Guess what, it's OKAY.

Right now I am laying on my bathroom floor typing this from my cell phone, recomposing myself.
After a particularly brutal outburst of Bug's, an end-all tantrum, the calm down, and an outburst of my own that I'm not too proud of, I found myself here.
I slammed the bedroom door behind me on my way into the room, the bathroom door after that, I didn't bother with the light. I sunk down to the floor, and I bawled my ever loving eyes out. Seriously. I could have probably given Bug's meltdown a run for it's money.
Here's what I want to say to all parents out there, whether you have a child with special needs child, or whether your child is normal (whatever that means). After I "sucked it up" and sat here for a few moments to have a chat with the Big Guy (God, dears) about helping me find the strength; he reassured me that what I just did was OKAY. That's what I want to share with all of you.
It. Is. Okay.
It. Will. Be. Okay.
It's not about the breakdown and the devastation you feel in the heat of your breakdown. It's about finding the strength within to recompose. To take several deep breaths. To wash your face off, run a hand through your hair, and to get back up.
So if you feel like you need it right now, I'm here to tell you go on. Go do what you gotta do. That bathroom rug is awful soft. But remember to get back out there.
It IS going to be okay.

A the AWESOME

I sit here, watching him. He's standing next to the rocking chair, hanging over the arm towards the seat, contently rocking himself lightly with one foot, while the other remains firmly planted on the ground. Gnat's out of sight, but I can hear him bouncing a ball just on the other side of the couch. I'm unconcerned. The room's child proof as much as it can be without ever teaching my kids something can hurt them.
Bug's just rocking away, though, watching TV on this lazy morning.

I still feel the shame of yesterday clutching at my chest, but I thank God for letting me realize it immediately. Yesterday we received the findings of the occupational therapy we've been going to for the past six months. Out of four short-term goals (should have been completed within the six months), and four long-term goals (anticipated to be nearly a year to be met), we met one.

Originally, that was a dejected we met one. Just one. And then I thought about years of school. Years of report cards consisting of A's and B's and one C and that one C my mother just wouldn't let go. It was in that moment God opened my eyes, and I saw it. We didn't meet one. We met one!

Thank you, God, we met one of his goals! HE met one of his goals. Bug did it. He can tie shoes four out of five times unassisted! UNASSISTED! Suck it, society! HE MET ONE!!! *Cue internal dance party*

We still have bad days. Hell, we still have awful days. But you know what?

He met a goal.

My son, A the Awesome.

Bug's first name starts with an A, just a quick BTW about this post, lol.

Look Down! The Great Sock King!

Have I ever mentioned that Bug and Gnat do some pretty weird stuff? If not, this is me, mentioning it. For example.

Bug, whenever he goes down the steps, now stomps in time and sings "Look Down" from Les Miserables. Specifically he sings the one from the very beginning, including all the spoken-sung parts. Yeah. Weird. Cool, but weird.

And Gnat? Gnat is The Great Sock King! Yes, with the exclamation mark. I don't know what it is about this kid, but he is overjoyed to see, hold, play with, etc. socks. If it involves socks, he's in love. Seriously, he usually runs around with two pairs on his feet, a pair on his hands, and an armful of them. While this sounds absolutely adorable, and can be, especially when he gets the one on top of his head as well, it makes for a horrid time doing laundry. Oh, and he's never like that long enough to take a picture. It's like a secret identity for him or something, I swear.

Speaking of, The Great Sock King visited our home again today, and now I have to retrieve the clean socks from all over the house. So yeah, I'm going to go have sooo much fun with that.

*Sigh*

Just one small example of the weird stuff my kids do.

The Wooden Roses, and Life... Itself!

Okay, so the life itself thing was kind of a lame joke, but if you've ever been to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you'll get it. Or maybe I just really am that weird... Meh... Whatever!

So Cowboy and I were finally able to have our wedding ceremony, and what a fantastic day it was. There are some things, of course, that led up to that day. One of the first of these things were the wooden roses. It was one of the first gifts he'd ever given me, and it was the first gift he'd ever given me just because...

These suckers are nearly four years old, and they've been cut down to fit in this cute little jar I have, that way they can live on my desk and I can admire them always. With how hectic life tends to be, I've been feeling like Cowboy's getting left in the dust here lately. Ironic, considering he's the one who has to leave for large periods of time at a time for work, but maybe that's a contributing factor? While he was on deployment I wrote him a letter everyday for while he was gone, though I may not have always emailed him, or even had the capability of emailing him. But that letter was written at the end of every night, never fail.

This post, is a gush post. Feel free to stop reading now, as you have been warned!

March 4th, 2011 at approximately seven thirty pm Cowboy proposed to me. In quite an unorthodox manner. He'd been gone for Valentine's Day, and had just returned a few days beforehand. We were already living together at this point, it seemed silly not to. He spent all of his free time at the house already, and if he wasn't at the house, we were out with Bug doing something or the other. He was cramped up in a tiny barracks room on base, that he had to share with someone else, it was the best decision all around.

I'd made reservations at The Melting Pot on March 4th. It was the first Saturday he'd be home in quite a long while, and I figured it'd be a nice surprise. All he knew was to dress up, and be ready to leave by six. We lived a ways from the restaurant. I even went so far as to blindfold him for part of the way there. Yeah, I'm lame, I know.

We arrived at the restaurant, made our way back to a precious alcove in the restaurant, with a two person booth, a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, and a bottle of wine already chilling on the table. Never having been to the restaurant before, I figured that it was just how all the tables were set up. We settled in, Cowboy asks if I would like a glass of wine, and with him in his button up, slacks, and sports jacket, and me in my super classy dress, at this gorgeous, expensive restaurant...

See? Classy!

"Baby, that's crazy. They probably charge an extra thirty dollars if you crack that bottle! We can buy the same one for twelve on the way home!"

Yeah... SUPER classy. Listen, we were trying to buy a house. I wanted it to be a special night, it didn't need to be that special. After much assurance that the bottle and bouquet belonged to us and were ours to have, and the dunce I am not thinking twice about it, I went ahead and had a glass... and then I saw the menu and had two more glasses.

We had a FANTASTIC meal, and our waitress, though hard to understand, was an absolute sweetheart. (She had just recently moved here, and English was not her first language. I wish I could remember her name, because she was fantastic!) We'd chosen a three course meal for two, and it was simply amazing. Finally dessert rolled around, and the lovely waitress comes out, and says, "I believe this is for the lady, extra special, just for her." And sets this down in front of me...

If you look extra close, tucked inside the rose petals is my engagement ring. He insists I cried, I insist I didn't, but what I did do was smother him in the biggest, most obnoxious, public kiss EVER. Apparently it wasn't enough of an answer, so he had to double-check with a, "So... is that a yes?" Cue big, cheesy, newly engaged grins. Eventually leading to our engagement, and engagement pictures (that first one up there), a wedding, and finally a full wedding ceremony to celebrate two years of marriage...

Supposedly this is called a "high fashion" shot. I call it a, "Damn this dress makes my waist and boobs look fantastic, and my husband more than agrees" shot. Lol! We also celebrated Cowboy making first class, which meant a rush to get that spiffy uniform he's in to have the new patch with three stripes added on, but who cares? It was lovely.

The point of this post... Well, even with this fantastic wedding ceremony, there was a lot of stress leading up to and following it. We still don't know what's going on with Bug, and I had taken him to two appointments during that week. Including having to drive out of state to handle a three-year-old speeding ticket. Plus the possibility of having to move in four (now three) months, and just a myriad of things. Unfortunately, Cowboy had to leave mere days after the ceremony, and still has not returned yet.

In the throes of this, and ongoing appointments for Bug, and a teething Gnat who has been miserable, plus trying to get back to this blog, while still managing my author blog, as well as launching an editing company that sparked a bit faster than I anticipated, it's been difficult to remember to leave time for Cowboy. I love him more than ever, and I love that he supports me, and what I do. I could not have asked for a more perfect man, and our time together has been some of the happiest, brightest times of my entire life, and I can't wait to see where the next adventure takes us.

Cowboy, I know I don't always get to tell you, and sometimes I'm a grumpy grump (yes, that's the term we use in this house), and I know work is hard, and that you hate cleaning the litter box as much as I do, yet you do it anyway, and then you spoil the cat rotten after cussing her name out the entire time, and that it's a pain in the butt to find time for us at the end of every night that's not both of us passing out watching Netflix on our respective phones, but I love you. I love you to the moon and back, and twenty-thousand leagues under the sea. Though you've assured me that the sub doesn't go that deep. I love you.

*All photos with a tag are from the wonderful Devon Shanor of Devon Shanor Photographer... As per usual. We love you, Devon!

Surprise Bachelorette Party... Party of Two?

Sat down to start writing to all of you, to discover that even though one of my good friends is getting married tomorrow, to one of Cowboy's good friends, she's doing NOTHING tonight.
So, I'm leaving you all to go pick her up for a surprise bachelorette party!
And by surprise bachelorette party, I mean her and I going to a local bar to sit on the deck with a margarita tower and listen to a cover band.
Whatever!

Early Day Say Whaaat?

Cowboy got home freakishly early from work today, so we decided to take the boys (okay, we took Bug, Gnat slept) to see The Croods.
Dun dun duuuunnnnn.
(You gotta see the movie.)
Lol.
It was cute, with just enough meaning and importance behind it for it to strike thoughts into kids who were old enough. Or, in Bug's case, smart enough. (What? Me? Brag on Bug's intelligence? Nooo... Yeah. Lol.)
Now, off to harass Cowboy while he plays his video game, since tomorrow I have to focus on work.
PS: Did I mention that Bug still begged us to go back to the bookstore even though we'd just taken him to a movie? 'atta boy!

I Wonder if I Could Do It

I always forget how draining Bug's appointments can be on me. Especially when we have Occupational Therapy on Wednesday, and then Psychology on Thursday; like today. Plus the hour and a half we spend in traffic on days we have Psychology. That's definitely rough.
Here's the thing... If it's rough on me; how rough is it on Bug?
Some days, I think it would be interesting to see the world through his eyes, but other days, I don't know if I could do it. I already have sensitive hearing, but he has days where a noise can be totally ignored, but two minutes into the noise going on, it's deafening for him. There are days when he's so hypersensitive we just hide in the house all day, and I pray when I go to pull up music on my laptop it's not going to be loud. There are days when he's so hyposensitive he can run smack dab into a wall and not think twice about it.
It makes things difficult, to say the least. I just don't know if I could do what he does everyday.
I'm so proud of Bug. He has no idea what's going on with him, but he knows he's different, and yet he still pushes on.
I thank God for that.

Thanks, Mother Nature!

Post taken from my author website, but I still wanted to share with all of you!

Maybe it was because I forgot to show love to Mother Nature; maybe it's because I complained about my niece not wanting to take a nap; maybe it's because I was grumpy about my husband not being home for Mother's Day due to work... I don't know what it was, but Mother Nature decided to gift us with a tree! On our roof.
Yeeeeeesh.
THANK GOD, our house IS intact, and structurally sound. Though we did have to evacuate long enough for our local fire department to come out and make sure of such. (THANK Y'ALL!!!) We lost the gutters on the back half of the house, and we do have to repair the fence, as well as clean up this tree.
With that being said; I will NOT be posting this Wednesday. I will, instead, be working on cleaning up the tree and excess branches. Yay, fun!
We're all safe and sound, and that I'm thankful for.

Mother's Day Brunch

Don't forget to show extra love to your mother's this weekend! My oldest cousin and I will be hosting a brunch at mine and Cowboy's itsy bitsy house for my mother, my grandmother, my aunt, Cousin (who's also a mother), plus my mother's boyfriend, my other three cousins, my niece, and the boys. Whew! Unfortunately, Cowboy will be at work, but that's okay! We'll still have lots of fun, and he'll be home Monday to spend the day with us.
For now, off to prepare for the festivities!

Sleepless Nights

Sooo, did I mention I have VERY poor sleeping habits? I do. I've tried many, many home remedies and such, and finally had to cave a few months ago to go to the doctor and talk to them about it. It was beginning to impede on my abilities as a wife, mother, and writer. In case you can't tell by the fact I'm posting this at three o'clock in the morning; the medicine they prescribed me doesn't work. I'm weary about going back to the doctor. With Cowboy being military, and Bug's sleeping problems, it's hard to worry about my own sleeping problems and ensure if in the middle of the night one of my boys needs me, if I can be there for them. So, for now, it's time to combine the natural methods I know with the medication. *Sigh* I don't have high hopes for this, but I have hope!

Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Today was my youngest, female cousin Mickey's birthday! Woohoo!
We went out for ice cream to celebrate, even though it was cold outside, and it was a blast!
It was a long day overall, though, and now I'm tired, so away to bed!

Devon Shanor Photography Hosted ME!

Friday our family photographer, and wonderful friend, had me over to guest blog!

Professional Photography & My “Super Hyped-Up, Seems-Like-A-Sugar-Rush” Child

Yes, that's me! Devon approached me and asked if I would be willing to come on over and talk about having professional pictures done with a child like Aiden. So I did! Check it out, look at her work, you won't be disappointed!

If I Wasn't Already a WAHM

Last week I featured bullying on Thursday, but I forgot to mention a very important progression for us:
We finally got a steady set of appointments with the psychologist, and Bug has steady appointments with her.
If I weren't already a WAHM (Work-At-Home-Mom), I would have to consider doing so. Wednesdays feature Occupational Therapy for an hour, and now Psychology will be every other Thursday. Both of these are for undetermined periods of time.
I don't know how Bug feels after these, but I always feel so drained after these appointments. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's that knowledge we don't have to fight quite as hard anymore? Don't get me wrong, we're still fighting, but it's not quite as difficult.
Also, Bug read his first short story (mostly) by himself. Beaming from ear to ear? You bet I was.
Anyways! We have many an errand to run, so we're off to do that! See y'all next week! (Maybe the weekend, but bank on next week.)

Don't Talk, SING!

Bug took forever to talk. It's just a fact. He could talk, he just didn't. Sometimes he would to me, but not usually.
He may not have talked, but he could sing, and sing he did. All the time. It was wonderful.
He still does it, and that's one thing I'll always hold on to, and I hope he continues to do as he gets older.
That's all for this post, we've got things to do! Biiig things!
Okay, we have laundry. We have laundry to do.

My Boy... the Bully

*Knock* *Knock*
*Opens front door*
Little Girl: (sobbing) Bug smacked me. (sob, sob, sob)

Oh, Lord. I thought with taking him out of school to homeschool we were past this. Damn, damn, damn, damn.

Me: Okay, honey, I'll take care of it. BUG!
Bug: (with total look of guilt runs past and into the house)
Me: Why'd you hit her?
Bug: She tried to kiss me.

Trying my hardest not to smack myself in the head, I tell him to go sit upstairs and think about why it's not nice to hit. Impulsiveness is one of the hardest challenges we face with Bug. He gets the urge to do something, and he does it. That's the end of the discussion.

Does he feel bad afterwards? Not really. Does he know he should? Yes. He will apologize, too, but this has led Bug to be labeled a "bully", and one of the main reasons why we had to pull him from the private school he attended at the beginning of the school year.

Here are things we've tried:
Lecturing
Rewards for good behavior
Grounding
A pop on the butt
More lectures
Avoidance

Here are the things that haven't worked:
Lecturing
Rewards for good behavior
Ground
A pop on the butt
More lectures

Most of the time, avoidance is the only choice that we have. No, I'm not trying to make Bug a shut-in, but "normal" interaction with other children just isn't in the cards for him right now. For the most part, he just hangs out with Gnat. Listen, you've got to start somewhere.

It's awful. You get the phone call from the school saying that your child is being suspended the third week into KINDERGARTEN and you don't know what to do. Keep your head held high, and KEEP TRYING.

Also, lecture. It's droning, and it sucks, but up til we did pull him out of school, our morning drive consisted of the following conversation. It helped some, but not a lot:

Me: What is okay at school?
Bug: Playing quietly, sitting in our desk, not touching people...
Me: What isn't okay at school?
Bug: Hitting, kicking, biting, punching, pinching, throwing our pencil box, being mean...

It was a long list, that's only part of it. Keep it up. It gets better, I promise.

Happy Birthday Aunt Britt!

Today is Aunt Britt's birthday! Aunt Lissa and I are taking her out for dinner, since she doesn't usually get to celebrate.
Keep tuned in, though, Thursday I'll be featuring a post about bullying... No, not about what to do when your kid is bullied. I've found thousands of posts on that. This post will be about the "forbidden" what to do when your kid IS the bully. Not just that, but when your special needs child is the bully. Yikes.

Fun Times at the Beach, and Their Disastrous Ends

Yesterday we went to the beach.

It was pretty fabulous, until the end. We made it about two hours before we caved and left due to Gnat just being so tired and not getting any sleep at the beach. It probably didn't help that ten minutes into being there Bug dumped a pile of sand on top of Gnat's head while he was in the portacrib, so the portacrib was then it's own mini-beach.

Even that, though, we got past.

Bug collected all these awesome shells he was so excited about in his little boat/sand toys. There's only one in the picture, but there was two at some point... Somewhere.

Bug showing off his shells he collected.

Which is just it. At some point, somewhere. He was playing with the toys in the sand and buried them. No big deal. Except he couldn't remember where he buried them. Meltdown ensued. We never found them; I was pretty bummed out too because I wanted to be able to save the shells from the first trip to the beach he actually enjoyed.

Thankfully, we had Aunt Lissa with us, and she saved the day with Slurpees.
Whew. He still was upset, but it helped. Afterwards, he snuggled with me.
Yes, snuggled. That made it all better. Plus James and the Giant Peach on Netflix. Movies help, too, lol.

Good Things Don't Abruptly End... Except in Military Life

Last week was the last week of having Cowboy home with us on leave. The abrupt shift back to him working is hard, but welcomed. I'm not going to lie, I get a lot more accomplished when he's not trying to help me by letting me sleep in, lol.
Don't get me wrong, getting a chance to sleep in is wonderful. I have a terrible sleep pattern, and while I do have medication that's intended to help me, I don't take it often, and it doesn't always work when I do use it. However, he's not fully aware of everything I do in a day around the house, so he can't do it. If I sleep in, those things don't get done, which means I have to cram them in to an even shorter time span!
Now, at least we have what resembles our usual schedule again; however, he will be missed at home all the time! SIGH. #WoesofMilitaryWife

Date Night

Tomorrow is date night, and I'm ridiculously excited.
I know a lot of people grump around about people who take date nights, or even harass about time away from their children. For starters: date night is usually after kids are in bed. As a follow-up... I don't think they've ever had time away from their children with just their spouse.
Yes, I come home, and I've missed my kids. It's also one of the few times that Bug will tell me he missed me as well, so, I'll take it!
Besides, Cowboy and I have such crazy schedules, we take the little time we have for just us and enjoy the heck outta it.

So. Tired.

Life has been... hectic. To say the least. The past few days have consisted of writing and mailing wedding invitations for the long-awaited ceremony.
By long-awaited, I mean by the time we have the full wedding ceremony with the dress, and the cake, and the fun stuff, we'll be three days away from celebrating our two-year-anniversary.
SO, yeah, lol.
Gnat was up ALL night last night, so I'm going to go take advantage of what could be a minimal nap. See ya!

What's a Sleepover Without Popcorn?

Yesterday afternoon I had a really good idea. That's not to say I never had good ideas, just that this was really good. I finally dragged the bread maker my grandmother gave me (two months ago) to the edge of the counter, dusted off the top of it, and decided to save our family some more money, by making homemade bread. Followed all the directions, waited for it to ding, put it on the cooling rack, and this gorgeous loaf came out.

Doesn't it look DELICIOUS? It is!

Good old white bread, super easy to make, all things I had in the house already. Then, I had another good idea! Also, a pretty good one! To slice it up into sandwich slices so we can use it like white bread from the store! Brilliant! Then, came my not so great idea...

Yeahhh... That's a huge mess.

I cut the bread while it was on top of the cooling rack. While that delicious, crisp crust was tasty... It was just a huge freaking mess all over my stove top. Whoops?

Last night was interesting. As always, Bug sat up in bed and talked to himself for a loooong time. Note all the emphasis on that. He'd been on a roll all night, just chatting away to himself even during playtime and reading time. While he was still playing, in the midst of everything, I happened to catch this:

"Don't worry, m'lady, I'm here to help you survive."

Whoa. What? Yes, m'lady. Yes, emphasis on survive. No idea, but it definitely made me stop and wonder if I shouldn't be listening in more often. Shouldn't we all? I really wish I had paid more attention to what had been going on before that. I didn't catch much of what was going on after that, because I was so stunned by what he had said. Not just "I'm here to help you", but I'm here to help you survive. Just... Mind blowing.

Then, there's today. When he got himself wedged between six trees. Not stuck, wedged. Not two trees, six. I'm not really sure how he did it because it only took him being outside for about three minutes while I was prepping lunch. No, I didn't take a picture. While a lot of people found it funny, and said I should have taken a picture, they also didn't experience it. Bug was terrified. Of course, he was terrified, and the whole ordeal flung him into a frenzy. This led to him being even more wedged in there. Did I mention he was also sideways? I had to kneel down, threshold lock my arms around him, and lift him directly up to get him out. That was after I tried just boosting him. The bruising started forming today, so by tomorrow I might have pictures to share on that.

He spent the rest of the afternoon playing inside.

This evening, to repay our dear friend who kept Bug and Gnat so Cowboy and I could have a night alone last week, we keep The Twins. The Twins, newly four-year-olds, are absolutely adorable, and like family to us (as well as their momma and daddy). By we kept The Twins, though, I mean Cowboy is on overnight duty at work and it was Bug (5 1/2), The Twins (4), and Gnat (1). Whew. Lol. It was a blast though! We ate pizza bite things (thanks, Pinterest!), they kicked back and watched Alice in Wonderland circa '51 and Dumbo and enjoyed popcorn. Twin 2 is a popcorn MACHINE. It's insane, seriously. This kid could eat three bags of popcorn to himself and be happier than ever.

The giant in the jersey to the right would be Bug.
We don't watch football 'round here, but Grandma does!
Twin 1 is closest, Twin 2, furthest.

Bedtime went fairly well. Gnat went down earlier than the rest of the gang, poor baby's teething. After they finished watching Dumbo Bug, The Twins, and I said prayers.

As I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
and if I die a'fore I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Amen.

That's Bug's usual prayer that we say every night. We're going to start here soon with expanding that. Twin 1, on the other hand...

I pray for the butterflies... And Mommy... And Daddy... And Twin 2... And Auntie Re (that's me)... And Baby Gnat... And Aiden... And Uncle Matt... And the other butterflies... And the flowers.... AMEN!

Sooo, yeah. That was interesting! Lol. Twin 2 opted out for open prayer, and instead said a line or two of Bug's and then was ready to go to sleep.

All and all, it was a great night; however, since this is a sleepover, I will have a house full of children ready to eat, so away to bed I go!

Facebookfoolery?

Guess what!
I officially have a Facebook page! Technically speaking, it's live!
But my silly phone won't let me share the link, and my Blogger app isn't working right noe... So... yeah...
Share with you tomorrow*?
What can you check out that's new today?
Whelp, our Meet the Family page, that's what! Just some pictures of the gang and a quick blurb about each of us. :)
Enjoy!

*And by tomorrow, I totally mean Thursday when I post again... but maybe actually tomorrow... but count on Thursday, not tomorrow.

New [More Often] Updating Schedule!

So, I'm still working on exactly what this blog is going to be for. As of right now, it's just life, in general, as a whole. The recipe of our lives. The day-to-day events that occur around here.
I've decided the best way to get this going is to MAKE myself update. So, I will be updating this blog on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. I don't know what times, but expect to see posts in the evenings, because that's when I usually have time.
Now that he's up WAY past bedtime (oops? He was good today, he gets some slack); it's time to get Bug into bed. Especially since someone is "invading his side of the universe" upstairs, and I might have to battle some aliens before he can be tucked in.
Keep an eye out for tomorrow's post!

Operation: Overhaul!

The month of February will begin the updating and renovation of the blog! Starting today with our brand spankin' new banner!

Keep an eye out throughout this month as I update more!

The Story of... THE Crocs

My Aunt Mudd and I have bonded a lot over the past few years. We're both SAHM, both military spouses, both outgoing; we just have a lot in common now that I've gotten older.
That being said, my opinion on that drastically changed the day of THE phone call.
"Hey, Re. I bought you a pair of crocs!"
Years of retail work in an ocean front tourist store, restocking the hideous, hole-ridden, plastic smelling shoes flashed through my mind, causing me to cringe through the phone.
"Wow, really? Thanks! I don't have any!" I replied, doing my best to not grind my teeth too loudly into the phone.
I dreaded the next time we would drive to New Jersey to see her, and actually having to put these shoes on.
Several months went by before we would make it to Jersey, and by the time we did, I had forgotten all about THE Crocs.
Aunt Mudd, had not, and she happily presented them to me within hours of our arrival.

THE Crocs, hanging out with the broom and dustpan.
THE Crocs are quite popular walking through our kitchen.

I'm not ashamed. I love them.

Designed more like a ballet shoe (another shoe I totally detest), but with the durability of an actual shoe. These have become my house slipper, essentially, but ones that I can actually wear out of the house!

That's my confession, but man, I just... I just really love THE Crocs. Well, in a more accurate wording, MY Crocs.

I don't know if you'll ever read this, but thank you, Aunt Mudd. You always know what the perfect gift is, even if the initial mention strikes terror into my heart!

Bad Blogger, bad!

Once more I have fallen behind on my blogging. What counts is that I always return, right? That's unfair. Time has been slipping away from me more and more as of late. I WILL be throwing myself back into the swing of things soon!
Also, be on the lookout for some blog changes! Including a layout makeover!!
Get pumped! :D