11:52 a.m.

seven years ago we welcomed another beautiful soul into our lives.

malia, who was only 27 months old, was no longer an only child.  she became a big sister.

seven years have come & gone.  quickly.  

our happy-go-lucky baby is now a happy-go-lucky little boy.

happy 7th birthday to aidan.

migrants.

a few weekend's ago i decided to drive my kids by the house i grew up in.  we moved in when i was just eight years old.  i was barely in my twenties & in college when we moved out.

the magnolia tree my daddy planted was gone.  the shutters & front door were painted a different color from what i remember them being.  the lawn was definitely not the green carpet of bermuda grass my mother painstakingly cared for.  but it was still home.  my old home. 

i wanted to stop & take a picture, but i thought it might be a bit awkward considering the current owners were in the front yard.

the kids knew bits & pieces about how and why my family came to virginia.  as we drove by, malia asked me, "mom, did you guys move because cesar chavez didn't want the migrant workers to pick anymore grapes?"

i shot her a bizarre look in the rear-view mirror and replied, "no, the navy brought us here."

{at least i know malia is paying attention in school...thank you, mrs. r & mrs. h!}

THROWBACK: overworked & underpaid

**because the blogging block has hit me like a ton of bricks i've decided to resurrect old posts from time to time.**

mother's day isn't here...YET...but i still think you should click & read...

overworked & underpaid

yeah, what she said!

so, i was reading lula's latest post {get thou arse over to lulaville a.s.a.p. if you are slightly confused at this very moment} and she was discussing how time magazine said that the 2000-2009 timespan has been the worst decade ever.

seriously?

i know nothing about that time magazine article. i don't even read time magazine {but plop a southern living magazine in my lap and i'll read it cover to cover...three times}.

but, really? worst ever??

it's amazing to think that the first ten years of the y2k years have already flown by, but was it really that bad??

lula & i don't think so.

let's put all of the decade's political bullshit, socio-economic woes & wacko celebrity news to the side. i want to talk about my decade & why i consider it to be one of the best ever.

2000 - i graduated from college. on mother's day. i braved that wicked virginia humidity in a blacker than black polyester cap & gown and glided across that stage to gladly accept my diploma. {also, all within months after graduating, i started a wonderful job & found out that i was pregnant. yeah, 2000 was a pretty eventful year.}
2001 - i gave birth to the most beautiful & sassiest girl i know - my sweet, malia. and, by sassy, i mean sassy in the sweet way us girls are. really.
2002 - adam & i decided that it was probably time for us to get married considering we had been together for eight years & already started a family. i also moved & started a new job...all just a month before our wedding.
2003 - i gave birth to the most handsome & goofiest boy i know - my sweet, aidan. aidan truly is goofy...he is, afterall, his father's son.
2004 - i quit working full-time...and then quickly decided that being a stay-at-home mom wasn't "my thing." moms, if you've always worked {like i have} then you know the transition isn't an easy one.
2005 - i decided to go back to school to earn a masters degree in elementary education. i never finished, but it is still something i think about completing all of the time.
2006 - my mother announced to the family that she had breast cancer. thank God...no, no...praise God that she is absolutely healthy today.
2007 - i made the big decision to go to work with my husband {and FIL}. in other words, he became my boss in the office. working for/with family is not easy. trust me. i also turned 30.
2008 - my sister got married to a wonderful man whom i'm proud to call my brother-in-law.
2009 - i made the even bigger decision to leave my comfy, cozy job working with my husband {and FIL}. it's a decision that has affected us financially because going from two incomes to one is never any fun. but, it was the best decision i've made in a very long while. no risk, no gain.

i think it's very safe to say that my decade wasn't so bad. there were good times. there were plenty of bad times. ups, downs. highs, lows. but it definitely was not the worst decade ever. not my worst decade ever, at least. everything that happened - both positive & negative - has helped to strengthen me & continually mold me into the person i am today. things happened for a reason. there are no regrets...only rejoices {even, i might add, for the crappy stuff}.

2010. the prospect of it is exciting.

and i'm hoping that these next ten years will be even more exciting than the last.