Hmmm....

It has been almost a year, since I have written here. Things are so-so around the house. Life moves on whether we are okay with what's going on around us or not. I will receive my AA in December, and have been loving my art classes. Now I just have to get motivated to work on my book; you ever notice how there is always something else that needs to be done?

The kids are growing up and I can't stop them; it's exciting and scary all at once. Ashton will be an adult next year; Kenan continues to be Kenan, and Evie is as fierce as ever.

I miss writing here so maybe I will try to get back in the habit. I went back the other night and read all my old posts, and it was fun, kind of like reading a diary. It reminded me of some things I had forgotten. It was like a reminder of where I was trying to push myself to grow. It was, for me, very interesting. Plus, all the old pitures make me smile; I have lost so many due to computer failure and my lack of putting them into Snapfish (a situation I have finally remedied.)

These our newest Halloween pics, my favorite holiday, and some from the summer. Enjoy.

(She's Kinicki, from Grease and yeah, I told you the kids were big)

Inner Balance

It's no secret that I enjoy the benefits of yoga, and I've talked about my love of the online site YogaToday, but recently they switched their entirely free menu to a subscription every month. I am not lamenting my loss, (they have an extremely reasonable subscription: $10 a month for everything while still offering one free class a week). My problem is I have allowed this to be one of the excuses for me not practicing lately. I have been busy with school, and all the other daily chores we accomplish everyday, but I have been feeling the neglect of my "inner balance." So I motivated myself to start stretching again this week, and I found out that YogaToday offers classes at youtube. Today I chose a 25 minute class on balncing poses. I knew going in that I would be shaky, but was pleased when the instructor announced, as if she had read my mind, that shaking was good. It meant you were toning, I was toning all areas of my body, mind, and soul. I realized, quite some time ago, that my core was weak. It disheartened me, but gave me something to strive for as well. In my head, your core is your very essence and to have it dawn on me that I was weak was a hard thought to swallow. So I followed my balancing class with a ten minute, three exercise quick, class for "deep core strengthening." It made me feel strong and in control, all while taxing my deep inner soul. A long time ago I had one of those earth shattering moments that change everything in your life; it created this weakness in me and has plagued me ever since. A few years back I vowed that I would not let that moment hold sway over me anymore. It is tough for me to keep that promise, but I manage to persevere. Life is good when I really think about it; it is nothing more than what I choose to make of make of it.

FUCK!!!!!

Whew that felt good. No reason for it other than some times you just need to yell FUCK!

***

This year has flown by, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, all the years are flying by. For some inane reason I had the notion that this year would be better than the last, ummm not so much. But that's okay we are weathering through it, alive, clothed, fed, and sheltered. What more can you really ask for?

***

I think blogging has gone the way of the dodo bird, now that we have Facebook and Twitter, where we can let everyone know just how cool and eccentric we are in about a minute. With the added benefit of not having to speak face-to-face with anyone, ever. How convenient that we never have to personally interact socially if we don't want to, while maintaining numerous relationships, sometimes with people we don't even know? Interesting world we live in, and then we wonder why the world is the way it is. Why bad shit happens, why the government can trample all of our rights, and nobody does a goddamn thing, myself included. Maybe it's because we are all wrapped up in ourselves, narcissistically believing that the only world out there is the one we live in, inside of our heads? If it's not directly affecting me and mine why should I care?

***

Well on to happier shit, like butterflies and bumblebees.

***

Life here in the Nichols household has been interesting to say the least, nothing I'm going to place here in my little blog. If you really know me then you are probably aware of all that is going down in my neck of the woods, and if you don't know what's happening well then you don't really know me do you?

***

Oooh, sorry I said happier didn't I? This is turning into rambling sort of like my answering machine messages, so let's get on with it, shall we?

***

Ashton, the giant that he is, turned 16 a few months back (all pictures were wiped when my computer crashed again, damn me for not listening to that smart husband of mine. Apple from here on out.) He is doing well in school, definitely benefitting from having Chad and I home to do school with him. Unfortunately all he really cares about is when he gets to play video games. Trying to inspire him to be more is a hard task indeed, I just keep telling myself that eventually he always catches up.

***

Kenan, adjusting to the social pressures of entering high school did not do so well the first semester of school, but is currently on track and juggling everything well. We had a nice long talk last night about his eventual jumping out of the nest. I am confident in the strong man he is becoming (most days) and can't wait to see the little bird fly.

***

Genevieve was taken off her medicine by Chad and I over the summer, her vocabulary jumped leaps and bounds as well as her school work. It makes me wonder how many other kids are being held back just so they will sit still in class? Her teacher is less than enthusiastic about the change, as Evie has turned into a wild hellcat at school, or so I'm led to believe. We told the teacher, basically, suck it up she's not going back on her meds just so she doesn't cause problems in class. I will homeschool her again before that happens.

***

I know I said I would try to cheer it up a bit, but honestly just not in such a cheery mood today, maybe I'll have some pictures to share next time and they will make up for it. Until then......

Friendships

I have been thinking a lot about friends and the types of people I want in my life.

There are people who are needy:

they want and want from you without giving you a second thought. These people believe that they themselves are being good friends and never see the selfishness in which they act.

There are people who will party with you:

these types of friends are great to go out and pal around with. They usually have a ton of friends and are always up for something to do. On the other hand you don't really count on them when the shit hits the fan.

Then, there are people who are your friends:

these people know who you are, love who you are, and don't ask you to change. They tell you when you are fucking up and they are standing there holding your hand when the world is falling down.

With all my ruminations about friends lately, I have begun to see that most of us fall into more than one category. Nobody wants to believe they fall into the first category, but I bet you can think of someone, somewhere, at some point in your life, when you were that kind of friend.

How about today?

What kind of friend are you? To whom? All the time? Or, just when it suits you?

Keep your eyes open!

Wake up, how many of us have heard about this, wake up!

wake up, you free Americans and pay attention to your surroundings.

WATCH THIS!

or don't

but don't be surprised.

(Who knew it should have been Ron Paul in '08)

It's been an interesting youtube morning.

Hope you think today.

Life in June

Something Pretty
Big Brother Noogies

Eighth Grade Graduation

Eighth Grade Graduate

A Very Rare Sighting Indeed

Chad being Brave, he only got hit by one

Mom and Evie's cheesy grin

20 minutes at the Beach

(Jenna understands)

*****************

I have been trying to post videos of Kenan and Genevieve, to no avail.

Everyone keep their fingers crossed and maybe my computer will cooperate

Hello, Goodbye.

As some of you may or may not know, I have once again entered the college system. I am excited and overwhelmed. My posts on this blog will most likely be suspended for awhile, not like I have really made any effort to post here frequently as of late anyway. I have decided to get my AA in Art, as well as an AA in elementary education. With that said, I have been trying to earn revenue through another blog of mine, It's Easy Being Green. On this blog you can be assured to hear from me at least once a week. If you are missing me and mine, check us out there, or do one better, pick up the phone, write me an email. My regular mailbox works as well, although all I ever seem to get in it are bills and crap, so maybe it's broken after all.