First Pool Day of 2010

Finally a pool day!

I have been waiting to get on a float for so many months now and it didn't disappoint.

I relaxed with my mommy and we just soaked up some much needed sun. After the past several weeks, I desperately needed some "do nothing" time. This weekend is Memorial day weekend but it is also my little brother's birthday weekend. He will be 22 this year and it makes us all feel old just thinking about it. I couldn't be prouder of him and all of his accomplishments at this point. He will graduate college this winter and that will make him the first graduate of our family. I was secretly hoping that it would be me, but he has put in the work and the time so it will be him. I just love that he had a dream and he is just going after it.

I am now sitting at home letting me boys (dogs) cool off from a very hot day outside. Austin is laying in the hallway snoring loudly this very second. I am thinking he is really enjoying his time inside.

Lazy Day

This morning I decided, very early I might add, that today would be the day off that I wished for last Monday but was denied due to work stresses. I stayed in bed until about 8am then got up, made myself a good-for-me breakfast and started my day of holding down the couch and watching a lot of television.
I caught up on so much True Blood that I hadn't seen. Actually, I viewed the entire second season On Demand today along with the most recent Tori and Dean episode.
And then came The Real Housewives of New York City....
I have listened to my Mom and Dee Dee talk about these shows for years now, but I had never watched an episode. Within 15 minutes, I was hooked. I am now online viewing season one episodes so that I can catch up.
Wish me luck, I have hooked into another tv show.

Lost without LOST

It is Tuesday today and there is no LOST episode to look forward to. I am just terribly... well... LOST.

I haven't written anything about it because I figure that if you are indeed a fan then you are probably with me on all the little details and are extremely sad to see it end. I know that I was anticipating being very disappointed with the ending, however; was pleasantly surprised. I thought the writers captured the essence of an emotional ending perfectly and tied up so many loose ends. For those select few of you out there sill complaining about some unanswered questions, please understand that the majority of the ending was left to your own interpretation and not intended to be, as the writers stated, "dummied down" for us all. These writers have always treated us like intelligent individuals and they ended it that way. I thought it was truly beautiful for the ending of that turbulent and addicting show. I will watch my seasons over and over again and miss all the characters that I had grown to know and love.

Today is going to be a much better day than yesterday because it isn't Monday. That has become a familiar phrase at the office here lately. Mondays are absolute hell for me nowadays around here and not because of the obvious reasons. Hopefully here soon I can get a better handle on the stress of dealing with it.
My Mr. Big has been sick here lately, and ladies we all know what this means. I have had to baby him a bit more than usual. MEN. I am bitching a bit, but he did make me grilled cheese sandwich last night with a couple of cookies which he brought to the bedroom where I was watching a movie with Austin. I really do have the sweetest man.
Until next time, when does True Blood return to television? I have to have a show.

Change is Coming

Sitting on the pew in the funeral home this past weekend, Big and I were visiting and mourning the loss of a family member. Big knew no one other than myself and immediate family members that were gathered around me, but he was being a good sport about it. Behind us were old friends of my parents and they were catching up on some details from the past few years. They asked me where I was living these days and I quickly pointed to the back of Big and said, "with him". He smiled sweetly, and turned to respond.

"I am turning her into a true Bartlett girl" he said.

Without missing a beat, Pam retorted, "You can take this girl out of Drummonds, but you will never take Drummonds out of this girl".

Of course, she will forever be right. There are so many things about the place where I grew up that makes me unique. I am not your typical girlie-girl and I never will be, but that is okay. I am who I am and I will always be a bit different from the local girls that litter his past and because of that I am pleased. I do feel like I am converting to more of a city girl than ever before, but there is just something so amazing to me about the wide open spaces of my hometown.
Tonight, I will go to watch my younger cousin, Dalton, graduate from Munford High just like the rest of us in my family did. I was in the band all through high school (pause for the band nerd jokes and snickers) and had to go to every single graduation from 1999 till 2002. I have also been three more times since then for various other people's graduations over the years. They are never a lot of fun for anyone that isn't involved in the ceremony, but I feel like it is the honorable thing to do. I am sure that the soon-to-be graduates are very thankful that the weather has cooperated with them today so that they can walk across the stage on our Cougars stadium like all the ones before them.
My message to you graduates now, is to savor this moment. It passes so quickly and then is gone forever. Please look around and realize that your lives are forever changed and that nothing will ever be the same. I remember my own Mom telling me of her own experience with graduation and I just couldn't comprehend it. As I sat on that grassy football field, I was overwhelmed with excitement and a little bit of sadness. You see, I wasn't one of those people who just absolutely hated high school. I like the social aspect of seeing all or most of my friends on a daily basis. I catch myself now wishing for that environment again. All my buddies who are reading this, I miss you guys and wish we were at the lunch table talking about boys and stuff right this second because I am really tired of being a grown up. That is what it is. I want so much to return to a simpler time when my parents worried about my problems, not me. Love you mommy and daddy.
I hope this sunshine continues into this afternoon and the grads have the night they have all yearned for the past four years.
Congratulations Dalt Man!!!!! We all love you very much!!!

Cure for the Common Life

I recently finished Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life and wanted to recommend it to anyone that has every doubted themselves at any point for any reason when it came to our gifts as individuals. I read constantly now. I have books coming out of my ears, a kindle (which I LOVE), and an IPod Touch that I download them to so that I can listen at work. This one I listened to on my Touch and just couldn't stop until finished.

Basically, he goes into how God made each and every one of us for a purpose or a mission and if you are going against your gifts then your life becomes undescribably stressful because you are fighting God's will for your life. Light bulb on.

I have always tried to conform to fit in no matter what my surroundings were, but always seem to stand out in one way or another. Many of my talents are of the artistic nature. Don't get me wrong, I can't really draw to save my life, but decorating or arranging has been a true joy to me. When I turned 16, my first job was in our little town's flower shop. To this very day, I crave the fullfillment that I got from just making arrangements every single day and wish that I could go back to it for at least one second every day. I know this sounds silly, but maybe I am fighting what God made special about me. I hate to flatter myself, but I am gifted with that sort of work and it was obivous right from the start. A co-worker once asked me, "Why did you put that flower in that particular spot?" My answer seemed so strange to her but made perfect sense to me, "because that is just where it goes." It was the best I could do. I didn't know how to tell her that my imagination was the real one calling the shots at that moment.

I was told at the end of last week that we must "audit" ourselves constantly in order to maintain the best possible processes. There is definitely some merit to this thought. I have audited myself this weekend. I think I am trying to take back a little bit of control of my own life because I am not running it, but it is running me.

Some days I feel helpless and other days I feel on top of the world. All I am trying to say is that maybe we all have this thought in our heads that we must be rich or must climb the latter as quickly as possible. Truth is that everyone isn't meant for that. Am I? Not sure yet.

I know that God seems to always place me in leadership roles and I constantly question myself while guiding others, but I seem to have an ease with it. My wish is that I could get up and go to work and create everyday, like I did when I was younger. I felt whole then.

I love my job now. I feel like I am helping people, but it is a stressful time in the medical field. Maybe I am where I am suppose to be, or maybe I am not. God is the only one who knows and I can only pray he will point me in the correct direction. Thanks for reading and if you are questioning your own uniqueness, please go out and read The Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado.

It was an eye opening experience