Being orange rocks!!

Have you ever taken the test that tells you what "color" your leadership/personality style is?

***Well, I'm orange, and it rocks!***

Orange is spontaneous and looking for the fun in everything

...SO...

Yesterday was SO beautiful that the kids and I decided to drive down to the coast.

Random? Yes.

Fun? Definitely.

Emily is as orange as I am, and poor Ethan...he's so green, but he is trapped in the house with orange. Bless his heart.

Green is very analytical and thinks about everything before they do it. That's my Ethan!

We may cause him to have a nervous breakdown soon. Lol

---Anyway---

We drive to Gulfport right after church and get to the beach around 3pm.

Who gets blistered at 3 in the afternoon?

I DO, THAT'S WHO!

Yep, red just on my right side...sigh

I did get to catch up with my friend Jamie Joy Brightman, and that was awesome!

!!!Love that girl!!!

But the ride home...

it was one of the times when you're so tired that everything is funny.

That's when you realize what's important.

Laughing with my kids at nothing in particular-

those are the memories they will take with them.

Not the money spent or the material things they've been given,

but

the silly times we've spent together.

This has been a great year!!!

And I discovered a new thing yesterday.

Teenager time-out

It's a beautiful thing!

PS. We missed you Brooke -- stupid work!

Wonder Woman

I am not Wonder Woman, and neither is your mother.

If you are a mother, you will understand this.

When my kids were little I could fix almost any problem they had.

If the crayon broke, we had a party because all of the sudden they had 2 reds!

If they fell down I could put a pretty bandaid on it, and it was instantly better.

If they were sick, we rocked in the chair until they fell asleep.

If they had a bad dream, they climbed into bed with me and were safe and sound. Nothing could get them in the "big bed."

Well, my kids are 23, 15, and 14 now, and fixing their problems is not so easy these days. They are coming to realize that mama isn't Wonder Woman like they thought. It's a hard place for them and for me. Everything in me wants to fix everything that's wrong in their lives

...but...

I also know the problems that come with growing up help them to, well, grow up.

Now I have to walk the thin line of helping too much or not helping enough.

It's so hard to watch them fall down emotionally and not run and fix it for them with a pretty bandaid.

I know part of being a good parent is letting them learn from the falling down. And it's also knowing when to help them up.

So, if you have days where you think your mama is just being mean, or that she doesn't understand, just remember, she is probably struggling as much as you are.

She's not Wonder Woman

Flowers

You would think that at 43 I would have things figured out by now.

...Not true at all!...

I love to plant flowers in my yard. It is so relaxing to just go on auto pilot for a while and dig in the dirt. I use to love to play in the dirt when I was little, so maybe this is a left over thing for me.

---Anyway---

I have some flowers that seem to pop up out of the dirt overnight, and then there are some that take their time. It's almost like they have to peek out and see what's around them before they come on out. The ones that grow so fast seem to say,

"Here I come world. Look out!".

I find myself in situations where I am like my flowers. Some days I'm peeking around to see what might be out there in the world, and some days I jump up and face life head on.

What makes us like that I wonder. Why is it that some days I feel so prepared to face life, and some days I just want to curl up under the covers.

Hmmm.....

What kind of day are you having today?

What can you do to change it if it's a hide under the cover kind of day?

TOTALLY changing the subject...

I met a student yesterday that lived on Jot-Em-Down Rd. That made me smile, and I thought it might do the same for you!

let's see where this leads...

...i hope this leads to an interesting place. A place where I can share what I've learned, and what I'm still trying to figure out.

What I've learned...
I'm going to be ok. That may sound simple, but wow!, when that sinks in, really sinks in, there is freedom. I'm not in control and now I know that I don't want to be.

What I'm learning...
Stop trying to be in control! Lol Yeah, I know. I say the same thing to myself. It's a daily battle, and I thought my battles might help someone with theirs.

So, join me on this crazy ride called My Life, and hang on!