THIRTEEN!

Hi. I've been under a rock for a while. Or kind of like 6 feet under. With a breathing tube. At least that is what I have felt like.... so I have been missing from blogsville, but I am alive again and that is a beautiful thing.

My question is -

How does this:

Turn into this?

Seriously?? Where did the time go? Jake turned 13 last Sunday! He is such a ray of sunshine and I am so grateful he is my boy. (I am still calling him my "boy" even though he is 2 1/2 inches taller than I am!) He is a kind and caring kid who loves hanging out with friends, doesn't like much of the food I make, loves his little baby brothers (his dad's), doesn't like homework, has a propensity for noise, likes his percussion class at school, is fun to hang out with, and who lights up my life.

13 Things about Jake

1. He's an extrovert and he loves to be around people and where the action is.
2. He's funny and he LOVES funny things.
3. He loves gadgets and everything at Think Geek and Extreme Geek.
4. He is smart.
5. He has lost all but one baby tooth.
6. He is 5' 6 1/2"
7. He craves down time and freedom to do whatever he wants.
8. He loves music (and is an expert on the drums on PS3 Rock Band.)
9. He is great at figuring out technology.
10. He is a ray of light.
11. He is not judgmental of others.
12. His favorite TV shows are Mythbusters on Discovery, and Ace of Cakes and Challenge on Food Network.
13. He has strong family values and loves family.

Image Mosaic Fun

I found a fun site today. It turns your regular photo into an image mosaic. It turns this:

Into this:Pretty cool, huh? Can anyone guess correctly which year this picture of Jake is from? If you guess right, I'll give you a hug... or a kiss. Didn't you hate it when your mom used to say that when you were young and you were looking for some sort of tangible prize? Someday, maybe I'll do a giveaway but for now, I'll just send you an air hug or an air kiss. Despite that, please still guess.

What I Did Today and the Push-Up King

Want to share in my joy for today? Taaa daaaa!!

I organized my pantry!! I'm not sure why my legs ache like I ran a marathon after this, or why my feet felt like they were going to shrivel up and fall off. (Other than that it is normal "me" but -why?- you know?) I am so grateful I slept so long last night and actually had the energy to do this. It feels so good to not step on stuff when I open the door to get something. And I can find everything I need!

And in other household happenings...

Jake was the push up king at Scouts the other night. He did 15 in under a minute and only one of the other boys came close at 13. They are trying to build up to at least 30 but still, I was proud of him. Sometimes he worries that he is not awesome at sports, but after a few months of a hard core P.E. teacher, he has gotten in great shape. He's always in pretty good shape because he is very active, but this was intense physical activity they were doing every day. And the good thing is he is sad for that class to end! (It is a half year class.) Well, I mean it is good because he liked it - and I thought the teacher was a little too hard core, so I wasn't sure. But he did and he got to see how practice and work can build great skills and how it feels great to be in fantastic shape physically. Now it's on to General Music for him.

My sister Suz and car dancing

We're Nads, we're Suz
And we really cruise!
We rock, we rule
And we're really cool!

Me and my sister Suz used to car-dance. We would get goofy and laugh and we made up awesome songs. Like the one above. What, you don't think that's awesome?

I just posted the doofiest comment on her blog, and I have been so burned out and tired today that it was kind of nice when I made myself laugh. And you know what? Suz will laugh too. And I love that about her.

I've been reading

I'm coming down from a high to tell you all that you must go out right away and find it and read it. It is unbelievably delightful. It has charm, depth, romance, history, humor, it is touching... it has it all. When I finished it, I wanted to turn the pages right back and start it all over again. I have only felt like that one other time since I was little! (And I can't remember which book that was.) I kept checking to see that I still had plenty of pages left because I wholeheartedly didn't want it to end.

It is about people during WWII that live on the island of Guernsey (near England) and they create this society as sort of a book club by accident, - really to fool the German soldiers occupying their island. A friendship is begun with a woman author (authoress?) in London and they all become connected through letters. We learn about the people on the island, the occupation, and the authoress and they are all wonderful characters who you just want to keep reading and reading about. I can't do it justice here but I do give it my highest recommendation!

The Bachelor

I watched The Bachelor on tv last night. I am completely sick of that show but I think Jason is such a great guy, I want to watch this one. Within the first few minutes, nausea set in and I remembered why the last ones made me want to toss my cookies. I also remembered why I like The Bachelorette so much more than The Bachelor. Girls. They can be so catty and so icky. The selling of themselves at the beginning totally turned me off. I'm sure they tell them to say why they should be chosen, etc. but blech. (How do you spell blech?) And how about the girls choosing who should go off first?? That was awful.

The whole concept of guys chasing after girls instead of the other way around just appeals to me so much more. I think it is good for the guys and is more fitting for their nature. They like to work at something to win it. They appreciate it more that way. And I think having 25 girls vying for their attention is actually counterproductive to the whole process of getting them to decide on one girl and settle down. But Jason is down to earth and in it for all the right reasons. What a cute dad he is!

I really liked Melissa so far and I had some other likes and dislikes. What did you think?