pretty much killed the hostage, but hey i got lots of points, see:

so the next target, bluedotdad and i shared:

it was so much fun!  this weekend was just what i needed!

it's wednesday, so why not? let's have a hodgepodge...

i am linking up today with joyce over at from this side of the pond

1. What is a pet peeve you have when vacationing?

being rushed...i want to stay out on the beach all day, as in until the sun sets.  i don't want to have to rush in and get ready to rush here or there...i want to relax and enjoy my surroundings every second!


2. Would you describe yourself as a light packer or do you need everything in your closet plus the kitchen sink?
me, a light packer? ha!  i need my full closet, because you have to be prepared for any event...i always pack too much and then as i am packing to come home tell myself you are not packing this much stuff ever again for vacation.  but alas, the same thing happens the next time we go on vacation.


3. What's the best lesson a child ever taught you?
my children have taught me so many lessons...you think before you have children that you know everything, but realize very quickly once that baby is born that you know nothing!  i think the most important lesson i have learned from my children is unconditional love.


4. Share one piece of advice you'd give a recent graduate as they attempt to enter the job market?
be patient through the process of resumes and interviews.  if you are offered money to work a job take it.  it is much easier to find a job when you are employed.


5. What's your favorite lemon something?
lemon in my tea...being a good southern girl means drinking iced tea and good iced tea always has lemon in it!


6. Flat sandal, wedge, heel...your favorite footwear?
flip flops...they are not great support shoes, but i love flip flops!  i think they should be a year round shoe source!


7. What do you like best about a beach holiday? If you're not a beach lover (GASP!!) what do you dislike the least?
a trashy magazine or book, an adult beverage, toes in the sand and feeling the breeze on my skin.  ahhhh, i need a beach vacation so bad!


8. Insert your own random thought here. 
something that i often had told my husband, thanks to @uberfacts i now know is true:
Approximately 80% of a child's intelligence is acquired from the mother.


y'all have a great wednesday,

ahhhh! and we are all moved!

this past friday and saturday we moved...

• 6 rooms of furniture
• a million boxes
• 3 full closets of clothes
• 12 trips total cars & moving truck 
• 20 amazing people 
• only 2 broken items
• a gazillion trips up and down the stairs carrying boxes and furniture
• contact paper queens 
• unpacking rockstars
• countless hugs
• the sweetest, kindest, encouraging words
• dinner for all the helpers on day 1 of the move
• a delicious homemade dinner for us day 2 
• immeasurable laughs
• oodles of deep breaths
• incalculable prayers

we could not have did it without such amazing friends and family.  thank you cannot express the appreciation we feel for you all:

laura

shane

marty

melissa

alex

laura gail

whitney

michael

hunter

andrew

dana

elizabeth

david

ernie

todd

chris

alisha

god has blessed us beyond measure in so many ways!

blessings,

what a difference a day makes...

so yesterday i was really down...today the sun is shining and i feel

• happy
• content
• thankful
• peaceful
• loved
• filled up
• enough

i am going to enjoy today, cherish it!  hopefully, next time i am down, my memories of today will keep my little roller coaster chugging along...

special thanks to my friend karen for checking up on me...you always seem to do that when i need it!  and god has blessed me with an amazing husband, special, special thanks to bluedothubs for the sweet talk he gave me last night.  you said just what i needed to hear!  i love you so much and am so thankful for you!

i hope y'all are having an amazing thursday,

in a funk & overwhelmed!

i have a lot going on this week..a whole lot!

• we are moving on friday and saturday, yippee!  i am excited about that so why am i in a funk?  maybe it is because even 6 weeks ago i was so unsure about the future.    
•  i feel like a jumbled up mess of emotions.
• a black cat ran across my path this morning...am i doomed for 7 years now? or is the 7 year thing for broken mirrors?
• i am struggling
• i feel like i make no sense
• working on your character flaws when you are in a funk is not a good thing
• maybe if i had some m & m's i'd feel better...it always helps at lifewalk meetings!
• why is giving things over to god so hard?
• why do i have so many whys?
• i don't like having a facade and i want to be transparent, but it is a scary thing
• i wish everyone were safe or at least there were some visible, tangible way to know who was a safe person and who was not

sorry for such a blah post,

it's time for a hodgepodge!

it's wednesday and time to link up with joyce over at from this side of the pond

1. Spring is in the air (at least in my neck of the woods) and the birds are singing...what's your favorite bird?
birds....ack!  i don't like birds of any sorts.  they scare me.  and seriously, i had a friend tweet that crows recognize faces...just another reason to shy away from them, no need to ask for an attack!

2. Speaking of birds...do you tweet? If so tell us your screen name and we'll come flocking to your Twitter site. Even if you don't let's all pretend here that we do-in 140 characters or less, sum up your week so far.

i love twitter!  no surprise, my screen name is @bluedotmom  my tweets are protected, but if you want to follow me let me know you read my blog.

to sum up my week so far: chaotic, busy, lists with lists, feeling full of hope and thankfulness!

3. Its been reported recently that employers are not only viewing the facebook pages of potential hires but they're also requesting your facebook password to have a look at what you've kept from public view. What say you?

absolutely not!  that is a violation on many different levels.  i have read articles about companies requiring people at interviews to log into their facebook account and let the interviewer or a company representative peruse the interviewees account.  now, while saying i don't think they should have access to your personal account, i do think people should grow up and realize that anything they put online that you wouldn't want to stand up and tell the entire public.  people in general need to use a filter, ie we don't need to know everything you are doing, done or are going to do, much less see all of your personal business.  

4. It's April and you know what that means-Major League Baseball is back in action. What's your favorite baseball movie? If that's too hard, what's your favorite sports themed movie?

field of dreams is hands down my favorite baseball movie!

5. Something else this season brings-asparagus. Yes please or no thanks? If it's yes please what's your favorite way to have it prepared?

why yes please!  i love asparagus.  my favorite way to prepare it is to saute it in olive oil with garlic and pepper!

6. What drives you? (Don't you love how I sandwiched that one in between asparagus and jugglers???)

joyce, you are killin' me!  because of my smartassediness (yes it is one of my made up words) literally,  a chrysler pacifica!  figuratively i would have to say that it is the new journey i am on.  if you had asked me this question just 3 months ago, i probably would have said my family, and trying to be everything and give everything to make them happy.  now, while i still want them to be happy, i realize that their happiness is just that 'theirs' and that i can only control me.  

7. April 18th is International Jugglers Day...can you juggle?

well i can throw things up in the air and can actually catch them, but i wouldn't call it juggling!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

i'm feeling a little sad...my baby boy will be graduating from high school in a few short weeks...i can't believe how incredibly fast the time has flown by.  i am so proud of that young man! 

hope y'all are having a splendid week,

whoop whoop, we're moving...

we are moving...in 2 weeks!  excitement abounds in the bluedot house as we are getting ready to move!  my lists are making lists and i am stressed (it's a good stress)

so have been spending my free moments transferring and getting our utilities started...now on to purging, having a yard sale, packing and the big move!

bittersweet

i work in a middle school...this time of year is bittersweet.  we begin hearing of teachers who are moving on (some willingly, some are being pushed out of the door because they can't work well with others, kids or otherwise).  there are people that are moving on who you are singing praises to god because they have been a thorn in everyones side and made one school year seem like 10.  but, then there are those wonderful, talented, awesome teachers who decide to expand their horizons to do bigger things who choose to leave.  we are happy for them and celebrate this accomplishment, but are so sad for us.  i have worked in several schools and finding those great teachers are like finding a 4 leafed clover in the grass.  these teachers are the ones who make a difference, a great difference, in kids lives.  they inspire children to learn, they light a fire within the child to embrace knowledge not to just learn a fact for a test and then forget it.

it is time to begin tying up the loose ends of the 2011/2012 school year and begin planning for the 2012/2013 school year.  we will say goodbye to some great friends and colleagues, good riddance to some other folks...and then summer and meeting new folks. 

happy tuesday y'all,

i'm fluent in sarcasm and why i might not update facebook anymore

i have told y'all before that i speak fluent sarcasm.  it is not so much a gift as it is a coping mechanism.  so yesterday i had to take bluedotteen to the pediatrician.  it wasn't anything serious.  the day before there had been some horse play on the senior patio. he and some other 17/18 year old boys, being boys, were throwing full water bottles at each other.  unfortunately for bluedotteen, he was the recipient of a full force thrown water bottle to his right ear.  we just needed to have it checked out because of the swelling and bruising.  anyway....so i posted a status update/check-in:

i posted this after we had seen the dr and knew all was well.  so a family member (i'm not naming names, however it is likely you will figure out who it is!) called my husband another family member to send word to me not to post things on facebook until i had notified her first.  y'all that burned me up!

facebook isn't my preferred social media.  my social media favorite is twitter, followed by pinterest and facebook at the end.  i have had several conversations with friends who never post anything on facebook because of the negative responses from others.  i have had my fair share of those too...i'm torn!

besides can someones ear actually be amputated?

is that a purple toilet in your front yard?

while driving home on tuesday afternoon, bluedotprincess and i came upon this:

now in all of my 40 years i have never encountered a toilet in someones front yard...i immediately thought of the help and giggled!  so then i tweeted the picture and talked about how that was a new experience for me, seeing a toilet in a front yard.  then there was this whole discussion about how bluedotdad could use this in his sharing your blessings talks....  i love the twitter by the way!

hope that seeing this purple toilet made you laugh!

well it's wednesday so why not have a hodgepodge?

it is wednesday and today i am linking up with joyce over at from this side of the pond

1. What's the last job you did that required elbow grease?
cleaning the stove top...not only do i hate this job, but it drives me crazy when it is dirty.  unfortunately for me, i think i am the only one in my household that is so bothered by it...so i clean it all the time.  yes i am a little ocd.

2. March Madness, aka the men's Division I basketball championship, is nearing an end. What sort of 'madness' has your house seen this month?
march is birthday month for bluedotdad and i...so we are busy trying to celebrate each other.  march is also spring break and that means trying to cram as much as we possibly can in those days off.  this spring break contained:

• bluedotdad shaving his head
• visiting the college campus that bluedotteen will be attending next year
• my mom being in the hospital
• my attending a workshop and being away for several days
• swimming at the ymca for bluedotdad, bluedoprincess and bluedotteen
• bluedotteen taking bluedotprincess ice skating
• bluedotdad painting our living room
• happy reconciliation 
• lots of healthy communication
• feeling filled with hopefulness

3. What's your favorite shop for browsing? i love browsing!  i like looking at ross, pier one, world market and target...

4. Is there ever a time when giving up makes sense? deep question!  where i am at i believe that you should never give up.  you may have to make some hard decisions based on others actions.  but ultimately, you are not giving up the other person is making that decision.

5. What's a song you love that contains the name of a city, state or country in its title?

sweet home alabama (roll tide roll!)

carolina in my mind

6. When did you first begin using a computer? in high school. 

7. Did you buy girl scout cookies this year? What's your favorite? nope...not one box!  tagalongs are my absolute favorite...i can't just eat one, i eat the whole box (see why i couldn't buy any this year!)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

i just spent a weekend learning a lot about myself.  i have a clarity and hope that i have never had before.  it makes me sad that others do not get that.  i am wearing a bracelet as a symbol of this journey and so i remember it always.  i wish everyone who had been on this journey had a bracelet so when you encounter others you know if they get you.

happy wednesday,

today's gonna be a good day!

with this sky greeting me this morning, how can it be anything but a good day!

happy birthday to me...40 facts about bluedotmom

today should be a national holiday...it is my 40th birthday.  i decided to give you all 40 facts about me to add to your useless knowledge....hey you never know when we will be at something where this important information will come in handy!

1. i was always the first child to finish bubbling in my name on standardized tests because my whole name was 11 letters, so i gave my children really long names
2. i speak fluent sarcasm...this comes in very handy all the time.
3. i fell in love with george michael's voice the first time i heard it and am still in love with it!
4. i love little house on the prairie and watch it anytime i get a chance.
5. my first car was named the blue goose...
6. i met my husband at a high school beauty pageant.
7. i have worked on 2 presidential campaigns
8. i have kissed my husband under the eifel tower
9. i once talked my sister into lying on the ground and i ran over her head with my bicycle, i was 5.
1. don't feel too bad for her, she hit me square in the forehead with the teeter totter on our swing set and busted my head open and then there was the unfortunate ant killing event and a drinking glass that ended with me getting over 20 stitches in my foot.
10. i have liedar...i abhor lying!
11. i have quilted a quilt.
12. i hate doing laundry
13. i have a tattoo and want another one!
14. i talk to myself
1.  i have great conversations by the way!
15. i love pinterest
16. i have to have sweet tea every morning when i wake up!
17. i loved statistics in college and had the highest grade in my class
18. i don't floss my teeth like i should
19. i consider my doggies my four legged children
20. i love to ride roller coasters
21. i love surprises
22. i have curly hair and i like it!
23. i played the clarinet and bass clarinet in the band
1. not at the same time
24. i twirled a flag during marching season in high school band
1. i still remember the routine for tryouts 
25. this list was a good idea in my head, but was much harder to come up with once i started typing
26. i would like to wear flip flops everyday if i could
27. my favorite time of the day is after everyone is in bed and it is quiet
28. my favorite poet is ee cummings
29. my family and i have visited the white house rose garden
30. my husband dropped some of his grooms cake down my dress when he was feeding me cake for pictures at our wedding
31. i over analyze things
32. i feel such a special bond with our life walk group at church...they are truly family to me and bless me beyond measure
33. i love working at a middle school
34. my children are the greatest gifts in my life
35. i knew i would marry my husband from our first date
36. i love to sing
37. i love to watch football games, especially alabama football, roll tide roll!
38. i have never lived alone
39. i love to take pictures and am rarely in any of our family pictures because i am always behind the camera
40. my all time favorite vacation was when my husband and i traveled all over europe with only our passports and a eurorail pass

whew, that was a lot harder than i thought it would be...i hope you all have a terrific tuesday!

finally friday!

man are the weeks dragging by for you guys as much as they are for me.  it seems like the closer we get to spring break the longer the work week gets.  this week has been a long one filled with sick kids, too much work, mischievous dogs, exhaustion once i get home and allergies galore.

hopefully my weekend will be much calmer and drama free than this week.

happy weekend blog world,

happy birthday to my superman!

today is a very special day to the bluedots...bluedotdad is celebrating his birthday...

here are some of the reasons we love bluedotdad

• his love for us
• his love for god
• his sense of humor
• his wild addiction to coffee
• his bazaar fascination with crazy socks
• his popcorn cravings
• he is a lawn care guru
• the fact that he has no rhythm and he doesn't seem to mind us poking fun at him for that
• because life is never boring with him

bluedotdad -- to the world you may be one person. but to me, you are the world!

happy birthday bluedotdad, i love you,

it's friday, i hope the tornados stay away from us!

happy friday blog world...i am watching the weather to the point i have become ocd about it.  to make matters worse, yes it can be worse!  we are going to be traveling this afternoon.  so we most likely will be traveling in some bad weather.

y'all stay safe!

thank you very much thursday

it's thursday and i need a lot little free therapy...

• to the stupid people who have bombarded me with stupid questions, i love saying the same things over week after week, month after month....seems like you would know the rules after 6 months!
• to the guy who ran the red light this morning and cut me off.  thank you for seeing me and then slowly pulling out in front of me.  there is nothing i like better than to be cut off!
• to mother nature, we have had enough tornados, rain, winds, etc.  please give us a break and let the spring and summer be weather eventful free, pretty please?
• to bluedotprincess, thank you for forgetting about extra homework until it was bedtime.  there is nothing that makes me happier than to have to help do 2nd grade homework when i have planned on you being in bed.  i need a little mommy free break every now and then.

• to bluedotteen, can you please be home on time.  this line about being stuck behind a slow car is growing old.  i mean, really, i wasn't dropped off the turnip truck yesterday.  i probably have used every excuse you have and will use.  you can't pull one over on me.
• to bluedotteen, please don't give me that baby look that you know melts my heart.  i know you are a senior in hs and will be graduating very soon and going away to college.  please quit using my mommy sappiness to your advantage.

• to the teacher at work who told me today that she was sorry when we were discussing my upcoming 40th birthday.  i really didn't need to you to tell me how awful life would be after i turned 40, i have enough dread for that already!

• to the bluedotdoggies, please quit finding ways out of the fence in the backyard.  you have plenty of room to run and play and i don't have time to go from door to door trying to find you.
• to my hair, please grow faster!  grow down and not out...i do not look good as a Roseanne Roseannadanna! 

oh, i feel so much better!!! in all seriousness, this week has had its ups and downs and i am very thankful that other than pretty normal frustrations, my life is really awesome!

happy thursday and the start of my birthday month,

manicure

so yesterday after work, i decided to treat myself and bluedotprincess to a manicure.  i love getting pampered and getting my toes or nails did is always a nice treat.  but there is just something that i hate about getting a manicure or pedicure...

now i don't know that they are making fun of me, but when you are sitting there and they are working on you and they are all talking in a different language to each other, i don't know, i get a complex that they are discussing me.

to add insult to injury while getting my nails did, my nail person says, 'oh, you get your eyebrow's waxed?'  well, i hadn't planned on getting them waxed, but in my mind i am thinking they have been discussing my poorly unkept eyebrows.  what do i look like a sasquatch?  at first i said no, then i said well why not, get it all over at one time!  then, then, you all this is so embarrassing...she says after she has waxed one eyebrow, 'you have hair on your lip, me wax too?'  well now i feel like i am truly a sasquatch! well i had to get it done too, i can't be walking around with a mustache, can i?

so i went in to get my nails done, feel relaxed and leave feeling pretty.  i leave with my nails looking really pretty, my eyebrows and lip waxed and red (flashing neon to everyone yes i was so hairy they had to rip it all out) and feeling like i was the hairiest person ever or a big idiot.

at least the redness and swelling is gone today.  my eyebrows do look marvelous, as well as my nails...and there is no hair on my upper lip, thank god!

hope you all have a great leap day,

flowers.

don't you love that awesome feeling of getting flowers delivered to you?  boy i do!  it has been a very long time since i have gotten flowers delivered to me at work.  bluedotdad sent these beaut's to me just because and quoted one of my favorite poems in the card...

so i have spent the afternoon gazing at them, smelling their fabulous scent and having random faculty and staff stop by to admire them too!  nothing beats the feeling of being made to feel special and i sure did need it today!

thanks bluedotdad, i love you!

thursday why are you being so mean?

i would like to say happy thursday to y'all, but thursday is acting like monday, boo! let me give you all a run down of my day and it is only 10am!

• bluedotprincess refused to get up
• bluedotprincess couldn't understand that putting clothes on was important this morning
• bluedotprincess didn't want to brush her hair
• bluedotprincess screamed like someone was murdering her while i brushed her hair
• bluedotteen stayed in the bed when i asked him to take the dogs out
• bluedotteen didn't check the alarm, when he finally got up about the 7th time i asked him
• bluedotteen opened the back door
• the alarm started blaring!
• bluedotprincess had a complete come apart
• the bluedotdoggies went berserk
• even after the alarm was turned off, bluedotprincess was inconsolable because the alarm scared her!
• bluedotprincess refused to eat her usual breakfast because she wanted chick fil a
• bluedotteen left the the bluedotdoggies outside in the rain
• wet bluedotdoggies plus bluedotmom who is ready to walk out the door equals a wardrobe change

and i don't even have the strength to tell you about work!

thursday please straighten up or i am going to start talking bad about you like i do monday, and i know you don't want that!

it's been a while, so let's have some hodgepodge

it's wednesday and i am linking up with joyce over at from this side of the pond and her wednesday hodgepodge...


1. George Washington-Abraham Lincoln-Thomas Jefferson...who would you most like to meet and why?
wow, i have never really thought about which one i would want to meet or why.  i can see neat reasons to meet one.  but for me if i had to choose one, it would be abraham lincoln.  i would want to know what it was like to make such radical changes in the country and stand up for the greater good while being vilified by 1/2 of the country. and since my husband has just finished abraham lincoln vampire hunter, i need to know if he is truly now a vampire!

2. What's your favorite chain restaurant?
olive garden...i love the og!

3. I spied this question on the Bears at Home blog last week and she gave me permission to 
steal borrow it-

When you look back on your life, do you imagine you'll think about the goals you failed to meet with regret? Or will you look at what you accomplished and say: it was good?

wow, deep question...i am a firm believer in that everything that happens in your life brings you to who you are at that moment.  i am living my life with a have no regrets attitude. it's all good!

4. Grapefruit-take 'em or leave 'em? Given the choice between an orange and a grapefruit which would you choose? Would you prefer it served as is or squeezed into juice?

i like them both, but 9 out of 10 times i would prefer the orange to the grapefruit.  i am not a big juice drinker.

5. When was the last time you cleaned out a closet? Is there a closet in your home that currently needs cleaning? What are you waiting for?

i cleaned out my closet about a month ago.  yes, there are always closets at my house that needs cleaning.  i just don't have the motivation to get started.  once i get going it is fine, but it is the getting going...

6. You get to have lunch with three famous people...who would you like to see round your table?

well those of you who know me well know that the number 1 person is george michael, swoon!

i suppose my number 2 would be adam levine, because i have fell in love with him on the voice

and my number 3 would be betty white, because she is all kinds of awesome!

7. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your ability to parallel park?

well, not knowing whether 1 is good or bad and vice versa, i will just say that i can parallel park well.  i don't especially enjoy parallel parking, but it's not the worst driving task for me.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

here's a random fact: If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. 


happy wednesday y'all,

happy valentine's day

happy valentine's blog world,

thank you very much thursday!

thank you very much thursday is brought to you because i need a lot little free therapy!

• to chick fil a a fast food restaurant thank you for serving bluedotdad a salmonella laced chicken salad sandwich.  there is nothing more pleasant than having a very sick husband!
• to the manager at chick fil a the fast food restaurant who told my husband that food poisoning would not show up for over 24 hours, you are an idiot!
• to procrastinators that i work with, thank you so much for always waiting until the last minute to do anything.  nothing makes me happier than to have your swoop into my office and demand that i process a po or check on demand.  i sit in my office twiddling my thumbs waiting to be at your beck and call.  and all those other teachers who actually follow the rules and are not demanding, i am sure they love your entitlement attitude too!
• to bluedotpup charlie, thank you for peeing on my white quilt...it didn't matter that i had just taken you outside to potty.  your waiting and peeing on my quilt just made me so happy.   i love cleaning up dog pee!
• to bluedotprincess thank you for dropping your ipod touch and shattering the screen and then proceeding to have a complete breakdown.  i love to console you when you are inconsolable and try to find out if apple care covers that or not.
• to bluedotprincess thank you for shrieking while i brush your hair in the mornings...my mornings are not complete unless you are screaming and shrieking.
• to the headache that refuses to leave...you have worn out your welcome, leave already!

well i feel some better now!