Thankful Thursday

Good Morning Campers! I decided to do a thankful post this morning because I have been sick all week with a cold and today I finally feel better and am so grateful...just a simple thing like a cold can make you appreciate the small things in life...I haven't been anywhere at all except to pick my son up from work..I have been stuck in the house too because the weather has been cloudy and rainy..it has been one dull week all round! So...here are a few things I am thankful for today...... 1. Feeling better..thought I might have to go to the Dr. yesterday but today I feel so much better and I can tell I'm on the mend and it was just a nasty viral thing... 2..For my Laptop... 3... My DVR service through the cable company...I get to watch the shows I like when I like... 4....That the Tornado warning yesterday was just that..we did see some rain and wind but thankfully no Tornado.. 5.....That the sun is supposed to return tomorrow and I might even make it to the Beach..:-) 6......Blogs..I have enjoyed reading some great ones this week.... 7.......3 weeks from today I am going to Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great weekend! L xx

Spring Break...

For those of you not on FaceBook..here is where I went for our mini Spring Break..it was incredibly relaxing..only 30 minutes from my house..and has me even more in the mood for our "real" vacation next month... :-)

L xx

Happy Birthday to me!!

So it was my Birthday!!
I think perhaps the last one I'll be happy about..next year is the big 5-0!! Not looking forward to that one at all...I had a good time it was my sons friends birthday too..he turned 21 so we went to the local Pub on the river for a few drinks and some nibbles and then back here. It was a fun night and I thought it kind of cool that the youngsters wanted to hang out with this old broad!

I've been working in the back yard..it's starting to look good..the grass is slowly coming in green..the Azaleas are in full bloom and the birds have returned..Ryan replaced the landscape timbers around two of my flower beds out front and all the hanging baskets have been replanted..I have 16 in all!!

This week is spring break here in Florida..I am hoping to get a night in a hotel on the beach with my friend Jen and her daughter for a mini getaway ..she is 6 and the idea of a night in a hotel on the Beach with a pool etc is so cool!!

One month to go till hubby gets home...starting to feel real now...for him and for me...looking forward to our Holiday now too...life is pretty good right now in my neck of the woods I have to say...

On that note I wish you all a great week...

L xx

Morning!

Good Morning Campers!!

I was going to add some pics to this bland blog but blogger ain't having it so never mind.

This post will all over the place but that's okay...that's how my head is these days.. the Tsunami/Earthquake this weekend did a number on me..Hubby lives in Guam..he did live in Japan for 6 months..we are going to Hawaii next month for a holiday..all of this is just a little too close for comfort for me but hubby assures me we will be okay...I am trying not to let it put a damper on my excitement... I have stopped looking at the constant news coverage but I will say that Japan is handling this whole catastrophe with quiet calm and dignity and respect for their fellow sufferers...nothing like the way the animals acted in New Orleans... just saying.. and I am not turning a blind eye to what is happening I just need not work myself up to the point where this hard earned holiday hubby has planned for us isn't ruined by me panicking..

I had a wonderful weekend by the way..spent most of it outside puttering in the garden..re-potting all my containers and hanging baskets..cleaned the pool..filled the bird feeders...and of course read by the pool :-) And thanks to putting out clocks forward I can actually be out there till about 7.30pm now...I love this time of year...

Speaking of reading if you like a good Beachy read I recommend Elin Hilderbrand..I have been reading her all weekend..her books are mostly set in Nantucket..her characters fly off the page and become instant friends..I can picture myself hanging out with these people... that's how a book should make you feel..like you are meeting an old friend when you turn the pages...

Well enough of my prattle this morning..hope everyone is well and enjoying some spring like weather...I'm hoping to get to the beach again this week..oh and I just heard that my Dad is coming over when my best friend from England comes in October..she is such a love to bring him because he won't travel on his own..can't say as I blame him..he is turning 78 after all bless him...

L xx

Phew!

Wow!

That thirty day challenge was HARD!! and in case you didn't notice there were even a couple of days missing....I guess the post I copied and pasted were missing them...trust me I didn't mind! Some of the questions had me digging deep in a place I don't really like to go ..it's hard answering questions about yourself...but I finished it!!

Life is plodding along here..the weather is typically fickle this time of year..Yesterday I was on the beach soaking up the sun and watching the surfers and today it's chilly and raining! The count down is on for hubby to get home and I am an emotional wreck...I am looking forward to having him home but I am also apprehensive..he has been gone a long time and we have settled into a routine here..I haven't had to share my home or life with anyone and wonder how it's all going to go...I pretty much come and go as I please and am used to doing what I like without having to consider someone else's feelings..same with him..he hasn't been in a household for a while either...but we have done this plenty of times before and it will all work it's self out I'm sure...

I hope you enjoyed my 30 days and learned some new things about me... ;-)

take care...

L xx

Day Thirty

Write yourself a letter telling EVERYTHING you love about yourself...

Dear Self..

I love that you are a great Mum.. whose kids adore you...that you are a wonderful wife who has stood by your husband through 28 years of marriage..nursed him through cancer..that you left all your family and friends behind to follow him to America...that you take care of absolutely everything in the household..the finances..the housework..the kids..the dogs...that all he has to do is take care of the yard and you even help him with that...I love that you are a kind and loyal friend who will defend your friends to the end...that you have helped out your friends in their time of need..that you can keep their secrets..that they trust you...I love that you are funny...cute..sassy have great hair and are so much fun to be around...that you take pride in your home...you are a pretty decent cook and feed all your kid's friends...you always put the family first..you make Christmas a magical time and have created wonderful memories for your kids...mostly I love you because you are YOU!

L xx

Day Twenty Nine

Something you would like to change about yourself and why...

Well the main thing is my appearance but you can read about that in Day One's entry ...:-)

I would like more patience and I would also like to be more carefree..most people see me as fun loving..bubbly ..outgoing but what they don't see is the me that worries a lot..spends her days alone...turns down invitations to do things because of her fear of driving..and is actually pretty lonely and sad a lot of the time...I am hoping that when hubby returns I will come back out of my shell a bit and get back to normal..I never used to be like this...I just used to go with the flow but lately I always seem to talk myself out of everything and I don't know why..I think I am just in a bit of a rut and I need to change that...


L xx

Day Twenty Eight

What if you were pregnant?

Well not much chance of that these days because:

1. Hubby lives in Guam right now...
2. He's had a Vasectomy..
3. And I'm going through Menopause...

BUT if I got pregnant right now I'd be secretly very very happy and would have the baby of course!!

L xx

Day Twenty Seven

What's the best thing going for you right now?

I'm in a good place right now..hubby is 6 weeks away from moving back home..he finally got orders to a Command close to home..he will be finishing up his Military career in the next 2 years..then he retires with 30 years under his belt...when he gets here he is taking me to Hawaii for a week...I am so excited..it will be a chance for us to reconnect away from home and just enjoy some alone time ....these past couple of years have been lonely for the both of us and I am looking forward to having my partner home and being able to do all the things we both have missed...just the simple things like going shopping for plants for the garden..going for a drink ..out to dinner..walks...just having someone to share life with...I am very blessed I live in beautiful sunny Florida.. have a nice house with a lovely back garden and swimming pool..two beautiful "kids" but people forget what a sacrifice my hubby and I have made to have this lifestyle...He has had to be away from his home and family and I have had all the responsibilities of running the house and family and also helped look after my father-in-law for the last year of his life...we have managed but sometimes I ask at what price? But now he will be home and it feels pretty darn good... :-)

L xx

Day Twenty Six

Have you ever thought about giving up on life?

I have suffered with mild depression on and off over the years..I have had a few hard knocks so to speak..I have been very lonely at times... my hubby has been gone a lot due to his career and there have been times when I was in a very dark place...I can't say that I actually considered suicide but I have thought about my own death..how my family would react.what my funeral would be like..who would come to it...and when things have seemed impossible I will admit I have thought well if it gets that bad I could just kill myself but I don't think I could actually do it..I think if we're honest this is something we've all thought about at one time or another....

L xx

Day Twenty Five

The reason you think you're still alive today

I haven't had any really close calls..sometimes I think back to my crazy younger days when I would travel abroad with my girlfriends and spend two weeks partying in Spain or Italy or somewhere and wonder how I survived wandering around in a foreign country late at night worse for the wear..I think about it now and we were so stupid but at the time we were young and invincible LOL... I am lucky that I haven't had any major illnesses or been in any car accidents either..I guess it's just not my time yet...

(Hope I haven't just jinxed myself!)

L xx

Day twenty Three..

Something you wish you had done in your life...

Taken the time to enjoy things more in the moment...I look back and realise that a lot of the things I did and all the places I have travelled and all the opportunities I have had that I haven't really appreciated...I am lucky in that I have been able to do most of the things I ever wanted.. there isn't really one thing that I feel I've missed out on or wished I did...the older I get the faster life is going by so I am trying to live life to the fullest and enjoy it...


On that note I am off to the beach today!

L xx

Day Twenty two

Something you wish you hadn't done in your life.....

This is hard...I try not to have too may regrets..what is done is done really and you can't change it anyway so you just have to learn from it and move on but the one thing I wonder about and wish perhaps I hadn't done is move to another country at such a young age.. I was 21.. I was young and in love and didn't really give it a second thought..he asked and I said yes and without so much as a backward glance got on a plane and flew to America leaving behind everything and everyone I knew...we didn't really have a plan..he had joined the navy and we were going to see how it went...I got pregnant 8 months after we got here and from that point on we were a family and staying in the service seemed the right idea...hubby has done so well in his Military career and the navy has been good to us but I do think I have missed out on having family close by..my kids did not grow up with their cousins and grandparents, aunts and uncles..I didn't get any support from anyone other than my friends..I had to grow up and get tough fast...I love my life but I do wonder how it would have been if I had stayed home...

L xx

Day Twenty One

Your best friend got in a car accident ..you had a fight an hour before..what would you do?

Go to her bedside no questions asked...my BF and I know each other inside and out and a silly fight would not prevent be from being there for her...

P.S. I'll be glad when I'm done with this 30 day challenge..jeez!! LOL

L xx