Day 292 - Sand Spurs, Sisters and Spiders

I've been struggling the past few days to get through this Real Estate School stuff. Have I not blogged about it yet? I'm so sorry - I've been slacking in the blog department (says, Amanda Kennedy-Turner).

I got back on the treadmill this evening, so let's take a moment to celebrate that fact. YAY Me!!! Lil C didn't have school today. A Thursday...strange, but we made the most of it. It's a good thing, though. Lil C woke up stuffy and he slipped into Daddy's side of the bed when he left for work...smearing germy germs all over Daddy's pillow. We milked it for all it was worth... Snuggled until around 8:30am. (I'll be blogging about Daddy being sick in a week, so stay tuned. THAT will be a good one).

I spent the morning doing my real estate school (40 pages of Real Estate info on "The Fed" - zzzzzzzzzz) while Lil C ate breakfast and then watched some cartoons. My sister surprised me with a visit around 2pm. She had a testing/interview this morning in downtown Tampa and dropped by afterwards to chat. She brought wine. Now, I generally don't have a problem with enjoying a occasional mid-afternoon glass of vino with the hermana, but I was still in my PJ's. THAT was weird. I think that must be how alcoholics feel. It felt so wrong, but so right...all at the same time. I'm still a little weirded out about it. PJ's + wine = something I'm not quite ready to address. Pretend I never said anything.

While I was in my PJ's, Lil C was still in his underwear. Once the big sister left, guilt got the best of me, so I got the boy dressed and we tackled the sand spurs on our front lawn. How do you get rid of sand spurs? You Move. Kidding. I had Lil C spray the plant with weed and grass killer, then I cut off the spurs and put them in a baggie and sealed them up. THEN, we had lunch on the pool patio and knocked a dirt dauber's nest down and when it hit the concrete, about 50 paralyzed spiders came tumbling out. We were amazed. I had NO IDEA those dirt daubers killed spiders. I'm torn. The Spiders kill the bugs, but the daubers kill the spiders. WHO DO I SIDE WITH??? Reminds me of our political system. smh.

Finished up the night with Daddy teaching Lil C how to Tie Dye. This should be a required course in Jr High School. (This would be a perfect place for someone to say, "Just Sayin'" - but I won't. I hate that quote. Duh - we know you're just sayin' - you just said it.)

Moving on. Living, Growing. Struggling. Surviving.

Day 277 - Fork in the Road

We've all been here in one way, shape or form. It can be a scary place...

Intimidating.
Daunting.
Disheartening.

It's no surprise to me. I've seen it on the horizon for the past year, but that doesn't make it any less intimidating. The kids are grown and fairly self-sufficient, and with Charlie's "gentle insistence," I suppose it's time to get back in the money. We have big dreams for our new home and acreage, and we have one starting college next year - an extra paycheck might just make things a little easier around here.

Changing careers again in a big way. I've been putting feelers out for several month now... checking out different industries... even interviewed for my old job a couple of weeks ago. I haven't heard back on that one, and in all honesty, after visiting my old workplace downtown and talking to a few old colleagues, I hope I don't hear back.

When I left the company 10 years ago, the place was buzzing with sales and promotions and energy. However, when I visited a couple of weeks ago, it was like walking through a funeral parlor. Absolutely dreadful. I suppose after sucking all of the life out of its employees, it's now sucking the life out of itself.

Chapter 4 in The Life and Employment of LeighAnn Monaghan will be titled: Real Estate. The last fork in the road I faced was in 1996, choosing between real estate and GTE/Verizon. It's ironic that I find myself back at the same fork in the road...15 years later.

On an unrelated note...remember those 100 crunches and 100 leg lifts from 2 days ago? Holy Cannelloni!!! My core is sore. Must be working.

Signing off to go lace up the old sneakers and start a sweat-fest. I have a muffin top to destroy.

Photo: Pulled it off of Google. It's the digital magic of some unknown artist.

Day 275 - Thank You Melissa Kendall Gray

Want to know what motivated me to do 100 crunches, 100 leg lifts and 45 minutes on the treadmill? Three words: Melissa. Kendall. Gray. She posted some pics of me on Facebook from, like, FOREVER ago. I probably weighed 130lbs - slim and trim - and I'm sure that at the time, I still felt overweight. Sickening, really. Twenty five pounds later, I want to go back in time and smack myself.

I love you, Mel. I miss you tons. I wish you never moved back to Indiana, for my own personal reasons of course. I know that you are better off there with your main squeeze and your immediate family, but I still miss you like crazy.

This one photo in particular struck a nerve. It' of Charlie and Me...he's kissing my cheek with our old Jetski (and Matt) in the background. We used to have tons of fun on those things. I also used to Scuba dive and ride a Harley motorcycle. Maybe it's because I'm approaching the big 4-0. I feel so cliché.

I think it may be time to turn a few of those "used-to's" into "still-do's" :o)