Gone Gray

I remind all you smart people that social media is a highly filtered snapshot of the moments of life we choose to share.  Christmas day ended up being more of a learning experience than me and B had hoped for, but the weekend before.... B and I nailed Christmas. In odd numbered years the skids spend Christmas and New Year with their mom. For us that means no Santa. No stockings. No early deliveries. Santa comes to where they are waking up on Christmas Day.  We knew there would be no shortage of unwrapping presents since both B and I have very generous families so we choose to go with 1 box supporting an experience for each skid. Asharp got to dig through box after box to open gift-cards and appointment slots to the American Girl store. Her doll got a spa treatment; her hair did; some shopping and then Asharp, her doll, my sister, and I went to the cafe for a 3 course meal. I HIGHLY recommend the bistro experience if you have someone into American Girl. The Bistro wa...

Growing up, Sundays meant Olga's Diner. Late nights: Olga's. Christmas Eve: Olga's. It was the family go-to for breakfast on the weekends. We sat in the back because that was the smoking section and mom smoked. It was family owned and open 24/7. Olga's even sponsored my childhood soccer team for a couple of years. As I became a teen, it was our late night hang out after movies, youth group events, and then eventually after work.  Olga's was our under 21 hang out or where we hung out when we or a friend were still under 21. Before googlemaps and mapquest, we met friends there who were driving in from out of town as it was easier than explaining how to get to the house. The memories include: Grilled cheese, cinnamon toast, hot chocolate. Scrounging change to make sure we had enough money to tip. Every once in a while, the senior (70+ year old) server would yell at us for being too loud or moving around too much. Big conversations were had there. Laughs were plen...

It's the Monday after Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature stirring not even a mouse. There better not be any mice stirring or we are moving. The kids were home for the past week as it was our Thanksgiving. We had a steady stream of people through the house. And when the kids are here, they tend to gather neighborhood children and bring them back. I love being "that" house in the neighborhood, but it gets loud. Younger girls were inside playing and the older kids (with me and B) were outside playing 4square. Yes, we put a 4square court in the driveway. Now it's Monday. The kids went back to their mom's last night. The relatives are gone. B and I are back to work, him in the office and me from the kitchen table. It's time to get back to the usual before the rush of the next wave of holidays and family visits. It's quiet. Shelly has no idea what to do with herself as there is no one to play with, no one to snuggle on the couc...

I realized the reason I felt I needed to stop blogging in January 2019 was that I felt like the life I was living wasn't my own. Since I wasn't living my own life, it wasn't my place to tell others' stories. It was also a really low time and I wasn't feeling very good about myself despite some of the most amazing events of my life happening in 2018. I had nor have the desire to capitalize on blogging or social media. On a scale of 1 to a 100, you could count my interest in being an #influencer on one hand. So why am I back? Well, I missed it. I missed writing. Life has settled into a routine, chaotic as it may be. We are in a good place (not just saying that this time) with the stepkids' mom. My professional life is in a place that I'm genuinely proud of what I do. I'm back to a spot of being ok with myself and what I'm trying to accomplish. My first blog was about being single and chasing an elusive dream of being an Ironman. Not only did I...