To Doug.

Happy Birthday You!

You put up with me and continually choose me to be the one person you want to be with on a long-term scale.
You push me (over the edge at times...) to be a better person for myself and for our family.
You hug me better than anyone else in the whole world.
You love me, for who I am not who you want me to be.

I like that.
I appreciate that.
I somtimes fight that.
But I love you. And you can't make me stop.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

Post-Birthday

So. Yesterday was my birthday and today is my first full day at the old/young (depending on your vantage point I suppose) age of 31. I don't feel any older. My metabolism did not stop in the middle of the night like it did when I turned 21 (of course the circumstances are slightly different....I didn't spend all of last night in a bar doing shots of slippery nipples like i did 10 years ago; I had dinner with Doug and Colin then cake with my maternal familia).
But you know, it is wierd. When I turned 30, I FELT older and fatter and dumber and unsuccessful. And I have continued to feel that for the past year. Until today, well yesterday mostly I think. I still kind of feel fat (but that might be because dinner was chicken fingers and fried mushrooms and potato skins and lots of rolls with real butter then I had cake for goodness sake) but I am actually considering becoming one of those people that do something about it (it being the fatness, not everything...let's not get carried away people come on!) instead of staying one of those people who just continually bitch about it.
And today I feel invigorated to take on the world. I am smiling and happy and Colin and I sang most of the way to school. And I talked to my sister almost all the way to work (I miss doing that). And at work, I am contributing (not right now because I am writing this, but overall I am contributing!). And. And. And. I could go on and on. But I think I can sum it up (and most of you know, I truly believe this) with just one word...ATTITUDE. Yep, ATTITUDE.
This is it people. We are here for a short time and it is our job, no our duty, to make the most of it. And do you know how we make the most of it? With our ATTITUDE!!! (for those of you that have heard me say this countless times, please just read it one more time because, as you know, I truly, truly, TRULY believe it!)
I choose how I wake up each day.
And I choose how I react to EVERY situation.
And I CHOOSE to make the most or focus on the worst of every choice/predicament/question/roadblock/opportunity that I am faced with.
It is MY ATTITUDE and it is MY CHOICE.

And I choose to be happy about it.

Different focus

Since I have recently re-joined the blogging community and updated my profile, background and whatnot; I have also spent some time reading past posts. And it occurred to me that the general focus of this things has morphed from Colin to my randomness. I know that I am selfish. And I know that I think the entire world should (and sometimes does) revolve around me. But I am feeling terrible for neglecting to provide boy updates.
So a quick catch-up:
Colin is almost 4. Still attending school at Children's TLC Easter Seals, only he goes all day long! 8-4, Monday through Friday. He is so big. He is also saying LOTS of words and putting words together to make sentences (one of his current favorites is "Hey you!"). We are also working on getting a new walker that is all his!! Botox is going well, as a matter of fact we are due for another round (YIKES) soon. I will find some recent pics and post them.
Oh and for Christmas, Colin got a train set on a large table, a sled and a machine that simulates horseback riding so we can continue the Hippotherapy all year round.

Fortunes?

I went to lunch yesterday with my team (I started to type 'new team', but after 14 months are they really new?). At the end of the meal, we all took turns reading our fortunes aloud. Poor Sarah, hers was something like "if you feel the fates are against you, it is because they are". She thought she might just call it a day and go straight home.

Mine...it was a little more interesting. "The desire of love is to give. The desire of lust is to get."

Now what on earth does that mean? I have no flipping idea. But I want to think about it. And I want to figure it out. So I will. And given the recent events of my life, I have a feeling that this might mean something more to me than to the rest of you but that is fine. I am still figuring it out!

Stay tuned...

New Year, Same Us

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

So...with the new year generally comes lots of resolutions that no one keeps (although we have good intentions to) and plenty of self-reflection (not that we haven't done that enough this past year to last us awhile), but it also gives us an opportunity to seemingly start over. The chance to fix a friendship, mend a broken relationship, make a change inside ourselves and even develop some new friendships and relationships and whatnot.

I could say that I am going to:
a) get more organized (is that possible???)
b) lose weight (does that mean excercise? *shudder*)
c) save money (oh who are we kidding?!?!)
d) update my blog more often (let's face it, the war is over and Annie is retreating! white flag, I raise my white flag!)

But I'm not. I'm not going to strive to do any of those things. What I am going to do is take a long hard look at myself, fix the things that are holding me back, and mend or sever those relationships in my life that need to be mended, renewed or simply severed for various and asundry reasons. I encourage you to do the same. If you need some help, reach out...I'll be here. And if I need some help, I hope you can be there for me.

Good luck everyone ~ Annie