Happy Birthday to ME!

Jane at 16

Well folks, it's that time again....I can't believe I'm turning 40 years old today. I don't know if I should be freaked out or happy. Naw, I know I'm happy. I was doing some retrospective thinking last night (probably TOTALLY not the right word for what I was doing, but I can't think of the right one right now) and I can honestly say that I'm happy at this point in my life. There are a lot of people in my life who care about me (you all know who you are!) and that's what is most important. Although my morning started off rough (teenagers are so trying at times!!) this day is looking better and better all the time. It's only 11:00 in the morning and I've already gotten so many texts, emails, Myspace messages, etc. wishing me a happy birthday. Tonight is a "date night" with my son--dinner at whatever restaurant I choose, then we're off to see a movie. I'm sure I'll end my birthday talking on the phone to the person who loves me the most.

Then two weeks from now, I get to see all of my family. Well not ALL of my family, but my mom, dad, my sister & all of her family. It's been years (seriously, like 20?) since my mom & dad were in the same place together for some kind of event. I really think the last time was my brother's wedding. So this will be a real gift to visit with both of them at the same time. I think going to West Virginia to get some "down time" in will do me a lot of good. It's been a rough 7 months or so and this will get me centered again.

I feel like I should be ending this post with something really philosophical....but I got nothin'....

Happy Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day.... I talked to my mom yesterday, but I'm sure I'll still send her an email today or make a quick call to wish her a happy day. Yesterday, she called me--she called because I was having an extremely rough day and needed encouragement and without hesitation she picked up the phone and called. (This was after she had already sent an email giving me encouragement and offering some great advice.)
I can't say enough about my mom...I've always loved her and always appreciated her, although not as much at some times (like when I was a teenager, sorry Mom) as others. But as an adult, I can look back and know that even when she was going through rough times, she was still always there for me in her heart. She always did what she thought was best for me.
These are some difficult times for me right now and she is always right there with the shoulder to cry on, the sound advice, and the great encouragement. Yesterday she sent me this poem that she said is one of her favorites and it really made me get teary-eyed:

My Daughter
I love to hear you come through the door,
Calling my name as you had before,
And feel your embrace, knowing you care,
Patting you gently and stroking your hair.
As you begin to tell of your day,
My thoughts return to yesterday....

I'M selecting the dress that you are to wear,
And choosing the ribbons to put in your hair.
We're having a party, you're serving me tea.
You're loving your "baby." pretending you're me.

...I know that you say, "It was years ago,
And I was just little," but I miss that so!
I cherish the minutes you now spend wit me
As we laugh and share those old memories.
Often at times - though you're unaware -
I'd love to put ribbons once more in your hair.

I love you Mom, more than you know. Thanks for always being there for me....

Who Reads Me?

Okay, curiosity is getting the better of me....

Down at the bottom of my blog, there is a map that shows what cities people are from who have stopped in and read my blog. I'm sure there are random people who just stop in and read it because they happened upon me purely by accident. But there are some cities (you know who you are, Duluth, GA!!) that pop up on a regular basis. Who are you people? Drop me a comment now & then. I don't care if you tell me my blog sucks or you just say hi. But I'd sure love to know who you are, and it would also be nice to hear what you think of all the hard work I put into this blog (ha!) Share the love!

Finger Licking Cheater

Another funny commercial from Orbit. Still don't think it's as funny as the first one...but still made me laugh.



Added note:
Even funnier than the commercial, I think, are the little video clips that can be found on this site: http://www.myspace.com/cheerfororbit
Click on the different videos to see the different cheers.

Life On The Farm

Well kiddos, I've done it again... I've gone way too long without writing anything. Like my friend Scott (Little) recently said, "I WILL NOT become one of those bloggers that blogs less and less and then before you know it, it's been 1 year since your last entry. I will not!" My sentiments exactly...

But I'm having difficulty keeping up with this post for more reasons than one. Mainly, with so much going on in my life lately regarding divorce, moving, custody, etc., things like blogging fall to the wayside. But one of my biggest issues is this: I have already discovered that my soon-to-be ex has been reading this blog and also trying to find ways to read my page on Myspace (which has been set to private). He even went so far as to look up friends of mine to see if he could find out info about my live from reading their comments. So unfortunately it makes me feel a little less "free" to blog away about my life in general. I could make this blog private also, but that would require my friends & family to sign up for a blog account to be able to read this and I don't think that's fair.

But to keep you up to date, Collin & I are still in the house we're renting but I never really have unpacked all the way. Still no livingroom furniture, but I'm kind of used to it now. We do have some new additions to the house....COWS!! They're not OUR cows, they belong to the neighbors. (There are only seven of them) But we are just enjoying the benefits from them. (Yes, cows do have benefits...) I've been trying to figure out for awhile how I was going to keep the pastures cut down, especially since I don't have a lawnmower anymore. So the cows will keep the pastures down, and also the neighbors have promised to take care of irrigating my pastures. I don't have to mess with it! Plus I can lie there in bed at night and listen to the gentle lowing of the cattle....okay, not really. They don't really make any noise at night. In fact, I've only heard them make noise on a couple of occasions. Mostly just when one gets seperated from the rest. One of them in particular is very gentle and seems to like people. He comes up to the fence or to where I'm standing and lets me rub his head. He even had an encounter with Rowdy once too.


Other than that, life has been pretty non-monumental around here. It dawned on me the other day that even though I've been only been living in this house for about 4 months (wait, ONLY?? Geesh, time seems to have flown!) I've actually been seperated for 5 1/2 months. That's almost half a year! Life goes on.... I've gotten closer to some old friends, made some new friends, and...well...there are some things about my personal life that I'll just keep personal for now. ;)