Thirty Two Days

Thirty one days and seventeen hours.

That is the remainder of life as I know it. In thirty two days my goodbyes will all become goodnights. My life will change. My name will change. My address will be new, and my home will go from a three story house to just two.

In thirty two days I will wake up and be the wife of a wonderful man who has come to love and cherish me with every part of his existence. The man who has taught me that a Father's love can never be replaced, but can be mirrored. The same man who respects my family and treats them as if they were his own.

In thirty two days, I will begin to face a whole new set of challenges. I will sometimes wonder how our needs will be met, and how our schedules will coincide. I will begin each day with a brand new look on life, and constantly wonder why God would bless little old insignificant ME with so many sweet treasures.

The furniture has all been moved, and positioned in places we could both happily agree upon. The many boxes I've been collecting for years have all been stowed away or unpacked. The little house is beginning to look like home to me; Our Home.

Each time I think of it, I have to grin. Our Home. It just sounds so ... crazy to me, to think I'm sitting here on the brink of being a married lady and having a home of my own. Sharing a roof and a whole new life with a man I'm thrilled to death to call my dearest and best friend.

I'll be honest. I pinch myself sometimes, just to see if I'm dreaming or not. Turns out, this big crazy feeling dream is REALITY! Whew, what a rush I get every time it hits me anew.

 

Splish Splashing & The Responsible Momma

The girl is all curled up in a lounge chair, the smell of chlorine filling her senses and the sounds of half a dozen children screaming and shouting above the splashing into the pool  surrounds her.

She is quite oblivious to the rest of the world as she scans the electronic pages of her kindle. Oblivious yes, but with one rather large exception. Her siblings, the happy little shriveled up fish children have made a friend or two and she watches them as they race from one end of the pool to the other ...

I can't help but laugh as Josh waves at me, bracing himself on the tiled edge of the pool. He's squinting through foggy blue goggles, his hawaiian shorts dripping wet. "Hey Bwit, watch me okay?!"

I wave and smile, knowing he's done this three dozen times in the course of almost two hours. His tiny feet leave the floor and he lunges into the air, landing with a great big splash into the water. His new friend, Zane, claps. Its obvious they've made a game of it.

About the time my blonde haired fishy child climbs back out to do it again, big sister sees a middle aged woman heading for the towel bin. Sissy ignores towel-lady, she's of no consequence to fishy child's little antics.

But then, towel-lady walks over to the boy, and big sissy is instantly on her guard. She watches with eyes peeled, ready to pop out of her chair in a seconds notice. She doesn't play games.

She tells him not to splash. And asks where his folks are. Joshy looks uneasy around his dimpled smile, he points at me. And as towel-lady makes a bee line my way, I give her a leveled gaze. I dont like strangers talking to my fish children. After all, they are playing in the opposite side of the pool where no one else is sitting. They're not being extremely loud and I warned them to be respectful of people passing by ...

She looks at me, straight up serious like I should know better than to let them splash. "You do realize its wet over there. You're aware of that, aren't you?"

I offer half a smile over the book I had been reading five minutes ago. "Yes. We've been here for awhile."

She looks unamused, " ... and what are you going to do when they slip and fall? They're going to crack their heads open."

Honestly, fifteen different responses sprang to mind just then. I am quite an imperfect human, I'll admit. Instead, I returned her unamused glare. "Yes, I know. They're fine."

She looked disgusted, I might've laughed if she hadn't been so rude. Without further adoo, she shook her head and began to move past me muttering.

"Thank you." I said. "I'm responsible."

I didn't catch if she looked back or not, I was too busy shushing my sister whose mouth was agape in amused shock. Mckenna shook her head and finally covered her mouth. I swear, people in this world sometimes.

* The girl shakes her head *

But the kids all had a wonderful time at the pool, they're running around now like little tan-white prunes. Whether legit momma or just momma for the day, it is never wise to bother their children. They take their munchkins seriously. The End. * smiles *

Sunshiney Saturday.

Today was chocked full of goodness. We spent most of the day up at my grandparents, just hanging around and swimming. It was such a relaxing kind of day and everybody had an amazing time as always.

Just a handful of pictures to sum up it all up, because if the girl chattered about every second of it she might go on and on ... Typical of chippery kind of days.

*Description of pic in order as they're posted below. * wink *

1) The twin-boy cousin of mine. It feels like just yesterday we were both toddling around the grandparent's house, Papa's old white t-shirt (our pjs of choice) dragging the floor while we fought over who got to use their tiny red Dirt Devil vaccum first. Now ... He seems to be towering head and shoulders above me overnight, picking me up and talking sports cars.

2)  Abs & Brandon. Just a picture of people taking pictures 'cause well, we're all about capturing the moment and everything.

3) Auntie and Me ~ we shared a moment over a lesson in the making of a single cup of coffee with the lovely Keurig. She makes me smile ... Mainly because she got excited over that crazy thing like I did when I first tried it. It's the small things in Life | embracing that moment and enjoying the simplicity of a tiny happiness.

4) The cousin and I with one of my most favoritest men in the whole wide world, my Papa. The man who let me steal his t-shirts for pajamas | the maker of the best fried apples my mouth ever experienced | the man who turned a small munchkin girl of three into a John Wayne fan and basically any sort of Western | who taught her b&w movies are special and good in the midst of a Disney crazed age of wild colors and sparkles | the man who promised me half a million wonderful things and gave me a world of priceless memories.

5) Aunt "Winnie" and her "Gilly-Boy". That guy with the goofy fish face | a smirk working to break lose just behind it adores my auntie to bits. Whats more, he makes her smile. He gives her a heartshaped world with two suns, sparkly clouds and still he surrounds her life with happiness.

6) Um ... I cannot say enough about this woman. She's so crazy, I mightn't claim her if it werent for us being together here. I kid. My grandma's the coolest, most amazing woman a girl could ask for in a second mother | a best friend and official "spoil the world rotten" kind of person. She makes me laugh and I downright adore her.

7) We were putting a hurtin' on them dishes till a certain somebody hit her funny-bone on the edge of the counter. Laughing over dumb things is always buckets of fun. * winks *

On a Whim 'Cause That's How We Roll

Second day of Summer rolled around ... Twas ten o'clock and already ridiculously hot. The sound of tiny-sized men pushing lego people across a carpet battlefield upstairs broke into the girl's quiet thoughts as she wondered what to do with her unoffical day off.

''You're always gone, Bwit." Joshy had mumbled sleepily into my pillow the other morning. "You work too much."

"Hey guys??" I waited a moment for a response. Suddenly an idea unfolded in my mind and I smiled. "Do you want to go to the Fork Union Pharmacy?"

Now, I have to stop for a second here and explain that FUP isnt just a pharmacy. Its a gift shop. A toy shop. And A candy shop with everything thrown all together so everybody's happy. Which means, Sissy and Nane can look around while the boys and Abigail can tinker around to heart's content at the same time. Not too shabby a deal. * smile *

They were of course thrilled to be able to get out and go somewhere, so they piled into the backseat of my car and chattered THE WHOLE way.

I let them pick out some candy for something special and the lady ended up giving it to them for .63 cents. Apparently, there are still gem-my people in this world!

Afterwards we drove to the Lake and got Subway for lunch. Happy factor only grew, let me tell you. To the boys, Subway Pizza is the world's BESTest pizza ever and whenever they can have it, they are entirely psyched.

Sometimes they arent in a pepperoni mood, so today Big Sissy had to ask. Sam said, "Um, I just want plain cheese pizza. With pepperonis on it."

... as if he ever ate any other kind, right? * wink *

Joshy piped up, "Oh yeaaah! Me too. Just cheese ... With pepperoni."

Lunch was a lot of fun. I was really glad we got to do it randomly, just for fun.

Then as if they werent pumped enough going to Subway, we went to Dunkin Donuts. Aka, their most favorite place on earth.

I've never seen such talent, chattering away around mouthfuls of sugary | chocolatey donuts like that. * smiles *

Highlight of MY day? Oh thats an easy one. It'd probably be when a big cup of Ice coooold Sweet SWEET tea dumped in my lap on the way home. Twas quite the surprise and yet, entirely awesome. Car went from chattery to dead silent in three seconds before we all errupted in laughter.

But um, what's so cotton pickin' funny 'bout tea spilling in the car? you ask. Not a thing, Jack. Not a thing ... Cept we bonded and this is jusy dandy. * smiles *

Infomercial: Part Two

With every intention of falling asleep, my mind gave me half a dozen reasons to stay up. My technological child cried, random handwritten bits of blogness fluttered across my desk and my mental to-do list forced me out of bed not once, but twice. Sweetness, hmm? * smiles *

Thus, I find myself once again typing away at these keys, summing up my day at the Williamsburg Dental Conference ...

• When I first walked into the Lodge this morning, trailing behind my boss in a sleep-deprived state and faking alertness entirely, I was pretty much gung ho about this Invisalign deal. I'd tossed the idea around for awhile, so basically I was about to be edu-mah-cated on the ins and outs of the whole process. After 8 hours , the girl wasn't so sure she wanted to hear the "I" word for a good long while! Yet, the whole process still kind of fascinated her. Because after all, it was: 1) upbeat  2) upscale  3) exciting and fun.

* or, that's what I heard them say half a dozen times or so. I was picturing the thrill of sitting in that chair getting plastic trays fitted to my teeth ... my enthusiasm was building. * noted sarcasm, cause girl can't help making light of repetition after so long. *

• Jay got awesome boss of the day award for taking us to the Cheese Shoppe for lunch. We were starving, and the food was ridiculously amazing. Being an alumni of William & Mary college, he knew his way around the old campus and showed us the hidden gardens and a few of the buildings. I am in love with the old brick walkways | the enormous trees and the way the air smells.

• When we returned after our third session of the day, I stopped dead in my tracks. "Johnna, I think he just paused the video while we went to that last lecture. Or ..." She rolled her eyes, "I swear, if he's going to repeat this whole thing I'm going to need a cigarette." I couldn't help but laugh. We were all drained mentally, believe it or not. Even our boss was literally holding his eyes open. Yes, we DID laugh over that particular moment.

          "Well, at least we'll ace this program deal. Hmm?" I whispered in the middle of another spill about the function of Invisalign computer software. Apparently, it was Dr. B's soapbox { he claimed it was true, himself } so we heard a good deal about ClinChecks and so forth.
          
           Johnna's arms were folded, she leaned back in her chair. After all, we were going on our eighth hour and still going strong. "No Bull. Honey, you're not kidding."

           I laughed. Life is so much fun, especially when all the DA girls get tired and Jay just looks down the long table at us with a quizzical expression and leaves us to ourselves. Smart Man, our boss.

• Ten minutes later, we've switched topics. Relief floods my soul, and Dr. B goes on to discuss Ankylosed teeth. Johnna was flipping through her lecture notes, and none of us looked like we really knew up from down at this point. "Johnna," I leaned over and spoke in a hushed whisper. "What's an ankylosed tooth??"

           After all, I am Dental Assistant in training. Questions from the girl are typically welcomed at this point. I like picking Jay & Johnna's brain outside of appointments, so I have a grasp on the info when I have a patient with similar questions. Her expression changed from zoned to entirely lost, "Huh? Where'd you hear that word?"

           I was right, we were there in body only. We'd managed to fade in and out of conscious retention for the last two hours if the conference. Pulling my notepad out, I scribbled the word down only to look up and find Johnna chuckling. She didn't know, but thought of something it might be so we dove into our thick lecture notes that resembled novels in search of answers. Neither of us really have a clue at this point, but that's okay. It's how we roll.

So amid day full of mass chaos | gobs of people | endless amounts of laughter - both from the next room and our little group | switching rooms and speakers | the gorgeous day and a yummy lunch ... the day was a really awesome one. I admit, it was exhausting but well worth going. * smiles *

And there you have it, the behind the scenes of Dentistry you never knew. Honestly, you probably hadn't the slightest desire to know we don't always go to schools for what we know. Now you know we sit in hours of lectures and classes and sometimes get bored out of our minds. Now you know that those girls in scrubs are legit humans. * winks *