a bit of background...

This post is mostly going to be for Missy, since we haven't seen each other in so long. We're trying to get to know as much as possible about each others families. Those of you who already know all this, keep checking back. I promise I'll start adding new stuff about what's happening with us. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about, especially after Disney! But for now, Missy, here you go.

Brandi is my oldest, she's 26 now. She'll actually turn 27 next month while we're in Walt Disney World. Not a bad birthday celebration, huh? She is the kind of kid who would make any mom proud and I am so proud! I'm not sure if I ever really say that out loud, I need to make a point to. She is an account manager at Argus Health Systems. I keep hearing about promotions, increases, and bonuses, so I know she must be doing ok there!

I think what I am most proud of though, is how she is just so 'together'. Her life is in order, she knows what she wants, and she makes it happen. When I grow up, I want to be just like her! She lives alone now, no roommates this time, and she's loving it. How she manages work, keeping her apartment sparkling clean, making time for friends & family, and now going back to school to finish up her degree is beyond me.

She dresses to a T. Always. She always looks fantasic, whether she's wearing an expensive outfit, or a bargain from Target. I think that in itself is a special talent. She likes shoes, just a bit. Ok, I'm playing that down. She's a complete shoe freak! She has more pairs of pointy toed, high heeled shoes than most shoe stores (and if you know Brandi, you know they are ALL in perfect order! Oh, yeah, she's also a bit of a clean freak.) She also loves Coach purses, and can't seem to resist buying them lately.

She's dating a nice guy, his name is Doug. They seem to fit pretty well. He treats her really good and seems to care about her a lot. They used to be co-workers, then friends, now dating. I think they're a lot alike and they seem to have fun together.

OK, on to Robbie, my middle child. Imagine being the middle child, AND the only boy! Poor kid. He just turned 13 last month, and he's in 8th grade this year. He has lots of friends and the girls sure seem to like him. I think he knows how to be a good friend to them, and they like that. When he was younger, and best buds with some of the girls as well as the boys, I think the other boys couldn't understand. Now (or soon) they'll be wishing they were in his shoes, and have so many girls as friends, lol. He 'got' a new girlfriend yesterday. They call it 'dating' or 'going out', though they're not old enough to do either one yet! I hated when I was young, and we'd say 'going together' and the parents would always say "Where are you going?" but I find myself wanting to do the same thing!

He's been in karate since he was about 6. Tae Kwon Do actually. He got his Black Belt when he was 9 and became a Second Degree Black Belt when he was 10. He's now working toward 3rd Degree. He loves it even though they work them so hard! He comes out of there beet red and soaked from sweat sometimes. 50 to 100 pushups or situps is a normal thing in there. He doesn't really like sparring, I guess getting kicked and punched is not really his thing. But he loves doing the forms and the weapons. He's not the usual karate kid, though. He's not cocky, nor is he a bully. He's just such a nice kid, and he'll probably (hopefully) never need to use it.

He plans on being a meteorologist one day, he's pretty fascinated by weather. He tried out this summer to do a weather forecast on the local news, and has emailed his favorite weatherman to see if he can go in and see the studio and weather center. We'll see.

His real love and his passion is......cars! Since he was a baby in diapers, his favorite toy was cars. He knew pretty much every car on the road, at a glance, when he was only 2 or 3 - barely old enough to even say the names! He'd point them out and name them off, just by seeing a portion of a bumper or a taillight. It was actually pretty impressive! He has huge collections of cars of all sizes, from Micro Machines on up. When he was little he named all the sizes so we'd know what he was talking about. He had Micro Machines, Hot Wheels, medium cars, large cars, and Large Large cars, lol. It hasn't changed a bit in all these years, cars are still what he loves most. He's been waiting to be able to drive since he was tiny, and I think he even has a countdown on his myspace, counting the days till he can finally drive a car!

Now Stephanie, the baby - though she's not a baby anymore. She's 9 now, how did this happen so fast? Stephanie is a GIRL - plain and simple. OK, that statement was plain and simple. Steph definitely is NOT. There is nothing plain or simple about her. She is a Princess. I think she'll be following in her big sister's footsteps as far as fashion goes, and I definitely see the shoe thing happening already. She loves to be 'pretty' and to 'accesorize'. (her words) She loves pink, and she loves 'sparkly', about 90% of her wardrobe is some shade of pink and most of it sparkles! She loves dresses, especially the 'spinny' kind. Until about a year or so ago, dresses were the only thing she wanted to wear! She'd always test out the 'spinniness' of them before we'd buy, of course, and she'd grumble in cold weather when I'd have to make her wear pants.

She is also our little athlete. She likes sports and is pretty good! She's played soccer, t-ball, and basketball. She's getting ready to sign up for volleyball for the first time. I'm a little concerned about V-ball, because she wears glasses. I don't want her to get hit with a ball with her glasses on. May have to think about safety glasses. I just know what her reaction to those will be. I imagine when she's old enough, she'll do some track, too. She can run forever, and she's FAST!

She loves animals. Can't stand the sight of blood, hers or anyone elses, real or fake. She is afraid of bad weather, especially so, since the tornado a couple of years back. She loves watching Full House. Not so crazy about boys.

The thing she loves most though, is babies. LOVES them! She plans to have 4, 2 boys & 2 girls, lol. She has two little cousins that she absolutely adores, and is completely happy to just go over there and sit with a baby in her arms. She gets up early on weekends, so she can be sure and watch the "First Birthdays" on the morning news. She was planning on becoming a pediatrician when she grows up, so that she could take care of babies all the time. Then she found out that there would be shots and stitches involved, (so therefore, blood) and she nixed that idea. She still wants to do something with babies, but now she doesn't know what. Whatever she decides, I'm sure she'll be doing it in something pink, sparkly, and hopefully, spinny! Wouldn't that be a fun doctor to go to if you were a kid??

I'm blogging!

I've never blogged before. I've thought about it a few times, while reading the blogs of some of my friends. What a great way to keep the family caught up, I thought, especially the ones who live out of town, but I just never jumped in and created my own. Why? Who knows. Maybe because it would take too much time, or maybe because I would actually have make some decisions - What would I call it? What colors would I use? What will I put on it? I'm the most indecisive person I know. I thought "who would read it?". Half the time it seems like I can't get anyone to listen to me when I talk, so who'd sit here and read my random thoughts?

But yesterday, I found my friend. Not just A friend, but THE friend. You know, that one person who you were closer to than anyone else. Who never judged you or made fun of you even when you really kind of deserved it. The one you'll never forget. Yeah, THAT friend. We were best girlfriends in junior high. We were together every minute, either at her house or mine. I spent more time with her, than I did with my own family. Till we moved away. She was in Michigan, I was now in Missouri. There was no email then, and long distance was expensive, so we would write letters. We saw each other once or twice, but then eventually lost touch.

Over the years, I'd think about her alot. I'd wonder what she was doing, if everything was ok in her life, if she would ever think about me after all this time. I tried many times to find her again, and finally I did. Turns out she DID think about me, and was doing the same things trying to find me, too. Yesterday we talked, and even though everything is so much different now, it was like nothing had changed at all.

So why am I blogging? Because I want to catch up on her life, see pictures of her kids, keep in touch. I know this time we won't let it happen, but in case something should happen - a move, a new email address, a changed phone number - there WILL be a way for us to find each other.

So I'm blogging now, because I won't lose my friend again.