Counting the ways to where you are

Today's Friday Five is going to be five things to summarize where life's at right now for us.

1. I'm going back to school. I completed my FAFSA and am going to get my LPN from the community college. This is what I was studying in Albuquerque before I decided to become a wife/mother and I actually am most of the way done with the requirements. I'm nervous and excited. Someone special has convinced me to pursue things I love.

2. Joshua has an intense and abiding love for Five for Fighting. He especially loves "The Riddle" and "100 years". I think someday when he marries a nice conservative girl if he knows what's good for him that may be the song we dance to at his wedding. He's talking up a storm and loves to yell at the dogs ("girls!" he calls them) and has recently started saying, in the tried and true fashion of a country boy "hi darlin". He smiles and laughs and is, in general, the happiest kid I've ever seen. He did give us quite a scare with a bout of tonsilitis where his tonsils got so swollen they obstructed his airway and he quit breathing for a while. He's also had several bouts with strep throat so I think we're going to wind up with a tonsilectomy in a few years.

3. Nathan's doing extremely well in school. He excels at math and science and social studies and reading, you know basically all the subjects. His behavior grades were all +'s and all in all, he's just really handling and rolling with all the changes. He's such a great kid and I'm so thankful that I'm his mama.

4. We're fixing to move across town into an apartment. It's lovely and we get to bring our Shelby girl with us. It's very close to the schools and has a huge play area. It's the newest apartment complex in town so I shouldn't have the heating/cooling/no insulation/falling apart worries that I have in the 110 year old house. We may actually get to be warm this winter since I won't have to be quite as stingy with the heat to avoid a $400 gas bill!

5. My 32nd birthday has come and gone. It was a great day. My mom and I share a birthday and she has always made that day special for me and made me feel like I'm the best present she has ever received. I am blessed that my Jersey Mama protects, loves, honors, respects and treasures me. Someone Special (S.S.) sent me a kindle for my birthday. I wasn't sure how I'd like it being old and crotchety a little old-fashioned when it comes to reading. But I love it. For one, a lot of books are free for it through both my library and Amazon (they have a top 100 free books in different genres). So, for instance, I was able to get complete collections of Poe, Whitman, Millay and Lord Byron. Since I read those writers as inspiration when I'm doing my own writing, having them available at my fingertips in such a compact format is incredibly helpful. Plus, you can adjust the font size (if you have old lady eyes like me) and highlight different passages and it will keep a separate file of passages you've highlighted. It's really amazing. I do even more reading now and I just love that, it fuels my creativity so much.