Curious George

"It was so embarrassing!", Carter said as we chatted about the surprise note I left inside his lunch box last Thursday. In fact, it was on this particular school morning I packed Carter's lunch box before Mom came home and discovered two pudding cups! I was so tired from working the night before that I packed his favorite sandwich, two cheese packs, and two pudding cups, thinking how nutritious that would be for lunch! Anyways, by Friday evening we chatted more about his school friends, butt-cracks, books, video games, and the secrets he wanted to tell me. Like the time he waited for Shawn to leave home, so that he could sneak up into the attic and look for cigarettes in his dresser drawers but discovered a fifty-dollar bill instead. No sooner had he found a fifty dollar bill did he have to return the green back to its rightful owner. Carter kept the money as if he could somehow get Shawn to confess his purchases. Later on, he asked questions like "who will you marry?" and "when will you have a baby?", then expressed how much he disliked it when Melissa answered those very same questions, adding sheer mockery in his voice..."Well, we will just have to wait and see!!!". "Melissa has too many secrets", he said.
"I like secrets", Carter said to me with such glee. For a split second, my big sister aetna swore she heard the word cegret, aka cigarettes, then quickly realized what he meant. Carter immediately corrected my assumption, and I absolutely had to stand still in the living room while he explained the difference between a cegret and a secret, claiming "secrets are what people keep to themselves" and "cegrets are smoking", and "I like secrets". Just like the Inspector Gadget cartoon, Melissa once reigned as the family's professional spy. Last Friday night, Carter officially became Curious George in the memory book of another one of my sibling chapters.

More of Happy Easter 2009

Happy Easter 2009

There is something to be said about the way our family spends each holiday. Everyone gathers at my parents' home. Their home is small but large enough to accomodate a group of ten or more. When I was a child, I did not like our farmhouse because it was old and felt lost in the woods. At twenty-six, I can't imagine what life would be like without this "magical place" as my mother, Debbie, would say. Every year, every holdiay, we gather around my parents' dinner table. Right there, you know Ben and Debbie are doing something right. And, as each year goes by, I wonder how many more are left. Here is to a Happy Easter 2009!!!

YMCA Promotion

Recently, I just got promoted from Member Service Associate (Front Desk) to Member Service Coordinator (Back Office). Now, I share the back office with two other people, so I feel like it's my cubicle! I have had my own office before with four walls and a door, but I like this set-up much better. It's an open set-up. The front desk had a TV across the way, so when we were slow, I watched the news. Getting paid to watch the news, who doesn't like that idea? Anyways, I really like my new job working with employees. Human Resources has always been my strong point. I wear a lot of hats, run two departments, and two buildings, but I'm used to chaos! I think my youth prepared me for it, so that's why I think it doesn't burn me out. I can be totally calm during hectic moments. Go, YMCA!!!!!

Babysitting Jewelry Galore!

Thank God for my friend Nicole's love for jewelry. To this day, I am still earning jewelry for babysitting her son, Christopher. I am always happy to do so, however, I just have to say that I truly look forward to getting paid in jewelry and not in money. Soon enough, I will need to construct another jewelry display!

Butterfly Garden

Mom's butterfly garden, and window boxes we designed and planted together last year. I learned a lot and can't wait to plant this year. Never knew I had a green thumb like my mother's.