What Personal Achievement Am I Most Proud Of?

           That is an easy question LOL my kids. I think both of them are phenomenal. My son is 28 years old now and has never been any trouble. He never did drugs, drank, or rebelled. He does not smoke, he went to and graduated college, he has a job, and he helps me any time I ask. He is smart, compassionate, and respectful. My daughter is 14 years old now, and seems to be on the path to doing just as well. She shows no interest in frivolous things like makeup and boys LOL she is just a natural beauty who is very shy. She is very talented with sewing and drawing, and makes up these amazing back stories for all the characters she creates. I keep telling her she needs to write them down. She is smart and sensitive, cares for others, and also is willing to help whenever asked. They are both amazing individuals that I am so proud of.

What Is Your Relationship Like With Your Sibling?

           I have one full brother, and a sister and brother who pretend to not know they are illegitimate LOL my dad had a fling when I was a teenager and got a married woman pregnant twice LOL. I follow the girl on Facebook. She looks just like my dad in drag LOL the boy just looks like a younger version of my dad. It is all very obvious, but they are in denial because they do not want to hurt the man who thinks he is their father, which I can understand.

          Anyway, I have one brother who is stuck with me LOL. He is three years younger, but looks older thanks to moisturizer. He lives way too far away for us to be really close. We do talk weekly, usually in our cars driving to work. We fought a lot when we were kids, but outgrew that. Probably about the time he got big enough to kick my butt LOL He has one biological daughter and girl and boy who claim him as their dad since he dated their mom 25 years ago LOL. We do not have as close a relationship as I would like. He is really cool and I think would be fun to hang out with. He is very smart and charismatic, people love to hang out with him. He has met and become friendly with lots of important and famous people. He is just one of those people that is naturally liked.

          I am so tired. I took some melatonin and drank some sleepytime tea so I would get a good night sleep. No luck, my pets woke me up at 7am. My sleep aids have not worn off yet, but I am up for a few. I have a civil war test to take. So not ready for that. I keep having to tell myself that I do not need an A. I just need to pass class in order to maintain deferment status on student loans. As soon as I am done with school stuff, I am heading back to sleep.

What Objects Tell The Story Of My Life

           Oh my goodness, I have no idea how to do this post. I have no objects that represent my life. The only thing of permanence I have are my kids, and they are not objects. They do represent me. The only thing I know I am, and good at it, is being a mom. It is what I always wanted to be since I was a child. So, I make sure to do it well. My kids are happy and kind, they know they are loved, and they never give me any trouble. No drinking or drug problems, they are respectful, and caring. To me, they are perfect. The best blessing I could have ever had in my life.

          My pets are also pretty awesome, but again, not objects. Beyond my kids, I care about animals. It hurts me deeply when I cannot help them all. Animals are innocent and most are subject to the abuse of people. I hate that. I know animals in the wild care for themselves, but the ones who have been domesticated cannot. For the ones who hurt them, I hope they have a special place in Hell.

          Well that went dark fast LOL okay. It is Monday and things to do. Today is finance class and start trying to figure out my civil war test for tomorrow. I am not looking forward to it. I am not a test person. I always second guess myself and mess up the answer. I also want to decorate my tree for Spring/Summer and make tacos LOL. Then work on my daughter's room a bit. Hopefully this will be a productive day.

How Do I Normally Spend My Weekends

          Okay, well my weekends are pretty boring. I work LOL usually Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. By the time I get off Sunday morning, I am tired, but I still have responsibilities. So on Sundays I do laundry, grocery shopping, mow my yard (front or back, sometimes both), and clean up around the house. Kids can sometimes get messy when I am at work. Then I pass out in my chair and sleep LOL.

          This weekend a bit different, as I have Saturday and Sunday off. Yesterday I did my part of my normal Sunday stuff, but then instead of sleep, kids and I went to the movies and saw "Argyle" it was great. Funny and action packed, with lots of twists. Afterwards I passed out in my chair all night LOL woke up this morning and saw weather calls for rain. My front yard is a disaster, and I do not want a citation for it, so I hopped up (even before coffee) and mowed front yard after pulling up a bunch of weeds by the roots. It sprinkled a bit, but I got it finished. I figure later I will do grocery shopping and maybe redo my daughter's bedroom. She has decided she is ready to move out of my bedroom and into her own.

          Yesterday got a piece of totally cool mail. Gooseberry Patch has chosen another one of my made up recipes for another cookbook. This will be my second one. I don't even remember the recipe, but I called it "Buttery Spiced Walnut Cookies" and it is going into their upcoming "Harvest for Sharing" cookbook. I get a free copy of the book in June. I am very excited. That makes two now. 

My Favorite Childhood Vacation

           I have absolutely no recollection of any childhood vacations. I do not think we went on any. My mom was a single parent who could not afford them. I know my favorite vacation was in 2005 I think. My son and I went to Disney World for the first time. It was just him and me. We stayed for a week at Pop Century. Anything that could go right on that trip did :) We had a great room by the pool, the weather was perfect, the resort was so much fun. We got to go on all the rides. We have character dining experiences where they gave my son so much attention. He got to meet Stitch, his favorite character, and got him to autograph a hat for him. We still have the hat LOL. The whole trip was phenomenal. He and I did not want to come home. Now, we live just 10 miles from the resort and can go whenever we wish :)

My First Driving Experience

           Okay, the prompts for this month are a bit wacky LOL says to describe my first driving experience. That goes back long ago. I did not get my license until I was 20 years old. I also did it backwards. I wanted to drive, but was afraid to, so in order to force myself I bought a car. It was a red Nissan Sentra I named Shandy. I figured if I had a car, I would want to drive it, and it worked. I practice on some back roads by my apartment. Just small trips until I felt comfortable enough to go take my driver's test in Carson City, NV. I picked going there over Reno, NV because I figured less people on the roads to watch out for LOL. I passed and got my license. I still too nervous to drive home LOL. Once I finally got up the courage to go on the actual streets I remember the first challenge leaving my apartment was a four way stop. Me and three other cars arrived together. Now I know the rule is yield to the one on the right, but all of us had somebody to the right, plus me freaked out about being on the street. Finally somebody went, then another and another until my turn. I was scared to death because: I was new driver, I was very shy, I hated being in public, and I was afraid I would mess up. 

          Well, I didn't!!! Thus began my emergence out of my safe little bubble of a life. Out of my car, I was still afraid of anything, but inside my car, I was daring and adventurous. I loved driving. I took road trips places all the time. It was such freedom. I became a new person inside my car. Slowly it started to seep into my non-driving world. I actually started interacting with people and made friends. Driving a car helped me overcome a lot of crippling social anxiety. Even now, thirty-five years later, I still enjoy having a car. I no longer like driving distances LOL but I am comforted just having a vehicle. When it is taken away from me to go to the shop, life sucks!!! That used to happen a lot. In fact my mechanic just sent me a text a couple of days ago asking if I was okay since they hadn't seen me in months LOL I said I was fine, I had just gotten a brand new car LOL.

          This year my daughter can get her learner's permit to drive. Oh boy. On one hand, maybe it will help her like it did me, but on the other hand, she is my baby, and I don't want her in any accidents. There are crazy drivers here in Florida. Thankfully she is in no rush to drive :)

A Lesson I Learned From My Grandpa

           This is an unusual prompt, but kind of interesting for today. Just about an hour ago I discovered my great-great-great grandpa was a private in the Civil War. Unfortunately he was on the Confederate side, but as I have learned in my Civil War history class, not everybody was fighting by choice. Some were there because they were forced by family, friends, the general population. I would imagine most did not want to go to war. He was in the 16th South Caroline regiment I, or something like that. He fought alongside Hood against Sherman and his march to the sea. My ancestor made it out of the Civil War alive thankfully, or I would not be here today. I found a picture of him, he looks about 19 years old and innocent, so I am guessing right before the war. So many records to go through. I am planning on using him for a school project.