The Good Things!

It was sometime about midnight when the phone rang.   Those who know me don't even bother to call anywhere near that late.  I was in bed.  I was not asleep yet.  The late ringing wasn't a disturbance, I almost smiled as I reached for the phone.  Hoping.

"Hello"
A far-away sounding voice replied, "F-L-O-R-I-D-A-S-T-A-T-E.  Florida State, Florida State, Florida State, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It seems that I miss her more on game nights, it's not nearly as much fun for me without her laughing and crying and screaming and dancing and pacing.  She'll never know just how much that midnight phone call meant to her momma.  The fact that we beat UM 45 to 17 was just the icing on the cake, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring Break 2010

This is a single mom's version of a "VACATION" day:
take Jhinel to dentist; while she is getting her cleaning/check-up, Starbucks run - cause I know this one's gonna be "a doozy"; fill up car and check air in the tires; pick up girl from dentist; auto parts store for new windshield wiper blades; Walgreens for passport photos; Dad's for a kiss; county government office so Nel can submit her passport application. THEN wash car; lunch; Jhinel to doctor; post office; me to oncologist; county animal care and control for cat licenses; home to pick up Angela and Alana; Dad and Nancy's for dinner; grocery store so that Nel and Alana can bake a pink cake before Jhinel heads back to college. I can ONLY take so many of these "days off" - LOL!!!


Hoping that you see the blessings in THIS day!

Smile. Smile. Smile!

It's 10:30 p.m. on my coast. In my living room are four college girls, a kid sister and a wii. They are all in PJ's, I hear their laughter. I am whelmed over with joy, peace, happy.

The last time that they were all together was their high school graduation and "little krupa" was considered a nuisance. In just a matter of weeks, she's grown taller than two and has physically matured in a way that none of the others were prepared for (yet). Tonight she is invited to be part of their group. I am glad to have them home, even though the visits are brief these days.

THIS is the bucket list.

Why God Created Aunts!

Thanks for Letting Me Go

Tonight a surprise visit from Jhinel and Emilio.
"aren't you supposed to be in Tallahassee?!"
Pizza.  "catching up"
"I'm glad you let me go, mom"
She was a momma's girl, overprotected perhaps and overprotective definitely!  She remembers things her kid sister doesn't; she helped to raise an infant niece for a time, she worried as she saw her older sister make dangerous choices.  My interferon treatments and Cancer made her too responsible, these things are compounded when your mom is a single.

I knew that she needed to go away to college, I wanted her to have the opportunity to "act her age" and learn life on her own terms.  As I hear these words, "I'm glad you let me go"  I remind her that I MADE her go away to college.

that's not what she meant. 
and then I'm glad too.  It's hard letting go of one whom  you love so very much.  I won't alway's approve of her choices in life, sometimes I'll know better ways.  I think the best that I do now is to trust her to make her own choices and to let her know that she is loved - no matter what. 

And to pray mother prayers.

First Weekend Home

(finally) this week is done.


after a thirteen hour day today, and a much too busy and long week, tonight I came home and crashed..........

on the couch,

in my jammies....



a very aggressive and persistent knock on the door...WHAT??!!!



I open it to find my Nel!

she decided to surprise us
a seven hour trip on a bus for her first weekend home from college.

I am truly blessed. Thank you, Father.

I Love Her So Much

Abizillion mom's have done it before
there are just some days that I truly want to call her and say, "It was all a joke, you can come home now" ("PLEASE come home now!!!!")

This life is such an intriguing journey.

P.S. The kid sister WASN'T the drama queen of the family afterall. hahahahahaha!

Blonde's Really Do Have Fun...

A minor crisis if you will, she thought that her "car floss" would last to infinity. It didn't.

Alana's Visit

If two aunts aren't there, she always asks.
But this time she didn't.(quite odd)

Finally I could stand it no more and I asked Alana why she hadn't asked where her aunt Jhinel was. She quite simply responded, "Nel's at school, grandma", and that was exactly right.

However at bedtime it was quite a different story. Alana became so worried because a bed was missing from "Angii's room". I guess she thought that her Nel was at the pre-school and would be coming home to sleep.

September 3, 2009

She is just barely eighteen
She called
The words that came out of her mouth were,
"Do you want me to send you a check?"

HUH?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW did that happen?!!!

That simple question is affecting me in a huge way.
I didnt expect it yet. That brief question told me that she is much wiser than I knew, it showed me that she has understanding, respect, accountability.

a REAL phone call

it was kinda lateish

I answered the phone because it was Nel, an advantage of caller ID.

She was doing homework. Reading an article. written by a prof from the college that I graduated from.

"Who", I ask.
"Weener" or "Whiner" "I'm not sure how to pronounce it"

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
really........WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!
what are the chances that 20ish years later my girl in Florida is assigned to read an article from my prof in NY?

I tell her that he was one of my advisors, I babysat his son, I volunteered with his wife. Jhinel has heard me talk of him before though I'd never mentioned his name, "Remember THAT story....that was Weiner".

We shared a smile over the phone.
I'm glad she called and didn't email it.

"by the way, it's pronounced winer"

:-)

IT'S SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING QUIET AT MY HOUSE!!!

A Girl with "TUDE"

so.......................we're at City Place, parked, ticketed (movie, that is) and we still have some time until Jhinel and I see STAR TREK. 10:05 pm show. We decide to get a drink at Panera's. As we're waiting at the beverage bar for our drinks - green tea and a frozen lemonade TYVM! I notice that there is a college-aged looking young man and a father-aged looking gentleman standing a bit further down, where the food is prepared. I observe that the elder is wearing a grey T-shirt that says, "Georgia Tech". My girl is wearing an FSU T-shirt that says, "FEAR THE SPEAR". Jhinel and I comment amongst ourselves. I'm looking forward to a trip to Tally on October 10th, I have tickets for the FSU v. Georgia Tech football game at Campbell Doak Stadium.

Our drinks arrive and as we pass the "boys", my girl brazenly turns and says, "You're going downnnnnnn October 10th". I'm shocked that she actually did it. This IS the one that wouldn't ask for ketchup at McDonald's. I'm laughing sooooo hard. This is fun!

It took them a bit to figure out what this crazy girl was saying, but then they realized the shirts and shot back their own comments and we were ALL laughing.