Friends are not overrated

Back to Texas talk. Here's where we stand:

The Gearhead is now actively looking at the job market in the Dallas area. It's tough going when you're starting from scratch. He met with a friend whose family's business had a warehouse there awhile back, and got his input. He's talked with his friend who lives there. And last night, we sat down and talked and talked and talked. *sigh* Man, I'm tired of talking (which is weird for me - I talk a lot).

And now, the explanation for the title of this post. I find myself without a very close friend for the first time in my life. Gearhead has always thought it strange that I don't have long-time friends. His closest friend is one he's had since Jr. High, and he has several others from school, too.

I had a best friend in elementary and jr. high, and then a different one in high school, until about the age of 21. Then, we parted ways.

This is my pattern: During a specific time in my life, I make friends. Like, when I was single and working, I had a group of friends (a rather large group of friends). Then, I became a Christian and got married and had a whole new set of friends. I worked for about three years after we got married before having The Princess; then, all my friends were people with little kids who went to La Leche League. When The Prince was about 2-1/2, I had to go back to work in an office, and again, the friends shifted (though I do have one friend I made when I was pg with The Princess who I love, and we keep in touch). That was a most miserable time in my life; I hated leaving my kids to go to work. They were enrolled in a Christian school, and many good things came from that, but I missed them sooooo much. 'Nuff said.

I don't intentionally do this. I've just never met someone who I was so close to that the major changes in our lives didn't affect our friendship.

Then, I became a homeschooling mom, and I have an entirely different group of friends now, but no real bosom buddies. I think I'm weird. I really, really would like to have one person who I can talk to and just spill my guts, especially with all the ups and downs I've been going through lately. My friend in Texas is the one I talk to the most, but I can't just go to coffee with her, or go to her house to talk, ya know? The Gearhead (being my knight in shining armor) has said I can talk to him anytime, and I do. There's just something about having a girl-friend to talk to...

Anyway, that's why friends are not overrated. I was doing okay with not having close friends until recently, and now I'm hurting.

I don't think close friends can be contrived, either. I mean, you can't say "I'm going out to make a friend now! Okay, here I go!" and then find someone who fits the bill. God has to be there, orchestrating. Which makes me think there's a reason I don't have a best friend, but only He knows why.

There's one homeschool mom who I talk to on the phone, and we can talk, literally, for two hours (we did over the weekend). We've shared a lot of stuff, big stuff....really, really big stuff. But, during our last conversation, she said that she had a best friend who really hurt her, and now she doesn't trust anyone completely. So, I figure she's trying to say, "This is nice to talk to you, but don't expect us to be really close."

And this is why I'm happy to be blogging. It helps to write it out. I often write stuff out, then delete it, but this one's posting.

"I Am Legend"

I previously posted that I just didn't like "I Am Legend" very much. When I told my brother (who had loved it), we got into a long discussion about the movie and it's attributes. He finally laughed and said, "Um, I think you liked the movie, and you don't realize it!" I think he's right.

I took The Princess to see it last week, and I enjoyed it much more the second time. Surprisingly, I didn't see anything new the second time, though The Princess caught one thing that I didn't see the first or second time! And, in comparing notes with my brother again, he didn't catch it either. Now, I'll have to rent it when it comes out, and look for that one thing!

The movie is extremely nerve-wracking. One such scene lasts almost five minutes (I timed it the second time around). There is no music at all during that time, no suspenseful violins - nothing except the natural sounds from him and around him. I'm telling you, I almost felt like leaving the theater the first time, it was that gut-wrenching. I had both feet pulled up onto the seat, and I was hugging my legs. The Gearhead said I screamed twice; I only remember screaming once.

I would NEVER take the Prince to see such a film. He is very sensitive, and would have nightmares, I'm sure. It's not a horror flick, per se, but the images are disturbing at times, and the whole subject matter is very deep. I've thought about this movie for days afterwards, and it keeps coming to mind. Food for thought, for sure.

I will say this: Will Smith is an amazing actor. He is on the screen 99.9% of the movie, and his range of emotion is just out of this world.

So, I just had to amend what I said before. It's a great movie, if you're into suspense. And I am...I just didn't realize it at first. :-)

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Seems I like reading other people's blogs much more than I like posting to my own! I thought posting those pics would get me motivated, but it just made me realize how lazy I am! It's all so much work to keep a blog scooting along! Enough complaining.

Our Christmas was simple. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, though I was sick and kind of out of it. We usually have the in-laws over here in the morning, then go to my folks' in the evening for dinner. It was the usual, crazy tear-into-the-presents thing at my folks' house. Every year I think, "Where is Jesus in all this?" Every year, I vow to change thing for next year. We were forced to keep the gift-giving simple this year, but that doesn't change everyone else's habits. Oh, well, it's over and I've vowed to make next year more about Jesus and less about materialism...again.

This was probably the least eventful New Year's Eve we've ever had! We didn't go to a party or have one. We stayed home and waited for midnight while watching "Pearl Harbor." At midnight, we walked outside and listened to the fireworks going off, went back inside, and went to bed. The Prince was highly disappointed. He really enjoys tradition, and we usually have some sparklers left over from Independence Day, but not this year. I think we were all just tired this year. All this talk of a potential move has been exhausting, emotionally.

Um, okay, what else? Ah, my bloggie friend, Lady T is engaged!!! Her's is a weight loss blog, but she talks about lots of other stuff, too...including LR, her now-fiance. I am sooooo happy for her! Go on over there and congratulate her if you have a minute!

Back to the old grind today, homeschool-wise. I'm off to give the Prince a spelling test, and to put a fire under his butt to do his other work. He's my highly-resistant kid, so it can be really challenging to get him moving.

Blessings to you!

WOW, second post in the SAME DAY!!!

Here are some pics of The Prince, The Princess and Gearhead.

The older boy in the picture in the upper left is The Prince. I chose this picture because he is so sweet with younger kids, and this is one of his best buddies.

The pictures of the Princess are from last Friday, after the final show of "A Christmas Carol." The boy in the top hat played the young Scrooge, and they did a beautiful waltz together. In the picture above, with her daddy, she looks a little teary-eyed...and she certainly was.

But where are pictures of *me*? Hmmmm, that will take a little more bravery, and possibly a professional photo session, with hair, make-up and lighting.

I promise I'll get better with this picture thing. :-)

Second day IN A ROW!!!!!!!

I'm sure my extensive blog-reading audience is just THRILLED to see another post (or at least LadyT is thrilled) ! :-)

Had a little disaster yesterday. Everyone was out of the house all afternoon. I returned first and discovered glass all over one end of our front porch. It seems our doggie, Mel, perceived that the postman, who comes to our home six days a week to deliver mail, was going to break into our house and murder us all. He broke one pane of glass in the process. *sigh* How do I know that's how the glass broke? Well, he always goes a little crazy when the postman comes, but we're usually here, and I either put him outside, or tell him to stop, and he does. And...we got a letter from the post office today, that if we don't restrain our dog they'll require that we put our mailbox away from the house. Oh, goody. I'll be calling them in a little bit to try to smooth it over. Mel will now be mostly an outside dog, which makes the kids and I very sad. He's a member of the family, for Pete's sake.

We picked up new orthotics for The Prince today. He has very, very flat feet, and has had orthotics (which fit in his shoes) for awhile now. Insurance doesn't pay for corrective orthotics, only the ones that make your feet feel better. Isn't that dumb? It's a quality of life issue for The Prince, yet the insurance treats it like we're in it for the fun.

Let's see, we need a little uplifting talk, eh? Okay. On the weight loss front, which I meant to blog about from the beginning, but haven't:

I joined a weight loss program in April of this year after a good friend was succeeding on the same program. At that time, I had about 70 lbs. to lose. Long story short, I lost 35 lbs. from April to August, or so. Great, right? Well, yes, but I'm a bit stagnated right now, and have been. I'm good at encouraging others, but I haven't had the oomph to get myself up and going again. The good news is, I haven't gained but one pound. The program I was doing (not WW) really taught me how to eat better, and I have internalized it to the point that I think all the time, "Oh, I need to eat another fruit today," or, "Done with the starch for today."

I know the holiday season is really not the best time to start again, and on a lot of blogs I read, people are taking a few weeks off of weight loss during this time. There' s one thing I've realized; weight loss is not about being "on program." It's about making changes 24/7, 365. Yep, that's right, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, all of it. I used to look at weight loss as punishment for all the wrong I'd done to my body. Now, I look at it as finally taking care of the temple that God gave me, and undoing some of the damage I did to it. Not punishment but repentance. Ah, it feels like freedom.

I think part of my struggles lately are linked to the potential move to Texas. So much to consider, so many choices to make, even if we stay here. It is darn near a miracle that I haven't gained all the weight back in the past month, since food has traditionally been my drug of choice during stressful times. I keep telling GH, "I just want us to make a decision, either way, and then move on!!!!" He gets it, but ultimately it's his final decision, and I just have to be patient. HA!!!! :-) That's what I get for praying for patience...

Oh, I had my first, first-hand encounter with a high-speed chase yesterday! I was standing on the sidewalk talking to a friend, when I saw four helicopters coming our way, and then so many lights from the police cars that I knew something major was going on. I got inside and waited for them to pass. It's a narrow street (not our street, but one lined with small businesses and only two lanes going one way), so I would have been very close to the guy who was fleeing. He crashed a few miles up the road, thus ending a chase that lasted about two hours. I didn't like the feeling of being that close to that much drama.

This morning when I was checking the Pioneer Woman's blog, she had a link to another blog, asking for prayer. Here's the link to Bossy's blog.

Be blessed today. Amidst all the chaos that is the commercialized Christmas, try not to forget that love came down to save us all, and that's what we should be celebrating.

Blah...

I'm visiting blogs, drinking coffee, basically escaping from reality. One kid is at one grandma's, the other is at the other (that's probably a grammatical disaster - sorry).

Had a great day with GH yesterday. We went for a "cruise" in an old car (his favorite past time), ate lunch out, then took in a movie. We saw "I Am Legend," with Will Smith. My folks and brother had seen it a few days ago, and raved about it. I found it boring for long stretches, but it was very thought-provoking. GH, who is not into movies AT ALL, felt it was a colossal waste of time.

Guess I'd better go find my children and get 'em schooling. If I ever figure out how to post pictures, I'll get some put up from The Princess's show last week. It was really wonderful. She's had PPD (Post Production Depression) a bit since concluding the show, but a movie, lunch and shopping with Grandma makes lots of things better. :-)

No grand announcements here

We're still discussing (ad nauseum) the move to Texas. There are so many things to consider, not the least of which is our parents. My mom is basically distraught. GH's mom is kinda quiet about it...to us. The Princess was over at her great-aunt's house (who is mother-in-law's sister) a few days ago. Auntie told the Princess that g-ma said, "If Gearhead (she said his real name FYI) goes, I go." We shall see. That certainly would make things easier, to have some family there. The friends we have there are definitely on par with family, but you know what I mean.

I've been checking on some message boards where you can ask advice from people who live in the areas you want to live in. The one thing that stands out about Texas versus California is the weather. We know it's hot and humid in the summer, but we figure that's what air conditioning is for. And they do have snow maybe two days a year, which would actually be kinda fun!

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On to more interesting things: The Princess will be performing in "A Christmas Carol" for seven shows this coming week, with rehearsals on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thankfully, one of the women from the show lives near us, and will pick up and drop off The Princess for me, thus saving hours of driving and a lot of gas!


What else? *tapping finger on edge of desk* Oh, I had a lovely time today with some friends from our homeschool group. It was "Mom's Night Out," which was actually, Mom's Entire Day Out. We made tea sandwiches and desserts and had hot tea (several varieties), and here's the best part...we watched the 6 hour miniseries of "Pride & Prejudice!" Oh, my, it was so much better than the movie version - and oh, so romantic.

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On the homeschooling front: The Princess hasn't been accomplishing much, school-wise, for the past few days. However, after more than a year of her yearning for babysitting to earn money, she has hit pay-dirt! A lovely couple with three little boys has her come to their home each Friday morning to watch their littlest one, along with several other young kids, while their mothers do a "Dream Dinners" type thing. They cook, then split the food up between the families. They have been paying her really well, and now one of the other moms asked her to come over this morning, AND her friend asked her to help with a babysitting job last night! She made $65 in two days! And she' s 13!!! I babysat my heart out at her age and older, and I don't think I ever made that much. She loves to buy everyone Christmas gifts, so she's a happy girl.

The Prince sold Christmas wreaths with a company called "Wreaths of Maine" and made about $41.00, the check for which should be arriving the end of the week. He also works for our very nice neighbors, when they need help with yard work.

Both kids have learned a lot through doing jobs for money. They both give 10% to church. I have to work with the girl on saving, since she spends every dime in no time. She's her mother's daughter, I'm afraid. The Prince is quite frugal (though he loves to treat me to a coffee at Starbucks), and has a little savings.

The Prince is taking a reading class with a local homeschool - um - school. It's a school for homeschoolers; you can take your kids two days a week for a variety of classes, or just pick and choose. Anyway, he has a lot of homework, which we've been working at each day, and he's been reading to me everyday. I can already see an improvement, and he's only had two classes. He's somewhat resistant to going to the class, but he's had a good attitude doing the work.

Okay, long post here. I want to post about my weight loss, and about other stuff, but I'm about to fall asleep, so I'd better sign off.

May God richly bless you.