I love my crockpot!

Honestly, I don't know what I did without one of these. Right now I actually own two of them. Apparently I had a slow cooker that I registered for and received for my bridal shower back in December 2001 that I never took out of the box until we moved down South. What did I think, it would magically start cooking FOR me?

You know what? That's almost exactly what the darned thing did.

Seriously, I started using it so much that eventually the bottom started to peel and I had to toss it, but no worries, I currently own two official Rival Crock Pots.

This thing is my saving grace. It is amazing, incredible, a joy to have on hand for those days you'd like to have something home-cooked for dinner, but don't want to lift more than a few fingers for like 5-10 minutes before turning the thing on at around Noon. Like today, when I have so few groceries in my fridge/freezer or pantry that you'd think we'd wind up with peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. But, no! Crock Pot to the rescue!

And I'm going for an old standby recipe that I learned from the mommies' group I belong to. It's salsa chicken, and it's sooooo good!

SALSA CHICKEN:
2-3 chicken breasts (fresh or frozen, but if you're like me they're almost ALWAYS frozen!)
1 jar salsa of your choice
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn (or frozen if that's all you have in the house)

Cook on low for about 6 hrs. With 1/2 hr to go in cooking feel free to add a block of cream cheese. Serve on top of rice (or toss the rice in with about an hour or so to go,) or with tortilla chips, and shredded taco flavored cheese on top. Or both! I love to add some sour cream to cut the spice, and my hubby prefers if I use taco sauce instead of salsa, as he doesn't like tomatoes or the chunks some salsas have, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got!

Anyway, there are so many other recipes out there, online, in cookbooks, from friends, you'll be ableto feed your family with your Crock Pot nearly every single day. In fact, I think there's a crockpot375 blog out there, as well. I'm not quite that brave, but if you are I say go for it!

And enjoy! Happy eating and easy cooking! **Andrea

Bags are a way to express your personality!

I'm still addicted to bags. I just got THIS in my e-mail and I really want to go bag shopping now. Although the only bags I tend to use these days consist of extra pockets for diapers, wipes and baby Tylenol. But I am such a bag whore, as friends have called me, I just snagged a free SkipHop diaper bag from a friend because I WANTED IT SO BADLY!!!

It's too cute and it makes me happy. What can I say? I'll always love bags, and if diaper bags are the only way I can go right now, well, I'll just have to keep stock-piling them up until I reach my threshold. And then maybe my hubby will ask me to start the old exchange I had running pre-baby, where if I got a new bag I had to get rid of two. Ehem. I do have a stash for the ready for the next time we have a yard sale, so I'm kind of trying to balance things out a bit. Heh heh. We'll see how that goes the next time I'm near an Old Navy or GAP store!

What are YOU addicted to?

Take the girl out of the city ...

And MAN, it's a definite adjustment when she comes back!

I was trying to get my daughter to sleep earlier and there was such a commotion outside in back of my parents' house, it made me flinch. It made me think to myself, how on earth did I function in this house, the room next to this one, facing that same backyard, for so many years?

But I did. And sadly, it's such a different world right now and the "city," as one might call it is a whole 'nother kind of place. Granted, not everywhere, but the more I wished these kids would be on their way, the older I felt and the more frustrated. True, I'm a mom now, so I'm a whole different ME compared to who I used to be. But I also am someone who lives in a quiet neighborhood in Raleigh-Durham, NC. And that's a far cry from Brooklyn, NY, despite the number of NYC transplants that are there.

It's pretty weird because I definitely love coming home, I just like going home, too. Mostly because my daughter can play in our backyard for hours without someone screaming F*ck You! at someone else and a rowdy bunch of teens (were they even teenagers? I couldn't say for sure, but I honestly hope so!) getting louder in the background. At home we just have to worry about the dogs from the kennel behind our neighborhood getting let out too early and possibly waking her up before it's time. For now, I'll take it. But I definitely miss many other aspects of Brooklyn. With family members being just one. For example, the Chinese food we had for dinner tonight ... beyond compare, and the bagels, without question better than anything back home. And don't even get me started on the pizza around here. I hope to get some before we head back to NC on Sunday.

It's not ALL about the food, but it sure counts for something, if you ask me. And, well, you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway.

Peace out.

My hair is ...

Everything to me. My hair is my confidence, my security blanket, a part of who I am. I'm the "red-head," the strawberry blonde girl. That's me. It's who I am. On several occasions I have chopped it off for charity, and I have been planning to do that again soon. I still have a ponytail from when I last did this almost three years ago (it doesn't go bad, but it is pretty tacky of me, I know!) and really want to do it again. But right now, although I probably have ten inches to cut off, I'm not ready. I'm enjoying the long hair of my youth. I'm not in my late teens or early twenties anymore, not by a long-shot, but I'm happy with my crazy long hair, just the same.

Just look at some changes over the past years, and you'll see I go from long to super short, and then somewhere in between until I let it grow out again. It's just how I roll when it comes to my hair. No crazy styles, no dramatic changes, just chop it off in one fell swoop and I'm good to go.

Summer 2002 ... Before:


And after:
Trip to Antigua (I forget exactly when ... March of '03? '04?)


Taken when I was first pregnant and didn't know it ... in June 2006:


Taken shortly after she was born, February 2007:


Taken in November 2007:

Most recent shot taken this past month:



For now, I'll hold onto my precious locks, because I kind of like who I see when I look in the mirror. But the day will come when I turn around and I'm ready for the change again. And it'll be gone! Poof! Off to make some little girl's day, I hope. :)

**Me (of the long-haired persuasion!)

Do you know how much I have to pack?

We leave for NY today. We'll be stopping in Delaware, or somewhere in that vicinity. Do you know how much we have to pack for the three of us and the dog? I mean, it's not even fathomable. I did a smaller packing job this time, since we're going from today through Sunday, so I don't imagine we'll need as much. But we'll also be able to do a wash if there's an emergency, and we won't be in the middle of nowhere-land or anything like that. But still, yeesh. It's a lot of crap!

I have a suitcase that I put I's clothes in, and included several of my own items, so I could have room for the rest of my stuff in a small duffle, instead of in a huge suitcase (which is a pain to get into the car!) But then, with us stopping along the way I have a smaller duffle that has some overnight stuff, and stuff for us to wear tomorrow. And this does not include the items that hubby needs for himself! He'll do that on his own later. Whew. I also have the diaper bag, a bag filled with entertainment items for I along the drive, and another bag that has some books and two pairs of shoes for me. I haven't even found her shoes yet!

Anyway, I just needed a minute to gripe that now that we're 500 miles away from my parents we do this drive every once in a while, and woohiee, it is an interesting drive, but sometimes packing up the car is even more interesting.

And on that note, I'd better go pull some laundry out of the dryer so hubby doesn't forget the two nice shirts he wanted to bring with him. I might actually have a shirt or two in there for myself, as well, but when you're doing things the morning/afternoon of your departure, it's easy to forget who the hell you are, never-mind what you're supposed to be bringing with you!

Wish me luck!

An update ...

My aunt passed away yesterday morning. It's tragically sad, unbelievably quick and still quite surreal. I am glad that my parents got to see her. They spent the entire day with her on Saturday. I even had an opportunity, although fleeting, to speak with her on the phone. Apparently she had asked for me. Said my name a few times and insisted that I was there. I spoke to her, heard her voice slur back a response, and know that she heard me. I told her I loved her. I told her she needed me there to sign with her, and I swear I heard her laugh. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't, but I felt it, deep inside. My main regret is that she never met *my baby.* How horrible is that, how horrible that my father's only sister never met his daughter's daughter, whose middle name is after her great-grandmother, my father's mother. It's pretty horrible. I will feel it for the rest of my life, I'm sure, but my aunt knew that I loved her all the same. I hope that is something she took with her and that she is now at peace.

We head to NY tomorrow evening. We'll stop along the way for an overnight stay and get back on the road in the morning. The wake is Wednesday night, the funeral (?) service Thursday morning, and we'll know by then if my father is sitting Shiva. Did I mention I'm a Jewish girl gone redneck? Does that make it funnier ... I honestly don't know. Right now I'm still feeling kind of sad, and trying to focus on getting things done around the house before we have to leave.

So, peace out, and share the love ... we all need to know ... don't forget to tell us. **Andrea

My allergies are kickin my butt!

I'm trying not to be miserable, but G-d, my allergies are killing me. Claritin is useless. I've been taking it (well, the generic/fake version) and it seriously does nothing for me. I think I need to take it twice a day, although the bottle says not to. What do they know? The trees are in bloom, and it's only been spring for like a day. I should buy stock in Kleenex, I blow my nose so often. I'm a mess and I am so tired of being so congested. I don't even sound like myself anymore, and what's that about? I hear myself speak and think, what are you doing, talking THROUGH your nose? Don't get me wrong, I love to bring her outside during the day, but our backyard is certainly not helping matters. I hate the thought of going to an allergist, but wonder if a regular doc or NP would give me a stronger allergy med. I'm doubtful, but I might give it a shot. If only to avoid shots! I know those would help, but who has time or energy, or the patience? I did them when we lived in Astoria, and they really never did much, but maybe I didn't give them enough of a chance? Either way, I'm not a fan, so I'll suffer through them and hope that the real days of spring reduce the effect. Ha, who am I kidding? Anyone have a pretty, fancy handkerchief I can borrow? I promise I won't give it back!

Let me not forget ...

I must introduce you to the yin-yang martini. It's beautiful, delicious, and a dessert in and of itself. Of course, it's also something you get at The Melting Pot, where you're already overloaded on cheese and chocolate, and I know that it's probably realllly bad for me. But I got one last night at a MNO. I tried it once before and just couldn't help myself.

So, feast yourselves on nine dollars worth of sweet, holy-goodness and some liquor, as well:



And yes, those ARE chocolate shavings on top. Oh, complete and absolute heaven!

Finally, the picture you've been waiting for!

Here it is! The picture of the infamous hat! And me, of course. Forgive the weird close-up shot. I took it of myself this afternoon while outside getting some sun. I truly love this hat. It's my outdoors-y, protect me from too much sun and get my daughter to keep her hat on, too kinda' hat!

Condiment drawer?

Do you have one of these? A condiment drawer in your fridge? Not the shelves on the side of the fridge that are too small to hold anything but the Kikkoman sauce bottles, or a bottle of ketchup that you didn't get at a warehouse store, but one of the drawers that you don't tend to fill up with much else, but the rare condiment you pick up at a fast food restaurant, or somewhere who actually delivers?

See, the difference in my condiment drawer here in NC, as compared to the one I had in NY, is that back in New York I basically had every kind of soy sauce, duck sauce or spicy mustard known to man. But here, it's a whole different story. Sure, there are duck sauce packets scattered throughout, but just by looking at the names of the restaurants on the stuff I had in there (yes, HAD, I just cleaned it out, completely, with Isabella's help!) you know we're not in NYC anymore!

I had tons of sauce choices from Papa John's. You know why? They're one of the only places that delivers. Sigh. But take your pick, because I had garlic sauce, blue cheese or ranch dressing, even pizza sauce, which is better known as marinara to someone from "up Nawth."

I had sour cream from Backyard Burger, Country Crock butter spread from Wendy's, and ketchup from Steak n'Shake! I also had some varying soy sauce packets from a fancier Chinese restaurant (Pei Wei, it's a take-out version of PF Chang's,) and some little containers of Kosher salt for the edamame I had ordered from there.

It's an interesting thing, the condiment drawer, but I'm kind of happy I emptied mine out, allowing me to use it for what it's really for ... deli meats, cheeses, and oh, sure, pasta! Hey, where ELSE am I going to put those packages?

So go on, explore yours. Let me know what you find in there!

My poor little piggies!

Tomorrow night I'm going out to a fondue restaurant for a MNO. Moms' Night Out, for those of you not in the know. The restaurant is having a Sex and the City night, and you can win a prize for the sexiest shoes! Now, if this were for me back in the day, I might have had a shot. But now, being in NC for almost three years, it hits me, I have not had a pedicure since I lived in NY! WHAT!?! Who am I? I also haven't had a manicure, but that's less of a surprise, considering I normally would have been doing my nails by myself. Now, as a mother of a two-year-old I don't foresee polishing my nails without having to run and do something for her or with her immediately afterwards, so why waste the polish? Or the time polishing them?

But my feet! My poor little toes! What makes it even sadder is that I wear flip-flops like 99.9% of the time. That's horrific. I often took the 'Summer Pledge' when it came to shoes. I would never wear open-toed shoes out in the world if my toes weren't polished and my feet weren't neatly pedicured. And yet, here in my home, I walk around barefoot or in flip-flops ALL DAY LONG! It's probably bad for my feet (I know this from a history of foot pain, sadly.) It's probably horrible for someone else to look at (so don't look down, alright?) But here I am, my little piggies out for the whole world to see.

Some time ago I did call a few places about prices for pedicures. They charge over $40 for a simple pedicure. Where the hell am I living? In a place where nail polish costs 50-bucks-a-bottle? Uhm, no. So why is it so pricey? If only I knew. But it is enough to keep me from going to get one.

I did buy the Pedi-Egg (what am I, 90?) recently, but it's not all it's cracked up to be, in my opinion. Hee hee. Cracked up, did you get it?

Anyway, I hope that before the summer hits I'll get these toes taken care of. A nice, pretty, light pink. So when it chips I won't feel horrific and revert back to the days when I HAD to have decently polished toes at all times. And in the meantime, when you see me, just don't look down, okay?

Surreal moments

Do you even remember the surreal moments? I think I sometimes remember them more than the regular ones. The moment you find out someone you love is gone. The moment you think that the man you love is about to propose (or in my case, have something be seriously wrong with him, but I'm happy to say it was the former!)

Last night I found out that my aunt is dying. Or might be. She has pancreatic cancer, and is barely functioning. She's been really sick for over a month now, and nobody told us. Granted, over time we've become more distant as a family. She's a pretty self-involved person, but that doesn't change the fact that I love her and she is my aunt. My father's only sister. The mother of my cousins, most of whom don't talk to me these days, but that's a story for another time. And now my cousin tells my mom that she's in the ICU, hospitalized, on a respirator. What? For how long? How long has she been sick and nobody told us? 

Is it fair that I'm angrier than I should be upset? I mean, I'm sad, hollow, almost, in that I can't even fathom that this woman who is so out there, so energized to the point we'd call her a little bit crazy, is laying there in a hospital bed, not able to move, completely bloated and beyond repair. But I'm pissed. Really pissed that nobody told us. Maybe I'm trying to stay in denial that she could really be that sick. Maybe I'd rather be angry than sad. I don't know, but I just don't think it's fair that my father has to see his sister like this, without even knowing it could be coming. For him to have to think back, like I did last night, to the last time he saw her looking like herself, and know that she may never look that way again. How fair is that?

This sucks. Plain and simple. My aunt may be dying. And it's not fair. As crazy as she is and has been, she's my aunt. She's young, she beat breast cancer. She's not supposed to have this battle happening inside of her right now. And it's all I can do to simply shake my head at it all and hug my daughter tightly to my body. 

Would you ever ..?

When I lived in NY if you had ever mentioned that I would have a child and have friends we'd never met before come over to our house to play I would have laughed at you. Can you imagine? Let alone opening up your home to over 30+ people? Little ones included, of course. 

I could never have imagined it, either. Until I moved here to NC, had a baby, and found TriangleMommies. Yes, in all seriousness, I would never have thought that I would open up my doors to fellow mommies and their little ones, let them run rampant throughout the first floor of my home, and not think twice.

Yes, I had my fears the first time someone came over to pick up me and my daughter for a few hours at the farmers market. And I certainly thought twice before letting someone come over and play, or when hubby dropped me off at someone's house for a few hours so Isabella and I could have communication with someone besides each other. And she was so tiny that there wasn't much happening between us verbally at that point!

But yes, here I am. After today's play date I will say that I have lost count of the number of times I've opened my doors and welcomed in strangers. But to me, these are friends, future friends and friends for my child. And I trust that we're all in this together, so it's worth it. I haven't been let down yet! (Whew ... breathing a sigh of relief!)

Thank G-d for Sweet Tea!

It's been raining for three days here in NC. It's a little frustrating, because *I* wants to get outside, but it's not a light sprinkle, so it's not the best run around outside weather. Although she's trying to put her new work boots on right now, and I must say, with her pajamas, it's a great look.

Her current phrase is, 'Ready car.' Yes, we understand this to mean that she's ready to go for a ride. But for now, we're on hold. My husband needs a nap to recover from his overnight shift on Friday night. I need to come up with a grocery list. In the meantime I'm eating PEEPS to keep me focused and awake, but I also do have a secret arsenal ready to help me get through the day.

SWEET TEA! Hubby picked some up for me on Friday night when he went to get our Chinese food for dinner. I would never expect myself to have been truly addicted to something quite so sweet, but you know what? I am. I love it. It's like a fix when I have it. It just keeps me steady, like someone who needs their coffee first thing in the morning? I could start my day with sweet tea. I don't, but I probably could.

Granted, sometimes it's just too sweet. Sometimes I need to mix it with unsweetened tea, to create a better balance, but there are many places where I'm just happy with a small cup of the sweet stuff. And honestly, I don't drink it in one shot. A huge cup of it can last me an entire week. I did that once. A huge Wendy's cup lasted me 5 days. So I'm obviously not THAT addicted, right?

I promise, try it once and you'll never go back. Honestly, I can't drink the bottled Nestea version anymore, as it's too sweet and too, well, fabricated. So if we ever do relocate out of the South I may need to have it imported to wherever I end up. Because it really is gooood stuff.

OK, I'd better go. She is also wearing her baseball cap. She's ready to roll.

(Let me just grab that cup out of the fridge!)

The easy way out?

Sometimes I feel like I'm taking the easy way out. Not often, but for a moment today, I felt it. I made my daughter lunch, and with the lack of exciting grocery items in my pantry and fridge, I opted for a Gerber Graduates meal. You know the kind. The ones that you microwave for 30 seconds? This one was chicken, vegetables and rice. It's one of the newer, healthier versions, and she loves it, so why do I feel like I cheated her out of something? It didn't take long to make, and I knew she needed to eat. It's past lunchtime, after all, but we have a pretty flexible schedule during the day. It all depends on what time she wakes up, but that's a whole other post!

Anyway, it's after 1PM, it's time for lunch, so I heat up a piece of leftover pizza for myself (eh) and pop this baby in the microwave for her. She literally just ate the whole thing, with my help, and sits slurping the sauce as I type this, so I guess it was a hit. I should thank Gerber for helping me give her a nutritious meal once in a while, but instead I kind of feel like they're smirking at me. Ah, well. I saved $ on your products using coupons, so take that! 

And now, on to figuring out what's for dinner. I'm so not feeling domestic this week. I should have thrown something in the crock*pot already, but I skipped it. I think I'll be calling on Mr. Perdue for tonight's meal, and he can't smirk at me, because we're already in a BFF relationship with one another!

Mangia! Eat and enjoy!

**Andrea

So ...

I fessed up to my husband tonight. I told him I started a blog. Well, I made him guess what I was up to, and when he figured it out his comment was: "You're pretentious enough to believe that the world wants to hear what you think?" And I said, "Yes." But then I told him that nobody knows about it, nobody knows the URL, and it's really a journal for me. So he asked if it was public. Uhm, it was. I just changed it to private because it kind of freaked me out for a second that anyone in the world COULD read what I have been thinking, so I need a little time to digest that, I guess. 

If someone is reading this, well, you'll know I've changed my mind. Or that I've invited you into my blogging world. Which I still can't believe I'm a part of! 

And until then, to all a good night!

Is it too early?

Is it too early for a drink? 

How many stay-at-home moms do you think ask that very question around the world? I won't say that I think it daily, as honestly, I'm not much of a drinker. I do like the occasional glass of wine, though. [Wow, I can't believe I spelled that right on the first try! Occasional, I mean.] Anyway, there are moments in these days, when I do ask the question, where I feel like my daughter can't make a move without me. Where I want to turn on the television and plop her in front of it so I can pee by myself! And sometimes, like a few moments ago, we were playing nicely on the laptop. Taking pictures of ourselves with the MAC Photo Booth. She got a little too heavy to hold the way I was holding her, and I kept trying to put her down with no luck. Finally I went to shut the laptop and she lost it. I kept trying to soothe her, but she wasn't having it. Now, it wasn't nearly as bad as it might sound, but for a split second I thought to myself, is it too early for a drink? And yes, it is, as I would never drink in the middle of the day when I'm the only one home with my daughter! Heck, I barely drink as it is, I'm certainly not going to do it now. But it's nice to think that later, when she's asleep in her crib, and I'm sitting on the couch, I can pick up a glass of my 'Mommy's Time Out' wine (yes, it really is named that!) and sit back for a few moments of silence. Funny thing is, I probably won't even do it ... but it sounds like a good idea right now!

So, if you happen to be raising a glass out there while you read this, have a sip for me! Salud! Le'chaim! To your health!

Oh, and here's one of our shots, she's so cute, isn't she?

And so ...

I realized that I completely posted without finishing a thought.

My whole point was that I looked at my daughter, playing outside with bowls of water, cups and sidewalk chalk (there are few sidewalks here, how do I live in a place w. so few sidewalks?) and I noticed that her little cheeks were flushed a bright pink. But the reason I didn't fill up the water table was because it totally felt like rain. I thought between the breeze and the smell in the air, from what I could tell, anyway, that we're definitely due. Anyway, she was pink, but it's since faded, whereas I will still swear that my arms were sunned a bit, despite the sun being practically invisible out there while we were out. 

And on that note, time to join her in watching some Dora! Yes, I let my two-year-old watch TV. So sue me!

Another day ...

So, another day in sunny, breezy NC. Is it normal to look at my exposed arms after about 15 minutes in the afternoon sun in my backyard and think I see more freckles? More color? Is that even possible? I'm just not sure. I mean, I look at my daughter, we're both wearing baseball caps ... me, my aforementioned Redneck one, she's wearing a Bass Pro cap, as well. Her cap is definitely too big for her, but she looks adorable in it. It's pink, white and blue, with flowers and butterflies on it. No mistaking that she's a little girl, FINALLY! So, like I was saying, it's definitely too big on her. Which would be cute if we only let her wear it in our backyard. But, no, she wears it out and about, too. In fact, she wore it to the hockey game the other night! Hubby said she looked like she was from Maine (where he's originally from,) but I think she looks totally NC. 100%. Which she is. 100%. I often wonder what her accent will sound like. Her mom being from Brooklyn, her dad from Maine, and she was born here. Will she sound like a Northern-Southern mix? I guess we'll wait and see. For now she sounds like a mini-Italian/Jewish mother. ;) Wonder where she gets that from?

'Tis the season!

'Tis the season, and I'm not loving it!

One of the big changes for me since moving to North Carolina is that allergy season starts so much earlier down here. It's annoying as all heck that the trees are in bloom and the flowers budding, and my nose is running, eyes are itchy, throat is scratchy and I'm sneezing my head off! Such a pretty picture, wouldn't you think? 

And yet last week we had a few inches of snow, so how does that happen? Is it global warming? Or just the southern climate? Although I think NY has been having similar bizarre weather patterns, so I'd have to guess it's happening across the US, and not just here in NC. 

Anyway, that's my thought for the early afternoon. My daughter has been up since 7:30, which if you're not fully adjusted to the time change, feels more like 6:30, and she's in need of a nap now, or I'M in need of her having a nap now! Or at least soon!

Talk later!

Doogie's first hockey game!

We took Doogie to her first hockey game tonight! She made it through the first two periods, and we left before the start of the third. It just got too late and was too much for her to handle.

She did incredibly well, though. And despite our rooting for the Rangers, the 'Canes pulled off another victory, with me as their good luck charm, yet again! I swear, they should GIVE me season tickets, they've never lost a game I've been to, including the one where they won the Stanley Cup!

I think she is a hockey fan because she was one before we even knew she existed. That's when I spent four hours on my feet at Game 7, and had the most incredible time. It was one of the highlights of my sporting event history! Go figure ... all of the baseball games I've been to, and this is the game that I can't believe I witnessed?

Makes sense that I bought myself a REDNECK HOCKEY t-shirt that season (spring 2006) since, after all, I'm turning into one of these Southern fans. It was hard to root against Cam Ward, but the Rangers are my home team. I first met them when I went to the parade back in '94, so that was a little bit of sports history, as well.

Anyway, I'll try to post a picture or two of Doogie from tonight, but for now, I'm headed to bed!

G-night, all! (Is anyone actually out there?)

**ACE

Editing to add two pictures from our first game!

Am I a Blogger?

Am I a blogger? Honestly, I have NO idea.

I've recently been blogging for the mommies' group I belong to, and it's inspired me to start my own blog. The title comes from a hat I just bought recently at Bass Pro Shop, so, uhm, yeah, just the fact that I have shopped there should tell you something about how things have changed for me over the past few years! ;)

Anyway, here I am, and my story will follow. Or it won't. But I figured I would give it a shot and see what happens.

Thanks for peeking in. See ya when I see ya!