Assuming that I knew that this coming, the answer to this would be: Surround myself with my family, look into their eyes and tell each one how much I love them. Hug them and hold their hands. This comes from the fact that I did not have the opportunity to tell my father goodbye due to his sudden passing.

The power went out early (7 am) but came back on a few hours later. It flickered most of the afternoon as if reminding us of its ultimate power over us (no pun intended). Tree limbs are falling but none are so large that we can’t move them with the ole John Deere.

Our weather “emergency” is nothing to those in the north but, here in Georgia, it is a big deal. People here converge on local grocery stores to buy essentials: bread, milk, beer (yes, I saw that in someone’s cart on the news) and potato chips (yep, that too). You know…the staples of life. If this will be their last meal they can at least have peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and milk (for the kids) or beer.

We stayed home, played board games and checkers with our kids and made chocolate chip cookies for Ethan’s school birthday party which was supposed to be today but, we assumed, would be tomorrow. His teacher called around 6 this evening to let us know that his school would be closed tomorrow, too, so I will try real hard not to eat any more of them before Wednesday.

I worked on décor items for our son’s birthday party which will be on Saturday.

My husband braved the weather to grill a pork loin. Yes, we are dedicated. *We* enjoyed rice & tomatoes as a side while *he* enjoyed turnip greens (sorry, I just can’t eat something that looks like the moss skimmed off the side of a pond). Need I mention the smell?

Checked our daughter’s school’s website and saw that there won’t be school again tomorrow. Wise decision! Especially considering we are 10 miles from her school and I don’t feel like endangering others or having my van crashed.

Here’s hoping the power stays on all night!

*PS – DSL went down just as I was trying to post this. Let’s try to think positive…

Just saw that there are still dishes in the sink that need to be washed. Ugh!

Just a small portion of my Bucket List (which isn’t written down, entirely thought out,and – most importantly, is not noted in any particular order):

Visit Yellowstone National Park – and not be in a hurry to see everything (like last time!)

Play in the rain with my children (without an umbrella)

Sky Dive (my husband thinks this is entirely ridiculous)

Stay at The Mountain Lake Resort (click HERE to see it) , or something similar, for an entire season (OK, two weeks at least!) – and be able to relax and enjoy it without stressing over money, telephone calls, emails…

Volunteer at one of The Samaritan’s Purse facilities for a few days processing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

Run a 5K

Achieve my ideal weight

Go to the beach in a bathing suit and feel fantastic

Learn to play chess

See the Aurora Borealis

Visit Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s Castle) in Fussen, Germany.

Travel the German Fairytale Route

Dress up at a costume party

Last Year's Backhoe Cake

Last year I made a backhoe cake (don’t laugh too hard!) that looked like a cross between a school bus and a backhoe. But, he loved it and that was all that mattered.

Although he loves Wall-E, he has decided that another Construction Party is the only way to go.

My daughter said “Oh no! Not another construction party. We have already had two of those!” Of course, his response was “Noooooo, we had a BACKHOE party and a CONSTRUCTION party but not an EXCAVATOR party!”

So, off to Coolest-Birthday-Cakes.com to see what I could find and Lo and Behold – A VERY Cool Excavator Cake (see it here) that may be doable.  Thanks Sarah in IL for that post.

I am thinking that a trial run this week is definitely in order.

My latest excuse for not blogging is that I didn’t like the theme on this blog. Since I am not well versed in wordpress (obviously), I spent an hour looking for free wordpress themes, of which I found many that I liked. Only then did I realize that they cannot be used on the .com version of WordPress. Bummer. So, I uploaded this picture of my son because it was (sort of) wide-angle. I can live with it, can you?

Now, of course, my excuse is that I missed January 1 and 2nd…

I also love RedBox! So, combine the two and you get the RedBox Groupon Deal – $1 for 3 one-night Redbox Rentals (regular DVDs only). Not hard to add up – I had to buy one (alas, one per person). Deal ends TODAY, 12/12/10.

If you ARE a Groupon Member click this link: www.RedBox.com/Groupon.

If you are NOT a Groupon Member you can sign up by clicking HERE*. Then click HERE to go directly to the RedBox Groupon Deal page (or click this link: www.RedBox.com/Groupon).

*The link provided is a referral link. Once you are a member you, too, can refer friends, family members, blog readers, and more.

Happy Watching!

Today was Open House for my son. Even though this is my sixth year attending an Open House at FUMC – and I know all of the teachers – I still get excited.

Ethan was initially disappointed that Ms. Alicia wouldn’t be his teacher but I believe that Mrs. Crystal will make the transition easy. Afterward, I peeked into his Goodie Bag and was as thrilled as Ethan, but in a different way. It was so nice to see a Goodie Bag that included fun “treasures” and that did not include candy. I have always been extremely happy with the thought and care that all of the teachers at The Children’s Center put into their role as teachers of my children.

A pencil, a large piece of chalk, stickers, a small tub of clay, and a bag of plain animal crackers – this is the making of a great year all packaged in a brown lunch bag.

The driver of this beige SUV (Mitsubishi, perhaps?) seemed to have it in his or her mind that I was deliberately driving like my Grandmother just to make them late. According to MY clock, they reached their destination just a few blocks north of downtown Dublin at 7:59 this morning so at least they were on time…

However, my own child was (technically) late for school since I must travel through 3 – yes, 3! – school zones each way and refuse to endanger the safety of our town’s children just so that we can arrive on time.

Of course, being a veteran of Dallas’ 635 corridor and Central Expressway, a small bit road warrior (words exchanged for family reading) reared it’s ugly head. Don’t ride my bumper and most certainly, don’t honk at me in a school zone; if you do, you will find yourself going even s-l-o-w-e-r and and, next time, you really might be late.

Let’s not forget that my website address is emblazoned on the back of my vehicle so it’s not as if I was acting in relative anonymity…I would love it if they would call. Perhaps in the meantime I will call the Dublin PD to see how much the fine is for speeding through a school zone is these days so that I can say how nice it was for them to call and “Thank Me” for saving them several hundred dollars.

I was so mad that I did write in to the Tell It! column with the Courier-Herald. First time for everything…wonder if they will print it…

This is Dublin, Georgia, people, not Dallas or Atlanta or even Macon. There are more important things in life than being on time (i.e. leave earlier or deal with it).

Anyway, I couldn’t help but think to myself that, since smiling is such a simple act of happiness – and it seems to be contagious – why can’t we do it more often if for no other reason than to bring happiness to someone else?

What makes me the happiest is watching my children’s faces when they smile.  I have a picture of my daughter, taken when she was 3 1/2, which I keep on my desk.  In this picture she has the most beautiful, natural smile, of any of the thousands (a bit over 5,300 to be exact) of pictures we have taken over the past 5 1/2 years.  This perfectly happy, unrehearsed smile that is definitely shown in all parts of her face, makes me happy every time I look at it.

I hope that, at some point each day, each of my children has at least one of these truly happy moments.