And it begins...

The holidays are upon us and with that means my home is about to get turned upside down for the next 2 months or so. As much as I enjoy the end of year festivities-- family get togethers, gift- giving, craft making, cookie baking.. part of me just wishes that it wasn't all necessary.  But then I see the look on my Bobby's face as I tell him about Santa and I know why I do it.  It's for him.  So that he grows up with the sense of wonder and merriment about holidays that a person carries throughout their life.

I'm big about tradition.  I want my boys to grow up having certain things happen every year. Thiings they can track and remember and hopefully carry on with their families.

I haven't carried on much from my childhood.  Mainly because some of the most memorable things were specific to my childhood of a child from a divorced family.  Like, we always went to my mom's on Christmas Eve - where Santa stopped by early since he knew that we lived with my dad.   and then drove through the neighborhood lights.  The neighborhood we grew up in always ( and still does- my dad still lives there) lined the streets with luminaries to guide Santa to our homes.  When we got home, we were allowed to open ONE present.  And it was new jammies - Christmas themed- to wear to bed (and for the next morning- of course).

Now, unless I can get my insta-neighborhood of over 400 homes to start the luminaries- I'm  out of luck on that one.  And with 3 different sets of grandparents all within driving distance- there is no telling where we will be driving from on Christmas Eve. BUT my kids will always wake up in their own home on Christmas morning.  My in-laws have asked us to stay with them every year since Bobby was born, but I won't do it.  I can't.  To me- it would break the magic of Santa - having the stocking- putting out the cookies.  and jammies- Christmas jammies- if only he liked to wear them.

Real Life

I lost my job today. 
It wasn't a glamorous one.  It didn't pay extremely well. But I liked it.  I met a lot of really good people. People who cared and who were fun to talk to.  I made life long friends.


 I did a good job. I worked hard. at least I thought I did.  


oh well.


I wasn't happy anyway.  I wasn't doing what I wanted to do.


So I have a chance now to do what I want. 


which is what?


The majority of my closest frieds have dreams, some of them lifelong, some of them recently realized.  One decided to become a lawyer, so she did and preceeded in kicking ass and killing it in law school so that she was hired before she knew if she had passed the bar.  Another wanted to be an archelologist, so she is. And another, that wanted to see the world so she took a job in Africa for 2 years. and another is fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a rock star. for realz.


recently I saw one of those shared pictures on facebook with an inspiring quote.  The one by John Lennon.

When I was 5 years old, my mom told me that happiness was the key to life.

When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I

wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told

them they didn’t understand life.

This is how I have always wanted my life to be. Happy.  Now I have a chance to do something so that I am doing what I love.  I don't HAVE to work to to make it so ends meet. 

So now I begin a new chapter. A new part of my life where I find out what it is I really want to be when I grow up!

Here we go!

Fall Family Fun!

Oh. My. Word.


How come no one ever told me about Hot Pickled Okra?


I'm seriously addicted now, much to my dismay.  I've never been a fan of spicy food....until I had Patrick. Now, I add hot sauce to everything, kick the heat up on my Asian dishes, dump an incredible amount of wasabi into my soy sauce and now this.

This past weekend, we took an overnight trip to North Georgia.  We got up to Dahlonega in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel and then headed downtown to check out the shop and perhaps sample some of the local wine.
After a quick circuit, we discovered there was only one place doing wine tastings on that particular night, so for $10 a piece we were able to try 5 different wines.  Well, actually 10 since we each tried different ones.  For dinner, we ate at an "American Italian" (aka pizza and spaghetti) place.  Bobby was reasonably well behaved and Patrick went ape shit over the menu.  I'm not kidding.  I have never seen this baby get more excited over ANYTHING!

Dahlonega always holds a special place in my heart.  When I was a kid I used to go camping every summer with my dad's second wife's family (confusing enough?). The whole brood would descend on the town and pan some gold.


And that's just what we did the next morning.  Consolidated Gold Mine is the site of the largest hard rock gold mine this side of the Mississippi.  There's a guided cave tour where you learn about all of the awful chemicals the mining company used to extract the gold as well as the different ways the miners were either maimed or killed.  It was delightful!  Oh and there were bats, too!

In the cave where thousands of men died from cyanide and mercury poisoning!

Since we got there right when the place opened, we went ahead and panned for gold (which is included in your ticket price).  I'm using the Royal We that Jacob loves so much.  He did all the dipping and swirling and I kept an eye on Bobby and nursed the baby.

dip and swirl, dip and swirl

My dad and Karen also drove up and we all met for lunch at The Smith House.  I remember this place as comfort food heaven.  First of all, it's expensive. $18 for all you can eat, family style, Southern food.  And it was ...ehhh okay.  Maybe I've been spoiled, but if I'm going to spend $18 on collards and fried okra, that shit better be awesome.


Next we drove over to Jaemor Farms, which one of my friends told me about when I asked for an apple picking place.  While they do grow apples there, you can't pick them yourself.  I was a little disappointed in that but there was a corn maze.  Jacob was ridiculously excited for it.  That excitement quickly dissipated when Bobby refused to walk and he had to carry him.  Our afternoon stroll through some corn on a cool fall day turned into a death march while we tried to find the exit.  Other activities included an apple gun, a big tube slide and inflated bouncing ponies.There was also a large farmer's market where we were able to stock up on locally produced condiments and staples, as pictured above.  It was fun, but I don't think we will go back. I would love to find a place where we can leisurely meander through an orchard and lift up the boys so they can pull the apple from the trees themselves.  

Death March