Procrastinating

I'm not sure whether it is Mike or me who is best at procrastinating but we both are very good at it!  I'm sure you have noticed, if you follow this blog.

We went to Mike's sister's retirement from the Air Force in May. It was great meeting this sister & seeing his dad & another sister again.  Since the ceremony was in NJ, we stayed in Wilmington DE with my best friend & her family. This was the first time Mike had visited and he fit right in, kept them entertained with his military and growing up stories. He absolutely loved hanging out with my godson, who will be 10 next month.  I'm sure you all will be jealous but sorry ladies, this handsome guy is all mine!

I was also able to spend a couple days in CA with the grandchildren, oh, yes, Josh & Stacey were there too!  While I always have a great time when I visit, the highlight was when Justin brought his shark books to read to me. This is when he dropped the 'Sandy' from Grandma! (for those of you who don't know, we became Justin's grandparents when Josh married his mom). Miss Olivia came to me with this request: "We need to go to the Home Store and buy me some Dora skates." Apparently she had been wanting them for a while but Stacey kept putting her off. As you have probably guessed, as soon as Justin got home from school, we all went to the Home Store!  Here she is, practicing. 

And here is Josh & Justin putting together his new toy....I don't remember what it is called but I guess its pretty popular and a spin off of Pokemon? He also got swim goggles. He is so sweet, he was going to get less expensive ones but they weren't the ones he really wanted. I'm Grandma, he got the ones he really wanted! (btw, they were less than $10)

I have no idea why this wont allow me to have the alignment on the left, I've tried to change it to no avail.

Missy has finished her freshman year of HS, is glad to have that over and done with. She will start her 6 weeks with her mom on Monday.  I was back in Wilmington DE last weekend for the graduation of my best friend's daughter. I met her when she was 3! Not exactly sure how she grew up so fast but it just seems like last week she was starting school! It was a fun time, Jessica was with me, Graceanne had to work. It was nice to spend some time with Jess, first at home here with Mike & Missy, then in DE. Jessica brought us our Christmas gifts. (yes, its been that long!) Missy loves the fashion sketching books & of course, I love the scrapbooking books! For Mike, a new DVD, Jessica knows how much he loves movies!  She will be back in DE when she will be pet sitting in August, when they take Kylie to college. They have 2 great danes, 1 wiemeramer (spelling?) 3 birds and 2 cats. The love bird, Charlie, really took a liking to Jessica.

Mike is back to work as of this past week. No, they have not figured out what is wrong with him. Yes, he still gets the pain in his side when he stands any length of time but the pain meds seem to be making it bearable. All of you who know Mike knows he is not one to be off work for any length of time so I'm sure you are not surprised he went back. I'm not saying Mike is stubborn or anything but he is Irish. Thats all I'm saying.

I am giving serious consideration to attending the Creating Keepsakes Convention here in August, anyone want to come with?  I would even move the scrapbook stuff off the bed in the guest room for you. I have been diligently working on finishing Jessica's books. Finally. I have her senior year to do and then finishing touches on her formal dances & dance books. I am committed to finishing these before starting on Olivia's and she is now almost 3 1/2.

I will go back to work in the morning, have enjoyed being home all week & catching up on some household chores that have been neglected lately. Can anyone explain to me how the inside of a fridge gets so dirty??

I also plan to go to the Homer Laughlin tent sale the end of the month, anyone need some Fiestaware?  Let me know. If you'd like to make the trip with me, the more the merrier!

That's it for now, if you are in our neck of the woods please feel free to stop in or give us a call and we'll be glad to meet up with you.

Freshman Year

(I have finally convinced Missy to write a blog entry for our family blog)

The end of freshman year. I never thought it would end this fast. It feels as if just last month I was starting at Central Cabarrus, and here I am wearing a CCHS Viking’s T-shirt that has phrases like, “best friends forever” and “I’ll miss you”. When the truth is… they aren’t my best friends, and if you really think about it, I won’t miss them, and they probably wont even remember me next year.


Honestly, I won’t miss Central one bit over the summer. No, I will miss every bit of Central. At Central Cabarrus, there’s more to life than homework and test scores. There is a whole other life. My freshman year has been filled with this other life; some of the good and at times it felt like most of the bad. The other life at CCHS, is a life not many have found yet. (Those are the people stumbling to your left, who are also violating the dress code and disrespecting the faculty) I had a hard time recognizing this life. This other world. I pushed and shoved it away when it came to me with open arms. These last few months however, I have found, this other life is a place where people know who their true selves are. I thought I knew who I was as a person in the beginning, but now I realize how wrong I was. I finally welcomed that side of Central into my life.

I have learned that life isn’t always easy, sometimes problems can come at you in multiple directions. That person you wanted to believe you could “love” “forever and always”, sometimes you just can’t. Sometimes love isn’t always true. Sometimes, you have to take a step back and look at things through the eyes of an adult. Sometimes, you have to break someone’s heart. And when your real best friend starts to branch out and find herself, sometimes you have to hold dear the old memories and make room for the new. I have learned people will make attempts to hurt you, but whether they fail or succeed is your choice to make. Sometimes it isn’t your choice though. Sometimes, you will get hurt, you will fall down, but when you pick yourself up and hold your head high, that is not defeat. That is courage and bravery. I have learned to hold on to friendships others throw away. To forget about all the hurtful remarks and make friends with the boy whom used to tease you in the sixth grade. (Usually, those people have an amazing story to tell that will warm your heart and hold onto them tight so they can’t get away.) To look back on friendships (and yes, even the boyfriends you weren’t allowed to have) and remember all the good times you had and trash all the bad.

Most of all, and this one was the hardest, I learned to stop trying to change myself for other people. I learned to except myself as the person I truly am. I learned that if I can’t be myself around someone then I shouldn’t be around him or her at all. If you are constantly taken aside and told how to act, then that person isn’t worth your recognition. I have many friends who are dealing with this problem right now. They know who they are, but people are telling them to change. It’s a constant battle for control… a battle I once fought too. I choose to fight it or be apart of it, no more. It’s wrong to try to change people. They are who they are, whether you like it or not is your problem.

I am who I am…and I have a lot of growing and changing (on my own, I may add) to do. And yes, I will miss those dreadfully cruel eight hours of my day being wasted. I may even miss the homework, oh no, sorry, that was a typo. The correct statement would be: I will NOT miss the homework, or the eight hours. My apologies to my teachers but honestly, (on a lighter note) IT’S SUMMER!!!

- Melissa Riley