Mickey Mouse here we come!!

Tomorrow is the big day!! The kids are fast asleep (what was supposed to be an early bedtime of 7pm, turned into nearly 7:30 and then they were both still awake at 8 (normal bedtime) - so much for that idea!), and I'm waiting for Mike to get home. I'm getting sleepy, but he still needs to shower/shave once he's home, and I have to finish packing our suitcase (mainly just sticking the bag of toiletries in and a pair of Mike's shoes).

We'll be up bright and early at 5am. It just seems so wrong that I'll be up 2.5 hours earlier than when I have to go to work!

So, this is it for now .... I won't be posting for at least a week. I'll try to check in sometime next Thursday if possible.

Hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend!

2 Days til Disney!

And Ernesto won't be a problem!!! It's a tropical storm now, and will be well out of our way by the time we arrive in Florida.

We are less than 2 days from departure now. 1 more day of work, and I won't be returning til September 12. We'll have 1 more day as a family when we get back to Illinois, before Mike goes back to work. Then that Monday will be my big boy's first day of preschool!!!!

We're almost finished packing, so we should be good for the limo to pick us up bright and early Friday morning!

YIPPIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Keeping an Eye on Ernesto

It figures that 5 days before our big trip, a hurricane would be brewing. Ernesto is threatening Florida, and the Keys have started evacuating. It looks like it's projected path would be in the area we'll be in about Thursday morning, and well past it by Friday morning. Except there would most likely still be rain/storms I'm assuming, which can still make traveling by air kind of hairy.

So, at this point it's a wait and see deal - and I'm crossing my fingers that we'll leave Chicago on Friday as planned and that we'll have an enjoyable time in Disney.

I did it!

I faxed my registration form this morning. I'm going to be a "student". If you can even call it that .... it's only a 6 week course.

But, I'm looking forward to it. A friend is actually going to take the class as well. Can't wait!

One step closer

I filled out and printed the non-credit registration form for the digital photography class through the community college. Now to just take the final step and actually enroll.

Classes would be 3 hours every Wednesday evening for 6 weeks.

I really would like to do this, so why am I so nervous about enrolling?

Tonight we had a rain shower, and I peeked out the window and could see little water droplets on the flowers. I ran and grabbed my camera and got some excellent photos. I think they are just gorgeous.

What do you think?

Photos

In the past week or so, I've been picking up my camera more to snap some photos. I got some great shots of our flowers in the backyard, and tonight I got a couple of the flowers right outside the park in our subdivision.

I really do love taking that camera out, just looking for something to capture. I know I said before I was going to take that digital photography class through the local community college. We just got the fall brochure in the mail, and there are 2 separate times the course is running. One starts in September, the other in October. I'm still debating on if I want to take it. I mean, I really do want to, it's just a matter of working up the courage to.

Another New Look

Was bored, so I played around with PSP and my digi scrapping stuff and came up with my new graphics.

Now if only I could get this headache to go away....

Some things I'll never understand

Yesterday my coworker spoke to me, and told me about an awful situation her friend was going through. I've met the friend, and because this blog can be read by anyone, I am going to refrain from using real names here to protect their real identities.

My coworker's friend, Margie, just had a baby a couple of weeks ago. The baby was early due to some complications that arose from Margie being full-blown diabetic. In turn, the baby spent some time in the NICU, and was released just recently.

On Monday, Margie's fiance (father of the baby), Brent, left the home they were staying in (they are having construction done on their other home, and something happened to the main power line, so they were without power there) around 11AM. He kissed her on the forehead, told her he loved her, and was going to their home to take care of some things. Around 1PM, she realized he should have been home to get ready for work. She tried calling him, but his cell phone was turned off.

In the meantime, a friend came by, passing their home, and told Margie that Brent's car was not there, and didn't appear that anyone had been there at all. Margie was starting to worry, but knew that at 4PM, she could call his work and check in there. When she called, they let her know that he had not shown up.

She called the police, and they told her there was nothing much they could do since he's an adult, and had not been missing for 24 hours (at this point he was only gone about 5 hours). But they asked if there are any firearms in the house. She said yes, and checked - to find the gun missing. They put out an alert immediately, and asked if she had checked her bank account to see if there was missing money. Nothing missing, but instead, a very large deposit had been made.

Today, Wednesday, Brent was found dead by a farmer in Wisconsin. He shot himself in the head.

I guess I never quite could understand suicide, and while I understand that there are mental illnesses - I can't quite get past one word -- selfish.

It's clear that he was suffering from some illness, as a note shows he has been planning to do this for months. I just don't understand why he didn't seek the help.

Instead now, there is a woman who cares about him and a newborn daughter, who get to deal with such tragedy. It makes me ill.

Flowers

Some photos I took early this evening of our flowers blooming in the backyard.

Letting myself go

I really need to get back on track with bettering myself. I've been letting it go, moreso because I feel like I don't have enough time.

I must do something with my hair. I'm beginning to really hate the gray. I may just have to make an appointment with a new neighbor that is moving in. It desperately needs a trim to get rid of the split ends, and maybe I'll be brave and do some highlighting or coloring. Anything to make it look like I'm not 42 (though, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being that age!!).

And perhaps I can get myself focused and in the right direction to get this weight loss thing going back the way it was. Losing 35 pounds was no small feat ..... why stop now? My goal was to drop 75 - I hadn't even made it halfway.

Lastly, I need to crack out the eyeliner & shadow more often. I'm complimented on my eyes when I use a simple eyeshadow and eyeliner - that's about the basis of my daily makeup regimen. Nothing fancy, nothing over the top. Maybe I'll go the extra notch and put on some lipstick or gloss. I rarely do the whole sha-bang .... I hate mascara, don't do blush (never could figure out how to apply it correctly), and am not super crazy about foundation (though I do hate my skin).

So - mental note to myself: Make a few extra minutes of 'pampering' time in the morning, and feel much better about myself the rest of the day!

4 weeks til Disney!

We are now just under 4 weeks until we travel to Disney World. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the trip.

I've only flown twice in my life (roundtrip, so 4 flights) - once in 1991 and the last time in 2000. I think I'll be okay, but I am worried about the kids. They have never been on a plane before - and it might be scary to a 4.5 and 2 year old.

With that fear, I'm also thinking about luggage and how much we'll actually have. We have 1 "hard" suitcase with a built in lock. It won't be enough for all of our clothes. I also have a set of tapestry luggage, with no locks. My Aunt & Uncle that were in town from CT last month, said that with airport security, they may break the lock anyway, so you are better of not locking your luggage. I do not like this idea. Especially since we'll be using Disney's Magical Express service.

I think I can get us packed into the "hard" locking suitcase (mainly mine & Mike's clothes - and any "spare" sandals or gym shoes we'll take along), and pack one of the small tapestry cases with the children's clothes, and possibly another small case/tote with our personal hygiene items, sunblock, diapers, snacks, money, etc. Since we will be without any checked luggage for some time, I want to have availability to those items as well as the children's clothes. So, all in all, I'm thinking of having only 1 piece of luggage checked - and taking the remaining 2 as carry-on's.

So -- for those of you that have traveled (to Disney or not), let me know your tips, suggestions, or thoughts on checked luggage, airport security (breaking locks), carry-on's, etc.

My Sister

The procedure went well, and she was instructed to take the rest of the week off (she's on her feet all day at work). When she sent me a text to my phone, she said they had given her Vicoden for the pain, but so far she didn't have any.

She'll be returning to the doctor in 3 weeks for a check-up.

I thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and comments. Hopefully the procedure was successful, and that all the precancerous cells are gone, and that she will be healthy.

Keep those Prayers coming

My sister goes in tomorrow morning for the procedure to remove the cells.

I thank each and every one of you that have responded to my last post, and have checked in on me. I'm doing okay; have been really busy, so didn't have much time to even think about the situation at hand, but now that we're facing it tomorrow, I'm nervous for her.

If you could please keep her in your thoughts & prayers, I would really appreciate it.