Happy Birthday - 08/12/07

Ok, so I'm ten days late. When have I ever been on time? I was even born a week late. Never going to catch up!

I have been blogging for a year now. Some things have changed, some things haven't. It's hard to believe how much a life can alter in just a year. Here is the short list of the things that have changed:

1. Address
2. Employer
3. Hair color
4. Outlook on life
5. Income
6. Disposable income (totally different from #5!)
7. Willingness to eat vegetables
8. Work behavior (yes, an old dog can learn new tricks)
9. Exercise habits
10. Ability to handle stress

Here is the short list of things that haven't changed in a year:

1. Sense of humor
2. Mood swings from high to low (although it's less trapeze and more baby swing now)
3. Penchant for diet pepsi and anything carbohydrate!
4. Ability to create sexual fantasies out of any situation
5. The people I truly call friends
6. Determination to make myself the best "me" possible
7. My love of college football
8. Money management skills (or lack thereof)
9. My dislike of laundry and pretty much any housecleaning chore
10. My cleavage!

Ok, so I had to find some stuff to put on each list. Although, there are a bunch of things that I am very proud of for making positive changes in my life. I've had help. That should be the first change I should acknowledge...the ability to accept help from others. I'm not good at it still, but I have little conversations in my head "Now, come on, just admit you don't know it and ask for help" and then I show myself to be the bigger person by asking for help rather than ignoring the issue.

I've also grown emotionally by learning to step away from situations before I get too involved. That's what caused my termination from the job I had last year. Getting too emotionally involved. The job in the middle was a learning experience...I learned I really shouldn't be around others. "Annie doesn't play well with others"...it was on my Kindergarten report card. That and "Annie finishes her work early and then bothers the other children while they are finishing their work". I still do that one too. I guess I learned how to entertain myself since I wasn't allowed to bother the others. I think my best working environment is where I have a set goal and a deadline, but without someone constantly popping in to see how things are going. Unless he happens to fill out a pair of jeans very nicely...then he can interrupt all he wants! As long as he doesn't expect a coherent answer.

One aspect of change from the last year that I am extremely happy about is the improvement in the quality of life for the kids and I. My mom has been here for the last month and the kids have had a real summer...staying home, sleeping in, watching TV, going to the pool, etc. Joe took his first swim classes. He didn't pass, but they tell us none of them do the first time around. That it usually takes 3 or 4 tries at the class to get through it. Alex and Taylor are nut brown from spending all the time outside, they are all taller and healthier from the exercise we did this summer, the change in eating habits and all around more attention to health. Not spending 2 hours in traffic every day frees up our entire day so we sleep a little later, get home a little earlier and actually have time to spend with each other during the day before it's time for bath and bed.

I say all this after spending the last week eagerly anticipating the first day of school tomorrow. Even Joe is going. We found a great daycare with a private pre-k program that will teach him Spanish and computer skills before the year is through. Over the weekend I picked up some school clothes for him including new shoes which we were so excited about showing him when he came home from Michael's....only to have him walk in with the exact same new shoes on his feet. How funny is that!?! Well, at least we both know what the kid likes, right?

I'm thinking back to the first day of school excitement that I had growing up. Even as recent as a few years ago when I was getting my second degree and a new semester would start. I think I'm feeling Joe's excitement tonight...I can't sleep, I'm picking out clothes, laying them out, lining up everything to be packed up and hoping I don't miss the alarm in the morning. In a perfect world, this goes swimmingly in the morning, Joe wakes up happy, gladly gets dressed, quickly eats his breakfast and is ready to face the day by 6:45. More likely, I will oversleep, rush around trying to get ready, change outfits three times, hate my hair and in this lovely mood, wake him up at 6:30, dress him while he's half asleep and grab a piece of bread for him as we are heading out the door. Fortunately, the private pre-k includes before and after care so he will get breakfast too!

So I'd have to say that the last year, while traumatic and dramatic in spots, has been a positive one. One in which I grew as a mother, employee and person. I know there is one big area left in my life that needs serious work, but I think that will have to be next year. Thanks for reading, thanks for the comments and thanks for allowing me to vent, pontificate and basically blab all while under the guise of 'writing'.

Until later.....

Annie M.