What's new, you ask?

It's been awhile since I did an "it's all about me" update so in case you're wondering what's new....here goes.

First of all, I'm ridiculously in love (as you have probably noticed from my recent posts the past three months).

Sigh. Life is amazing. And love the second time around is phenomenal.

Seriously, I do consistently have this stupid smile on my face, and I'm okay with that. I spent a long time wondering if I'd ever feel this way again, and trust me, I'm perfectly happy letting the world know that, indeed...I am happier than I've ever been.

We're busy planning our holidays and juggling spending time with both of our families. His family lives in Toledo so we'll be going north a few times over the next couple of months.

And then, of course....our Caribbean cruise in 132 days. Yay! You have no idea how excited I am about that.

So yeah, madly in love. See it, imagine it, believe it....and it will happen.

I've adjusted to the empty nest thing better than expected. I thought it would be a lot harder. Of course I spend a lot of time just assuming Jordan is in his dorm room studying. And not out partying. Until I see those FB posts about Everclear. Sigh.

Speaking of my favorite kid, he's home right now because he's been sick for like two weeks, and I finally made him go to Urgent Care yesterday. They are thinking gastritis or possibly an ulcer. Either of which can be contributed to/inflamed by excessive drinking. Hello college life! Looks like somebody I know and love better start taking better care of his health....

Work is work. Hopefully the busy/crazy/6 months of hell is over and this last two months of the year will be calm and stress free. Wait...gotta kick my positive thinking into play. This last two months of the year WILL BE calm and stress free! (And if it's not, there's always wine.)

My Mom is hanging in there. I can't believe she's still with us, truly I'm shocked. She's continually losing weight, and she kind of goes up and down mentally and physically. Hospice seems to be taking great care of her. This past week hasn't been a very good one for her, and yesterday she talked to me again about how she can't wait to wake up and be with my Dad again, and see her parents and her sister and of course, my sister Linda. And I want that for her. She has no quality of life anymore. We can't even take her out (even if she had the strength to help us get her in and out of a wheelchair) because she's on oxygen full time. She gets up long enough to go to the dining room and eat, and the rest of the time she is in bed sleeping. Literally, she sleeps for about 22 out of 24 hours a day. I just wish her body would let go. Her mind, her soul, her heart are ready to move on. And I want what she wants.

I was going to end this update with some pictures taken this past couple of months. Goofy stuff.  However Blogger seems to want to only post them sideways.  While I don't mind, I didn't want you to get a crick in your neck and blame it on me.  So I'll figure it out and post 'em next time.

God, I love this life I have created for myself.  Why on earth didn't I do it sooner??

Wake me up when September ends.

So, it's September. Thought I'd better do an update before you guys think I fell off the face of the earth.

September is notoriously weird month for me. Usually just an emotionally crazy ten days thanks to....

Got married Sept 20, 2003
Dad died Sept 18, 2004
Got divorced Sept 28, 2005

This year we can add....

Jordan goes away to college Sept 16, 2010

Sigh.

Oh, and we're moving our offices this month, and I'm pretty much managing the whole thing, which is so time consuming and crazy I can't even tell you.

Oh, and I'm having a going away party for Jordan next Friday, the 10th. So I have to take a day off work just to clean house and prepare for it.

Big sigh.

So here is my burst of positivity....

All is perfect, everything will get done on time and as it should, and those milestone dates will come and go just like they do every year.

Mom isn't doing too good. We had her back at the ER on Monday. Honestly, I cannot believe she is still with us. She's down to 130 lbs from 165 a couple of months ago. She hardly eats, sleeps most of the time, and is becoming more confused. She has been fighting pneumonia for three weeks and of course, the continually recurring UTI. God bless her, she just isn't ready to go I guess. She says she is, and then the next day she talks about "when I get better..." so I think she's still got one foot in both worlds, you know? It breaks my heart to see her like this, but at the same time, I can't imagine a world without my Mom in it. I don't think I ever showed you guys this (although some might have seen it on Facebook). On her birthday August 20th, I videotaped her. Here's a little snippet.



And here's a picture of me and her from that day as well:

And this one makes me laugh out loud. You know she's thinking "Seriously, a party hat? Oh Christ, I guess I'll humor you." LOL

I really am afraid that I'm going to lose her this month as well. September seems to be that way for me.

But there is a bright spot in this....

I am happily dating. He's an old boyfriend from 13 and 12 years ago (yes, we dated twice two years in a row) so let's hope third time is a charm. LOL He's really a great guy, the polar opposite of who I've spent the past 10 years with. We've been moving slow this past month because I just wasn't ready to leap back in, but he convinced me otherwise last weekend. :::wink::: I'm really happy right now, and just enjoying the day to day of having someone in my life who brings such amazingly good things to it. It's good and it's easy and it's comfortable and the best part about dating someone you've dated before is that you don't have to go through the whole "getting to know you" process so there's no awkwardness or putting on pretenses etc. It's organic and fabulous! Happy sigh.

So there's your update from me. I'll probably be out of pocket quite a bit this month, because I'm not kidding when I say that work is kicking my ass. And, of course, I'm busy with That Guy Again on the weekends. Some things take priority and these days, blogging isn't one of them!!!

Tell me what's going on in your life?

A sad update....

You may remember this post about my buddy Sarah's niece, Mattie.

I'm sad to tell you that little Mattie passed away Wednesday afternoon.

My thoughts and prayers are with Sarah's family as they deal with their loss.

Her obituary, in part, says:

On June 2, 2010 our precious Angel Mattie Elizabeth Powell age 5 of Fayette, OH earned her wings and flew home to be with the Lord. Mattie had a great day. She played, did crafts, took pictures and gave Mommy and Daddy Hugs and Kisses all before taking a nap. When she woke up she was in the presence of the Lord. Mattie fought a courageous 2 ½ year battle with brain and bone cancer. Mattie had a beautiful smile that filled the room with joy. She touched many lives in her short lifetime.

You can't leave a better legacy than that. Godspeed, beautiful girl.