Mama, I had a vision...

Okay, for those of you who have not yet been blessed with children, let me say this: Your child can be your biggest fan and your biggest critic all rolled into one. It's pretty amazing. =) As a mom, I find myself really striving to achieve all that my son believes me to be...to him I've been not only a mother, but a teacher, nurse, chef, cheerleader, housekeeper, bread winner, referee....you name it, I can do it in his eyes. At this stage in life, he only believes I'm lacking in one area - and he's pretty open about it. To him, it is a shame that I'm single.

Up until about a year ago, I really wasn't certain why he always seemed to bring up the fact that I'm single - it's not like I talk about it with him. And, he has a great relationship with his dad, so it's not like he's looking for a father. Well, a little less than a year ago, JD sat beside me on the couch one night and explained to me that he worries about me. I guess in his mind, when he's with his dad, I'm just sitting at the house waiting on him to come home and he was worried about me. It is actually really sweet. =) We talked about it, and although he brings it up every now and then, he pretty much laid off me about being single.

That being said:

Tonight, he calls to tell me goodnight and says "Mama, I had a vision today of you and you were old." Okay, I could hear the laughter in his voice, but I went along with him. "Oh really.....did I have a lot of wrinkles?" He says "Nah, you didn't look scary old, just old. You were sitting in a rocking chair, rocking, and knitting - surrounded by cats - one on each chair arm, and one in your lap." I started laughing "Child, I don't even know how to knit - and we only have two cats!" He says "Mama, I'm titling this "Your life without a man, vision". Oh yeah, he did. No really he went there. I said "Son, we've had this talk before, right? And we are doing great. I'm not stressed about being single, you should just relax." He says he's afraid I'm almost 31 and getting old....what happens if I want more kids? Seriously. I'm not certain where he gets this stuff from. I'm pretty certain I felt a wrinkle pop up when he said that.

I was laughing when I hung the phone up...remembering that this is the same child who told me that I should write down all my good qualities because he thinks I'm pretty, smart, super funny, and heck can cook, too - so he can't imagine a woman better than that. Ha! And yes, those were his words a little while back.....see what I mean? My biggest fan. That's okay, because I'm the founding member of the JD Franklin Fan Cub myself, so I guess that works both ways. =)

I love that kid. He really does keep me young.

5th Grade Field Trip...

I picked JD up after work today, and he was super excited. He was talking fast, telling me about how he needs to get to school early tomorrow, and honestly I was having a hard time keeping up. He just kept saying that I needed to get him to school early - he usually gets taken to school by his dad, so I was trying to figure out why he needed to be there early. I got him to slow down a minute and here's what he had to say.....

He wanted to get to school early, because they handed out the information about his 5th Grade field trip and it was limited to the first five chaperones that turned in their money. He was sure that I was going to chaperone and he was excited about getting to school early to turn in my money so my spot could be held. I asked the date - and he responds "May 7th".

Well, I was pretty certain when he said that date, I had New Employee Orientation scheduled for that day in May and I facilitate NEO. You know what though? It is my son's last Elementary field trip. I can guarantee you two things....1. That NEO happens every quarter and that 2. This field trip won't happen again. So, I did the only thing I could do...I called into work and let them know that on May 7th I will need someone to cover for me. On May 7th, I will be on a charter bus full of 5th graders, making memories with my son.

You see, at the end of the day, I am a mom and if there is any way I can be with my child - I'm going to do it. Thankfully, I've been blessed with a job in a company that values family. It is hard sometimes to be a working mom and always walk that balance between work and family...earning a living and living a life. I've known too many people who have grown kids and look at me and tell me not to make the same mistakes they did...not to put work above your child. The reality is that there are going to be times I have to go to work, when I would rather be with JD...um, like the whole summer. =) But I can rest at night knowing that I am doing all I can do to be a full-time mom and a full-time employee.

On a different note...the sweetest thing happened to me tonight. I have had the funk since this weekend. I was sitting on the couch and JD asked if I was still feeling bad and I said yes. He leaned over and put his hand on mine and then before I knew what he was doing, he said a prayer that I would feel better soon. Not going to lie - I teared up. I love that kid.

Okay, well we are wathing the Olympics, so I better end this post and pay attention. Y'all have a beautiful night.

The Challenge.....

Here's the deal....I am challenging myself to see if JD and I can eat all of our meals at the house from today until February 12th. I know that is less than two weeks, but it will still be longer than we've been without eathing out in a while. It's not that we actually eat out a lot, it's just that we do it sometimes mindlessly - like I'm tired on the way home from work so we pick something up. Well, I bought a nice shiny new slow cooker and plan on using it. I even bought a HUGE cookbook.

It's not that I don't like to cook, in all honesty, I actually enjoy it - and I can do it. It usually has more to do with the fact that I didn't plan than anything else. JD is on board - he likes to eat what I cook more than what we eat at restuarants (or so he says) so he's excited about this challenge.

The sad thing is that when I was growing up we NEVER ate out. Seriously. Never. Then I was a stay at home mom, and although we ate out, it was rare - I cooked all the time. I think it's more a habit that I've developed than anything else.

The secondary reason for this is because I have a budget - and I budget plenty of money for groceries each week and eating out - but I want to see what we would save eating more at the house. Since JD and I are really not huge fans of fast food, when we do pick something up it's not fast food. Because we are going to be buying a house this year, I would like to get more in the habit of cooking everyday and planning to eat out for special occasions. I would be more in control - over what we are actually eating and spending.

So, here we go.....let's see how this works. I've already had one person say they don't think I'll make it, since I actually do most of my eating out when JD is with Johnny because I don't like to cook for just myself. I plan on making it just to prove them wrong. =)

Strange...That's Not What I Expected

There is a statement that I've made on more than one occassion that basically says "To your hometown you'll always be the person you were at seventeen". What I mean by that, is that no matter how far you progress in life, there will always be someone or multiple someones that still see you as the kid that shoplifted the friendship bracelet from the Penny Pantry, the teenager that took your parents car of a spin and wrecked it, or the young adult that seemed to not have very much direction in their life... or whatever.

I realized tonight though - in a very humbling way - that if we are honest, there are people in our lives that we do the same thing to.

I would have to say that I try to keep an open mind about people, yet there is always that one that seems to prove my opinion right. Which is funny, because I don't remember when God made me the tester of people, but I guess by my actions I must feel like He did sometimes. So, this weekend a situation happened - and the details are not needed - but I was certain I knew how this person would react when they found out. I was waiting....for two days I waited. You know what? Nothing happened. Not one thing. No phone call demanding for their opinion to be known, no visit to share with me their thoughts on the situation....nothing. It was strange.

Then, I had to sit down and be honest with myself. As much as I hate it when people try to compare the 30 year old Kim with the younger version and not compensate for the life lessons learned - I had in turn been doing the same thing. It wasn't my finest moment. It opened my eyes to the fact that just as I have grown and developed - just maybe so has this other person. I have found myself telling my friend, Laura, something along these lines "So and so treats me like I'm still the 17 year old person I was when I met them....it is frustrating!!! It's like they think they know me, but they don't. They don't know who I am today." You know what? Maybe, just maybe, I've been guilty of doing the exact same thing to them.

Tonight I am thankful for growth....even with that comes through a humbling experience. I pray that I will remember this moment.

The Land of the Frozen...also known as Florida

Well, if you've seen any news at all, you know that the weather has been crazy lately. If it has been this cold for this long before, I definitely don't remember - mind you, it has been a nice change. I've actually enjoyed the cold weather...well, for the most part. I did happen to notice that I don't own any casual shoes that aren't flip flops or summer type shoes. That has got to change. Of course, any excuse to buy new shoes is fine by me, too. Books and shoes - that pretty much sums it up.

I digress....

This morning JD and I were running a few minutes behind. Isn't that how all your problems usually start - because you're not on time? We get out the door and my car looked like it was frozen. I sighed - which somehow caused my nose to feel like it was going to fall off from frost bite. We get in the car and the defrost goes on full force - and buddy that felt like Arctic air coming out of the vents. We sit there - of course all bundled up like Eskimos - and nothing happens. I still can't see out of my windows. Then I remember these words of wisdom:

"If ever you need to defrost your windshield, just pour water on it" No problem. I actually have bottled water in the car. So, what do I do at 6:45 in the morning? I jump out of the car armed with two bottles of water and proceed to dump water on the windshield.....that's when I noticed that the water in the bottle was partially frozen. Nice. I'm still thinking it's going to work. After all, the water has to be warmer than the outside.

Yeah, no, it didn't. I pretty much turned my windshield into a huge block of ice. We sat in the car for 25 minutes waiting for it to defrost. Of course JD was laughing at me - and honestly I was laughing, too. Who wouldn't be? I get to work where one of my co-workers informs me that only people in the South say to put water on your window - which I remind him is where we live. Needless to say, we'll just let it defrost - that way I'm not standing outside the car with gloved hands trying to get ice off the window. =)

Thankfully the rest of the day went well. Now, we are home and I've made the carrot cake for tomorrow's birthday celebration at work, baked some cookies for JD, and we are relaxing. So nice.

The Cat Lady has a Freak Out Moment...

First off....I wouldn't necessarily really classify myself as a "cat lady". Hey, just because I'm 30, single, and have 2 cats doesn't really qualify me for that term, right?

About 8pm I got home, and as usual, I was talking on my cell phone, walking up to the front door of my apartment, when out of the corner of my eye what do I see? Oh sweet Lord in Heaven....Cheese, my orange kitten is sitting outside my door. When he sees me he takes off towards the pond and I start to freak out. I'm on the phone with Sherrell and I kept saying "Oh no...oh my Lord, my cat is out of the apartment." My heart was pounding. All I could think was that maintenance had come in sometime today, Cheese had escaped and now he was out by the pond. That naturally led me to wonder if Crackers was somewhere out in the freezing night, too. I started calling out to Cheese - loudly...very loudly. Sherrell is talking in my ear, telling me to hurry and look in the apartment. I put my key in - and my door won't open. I tried again and the door wouldn't open still. So, I took the key out and tried again. The door flew open and there sits Cheese right at the door looking at me. I promise you that cat was looking at me like I had lost my mind. He then bolts for the pond.

So, in the end it wasn't my cat, but dear Lord, I thought I was going to panic. I just knew that maintenance had let my cats out and I would never again feel comfortable leaving them out in the apartment while we were gone. So now I am sitting on the couch and Cheese and Crackers are here sleeping and I am having a hard time knowing that poor cat is outside in the cold. He looked healthy, so I'm hoping someone is looking for him. Before June, when we got Cheese and Crackers the kittens, I would've felt bad for the cat, but wouldn't have considered going back out to get him. Heck, before June, I was pretty certain I didn't like cats much at all. I guess maybe in the end - I might be becoming a cat lady. Oh no. I'm completely going to take JD's advice. Last night, we were sitting on the couch and I was talking on the phone to one of my friends. JD says "Hey, Mama, you're young...you really need to get out." Nice. Nothing like feeling pressure from the 11 year old. =)

On a different note...I finally set up a blog. I think I used to have one, but I never really used it. Maybe I will start to blog here every now and again.