My son still believes in Santa which made this year’s Christmas magical still. I enjoyed every moment of it (even though it took him all of 20 minutes to open every gift!).

What would this world be like without children?

Happy New Year everyone!  May it be a magical and productive one

Less than 15 days and I’m still not finished with my shopping.  Why is that I do this to myself every single year?  Hopefully I won’t be up late Christmas Eve trying to wrap everything.  I’ve done that once before.   

What can I say?  I’m a natural procrastinator.  Heck, I should make a professional career out of it where I’ll actually get paid to procrastinate! 

Okay, back to reality now.

Holy cow! Or should I say, holy turkey!

Lots of it. Yum.

It will be a festive time at my parents’ as their house will be filled with family members.  Some will be visiting all the way from upstate New York and possibly others from Tennessee.  There is much to be thankful for this year.

I’m thankful for my family and friends.

I need to add that I’m really thankful for my job.  Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to pay to have our heating unit repaired.   It would have been a very long and cold winter.

What are you thankful for?

 These heroes are dead.  They died for liberty – they died for us.  They are at rest.  They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines.  They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest.  Earth may run red with other wars – they are at peace.  In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead:  cheers for the living; tears for the dead. – Robert G. Ingersoll

My son went trick n’ treating for the first time this year.  He did this with his little cousin, Nana, and aunt.  I heard he had a blast.  Unfortunately, it was month-end at work and I wasn’t able to get off in time to go with them.  Next year.  I hope.

Aw, to be a kid again.

Why is it when we were kids, we rushed our childhood in order to be adults?  More freedom?   To go to college?  I can’t remember anymore.

These days, though, it seems that everyone else is trying to push adulthood onto a child.  School system. Television, movie and music industries.  Peers.

Sex.  Drugs. Violence.  Death.

Why???

Whatever happen to having fun?  To being silly for no reason?  What’s happening to the idea of nurturing that childlike view of the world?  The innocence?  To keeping things simple and pure?  Those feelings of awe and wonder? 

Why and how did we lose these when we became adults?

Of course, as adults, we have responsibilities and duties to our families and jobs, and making sure the bills get paid.  But, why immerse ourselves in reality 24/7?  Why can’t we continue to have fun, act silly, and have that same sense of awe and wonder like when we were kids? 

Why does it have to stop because we grew up?

Tomorrow is Halloween, and Karl’s going trick n’ treating for his very first time with his 3-year old cousin, B.  I hope to have some pics to post and share

Just around the corner is Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I’m so unprepared for either one.

I wonder if I can hire someone to shop for me this holiday season???  Nah, it would take the fun out of it for me then.  I can’t have that.   It is going to be challenging to figure out what to get for an eight-year boy that doesn’t involve video games.    I’m open for any suggestions.

This past summer was the longest in recent memory.  I could not wait for it to be over.  It wasn’t just the heat either. 

I knew the bank conversion was going to be difficult.  But dang, just not this bad.

It has been all-consuming.  Sapped my energy so I haven’t been able to enjoy my family nor writing. 

I’m hoping things will slowly get better because frankly, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up this (insane) pace.

Okay, enough venting about work   I have a son who wants to beat momma at a game of Goldfish.

In the meantime, I’ll try to hang on.

Karl is off to school.  Hubby has taken four of our six cats to the vet for their yearly check ups.  Two more to go.

Then I need to commit to a few tedious tasks such as balancing the check book and pay bills.  Ugh.  I think I’d rather clean the bathroom. 

On the bright side, this week will be a shorter work week and I refuse to work this coming weekend.  I need to try to focus on my writing; something I’ve neglected for quite some time now.  It’s starting to really irk me.  I need that outlet.  I tend to get crabby if I don’t write. 

Lord, help the guys.

Fall is definitely here.  The heat is gone. The trees are starting their transformations. I can finally turn off the a/c and open my windows to let out the stale air.  It’s a season for change.

I’m ready.

We had our family beach trip over Labor Day.  The week before, Hurricane Irene visited NC. We all held our breaths and hoped she wouldn’t leave behind devastating damages to Kure Beach and cancel our long-awaited and much-anticipated trip. 

Irene “brushed” by the beach and hit the Outer Banks further north.  Kure Beach sustained mostly beach erosion and minor damage. 

At the condo we stayed at, some of the walk ways and stairs were damaged (you can see one above) and there were beach erosion that extended almost all the way to the condominiums, but no buildings were damaged.   Irene was a formidable hurricane, but we were all fortunate.  She could have been a monster.

It was a memorable time for us.  I can’t remember feeling this relaxed and at peace as I was there.  Every morning, most of us were up by sunrise to sit out on the deck and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the ocean.  I saw my very first beach sun rise.

At 6:30am, the only people you saw on the beach were fishermen and sunrise gazers.  The pelicans were hunting for fish just off the shore, and every once in a while you’d see a dorsal fin breaking surface.  I could almost live there year round.

The boys, my eight-year old son and three-year old nephew, thoroughly enjoyed playing in the waves.  At first, though, they were both quite timid but that quickly washed away with the white waves

There is something therapeutic about spending time at the ocean.  Listening to the waves roaring, and the cries of the pelicans and sea gulls; watching sandpipers chasing and being chased by the water on the sandy beach…for a brief time, all the cares of the world melt away.  It is only you and the ocean.  Your haven.  A heavenly refuge.

Too bad we couldn’t stay longer.