Circus!

Wednesday night we went to the circus.  I love the circus and that love has been passed to E.  She sat completely transfixed through each act.  She engaged with the clowns and danced in the aisles.  I think we may have to rethink her university plans and start looking at clown college.

T showed us his tween side.  At each act he would yell, "No! No! What?" in that way that teenage boys do these days.  You know - the one where they cover their mouth with the side of the hand.  If he'd been standing he probably would have thrust out his other hand and covered his crotch with it.  But, he really enjoyed it.  He showed his little boy side is still there as he was completely enthralled with the dragon.

The little one was so tired.  During the pre-show he looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the entire world.  But during the show he clapped and gasped.  The next morning the first words he said to me were, "Mom, I loved the circus."

Q said as an adult he was more impressed with the acts.  Plus we were sitting close enough to see that there was some effort put into those feats.  He really sweated through the Shaolin guys.  They made him very nervous.

I loved the whole thing, but kept wondering - when did the circus go down to one ring?  I know times are tight and we were at a smaller venue, but I kind of miss the other rings.

6 months = lots of change

Looking back to August of last year there is so much that has changed and so much that has stayed the same.  I realize that once again, I am the world's worst blogger.  Besides that:

• I'm now working part time, mostly from home.
• I'm waiting for that house of cards to crumble and I'm okay with that.
• I'm going to dedicate my time to writing and developing a new project.
• I love that I get to spend more time with my kids.
• My love has a new job that he adores.

My little one started Tee Ball last weekend.  He looks so stinking cute out on the field.  

There was one little girl who had on her sweatpants and a skirt.  Q and I think that major league baseball ought to consider the skirt for their uniforms.  Very sharp!

So, I'm back...going to try to be better about blogging.  I think it's like anything else, you just need to make it a habit.

Who are you?

I wonder who the 4 people are who view this blog...

As for me - Day three found me bouncing on the mini-trampoline for about 5 minutes before I realized I can't do that for half an hour.  Then I switched to jumping jacks/crunches/lunges/push-ups.

I learned today that I have to justify my job even further.  This time they want a list/chart of what I do every day.  It's not like I have a set thing that I do.  Every day is different.  It depends on what's needed.  That's kind of the definition of a support staff position.  I'm getting really tired of having to fight for something that I don't really want.  I need it because I'm the only one working right now...and it would be ideal to have this job when I go back to school since they are so flexible.  HOWEVER, I'm tired of having to justify my existence.  Sigh.

So - I'm going to go out tonight and have a nice dinner with the bestie and my momma.  Stick it, Luxembourg.  Unless you are one of the 4 people.  Then, whatever you want...

Day two and a great tip!

Still tracking on my life changing plan.

Day 1 and 2 - walked a little over a mile each morning.

But on to a new topic - I was talking to my friend the other day about her husband who is deployed.  He loves crumb cake, but mostly loves the crumb.  So for his birthday a couple of Novembers ago I made him this crumb cake.  I've decided to send him another one this year, but with mail taking 9-14 days to get to him I had to come up with a way to vacuum seal the cake without spending a lot of money on systems.  I give you my solution via journeytheoutdoors.

I love it!  Hopefully Steve's crumb cake won't be soggy or spoiled when he gets it.

Day One!

Today is the day...

Day One of my life changing plan.

Step One: Set Goals

So, I'm setting forth a two year plan to be who I want to be, where I want to be, doing what I want to do.

In the next two years I will:

1.  Loose 40 pounds.
  I'm not huge, but I'm not anywhere near having the body I want to have.  I'm not comfortable in my own skin and that's a shame.  Besides that, I have high cholesterol, insulin resistance and a dad who dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 68.  I will not follow in his footsteps if I can help it!  I'd like to be in a size 10 by summer 2014.

The last time I felt good about my body.

2.  Get my teaching certificate.
  I've started the process by applying to George Mason University.  They have a Master's program that allows you to get licensure and then complete the remaining credits for a Master's if you desire.  I'm going to start with the the license and see how I feel once that is complete.

3.  Move my family to Europe.
  My grand scheme involves working in the DoDDS system.  My ideal would be to work in a middle/high school in England teaching English.  We've lived in Germany (a lot) and I think I'm ready for the UK.  If that isn't a possibility, my second choice is the Mediterranean area.  Italy, please.  Not Turkey.

Not so bad.  All reasonable.  All do-able.  All supported by my family.

It's the simple things...

I was watching the "Big Fat Quiz of the Year" from last year.  I love British panel shows - and Jimmy Carr cracks me up.  If you have a chance to see it, it's worth it just to see Jamie Oliver pretending to be Willow Smith.

One of the questions reminded me of something that will make Emma laugh longer and harder than most anything else.  I have it for you below:

Wanderlust...

Yesterday I had a weird feeling all day.  I'm not even sure if I can accurately describe it, but I had it all day long!

Every time we've gotten ready to move to a new place (or even when we went on our vacations) I've gotten a feeling of anxiousness and excitement that something new was going to happen; like I was in for an adventure.  I definitely there's something going on in the universe.  We might finally be on an upswing.  I've noticed more things pointing us toward Europe.  I think it's amazing when you get clues to where you should go.

In Galway, Ireland - the day we scattered my Dad's ashes.

So, it will be interesting to see what comes in the next few days/weeks/months.  I think it's most important to be open to whatever comes along!