What happened

to Fall?????

My favorite season seems to have been cut short. In fact, I only enjoyed a few short days. The leaves are still on the tress. They are bright beautiful hues of yellow, orange and red.

It snowed yesterday! Wet slushy snow all day long. I must admit, the snow falling against the colorful tress in the background was gorgeous but I can't help but feel cheated.

I ask Mother Nature to let down her guard and allow us the eye-catching season of fall ... again.

Progress

Justin' s progress report that is .......

I must say that Justin has pulled it together. I am very proud of him. He's a 15 year old sophomore in high school with a one big ambition ...... to attend Penn State.

My bank account hurts already just thinking about it.

His room is filled with Penn State paraphernalia. Shirts, sweatshirts, blankets, his used ticket stubs, printouts of the football game schedule, books etc. I think if I could find something that would either 'roar like the Nittany Lion' or chant 'we are Penn State' he would have it attached it to his door for every time it opened and closed.

I am proud of you Jus. Keep up the hard work to see the results you want so badly!

I'm your necklace

Carter cracks me up! This morning we were on the couch. He snuck behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck and was hanging off of me. I asked him to stop. His response:

"I'm your necklace mommy"

Hang on me all you want kid - can't beat that kind of sweetness!

Fall

Fall is finally here. My favorite season. The crisp air. The sound of leaves crunching underneath your feet. The gorgeous display mother nature provides. It is amazing to say the least.

Here are the boys enjoying the fall weather this past weekend.

who made me the boogie collector?

Ahhh, the joys of being a parent.

Somehow I have now been assigned the position of boogie collector... you could call me the Boogie Queen.

As the Boogie Queen it is my duty to swipe the slimy gooey boogies from my children's hands after they have done one of the following: 1. picked their nose or 2. wiped their nose with their hand or 3. (the best one yet) to remove the sticky boogie they blew into the tissue and then examined in their hands.

I have always taught my children to share - guess the lesson here is not everything needs to be shared.

Thanks boys! Love ya!
The Boogie Queen

Panic Attacks

Webster’s defines a panic attack as:

an episode of intense fear or apprehension that is of sudden onset

Hmmm… they are on the right track but for anyone who has ever had them they are far worse than the text book definition.

I recently have been having more panic attacks than I know what to do with. In the past I would have one here or there – intense but not too often.

They seem to strike at night, as I am trying to fall asleep or waking me up. Imagine waking up feeling as if someone is strangling you … you sit up and start to gasp. Your chest feels as if it is closing in and your heart starts to race. Now what?

While you think to yourself it is just a panic attack your mind will race and the fear of death takes hold. You get out of bed and try to walk around. Your breathing has increased rapidly as you gasp and you start to get light headed from the almost panting state you are in now. So, am I going to black out now? Who will find me? What about my kids?

You go into the bathroom and flip the light switch. There, I can see myself now … and sweat starts to bead up on your face and your scalp is getting damp. You place both hands on the vanity and look at yourself again … you TRY to talk yourself through it.

Eventually you overcome the attack. You are now afraid to breathe too deeply for fear of straining yourself and going into another attack. You walk slowly to your bed. Gently ease yourself into bed and lay down. You are still a bit dizzy but you focus on good and positive thoughts.

This process is horrifying! I am amazed that my body can be so brutal to me.

I am tired of the panic attacks. I wish it were easy to get rid of – but lately I just continually succumb to them.

I am their prisoner

new word

Today I made up a new word. I was at lunch talking with friends and I spumbled (another made up word - stumble and fumble).

My new word is PHENOMENOUS - phenomenal and fabulous

Love it!