Things I have Realized So Far This Summer

 1-      I am generally NOT a holiday person. My mother was not a holiday person. Her mother, my granny, was not a holiday person but she was a PARTY PLANNER extraordinaire. The difference you ask??? A holiday person plans holiday events for family, my grandmother planned big events, holiday or not, for people OTHER than family. If her country club wanted to throw a party for no apparent reason – she was first in line. Now if the entire family was gathering she was all over it... itineraries and activities for everyone. I am trying but I think it is the planning for a holiday that is so damn exhausting and makes me dread it!

 2-     Even if I wasn’t 46+ years old, I know I don’t have it in me to have another baby. My husband would love one, but he forgets how old his wife is… AND how old he is!! I just don’t have the energy it takes to get from age 0 to 4 when they start preschool. My sister was at the beach with her one year old and I was exhausted watching her! He is a sweet bugger though.

 3-     I am not a cook. I can’t walk into a kitchen like it is an episode of Chopped and throw something together out of what I find. If I did, I promise you, you wouldn’t eat it.

 4-     Apparently I am the keeper of EVERYTHING. When something is not directly in front of my three people (husband & 2 kids) they automatically assume I know where it is. The constant barrage of “where is this… where is that” is like nothing I have ever known. I can’t keep up with my own stuff for keeping up with all their stuff. Of course if I can’t find the damn thing it is because I moved it and can’t remember where I put it cause I am old.

 5-     Gay marriage and the Confederate Flag. Well, I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state. I am also a firm believer in rights for everyone. If the government wants to recognize gay marriage and make it a law, fine. All I have heard is people complaining about the religious implications. When your church starts to marry same sex couples then you have a platform for religion. I will not, repeat – will not, look at or treat someone differently because they are gay, trans this or trans that. We are all children of God and it is not my place to beat them with a bible or discriminate against them. OK , now for the confederate flag… I agree that it has been used as a symbol for hate by the KKK and other racist organizations. I also agree that it is a symbol of pride for southerners with deep family roots that go back centuries. For some it sings of a time gone by “gone with the wind” so to speak. For others it is a beacon of oppression and racism, I can see that too. I don’t mind taking that flag down from government buildings and monuments. I don’t agree with erasing the past, for it is why we are where we are today. Keep the flag on the General Lee and don’t cancel reruns of the show… what did Bo and Luke Duke ever do to anyone?  (that was a touch too much) We didn’t erase the Nazi flag.. you can buy that all day long on Amazon.com… but you can’t buy the confederate flag.

 6-     Furthermore, I know black lives matter. But I want someone to take it a step further and say ALL lives matter. Black, white, latino, Asian… all lives matter. We are all on this big blue marble together and equal in the eyes of our creator. Non specific… ALL LIVES MATTER.  

 7-     On a lighter note, I am a BIG SUV kinda gal. I had an Expedition for about 8 years. Loved it. But then it all of a sudden turned into a lemon so I traded it on a Ford Escape- that could fit in the back of that expedition. Well, that was too small… so I went middle of the road… and for the last 3 years I have had an Ford Explorer. We took that explorer on a 5 hour ride to West Virginia last summer and decided it was too small. So, off and on for the last year we have been looking for another large SUV. It took 9 months for me to pry my Ford loving husband away from an expedition and we bought a suburban last week. OMG that thing is gigantic! AND I LOVE IT. I can’t/won’t afford a brand new one so I had to get one that was a year old… but it has all the bells and whistles… and it is FABULOUS. My husband will get over the Chevrolet part.

 8-     I can still get a tan. It just takes FOREVER. But I have also noticed that my legs… from my knee to my ankle aren’t tanning like the rest of my body. That part of my body is going to need a Tan Towel or something. I think it is because that is where I shave my legs and I must be shaving the tan layer off. I use the same sunscreen everywhere and shaving is the only thing I do to that area. Has to be the reason. SO… no more shaving ! LOL … nah… I’ll get some self tanner because I have to match.

 9-     My house is usually a wreck…but so is every one else’s house! How refreshing to know that even though it is in a great neighborhood and the yard is manicured – there is one part or more than one part of that house that is a complete wreck. WOO HOO!!! I don’t feel so bad anymore. We are all in the same boat… too much to do and no time!

10-  I have not changed a lot in 6 years. Thanks to Facebook’s feature that shows me what I was doing on any particular day over the last 6 years, I see that my opinions haven’t changed, my pictures are just updated versions of what I have posted before and I haven’t really been anywhere other than New Orleans, Saints Training Camp in West Virginia or the beach. Nothing new and exciting… just rolling along. Except this year I am rolling with a tan!