For Hannah :)

Conversation between Momma and Mr. Ben:

Momma: "How was your day at school?"
Mr. Ben: "Great. I have a girlfriend!"
Momma: "You do..."
Mr. Ben: "Yes. It's Tyrrany."

**Um, her name is Tyranny.
For real.
Until Thursday she had been Ben's ARCH nemisis.*

Momma: "Wow. You guys are getting along now."
Mr. Ben: "Yes. She even blew me a kiss across the room today. It hit me so hard I fell out of my seat and Mrs. Carter told me to get up!"

At this point, Momma's got nothing.
OMG this is my life.

What a difference a week makes!

Mom and Dad came for a visit last week.
On my last trip up to VA I started sorting all the things I couldn't fit onto the truck to bring back here. I made a "bring it next time" pile. When my mom opened up her car Thursday night and totally random bits and pieces of my life (including a shoe box of photos from 1982) came spilling into my small house, I kind of figured that she had missed the pile!
"OH! I thought you had a lot of things still in your room Essie."
Yeah Mom, I do.

The randomness, meanwhile, is finding its way into various nooks and crannies of our home. I can't walk in Ben's room, Dollie's room is a free for all, and Preston's room-forget it. Can we please get a bigger house?!!



To take the edge off, we went to a local vineyard for some grape stomping fun-gross but fun! I couldn't talk mom, dad, or Pres into it, but Doll, Ben, and I worked those grapes to nothing but squash!

It was a nice visit, but I can tell that my Mom is sad, which makes me sad. I think we might come up to VA for Pres's 13th birthday to cheer everyone up. Hmm...need to work on that.
It means that I'll end up driving the 3 kids and 2 dogs to VA in my truck...hmm...need to think about that! How does Team Leader ALWAYS miss out on these clearly insanity building moments?! Need to WORK on THAT!!

In an effort to get my mind off my poor mom, I made Team Leader help me make my pumpkin topiaries for the front porch-with the wreath, and our scarecrows, I love my porch so much I could marry it! It makes me happy every time I look outside! This fall decorating explosion took me back to 74 Fairfax Street and all the fun fall decorating I did...Our super-de-super neighborhood with awesome Halloween decorating contests, where everyone "Live[d] Well, Laugh[ed] Often and Love[d] Muck!"

Team Leader turned 41 this week-yay honey! I made an Oreo cake and we went to our yum, yum, yum fav. German restaurant around the corner from the house. We all eat until we are SICK when we go there because we can't help ourselves it's so deelish!

Our Miranda Drive family" helped him celebrate, which was fantastic-and made him feel even more loved So, let's have a little MD hugs and love holla!


Ben learned that QVC sells some "kick ass halloween stuff Momma!"
*That would be a color changing light for your pumpkin: 4 for $21. instead of a traditional candle-like .44 cents.*
Um, hello, did my 6 year old just use "kick ass" in CONTEXT?!!
Should I be shocked or secretly PROUD?!!
Compounding things further, he called QVC and tried to buy a set with HIS dollars...the QVC guy wasn't impressed.
I was.
Go Ben-Ben!


Today I went to a crop for the first time in YEARS, which was amazingly fun and made me think I really might make some friends here that have little to do with Team Leader and everything to do with me...kind of like the New Friend Fairy waved a magic wand just for me.
Nice!
I left there and interviewed for the FTCC Early Childhhod Center job-um, YIKES, major interview. The panel got the real deal from me-meaning either they likey or they don't! I got a whoa headache after, which I translated into "[you] deserve a venti pumpkin spice latte!" so I got one, and now I'm zipping around like a whammo spazz-with an icky headache!

Last week I was calm, and had some $$ in the bank. This week, well I can safely say I'm stressing a bit-what if I don't pass the Praxis, what if Yankee Candle NEVER hires anyone- me specifically, what if my VA retirement doesn't get here in time for me to cover my car note this month? And, I'm officially afraid to check my bank balance.
UGH
My curls are starting to hurt!

Can I go back to the grape stomping...please?

for umerika :)

Here you go!

This is your porch...betcha didn't think you'd EVER have a dog that would sit and STAY did ya?!

I'd like a "holy crap" from the peanut gallery,,wait, I mean the tree house please...and I think I need some kind of spidey sense holla for pulling off the snaps in BROAD DAYLIGHT and not getting apprehended.

(Nice use of superhero slang, I know!)

Tell me you're not speechless!

hugs and love!

OMG

Last night was amazing!!

For Team Leader's 41st birthday I got tickets to see .38 Special and LYNYRD SKYNYRD in concert-

Good call! No, GREAT CALL!

First, I just have to say, that if you didn't graduate from high school during the early '80's, I'm sorry. There has NEVER been a better era for high school music since then (don't get me wrong, everything up to the '80's was indeed solid gold-it's the artists who've been on the scene for 30 minutes DEMANDING that they be in various "LEGENDARY" circles that I'm done with! Earn your place in music history dammit!)

We got to the concert thinking it wouldn't start until 8ish-WRONG! .38 Special was on the floor at 7:30-sang their asses off for a full hour-can we say Rockin' into the Night, What if I'd Been the One...OMG, OMG, OMG! Awesome!


That's them up there...blogger is moving stuff around on me.

They were fantastic and got us REALLY excited for LS...REALLY excited!

The set was changed presto, chango, and the lights dimmed...chandeliers and curtains dropped, the smoke machine started up, back lights illuminated outlines of Southern Rock LEGENDS and the music began.

Team Leader started to scream his head off and this was the 1st shot I got of him:

Nice, I know.

I never claimed to be amazing, just happy for my guy!

The next photo came out like this:

Okay, I'm getting better...maybe...so let's try again:

THERE we go!

Not to be left out, I took one of OUR legendary "us" photos:


So we screamed and danced our asses off for 2 full hours of serious, serious rock and roll.

When Jonny VanZandt asked to crowd if we were "Skynyrd fans"

and the concert roared it's answer back, he kicked his head back and told us to sing it anyway we wanted and the guitars strummed....

bampt bampt dunna
bampt bampt dunna
bampt bampt dunnn
dunna dunna

It was SWEET HOME ALABAMA and I had to call Rae! It didn't matter that it was 10:30 and Steven had to wake up in 5 hours for the nastiest commute known to mankind. It didn't matter that I had NO idea if she would remember that we were at this concert. It didn't matter that she might think we were being killed when she heard me screaming "bloddy murda".

Nope. It didn't matter at all. So I did what any best friend would do. I grabbed Team Leader's phone and dialed!
Yes Rana, that is your phone call! You were at the concert. even if Steven was wishing you were asleep, and Casa Palese's phone was off the hook!

So-all my hugs and love go to Steve Palese, who answered his phone and gave his wife one minute of southern hospitality-essie style!

The show closed and Free Bird was the encore-such an amazing encore that it literally made me cry...it was a a guitar "pick off" that gave me chills and reminded me that somethings never age.

Give me CCR, Little Feet, The Allman Brothers Band, Molly Hatchett, Mothers Finest, Boston, Chicago, Lynyrd Skynyrd, SWAMP ROCK any day of the week, and I'll be happy!

For today my friends, sing your favorite song-I'm humming mine, and, before I go: the biggest thirteen year old hugs to our "Lukie Moe" who we love with all our heart! Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

hugs and love
essie

tagged

umerika tagged me.
she thinks that i have 5 other friends who have blogs...i don't!
i do have friends who i happen to know are READING my blog, so in the fairest sense, i'm electing to tag THEM!

Rae, Lori, Ave, Jen, Eadie,Tali...anyone...

Here you go:

5 things that are weird about me or my pets.
by esther

1. after i wash my hands, i shake them five times into the sink before drying them.

2. i love, love, love food shopping!

3. i have webbed toes, just like my dad, and my grandpa-only the 3 of us...and my mom told me it would make me a faster swimmer when i was a little girl. it didn't.

4. i have never worn a pair of multi-colored toe socks.

5. when i was a much younger person, i wished my name had been "cindy" like cindy brady.

as far as the pets go-heavens-we're weird BECAUSE of them!!!

okay-erika, now that my freak flag is flying strong, i think you owe me a pumpkin spice latte!!

My frogs

Yesterday was really good.
I listened to a voice mail from Rae,
read an email from Lori,
made brownies for my family and gave some to Karen,
and got a late night phone call from Hannah.

Today, I got a phone call from Erika.
Then I got a call from my mom.

All this love-
got me thinking...what is being a friend?

Is it spending every single day, in and out together?
Is it knowing that someone feels comfortable to you-whatever it means?
Is it leaving that comfort zone, even though you know it may be hard?
Is it keeping track of someone through holiday greetings?
Is it knowing when even the best of friends need space?
Or, is it simply being someone that can be all or none of those things for someone else?

I have some people in my life who will always make me happy, no matter what, you just will.
You make me better, and because we can, we share the warts of life together.
Sometimes those warts are really funny, and we crack up every time we reminisce.
Sometimes those warts hurt-they hurt our hearts, they hurt our heads, they hurt our time and we want nothing more than to forget.
Most often those warts are the things we can't wait to tell each other about-even when words aren't easy to come by. But we do-find the words-because we are lucky, and because together, we can! Then all the missing pieces come back together to make things fit again.
That means something.

Warts and all, we cherish each other.
I love that.

xoxoxo
essie

ps-this is for all of you-every single one-the teacher pals who have too many kiddos in their rooms with psycho parents, the mommy pals who do and don't get to see their "babies" every day, the pals who come and go, but always say "hey"- to all of you, have a hugs and love kind of day!

Must see viewing!

The photo I had to add!

Don't you envy the drama I have in my life?!

It was taken after they rode the HurriKane (nice redneck spelling) and we stopped at Tony's bf's bbque stand.

Please note, they weren't sick from Mr. Phil's bbque, just the opposite! We love Phil and plan on giving him this photo framed for the holidays.

His "que" rocks (and ya'll know I don't eat pork!)

Hugs and love!
essie

Team Leader

This is Team Leader.

He is the reason I get these little nuggets of wonderland:

"Momma, is EMS another t.v. station? What is their truck doing here?"

"You know, motorcycles should never be brown."

"I have wanted one my whole life!"
(6 years old mind you, pointing at a pimp necklace in silver of a dollar bill sign that is bigger than his nose. Needless to say, he wore it to school today.)

"Yes, I did do my music report on ACDC, do you have a problem with that? I got an A. What's the big deal?!"


He is also the person who took his family to the county fair yesterday, and spent WAY too much money laughing at the future of the Harrison Family, as they went on every ride they could stomach.

(Nice thumbs up action-this was for Team Leader who totally cracked up as they went by...)

(Preston really was having more fun than this photo suggests...)

He has too many tattoos, even though he promised me once many years ago "[ he'd] never be blue." *notice that the tat's are all in COLOR now!*
He has a firey temper, when it flares.
He can't cook anything that doesn't come microwave ready.
He likes Yankee Candles.
He'll skateboard until he has as many scabs as our son.
He ballroom dances with our daughter.
He'll lay down with our little guy until he falls asleep.
He is the biggest hearted man alive, and he'll give you the shirt off his back.
He's not perfect, even though sometimes, he is right.
He'd do anything for us-anything in the world-and I couldn't love him more.

That's the main reason we moved down here-unconditional love from Team Leader.
We missed it.
We missed him.

Yesterday was amazing.
Teeny, tiny Cumberland County became our new home.

No. We are not keeping the camel.

PRAXIS...schmaxis!

FINALLY. I've taken the 2 tests. Not one, but two. wish I had known that when I registered in August and couldn't go to my hs reunion in Alaska. Now, they are both under my belt and the chips will fall as they may...my chips, however, are rattling around my very tired head!

In an effort to reclaim ME, I've spent the afternoon ignoring my kids (super parenting, I know!) to work on my first tag/chipboard mini album. VERY scary for me-this is new territory-BUT now that I've used the most beautiful paper I've hoarded for 3 years, the creative juices are flowing!

I'm on a roll.
a cinnamon roll.
hee hee!

I need to feed my kiddos something -anything-for their
din-din!Instead, I must post and scrap and add (for your viewing pleasure) the Starving Harrisons, on the first day of school!

(Yay me for figuring out how to add photos to my posts, but boo to the crappy photo that includes my finger!)

hugs and love
essie

Go Lukas!

We were on pins and needles last night watching the season ender of Supernova.
I can honestly say that Toby rocked, but needs more experience before fronting a major band, AND that Dilana (ick) and Lukas really had amazing talent from the first show.
I wasn't surprised that they were the last two, but just couldn't like Dilana getting the gig. She seemed mean to me, and whoa crazy with the demon eyeball stuff she had going on.

Cheers to Lukas-who had been homeless (hmm, sounds like JD from season 1) and clearly had some issue with his mom, but was able to write a phenominal ballad about it, and is carrying on regardless! Well done!

NOW I get it!

Had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte...ohhh sooo yum!

What the Gingerbread Latte USED to be, has been reinvented in some magical starbucks crack called pumpkin spice. !Treat yourself, and, go get one!

Happy Wednesday-tonight is the big Supernova ender, and Grey's Anatomy is back next week!
yay, yay, yay!

hugs and love,
essie

Today...

is September 11, 2006.

The five year anniversary of a truly horrible day.

I have a lot of questions about September 11th; that might make you think I'm not patriotic-hardly! I am very patriotic, I just have questions, and not too many answers. See, I knew 2 people who died on that unlucky Tuesday morning; one was in WTC One, and the other was on Flight 93. Karen, I knew from High School. Jeremy, I knew peripherally, his older brother Jonah, was the sweet natured fraternity brother of my boyfriend in College. I know that their families will never get the answers they might have if they have them. It's wrong to assume that after all this time there might still be things unsaid, but one can never know for sure.

One local NYC reporter I watched last night said it was 30 full minutes before she was told that a colleague had been located, yet when she sat down and reviewed the tape only 7 minutes had passed, which tells me that time stood still for many of us. I know for my generation, we all remember specifics about that day.

I remember closing the preschool and leaving work as quickly as I could.
I remember picking up a stranded woman with her two little boys-her car had broken down on 17 and she was crying when I stopped. Her sons and I sang songs as I drove them to their townhouse across the street from C.M. Bradley.
I remember picking my children up from school and taking them home-a place where I felt safe.
I remember calling my friend George, in NYC, to make sure he was okay-he was, but as a Reservist, he had been called in immediately and had seen horrific things, so define "okay."

I didn't hear from my husband for 36 hours.

When I did all I wanted was for Tony to come home. He couldn't.

I remembered the day Preston was born, October 5, 1993, Savannah Georgia. It was an amazing fall day; crisp, clear, full of promise and totally ordinary. A day very much like September 11th. Except for one thing. As I labored that day, we watched on close circuit television the funeral of a soldier that Tony knew. He had died in Somalia.

That's all Tony could "tell me", that, and his wife was 23.

Somalia. A terrible place then, a terrible place still. Tony was meant to be there too, but I went into labor, and he stayed to watch the birth of his first child... Preston Arthur Harrison. Looking back, I can recall everything about that funeral, and Preston's delivery. It was positively surreal.

I had questions about being an Army Wife, before I became one, and I got some answers really fast after I did. I guess, though, there are some questions we can't answer.

New York. A terrible loss then, a terrible loss still.
We can't forget even though it hurts to remember.
We can't behave like a society without civility.
We can't tell children that the world is without pain.
But, we can hope, for happiness and for peace.

May G-d bless each of you and all of the people and places you hold dear, today and always.

The real deal

just added anysoldier.com
to my links.
for those in doubt, this is the real deal,
and the morale packages really do
make
a
difference.

hugs and love,
essie

The hangover

Woke up today at 6am no thanks to the 2 alarm clocks in our room with what can only be described as a "Life Hangover."

Translation from the essie-speak: system overload with a migraine looming!

I thought the living room light was too bright, but if you know Team Leader and have heard of his legendary utility bills, then you know this not to be true. Migraine here I come. yay me.

In an attempt to keep my momentum going here is my YTT post....props to my DeVinny peeps
It's gonna be a good day...it's gonna be alright...
thanks Jewel!

hugs and love,
essie

Yesterday

well, we all know how yesterday began...hee hee...fast forward to getting home and washing Maxwell's mouth out with soap (just kidding, he DID get a bath though)

**Put on the best outfit-ever! Navy gauchos, white cami, soft white chiffon cap sleeve shirt, camel leather sandals...CUTE!)

**Went to the mall to turn in my Yankee Candle app. Met Stacy (the manager) who said they wouldn't be hiring until the END of the month but she hoped to see me again soon. (Quick question...hitting on me or potential to become YC Salesperson of the month?!)

**Confirmed the impulse buy of 3 inch camel wedge sandals-not Jessica Simpson sandals b/c we are Team Lachey-by changing shoes IN THE MALL and hobbling around like an idiot.

**Bought "Footpetals" from Bath and Body Works to eliminate said hobbling issue. (BBW is hiring, but the saleslady was a snot, so I decided, NOT. ha, funny)

**Went to AC Moore to see my favorite floral designer Roz-she rocks-and has an amazing attitude/perspective on life. LOVE talking with her.

**Picked out all the stuff I need for a new fall wreath for my front door, b/c when you are unemployed, you spend MORE money. Yes, that is how it works.
(Also looked for googley-eyes for a Halloween wreath...more on that later!)

**Went to a new library on Cliffdale road-I can say that with all of it's faults, Fayetteville has some KICKEN lib's!

**Went to Fayetteville Tech to turn in a job application for their Lab School/Children's Center Assistant Director. I think I might be overqualified, but it looks great...keep fingers and toes crossed!

**Picked up Dollie and Ben, got a Sonic Snack

**Got home in time for Preston

**Crashed and burned after dinner, but got to talk to Rahn, which is always a good thing.

Today

**will do whatever possible to keep the migraine AWAY
**will bake a cake for our neighbor, whose cousin passed away
**will go to JoAnn Fabrics to see if THEY are hiring
**will get Hannah's new camera in the MAIL (sorry Louise-you know I love you!)
** WILL study for the Praxis
**will make chicken soup for dinner, with rolls, and salad...yum
**might go to Brandon's football game, but Team Leader won't be there and Chris and fam. will...the last time we were in THAT situation Mr. Ben took 20 foot fall from the bleechers, so I'm thinking NOT
**will watch Ghost Whisperer instead and GO TO BED!

Tomorrow

**Will call my folks and wish them a happy grandparents day-WE LOVE GAIA AND GRANDPA-DAD!
**will go with Karen to Chuck E Cheese with my 3 and her nephew
**will be exhausted from trip to CEC and will take a lovely NAP
**will do laundry-ugh
**will clean bathrooms-yuck
**will make some kind of dinner-possibly yum
and will plan sunday's LETTERBOXING adventure!

xoxoxoxx

It's 6:50 am on a school day. Do you know where your alarm is?

Wake up to a howl at 4:44 am.
Take the dogs OUT b/c I'm sleepwalking, and I'm clearly on CRACK.
Tony comes out too, which means that the dogs actually come back in, instead of making me chase them around the yard in my pj's.
In the dark. In my pj's.

I clearly get NO respect.

We go back to sleep, thinking, "we'll catch another hour, then it's a new day!"
Wrong. Oh, so VERY wrong.

For whatever reason, I roll over at 6:50.
"HOLY CRAP" (as Ben would say) "It's 6:50!"

And so the day begins for the Harrison Family.
It's lights ON-no gentle wake up's-just "MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"
(because now we're all on a Squad and the team leader has had NO coffee...)

I get to the coffee pot first, ensuring that the adults might be lucid.
Then it's the blender-gotta get the kids some smoothies. And we have muffins, that's a breakfast food, right? Who cares.

Team Leader is now sipping coffee in his recliner. Because somehow I have managed to give him coffee and blend at the same time.
(Damn, I really am good!)

For 14 years I have (wrongly) assumed that his mistress is his motorcycle.
It's not.
It's the ugly recliner we have in our living room.
And he's in it-cuddling up to his coffee with vanilla toffee something creamer.

I'm grabbing wildly into the pantry at this point.
PRAYING that the lunch box gods will bless me with filled lunch boxes.

Nope.
I'm s-o-l there, so I start making the 3 picky eater lunches that I've spoiled our kids with.
(Since I'm unemployed, we're all eating VERY well!)

It's 7:15 and from the recliner I keep hearing shouts:
"HONEY"-recliner
"S--t! WHAT"-kitchen no coffee
"Did you see that?"-recliner
"Put the crack pipe down! Are you for real?!"-kitchen no coffee
Every time he yells, I think something else has broken in our house.
OMG-honestly!

Throw the kids their lunches and scream out for teeth brushing to begin.
RACE upstairs to throw on anything that doesn't look like pj's.
Race downstairs to load up the car-AND-

that is when MAXWELL gets out!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!
The little black bullet is charging across our front yard.
Children are chasing him, slipping on the dew, thankfully not DOO!
I'm yelling for Team Leader, who rolls off the recliner to see WHAT the fuss is about.
Out comes Team Leader in his underwear. NICE!
Out come our new neighbors-not in their underwear. (Shorts and t-shirt)
Out comes our state trooper neighbor, in his underwear, to watch his GOOD dog go potty.

It's 7:39 and I have to get the kids to school. My purse rings.
It's Rae, I scream "Max is out and Tony is going to kill him-gotta go!" and hang up!

In the car we call Rana to let her know that for right now, Team Leader is running down the street, throwing the leash at the dog. She's laughing so hard, I think she might have to pee.

Drop the kids off, turn my truck around, drive home, and find MAXWELL on the back porch with a headless squirrel in his mouth.

Really.

Pray for us today people, pray!
hugs and love!

new linkage

letterboxing aka geocaching is the wave of the future for the Harrison family.
this has been on my family "to do" list for 2 years and it starts this weekend...
very excited!

blame the movie, National Treasure.
hugs and love!

Rainy days and Sundays always get me down...

Bad hair today-that's always a fabulous predictor of what the world has in store for you when you have hair like mine.

Computer spazz for a sec...

After an EXTREMELY frustrating meeting with one of the TWO licensure specialists for all of Cumberland County, I decided this morning to call my NEA rep and find out what my legal rights are. Yes, I'm taking the "man" head on.

Short version: CCPS don't want to pay for an experienced teacher. Instead, during a hiring crisis mind you, they are picking apart the 15 years of experience I have and actually QUESTIONING my credentials from Virginia.

The nit-picking has gone far enough and today I'm letting the E-Bomb drop.

I might not get to teach here (after I'm done with this I have a feeling that people aren't going to like me too much-sooo sorry!) but I do know that Yankee Candle is hiring and I'm a sucker for Home Sweet Home!

HOW ironic...

Update

I'm still a fight with the insurance man, b/c he can't get here until 1-1:30 ish ( the time I have to leave to pick up Ben and Dollie from school)...He's still in GREENVILLE!

Why do we pay for insurance?
These people really don't help us.
I'd rather have my best friend's husband do the work
and PAY HIM!

UGH

More Hugs and Love

to erika and gabby...
it's good to " see" you after all this time
and better to know
that even though life has passed,
and there have been sad days,
that you're both
CRAZY WICKED scrappers now!
(I'd like to take credit for that intro)

When we do get to reunite,
I'm betting that it will feel like a conversation
about:
about a MiL that hates me,
whether or not friends with weird
names who try to screw the disability system
REALLY ARE friends,
and if gingerbread lattes have
crack in them!

I've missed you both and I KNOW
that happy days are ahead for us all.

*Hang in there Gab*
G-d hasn't forgotten your address...

hugs and love for a happy day!
essie

Hmph!

So...outside of spending what should have been a super-de-duper long weekend doing fun things, I got to clean up the debris from our bathroom ceiling-which caved in over the toilet Thursday morning!

(Thank you mother nature for the pouring rain and crazy AC-ness that is part of living in the rainy humid south!)

Kind of forgot about the weather thing down here...

I'm in such a fight with our insurance adjuster, who couldn't come out to assess the damage, b/c he was "in the country" (NEWS FLASH-we're ALL in the fricken country- idiot!)

He's MEANT to come out today-translation: I'll wait ALL day for him to show and not get all my License shit done and he'll roll in here like it's no big deal that I have a hole the size of a pilates ball in my bathroom ceiling!!!

M...F!!!

And Pinehurst is having the cutest fund raiser for their Humane Society; cat and dog sculptures (ala Cows in Chicago) that various Pinehurtians designed and decorated are ALL over historic Pinehurst. You make a donation, vote for your fav. and the dollars go to the charity!

Very good stuff!

That's what I was SUPPOSED to do this weekend with the kiddos.

Hmph to the insurance man.
Hmph to weather.
Hmph to NC and their ridiculous License shit that makes ZERO experience new teachers Highly Qualified and 15 year Veterans PROOVE their worth to an under-employed, under-paid system.

There. Now I'm feeling ready to start my day.
The coffee is kicking in and the dogs are wrestling behind me, ripping up the carpet in Dollie's room...do you think I can claim that too?

Hugs and Love
essie

It's a new day!

Yay me! I got my first links up...hit 43things because it is fantastic and one of my dearests from High School helped create it (Yay Dan!)

Squid Soap-it's a teachers DREAM and should be on all of your "give it to so and so" lists! Super duper hugs and love to eadie for the find!!

Today-I'm going to do all the things I missed-yesteday!
Now, I'm off to bed!

okay...

I'm TRYING to get my links up, and clearly, I'm computer ILLITERATE!
Not good. For now, enjoy Google News, it won't be up forever!!

Day One

Wow. Here I am.
Actually blogging-won't Hannah be proud!
I'm hopeful that this will give me a chance...I need to slow down, and think.
Coming to NC was part of that plan, learning to live in NC,
well-that might be different.