Absent

"Kelly? Kelly Caffee? Kelly, are you here?"

Physically? Yep, I am front and center.

Mentally? Not so much....count me absent.

I am feeling the pressures from ths HUGE move.

And selling our house.

And traveling.

And starting a new business.

I know that this too shall pass,

it's a moment in time

and it will be over soon.

I need to

just breathe.

In and out.

sigh.

Out and in.

sigh.

In other news; my baby boy has turned double digits!

Jay is 10 and we are celebrating him tomorrow!

Four insane 10 year old, high on sugar and

trampoline-jumping, will be

dwelling here.

I think that may be a good recipe for fun.

And maybe barf, too.

Gag.

In other, other news; we are packing out next week. Holy @%#%^* cow!

Where did the time go?

I've been weepy, I'll admit. But I am also calm.

And getting excited!

Warm, sandy beaches are in my future!!!

Tell me what's going on with YOU, my fellow bloggers! I need to get updated!

Leave me links in my comments so I can catch up.....

The Six of Us: Roch-cha-cha....

The Six of Us: Roch-cha-cha....: "Hey guys! I may have mentioned that I am from Rochester, NY originally. It's upstate, not 'the city'. Ahem. People here talk through thier ..."

Roch-cha-cha....

Hey guys!
I may have mentioned that I am from Rochester, NY originally. It's upstate, not "the city". Ahem. People here talk through thier noses and say thier "r's" and "you guys" a lot. I grew up across the street from cows and people that are rumored to be associated with the mafia. Yup, the mafia. Not. Even. Kidding. We are here visiting and I wanted to share a few things that Rochester has to offer, if you happen to find yourself here!

1. Snow. It snows a lot in normal snow months, but also whenever Mother Nature pleases. It snowed this week. And it's, um, mid-April. Winter coats on Easter - yes, ma'am.

2. Nick Tahou's - home of the Garbage Plate.

This is a garbage plate. Oh yes! Home fries and macaroni salad topped with two burgers, Tahou sauce (I haven't a clue what Tahou sauce is) and mustard. Yummy! A must after a night of drinking!

3. Monroe Ave - cool shops and fab restaurants. A little grungy, but fun.

4. Fun festivals - Park Ave fest, lilac festival, apple festival and of course, if you grew up in Chili (not like the food chili, it's pronounced like chai - lie), the Chili fest!

5. Wegmans! The super, super market! It's not a grocery store, it's a way of life!

6. Zwiegles hots - these are the yummiest of all hot dogs. Big, fat, pop-open, dogs. They come in red and white, too! I have brought them to my friends as gifts, they are THAT yummy! And you can only get them here.

7. Pontillo's pizza. The best pizza. EVER! You will not find better pizza anywhere. I promise!

8. The Science Museum and the Strong Museum - lots of fun for the kids AND for the adults, too! Super cool dino exhibits and a "how it works" section. I learn something every time I go! And Strong has a mini-Wegmans where the kids can grocery shop and scan thier groceries.

9. The Dentzel Menagerie Carousel - Charlotte beach. Installed in 1905 and it's still operational. It  not only has horses, but cats, a lion, mules, a goat, ostriches, a tiger and a rabbit!

10. The best bread you'll find anywhere. I mean it! It's THE best, hands down. Marticello's bread. Italian bread. Yum, yum, yum!

I could go on and on, literally. We have beaches, skiing, hiking and beautiful foliage. And snow, I HAVE to mention the snow, of course!

My New 'Do!

I have absolutely no patience. None. Zip. Zero.

I'd rather chop off a limb than try to grow my hair out.

I simply do not have time for it.

Plus, my hair is thin, wavy and I have A LOT of it,

so it's short layers or a greasy, sticky,

productified mess.

I (well, not me.) cut it today.

Introducing The New Pixie:

                   I LOVE IT!

Thank you, Heather! *smooch*

Dinner Challenge

This week is really turning into a copy-cat-linky-week for me! With all of the challenges of moving to Guam, I am happy to just be blogging! I am throwing in the towel with my hair as well - no more growing it out - I'm returning to the pixie 'do on Thursday! What a relief it is, too! I will post pics after it's done, so stay tuned.

For today; E. invited me to post the Dinner Challenge - a blog about inviting any six people to join you for dinner. You have to tell who you would invite and why. I'm going to up the ante and also ask what you'd serve!

Play along and then comment with your post link!!

I would invite Mahatma Gandhi because he is the essence of perseverence to me. His story changed my life. I was amazed that one man had the depth of character and strength of will that he had to have in order to create the changes that he did. I would ask him to tell me where he drew his strength from, even though I know the answer, to see his face when he was describing it would be awesome!

I would also invite Jane Austen, one of my very favorite authors. I have read everything she has published and I adore the way her words flow to create a picture in my mind! I think she is great because she challenged the social norms of her time and lived unconventionally. I would ask her to tell me stories! *wink*

Added to my little soiree would be Abraham Lincoln because he was such an interesting character and I admire his ideas about leadership. I think he was a powerful, influential man and I'd love to pick his brain about the current condition of our government.

I'd invite Jim Carey for the entertainment, but I might ask him to leave right after dessert because he is kind of hyper and might become a distraction.

Of course, I'd ask Jesus Christ to come because I mean, really, He knows the answers to everything. I'd bet He would say a great blessing over our meal as well! (I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek here and mean no offense. I think we all know why I'd ask Him to come!)

Last on my list would be my husband because he is a great dinner guest wth lovely manners and would provide pithy comments and interesting discusson points. And because I'd want to relive every moment afterwards and I know he would listen to me! He has to listen to me!

I think I'd serve things that most of my guests had never experienced like Big Macs and Twinkies. And of course, I'd treat them to Dairy Queen Blizzards and pizza and Godiva chocolates. We'd eat junk food - not a bit of healthy! They'd have horrible indigestion, and end up hating me (except Jesus, of course He'd forgive me) and leave in a huff without saying goodbye.

Who would you invite?

My Very 1st Vlog...."How does an Upstate NYer say...."

 Today I'm linking up with MamaDweeb and Lynnie These Three Girlies 

to do my very first video blog post, ever! I feel like an absolute

DORK, so there is no need to say that I am one, mmmkay.

MMMKAY!

So our assignment was to say a bunch of words in our native accent and answer

a bunch of questions.

Here you go....

Nashville Girls Only Weekend

My five best girlfriends and I just spent an insane weekend in Nashville. We had so much fun! I am blessed to have these ladies in my life, I truly am! Don't you love when you have people around that really, really KNOW you and somehow they still love you? The BEST feeling in the world! We ate, drank and were merry, shopped until we literally dropped, got lost, got found (thank you, serial killer guy) and made up new words and faces and sayings. Best of all, we laughed so hard. My abs HURT from laughing! I took a ton of pics, but I am only being allowed to share a few with you - what happens in Nashville, stays in Nashville......

*Listen real close....*



Hotel arrival



Relaxing...

J & T

Chatting

The weekend "face"!

Tellin' tales!

My girls!

"Is there something in my nose?"

Pirate says arrrgggggh!

K & M

KO



Weekend face....



N & K

T & J

Fried green tomatoes! YUM!

Margarita....mmmmm!

Fried (of course) pickles!

All of us!

Our loot! We spent 9.5 hours shopping!

Sweats and heels - that's how we roll!

This face...



...just didn't get old!



 

 



Woo Hoo!

I am Nashville bound for THE WHOLE WEEKEND with 5 of my most favorite people in the whole world!! Pics and tales of insanity coming.....

"T-dog"

"Min"

"Berkman"

I have pics of KO and J, but I can't find them on my computer....meh....

AIR ASSAULT!

Hey guys!

I am so excited today because my husband graduated from Air Assault school! If you don't know what that is, it's basically an Army school that teaches soldiers how to repel down a rope from a helicopter! It's a lot harder than I just made it sound...

Anyway, he spent the last ten grueling days in training; among other things, he did a six mile road march with 35lbs on his back, an obstacle course, lots of "smokings", PT, written tests and finally a 12 mile march, fully loaded in two hours and some odd seconds. He is amazing and I'm so proud!!

Here are the graduation photos:

Formation - he is the middle guy in the middle group



Getting pinned! It's tradition that they slam the pin into your chest.

I don't get it, but whatever. My man didn't even flinch!





"Blood Wings"





OW!



Awesomeness!

I am so very, very proud of you, my B!!

I love you!

The Toxic Thorn

I don't know where my kids get thier dramatic tendencies from; they

all have them, but my Josh takes the cake when it comes to

creating reasons to see the school nurse...

Today I got a call from her because he has a rather large

scratch gash on the palm of his hand that I have failed

to notice.

Apparently, at some point this past weekend while I

was partying it up in St. Louis, my dear boy

was attacked and nearly mortally wounded 

by a

THORN!

Mmmmmhhhhhhh,

a very large thorn, to say the least.

Poor thing was losing feeling in his entire arm,

and having a strange sensation of

heaviness and tingling at the same time.

The nurse was at a loss.

After a short conversation with me from her office,

he decided that he would courageously finish out

the day and could survive the bus ride home....

I thought that this was the last I'd hear of the gash, but not so.

At that point, I was unaware of the grevious nature of said thorn, you see.

When my very brave boy arrived home, I asked him how he

was feeling and he replied that he was hanging on but could not

fathom how I could've missed the enormous cut

on the palm of his hand....

Translation - you are a very bad mommy.

To make matters worse, I went to a meeting tonight.

While I was gone, he confided in Brian. 

 He fearedthat the thorn that tore his

delicate flesh was

TOXIC.

A toxic thorn attacked my dear son!

(cue foreboding music)

It doesn't look promising at this point,

his condition is precarious.

I only hope that

 he pulls through so he can take his

solo trumpet test tomorrow....

Tiny Talk Tuesday

My sweet friend Mary (I know her in real life) writes a great blog called Not Before Seven. She is funny and smart and a wonderful homeschooling Mama! Every Tuesday she lets bloggers link up with her to share what our littles say that cracks us up and I'll tell you that kids are hilarious!

Here is a snipet of a conversation that I had with Lu this weekend:

Me: Hi baby! I got you a present!! (I was out of town)

Lu: Really??? Is it shoes?

There is no denying that this child belongs to me!

Then, of course, there are the boys. For some reason they just can't remember that a Whopper from Burger King is pronounced "whopper". Instead they say "woo-per". As in, "Mama, I want a woo-per meal with no cheese", to which I must reply with "you want a woo-per?" Woop Woop!!". They will need therapy someday.....

And Kate has a brand new word in her vocabulary too, compliments of me! "CRAP!" is now shouted a bajillion times daily for no good reason. Ah, yes. I AM the mother of the year, thanks very much!!

So stop over and visit Miss Mary today and I promise you'll get a good laugh!!

Recycled "Friends"

A while back, I wrote this post:

READ THIS! IT"S ABOUT YOU, SISTER!

"This post is dedicated to my dear girlfriends! Each of you hold a very special place in my heart; it doesn't matter if I see you everyday at the bus stop or I haven't talked to you face-to-face in 15 years! I love that all of you have quirky traits and distinct personalities! You ROCK! You are AWESOME, AMAZING, STRONG, BAD-A** women and I owe you my sanity!!!

I am beyond blessed because my friends are divinely unique! I have different relationships with all of them, but I have noticed that I am very drawn to these certain types of people:

The Nurturer: this lady is always there to listen! Her ears must be bored out of their minds lately with all my Korea blather, but she is the one that will be there when my eyes are filled with tears and I am blubbering about the latest drama in my life. She knows that if we are going to a sappy movie, I will likely forget tissues and she brings some for me! She understands that I tend to be dramatic, quick to judge, and over the top and she loves me anyway!

The No-Nonsence Gal: this friend is brutally honest and tells it like it is. If you (I) need practicality or a dose of reality, she is your (my) girl! Sometime she will give us melodramatic chicks a good, swift, kick in the pants when we (me) need it! She is a "talk me off the ledge" sister and I love that she has her wits about her all the time!

The Eternal Optimist: gotta love this pal because she sees the good in every single situation!! She is the one that cheers me up even in the darkest of moods! A conversation with her will go something like this: Me: "So guess what? I just found out that I have to spend the rest of my life ice-fishing in Antarctica!" Her: "UGH! What a bummer! But think of all the cute boots and coats you'll get to wear and the yummy fresh fish you'll get to eat!". This is my go-to-girl if I need a pep talk!!!

The Drama Queen: this chick is always a little off center, but tons of fun!!! She knows what is going on at all times and is not afraid to let her opinion known! She is A LOT of everything; color, noise, laughter, craziness, flare and opinions! She is bold and brave and tests my limits on everything from music to fashion to foods!

The "Good" Mom: this friend is the eternal "Kool-Aid Mom" - kids flock to her house because she is FUN!  She really, super-duper, loves her children (and mine)! She is an example of patience and kindness, empathy and sympathy and she inspires me to be better for my children! This one will bring you soup when you're sick and has band-aids and sunscreen in her purse "just in case". She is the one to call to get information on the latest school happenings and when to register for basketball!! 

The "Bad" Mom: this chick is super popular with the kiddos as well, but it's because she allows candy before dinner and video games in bed! She lets the monkies stay up until 9 pm on a school night just because the weather is beautiful! And she allows "iffy" movies and pillow fights and red juice in the car! I love her because she reminds me to let stuff slide!

Some of you are just one of these and some of you are bits of each, and it works so well! I value each of you more than you can know. I adore the fact that I could show up at your door at 4 am and you'd actually let me in! It just doesn't get richer than you gals! I am so, so, so lucky to have you in my life!"

*After this weekend, and spending two days with some awesome, awesome, inspirational women, it is more relevant now than it was then! AND ths coming weekend, I get to spend time with four of the women I actually wrote it about!!! KO, MN, NB and TS - I cannot wait to squeeze each of you! Be warned; you may not be able to get me off!!!*

A few pics of my weekend:



Amazing women....



Our team!!!







Me, Jessica and Gricelda



Theresa :)