He is stealing me away. Hubby has arranged a weekend away for the two of us. Even though this weekend will include a plethora of football and football talk, I get to go. See it’s his annual Fantasy Football Frenzy weekend escape. Generally I’m not into football like he is. He was a ref so he see it for the technicalities of the game. I see it as a bunch of guys bashing around on a green fields with hash marks.
We are leaving the snow behind and running away to Las Vegas. May be I’ll gamble a little like last year. I came home $400.00 richer. Not the norm I know, but I went in with only $50.00 to spend. I think that quadrupling my money was pretty good.
I will write while I’m away…..may be!

Ok I take it back about the weather. Blizzard like conditions. Slid down the mountian to get to work. *whine…I need a four wheel drive.

It does not seem like the start of winter here. Sure we had snow one day, but that is not much in comparison. Most people do not know the secret of Colorado. The secret is….we have more sunshine days than Florida or California. Out of a year we have around 317 sunshine filled days. Now granted that could be sunshine through the snowflakes, but none the less it is sunshine.
How is everyone else? Sunshine? Rain? Snow? Sleet?

I was in the guest room looking at some pictures last night when I came across my parent’s wedding picture. As I peered into my mother’s face I realized that I remembered her that way. Somewhere in the depths on my brain I remember my beautiful mother as young and vibrant. I remember her flawless skin and her beautiful hazel eyes that held such a love for life.
She was 25 when she married my father. She was a city girl. He was a country boy. Their first date was a year before they married. He took her to church. When he asked her to marry him he said, “Well, I guess we have got to get married.” She responded with “I haven’t done anything for you to presume that we have to do anything!” My father always had a way with words.
At 27 she gave birth to me and then thirteen months later to my sister. She worked full time as a nurse in the cardiac unit. She loved her patients and they loved her. Our home as a child was filled with artwork that some of them had done. The pieces are still there in the same place today.
Looking through the photo albums I see that she had no idea what life would throw her. Her life was still an unwritten story that we had the privilege of being the one of the main characters.
A strange feeling of been there, done that came over me. She had been in my place only years previous. In her eyes I saw myself. The same hazel green brown eyes that looked back at me when I looked in a mirror. I saw the same look of anticipation and wonder at what life would hold.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I go to a swim class. I love it. I love the water and the feeling of weightlessness. It’s calming and soothing even in the most stressful moments of my life.
The class has about 15 older woman that have been doing this for years. The class is like having social hour at the local coffee shop rather than a work out class. They are adorable and I must say I have grown to like them very much in just the few weeks I’ve known them.
The sagas of their lives unroll like toilet paper as they air their proper dirty laundry and naughty talk to each other. I’ve learned more about Viagra, medications, health problems, dirty secrets and who has the best 2.99 breakfast in town.
It is like belonging to a purple hat club without being of age. I am an honorary member. They invite me to coffee after the fact. They go to McD*nalds so that HB can play while we talk. HB calls it my “silver hair bathing place” I call it a enjoyment in watching the golden years and perceive what it may be like down the road.

I have been very lucky as to have my niece and nephew for a few days! I love hearing the children play and do their games. I have a few things that have been said that just tickle my fancy.
Genuine Nephew - “I want to pray before dinner!!”
Me - “Ok go right ahead.”
Genuine Nephew - “Dear God, Thank you for this day. Please help Jesus not die on the cross. Help Hula Boy share the computer with me. Help us all to be good boys and girls…AMEN!”
I have to say that I had to leave the room to giggle.
Then there was the infamous prayer last night where Genuine Nephew prayed for all the animals in the world. This of course touched me.
Genuine Niece has a heart of gold. I always ask her how she keeps her body walking with such a sweet spirit. I would think the gold would wear her down!
We raced and chased last night. Now that I have been getting my weight in check (meaning I am losing not that I am at my primo weight) I have had more energy to run and play. They all ganged up on me, but in the end I won by hiding in the hall closet until they were close.
At bedtime there were gobs of kid giggles as they knew that their beds were the only place they were safe from the tickle queen. I kissed them all with sloppy wet auntie/mommy kisses with raspberries on top and put them to bed.
After the lights went out I could hear Genuine Nephew and Genuine Niece come together to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” (this would be Genuine Niece’s favorite song I believe) and “Jesus Loves Me”. Hula Girl and Hula Boy joined the chorus from their rooms. I heard the words slowly slur and then silence.
I absolutely love being a mom and an auntie. I am blessed indeed to have all good children in my life.

I was sitting here reflecting on how different my life has turned out. When I was young I imagined great things. Now that I am older I am doing great things, just not the great things I intended!
Where was the fork in the road? Why did things turn out so different.
The path I chose was not an easy one. I had to do everything the hard way to learn and experience it first hand.
I always wanted to be on stage. My first time on stage was when I was 5. I did a recital and fell in love with it. I sang for our church many Sundays. When I was 8 I entered my first serious state competition in piano and voice. I loved it. I also went for poetry and a short play. I was in 7th heaven.
I was in a small private school until 8th grade. There were 120 students in the whole school. I enjoyed the sheltered life I had. In 9th grade my parents changed us to a different school where I still excelled. I was a cheerleader, and a volleyball player. The competition was tough but it was good. This school was a little bigger. It had 180 in the Jr. High and High School. In 11th grade my parents could no longer afford to keep us in private schools. They sent us to our local public school. (which is where I met my future husband!)
I didn’t feel comfortable wearing the cheer leading uniforms so I did not try out. The ones we had in private school were right above our knees. I didn’t want to wear a skimpy short skirt. (mind you I did have the body for it!) The volleyball uniforms were short shorts. I had never worn those before. So I didn’t try out for volleyball. I felt very lost in a world of over 2500 students.
When it came time for college my parents were not keen on what I had chosen. I wanted to go for theater and music. They had bigger plans for me. They wanted me to be a teacher. Although I find that a wonderful profession, it was not me. They insisted that I would never make any money at it and left it at that. I did not have enough in me to go against them so I went to school to be a teacher and dropped out within the first semester.
I hooked up with some friends from high school and we started a local heavy metal band. With that experience and traveling I ended up in Tampa, Florida where the future Hula Hubby lived at the time. He was going to school full time and working full time. We decided to hold off getting married until he finished getting his Bachelor’s. Shortly after finishing college we headed back to the mid west and began planning for the future.
Being that where we lived was in a recession, Hula Hubby searched for a job outside of the U.S. and found one on Andros Island in the Bahamas. He was there for a year and a half. I missed him terribly, but knew this was the best choice for him, for us and our future. I went to work at a bank.
After returning for my sister’s wedding, Hula Fiancée decided to leave his job on the island and come back to the states. We were married in a little chapel in the mountains 6 months later.
Two and a half years later our princess joined our family. At the same time my grandparents came to live with us and I was the full time care taker for them.
Where did the fork in the road happen that lead me down the path to being a doula? Honestly, I don’t know. All I know that was from the time I was 19 I was asked to attend the births of many of my friend’s children. There was something there that I always had the energy for. It was like being asked to witness a miracle and I am always in the spirit to see a new life born. There’s something that makes me feel like life is starting fresh. It exhilerates me and gives me hope for the future.

A lot has happened in the Hula household since I posted back in August. The children have gone back to school. I have gone back to work part time to help pay for that schooling!! I also am in school myself. Needless to say I am burning the candle at both ends.
Hula Boy has decided that he likes school even if he has to be away from me. He likes playing with his new found friends. His teachers think that he’s a hoot. What he is learning is nothing new, but he finds it quite exciting that he feels he knows everything. This week he’s stuck on primary colors. Yep I know them by heart now. Not that there are a lot of them but if there were….I would know them all.
Hula Girl is getting mostly A’s. She has 2 B’s and 1 C. The C is an 84.8. She needs .02 to bring it up to a B so I’m not worried that she will make the honor roll. She has been working hard and likes her new teacher.
I am working for a real estate agency answering their phones for a while. I do it for 5 hours 2 days a week so I’m keeping busy and it’s helping pay for school.
I leave you with a cute quip from Hula Boy….
“Mommy, cookie (his blanket) is being mean!!”
“Why what is he saying?”
“He’s talking about Star Wars.”
“And that’s bad why?”
“Because he knows I can’t watch the movie yet so he’s teasing me. He is not going to stop until I get to watch Star Wars!!”
” Um…you’re not going to watch Star Wars until you are older no matter what cookie says.”
” Cookie will keep teasing me” *this being said with a glint and a ornery smile
“Cookie please quit teasing HB. He is not old enough to watch Star Wars. When he’s old enough you all can share secrets about Star Wars.”
*Hula Boy walks away in a sulk. Under his breath he says….”That did not work…NOW WHAT?!”

I think I’m here! May be?! For those of you that are still around and were on my blogroll to begin with…please please send me your link again. I have lost everyone in the change and would love to start reading again. Soon my design will be me again. I have a lot to blog about!