Long overdue

I hated high school. I couldn't wait for it to be over when I was there. And looking back now I still think it was pretty freaking pointless. The ONLY thing that kept me sane growing up in a small town with nothing to do was my very best friend in the whole wide world, Sandra. We met in 8th grade. She had just come into the public school system after being homeschooled. I was in an advanced program with a bunch of people who were absolutely NOTHING like me. We did pretty much everything together. Band geeks. "Whos Line is it" marathons. Our graduation party.

17 years later, we are still friends. We haven't kept in touch like we should have. And we haven't seen each other in 5 years. But she was my maid of honor at my wedding. She'll always be my best friend. The person who made high school livable. One of the few people in our little podunk town who understood me. One of the few people who still does (although thankfully that list of people who really get me has gotten slightly longer).

She's having her first baby. I'm so stinking excited for her I can hardly contain myself. If ever there was someone who would make a fabulous mother its Sandra. Her babyshower was this weekend and for the first time EVER, I left behind Brad AND the kids and went on a trip. That in and of itself was long overdue. I love my family dearly but it was so nice to get away. But I still can't believe it has been FIVE YEARS since Sandra and I have seen one another. We added it up, we've been friend for 17 years. That is a LONG time. When in the heck did I get old enough to have done ANYTHING for 17 years?? Then again, Brad and I are coming up on 10 years of marraige. Sooo . . .
(A note on the picture to the left. I've always wanted to do a picture like this. Sandra's cute belly + red shirt made it perfect!! Add in Ricky's tats for a little character and it turned out awesome!)

We really didn't do anything other than hang out, catch up, and shop for baby stuff. It was exactly the break from the craziness that I needed. Oh, and we went to see the Hunger Games too. The baby shower was all kinds of cuteness, Sandra's mom Mary did a great job.


Sandra and her fiancee Ricky. Aren't they cute?? :-)
Some of the yummys. Mmmm, fondue!
I can't even remember the last time the four of us (Sandra, me, her mom and my mom) were all together. It was probably at our high school graduation.
Time passes and things always change. People move in and out of your life. But there are certain people who will always be a part of it. I'm so glad I got to go and share in the excitement of this little baby, see my friend and meet her guy. My husband is wonderful for taking a few days off and holding our house together so I could get away.

Why January 2012 wasn't awesome and the rest of the year is going to ROCK.

Okay, so catch up time. I may never post Christmas pictures. And I haven't taken that many pictures so far this year. A run down of the not-so-wonderful January we've had, in 100 words (I hope) or less:

My mom came for a visit, had to be admitted to the hospital next day with chest pains. No heart attack, but diabetes. No big shock, but hopefully motivation for a change for her.

It occurred to me (with some prompting from my best bud Allison) that things were not as they should be with Summer. Her sleep pattern was too erratic and she still wasn't potty trained--after some serious thinking, some time with the doctor and six vials of blood, and a two week test period of a gluten free diet, we reached the following conclusions: We needed to move up her bedtime, she DOESN'T have Celiac disease, but she does seem to have very strong gluten sensitivity. As in any form of gluten upsets her stomach so much that she complains of a tummy ache and then loses control of her bowels. Don't I feel like mother of the year for not picking up on THAT sooner.

So we've spent the first bit of February adjusting to the whole idea of having a child with food sensitivity in the house. Its so, so very weird for us--we usually eat well and clean, but we make a lot of our own baked goods and do eat a lot of wheat. So its been an adjustment. Its hard to eat gluten free on a budget, so we're adjusting there too. Summer has to adjust to not eating some of the things she loves, and we have to adjust by FINDING a way to substitute the things she loves with something similar.

We've been blessed with family coming to visit--first my mom, now Brad's grandparents, and my dad is coming on Saturday.

But here's a list of why the rest of the year is going to rock.
Now that we have a handle on her stuff, Summer is acting much more like the brilliant little girl we know she is and hopefully we REALLY WILL be done with potty training too.

I'm running my first half marathon on March 4th. Not only will my friend and neighbor Jess be joining me, but so will my long, long time internet bud Amanda. Amanda and I have known each other since my pre-kid days. We both have weims. She always let me pick her brain when I started running--she is a freaking amazing endurance athlete. So to have her down here for my first half makes me excited beyond words. She's been on my top 5 people-to-meet list for quite some time.

April includes a trip to Maryland to see my very best high school bud, Sandra. For a baby shower no less. We haven't seen each other in 5-ish years, but Sandra kept me sane through the disaster that was high school. I'm so excited for her to embark on the journey of motherhood, there aren't even words for it :-) On top of that little bundle, who's ETA is June, my best bud Allison has a bundle with an ETA of July. Babies, babies, everywhere! A summer-long trip to the Northeast may be in order . . .

May brings a surprise from Hubby--tickets to Nickelback's Here and Now Tour. They will be playing with Seether, My Darkest Days, and Bush. I had no clue Bush was still around, but the other 3 are absolutely off the hook rock bands that I love. And listen to on an almost daily basis while I work out. Then my big boy will be turning 6. And then the summer baby boom discussed above.

So, January was terribly stressful. But I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings. Probably less blogging from me, since time is always in short supply. But I'll still try to bring the highlights. HOPEFULLY!!