Hello

Hello there.

Long time no see. 

I am peeking out from being gone for 5 months. I really didn't mean to not blog. Life just got in the way in a lot of different ways and my computer died are my two main excuses. I know that I could have blogged from my phone but that is such a hassle and honestly, mentally I just didn't have the capacity to do so. 

But... I am back, maybe. I received the generous gift of a new computer for Christmas from my parents and so I thought I would dust off this little blog and give some updates.

 

For the kids: 

Rebecca has made her final college decision. She has it narrowed down to her top 2 choices and it is dependent on how she does on her music auditions (which are in January for one school and February for the other). I will share her final decision when she makes it. She got a lot of presents for her birthday in November (she turned 18!) and for Christmas that will be useful in her dorm room come fall. She is doing well overall.

 

Jacob has joined the indoor track team at his high school and is enjoying throwing events. He is also enjoying singing in the school choir. 

Ben has been Ben. He has had some ups and downs with attitudes and adjusting to the divorce. I finally found a counselor for him that Ben really likes and seems to help him with some ideas to control his anger. It has been a long road, but I think with him we are finally on the right one. 

As for me, well... the divorce is still not finalized. I am not going to get into that other than to say that I have done everything in my power to get it done and it all comes down to a certain person who is not willing to sign a document. It sucks but it is what it is. It will get done eventually.  

I am still working for Head Start and have taken on the additional role of Assistant Family Advocate. It is a very rewarding job but also very hard. I am taking my CDA testing in January and will have my CDA observation done that month as well to hopefully get the credential and be able to move up. One of the downsides of the stress and working with preschoolers, is that I have been sick for over a month. It started with bronchitis, then to a sinus infection, to an ear infection, and am still coughing, draining and my throat is a little sore. So many people that I know are sick and antibiotics aren't doing anything. 

I have also been dealing with some major bouts of depression. It is rearing it's ugly head. 2025 is going to be the year that I approach it head on. I have an appointment in January to get into a counselor that my primary care doctor recommended. I made this appointment back in early November and this was the earliest they had. Speaking of 2025, I Have some goals I want to work on and I may or may not blog about them in the next couple of days. 

I am off work the rest of this week, and have enjoyed just being lazy and going at my own pace. It has been a nice break from the constant running lifestyle phase that I seem to be in. 

Well it is getting late and this is getting long, so I will sign off now. I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas and here's to a new year with new beginnings and never a loss of hope. 

Nature Photos on Sunday

Happy Sunday. I used to share nature photos on Sundays as kind of a soothing start to the new week and because it was something I enjoyed. I have decided to try to maybe start back with that. I love the soothing power of nature, so I want to share. I hope you enjoy. 

 

Found a tunnel, my niece is 1, walking, and Rebecca sang

 Happy Friday everyone! We made it to the weekend! 

I mentioned that it has been crazy busy again the last couple of weeks, so I thought I would do a quick recap. 

The kids and I went exploring Blackhand Gorge Trail. We were trying to find an old tunnel that we saw on Facebook. It is not on the main trail but we found it this trip. It was amazing to see. The boys were even impressed. 

Afterwards, I treated the kids to Raising Cane's for lunch. They had never been there. I had had it for the very first time when I visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park and it is so good. 

I visited an arts festival with my mom, niece and my sister on what is probably one of the hottest days this summer. It was so hot but was a nice outing to see art and to get inspired by the artistic talent. We ended our day with a late lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant. 

We celebrated my niece's 1st birthday! How Naomi is 1 already is beyond me?? She is super sweet and sassy wrapped all in one. A perfect blend of her dad and mom. It was a fun party at her maternal great-grandparents house. My boys had fun in their pool. 

One day when the boys were with their dad, Rebecca and I went out to my mom's house as we were supposed to help my mom and sister plant flowers. Well, I ended up taking Rebecca and my niece and nephew on a walk instead! LOL. They helped me get my mile in that day! We also had some fun climbing a tree by my parents driveway. 

 

It rained later that day but we also had a great rainbow in the sky! 

We had a picnic at the park one night after I came home late from work. We walked our mile and the boys had fun throwing rocks. 

Rebecca performed her first paying gig. She was asked to play a 20 minute set during our town's July Front Porch Concert Series. This is a little festival where different porches on High Street are turned into stages and the community is welcomed out to listen to some great music, get food from some food trucks and just have a nice evening. 

We live close enough to walk to the festival. Rebecca did amazing. I am so proud of her. It was really fun! 

I took the kids to see "Inside Out 2" on Tuesday ($5 movie night and free popcorn!) The kids enjoyed the movie. Jacob said it was spot on. I thought it was just okay. I felt it was very choppy. 

I am still walking at least a mile a day. I also also doing a 8-10 minute yoga routine each night for health reasons. I have also been subbing and working. Life has been busy but good. Next week I will let you know about how a couple college visits went for Rebecca. Life is not slowing down and I can't believe it is almost August. 

Hope everyone has a great Friday! Any fun plans for the weekend? 

Day Trip to Lancaster

 Happy Thursday everyone! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took a day trip to Lancaster Ohio with my mom, Rebecca, and my niece Lacie. We had a wonderful trip and I wanted to do a recap here in case anyone else was interested in going to Lancaster. 

I love doing day trips combining physical things with shopping and eating. It is fun. So one recent Saturday, I invited Rebecca, my mom, and my niece to go on a trip. I didn't tell them where or what we were doing. 

We kicked off the day by driving to Lancaster Ohio and visiting their Saturday morning Farmer's Market. I bought a melon and my niece got a freshly made fry pie from a food truck. 

We then headed over to climb Mount Pleasant, one of the areas that Lancaster is known for. It is a good hike, mostly uphill. However, the views from the top are totally worth it! 

After hiking, we headed to an antique store that was in an old shoe factory. 

Then we headed out to one of the only remaining Rax restaurants in the state of Ohio. Rax was a favorite of mine growing up and my mom and I have been talking for years about going down to Lancaster to get it again one day. Well I made that happen. They were only doing takeout but that was okay as we took it back to Rising Park (where Mt. Pleasant is) and ate in a gazebo by the lake. 

After lunch, we headed to the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio Museum. It was an interesting museum and I fell in love with some of their glassware. Enough so that we then visited Gay Fad Studios which had a small glassware museum and I bought a tumbler. We also walked a little bit around and looked at some outside community art sculptures. 

At this point, we were getting tired, but there was one more stop I wanted to make and that was at Donut World. This is a 24 hour stop in Lancaster and they make fantastic donuts. We got a dozen to go and they were really yummy. (We also stopped at a place to get boba tea for Rebecca and it was not really good so I won't talk about it here.)

Then it was time to head back to my parents house where we had a pizza dinner with my dad and nephew before heading home. 

Overall, it was a great day and I would recommend visiting Lancaster if you are able to climb Mt. Pleasant!