by Sarah | Oct 25, 2012 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us
My childhood was pretty great all around.
The street I grew up on was lined with trees. Big tall trees that shed piles upon piles of leaves every year in the fall. The neighborhood kids would gather up gigantic piles to dive into, swim around in, get lost in.
My brother, being older than me, was a major ring-leader in the activities. No matter what the season, he liked to head up the games. Whether sledding in the winter, street hockey in the summer, he was in the thick of it.
Leaves was the one thing among these that I wanted to do more than anything.
How fun could that be?
The free fall with a cushioned landing.
I wanted to so much.
I never could.
I might have mentioned before that I had pretty severe allergies when I was young.
Among them were pollen, trees, tree sap, all that fun stuff.
Playing in the leaves gave me hives. All over the place.
By the time I had grown up enough that my allergies lessened we were in a brand new neighborhood with baby trees.
Now my kids live in a house with a huge tree in the backyard that drops a ton of leaves. They are never bright & colorful – but they are always plentiful. Now it’s their turn – and I love watching them bury each other in the leaves and scramble through. Even when my aware & very adult brain is protesting the dirt/bugs/need-baths-now…I love seeing the blatant joy at the simple pleasure of free falling into a pile of leaves.
by Sarah | Oct 17, 2012 | All About Family, All About Me, Blogging Life, Random
I have a family of 5.
I know, duh, right?
To compound the family of 5, all 3 kids have special needs and my husband’s company – while providing a decent sense of job security has really crappy insurance.
I mean, seriously crappy.
So when I get a chance to score a deal on anything health related, I’m there.
Now considering we have a family full of dysfunctional eyes and the ability to get new glasses only once every TWO years, finding out about the chance to get free glasses at Firmoo? Well, you bet your sweet fanny I jumped on that sucker.
I’ve been needing glasses for over a year since the husband hated my last pair. Not because my glasses got messed up (I’m a contacts girl, so glasses last a while) & not because my prescription changed (It hasn’t changed in 10 years).
Firmoo is awesome about offering the first pair free to first time customers – you only pay shipping – and bloggers don’t have to pay shipping if they do a review. See their options at their site.
So I picked out a pair, sent in my info and within a week I had a new pair of glasses! That easy. I didn’t have any issues with my glasses (after I adjusted to the style – so different from my usual style, I decided to be daring), but I know if I did the customer service would have been great.
Firmoo has a great option on most of their frames to “try on” the frames on the website. My biggest suggestion is make sure that you use your own picture to make sure you get them fit to your face, not the models – because it’s a guarantee that they don’t have a face just like yours and those glasses aren’t going to look the same on you as they did on the site.
So head on over and get your free pair now.
Seriously, I love never having to leave my chair to order a pair of glasses.
***
I received a free pair of glasses in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can’t buy me with a sweet pair o’ lenses. I only respond to chocolate, eye candy, and lovely yarns.
by Sarah | Sep 19, 2012 | 45 before 45, All About Family, All About Me, Changing Tracks, Writing, writing tips
[flickr id=”7809492264″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]We all have dreams.
Some dreams are big – bigger than what our logical minds tell us we can accomplish.
Some dreams are more practical – but still mean something to us.
Growing up I had many dreams. I wanted to be a dance teacher. I wanted to perform on stage in musicals. I wanted to be a vet. I wanted to be a mom.
I was blessed to accomplish some dreams early. At 10 my dance studio let me become an ‘assistant’. Me and my co-advanced-class dancers would help the teachers with the young ones. By 11 we were teaching the classes ourselves for the most part. By 13 we were allowed to choreograph.
When I was in my 20’s I was able to take some courses and training and became a vet assistant. For about six months I worked in a vets office and still think of that time with fond memories.
I became a mom at 21, and again at 29 & 30.
Right after I got married I performed in a series of musicals over the course of the year. On stage. Singing and dancing under the lights.
Then I got wrapped up in real life. I had a husband, kids, bills, work and a home. Dreams went by the wayside as our girls were born and their development took up every spare second of breath and thought in my head. In the moments of quiet when everyone went to bed and I could unleash the stresses, I chose to do them with words.
Writing.
It had never been a dream, but as worlds formed under my fingertips, stories unfolded on the page, and characters breathed life into my soul a new dream formed.
Wrapped up in the realities of life I’d forgotten about me. About how important even the smallest dreams could be.
They give you life, hope, something to look forward to and achieve.
Dreams are life.
Since then I have created a 45X45 list and begun to tackle things on it. Some are small, others seem impossible.
Still, every time I cross something off of that list I feel a sense of elation, I smile for days. I have accomplished something.
It’s not just good for me. It’s not selfish.
My children need to see it. See me achieving goals and dreams. The little ones, and the big ones.
Within 6 months I’ll have proof of one of my biggest dreams on my Nook (and Kindle). Within a year I’ll have physical proof sitting on my bookshelf. Published.
It wasn’t a dream I had growing up. It’s new. Formed just 7 years ago. When I thought it was unattainable, outlandish and crazy.
I’ll never stop having dreams. Achieving this one I’ve formed new ones.
New ones will follow behind.
Never let go of dreams. Always have two – one practical & achievable, and another completely outlandish.
Never give up hope.
Let your children see the hope, and the accomplishment. It’s a prize that lasts for a very long time – and it helps them set their sights on the biggest dreams.
by Sarah | Sep 17, 2012 | All About Family, Random
[flickr id=”7665967864″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]We all have them.
Hidden away in drawers.
Stored in boxes.
Sometimes right out on display.
The toy.
The one toy.
Stuffed animal.
Toy car.
Blanket.
Pretend make up purse.
The toy they grew out of.
But we never grew out of seeing them with.
The one they clung to at night.
Carried everywhere.
Eventually loyalties changed, a new toy took over, a new animal, a doll or a train.
But the toy is still there.
The one that reminds you of your baby.
It’s ragged.
Broken.
Coming apart in places.
Maybe you should toss it.
But you can’t.
It’s a piece of your baby.
The one that’s growing up too fast.
The one that now runs off by themselves rather than holds your hand.
The baby that rolls their eyes and pronounces they are NOT your baby.
But they’ll always be your baby.
So you keep that piece.
That ragged, worn out, tired piece.
And you never let it go.
by Sarah | Sep 11, 2012 | All About Family, All About Me, Personal, Story of Me
I posted this last year and the year before at this time. I’m re-posting it. I will always repost it every year at this time…
I know what today is. I know what it means to our country. I remember every detail of 2001 in vivid detail…but since before 2001, this date has been difficult for me, for my family…in 1996 my family’s core was lost, the heart of us…my grandfather…so my post on 9/11 is for him. Oh, and at surface glance I hate this picture of me, but then I see the pure joy on my face dancing with my grandfather and aesthetics be damned, it’s my favorite picture.
It was his birthday. I was young and a very short kid…and he was TALL. I remember watching him put our coats in the closet and staring up, up, up at him and asking, “How tall are you?” With his sparkling eyes and laugh he informed me that he was over 6′. My eyes grew wide, and all I could say was, “But you’re so close to the ceiling! If you have ANY more birthdays you’ll go right through!”
His chair sat by the front door and the minute he sat the race was on – who would get the privilege of sitting on his lap, carrying on as deep a conversation as a child was capable of? Who would get to play with his round pot belly, and listen to his laughter?
He worked for GM and he was proud of it, and so were we.
When I close my eyes I can still smell his pipe and see the pipe carousel on his dresser. I can smell the cigarettes that he and grandma smoked.
I remember that after he retired he would watch soap operas during lunch.
And I remember the weddings – when my cousin and I would trade off and share him for the dance. “Grampa” by the Judds.
I remember his smile.
I remember his belly.
I remember the strength that he always carried in his soul and body.
I remember the pain that shot through my heart at the word…”cancer”. Once it was uttered it was less than a year. 10 months.
I remember the first time I saw him in the hospital-and how I had to run from the room because it made me physically ill to see my big strong grandfather lying in a bed weak and hooked up to tubes.
I remember his fight.
I remember when it was acknowledged in our hearts that the time to fight was over.
I remember how he held on – hours past when we thought we would lose him – because he would not let go until he’d gotten to hear the good-bye of all of his grandchildren, and my brother had been in surgery for his shattered wrist. Half an hour after the final phone call, he was gone.
I remember the sound of the tennis balls scattering across the hallway when my professor’s assistant walked up asking if she knew where I was…and all I could do was run to my car to get home as soon as I could.
From there it’s a blur…a long car ride from NC to NY. The arrangements. The funeral home. The droves of people I didn’t know, but who all knew him, overflowing the room.
The pain has lessened, resorted to a memory. For the most part I remember the love, the good things, the joy. But on this day every year the pain comes back to the forefront.
The pain seems so much stronger now that Grandma has gone to join him. Refreshed and renewed. Now they are together forever, but they will always be here in our hearts.
We love you still, and will always love you, Grampa.
by Sarah | Sep 6, 2012 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Home, All About Me
In the outer edges of Virginia. Just outside of Dayton. There’s a small little dirt road off of a dirt road.
That road is called Denver Lane.
That road is named after my son.
Yes. Literally.
See that house at the end of Denver Lane? We lived there. A lovely house on 40 acres. My dog Sohio is buried next to that large pond. My cat, Calicow, is buried in the yard by the shed. Denver was a baby in that house. We lived “next door” to the man behind one of the biggest discount tire stores in Virginia – and he had a son about 2 years old. We spent some time with them, had a couple of cookouts during that summer. They were good neighbors – and with each of us having so much land we didn’t encroach.
Back then Denver Lane was Rural Route 12 (or something like that).
And the city decided to renamed all rural routes for 911 calls, etc. We were told to make our submissions for road names.
Our neighbors submitted their sons name. We submitted Denver’s. We joked back and forth with them over who would win the road name. After all, at the time there was just the two of us on that road back then. Not many options to choose from.
Two weeks before we moved we learned the city had picked “Denver Lane”. Not just that, but our house number would have had the month, date, and hour of Denver’s birth.
Unfortunately, we moved away from that gorgeous land before we ever got to live on his namesake street.
But I know it’s there, and it’s on google maps…
So yeah, my kid’s awesome. They named a whole street after him.
My childhood was pretty great all around.
