May
18
Back to Blogging
Filed Under Uncategorized
I decided to revive my old blog site. It used to be very therapeutic to type out my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if anyone ever read them, but it didn’t matter cause sometimes I just felt better about stuff after I’d type it on here.
It’s been a very, very long time since I blogged last. It was while we were still in Florida. I guess once we moved back I had a lot going on and just didn’t find time to blog.
So much has gone on in our lives over the last 2 1/2 years since we moved back it would have probably been entertaining reading. Jacob is always saying we need a reality show.
Two weeks before we left Florida my ex-husband, who had cheated on me and left me in 1999, got a guilty conscience when his new wife cheated on him, with a woman, no less… so he called me, then he drove all the way to Florida to apologize for what he had put me through cause now that he was going through it he seen what a horrible thing it is to cheat on someone…he apologized, I was over it by this time and had more than moved on but whatever, guess it made him feel better. He wanted to be friends so we exchanged lots of texts and after we’d moved back to Nicholasville he even came up and helped Ed put up a privacy fence for us. It was weird to say the least. I introduced him to the world of Facebook where he hooked up with a girl we had graduated with….he’s just like all the needy women in the world, he can’t stay single for long…has to have a woman in his life. Oh well, our new found friendship didn’t last long. He went back to his wicked ways.
After being back in Kentucky for a few months I got bored and thought getting a job would be a good thing. I found a job as a receptionist at a dentist office. Really liked the insurance/billing lady I worked up front with but in January 2011 she quit cause she’d had enough of the place. I didn’t quite understand what she was talking about but I soon learned after I took her position and hired a new receptionist.
Small, family owned businesses suck especially when nobody is the boss, nobody knows how to run a business and your patient base is nothing but medicaid. The practice was basically broke. Especially when money was taken out to pay for medical procedures to try to get the dentist pregnant, not because she wanted a baby but because her husband did. Guess she figured if she gave him a baby, he would be occupied and wouldn’t notice her cheating on him, which she did and we all got to cover it up.
The place was absolutely a joke. While I worked there I stressed over it daily. Ed got tired of me griping nightly about all the stupidity that oozed from that place. He kept saying quit but I’m not a quitter and somehow I thought I could make a difference. However, the dentist….she wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say…well hold on, she would listen tell me it was a great idea then either one of the assistants or her whiney ass cousin who was the hygienist would give her reasons it was a bad idea and she’d go with them. We made our schedules based on how much money the two assistants had. If they got back a big tax refund we could be closed some right after the first of the year…but if they were broke then everyone must work. Everyone was not taken into consideration.
The place is so dirty and nasty. They don’t have anyone to come in and clean cause that would cost money so whoever just pitches in and cleans so it never really gets cleaned well. Ed and I did it several times but we got tired of being the only ones. They all smoke…dentists, assistants, hygeniest…the place wreaks of smoke all the time and they melt tarts and have those automatic sprayers on the wall and they douse themselves in body spray before they go to work on patients. It’s gross!
One of the assistants, talked way too much. She told every patient every detail of her life. All about having her kids, her druggy boyfriend and him going to jail. About him beating her. Everyone was annoyed by this and she would be told she couldn’t do this but then it would start back again. She was a hard worker and I give her credit she was always there even if she was half dead.
The other assistant was one of the most miserable people I have ever known. She and I at one point was really good friends but then she changed. She has a nice husband, who owned his own home when they got married, she then had a baby but she was miserable. The story goes the day she found out she was pregnant she was going to tell the then fiance that she no longer wanted to get married….but once she saw she was pregnant they didn’t have that conversation. She got really upset when we decided to buy this house….not sure what it was to her but she did. Jealousy? Maybe. She’s even gone and stuck her nose in our family business where it doesn’t belong 2 months after I’ve been gone. Oh well, we all know about Karma and hers is coming to her.
The hygienist…30, three kids and had to move back home to mommy because her pot head boyfriend smokes all their money away and they couldn’t afford to stay in their house when they found out they were expecting twins. I think the only reason she got married was just to get pregnant. all she talked about for months was wanting to have a baby…well be careful what you wish for cause you just might get two. They cry all the time and her sitter would drop them off all the time at the end of the day and we’d be expected to watch them. So annoying.
The receptionist I hired…thought she was a great friend. Found out a little too late everything she and I would gripe about to each other about the job she’d run and tell everyone what I said, of course leaving out that she had agreed with me. Most of the time she would start it. She was the one who would text me on my days off to tell me that “the babies were there again” or that the one miserable assistant had taken one of the male patients to the basement and then he left her a tip and how bad she had flirted with him. But like in high school, since she was the first one to run to them they automatically believed her. this chick is from Eastern Kentucky. And when she opens her mouth there is no denying that….but she’s one of those people who got out of there so they think they are better than everyone else and they have to prove it. Perfect husband, perfect kids, name dropper, you know the type. Like I said….everyone knows about Karma.
So the best thing I did was quit that job in March. My blood pressure went down and the headaches stopped. Dr. told me whatever I was doing to keep it up cause my blood pressure was finally good and I told him I had quit my job…. It would make my day to drive past that practice and see a for sale sign on the building!!
We wanted to buy a house either in Jessamine or Garrard County cause we knew we would be staying in this area. We started that process the end of 2010/ early 2011 on a house in Nicholasville. (Jessamine County) Most people run into a couple problems when buying a house but nothing earth shattering. However, we ran into one problem after the other. We ran into problems from years ago. Everyday it was something different and we were told we couldn’t finance, then they would figure out a solution and it was a go then the next day it would be halted again. Finally I said enough….I felt like it was a sign that we were not to buy that house…..so we said forget it and we started looking for a house to just rent out in the country. We had driven all the back roads around Garrard County and loved it so we thought our luck was changing when just as we needed to rent somewhere there was 1 house in Garrard County for rent.
Little did we know, even renting everything that could go wrong did. The owner had never been a landlord before and he was clueless about what his responsibilities were. He thought it was okay the night before we were to move in to call us up and tell us he’d changed his mind and didn’t want to rent. We had to call our attorney, he called his and since we’d paid a deposit and did everything we were suppose to he had no choice but to let us move in. But knowing he hated us and was going to be watching our every move it kinda made living there stressful. Plus once we got in the house it was smaller than we’d thought, and had thousands of problems that a 7 year old house shouldn’t have had.
A few months after living there we got some things straightened up and we started talking about trying to buy again. the landlord there had once said something about selling that house but we decided it had to many problems. Ed and I had been together 10 years, lived in a lot of houses, had gone through a lot of “stuff” together so we decided we were going to find our dream home and just go for it.
The day we found the house we are now living in, when I walked into it I knew it was the house I wanted to buy. It was beautiful and I felt like we deserved it. I thought it was a real long shot but one worth taking, so we did and in January it became our home. I was so happy and it would have never crossed my mind that people, friends and family would get upset over the house and talk bad about us and some would stop talking to us altogether. Family has made up lies about how much we have paid for the house, friends have said we act differently ( we don’t…if I won the lottery tomorrow I wouldn’t act any differently). Even our own daughter who was benefiting from living here has made nasty remarks about us and the house. But you know what? As of right now, I don’t care. I’m still the same me that grew up in that little house on the South Fork Road in Glasgow, KY….if you don’t like me because I bought a house then that is your problem not mine….or for any other reason!
My daughter….hmmm….always been hard headed and stubborn even as a toddler. She was never easy to understand or to handle. I learned early on, that she and I were nothing alike. Over the years I had hoped that would change but it didn’t. As she was growing up she was so pretty and so smart. I never felt like she tried in school at her school work as hard as she tried to have friends and be the class clown. I always told myself that would change too, but it didn’t. We always made sure, even when we didn’t have two nickels to rub together that the kids got to do everything they wanted to. Vacations, season passes to amusement parks, cheerleading, gymnastics, band, etc. Funny though how some kids forget all the good stuff you do for them and only remember the times that you said no! I never really felt like she wanted to be a part of the family. If it came to spending time with friends or with us she always picked her friends….even though some of her friends loved spending time with us.
Some know that when we were in Florida she got into some trouble. She started hanging around with the wrong group of kids and got to doing things that she knew was wrong and that we didn’t approve of. Moving back to Kentucky and her going back to her old school, we thought would be a positive however, what we didn’t realize was that she hadn’t been a little angel before we went to Florida….so that’s the crowd she fell back in with and now that she was older and driving things was even worse, she started hanging out with older kids.
Long story short, the bad things she had found in Florida she found them here. Last May, she decided while at Macy’s with a friend that she really liked a wallet and why should she have to pay for it….the Lexington Police Dept and Macy’s saw it a little different. There was a lot of screaming, yelling, crying and taking away of stuff. We thought she had hit a real low and maybe she would learn from it but some people don’t learn from their mistakes. Although she put on one good show for about 5 months…long enough for us to believe she was behaving, we went to counseling with her and Ed giving in to co-sign for her a brand new 2012 Kia. Now keep this in mind with all the other stuff I have mentioned on the list of “We have never done anything for her”.
She dropped out of college, got fired from a job she’d had for 2 years all in the same week and she asked why we weren’t proud of her. Figuring out her life wasn’t something she was interested in cause her new stoner boyfriend was more interesting. At his house there was sure to be a bong to smoke and some alcohol to drink….and the best part was that his parents didn’t care this was going on.
Lies, lies, lies was all the girl could tell us. We soon realized there was nothing more that we could do cause as long as we were “parenting” her she hated us, direspected us and was not going to do anything we said. She would stay gone for days then drift in to do laundry and catch up on her sleep. Partying just wore her out.
All her life we knew some of her friends parents were really strict and would snoop on their phones, computers, etc and we thought that was horrible. However things got so bad a few months ago we stooped to that level to see if we could find out what was going on. We were shocked at what we found out was happening to her…the downward spiral she was on. Finally it all came out and we had to ask her to leave. I told her if she wanted us to get her some help for the problem that we now knew she had we would but she said she had no problem. So she moved out and guess where she moved to? the former co worker who I said was now sticking her nose in our personal business. It was nothing to her, she should have stayed out of it….but since she drinks all the time and smokes pot I guess she just sees her as someone she can party with and try to forget all her horrible problems.
Enter my ex husband….remember I said he went back to his wicked ways….well nobody really heard from him or talked to him but I figured when she got desperate she would call him….I didn’t want him sending her a bunch of money and her using it to buy drugs so I text him and told him what was going on….even emailed him proof of what she was doing and guess what? he believed her not me and so he’s been helping her out!!
People have said, “how could you turn your back on her” and “how could you kick her out”….well, how much is a parent supposed to take? We did everything for her that we possibly could. We didn’t turn our backs on her. She refuses to be honest, and to abide by any rules. I felt like us letting her live here basically rent free was just giving her the opportunity to be able to afford to buy drugs and alcohol. She’s convinced a lot of people that we are crazy and we just wanted her gone and that’s not the case. If she had asked for our help we would have helped her. All these people coming to her rescue think they are doing her a favor but they aren’t….they are just enabling her to keep making these bad choices.
It’s been 3 weeks since we’ve heard from her. She has a different cell phone number, we have a different number so the only way of contact is by email. Oddly enough though things at home aren’t really any different with her gone. She was never here, hated being here so when she was she stayed up in her room trying to find somewhere to go. When she was out of the house we never knew where she was or what she was doing. The only big change is there is no more fighting with her. I hope one day she can figure out what makes her happy and I hope she can stop the bad things she is doing and salvage some kind of life for herself.
One thing I can say to parents out there……BE THOSE PARENTS!! Invade your kids privacy. Know everything that they are saying and doing….and even though they are your kids and you want to believe everything they tell you don’t believe everything without a little investigating. If I had it to do over again, I would be that crazy mom that went through text messages and interrogated friends and their parents.
I will say on a positive note there is something good that has come out of all the house problems/ daughter problems. When Ed and I first met I never really felt like his family approved of me and liked me. I guess they wondered what in the world he was getting into dating a divorced woman with two kids…sometimes I wondered if he knew what he was doing. Over the years I realized they had warmed up to me and did like me and I convinced myself it was because they saw that Ed and I worked and was really good together but since we’ve had so much going on between the house and with the daughter his 2 uncles, their wives and his aunt has been our biggest support system. We’ve kept in touch with them through it all and it’s felt great having them in our corner, telling us that we’re doing the right things and the best we can. His one uncle asked the other night “is there something you are wanting me to do?” and Ed said “no, just listen to us” Sometimes that’s all you want is to just have someone listen and to know you have someone in your corner. So that’s one good thing that’s come out of all the mess.
There’s lots of other things to talk about but I’ll save that for another day…..so stay tuned!
Nov
2
September and October Happenings
Filed Under Uncategorized
Flip flops, 90 degree temps in October, slow drivers in the left lane, lizards, walking outside and so humid my hair curls instantly; these are just a few of the things I’m not going to miss when our caravan pulls out of Florida.
I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since I blogged! Not much has been happening but I usually blog at least once a month. September was a very hot and humid month in Florida. Tried to stay in and stay cool. Jacob decided on September 22nd that we should go to Sea World for the day so he could ride Manta, the new roller coaster. He and I got there about 11:00 and it was already scorching hot. He did get to ride Manta a couple times and we enjoyed watching Shamu. We left around 5:00 because it was just tooooooo hot.
September also brought a lot of music into mine and Ed’s lives. A radio station in Jacksonville, 99.9 Gator Country, sponsored 4 weeks of concerts on Friday nights at the Jacksonville Landing. The first one we went to was on the 18th when Chris Young came to town. The next one was on the 25th. Jason Michael Carroll rolled into Jax and I was very excited about seeing him. However, little did I know the opener that night would fast become one of my favorite new country singers…..Josh Thompson. He’s awesome and his first CD comes out in January. When Jason Michael took the stage he was pretty incredible too.
The next concert we went to was also the last in the Gator Country series. It was October 2nd with Joe Nichols. It was okay but he had a hard act to follow after the last two weeks. On Saturday, October 17th, Ed and I made our way to Orlando. It was Hogtoberfest at the Harley Davidson Store in Orlando. Josh Thompson, James Otto and Jamey Johnson were performing. We got there around 3:00 and soon Josh took the stage. Yep, I declared myself his #1 fan! Even had my picture taken with him. James Otto’s performance was very good too but that night Jamey Johnson sucked. We ended up leaving after 3 songs. We looked around at all the Harley’s and saw some absolutely beautiful bikes. I told Ed we needed us one of them.
October 12th Jacob celebrated his 19th birthday. It was very hard for me to believe that he was 19. Where did the years go? I blogged about Brianna on her birthday so I guess I should do the same for Jacob to embarrass him a little bit. I was so young when he was born….I had him a week before my 20th birthday. I spoiled him totally rotten. I used to have to lay him in the clothes basket when I was folding clothes or he would cry. He had to always be able to see me or he would cry. He was a real mama’s boy. when he first come home from the hospital he woke up every hour and would drink maybe an ounce of milk. He did this for months. I was convinced he was never, ever going to sleep through the night. He was a very happy baby, as long as he was right with me or was able to see me. He finally slept through the night when he was 13 months old.
His first word was “ah-ane” (airplane). He loved airplanes. His next word of course was “ma-ma”. He didn’t care much for his bottle….he quit wanting it when he was about 8 months old and just wanted his sippy cup. But he loved his pacifier. He kept it til we “threw it out the window” when he was 12 months old.
He walked when he was 8 months old and he loved opening the refrigerator door and sitting in the fridge. He also loved getting the maple syrup out of the cabinet and drinking it out of the bottle. Finally had to move it to a top cabinet.
Seems like yesterday he was starting school. He always liked school, tried hard and was well behaved. Reading gave him lots of problems and he didn’t much like it until he started 2nd grade at Rockfield Elementary in Bowling Green, KY and his teacher was the most wonderful woman and teacher in the world, Gina Holeman. She made him love reading and he still likes to read to this day and he will say it was all because of her. When he went to 3rd grade she moved up to 3rd and he had her again. sometimes when he would go to ask her a question he’d call her mama. She was wonderful with him. He even had her again in 4th grade when she moved up to teach that grade.
Jacob played baseball for several years. He played pretty well all the time but the last year he played was 2003 and it was probably his best year. The coach took a chance on this kid he didn’t even know and put him on 3rd base. Jacob was really good at 3rd base. His batting was excellent that year and we had so much fun going to games.
In 5th grade Jacob started at a school in Lexington and he joined band playing clarinet. When he went to 6th grade at West Middle in Nicholasville he stayed in band and switched to saxophone. He really enjoyed it and was pretty good at it. He played all through middle school and then his 9th grade year he joined the high school marching band. We loved going to the competitions and watching him play and march. His sophomore year the school got a new band director that was just a jerk and Jacob just didn’t have fun that year so he decided to not do marching band anymore. He got his license and got a job at Kroger. Jacob and I have always had a very close relationship. It drives Ed and Brianna crazy but they have just learned to live with it. He and I are like twins. I even had a dentist tell me one time that the xrays of our mouths were almost unbelievable because they looked so much alike. I’m very proud of my son and glad to be his mom.
For his birthday we got him just a bunch of little stuff and his big gift is we’re all going to Key West this coming up weekend. He wanted to go there before we leave Florida and we didn’t know what else to get him for his birthday so he and Ed are splitting the cost of this trip for us to go there. We are leaving Thursday and will be back Sunday.
I celebrated my 39th birthday on the 19th. Several people reminded me that day how OLD I was, but I don’t feel it. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am that old. On the 20th we went out to eat to celebrate mine and Jacob’s birthdays. We went and had all you can eat crab legs. They were very good. It was very entertaining watching Jacob crack those legs.
We also got some really good news in October. Ed’s work agreed to let him work from KY so we are moving home. Ed and I will be going to KY Nov 15th to look for a house in Nicholasville. We hope to be moving for good on Dec 15th. I am incredibly excited. The last 16 months we’ve been here have been really hard on me as alot of you all know. It feels really good to know that I’m finally going home.
There are a few things I’ll miss about Florida; being able to drive 15 mph over the speed limit on any road and knowing the cops will not pull you over, the country concerts in the spring and fall that Ed and I like to go to, our house (it’s really nice and big just in the wrong state), and the all you can eat crab legs and that’s about it. But I figure I’ll still be coming down here with Ed when he has to come for work so I can enjoy that stuff then…and the best part of that is, it’ll just be coming down here for a visit.
I have a lot to do in the next several weeks to get us ready for this move. I may or may not blog again but if anything important comes up I will certainly find time to blog. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that our move goes well and we’ll be having a KY Christmas this year…..would be great if it was a white KY Christmas!!
Aug
13
The Pearson Diary
Filed Under Uncategorized
Wow, Jacob said it had been a long time since I blogged but I didn’t realize just how long. Just haven’t been in the mood for it lately. Seems like when I get to writing I tend to complain about the same old thing.
So let’s see, I got a lot to catch everyone up on I guess.
On Sunday, June 14th, Ed and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. We went to the movies and saw “My Life in Ruins”. Even though it got horrible reviews I liked it. After that we went to a new restaurant that had only been open a month or so called Ponte Vedra Fish Camp. It sets on the Intracoastal Waterway. It was very good food. Had some gator tail and then some salmon. For our anniversary Ed got me one of the new Ipod Shuffles that tells you what song is playing. He had it engraved with Happy 6th Anniversary. Very sweet gift. I love it for when I’m walking. He also got me a book.
On Monday, June 15th, we were up at 3 a.m. I had to be at the Jacksonville Airport by 5:00. My flight to Memphis was boarding at 6:00 and we took off at 6:25. I was so sleepy when we finally got airborn I could barely keep my eyes open. The chick I was sitting with I’d noticed in the terminal while we were waiting to board cause she was crying her eyes out. I’d even told Ed on the phone about her. She was real young, like 20 maybe and she was bawling. I got on board first and was in the window seat when she appeared and said she was in the seat next to me. Apparently I looked like I wanted to chat cause she started talking and telling me how she was heading back home to L.A. Her boyfriend is in the navy, stationed in Jacksonville and she’d been down the last week visiting and now it was killing her to leave him and go home. Soon as she paused, I put the headphones of my new Ipod in and went to sleep.
We landed in Memphis and I went in search of a bathroom, breakfast and Starbucks. I chilled for awhile playing on my new phone Ed had gotten me the week before. Updating my Facebook status, texting, you know all the important things. Soon it was time to head to Louisville.
My seat mate on this flight was not so nice. I again had the window seat and I put the shade on the window up cause with it down it felt to claustrophic. He asked me to put it down and I explained why I couldn’t. He got ticked so then he decided to keep shoving his elbow into my side. I shoved back. Thank goodness that flight was not very long.
Once in the airport I called my aunt Becky, where my mom was staying, and told her I’d landed. She said they would be right over to get me. By the time I got my luggage and got outside they were there. We went back to Becky’s house for an hour or so then my mom and I headed on back to Glasgow. There I spent the next 6 days!!
We ate out alot, watched a lot of tv, did some sight seeing in Glasgow and enjoyed catching up. On Thursday, June 18th the kids left out early from home and headed to Glasgow. They got there somewhere around 3:00. I was very, very glad to see them…..and my car!! Jacob got it there without a scratch…..lucky for him.
That night, Thursday, a bunch of old friends from BCHS class of ’89 was meeting at Colton’s Restaurant in Glasgow. Marsha Phillips Thomas had put this together for me. We got there about 6:00 and everyone started arriving. It was wonderful to see everyone. Everyone looks great. We talked and laughed and reminisced. It was so much fun. It was me, Marsha, Russann Billingsley Gentry, Ann England Kinslow, Tina Hiser White, Carol Wilson Thomas, Cheryl Wilson Morrison, Shelly Key Groce, Karen Spann Wilson, Wendy Wilkinson Houchens and Kenyon Wallace. Kenyon crashed our party but we didn’t mind. It was so wonderful to see everyone, hear how their lives have been over the last 20 years and plan the next time we get together. My sides were hurting when we left that night from laughing so hard.
On Monday, June 22nd we said goodbye to Glasgow and headed to Nicholasville….home. Jacob was driving and as we turned onto Main Street and got right by the entrance to the subdivision we’d lived in that Chris Daughtry song “Home” came on the radio. Jacob and I just looked at each other.
We headed on to Stephanie, my niece, house. Soon as we got there my little almost 5 year old cousin Tiara ran outside and jumped into my arms. It was so good to give her some big hugs. I miss her soooooo much. She had a new little baby brother arrive in April so I couldn’t wait to see him either. When we walked in, Stephanie took him out of his swing and handed him to me. Ryan Blaine is just precious. He is so beautiful and so very sweet. I can’t believe I’m missing out on watching him grow up. My sister, Ann and her other two grandchildren, Chase and Kayla came over. We visited for awhile and then I had to leave cause I was headed to Richmond to eat dinner with my two great friends, Lisa Worley and Rachael Premo and then Lisa was going to cut and color my hair.
Visiting with Lisa and Rachael was wonderful as usual. Getting my hair done was awesome too. After saying my goodbyes to Lisa and Rachael I went back to Stephanie’s to pick up Jacob and Brianna and head to the hotel. We stopped and got some White Castles on the way and at those when we got to the room. Jacob had been craving them and of course we don’t have them in Florida.
On Tuesday we also hung out at Stephanie’s. She and I baked a turtle cake that turned out perfect this time and was delicious. We’d tried to make that cake when I was 19 and she was like 10 or 11 and it didn’t turn out so well. so we decided to try it now and it worked!!! That night we went and met my best friend Sharon and her daughter Kalane at Cheddar’s. It was soooo much fun. I don’t think there was a minute that Sharon and Kalane didn’t have us cracking up!!
On Wednesday we went to Kings Island. Stephanie and Tiara went with us. Tiara had never been to an amusement park so it was wonderful being with her and seeing her eyes light up at all of the stuff. she was a little afraid at first but after she got to riding she loved the rides. she’d get so tickled she could barely talk. she wanted me to stand in line with her and help her get on the ride then she wanted me to come back in there when the ride was over and help her off. I treasured every single moment I was with her…..and I hope she’ll remember going too.
On Friday we went to my sister’s house. Everyone was over there so we played with Blaine and Tiara and then it was time to tell them bye cause we were leaving the next morning to come back to Florida. It’s very hard to look into the eyes of a beautiful 2 month old and tell him bye when you know he won’t remember you and the next time you see him he won’t look anything like he does now. I gave him big hugs and kisses, told him I loved him and handed him to Jacob. Then came telling Tiara bye. She knows we live faraway now but she has no concept of just how faraway it is. She got in my lap, put my face in her hands and with her nose just inches from mine said “why you gots to leave?” I tried to explain but it was hard when I myself didn’t want to hear it.
Saturday morning it was time to hit the road. Leaving KY this time wasn’t AS hard cause I know that in the summer of 2011 we better be moving from this place. We had a nice drive back down south. We stopped in Atlanta to eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Love that place. We’d planned on spending the night there but I decided we were driving on home cause I was more than ready to see Ed and my doggies. Two weeks away had been a long time.
Once we got home Jacob started job hunting. I fell back into the same old routine I’d been in before we left. It was like the vacation I’d been looking forward to for so long, came, went quickly and now what?
The week of July 13th, my friend Sharon and her daughter Kalane came down. It was fantastic having them here. We had sooooo much fun. We went to the beach, we went to the movies, we ate at Clark’s Fish Camp which is a very unique seafood place in Jacksonville. Sharon and Kalane both tried gator tail for the first time. Not sure if they really liked it or just told me they did. On Friday we went to Orlando to the outlet malls shopping. We went over to Downtown Disney and ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. It was soooooo much fun. Kalane, Jacob and Brianna hit it off really well. In the car Brianna and Kalane would sing for us. We told them not try to make a living doing it. the week they were here was such a happy time for us all. I hope they had fun and will come back soon and often.
A couple weeks ago Jacob finally found a job. A new theater opened in St. Augustine in May so they were hiring and he got a job!! Not many hours right now but once schools down here pick up he should get around 35/week. He looks really nice when he goes to work. He has to wear black pants, white long sleeve dress shirt and this burgundy tie that they provided. He looks sharp.
Brianna had been working a lot of hours but where she works their season is kinda over so her hours got cut this week. With school starting on the 24th though, she didn’t need to work as many hours. She just got over a severe case of strep throat. Had to take her to the dr on Monday and she got a shot of penicillin in her tushy. Then on Tuesday she broke out with a rash so I bought Benadryl for that. Guess she’s allergic to the penicillin but it made her throat all better in about 24 hours. She picked up her school schedule today and she’s going Monday to try for her license. She has a new boyfriend. His name is PJ. He looks just like Corey Matthews on the old show Boy Meets World. One day a couple weeks ago she and I drove to Orlando, sat out in 98 degree heat to watch him play baseball. We made shirts the night before that said PJ’s Girlfriend and then mine said PJ’s Girlfriend’s Mom. They were cute. I don’t think tho I have ever been so hot. I said if God would let me survive that day and make it home, I’d never be out voluntarily in heat like that again.
Ed’s still working alot. I really never see him. Another thing that sucks about here. I was told that one of the reasons for us moving was so we’d get to see each other more but that hasn’t happened and I don’t see it ever changing. We celebrated his 35th birthday on Monday. I cooked dinner for him and he did come home a little early that night. Jacob bought him a Tag-A-Long Girl Scout Cookie blizzard cake and Brianna is taking him one day next week out to lunch and to go see tht movie Julia and Julie ( for some reason they both want to see it) 
I’ve been scrapbooking some. Made one for Sharon and Kalane of their trip here and now I’m working on one for Tiara to send her for her birthday of our trip to Kings Island. Her birthday is August 23rd. I can’t believe birthday number 2 for her that I’m going to miss. She’ll be 5 and she started kindergarten this week. I wish I could surprise her and just show up at her party!! She’ll be expecting the mail man to bring her something from me though. She’s gotten used to that.
It’s still very hot down here. I don’t think we’ve had a day not in the 90′s lately. I simply hate it. Not to get on my soapbox again about how much I hate Florida but I do. Been very down and out the last couple weeks. For me school starting back pretty much was the end of summer and fall was just around the corner. I love fall. The way it smells, the pretty colors and again, I’m going to miss that. I really try to think positive about this place but it’s very very hard.
I love being at home and getting to do whatever I want to during the day but hearing Jacob, Bri and Ed talk about work and the people there and all the gossip and drama, I miss working. There’s not any job openings down here for me though. And truth be told I probably wouldn’t last at a job here cause the first person who said to me on an 85 degree day, “ooh isn’t this beautiful weather” or “haven’t we really cooled down”, I’d hit them and get fired anyway. So I’m probably better off just to stay at home. The people down here are just dumb. All the ones who’ve lived here for a long time really act touched in the head. I come home today from tanning and I get to my driveway and I have to stop because standing in my driveway is the two women from each house beside me. They are just standing in my driveway talking like it’s one of theirs. I stop for them to move and they just look at me and then they scoot over to the edge of MY driveway. I got out and came on in my house without speaking to them and they just stood there. I think they suspected I didn’t like them, now they should know it.
Well I think this about catches everyone up on what’s going on in the Pearson house. If anything new and exciting happens I’ll let you know.
Jun
12
Kentucky Bound
Filed Under Uncategorized
I thought I’d blog one last time before I head to KY. Seems like I’ve been planning this trip for a long time and now in 3 days I’ll be flying out of Jax and into Louisville. I leave Jax at 6:25 Monday morning and arrive in Louisville around noon. My mom will be there at my aunt’s and they will come pick me up and then she and I will head to Glasgow where I will spend the week with her. Jacob and Brianna are driving up to Kentucky on the 19th. They plan on videoing part of their trip so that should be some great entertainment.
Brianna’s last day of school was on Wednesday. For someone who in August dreaded starting school, she sure seemed disappointed that Wednesday was the last day. Funny how things can change in just a few months. She’s looking forward to hanging out with her friends this summer at the beach, getting her license the end of June and getting to work alot so she can make that money!!
Her birthday on the 30th was a wonderful, fun day!! She had a couple girls spend the night with her on Friday night then on Saturday morning some more of her friends showed up. About noon we all crammed into my car and we drove into St. Augustine where she got her big birthday present from us. She got her nose pierced. It looks really cute, just a small diamond stud. After the piercing we came back home and dropped everyone off for Ed to bring on up to Dave and Buster’s in Jacksonville. Jacob and I went a few mins ahead, got the table and decorated it with “Sweet 16″ balloons and table decorations. Ed and the kids got there and we had good food, great Baskin and Robbins cake and alot of fun playing all the games. We got home about 7:00 pm and everyone went home. I think Brianna had a great 16th birthday.
A few weeks ago, Ed bought me a new car. I got a 2010 Kia Soul. We needed a new car since Brianna was taking over Ed’s old car, the Dodge Neon. Ed took my Sportage and I got the new Soul. Kia came out with this car a few years ago as a concept car and I had seen it in the Kia magazine they send periodically to Kia owners. I loved it, in the magazine and told Ed and several others that one day I’d have that car…..and now I do. You may have seen the commercials on tv for it. It’s the red car that the hamsters are driving. It’s kinda become known as the hamster car. It’s the most fun car I’ve ever had. It has a kick ass sound system in it and the speakers even pulsate red to the music. It has 2 subwoofers in it, so plenty of bass sound. It has bluetooth so I can talk on my phone through the stereo speakers and a small mic up by the drivers side sun visor. The only downside to the car is there’s not many of them out and so people are really interested in it when they see it out. I’ve walked out of several stores to find people looking at it, looking in it. One man and woman even had me show them the inside. At the car wash Wed, the girl said ,”Ah, you got the hamster car.” So it does bring alot of unwanted attention…..but it’s sooo cute!! Jacob is driving it to bring him and his sister to Kentucky. I must be crazy!!
We ended up getting lots of rain, too much in fact. This week has been dry but it’s very hot. Mid 90′s. The kids and I are going to the beach here in a little bit. I think it’ll be a great day for it.
Ed and I celebrate our 6th anniversary on Sunday, the 14th. He’s got the day planned out so I have no idea what we are doing. It stinks in a way that our anniversary is on Sunday, and I leave on Monday but it couldn’t be helped. Seems like yesterday in a way that we were planning our wedding. He says he’d marry me all over again just for the cake we had. It was good cake. I just remember feeling like a princess in a fairy tale. I remember how nervous I was just that everything wouldn’t go smoothly cause our rehearsal had been a little rough but it went beautifully. On our 10 year anniversary I’m really hoping for a trip to Hawaii!!
Not much else going on with the Pearson’s….I’ll try to blog some from Kentucky….but I may just be too busy having fun. It may have to wait til we get back on the 28th. Love to all!!!
May
20
Brianna………..through the years!!
Filed Under Uncategorized
My baby girl turns 16 in 10 days. All that comes to mind is where did the time ago? Seems like yesterday she was toddling around, keeping my days entertained. Maybe I should share some Brianna stories:
Brianna was a good baby from the minute she was born. She slept through the night home from the hospital. I don’t know how many nights I woke her up to make sure she wasn’t dead cause Jacob had been a horrible baby, not sleeping through the night til he was 13 months old. Brianna was bald as she could be. People had sent me cute little hair barrettes and she really had no hair so we had to opt for head bands. She usually would take those off though. She turned 1 about 2 weeks before we moved to North Dakota. Once we got there and settled we thought it would be fun to get the kids a dog. We got a little Shihtzu named Freeway. Brianna would chase the dog down to bite him…..shouldn’t that have been the other way around? By the time she was 2 she was a handful. I got her and Jacob one of those little orange and blue slides and instead of taking turns sliding on it she would slide down and then walk back up the slide, sit down and do it all over so Jacob didn’t get a turn. She was mean to Jacob but he would never do anything back to her. When she would bite him I’d tell him to bite her back but he wouldn’t. he loved his “baby tister”, as he’d call her. We lived on base in a four plex and Brianna would here the mailman at the next house and she would fly to the front door, open the wooden door, pull her pants down and stick her little naked butt up to the screen door to moon the mailman. She got into so much trouble for that but she’d just laugh.
When Jacob started kindergarten she wanted to go so bad. She cried the first day wanting to go with him. She learned what time the bus dropped him off and she’d wait at the front door for him. When she’d see the bus she’d jump up and down clapping her hands and she always wanted to go through his back pack.
When she was 3 I took her and Jacob on base to the theater to see 101 Dalmations. The place was packed with families and we had to sit about 4 rows up. I didn’t think Brianna had been paying much attention but during on of the scenes when Cruella DeVille is not being so nice, there was a quiet moment in the movie, about the time my 3 year old stands up and says “that Cruella DeVille is a BITCH!!” I wanted to crawl under the seats.
We moved back to Bowling Green in 1997 and Brianna turned four shortly after we moved. She was a huge fan of the country music singer, Terri Clark. I had written Terri’s fan club and told them about Brianna and she sent her an autographed pic that said “Happy Birthday Brianna” and Brianna thought it was really from Terri Clark and she was so excited. It was so cute. She showed everyone that picture.
One day I heard Jacob kinda crying/screaming and I went in the living room and she was sitting on top of him and she had pulled one of his teeth that was just starting to get loose. She loved pulling teeth. She pulled all of hers prematurely, but she couldn’t wait for them to get REAL loose. We told her she needed to be a dentist.
When she was 6 she decided since Jacob had played baseball the year before she wanted to play….not softball with the girls but baseball with the boys. We signed her up and she was on the Aces. Her coach called to let us know he was her coach and he said, “I was calling to let you know I have your son on my baseball team this year.” Jacob’s coach had already called so I was confused. I said, “My son?” He said , “yes Brian?” I knew what had happened…..I said, “that’s Brianna, my daughter.” He said, “uh, no, there’s been a mistake, I don’t have girls on my team, so let me call you right back.” Needless to say he called back and she was on his team. I thought we’d have troubles but we didn’t. Once he met her and saw what a little tomboy she was, he loved her and she became coach’s pet. At a practice he forgot he had a girl on the team and he stopped practice and told them to get water and if they needed to go to the bathroom since the one’s were locked they could go down in the woods and pee. So off goes Brianna right with the boys and the coach’s wife yelled, “Brianna doesn’t need to go with them.” Neil says, “Ah, shit, Brianna come here you can’t go with them.” And Brianna says, “yes I can, I can pee standing up, I’ve done it before.” She thought that was the only thing he was worried about!! Once we moved to Nicholasville, they wouldn’t let girls sign up for baseball, they had to play softball and she gave it one year and hated it so she quit and went to cheerleading.
In Kindergarten, her teacher, who was pregnant, sent me home a note one day and it said: Stacy, I was having a really bad day today, not feeling well and allowing the children to get on my nerves. Brianna, in front of everyone kindly asked me who pissed in my cheerios today? Even though I had a hard time not laughing, I tried to explain that she should not say things like that in the class. Could you talk to her? Ms. Riley
First grade brought a new teacher to the school…Ms. Lloyd. She was fresh out of college, all of 23 years old and had no clue what to do with my daughter. Conference after conference and those two hated each other. Ms. Lloyd would argue back with her like another child and Brianna just thought she was a joke. I received a call one day from the office saying I could come pick Brianna up in the office that afternoon. When I got there and walked in, Brianna was in the principal’s office. He was in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk, stretched out with hands behind his head, and Brianna was on the other side of his desk scooted up real close so she could reach the top of his desk with her legs, sitting the same way and they were watching tv. Her and Ms. Lloyd had gotten into it and Brianna had taken Ms. Lloyd to the principal’s office. The principal thought it best just to keep her in there. I picked her up there several afternoons like that cause she’d get fed up with Ms. Lloyd and she would go hang out with the principal. I heard Ms. Lloyd quit teaching and went back to school after that year….hmmmm……
After moving to Nicholasville Brianna cheered a couple years for parks and rec. She loved cheering. She decided her 5th grade year that she was going to try out for the middle school to cheer as a 6th grader. She made it. She cheered 6th, 7th and part of 8th. It was so much fun to watch her and see how much she enjoyed it. She enjoyed it a little too much. She was in it to win it and when it come time to practice alot of the girls goofed off, caused some falls her 8th grade year and it got to be not so fun so she quit.
8th grade year she joined band so she could do marching band her freshman year. The band teacher , Ms. Redmond, was brand new, had only taught one other year. (Remember Ms. Lloyd?) Anyway, Ms. Redmond and Brianna didn’t see eye to eye on anything. They fueled each other’s anger on a daily basis. Emails, phone calls, conferences…..I was never so ready for 8th grade year to be over!! Ms. Redmond quit teaching and moved out of state!
Brianna did join marching band her freshman year. She was in pit and she liked it but she really wanted to play drums. She never got a chance to cause the summer after her freshman year is when we moved to Florida.
We went through a period where she dyed her hair jet black and wore stuff with skulls and such. She loves music, she is obsessed with the Beatles, and VW buses, and no Marsha you are not showing her the one in Glasgow for sale or she’s moving in with you!! She got her permit last year, June 20th, I believe. She’s much improved on the driving. The first few outings was…..well….just downright scary!
I’ve gotten teary-eyed sitting here writing this. I miss that little bald blueyed baby that made me smile so many times, but I’m very happy to be the mom of a beautiful blueyed young woman who still entertains me and keeps me guessing on a daily basis. She never ceases to amaze me in so many ways, both good (buying me and awesome Mother’s Day gift) and bad (forgetting to wear underwear to school yesterday)!! She knows I love her to pieces.
It’s almost 1 a.m. and I’m sitting upstairs in what I refer to as my nest, even though it’s all themed as a movie room, listening to the wonderful sound of it raining. I know alot of family and friends in Kentucky are sick of it raining but we hadn’t had any rain for about 6 weeks, until Sunday night. The heaven’s opened up and it started pouring. It rained all night, all day yesterday and all day today and is still going. I don’t care how much it rains, I’m not going to complain. It’s cooled our temps up so much.
The Pearson foursome are doing very well. Life is moving right along….very quickly I might add. I can’t believe it’s already May 20th. This year is flying by. We’ve been in Florida almost a year. The first few months we were here I didn’t think I’d survive a year but here we are, still sane, and not minding it so much.
Ed and I went to Orlando Thursday, May 7th just for an overnight getaway since I don’t EVER see him. We got to Orlando about 2:00. Checked into the Country Inn and Suites and then we went to a place called Boston Lobster Feast. It was all you can eat crab legs and lobster plus alot of other seafood. Ed had the lobster and I enjoyed the crab legs. I love those things. Afterwards we were going to go to SeaWorld and catch the last Shamu show of the night but when we got over there the park was closing early that night so we didn’t get to do that. We went back to the hotel, that was desserted, and got in the pool. We had it all to ourselves and it was a lot of fun. It got kinda cool though so we went back to the room and found a movie theater and we went and saw “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”. It was a really good movie. After the movie we went to the hotels game room and played air hockey. It was soooooo much fun. I could have played all night but we ran out of tokens and had no more cash.
On Friday we went to the outlet malls and Ed bought me a bunch of clothes to take on vacation. We drove to Kissimmee, ate lunch and then we headed home.
On Saturday, we were celebrating Mother’s Day cause everyone, but me, had to work on Sunday. The day started about 8:00. Everyone got up and was ready to give me presents. The doggies, Graedy and Tucker had given me their present on Thursday so I could use it going to Orlando. It was a Vera Bradley laptop bag. Jacob’s gift was first. I held my hands out but it was way to big for my hands. He had gotten me this HUGE BEA—U—TI—FUL picture frame I had seen at Kirkland’s and wanted. It’s so pretty. It holds 25 different pictures of various sizes. Brianna’s gift was next. She got me a Dooney and Bourke purse I’d seen online and wanted. I was so excited. A few weeks back she had found this purse she liked online and was going to get it for herself. We were online looking at different purses and I saw this Dooney and Bourke I liked but $150 I wasn’t going to buy it. She told me later she’d decided not to order that purse for herself and I didn’t know why. When I opened my gift, I knew why, she’d ordered mine instead and didn’t have money for both. Wasn’t that sweet? I told them both they should not have spent so much on me, but I love my gifts and thank them for them.
After presents we headed into Jax to go to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. I love zoos and we had not gone to this one since we’ve lived here. Honestly I was expecting it to be a big nothing. Wow, was I shocked. It is a wonderful zoo. It’s beautifully landscaped and the gardens are magnificent. The giraffes are my favorite zoo animal and we got so close to one, I could have touched it if there hadn’t of been a sign there saying do not touch. We walked around for about 4 hours and then we left and went to Maggiano’s Little Italy for lunch/dinner. It wasn’t very busy but our server was horrible. The food was good but the service horrendous. We will give it one more try……..someday. After we ate we came home cause Brianna had to go to work at 5. That night I called my mom and she’d gotten the flowers I’d had sent to her and she loved them. It was a hanging basket full of red geraniums. So Mother’s Day 2009 was FANTASTIC!!
Now my focus is on my trip to KY in June. A bunch of friends from high school are having a reunion/party at a restaurant in Glasgow on June 18th. Some of them I have not seen since the night we graduated so I am very excited about seeing them. The next week we’ll be in Nicholasville/Lexington. Can’t wait to meet my new little great nephew. My niece keeps sending pics of the kids and I’m so glad to get them but it makes me want to see them that much worse. The way time is passing, it’ll be here before I know it. I just need to be patient.
I write this blog on our own website, pearsonspace.com/stacy and I repost it on Myspace and facebook. I know people on myspace and facebook read it but I wasn’t sure if anyone ever read it on our website. When I logged on today I had a comment from someone associated with Cheeseburger In Paradise. I had mentioned the restaurant in my last blog and somehow this person came across it and thanked me for coming there and hoped the chocolate nachos were great. This is one of my all time favorite restaurants. Everytime we go through Atlanta we stop there and eat and when we lived in Lexington we’d go to the one in Cincinnati. As much as I’m doing my part to get their name out there and get other people to try them, you’d think they would have asked for my email to send me a coupon for free chocolate nachos!!! I just thought it funny they left a comment on here….no telling who all ends up on my blog.
I think it’s about time to go to bed….good night all!!
May
5
Looking back……………and forward
Filed Under Uncategorized
Just called a florist in Glasgow and ordered my mom some flowers for Mother’s Day. She’s getting a blooming hanging basket that she can keep so I think she’ll be happy with that.
This morning as I was walking I was thinking about Mother’s Days past. I couldn’t remember Mother’s Day being a very big deal when I was a kid. I decided it must have been cause we were very poor when I was growing up and I assume we just didn’t have the money for me to get her a gift. I remember always going to church and they would give out roses sometimes to the youngest mom, the oldest mom, the mom with the most kids and I always wished there would be something that my mom would fit in so she’d get a rose. Maybe that’s why since I became an adult I always make sure she gets something from me for Mother’s Day.
I find myself thinking alot that there is just never enough money and when will we have more money and then thoughts of my childhood enter my mind and I think I should drop down on my knees and thank God for everything we do have. I grew up extremely poor. I had everything I needed but there sure were alot of things I wanted that I didn’t get.
Now we eat out all the time. When I was a kid we never ate out. I can remember every year at school we sold those “World’s Finest Chocolate” candy bars. They had a coupon on them buy one big mac, get one free. I was so excited every year when we sold those cause my parents would buy one candy bar and then either one Saturday or Sunday we would drive to McDonalds and I’d run in with my money and my coupon and get my two big macs and go home and eat both. That was a big deal to me.
Now on birthdays my kids pick to go eat at PF Changs or Cheesecake Factory I used to get to pick from Long John Silvers, Captain D’s or KFC. We only went out to eat for my birthday.
I remember one time when I was little, my mom got this small glass jar and she cut an opening in the top big enough for dimes to fit through. She told me that we’d save our dimes and when the jar got full we’d count the money and we’d go out to eat. I can remember getting so excited when that jar would be almost full. It was a big day when we got to count the dimes and roll them.
My dad was a baptist minister and he only got paid on Sundays whatever the congregation saw fit to give him each Sunday. (That’s why it makes me sick today to hear of all these churches that pays their pastor a salary or the preachers go on interviews to see if they want to preach at the church and how much the salary is. My dad went and preached where God led him to go preach whether they paid him or not.) Anyway, my dad pastored this church and they were going to have a fall revival in September or October and my mom needed some new dresses to wear badly. She’d been saving her money and was going to buy some before the revival. That year Lee jeans came out with these really cute Lee overalls and everyone had a pair. I wanted a pair of those soooooooo bad. I talked about them all the time. I knew my mom had been saving that money for dresses and one day while acting like a brat, which was really rare for me, I asked why she couldn’t take that money and buy me those overalls. A day or so later we went to Watson’s and she bought me those overalls. They were very expensive back then and she used her dress money to buy them. She had my grandma make her some dresses. It wasn’t til years later I felt really bad about that.
Not sure why I was thinking about all of this today. Sometimes when I’m going for my morning 4 mile walk I have all kinds of thoughts running through my head. It’s a good time to think, to solve problems and remember days gone by.
I have recently gotten back in contact with alot of people I went to high school with through myspace and facebook. The very first friend I ever had, I’ve met up with and we chat all the time now. We lived a long way from the elementary school I went to and I caught the bus by myself. Before I started school my mom wanted me to know someone that would be on the bus and that would be in first grade with me. She knew a lady who’s granddaughter was my starting first grade and would be riding my bus so my mom and I went to this lady’s house and I met her granddaughter. Tammy Lindsey. I remember we hit it off instantly and we played and her grandma made us grilled cheese. Tammy and I were friends, off and on our whole 12 years. We fought like sisters and hated each other I think at times but deep down we both knew the other was there for us if we ever needed each other. I hadn’t seen or talked to Tammy in many years. I’d hear about her through my mom who would bump into her grandmother every now and then.
I found her through Facebook after all these years. It’s amazing how much our lives have been alike. I can’t wait to see her and hang out with her when I go back to Kentucky in June. We’ve got many years of catching up to do.
My trip to Kentucky…… I am flying into Louisville on Monday, June 15th. I’ve already bought my ticket. My mom will pick me up in Louisville and she and I will drive back to Glasgow. That week I’m just going to spend with her and visiting some of these old friends I’ve been talking about. On Friday June 19th, Jacob and Brianna are going to drive my car up to Glasgow. Some might say I’m crazy to let those two start that far by themselves but Jacob is a very good driver and I trust him with my car. As long as they don’t fight the whole way they will be fine. We will stay with my mom til Monday June 22nd and then we are headed to Nicholasville/Lexington. Already have reservations for 5 nights at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Lexington. We’re going to spend time with my sister and her family. I have a new great nephew that was born on April 8th that I am very eager to meet. I’m getting my hair done and hanging out with Lisa and Rachael one night in Richmond. One day we are going to Kings Island. Couple new roller coasters there that Jacob needs to ride. Just going to be a lot of fun with family and friends. We will leave on Saturday June 27th to head back to Florida. We’re spending the night in Atlanta, already have those reservations, cause Stacy has to have chocolate nachos at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Then we will be back home on the 28th.
Life here in Florida is definitely better. I don’t enjoy how hot it is but I am enjoying it being beach weather again. I went last Wednesday alone. It was a great day to go. I read and napped and enjoyed listening to the waves. On Friday Brianna skipped school and we went to the beach. Another great day of sunshine and ocean waves.
I’m even trying to make nice with the lizards. I’m doing things this year I didn’t do last year. I’ve sat out on the patio, sat on the front porch, and I don’t scream and run the other way when I see one. However, I’m only making nice with them when they are on the outside of the house. Sunday night, just Jacob and I here, he hadn’t gone to work yet and we were watching tv and I saw a lizard by the tv stand close to the back door. I grabbed Graedy, cause he’d try to eat the lizard, and I stood up on the couch and just started screaming. Jacob finally realizedd what was going on and even though he hates them he got a tall glass and managed to get close enough to put it down over the lizard. Then there was the problem of how to get it out of the house. Scooting it underneath the glass on the carpet was not easy….but he finally did it. Once he got it close to the back door he opened the door and flung it out then went out and killed it. I can’t imagine if I’d been here alone. I guess I would have been heading to a hotel.
We’ve already reserved our cabin in Gatlinburg for Christmas week. No matter how much better I’m liking Florida, I just can’t do Christmas here. Christmas should be celebrated where it’s cold and a chance of the white stuff falling. This year we found a pet friendly place so our little four legged boys will be going with us. I’m excited to take them cause last year I missed them and I hated kenneling them. Jacob told Graedy he better be good cause this year Santa will be able to find him.
Ed and I are heading to Orlando on Thursday. Mainly just for something to do. We’re going to visit Shamu and do some shopping. He works so much I don’t get to see much of him so provided I can hide his Blackberry, it’s a good chance for us to spend some time together and do something fun.
I hope all the mom’s out there has a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday. Check back often for the Pearson adventures…..or just my ramblings!!
Apr
21
Spring time in Florida!!!
Filed Under Uncategorized
While I sit out back on my very beautiful patio looking out into my beautiful backyard that Jacob has so nicely landscaped, I am watching Graedy chase a lizard. I’m really hoping the lizard is faster cause I refuse to pull a dead lizard out of his mouth. It’s almost 80 degrees here today in sunny Florida. I think a trip to the beach may be in store for the end of the week.
I realized it’s been a long time since I blogged so I thought I should get on it and catch everyone up to speed. On Wednesday, March 25th Ed took off from work and he and I went to the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford, FL. It’s a really small zoo but it was really nice and had lots of animals on display. We had a really good time as we do anytime we go to a zoo. We left the zoo and headed onto Orlando. We went to Texas de Brazil for dinner. Love that place!! Everyone should eat there at least once just to experience it.
On Saturday, April 4th some friends from Kentucky arrived to spend the week of spring break with us. Terri Smalling and her kids, Cory, Emily and Dylan. We’ve known them for about 9 years. We met one spring when Brianna and Cory ended up on the same baseball team together….wow hard to believe that was 9 years ago.
Unfortunately the Florida weather was not at it’s nicest for spring break. On Monday it was raining in the morning. By mid afternoon we loaded up and made our way to the beach. For us Floridians it was too chilly to get in the water and the wind was blowing so bad we were eating sand but the Kentuckians had a great time and that’s what mattered.
Tuesday it was downright cold…hoodie weather…so Terri, Emily, Brianna and Dylan went and got manicures and pedicure while I went and shopped at Kirklands. Cory and Jacob went to the theater and saw “Adventureland”. In the afternoon we all met at Hooters for lunch/dinner. Ed skipped out of work and joined us.
On Wednesday we went to SeaWorld. What a fun day!! I thought it was still cool but it made for a great day to be walking around SeaWorld. Brianna’s friend Conner went with us so Brianna, Conner, Jacob and I drove my car and Terri and her kids drove in her car. We swung through McD’s for breakfast and then it was off to Orlando. Sea World was extremely busy. We sat in line on the road forever to get into the parking lot…but Brianna, Conner and Jacob made it alot of fun. Once inside the park we headed off to some shows. We had a fun day of going from attraction to attraction. We ended our night with Shamu Rocks which is always amazing. We stopped at Ihop in Deland, FL around midnight. When we got back in the car everyone went to sleep. It had been a very fun day and I think I had laughed so much that day and night that my sides were sore. Put Bri, Conner and Jacob together and their humor could be dangerous.
On Thursday, I woke up with a real bad headache. My blood pressure was up and it was one of those headaches. Everyone else went to the beach at some point after lunch and Jacob and I just hung out at home. When they got ready to leave the beach they called and Jacob and I met them at Cracker Barrel for dinner. When we got back home, Terri had to pack up their stuff and load the car as they were leaving on Friday morning.
When I got up at 6:30 on Friday morning they had already left. Jacob was home from work and he’d gotten to see them before they left. It had been a fun week with old friends. It also made me realize before I have grandchildren, I’m going to have to make my house more kid friendly. I guess I’ve gotten so used to having older kids I just never thought about it. But before I have grandchildren the nice glass tables must go, the expensive couch cause it’s sure to be jumped on, all the nice “things” just sitting around will have to be put away or maybe by then I’ll just have a big enough house that I’ll just have certain rooms that the grandchildren can go in and play and I won’t be on pins and needles all the time and then there will be those other rooms that will be off limits where my nice stuff and the aquariums will be.
On Wednesday, April 8th my new great nephew, Ryan Blaine arrived at 7:02 a.m. My niece, Stephanie called me around 8 to tell me that he had finally made his appearance. I think she was convinced she was never going to have him. She’s sent several pics of him by phone and he is absolutely adorable. I can’t wait to go to Kentucky to see him.
Ed bought me a new computer this month and a new photo printer…..or maybe the Easter bunny brought it!! Either way I’m very excited. My computer is a Dell laptop and it’s Midnight Blue…very cool looking. I can’t wait to start using my printer and doing some stuff with scrapbooking. I’m working on another project right now for Ryan Blaine, but once it’s finished I’m going to do some scrapbooking.
The Monday after spring break Brianna had that day off also from school. She took me out to lunch and then we went to see the Hannah Montana movie. It was so funny cause she was the only teen there. All the other girls were like 10 and under….but we didn’t care….nobody needed to know that she had brought her mom to see the movie since I am the big Hannah Montana fan!! It was a really good movie. I love that Miley Cyrus!! After the movie we went to the Avenues shopping. This is Brianna’s favorite mall. Now that she has her own debit card she is dangerous. She bought a lot of cute clothes. We ate Cinnabon and had Starbucks. We went over to Ed’s work and took him Cinnabon. After there we went to Walmart and then it started pouring rain on us. Brianna had driven us the whole day and had did a really good job. But as we headed home from Jacksonville, we were under a tornado warning so she decided I should drive. The weather was really nasty. Jacob was leaving to go to work at 8:30, just as we were getting home. Around ten, Jacob’s weather radio went off and said there was a tornado 6 miles south of St. Augustine Beach. Ed called from work and said we had tornado warnings all around us so Brianna, the dogs and I went and took cover in the bathroom just until all the tornado’s went away. It was crazy!!
Jacksonville has a minor league baseball team, the Suns and Ed and I went to a game last Tuesday night. It was sooooooo much fun. Our seats were right on third base. We were right by the Suns dug out. These were better seats than some we had when Jacob was playing little league. The weather was great and it was Family Feast night. Hot dogs, peanuts and ice cream were only 50 cents each. So we had some hot dogs and some peanuts. It was sort of a boring game until about the 6th inning and then it got to be a really good game. The Suns won!!! We’re planning on going back to several more of their games and hoping the kids will go with us to some.
Brianna’s still working at the Outback Crab Shack. Still just Friday, Saturday and Sundays for now. She’s making good money. She drives every chance she gets cause in June she can go for her license. She did her class schedule for next year and it’s going to be tough. She’s taking several AP and honors classes….but I know she’ll do well cause she is so smart. We’re already getting tons of mail each day from colleges for her. Hope at some point there are some scholarships to be had for her.
Jacob is still doing night stock at Lowe’s. It’s seasonal so not sure what he’s going to do in June when it’s over. I’m sure if he starts looking something will turn up. He’s working on paying his car off and he’s done a lot of landscaping in the front and back yard. It all looks really nice. He and I usually hang out on Fridays or Saturdays since those are his nights off. Last Friday we went and saw “Sunshine Cleaning”. It was a great movie!!
Ed’s still working like crazy. I don’t see much of him which really stinks…..but luckily he can take days here and there for us to go do some stuff. I think here in the next couple weeks he and I are going to go to SeaWorld and spend the night in Orlando. We’ve got some other trips we want to take in the upcoming months, plus I want to fit in a trip to Kentucky hopefully in June as soon as Bri is out of school. I’ve already been researching cabins in Gatlinburg for our Christmas trip. I can’t believe how far ahead some of them are already booked up.
I’m still walking every day. Try to walk four miles in the morning then some days I ride my exercise bike for 30 to 40 minutes in the afternoons. Apparently battling weight is something I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I still have hopes of being on the Biggest Loser one day!! hahahaha!! I’m hoping my body will soon get used to this Florida weather. Seems like every 6 to 8 weeks I get a cold. I’m just getting over one that I got last week. It’s the huge swings in temps in one day. Our mornings may be 40′s/50′s. By 2 pm we’re at 70 to 80′s then by 8 pm we’re back at 40′s/50′s and I’m pretty sure that’s what is keeping me with a cold all the time. I’m assuming at some point it won’t bother me.
I think this should catch everyone up on what is going on with the Pearson’s at this time. We’ve all settled into our Florida way of living and I think everyone is content and happy. I still love being at home and feel very blessed and very grateful to Ed that I’m able to stay at home. Graedy is very thankful too. He’s spoiled so rotten he’d never stay crated for 8 to 10 hours a day like Tucker did. Graedy has to have at least 3 to 4 hours of laying in mommy’s lap every day. He’s a sweet puppy!!
Everyone needs to keep emailing us and calling…..staying in touch!! Looking forward to our friends who have visits planned over the summer, can’t wait to see you!! Love to all!!!
Mar
12
This time last Thursday night, I was in beautiful Destin, FL with my amazing husband eating dinner at the Hogs Breath Saloon!!
Ed and I were wanting to go somewhere for a getaway cause it had been a long time since just the two of us had gone somewhere. The last couple months we hadn’t seen much of each other cause seems like Ed has been extremely busy working. We wanted to go somewhere, just to get away from his bosses where we could talk and just enjoy being together. We decided we’d go to Tampa but the week before we were going, we decided on Destin. Neither of us had ever been there and we both had heard it was really pretty so that was our new destination!!
We left home about 10:00 last Thursday, March 5th, and our first stop was Starbucks. After I had my white chocolate mocha in my hand and Ed had some breakfast we were off down the interstate. We had driven on the interstate to Tallahassee and we got off there just to see the Capital and Florida State University. While driving around Ed came up with a wonderful idea…..to ditch the interstate and drive the rest of the way to Destin along the coast. I am sooooo glad he came up with the idea cause it was beautiful driving along the coast.
Around 2:00 we stopped in Crawfordsville and ate lunch at Beef O’Brady’s. It was the smallest one I’d ever seen. It wasn’t very busy at that time of day and we chose a table right across from the bar. I am looking at the menu and not paying much attention to the man sitting at the bar but after we placed our order Ed went to the bathroom and I started just looking around and the man who was sitting at the bar, about 5 feet from us, was showing way too much butt crack!! It was so gross. I told Ed when he came back to the table I didn’t think I’d be able to eat having to look at that. I left the table and went to the bathroom and when I came out Ed and the waitress were talking and I am not sure if they were discussing the man with the butt crack or what but for some reason the guy pulled his pants up and his shirt down. So I was able to eat my lunch.
After lunch we continued on down the coast towards Destin. We arrived in Destin around 6:30. We were pleasantly surprised when we got to our hotel. We had spent so little on our room I was afraid the Sleep Inn was going to be a roach motel but it was actually very nice. We checked in and then carried all of our stuff in. Ed got on the internet and we started looking for somewhere to go eat dinner. He called a few to check hours and discovered a lot of the restaurants around Destin were still closed for the season. We decided we wanted barbecue so we went out looking for this one place and couldn’t find it so Ed remembered another place called the Hog’s Breath Saloon. Ed called to see if they were open and they were and she told Ed that live entertainment started at 9. Made me wonder what kind of place this was going to be. However, we found it and went in and was seated immediately. It was a decent place. Our server came right over and from that point it was wonderful service and food. The entertainment was the Kenny Rudd band. They were awesome too. We really enjoyed the Hog’s Breath.
On Friday after a good night’s sleep and some Otis Spunkmeyer muffins for breakfast compliments of the Sleep Inn we were out the door and ready to shop. Our hotel was located across from the Silver Sands Outlet Mall. I had heard it was great shopping and it was. We bought stuff for everyone. Ed got some clothes and shoes, we bought the kids some stuff and I got 5 pair of shoes, 4 pair were flip flops….Ed knew the way to my heart!! During shopping we got hungry so we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise. We ordered a couple appetizers to snack on. Then it was back to shopping.
After shopping was over we decided to drive over to Fort Walton Beach and see what was over there. It was a pretty drive over the bridge. As we were coming back towards Destin we stopped at Okaloosa Island. We walked down onto the beach. I was just blown away by how beautiful the sand and beach were. If the Atlantic side was as pretty as the Gulf, I wouldn’t mind living here at all.
We got back in the car and headed towards Destin. We decided to go to Henderson State Park to watch the sunset. We got there and grabbed the blanket out of the car and headed to the beach. One wedding was all wrapped up and another was in progress. This company there who specializes in beach weddings is called Barefoot Weddings. Their van is bright hot pink.
We sat there, even though it was very chilly, and watched the sunset. There is nothing more romantic than sitting on the beach in the arms of the man you love, watching the sunset. It was BEEEE-U-T-FUL!!!!!!
After the sunset we left the beach and decided on some food. We stopped at a place called Gilligan’s. When we pulled in the parking lot it didn’t look like much but we had read good reviews on it. When we went in, it didn’t look like much either. The waitress hollered at us and told us just to find a seat so we thought about going outside and eating but it was really cool so we picked a booth in the back corner. There was a huge party there that we soon figured out was a rehearsal dinner for a wedding to take place the next day. So this was wedding number 3 that we were seeing.
The food and service at Gilligan’s was fantastic. We had shrimp and catfish. For awhile we were the only ones in there besides the wedding party. We got all teary eyed cause after the wedding people got finished eating, the dad of the groom got up to make a little speech and it was very touching. Then the groom’s step dad spoke along with the bride’s mom and dad. It was so sweet and so touching even though we didn’t know them. Made me think about my kids and what it will be like when they get married. All in all, our experience at Gilligan’s was GREAT!!!!
On Saturday we got up and decided we were going to go to this state park called Eden Garden. When we went outside it was really cool but we went on anyway. We got in the car and punched in Eden Garden State Park into the GPS. We have Garmin. Apparently Garmin was having an off day cause she took us somewhere that wasn’t where we wanted to be but we got to see some more of the area and it really is a beautiful place. Once we figured out Garmin was smoking crack, Ed looked on his Blackberry and figured out where the park actually was so we finally made it there.
The main thing at Eden Garden is this beautiful two story house that was built in the 1800′s. When we got there and parked we saw there was a wedding in progress on the lawn at the house. It was a really pretty setting for a wedding. So that was wedding number 4 we had seen. We walked around the gardens, taking some pictures and we were going to take the tour of the house but we would have to wait for 45 minutes and I didn’t want to wait so we swent ahead and left.
Headed back into Destin we decided to go ahead and eat lunch/dinner. This time we went to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had read that the view from outside was incredible so even though we nearly froze our butts off we sat outside. I am soooo glad we did. It was an incredible view of Destin Harbor. Our food was as incredible as the view!!
Once we were finished eating we stopped by a souvenir place and bought hoodies so we could go enjoy our last sunset on the beach. We decided to go to Okaloosa Island to watch this time. When we got there we put on our hoodies, grabbed our blanket and saw the hot pink Barefoot Weddings van in the parking lot. We just laughed. As we walked up to the boardwalk we saw the wedding party waiting to march down to the beach so we went the other way. When we got onto the beach there was one wedding way down from us, that looked like it was almost over then another was going on down the other way and then the one had just started. So that was wedding 5,6 and 7 for us. I told Ed it was making me want to get married again….hehehehe Just as wedding number 7 was ending, a man carrying a bible and a white pedastel and a bag of something came onto the beach. He looked lost and was on the phone. Then some people came onto the beach and we realized we were going to see a white trash wedding, so this was wedding number 8. This wedding was quiet comical. The bride and groom (maybe 21, 22 years old) practically started the honeymoon before the ceremony right there on the beach. A friend was the photographer and the bride’s 2 small children ran around during the ceremony. We figure Barefoot Weddings was out of their price range.
We sat on the beach and enjoyed another beautiful sunset. We took some silly pictures and then with freezing toes, decided it was time to leave.
On Sunday we reluctantly got up and got ready to head back to Uglyville. It had been a wonderful time in Destin with my husband. Time spent together that was much needed and he hardly looked at his Blackberry while we were there. hehehehehe!! Before leaving Destin we went and ate lunch at La Paz Mexican Restaurant. We arrived at 11:30 and we were the only ones there. We were seated and to end our great trip in Destin we had another great meal with great service. The queso there was to die for.
Full of Mexican food, we hit the road and said goodbye to Destin in the rearview. We chose to drive back home along the coast and the back roads. It was another beautiful day. We drove through Panama City Beach and the spring breakers were already packing in so we didn’t stop just drove through. We’re going there for a couple of days in October to meet some friends there so we’ll explore there more then. On down the road we stopped at St George Island State Park. It’s close to Eastpoint, FL. There’s a lighthouse there that I wanted to see cause I love lighthouses. We got out and walked around the lighthouse and then we drove around the island to see what was there then it was back on the road.
We stopped in Gainesville around 9 and had dinner at Outback. We missed the wonderful restaurants of Destin. We got home about 11:30 and Jacob, Tucker and Graedy were waiting in the driveway to welcome us home.
I highly recommend Destin to anyone looking for somewhere to spend a week or just a few days. It was relaxing, beautiful and lots of good food. I had a wonderful time with Ed, who I don’t tell enough just how amazing he is, and I’m already trying to find a destination for our next getaway!!
Feb
23
Reality tv shows and weight loss woes
Filed Under Uncategorized
I just finished riding the exercise bike for 45 mintues and now I just want to go to McDonald’s and eat a double quater pounder with large fries….but I won’t!
If you have ever been overweight and lost a bunch of weight and kept it off………..I envy you. If you are overweight and you are okay with the way you look………….I envy you. If you are not overweight………..I most certainly envy you. I hate the way I look and I want this weight gone so bad but I don’t know what else more to do than what I am doing. I think I just have a fat gene and it’s meant for me to look this way.
As many of you may or may not know I have been overweight pretty much my whole life. Growing up, I can remember all the bad stuff I used to eat. My mom was an awesome cook….fried chicken, fried in Crisco….mashed potatoes, made with whole milk and a couple sticks of butter, gravy made straight from where the chicken was fried and homemade biscuits would round out a Sunday after church lunch!!
The summer before my sophomore year I went on a diet. I lost a lot of weight. I got down to wearing a size 5 jeans and I kept the weight off until I got pregnant with Jacob in 1990. After he was born, I just kept gaining. I know I ate bad and just didn’t have the motivation to lose the weight. So for the next few years I got bigger and bigger and bigger. Around 1993-94 I lost about 40 lbs. I was down to a size 12. Someone who I hadn’t seen in months paid no attention to the weight loss and hurt my feelings so what did I do? Said screw it and started eating what I wanted to and gained it all plus some. So for another few years I just got bigger and bigger and bigger. After my divorce in 2000 I lost weight again. When Ed and I met, I guess I was happy and we ate out alot and I just quit caring again and I gained all I’d lost plus some. In 2005 I was at the biggest I’d ever been. I hated looking in the mirror, I hated shopping for clothes, I felt horrible all the time and I had been watching “The Biggest Loser” on tv. Jacob had gained alot of weight too and I couldn’t very well tell him he should lose when I looked like Shamu’s twin. So in January of 2006 Jacob and I decided we would lose weight. We started watching our fat grams and calories. I threw my deep fryer away and all the vegetable oil in the house was also tossed. I started buying everything I could in fat free, lite and reduced fat. We bought an exercise bike and started riding it every night. When the weather got warmer we started walking at a park there in town. The first time we went there to walk we walked around once which was a mile and it about killed us both….but we didn’t give up. By the time we moved from there 4 miles around the park was nothing for us and we could do it in 45 mins or less.
From January 2006 to September 2006 I lost about 65 lbs. From September 2006 to May 2007 I lost another 10 lbs. Then it just stopped. I was still exercising, still eating well and it just stopped. I was happy with the way I looked cause it was a huge improvement, and after 10 years of taking blood pressure pills I’d been taken off of those. But I still had about 55 more lbs I wanted to lose. Around Christmas of 2007 I gained about 5 lbs and then it slowly started creeping back on me…..By February 2008 I’d gained back 10lbs and not real sure why either. Also in February 2008 we found out we were going to be moving to Florida. At that point I think I kinda quit worrying and watching so closely over what I was eating…there was no time. From March til we moved in May we were so busy packing and doing stuff that I didn’t exercise like I should’ve and to save time we ate out alot. I could tell my clothes were getting tighter.
After we got to Florida, I just couldn’t think about dieting….I hated being here and I was so depressed. Finally around October I decided it was bad enough that I hated living here but I really didn’t want to weigh 300 lbs so I started trying to lose again. I walked…some days 8 miles a day….I watched everything I ate….and no weight loss. Right before Christmas I lost 6 lbs but of course during Christmas I gained that back. Since the beginning of this year I’ve tried losing again….I even bought some Alli cause it had worked well for a friend of mine and still nothing. I was stressing so over losing I was afraid that was why I wasn’t losing so I just quit thinking about it for the last two weeks and now today I’m trying to start again. We will see how it goes now that I’m no longer depressed and upset over living in Florida, Ed and I are back on track and getting along wonderfully and I’m trying not to let losing weight be the number 1 thing on my mind.
Now for the next part of this blog….I have a confession to make….Ed and I are reality tv show addicts. Right now in this house these are the shows being watched either by both of us or me: 1.) The Bachelor – a man gets to start out with 25 different woman and each week narrows down the woman to ultimately find the one he wants to propose to. We have only missed one season of this and it’s been on several years. 2.) The Biggest Loser – a group of people, sometimes individuals and sometimes couples who are overweight go live in California on a ranch with two trainers and compete to lose weight. We have never missed a season of this show. 3.) Rock of Love Bus with Brett Michaels – Brett Michaels starts out with all of these girls and he narrows them down each week to find his true love. They are all trashy, skanky ho’s and this is his 3rd or 4th time to try to find the ho of his dreams. 4.)Tool Academy – This show started out with ten guys I think and all of them their girlfriends had said they were just tools. Each week they have to go to therapy, do challenges and learn a valuable lesson and the guy who is still a tool gets voted off and his girlfriend can choose to leave with him or not. 5.) True Beauty – Ten people who are extremely beautiful on the outside are brought together and given challenges to do and judges are watching but the people don’t know it and what the judges are really looking for is if they are beautiful on the inside. Some of these people are very ugly on the inside. Each week one person is let go by the judges. 6.) Dancing with the Stars – celebrities are paired up with professional ballroom dancers and each week they dance and people call in and one couple gets eliminated each week. 7.) Amazing Race- couples literally race all over the world and try to beat each other doing things. The last couple to get to the end place is eliminated. And of course, #8.)American Idol – unless you’ve lived under a rock you know what this show is about.
Each week we sit in front of the tv, yelling at it because the judges can’t see or can’t hear what we think they should see and hear….the bachelor can’t see what a two faced bitch the girl is….the guy can’t see how mean to his girlfriend he’s being…. the woman doesn’t take full advantage of having a trainer and a gym and her disposal….the couple is driving around lost and they are falling into last place….Brett Michaels doesn’t like the “good” girls, he just wants the nasty, trashy girls…..and so on and so on…. We can’t miss an episode. Thank God for DVR….ours gets such a work out we’ve had to replace them a couple times already and the one we have now is on the fritz so it will have to be replaced soon. We get so wrapped up in these shows and talk about the participants like they are family and close personal friends…sometimes they get confusing….the other day Ed thought one of the young mom’s on American Idol was being talked about by others for coming there and leaving her 10 month old at home but he was mistaken, that was something that had happened on the Bachelor earlier this season.
For whatever reason, we find ourselves engrossed in front of the tv each week watching these shows and getting all excited and all ticked off over the outcomes. If you hear of any new reality shows that’s soon to start be sure to let me know…we have a few open slots on the DVR!
Feb
18
Accepting my fate and moving on……………
Filed Under Uncategorized
Ed said to me the other night that it had been a long time since I’d blogged. He was right, it has. I got tired of every blog being about how much I hate Florida and I figured everyone was tired of hearing me whine and complain about it so I just hadn’t been blogging.
After we got back to Florida from being gone 2 weeks at Christmas I became very depressed. Jacob was also very depressed. It took going back to Kentucky I guess to make us realize just how happy we really were there and how much we wish we could turn back time. When we got back down here there were days that I just felt like I never wanted to get out of bed. Sometimes, I’d just start crying and I felt like it was impossible to get another breath inside of me. Ed didn’t understand, he just got angry at me and maybe in his shoes I don’t blame him but I really couldn’t help it.
I really considered just packing everything up and leaving Ed and Florida behind. But when I’d think of actually saying goodbye to Ed, that broke my heart too cause it was not him I wanted away from. The kids and I had thought maybe Ed’s work would let him work from Kentucky, via computer since he could basically do his job all by computer. He talked to one of his bosses about the idea and was told no.
I went through the motions of living everyday but I wasn’t really living. I hated the way I felt but didn’t know how to make things any better. There is so much of my old life in Kentucky that I miss. Week before last I did a lot of thinking and soul searching. The kids told me on more than one occassion that I was grouchy and grumpy but it was because I just was so lost in my own thoughts I couldn’t handle anymore and anyone else’s.
I really got to thinking about my old life in Ky….and I had to realize, that’s what it is….my old life. The three most important things to me from my old life are here with me in Florida. I could either ruin my relationship with them and make them miserable or I could accept my fate and start making a life here. As I thought about the old life in greater detail I realized that if I packed up and moved today, things would not be the same as they were pre May 29th. We wouldn’t live in our pretty house on Northbrook Drive, Jacob wouldn’t be a senior at West and working at Kroger. I wouldn’t be an employee at P and C. People we knew there have changed in the 8 months we’ve been gone. There are new restaurants and other businesses. Events have happened that we weren’t apart of and we couldn’t just ease back into that life we once had, it would forever be different. So I have decided to just accept that I now live in Florida and even though I’m sure there will be bad days for me, I look forward to what the future has in store for Ed and I and the kids. I don’t think I’ll ever love down here, but I do love my husband and with him is where I want to be, so if that means putting up with crazy Floridians who think 60 degrees is cold, then so be it.
I still miss family and friends but that’s why I have 4,000 text messages going out each month and why I thank God for myspace and email. I can always talk to whichever family member or friend that I’m missing at any given moment so even though I’m far away it doesn’t have to seem like it. We all can just look forward to the next visit.
I told Jacob my theory on how things wouldn’t really be the same and he agreed. I’m hoping he’s feeling better about living here now that he sees I am ready to move on. He graduated January 15th. He was very excited at graduating early. I had mixed emotions….I was happy for him because he was so happy but as a mom, I am going to miss seeing him in a cap and gown and walking down the aisle. He’s not upset at all about missing that. He was glad to skip all of the senior hoop la but I did make him let me take “senior” pics of him and I did send out graduation announcements. I told him that was one of the perks was getting graduation gifts, cards and money so he agreed to sending those out. I did the announcements myself and sent out about 40 of them, and have been a little disappointed that he has not received back any cards or gifts. I hate that his graduation has been so uneventful for him….but hopefully people are just dragging their feet.
Jacob started working at Lowe’s a couple weeks ago. He’s working 9pm to 6 am stocking. It’s not his dream job but it’s a paycheck and a pretty good one at that. Right now it’s seasonal scheduled to end the end of June but he’s hoping that maybe something will open up and they will hire him full time, only on day shift. He’s not fond of the night shift….it’s really got his sleeping screwed up but he can manage for a few months til something better comes along.
Brianna is great…..she decided that after the ordeal at Christmas in Nicholasville with her so called friend who turned out to not be her friend, that she likes Florida better. She’s got several really good friends that she hangs out with and she likes her classes and most of her teachers. So like I thought all along, the one who threw the biggest fit about moving here is the one who likes it the best now.
One of my very bestes buddies (Terri) and her kids are coming down here the first week in April during spring break to spend a few days with us. I am sooooooo excited!!! Not sure what we will do that week but I’m sure we’ll find something to get into and we’ll have a lot of fun.
Another of my friends in Winchester, Beth, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on February 4th. His name is Brian Ryder Sexton. I’ve seen pictures and he is adorable. Can’t wait to see him in person.
As I’ve been writing this Brianna has came in from school and called about a job that she went to the interview yesterday and she got it. So she is going to be a server at a seafood restaurant about 2 mins from our house called “The Outback Crab Shack“. She starts either Friday or Saturday night. She’s very excited. She’s been doing some babysitting but it’s just sporadic and she really wanted her own money so she went to this place a couple weeks ago and filled out an application. I think she’ll be good at it since she’s friendly, cute and flirty.
Ed is doing well….he’s keeping very busy. Not only with his regular job but he’s been doing some freelance work as well. He did take off on Valentine’s Day to spend it with me….. it was such a nice day. He had planned our whole day which included a surprise that I would get when we got to the beach. When we left out of here about noon it was very cloudy so he decided we would go ahead and go eat first. We went to Mimi’s Cafe in Jacksonville. The food was incredible, but the service was horrible and while we sat there eating it started to rain. After we ate we went to some stores, waiting and hoping that the rain would clear out so we could go to the beach but it never did. Finally at 5 I called the kids and told them to go to a movie and to eat dinner and call before they headed home. Ed and I went by his work cause that’s where he had my surprise refrigerated and then we headed on home. Even though we didn’t get to go have a romantic day at the beach, we had a romantic night at home eating strawberries, chocolate and champagne (my surprise) in the garden tub by candlelight. Maybe it was a good thing it rained!! About 9:30 we went out to redbox to rent Eagle Eye. Came home and started watching it. It was a really good movie. Kids got home about 10:30. They went and saw “He’s not that into you” and both said it was really good.
I thought my mom was coming down in March to spend the whole month with me but the other day when I talked to her about it she said she’s not coming cause she’s not feeling well. She was going to see a dr this week or next week so hopefully the dr can find what’s wrong with her and get her to feeling better so she can come down for a visit.
My niece, Stephanie is expecting a baby boy, who will be named Ryan Blaine, either the end of March or first of April. I am excited for his arrival. That will most likely prompt a trip to Kentucky. I’ve been working on a little something for him so that’s keeping me busy. Ed can’t understand why I don’t get bored here at home but I really don’t. I love being at home and having time for myself to do all these things I missed out on over the last several years when I was working. It’s so nice to not have to stress over a job either. I didn’t realize how stressed out my job and the people there made me. I love not having all the drama….and I am definitely not bored either….I have plenty to keep me busy.
Ed and I are planning a little getaway here in a couple weeks. Nothing big, just maybe over to Tampa for three or four days….we’re not exactly sure where we are going, we just know we are going somewhere. He’s already asked off for those days and got them approved and I’m sure my boss will let me off then too…
I will try to do better blogging and keeping everyone far away posted on what the Pearson Family is up to. Call, text, email or write…..stay in touch!!
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