Chasing Fireflies - A Novel of Discovery

Last week, since I was home more than usual with a sick little, one a friend, (actually DS#1’s teacher), loaned me another of Charles Martin’s books: Chasing Fireflies http://www.charlesmartinbooks.com/books/chasing-fireflies/ .

I was a bit apprehensive after falling totally in love with his book When Crickets Cry! I didn’t want to read it and it not be as good!!!! Well, I was not to be disappointed. It was such a good book, a very different book from “Crickets” but a great book. Nicolas Sparks (author of The Notebook, The Wedding, Dear John, Message in a Bottle, etc) has long been my favorite author but I am afraid Mr. Charles Martin is wooing my heart away. The depth of the emotions and characters in his book just leave me awe struck. In this latest, I just didn’t want it to end. I wanted to know these people, to be part of their lives, walk down to the marshes and smell what they smelled. Ah….it was a amazing escape.

Tagged....

Mrs. G over at http://lifeatnumber17.blogspot.com/ tagged me to post 7 random things about myself. Hmmmmm....random? Wha?

Ok, since I have not participated in any tagging activities since begining this little only journal here goes:

#1 I got married really young -- and am still married to the same wonderful man 18 years later.

#2 I am a loner and not very social.

#3 I am comfortable by myself.

#4 I love my children more than I could have ever imagined (as I was not going to have any children!).

#5 I have lived in 4 different states in my adult life.

#6 DH and I have owned 6 different houses in 3 different states over the course of our marriage.

#7 I have enjoyed teaching my DD to drive!

Downtown

One night last week, one of my boys and I took a walk downtown. It reminded me of how much I love our downtown. I love to shop, dine and generally spend time there. Yes, my town has a true downtown square that is still thriving with businesses, cafes, nightlife and beauty. That is rare today but because of the scarcity of such, I love it even more. I know that my children experience something there than most people (especially their ages) will never know.

It is lovely in the early morning when it is still quiet and nothing has opened yet. It is lively and exciting during the day when it is busy with shoppers and business people having lunches and meetings. It is relaxing in the evening when the sun is setting and it is quiet again and you only hear the strains of conversations from benches in the park and out door tables at the local restaurants and cafes. It is wonderful after dark, when strains of music come from the clubs and the lights give it a romantic atmosphere. Just last night my DH and I left an event downtown at almost 11:00 p.m. and it was just so comforting to see the lights and enjoy the peace and safety of our downtown as we walked away.

The merchants downtown work very hard to keep the square a wonderful place. They host many events through out the year to draw in the community and remind people that there is more to a town than the mall and BestBuy! One of our favorites is Brunch with the Bunny which comes the Saturday before Easter and finishes off with an Easter Egg Hunt on the square…then there is the wonderful Thursday nights leading up to Christmas when all the shops stay open late and Santa rides around in a horse drawn carriage. I love downtown.

Daddy's are....

This morning I took my youngest DS to have his Kindergarten placement testing. He breezed through all the letters, numbers, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills easily. There was one blip though….in the section where the teacher asked DS to name opposites. One of the questions was:

“If Mommies are women then Daddies are……PIRATES!” …now, that explains a lot about my family.

Welcome back to the routine.

This week finds me trying to settle back into the normal routine after a wonderful, relaxing week of Spring Break. We split our Spring Break time between Myrtle Beach, SC (at the request of the children) and Isle of Palms/Charleston, SC (at the request of the Mommy)! DH took the entire week off and spent it with us and that was just wonderful. It is rare that he will take that kind of time off and I loved, loved, loved having him footloose and fancy free. So, after a week of eating, shopping, sunning, and napping reality has set back in. I am not real fond of that.

My number must have come up this week...

Now y'all remember that on Tuesday my car DIED on me. It has been in the shop and as of yesterday afternoon the mechanic could not get it to "act up" for him (geez). DH told him to keep it a few days and see what happens.

Well, low and behold, this morning I was driving the MomVan to take the kids to school and guess what???? It starts having an identitiy crisis and starts squealing and smoking like some hopped up teenie bopper. Yes, you are reading that right...I have 2 seperate vehicles that have broken down on me in a 2 day period! NOW, how many folks can lay claim to that, I ask you???

When DH arrived on the scene to yet another of my car emergencies he calls over to the mechanic that has my car, and says we are going to just come pick it up and drive it until it "acts up" again. LOL You know what? It finally decided to "act up" yesterday afternoon and so they started taking it apart and it was still in pieces this morning!!! So, my car is in pieces and the MomVan is not doing much better. Our trusted mechanic doesn't work on the brand of van I have but he did give us a recommendation on where to take it. Yep, I have 2 vehicles in 2 different repair shops as we "talk".

Oh, yeah...it is going to be an expensive week.

5 cows and 2 snakes

Today, after picking up DS#2 from preschool and stopping by the grocery store, I was heading home and enjoying the beautiful, sunny afternoon when my beloved car died. Yep, just kicked off right there as I rounded a curve.

Hmmmm, God was there too, as I was able to safely, roll right off the main road onto a little-traveled side road next to a pretty creek and a cow pasture. I do kind of wish that God had also kept the cell phone service in this picturesque locale but I won’t complain (much).

So, after getting my little man out of the car and locking it securely we were just getting ready to start walking up the road and along came the sweetest lady and her little boy. She stopped and asked if we needed help. Well, I am bit wary of strangers (and I think she probably was too but was taking a chance that if things went awry that she could probably take me and her little boy could probably take my DS since she was perched all high up her SUV and I was in my puny little dead car) so I ask if any chance she had cell phone service and she said she had left her cell phone at home but she could run home and get it. I actually just asked if she would please take my DH’s # and call him and tell him my car was DEAD and where I was…she said she would. Isn’t that just sweet? Especially since she was obviously heading out to do errands of her own with a child just the age to really pitch a fit when Mom turns around and heads back home without doing what she said she was going to do! She went back home and called my DH and then came back and let me know he was on his way. I thanked her profusely (and will definitely send her a thank you note!) and sent her on her way.

As I had just come from the grocery store I happen to have a flat of bottled water and it is baseball season so I had my trusty folding chairs in the trunk; I pulled those out and set them up under a shady tree and got DS#2 a water and he was happy as a lark. It also, so happened, that we were sitting in a patch of clover so we spent some time looking for 4 leaf clovers but didn’t have any luck with that (obviously luck wasn’t our thing this afternoon). We also walked over to the creek…actually we kind of went toward the little creek until, 1st, one snake plopped off a limb and into the water and then, 2nd, we saw another one slithering quickly to the creek…needless to say, we went back to our little chairs under our shady tree and watched the 5 cows in the pasture meandering their way to what I assume must have been lunch. DS#2 was just thrilled with this adventure and told me he was having a good time! I mean 5 cows, 2 snakes, water and a shady tree…how that could not be a good time to anyone is beyond me.

Of course, I tried cranking the car a couple of times to no avail but when DH arrived in short order he cranked it right up. Isn’t that just annoying??? He drove it on home and I drove his car. He did agree that it is running horribly and probably wouldn't even make it to the mechanic's so he called a tow truck to come pick it up and take it to our trusted mechanic (yes, we have a trusted mechanic!). So, I guess I am driving the MomVan for a few days.