Here We Go...

Wait for it...

Here it comes...

I HATE MOVING!!!!!

>sigh<

I feel better now :)

Moving. Again.

So. We're moving. Again. My mom often says that I've made moving a hobby. I prefer to think of it as an art. Since I turned 21, I've moved...gimme 5 minutes I have to count...still counting...lost count have to start over...17 times. That's 1.42 moves a year folks!

Let me break it down -
5/1996 Home-->1st Apartment
9/1996 1st Apartment -->Home (yeah, I figured living with the 'rents was better than paying rent!)
11/1997 Home --> 2nd Apartment (apparently I forgot the lessons I learned the 1st time!)
2/1998 2nd Apartment --> Home (but quickly learned)
4/1999 Home --> Farmville, VA lil Apartment (COLLEGE!)
10/1999 Lil Apt --> Bigger apartment
5/2000 Bigger Apt --> Farmville House
5/2001 Farmville House --> 2nd set of 'rents (temporary stay - but I still had stuff to move)
7/2001 2nd Set of 'rents --> Apartment with future roommates (again temporary but still there's stuff)
10/2001 Apartment --> Ghetto House (hey! I stayed here for 2 years!!!)
3/2004 Ghetto House --> Raleigh, NC house
6/2004 Raleigh, NC House --> Raleigh, NC apartment
4/2005 Raleigh, NC apt --> B.F.F'S 'rents (while waiting for her to close on her house)
7/2005 B.F.F.'s 'rents --> B.F.F's house
4/2006 BFF's house --> 2nd Set of 'rents (again)
4/2007 2nd Set of 'rents --> Hubby's house (wee!! I got married!!!)
12/2007 Hubby's House --> our "new" house
9/2008 Our "New" House --> Our New "New" House

I am an expert at moving with a U-Haul, Mini-Van, Pickup Truck, or in one case, my Saturn SC1 (for those of you not in the know - a LIL BIDDY car with fold down seats :)

I have accumulated enough "stuff" to deck out a 3 bedroom house, and have gotten rid of enough stuff that allowed me to move back from NC with 1 trip of my Saturn and my dads Jeep. Hey, it was a 3rd floor apartment, and I didn't want to lug furniture back down them steps. Clothes, Pillows and Blankets went over the balcony >grin<

I look at each move as an adventure. New lay of the land. But why this time you ask?? You just finished painting your (rental) house?!?!!!

Over the weekend I will post pics to help me explain. But I will try here. My house is directly across the street from Goodwill. Now, Goodwill is not the problem. Those dropping off their treasures are. They have a bell to signal whenever someone pulls up to unload their wares. Did you know that people ACTUALLY drop off at Goodwill in the middle of the night?!? Are they so embarrassed about the condition of their stuff they can't face the Goodwill worker-bees? So invaribly, I am woken up by the dinging of the bell. Also, Saturday's - good luck trying to get some quiet. Traffic is non-stop as all of the Tri-Cities lines up to give their yearly (monthly? weekly? daily) donation to the wonderland that is Goodwill. My 5 year old is not allowed out the front door w/o us out there with her because of this!

So - my landlord calls me and says "I'm moving - want to look at my house". I respond "WE'LL TAKE IT!!!!!!"!!!!!! "But yeah, we can look at it."

Anyone wanna help us move??? LOL

Joys of (Step)Motherhood

Let's see. Where do I begin? Well, I was 31 when I got married (for the first time), and married a man who had a beautiful 4 year old daughter, Hannah. Why would I want the baby-mamma drama you ask? Trust me, there are times I ask myself the same question. But the answer is why not? Because then I would miss times like these...

*Hubby and I were having a particularly bad week. Getting on each others nerves, fighting, picking, the whole thing. Well, we had Hannah - she was in the bath tub, and we took the opportunity to fuss at each other a little more. Casey goes into the bathroom to get her out and I hear "NO! I want MISS AMY to do it!!!" Well, here she comes, towel wrapped and brush in hand. Because of the issues going on, I was near tears as it was. What happened next DID NOT help! So she comes and plops down on my lap and gives me a big hug. Hannah looks up at me with those big brown eyes and says "Miss Amy, I know you love me", to which I told her absolutely I do! She looks up at me and says "But I love you more!". Yeah. You guessed it. Waterworks.

*Curlies, Piggies and Ponies. Curlies when she gets her hair put in sponge curlers and she comes out looking like Shirley Temple. Because of the length and thickness of her hair, this takes me about an hour and a half to do. But this is an hour and a half of each others undivided attention. And some of the conversations that have come out of this time, whoah!

*Hugs and kisses goodnight. Better yet - I get "big hug" (this is reserved ONLY for Miss Amy) where we give each other a big bear hug.

*Being the comforter when she's sick or hurt. Enough said.

*Not having to be the bad guy. Well, not always. LOL. This is usually reserved for Daddy. Because of my own limitations, I refuse to be the "spanker" of the house. So, I always have that on my side...LOL.

There are so many other Joys that come with that little 5 year old that completely stole my heart in November, 2006, I just could not list them all here. I wish I could say that being a step-mom and knowing the ins and outs, the lines to cross and not to cross, and how to handle the baby mamma drama all came naturally. I would be lying. It's only because of my own stepmother, Lynn.

I don't want to reduce my relationships with my mom or my dad. They know I love(d) them. However, if it weren't for Lynn I would in no way be prepared for (step)motherhood. When I was young it was Lynn who went to my mom and said ya'll have to stop fighting. You need help with Amy, and we want to see her more. This can be worked out! It was Lynn who laid the path that would create an atmosphere for me that I would forever be grateful for. The school plays that all 4 of my parents attended - and sat together. The mothers day lunches that both families attended so I didn't have to choose. My 4 parents working together to raise me. Not battling each other.

As a grown woman, who has lost one mother (bio-mom), the relationship between Lynn and I has only grown. Yet, she's the first one to say - I'm not her mother, but a pretty close 2nd. She knows that she will never replace my "momma", but yet, I refer to her as "mom" (ie...mom and I went to lunch....talked to my mom on the phone...etc).

I told Casey the day we got married, that if Hannah can say 1/2 the things about me that I can say about Lynn, I will know our marriage was a success.

Sick...Ugh...

Yeah - so I've caught the dreaded summer cold. Sore throat, runny nose, cough, the works.





I thought I would add a picture to maybe describe how I'm feeling....

Yeah, I think that about covers it. I'm actually ready for July to be over with. This has not been a good month for me, my husband or my family. Just need it to be O-V-E-R!

Ok. Off to lunch, then back to work. To go home, take some (more) Benadryl and pass out before dark!!

About My Blog Title

So I named my blog "Love is Time". That comes from a brief video I found online titled "To a Child Love Is Spelled T.I.M.E". Sooo many parents have forgotten that these days. Don't get me wrong here folks, I'm not one to try to tell people how they should raise or shouldn't raise their children. However, it breaks my heart to see mothers tell their daughters their going to have a "girls day" only to put the kids to work doing chores. Or, they drop them off at the grandparents whenever they need "adult time".

Really, your children don't require MUCH. Sure, the basics, a roof, food, clothes, etc. That's a given. I'm talking about all the things we buy kids to occupy their time. Why not take them to the park to feed the ducks? Go to the library and help them pick out books. Walk them down to the creek to throw rocks and sticks in the water. None of these cost a dime, but to a child the T.I.M.E is priceless :)

Introduction!

So...this is my first true blog. I have a blog on myspace and cafemom, but decided I wanted to give this a go :)

So, first, the introductions...the main characters are....

Me :)My wonderful (most days) husband...
My beautiful stepdaughter, Hannah

And finally, the divas of the house, PJ (dalmation) and Dixie (pekingese)

Those are the main characters of this story, there are puhlenty of supporting roles that will pop up from time to time. So, sit back and enjoy :)

First Blog

Just checkin this thing out - will give more later :)