life lately.

Life lately is absolutely positively insane.

There has been something going on every single weekend and weekdays are filled with work, school, and so many other shenanigans that most of the time Mr. P and I literally collapse into bed beyond tired some time way too late in the night only to have to get up and start all over again way too early in the morning.

Grown up life is a blast.

I have not been working out at all lately. Like at all at all. A few weeks ago, Mr. P and I joined my best friend and her family for a few hours of backyard soccer. He managed to tear up his back and I was literally so sore for the next week that the idea of using the bathroom was enough to make me cry. It was hella bad

So naturally, the bff and I signed up to play in our high school's alumni soccer game. Backyard soccer made me sore, surely I could survive 90 minutes of full on play with a bunch of high schoolers right?!

It was actually a total and complete blast. Was I sore? Absolutely. But the joy of playing high schoolers is that at the end of the game, I can relax with a cold beer and ignore my soreness. They can't.

Though they probably aren't sore. But whatever.

Baby Girl is growing up way too fast. The attitude, the sass; it's all SO much. But dare I say (knock on wood) that age 3 is actually shaping up to be much easier for us than age 2 was? Maybe because she hit her independent streak so dang early that we've already worked through some of that? I don't know. But I love this age.

I am sure that she will somehow find out that I wrote these words and she will make me pay, but right now her horn deserves to be tooted; she's all sorts of awesome. I adore that kid something fierce.

She has a current obsession with being just like her Mama and Daddy. Case in point, we bought her the cutest pair of Dora flip flops (she picked them) the other day. They have this strap that goes around the back of her ankle to keep them on her feet. The other day I noticed that she had pushed that strap all the way to the front of the shoe. After a bit of questioning I figured out that she didn't want to wear the strap because her Dad and my flip flops didn't have the strap. So we cut them off. Then we bought another pair which she promptly pushed the strap around the bottom. Point taken. Only "big girl" flops from here on out.

With every little change that's been happening lately (there's big news ahead), she's handled it with grace far beyond her years. She's a champ with a heart the size of Texas who absolutely adores those around her and doesn't hesitate to let them know that daily.

In "big news" land.... a couple of weeks ago a job opportunity presented itself to Mr. P. A job opportunity which would move us about two hours west of the sleepy little town we were currently residing in. It happened quick. Talk of the change started and about a week or so later, Mr. P resigned from his current job and took a new job.

In another little twist, he accepted a job with the same company I currently work for. So my job? remained intact. Well.. sort of.

He's currently running two offices for my company based out of the Charlotte area while I work sales for the company in Charlotte. And Florence. For now.

The coolest part? I'm now working sales with my best friend. And living five minutes from her in a small town outside of Charlotte. It's kind of awesome. And fun.

I have this mechanism in me that kind of shuts down when things get overwhelming. And all the change lately? Overwhelming. I know I didn't blog about the move, but I also didn't tell many people either. I told one of my closest friends I was moving while driving to the new town. Yes. I'm very, very odd but I was overwhelmed. And scared of all this change. And truth be told? a little bit sad about leaving the town I had zero desire to move to in the first place.

Hardest part? Hands down leaving sweet friends again. Leaving my clients who I kind of adore (even though I do get to go back once a week to work there). Leaving a dear friend who I never got to spend enough time with while there and leaving her sweet, sweet girl who I absolutely adored. Leaving another school and another little best friend that Baby Girl adored. And while it drove me crazy living next door to my in-laws, I will also miss having them close enough for E to spend the night with them or for them to keep her for a couple of hours.

BG put up a tiny bit of resistance when we talked about her "new school" but eventually got on board with the idea of making new friends and checking out a new school. She almost broke my heart when her little lip started quivering one morning as she said "Mommy, I like my school. I like my friends. I want to stay here." . Yes. I started sobbing.

But she bucked up and got a bit excited. Then she figured out that she could make people sad by saying "I'm leaving now!" all giddy. She can be a little evil. She got more excited if they fake cried.

She is so my child.

In the midst of the crazy, BG was surrounded by family to shower her with constant love and attention. She spent a couple of weeks surrounded by grandparents when my Mom came down for a bit. Then my amazing sister in law offered to take her for a few days and spoil her at the beach.

BG jumped at the chance to head to Aunt Kiki and Uncle Steve's house for a few days. So we packed her a suitcase and I drove her down to the beach for a few days while her Dad and I headed to the new town to attempt to get things a bit settled.

BG had an absolute blast. I snuck in a quick breakfast with my two favorite little girls before leaving BG and heading home. As per the usual, BG barely gave me a second glance as I walked out because she was far too busy playing with her little cousin.

The next few days were full of fun as her aunt and uncle took her for family dinners with Aunt Kiki's family, the water park, the children's museum, and even an alligator farm.

I almost had a stroke when they texted me a picture of my precious baby petting a snake. She did NOT get that desire from her Mama. This girl doesn't do snakes. Ever.

I was pretty sure that she was flat out going to refuse to come home. We tried to Face Time one night and she had zero desire to sit down and talk to her lame-o parents. She is growing way too fast. I am not a fan.

But come home she did. After a brief stop at her Granny and Grandaddy's. But now I have my girl back. And we're getting settled in a new town. In a new home. Well, we're trying. Eventually we might not be living out of boxes.

Eventually.

We tried a new church yesterday. It was good. This place could easily become home.

Things are crazy right now with work. It's odd working in the same company as the husband. We're working on ways to make work stop and "us" begin when we get home. We haven't figured it out yet but it's going to have to happen soon. Working with my best friend and my husband is a total blast, but sometimes I just need them to be my best friend and my husband; not my co-workers. Does that make sense?

It does. I'm just tired.

So that's life lately. How are you guys?

ww: summer fun

Good grief I love her smile.

for my two favorite dads.

I know. I'm late. But I didn't want to let the day (month?) go by without giving a little shout out to my two favorite Dads.

I don't have any cute pictures because my life is currently chaos as we are moving and my computer with all my pictures is packed and heck, even my presents and cards I got for the two of them are packed, so all I have today is words.

I have the luckiest daughter in the world because she will never, not once, not for a day doubt how much her Daddy loves her. Mr. P is hands down, one of the best fathers I have ever laid eyes on. Babe, our girl is the most blessed little girl ever. The way she lights up when you walk into a room speaks volumes to how you parent her. The fact that you "date" her and make her a priority will do wonders for her in life. More than you can even imagine. Thank you for guiding our family. For being the spiritual leader. For praying with her. For taking her to church. You're giving her a great foundation for her future. I can't wait to see what kind of lady she turns out to be. She's going to be so amazing.

To my Dad. I'm so lucky to look back on a life of great memories with you. One of my favorites is sitting in a warm up circle with the rest of my team, getting ready for that days soccer practice, watching you as you dribbled a ball around and waited on us to get ready to start. You knew that we wouldn't get anything done until we had all gossiped about the days events. I actually loved how in sync you were with me and my friends. I so appreciate all that time you spent investing in my life. You showed me what a good father/daughter relationship looked like and I am so thankful for that. And I know how lucky how I am.

There are so many girls who aren't lucky enough to have a great relationship with their Dads. Too many. Baby Girl and I are beyond blessed to not be in that category. We hit the jackpot with our fathers.

Happy Father's Day you two. I love you both more than the world.

sww

So what if I'm joining up with Shannon today just to hopefully kick start this 'ol blog here a bit. Whatever it takes to dust off ye 'ol cobwebs.

What else... hmmm... let's say so what:

..there are big things happening here. Really big. And I could totally share them but I haven't yet because I know when I start saying it out loud, it will really mean things are happening. Big things. Which are good, but, still changes. And we all know I do not like change.

..if all that probably made it sound like there's a baby announcement on the way. There's not. Nor is there one anywhere in the foreseeable future.

..if that above statement fills me with contentment and also an inner ache at the same time. Let's not dissect that one today. K?

..if I realize that I am so far behind on organizing pictures, blog posts, etc., but every time I sit down to the computer to tackle it, I get overwhelmed and walk away. Tomorrow is another day right?

..if I'm starting to sort of kind of absolutely love age 3. It's hard, don't get me wrong, but BG hit so much of the independent, feisty, sassy, talking back stage at 2, that by 3, we've kind of got things figured out. Now her attitude? still fierce as a snake when it rears it's pretty little head, but those times are rare. And overshadowed by the awesomeness that is her right now.

..if I so realize she's probably going to be a holy freaking terror tomorrow because I just wrote that. Karma.

..if I am in the bed at 9:00 an night and have been since 8. I have been on the road constantly for three days. This girl is done son.

..if I'm ridiculously glad it's Wednesday. Bring on the weekend folks. I need it.

life is good today.

So very often it is far too easy to get tied down in the hard parts of life.

The stresses of work, the exhaustion of raising small children, the trying to keep a marriage hot and burning in the midst of a very, very busy life.

The phone never stops ringing, the laundry is never caught up, someone always needs something. There are days I open my email inbox to find too many unread emails to count. There are days when more people are screaming at me and pissed off at me than happy with me. When my toddler is just plain foul and wants nothing to do with anything having to do with listening to her Mama or even pretending to like me. It's good fun.

But then there are the rest of the days.

The days when your baby squeals "I love you MORE!" and bursts into giggles as she throws herself into your arms. The days when your husband of eight years feels like a newlywed again as you both giggle and share inside jokes that no one else will ever be privy to. When accounts close like they're supposed too and jobs go off without a hitch.

Life is good right now. It's not easy, no, that wouldn't be our way, but it's good.

There have been zoo trips and birthdays. My sweet niece turned one in a weekend that was full of family and friends and so much laughter. There have been soccer games and afternoons spent drinking cold beers and reminiscing with great friends.

Life is good today. Like really good.

And in the midst of all that, there have been changes. BIG changes. Which are actually really good but are huge and require a lot of patience and time. Neither of which I have a lot of but.. I'm learning.

Life is good today.

Change is inevitable. The older I get the more I learn that simple fact. The funny part is, when you have a really good life happening in the background, the changes just become something you learn to roll with. My life is good.

Now remind me of this post the next time my child is screaming at me or workers are cussing at me. I'll need this post to fall on then.