Tagged Again....

After my last tagging I protested and said, "NO MORE!!" and then came the next tagging game..... Facebook is full of these posts right now... Tell 25 Random Things About Yourself. I've really enjoyed reading all these posts, even the ones from people I've known forever. It seems there is always something to learn even about the people you assume you know so well. I finally gave in at my 6th request to fulfill this tag, so here it goes...

25 Random Things About Amanda

1. I am an open book... to know me is to know pretty much everything about me. Just don't ask me how I'm doing unless you REALLY want to know!

2. Which leads me to my #2.... I'm honest to a fault. It is rare for me to lie about even the smallest things. That gets me in trouble at times... it amazes me sometimes how much people cover up in everyday life... small, white lies about somebody's hair or outfit, or the bigger ones about how we feel about a certain situation. I just can't do it, but sometimes I wish I could.

3. I had really short, short hair my entire life until I was a senior in high school... it started with my mom always keeping it short when I was little and then I think it became of way of being a little different as the years went on. Maybe that's why I refuse to cut it now... maybe I'm re-living my childhood I wish I'd had.

4. I love caramel corn and can't really stop eating it once I start. Whether I buy a box or make a big batch of the yummy stuff at home, I can't quit shoving it in my mouth until the last little kernel is gone.

5. I love Disneyworld. Probably MORE than my children. I could go every year... even twice a year! I love the castle, and the fireworks, and the rollercoasters, and the parades and shows. It's like you're instantly thrown into "Happy-World!"

6. I also love the movie "The Notebook." I could watch it over and over and over again..... kind of like we used to do in high school to "The Breakfast Club".... remember that??

7. I am the WORST pregnant person in the world. Although I'm never usually sick, pregnancy is like a disease to me... I always know I'm pregnant when I take the test at 3-4 weeks because I'm already so nauseated I can't eat. Even though I normally won't take anything other than Advil, when I'm pregnant I'm on so many drugs I can't keep them straight. I hate every lonely hour of it, but then when I hold that little baby in my arms, all of it melts right away.

8. I was arrested for "drinking under age" when I was 16. And the craziest thing is... I wasn't even drinking! We had gone to a party at a friend's house just to use the bathroom because Hardee's and Majik Market were closed. Within 5 minutes the police pulled up and my car was trapped and I couldn't leave. The Youth Aide officer told me that all he wanted was the alcohol and he would let us go, so I let him into my trunk, gave him the beer my friends had been drinking in my car, and thought we'd be going home. Nope. He lied. We went downtown and all of our parents had to come pick us up. Humiliating to say the least for a "straight A" kind of kid!

9. I'm not much of a drinker to this day. I only drink when I'm out to dinner with my friends or my husband, and that's usually only once or twice a month. But don't get me wrong.... I DO LOVE my french martini's when I'm out!

10. I am cheap. I'm always looking for a deal, will pretty much only grocery shop at Walmart, and I still order the cheapest thing on the menu. I get this enormous sense of satisfaction in saving money.... odd, I know.

11. I am a true do-it-yourselfer.... brought on I'm sure by what I revealed in #10. I won't pay anyone to do any kind of work I can possibly do myself -- I've tiled countertops, fireplaces, painted entire houses... ceilings, walls and floors. I've even painted the entire exterior of a 2 story house! It's sick.

12. I like things the way I like them, and I'll work as hard as possible to make it so. Example... in my last house I hated the ceilings so much ( they were that swirly, flowery drywall mud look) that I decided to get on a ladder, spray them with water, and trowel it off by hand! And, yes, sanded and painted them after.... every ceiling in the house! Told ya it was sick.

13. I'm fiercely determined. Don't tell me I can't do something because I'll do whatever it takes to prove you wrong. It's a pretty good quality to have, I guess. But sometimes I wish I'd just sit on the couch and watch "The Bachelor" or something.

14. My husband says my feet are my best feature. Sad... don't cha think? And even sadder.... NONE of my children got my feet!!! They all have his little gnarly, stubby toes!

15. I'm a Leo..... but I guess you've already figured that out by now.

16. I can paint and plaster walls, I can sew and heirloom sew, I'm pretty good with a hammer, and have a passion for decorating. I've learned a lot about website design, I can build blogs, and I can design Christmas cards. I even learned the rocket science behind Photoshop last year, yet somehow at almost 40 I still can't figure out what I want to do with my life.

17. I'd love to have another baby. I think I was at my happiest when each of my babies were 0-18 months. Yet just thinking about #7 (and not to mention my age!!) jolts me into reality.

18. I could still just eat my little boy up everytime I look at him. I know there is no true perfection on this earth, but my gosh, he's pretty darn close!

19. I started my first business in 5th grade, and even "hired" a marketing person. I sewed purse covers for those cute Papagallo button-on purses that we all used to have. I gave $3 of the sales price to a friend who went to a private school in town when she sold them to her friends.

20. I love my friends, cherish their support and wish so many of them lived closer to me.

21. I love music, especially really good hard rock. There's really nothing that can make me "feel" more than listening to a great song with inspiring lyrics. Oh, did I tell you how LOUD I like it??? My kids would tell you! Although they are pretty good about turning it up and dancing with me in the den. I'm just so glad we're past the Barney and Wiggles music stage!

22. I think I had a mid-life crisis last year that I'm just now coming out of. No, not the "affair" type most people think of.... more like the "what the heck should I do with my life?" and "wow, look at all the mistakes I've made" kind of crisis. Well, at least I'm getting it over with early!

23. I can still do the splits and have embarrassed myself as an adult on quite a few occasions proving it.

24. As determined as I am and as many projects as I seem to take on, I'm not very good at fully completing them. I get 99% done and then I'm off getting involved in my next venture. It's really annoying to my husband. Which leads me to my #25....

25.




Whoops! I went to tackle dinner for the kids... guess I forgot to finish #25!

Sometimes Decisions just HAVE to be Made

So Friday was the BIG day.... Jonathan woke up, took his shower, got ready, and hussled the kids to the car to go to school. Sounds like a regular day, right? Well, it wasn't. On that day he knew he would be driving to Montgomery, walk into his office at Merrill Lynch and shock everyone he works with by staying goodbye.

Yes, he left Merrill. As he said to me the night before... "Sometimes decisions just have to be made. This is one of those times." As so he made the big decision. He left... after almost 19 years! He's been there since an internship in college... mostly working with the same people... the same faces, day in and day out for all these years. They are his family... he loves them and they love him.

Merrill has a way of getting into your blood... once you're there, most never leave. You are a Merrill man for life. So needless to say this has been a very tough, painful, and heartfelt decision on both of our parts. The last 3 months have been a struggle, but as often happens when facing hard times, the right answers usually reveal themselves to you.

I won't go into to all the reasons why he left..... they are personal and involve others and out of loyalty and respect for those people, I will keep it simple. Jonathan and I feel that he has stopped growing there.... the company is not what we have always believed it to be...... times they are a changing. And the opportunity arose to take on six Wachovia/Wells Fargo branches.... doing the same thing he is doing at Merrill but with a tremendous opportunity to service all the Wachovia customers as well as continuing his relationships with existing clients... should they choose to move with him.

Friday was a tough day...... looking into the unknown abyss is always tough. And after talking to his administrative assistant, Becky, and his partner on Friday, I was full of tears myself. Like I said before, they are his family and saying goodbye is never easy. But I was so encouraged by the words Becky shared with me..... she said the whole office was feeling down, so saddened..... "he's the life of the party around here, Amanda," she said. But she believes in him, as I do, and knows that this is the right move for him.

I am so proud of him...... leaving everything he's worked on his entire adult life, having the courage to take the big risks, saying goodbye to some of the most important relationships of his life, and leaving all the security of building a career at Merrill all these years (they don't call it "Mother Merrill" for nothing!)..... all of that has made me love and appreciate him so much more. So if you see him, please say a word of encouragement and maybe even keep him in your prayers -- this one is a life-changer!

Tag, I'm it!

So I've been tagged by a Facebook friend.... not the tag you normally see on blogs... the "tell 7 random facts about yourself" tag. No, this one is "Tell 10 HONEST things about yourself."

Shouldn't be too hard... I pride myself on my honesty (although it usually gets me more trouble than just keeping my big mouth zipped). Here it goes...

10 HONEST THINGS ABOUT MYSELF

1. I wish that I had a "Leave it to Beaver Family" growing up.... OK, I know it's just a TV show, but I was seriously wanting a dysfunction-free family. I pretty much hung out at my friend's houses, soaking up every ounce of normalcy that I could. Thanks to all those families who helped raise me.... I still love and cherish you all!

2. I'm scared to death about my husband starting his career over at almost 40... but I have faith and believe in him... it's the right move, although right now I feel like I'm going to throw up.

3. I was really, really, really happy to have a little boy. I would have loved a little girl, too, but the idea of having a son after my two girls was thrilling to me. Maybe it's because I never had a brother and always wanted one.... maybe it's because I intuitively knew somehow that raising a boy would be a whole lot easier.

4. I don't think I ate a vegetable (besides french fries, if you count that) until I was 20. I pretty much lived on pizza, peanut butter, Stouffer's macaroni & cheese and cereal... Corn Pops and Honeycomb to be exact. I try to not get too stressed out to this day about my kids being so picky with their eating... I keep hoping they will follow in my footsteps, and one day finally just decide to try an avocado.

5. I smoked enough cigarettes in high school and college to fund a small third world country... pray for me, please!!! We'd ride around after school, hang out at the Magic Market with all of our friends and smoke until we couldn't breathe anymore. And somehow I miss that! I can still get in my car at night to go to Walmart, crank up the radio, and get that old nostalgic feeling to drive by the Mart to see whose hanging out. For those of you out there who did that with me... I think you know what I mean. There was something really special about that place! Which leads me to my #6...

6. I had some of the best times of my life in high school and had no idea at the time that that was so. Our biggest problems were what to wear or how we were going to get alcohol on Friday night... just riding around laughing with my girlfriends -- no worries.... it was great!! Don't really want to go back, but it's fun to remember!

7. I question myself with just about every decision I make as a parent -- I just want so badly to do it right!

8. I could live off doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies and mocha cake if I didn't think I'd end up looking like this....

That's enough to make anyone run straight to the Slim-Fast aisle at Walmart!

9. My favorite thing to do is just to be alone. Is that weird??? I love a quiet house. I love to stay in my pajamas and not care what I look like.... I love to eat cookie dough straight from the frig without all the muchkins surrounding me begging to get their little hands on MY dough! I love turning up the music and cleaning the house... with no requests for the Jonas Brothers. There is no peace like being alone for a while... and then I miss them and want them to come home!

10. I really, really love my blog. Love to post to it... love to watch my kids grow up on it... love to share it with others... but most of all I love reading all the funny comments from my friends. I have learned so much this year! Thanks Julee for starting the craze.

So, that wasn't too bad.... do you still like me after all that honesty???

Time for Tagging!!! I Tag Elizabeth, Julee, Molly, Tiffany and Kimberly -- You go girls!!

Do you believe in ghosts??

Now I ask you..... would you sleep in your room if you saw this in the middle of the night? How about if you were 6 years old? How about if you were 2 years old?

Nope, not me. I'd be running for my mommy, too!

Well, that's exactly what seems to be going on around here.... Call it what you will, but there are some really strange happenings around these parts.

About a year ago, we all get together to watch Auburn play football one night and the girls end up around the table talking. A friend begins to tell us about all the weird things going on in her house at night.... very loud running upstairs when she knows all the kids are asleep (she even checks to make absolutely sure they are asleep).... dishes and silverware banging around in the kitchen, hearing drawers open & close (like someone is putting up dishes) when she and her husband are both doing other things (and the kids are, again, ASLEEP!).... and there was even one night when she was upstairs on the computer, heard someone walking up the stairs, then felt them breathing on her neck like they were behind her... she turns to say, "Gotcha" to her husband and no one was there! NO ONE! And she swears she could feel the presence of another person with her!

And now to the freakiest part of all.... that same night her 6 year old woke up in the middle of the night and saw a young girl, with long dark hair and glowing blue standing in his room looking out his window. He was so scared he pulled the covers up to block his view and froze! He was so scared he wouldn't even get up to tell his parents! He waited until the next morning, and as you can well imagine.... his mom was completely freaked out.... not only is her son telling her that there was a ghost in his room, but she felt something the very same night! He never slept in that room again... no matter how hard they tried he just wouldn't do it... and so began the year on the couch. Poor thing!

Meanwhile, the running and other sounds continue in her house.... other people have heard it.... relatives, babysitters.... it sounds like children running upstairs. Can you imagine?? We all know what that sounds like... if you heard that and went upstairs and all of your children are laying peacefully asleep in their beds.... what would you do???? I think I'd be running to Lowe's to buy a For Sale sign!

So then come the other stories.... other neighbors.... multiple neighbors, in fact.... sounds.... lights going on and off..... babysitters hearing someone going up the stairs, clanking the iron rails when she knows it's not the kids because she's got them with her.... then she sees a shadow of a large man walking across the loft upstairs.... she got so scared she called the police!

And then comes Kimberly's blog post. Kimberly knows nothing about the ghost stories. She lives on the street adjacent to ours about 7 or so houses away from the first family I was telling you about whose son saw the blue, glowing girl in his room. Kimberly moved in a lot later than all of us...... she wasn't there the night of the AU game when we first heard the story....... she wasn't at LRC when we were discussing the "ghost" in the neighborhood. In fact, the whole saga has died down because the sounds had eventually gone away in the first girl's house, and we never mention it anymore. That is until we all read that post! Here it is.....

Kimberly's Post

This is about Camryn and her Witch. I'm capitalizing Witch, because Witch is now part of our family. Camryn had been talking about the witch in her room for quite some time, Saturday after Thanksgiving to be exact. Black Friday was my last night of uninterrupted sleep in my own bed. Every night since, I have been either woken by Camryn calling to me or just slept in her bed with her. I know many of you are thinking that she is using the witch to sleep with Mom and Dad, but I'm not sure that's the case. The first time the witch showed up, it was in the afternoon. Camryn was "scared" of the witch in her room. I told her witches weren't real, they were just cartoons. Every time after, she would tell me she wasn't scared of the witch in her room, it was just a cartoon, and then wake in the night crying about the witch. When I told her she couldn't leave her Big Girl bed and come in Mommy and Daddy's room to sleep, we found her sleeping on the Hardwood floor outside our room. It broke my heart, so I decided that making her feel safe was more important than the stigma of a child that won't sleep alone. Over the last couple of months, Witch has shown up in the kitchen mid-day, in the corner of her room, on the ceiling in the hall, but always out of the blue. We've swept Witch out the back door, vacuumed Witch up, scolded Witch away, but Witch has become a permanent resident.

The great thing about Witch is that "she" is not scary or mean. She's purple, with long hair, and a girl. After being asked so many times about Witch, Camryn finally decided to draw her (maybe life-size) on the kitchen wall. I'm sure she'll eventually go away, but until then, every day, as darkness falls, pajamas are put on , Camryn asks me "you sleep in my Big Girl bed?". And I do... hoping that night will be my last. So if anyone would like to adopt a nice, female, purple witch with long hair you can inquire under Camryn's bed. She's free to a good home!

So needless to say.... we all have chill bumps!!! How can a 2 year old little girl describe the same thing a 6 year old little boy did over a year and a half ago!! You may not start out "believing" but I promise if you sat around the campfire one night with all of these people and heard all of their stories, you might begin to change your mind! Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do....

Jacob feels like a woman... what???

The other night we sit down on the floor for "family game night" and start up the game of Life. Jacob, who of course, can't play himself got the job of spinning for daddy on his turn. So Macy takes her turn, then it's time for Dad.... Jacob is playing with Spiderman and not paying a bit of attention to the game. We all say, "Jacob, it's your turn... spin the wheel." He looks up, smiles, and says, "Man, I feel like a woman."

HUH???? And we all start cracking up!

And then I remember.... he had just gone to my mom's to spend the night. When she picked him up, she had the Shania Twain CD blaring in her car.

I think he got the words down just right on that 45 minute trip to Mic-Mic's house!


Then Madison last night sees a Coke commercial on TV. She says, "Oh, Mom, I don't EVER want to drink Coke again!"

I'm surprised because Coke is one of those things my children always ask for but I don't give in. The rule is... no Coke for children... there's no need for kids to drink Coke -- the only time I let them have it is when we're eating out. So I ask her, "Madison, why not?"

And she says, "Well, you KNOW there's a secret ingredient in Coke. Me and my friends think it's worms, so we've decided we're never gonna drink Coke again!"

OK... that works for me... worms in Coke. One less battle with my nine year old. Yippee!

9 going on 19...

She's growing up.

Madison, that is. Everyday it's playing in makeup... talking about boys... talking on the phone... and yes, of course, these little high-heel babies. The ones she wears every chance she gets -- YIKES!!!

She's my baby. How can this be??? I brought her home from the hospital just the other day... right? I took her around that room... filled with all the things I had made for her.... the pillows, the crib bedding, the clouds on the ceiling, and all those tiny little diapers. How in the world can she be in fourth grade???

This morning I even heard the phrase I've been dreading... "But Mom... every girl in my class has a cooler coat... I can't wear this!" She was upset because her Northface was in the washer wet and I had to find her old coat... you know, the one with no name brand. YIKES again! I tried to tell her that her coat had nothing at all to do with being cool... cool is your attitude... people like you for you, not your coat. But I have a feeling in went in one ear and straight out the other.

Lord, help us... help us raise these girls to be exactly who they are... exactly who they need to be for themselves, not for others. How do I teach my children that when it took me so long to learn it??? And at times I think I'm still learning it. Why exactly don't they give us an instruction manual for raising kids? If anyone has one... Please let me borrow it!

It's a No Go to the Amazon...

Madison took this picture of us the other night on our back porch. She's really gotten into using my camera -- she acts like she's some professional photographer, taking one shot after another, moving around while she does it, and changing the camera back and forth from vertical to horizontal. It's kind of funny to watch her, and it's nice to finally have some pictures of me & Jonathan. I think I went years with just a picture or two taken of me. It must be a mom's curse... we're always taking the pictures so it looks like we didn't exist! And we are the glue that holds everything together, right? At least that's what Jonathan tells me when he's in a really good mood...

Speaking of Jonathan... he didn't take his trip to the Amazon! Yippee! I dreaded that trip the first time he was supposed to go in November, and then it was cancelled for weather. So after rescheduling for January, we were sure he was going this time, but the phone call came about a day and a half before he was leaving -- bad weather... can't go.

Now don't get me wrong... I do want him to be happy, and we all know how much he loves to hunt and fish... but 10 days in the jungles of the Amazon for Peacock Bass... I don't know. I wasn't loving the idea... especially of him flying into the rainforest on a very small plane, landing on a strip that was nothing more than a few trees cut down and dirt. Yes, you heard me right.... a dirt landing strip.

After the fire fighting we did on New Year's, I feel like I've had enough excitement for one month. Did I ever tell you that story? The fire we started at my mom's shooting fireworks? I'll save it for another day, but let's just say we were five minutes from it getting completely out of control, catching the entire field and therefore houses on fire... I never thought I'd be stomping on 3 foot flames surrounding me, but you gotta do what you gotta do.... How did I get off on that tangent? Anyway, I'm very happy JP is here with us and not swimming with the piranha!

2008.... What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been

So the kids are back at school... Finally! We've had a great Christmas break... full of lots of family and fun but now it's time for some structure... for them and for me!

First things first... reflecting on the last year -- a memorable one, but to tell you the truth, it's been a really tough one. So many obstacles.... so many hard times... sometimes it felt like I needed a suit of armor to protect myself. Opening up some old, deep wounds, soul-searching.... trying to get resolution to long-held questions, being hit with crises from out of nowhere that we never thought we'd see, challenges with children, struggles in relationships... at times it was almost too much to handle. I will gladly say goodbye to 2008, but I am so very grateful for it. I am a very different person now than I was one year ago. Pain is such a catalyst for change... and I have changed in many ways from the inside out. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

So I head into 2009 with a renewed sense of optimism... so many things will change this year and I have every hope that it will be change for the good. I have wrestled with God and His plans for me so much of this year... I finally am realizing that I do just need to trust in that plan... take a deep breath and just go with it.

I looked back over pictures from the last year this morning, and oh how it made me smile. Even through the worst of times, there still have been some really good times. Take a minute if you will and enjoy some of our year in pictures...


































And through it all, keeping me strong is the love and support of friends and family -- what would I do without you guys??? Thank you for keeping me laughing even through the tears! Gotta go put my Nike's on and run straight into 2009... see ya there!

Must See TV...

I know we are all busy, but you MUST take a little time to watch this video. Then thank God that you aren't married to someone like this!!!

I just hope they've made their peace with the Lord before they take off!


on Vimeo.

Jacob watched this with me a little while ago... afterward he said, "Mama, why are they crazy?"

A Little Crude Humor for You...

I saw this today and just HAD to make it a post for the old blog... yes, it's tasteless but I think you'll forgive me.

The Wedding Invitation....

The Wedding Photo...



Now THAT's funny!!! Have a great day!