The first 46!

I had been working on a post that would "catch up" for the last 46 years, I had it all ready to post and somehow I lost it...eventually I'll figure this out!  I thought if I were going to start blogging at 46, I should do my best to post about the first "46" years, then the next 46 would be easy, oh, wait, that means I'd be 92!  Oh well! 

So here goes, (again).  I was born in Bogalusa, LA, but moved to Amite, LA at the age of 8, so that's where I call my "hometown", although "Home" is here in League City, TX where we've lived for the last 22 years.  I have three brothers whom I adore, 4 nieces and two nephews!  I graduated from Amite High School in 1983 and attended Southeastern Louisiana University.  I chose a career in Banking and lived in Baton Rouge, LA until I married my husband.  He and I met at the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge, LA and dated for three years before marrying.  We have now been together longer than we've not been together.  I thank God everyday for putting him in my life and blessing me with such a great man.  We briefly lived in Shreveport, LA before my husband accepted a job at NASA in Houston, TX.  We have two awesome boys, our oldest is in college and our youngest is about to enter 8th grade.  I would have had a house full of children if I could have, but I am so thankful that God chose us to be these two boys parents!  My boys truly are the loves of my life!  I now work part time at Creative Corners Children's Day out at League City United Methodist Church and when not working I enjoy gardening and hanging by our pool.  My favorite color is green, chocolate is my downfall, and my family is my number one priority.  I love animals, dogs in particular, which is ironic since I was attacked by a dog as a child and had 100+ stitches in my head.  We have an 11 year old chocolate lab, Mocha, who is my shadow.  She's spoiled rotten and lives inside with us.  (Those who really know me will agree that 20 years ago I would have NEVER had a large dog in my house!)  One day while raining I had to hold an umbrella for her to go "potty".  My brother was visiting and laughing.  I told him she doesn't know she's a lab and labs like water.  He said, "She doesn't know she's a dog!"  That's about right!  Last August we lost our "tiny" dog, Paco, we had to make the decision to end his life.   He was a long hair chihuahua and was 9 years old.  He also was my love and that was one of the hardest things I've had to do.  I have finally reached the point in my life that once Mocha has headed over the Rainbow Bridge, I will no longer be a "pet owner".  Several reasons brought me to this decision, one, I recently found out I'm allergic to dogs, two, the dog hair is a real pain, and third, pets are like children to me, and I would like a little more flexible schedule now that my human kids are older.

The year of 2002 was a year to forget in our lives.  Many life altering things happened to me and us and it was a year we choose to forget.  First, we were forced to move out of our home in January due to toxic mold.  We lived in an apt. for three months while our home was turned upside down and many treasured items thrown away.  In May, at the age of 36, I had a radical hysterectomy, and although I had been told after the birth of my last son that I could not have any more children, the surgery was hard for me.  That was when I had to accept that I would not be able to have more children.  One month later, my Mother passed away, totally unexpected at the age of 59 from a cranial aneurysm.  I was lost.  She was my best friend and I really didn't know  how I would go on with my life without her.  She thought she was having a migraine.  I, too, have suffered with migraines my whole life.   At this time, our children were 3 and 11.  I lived in daily fear that with each migraine I had I was going to die.  The months following my Mom's death was the darkest time of my life.  I wasn't living, only existing, performing out of habit.  I saw no reason in anything.  I use to think "why bother", you're just going to die anyway.  But, eventually, with God's help, I realized that only God himself knew when he was going to call me home, and I couldn't continue to live in fear.  I think my biggest fear was for my children, I was having such a hard time living without my Mother at 36, I was terrified of leaving them when they were so young.  Now, ten years later, I try to embrace life, and not worry about the future, because I know it's all in God's hands.  One month after my Mom's passing, our youngest child fell and injured his nose very badly, he required plastic surgery to fix his nose.  A couple months went by and we thought perhaps things were "getting better" and then our precious dog "Cocoa" died.  (He was my Mom's dog and she gave him to us several years earlier).  The sad thing is how he died....we adopted a dog from the shelter to give to my grandparents and was planning on surprising them at Thanksgiving with the dog.  This dog attacked Cocoa and he died three days later under our son's bed.  Devastating.  So, on comes December, and yes, it too didn't offer any relief, December 1st my husband had to have neurosurgery to fix two ruptured disk in his neck.  Needless to say, we were ever so glad to see 2002 go!

Recent years?  Well, we've enjoyed watching our children grow and mature.  We've had a lot of fun along the way.  We built a new home and put in a pool, and enjoy our family time!  We've learned not to sweat the small stuff so much, the big stuff that happens makes you  realize that the small stuff isn't worth it!

Our boys, Tyler is now 21 and Jake is 13.  We are so proud of the young men they are!  They are respectful, caring, loving and "great kids"!  We've always tried to make them "proud" of their parents!  ...and the funny thing is, that in doing so, they've made us so proud of them!  Have we always done everything right, of course not!  What parent does?  We just hope and pray that we've given them all the fundamentals they need to be successful adults one day!  They truly are the light of our lives!  If I ever get "down", all it takes is a glance into their eyes and I have all the hope I need to keep going!

So, to end this "catch up" post, I'll say I've reached a new "phase" of my life.  I recently started a weight loss program and am excitedly anticipating great results.  I kind of figured, it's now or never, so let's get to it!  First day was great!  Down 1.5 lbs.  I'd like to lose 60 lbs, but realistically, even 30 would make me feel better.  At my age, sure I'd like to "look" good, but more importantly I want to "feel" good!  I'm hoping one day (just not too soon) to have grandchildren to crawl around on the floor with, so I need to be more agile!  Wish me luck!

Love to all.