100 things about me

1. I will be 40 this year. (yikes!)
2. My name is not "kardel".
3. I don't know why I decided to use that name and not my real name.
4. Maybe it is because I am afraid of the internet boogy man.
5. I wish I knew more about blogging and the internet.
6. I think of a lot of things to blog about, but forget them when I sit down to write.
7. My husband is 35 and our children are going to turn 3 and 5 this year.
8. I discovered this when I was looking at buying birthday candles for him and I realized that we could re-use them for the kids' birthday.
9. This post is late. It is actually my 105th post.
10. I am never on time.
11. People think I am funny when I am trying to be serious.
12. I spend most of my online time reading blogs.
13. I have read a bunch of these 100 things posts.
14. I never realized how hard they are to write.
15. I am half Norwegian and half Southern. I am a Norwegian Southerner.
16. I like grits and sweet tea.
17. I was born in Georgia.
18. I went to college in Mississippi.
19. I moved from Mississippi to South Carolina.
20. I swore that I would never go back to my hometown.
21. I don’t live in my hometown.
22. I work there. (Does that count as going back?)
23. I was married to the wrong guy for 8 years.
24. We didn’t have any children.
25. He had an affair.
26. Four months after we were divorced, I married his best friend.
27. They aren’t very close anymore, but they still work together.
28. We went on our honeymoon to Holland. (The Netherlands)
29. We were supposed to come back from Holland on September 12, 2001.
30. Then September 11 happened.
31. We got 5 extra days vacation after that.
32. I thought we were going to have to learn Dutch and get jobs.
33. But we didn’t.
34. Two years later, we had our son.
35. He looks and acts a lot like his father
36. Two years after that, we had our daughter.
37. She acts a lot like me.
38. I was 34 and 36 when I had my children.
39. I feel like the oldest parent of preschoolers when around other children's parents.
40. My mother was 36 when she had me.
41. My mother worked full time when I was growing up.
42. I planned to go back to work full time after I had my son.
43. When my son turned 3 weeks old I cried, because he was “growing up”.
44. I decided that day that I wouldn’t let him go to daycare.
45. Now I work part time.
46. I have been a registered nurse for 17 years.
47. That seems impossible.
48. I went to nursing school after my junior year in college because I didn’t know what else to do.
49. I never wanted to be a nurse growing up.
50. No one in my immediate family is in the medical field, except my husband.
51. My husband is a paramedic.
52. I always joke that I wanted to marry a doctor, so I married a ditch doctor.
53. Twice.
54. I worked in the Emergency Room for 8 years.
55. Now I work in Outpatient Surgery.
56. I like my job, but I miss the ER.
57. I have thought about going back.
58. Then I remember why I left.
59. This post is harder than it seems.
60. I have three older sisters.
61. No brothers.
62. I only talk to one of my sisters on a regular basis.
63. She is 12 years older than me.
64. We are nothing alike.
65. My best friend has been my best friend for 27 years.
66. That makes me feel old.
67. She lives in Connecticut.
68. I haven’t seen her in a few years, but I have rarely gone a month without talking to her.
69. Usually we talk at least once a week.
70. She remembers things that happened to me even if she wasn’t there and I remember things that happened to her even if I wasn’t there. We can complete each other’s memories.
71. We never talk about religion, politics or how to raise children, because we are polar opposites in those areas.
72. I like to watch boxing.
73. My favorite boxer is Ricky Hatton. He’s awesome.
74. I am deathly afraid of roaches.
75. It is because I had to look at their legs under a microscope in high school biology.
76. That is very gross, in case you were wondering.
77. I am afraid of heights.
78. I always wonder what would happen if I fell.
79. Ever since I had my children, I don’t want to watch movies, unless they are a comedy.
80. I am afraid of hail.
81. When I was in college, a hail storm broke all of the windows in my apartment.
82. While I was there.
83. I was terrified.
84. Summer is my favorite season.
85. I love to swim.
86. I was saved by the grace of God and the love of Jesus when I was 9 years old.
87. I thank God for that.
88. I did my first Beth Moore Bible study last fall.
89. It was about the Tabernacle.
90. I didn’t think I would like it and I didn’t. I LOVED IT.
91. I cried doing that study.
92. I cry at happy things.
93. I cry almost every week at church.
94. I like to read.
95. I would rather read a paperback than a hardback book.
96. I like fiction best, but also enjoy memoirs.
97. I am a disorganized person, but I wish I wasn't.
98. I like to keep everything.
99. This was really much harder than it seems.
100. I'm glad I'm finished.

I am THAT person

Do you know that person who doesn't know when to just shut up? The one who insults you without even trying? The total buffoon in social situations?

I am that person.

Yesterday, I ran into some people I knew (of) in high school. I think I said some things that were complete insults to them, but I didn't mean to. I didn't even realize it until today. Now I wish I could go back and not even tell them that I may (or may not) have known them.

So if you meet someone who doesn't know when to shut their mouth, it might be me.

Book Review: Between Sundays

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury did not disappoint. She is becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books are strong on character and plot development without being complicated or difficult to read.

This book is a stand alone title. It is about a child, Cory, who believes that one of the most popular NFL players is his dad. His mother died and he is being cared for by his mother's best friend. She wants to adopt him, but can't, because of complications due to his belief that his dad is Aaron Hill, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49'er's. Aaron Hill has some problems of his own and looks for guidance from his teammate and backup quarterback. Fortunately, he leads him in the right direction. While Kingsbury is somewhat predictable in her outcome, this book is worth reading. I highly recommend it.

If it weren't for neighbors, what would we do for entertainment?

My sister lives in a great neighborhood in a nearby town. The thing is that she lives on a corner. A very busy corner. The road in front of her house has been used as a cut through road from some busier roads, so there is quite a bit of traffic there, so many things have happened at this particular corner over the last 15 or so years she has lived there.

One time a car, which was pulling a boat on a trailer, had an accident right in front of her house and the boat went flying off of the trailer and landed in the bushes of the house across the street from her. She said that it seemed like nobody really knew how to pick it up to remove it.

Another time, she had a girl jump out of a moving SUV in front of her house because she was having a fight with her boyfriend. They called 911 and she refused transport to the hospital. I think she actually left with the boyfriend in the same SUV.

There was the time a man attempted to commit suicide by slicing his wrist in front of her house and bled all over her sidewalk.

There was the time that a hot air balloon basket floated by on her eye level down the street in front of her house.

There have been some criminals being chased on foot in the middle of the night who were caught in her front yard. It could be that they were caught because of her youngest son's interest in digging holes in the yard. I think one of the alleged criminals unsuspectingly stepped into a giant hole and twisted his ankle just long enough for the police to catch him.

I can't think of anymore, but lets just say that it doesn't surprise her (anymore) to wake up in the middle of the night with blue lights flashing on her bedroom walls.

Well, I just want to say that she doesn't have the market cornered on excitement. Tonight, we were sitting outside talking to our neighbors and we kept hearing firetrucks getting closer and closer. I thought they sounded loud, because they cut some trees behind our house, and the road noise seems louder now, but as it turned out, three firetrucks and three police cars actually stopped about 3 houses down from our house. Being nosy and all, we walked down to see what all was going on, and we watched the firemen all decked out in their fireproof suits, go into the house, carry something ablaze onto the driveway and stomp it out. Then, they took a fire extinguisher and hosed it off a bit. After that, the three firetrucks packed up and headed out. It was quite a thrill.

I thought my kids would like to see the firetrucks and the lights and the firemen in their gear, but they were more interested in the dog in the back yard of a neighboring house. "Look Mom, a dog!" Obviously, a good time was had by all.

Wordless Wednesday

OK. It's almost 4 minutes and it's not wordless, so I cheated again. But I think it's very funny and if you are a fan of American Idol and/or Mad TV you will like it too.



Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ and Wordless Wednesday on 5 Minutes for Mom.

Someday

I finished reading Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3) by Karen Kingsbury.

Y'all.

I can not wait for the last book to come out. Since I didn't blog about each individual book in the Baxter Family Series until now, it would be impossible to explain this one book.

Let me just say this. I have dreamed about the characters. I have been mad at the characters. I have laughed. I have cried. I have worried about the characters. I have dreaded that the last book in the series is coming out. I haven't been able to get into any other book since I started reading the series in January.

If you haven't read any of these books, read Redemption (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 1) first. If you don't love it, don't read anymore, but if you are like me, you will blast through the rest of that series and move through the Firstborn series and then through the current Sunrise Series. These books are easy to read, but have exceptional character and plot development. They are rich in content.

I just can't say enough positive things about them. Go get the books and let me know if you don't love them too.

April Fool

I'm not really a fan of the April Fool's joke.

However, today was an exception. When I woke my son for school today, I told him that it is April Fools Day, just so that if any of the other 4-K goers (some of them have turned 5 already) said anything silly or funny he would know why.

Well, tonight at dinner, he proudly announced that he put a snake in his mouth. When we looked up at him, he smiled and said "April Fool"!

His first April Fool! My baby is growing up!