Is this what happens when you get old?

I feel old today. Not just because I'm tired. No, that's not it.

It's a slap of reality that has hit me the last few days.

I found out yesterday that an old friend had his kidney removed in emergency surgery. I kept seeing some posts on his wife's facebook page about him being so strong, superman, etc. I posted something asking her what was going on, but no response (which has to do with the "former friend part". Let me explain. Best firends in HS, tried to date, didn't work, best friends at the start of college. I started dating, upset him, he never dated, I dated some more - apparently breaking the "we're supposed to get married" code. Yes, I am the "girl that broke his heart" the girl who "let their son fall in love" etc. Really?) Anyhow. The wife isn't a fan of mine, and if he was heartbroken, she has every right to defend him. I get it. But, we have a lot of fantastic friendship memories. A lot of great times. A lot of good stuff. And it's all gone. My biggest regret is not inviting them to my wedding. We weren't speaking. They never thanked me for their beautiful wedding gift (actually they denied ever getting it, even though I had delivered it to his mom). But. I should have been bigger and sent the stupid invitation. I hate that about great friendships that die in the "heat" of a moment. Stupid, stupid, stupid. We were going to try to meet up while on mutual vacations in Savannah this year. I felt so great about it. But, we got the cancellation text. Sigh.

Anyhow. He went to hospital. Had lost 40% of blood internally due to a mass on his kidney. The operated, removed the 4x larger than normal mass. Then hours later went back in to remove the kidney. He is 28. I konw this isn't the worst of the worst, but it just makes me sad for him, for his wife and son to know the recovery they will endure. It makes me sad I can't call him or talk to him as a friend and say how freaking scared and sad I've been.

Sad.

Another acquaintance posted last night that her new husband passed out at work, hit his head and was in the hospital with a skull fracture and an air pocket behind it.

Another Facebook posting uncovered that the son of a family I used to house sit for had a serious bicycling accident and broke his neck and back. He is not paralyzed but is enduring surgery after surgery.

Why??

Why all this serious pain and tragedy?

I thought I'd be better

Well, I really thought I'd be better at posting. But...in true fashion, it's over one month later and I'm just now catching up.

I promise not to bore you with every detail. Is that possible? Sure. Because, mostly I feel like it's been partly hazed by alcohol! Not right now, the past month!

So, I survived the Sorority Conference. The highlight was definitely getting to know three college ladies who traveled with me. They were so fun. They definitely made me realize I'm not 65 years old; and that 27 can still be young and sassy. They also made me realize I can't drink two boxes of wine, extra glasses of sangria and then shots out in the sun by a pool, all day. No, I can't. I'm sorry. However, rebounding with pizza and a movie in bed was classic. Just my style!

Here are the cuties:


9 days was a long time. The conference was only about 4...We had another advisor who had no reason to be home. I was glad to be able to have the work time to take off. And even more glad to have some pool time with some girlie books. And sunshine. And a pool.

I returned home and we went to a family engagement party and then to the lake to camp with my family. How quickly we can leave a resort and go to the camper. I had a mental lapse when I asked if we had to take our own towels to the "shower house." Wrong crowd. Here was the view heading to the 4th of July Fireworks on the water.



I returned from FL on July 2nd. I left on July 19th to go to Minneapolis for a work conference. It nearly killed me. The drinking that is. Another thing the young girls taught me; drinking every week is Fun. Until your body shuts down. I'm really to old for this...



That's my boss. We've been working together for almost 5 years. Luckily, she and I were together and out until 3:30 a.m. one morning. Luckily she understood when I vomited all morning and missed the opening session; she did too. Thank you non-profit gods. What is with our conferences? I mean, I guess we all know the stresses we endure over the year so a chance to totally let lose is just on the agenda. I love that our conferences reunite us with work friends from all over the US. Reignites ideas, passion and love for what we do. The free drinks help too. A lot of what went on there, will stay there. We didn't do Mall of America, or MOA as it's called to the locals. We did do a Twins game which was cool (even though I am not a sports fan). The Target Field was AMAZING. HOly cow. I almost bought by nephew a $40 hat but I opted for a cocktail instead and found my senses. It was that moving though. I ate the 2 story Target store UP! Oh my. HEAVEN. We had great food. All the things a good work trip are made of!

We got back and went right into a new year. Our offices were adopted by Day of Caring and Valspar sent a crew over with our paint color of choice. We're liking the new duds and trying not to junk it up!

Leaving for 9 days

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Orlando (hold your jealousy) for a sorority conference. Luckily the conference doesn't start until Saturday, and only runs through Tuesday. That means I have tomorrow, Friday, Wednesday and Thursday free. Now you can be jealous. I don't think I could handle 9 days of "Oh My Gosh! Chi Omega for Life." No, I know I couldn't. I am excited to go to the resort we're at (because the convention hotel booked up) and to lay out and read. That's all I care about. I heard Disney is there, but fighting the crowds in the heat...Eeek. Oh well, I'll try to rally for one trip (I do have a free pass) but otherwise, I claim my time. There are 3 collegiates going with us; who I think will behave and then one advisor who has poor health and I pray doesn't get very ill. (Why she thinks she needs to go???) So...we'll see how this plays out.

I haven't slept the past few nights. I guess it's anxiety or stress? I'm taking all the pills I have for that! I have loads to pack, to fold, dishwasher to unload, weeds to pull, weeds to spray, flowers to water, notes to leave my husband to water, notes to leave my husband to make sure the dogs have water....See....

Anyhow, we went to Nashville this past weekend for Chad's conference. He had a large night Thursday while on his boys night - and I just beat that by having a LARGE night on Friday...Chad likes to say when I started yelling (he is really being dramatic) at another lady it was time to put me to bed. I'm telling you - free cocktails are dangerous...And so where the two at the bar and so was the one when we got back from the bar. Oh my. Saturday Chad had meetings and I drug myself out of bed around 10:30 to go lay out w/ another wife (who is only weeks away from delivering). I think the sweating and soaking in water from a pool cured me!

We had the "fancy dinner" that night - where I could barely get down 2 glasses of wine (at least I tried).

Here are some pics. We were a Scoobie Doo team for Friday. I don't normally wear the Scoobs out to bars!!



And then a bit more sober and professional looking :)


It's nice to be included in Chad's work conference. They even have a meeting just for spouses, and have the spouses attend the opening session - which is really nice as well.

Today we're tackling May

Oh yes, we are...and then it will be..OMG.. JUNE! (Just in time for July, right?).

I feel like today is the calm before the storm. I know I'm supposed to be catching up on May, but let's just process the next few weeks.

Tomorrow, off work (WHOOHOO!). I'll pick up a wife of one of Chad's co-workers and we'll drive to the Cool Springs, TN area to meet our hubs. It's their work summer conference. Today the men are golfing all day and drinking and then watching basketball tonight. It is bad I'm UBER excited to have a night to myself? A morning to try to sleep in past 6:30??? I can't wait. And, I'll be glad to see Chad, of course. We'll go to a meeting w/ the boys tomorrow afternoon and then to a Cartoon Character Themed Dinner (really. Really?) Saturday I'll have all day free and Chad will get free midday. Unfortunately I won't have a pool to lay out by (BOOO) but Chad has devoted the day to "us" so whatever we do, I guess I should be thankful. There will be a "dress up" dinner that night and then back home on Sunday.

Next week will start another storm. We have our 3 hour Board Planning on Tuesday, haircut and color Tuesday afternoon (which is JUST AS IMPORTANT as Board Planning) and then I leave on Thursday for Orlando. For 9 days. For a sorority convention. It sounded fun months ago but now I'm not sure. I PRAY that the free time we have prior to and after is solely spent by a pool with cocktails. Even if I'm the only one old enough to drink. And no, I'm not confused and thinking I'm still in college, I've just devoted my sanity to being an advisor....again, more cocktails.

So, May...Hi...How are you? Where you been?

Well, according to my planner (because I live by it). This is where we been:

Week of May 3rd - Metings and worked like a dog for our largest fundraiser the Mini Corvette Challenge...a 3 day event. FUN FUN FUN...WORK WORK WORK. A huge success - which we desperately needed for our morale and budget!

Week of May 10th - It's breakfast time - Appreciation Breakfast in Simpson County that I coordinated and conducted. Then - the best part of the month (if not year so far) - OFF TO COLUMBUS to see my best friend KELLEY!!! WHOOHOO! Now, let me just say - COLUMBUS, OH - I LOVE YOU. I love your SHOPPING (OMG). I love your restaurants, I love your bars, I love your shopping, I love you! LOVE YOU!



Chad went with and Kel's boyfriend came up. We went to a fabulous "upscale" Mexican Resty that night...then to one of Kel's favorite dive bars. Saturday she and I shopped in some fabulous area (hello new dress and new shoes), had drinks at lunch (you really can do that) and just enjoyed pure, delightful friendship. Chad golfed and Todd ran errands.

That night we met up w/ Kel's cousin and her hubs and we went to a Clipper's Game. I actually drank beer (!) and had fun at a game (I'm not your sports gal!). Chad, of course, was a trooper!



We left on Sunday and I loved every minute of being with Kelley and having Chad there too...

Week of 17th - Another breakfast in Logan County...another success!

Week of 24th - Sex and the City movie week! Need I say more?
That weekend, an important little buddy graduated high school. I've kept this family of 3 boys for about 8+ years. They were in my wedding if that tells you how much I love them. The oldest graduated this year. OMG!

Here we are years ago at a soccer game. I was often mistaken as their mom - which is a huge compliment (she ROCKS). When I was in college and would stay w/ them for a week - we'd go to dinner and they would start calling me "MOM" which would mortify me. People gave me "that look" like I was really a 20 year old mother of 3!!!



and at my rehearsal dinner:


and wedding:


Those pics were almost 2 years ago and they are all just as handsome as ever...I am a lucky lady to have been blessed by their family.

Well, I think that's it for May...June...get ready, we're going for July!

Let's get through April

Ok...I noticed I worked up to April 7th...Then I looked at my calendar and it says JUNE now so I figured it was time to haul ass.

ATL was a blast...We shopped, ate, drank, shopped and just had a good time. It was truly Driving Miss Daisy (Me driving my mom and her friend) but it was wonderful, quality time. It was fun to see our friends renewed spirit and it was great to have some time with my mom, away from other distractions.

Back to reality.

That weekend also marked Chad playing in the 2nd Franklin Simpson Alumni HIgh School game...He enjoys it more than he'll ever say! It's fun seeing him cut up and try to be 15 with all these athletes! Some legends never change.

That week of work started chaos. We hosted our Annual Appreciation Breakfast in Warren County with over 100 in attendance. I didn't realize how much my part ended up being the "meat & potatoes" of the event, but I am glad it was. It is really rewarding to put together a "year in review" of all the work we do for students. Well, a power point helps illustrate that but it is remarkable. This was one even that we received some very heartfelt praise and thanks for - but more than that, we received so many feelings of appreciation for what we do - and what most people don't realize we do. I also hosted a AT&T Job Shadow for 40 students from one of our high schools. Despite a rocky start with my organizer at the site - it was a FANTASTIC experience...the site went above and beyond and the students were really engaged, which is hard to do at that age. Even better that we received funding for every student that went through the experience...so...SCORE for the NON PROFIT budget!!

The weekend of April 16th-18th was one of the most trying events of the Spring. We went to a family engagement cookout that Friday which was easy and fine. Saturday started the day from hell. Let me recap:

9:15 - go to a salon to do a trial run of makeup on a bride I have never met. There is a lot going on in that one statement. I hate going into salon's to do make up - it always turns out fine but I feel like they are looking at my hodge podge of make up and wondering "who in the hell" I think I am rolling in there (literally...I roll a scrap booking suitcase in)...The bride turned out to be chill (would you be if you'd been at the salon since 6:45 a.m. getting a color, highlight and style by someone you've never met)? Her mother turned out to be "that mother of the bride." Oh me...I didn't start makeup til about 9:40...They were out the door by 10:15, off to buy an outfit at Macy's for an 11:00 shower that was 20 minutes away.....Can you tell there is SO MUCH MORE to the story?

From there I had about 2 hours to kill, which initially I thought would be spent sitting outside in the sun, but I thought I'd tackle my husbands office room/closet...I made it gleam...until he got home and was NOT appreciative...Eeeeck.

Then to our local university for a 2:00 meeting (which was a weekend of events in itself but of course, none of that worked out for me).

Then home at 3:30 to change to go take candid photos at a small private wedding, then to go get them developed and framed and on a table for reception guests to see.

I'm going to stop there and say the pictures were great, none of the guests cared, I drank wine and danced and then we relived the closet cleaning annoyance at home. Fun times.

April 21st...the project I spent 2 months on. I was working on a job shadow experience for the entire 240 student senior class at one of our high schools. This has been MY BABY...At the end of the day, 172 students went into 70+ different businesses for a job shadow experience. The rest either skipped, didn't turn in a permission slip or didn't care. Yes,I will do it again next year....because my reward was a free ticket to BON JOVI that night(these didn't go hand-in-hand) and a free dinner at Ruth's Chris....I considered it my reward!!

The 23rd we had JA Night at the Hot Rods - our baseball team (I have no idea what division). It's an easy event and great publicity for us!

That was about it for the rest of April...other than chaperoning our second Sorority Formal. We actually drank at this one...and it was much more fun that the last!

Whew...Are you still there?

I'm not sure who I am referring to in that questions (ok, Jack - it's you) but maybe I need to ask myself that question! March 16 was the last post...really? Really? Ok, so how to catch up on two months..Well, I'm going to flip through my calendar and realize it may take a week or two to catch up - but I'm going to try.

So, since Nahm Lately, what's been going on. When I flip my calendar back to March - I realize why I went MIA. It's a sea of yellow high-lighter..and I think my blood pressure is rising. But wait, it's over. I made it out alive. So what was it all about?

Looks like a lot of meetings, I hosted my first Sangria Saturday on March 20th with Keri and Katie. For a moment it looked like it was just going to be me, but the gals pulled through, and Mom even stopped by! Although it wasn't toasty and sunny, we made it fun with fantastic appetizers. Keri had another party to go to, so Katie's hubby (our wedding photographer) joined us and then stayed for pizza and a UK game, I think! Fun times. Sangria Saturday's are "the thing".

I hosted two Best Buy Job Shadows on March 23rd and 24th. That was 76 5th graders that I accompanied on a half day experience w/ our local Best Buy. It's a win-win for us. We get student numbers and we get $500 a day in grant funds! Score!!

I assisted with some sketchy and bothersome sorority personnels due to Spring Break behavior. The younger generations really are a different breed. Oh my.

I also lured Chad into chaperoning a Chi Omega dance on Saturday, March 27th. When I say he is a trooper, HE IS A TROOPER. Amid the dates that were passing out, vomiting on the floor, knocking holes in the bathroom walls and girls randomly crying, Chad chatted it up with the DJ, had a few beverages and maintained his cool the whole time!

I worked with high school students to film a video for our JA office to show at events and breakfasts. Filming in local schools was really fun and we didn't some neat things. The video turned out fantastic.

Hello April...

Heather (boss) and I traveled to Corbin, KY to pitch some Junior Achievement things but the highlight was eating at Colonel Sanders hometown KFC. Honestly folks, it's the little things. That same night I met my friend Katie at Greener Groundz for $2 wine night, which is quite possibly one of the highlights of my weeks.

April 7th I traveled with my mom and my basically second Mom, Donna to Atlanta. We were going to the Apparel Market and took Donna along. One of my favorite things about going to ATL is seeing my mentor and dear friend, Christine. Here are some pics to liven up this post:

I can't get the damn picture to post...I've been trying for two weeks now..Oh well, I"m publishing and will continue to update!!!

Nahm Lately

I took off Friday - MUCH NEEDED - but instead of resting or piddling...I launched into a full on project. By Myself. I had purchased some bedding two weeks ago for our guest room - the room we ran out of steam and money on when we renovated the bachelor pad before the wedding. I remembered why we didn't tackle that room. Can we say wood laqured trim? Everywhere? Can we say it all had to be PRIMED and then painted with OIL BASED paint? Oh fun. Anyhow, I managed, by myself, to paint two coats of paint on the walls, edge the whole room and then prime and paint the trim. The door, closet doors and window probably need another coat but after 72 hours of painting, I just wanted the damn room DONE...so....I put it all back together and will think about painting another coat...Sometime...
Here is the new room...Note I need a new valance, some artwork and some pillows for the shams.These closet doors were a B*&TC*
I also decided last night, as if I hadn't done enough, I could start on a picture wall in the Pool Table room...(Chad will love this when he tries to play pool).And thanks to Savannah; my inspiration wall behind our bed, is complete:
While we didn't leave the house this weekend, we did celebrate some birthdays two weekends ago. It was a fun night out. We stayed out til 11, gasp! I got to dance...and dancing with girlfriends can be fun!
Whew...I'm ready for some more time off!