2 Birthday Parties

Katie turned 14 on the 23rd and we celebrated for a week. We had family come over on her birthday for a meal and cake. Pa and Nana came and Kim brought Jake and Emma.

I made her a cake that I thought sounded like one my Grandmother Fariss used to make. It was the best cake ever and I guess she was the only one in the family that knew how to make it. As far as I know, she never wrote down a recipe. Katie is named after Grandmother Fariss so we decided this cake should be called the "Katie Lee". It has 12 thin layers and a chocolate glaze between each. As I was putting it together and it was getting taller and taller, the layers started sliding. That's why it's a little crooked. It tasted pretty good but it wasn't my grandmother's cake. It's as close as I'll ever get though, so maybe we'll start a new tradition.

14 candles is a lot to blow out.

The next weekend we celebrated her birthday again with her friends. I didn't make the cake this time. It came from Brookshire Brothers.

The girls spent the night in the bunkhouse and then we got up early Saturday morning and spent the whole day at Schlitterbauhn. We all had a great time. Tom took a friend. The kids took off and did their own thing and Alan and I spent the day in the lazy river. It's a pretty good way to spend a Saturday.

Happy Birthday, Katie!

8th Grade Graduation

We reached another milestone this week. Katie graduated from 8th grade. Starting next fall, we will have both kids in high school. It doesn't seem possible but that's where we are.


Before we have any more graduations, I want to get a better camera. The one I have is so slow. If anyone is moving, the pictures are blurry, so I didn't get a good picture of her on stage. I asked her beforehand if she would please stop while she was on stage so I could get a good picture and she said that Mr. Miller already told them they weren't doing that. They had over 1oo graduates and they weren't going to wait while every momma got a good picture. So, this is all I got.

Katie and I went shopping for a new dress. We spent one evening trying on dresses. We got pedicures and went out to eat. I love spending time with her like that. It is such a wonderful thing to realize that I really like my kids. I look forward to times that we can be together and just enjoy their company and listen to what they have to say. I know that time is going by so fast and I want to make the most of the time we have with them now.

I love this dress she picked out. Of course I think she was the most beautiful girl at the graduation.

Katie, I love you and I know that you have an amazing future ahead of you. High School will bring many new experiences and I know that you are ready for the challenges. I can't wait to see how you blossom over the next 4 years. I just don't want it to go by too fast.

Appearance Issues? I'm Too Old For This

Over the years, I've had issues with my appearance. When I was younger, I used to think about all the things I would change about my looks if I could, but as I matured it grew less and less important until I reached a point where I was comfortable with myself. I'm not beautiful but I like to think that I do the best with what I've got.

That is until this last week when my self-esteem really took a hit.

It started when I was listening to one of my students read and he looked up at me midway through his story and asked, "What's wrong with your teeth?" My teeth? I had braces when I was a kid. Nothing is wrong with my teeth. I realize the question came from a 5 year old but still I'm wondering.

A few days later I was on the playground and one of my girls started telling me how beautiful my hair was. She loved the color and she loved the way it looked when the wind blew through it. I was soaking this up. I don't get compliments like this very often, but then she looked at me kind of funny and asked, " Did you know your ears are gi-normous?" My ears? Really? I've obsessed about many of my features over the years but I don't ever remember having a problem with my ears. I keep looking at them now and wondering.

This next part is kind of gross but it goes with the whole picture. I've had this little cyst on my shoulder for years. My doctor had told me that she would remove it whenever I wanted, but I shouldn't wait too long or it could get nasty. Well, it wasn't bothering me so I waited and this week it got nasty. I went to my doctor and she said, "Eww, gross, that's nasty." I don't think those were her exact words, but that's what she meant. She wouldn't touch it. She put me on a heavy dose of antibiotics and told me to come back in a week. So I have this thing on my shoulder that I am very self-conscious about. I'm keeping it covered with a gi-normous band-aid so I don't gross people out.

Then to add insult to injury, I woke up yesterday morning with a fat lip. I just didn't even want to get out of bed. I can't take another hit. My self-esteem is fragile right now.

So here I am with my bad teeth, huge ears, a thing growing on my shoulder and a fat lip. Let's don't even talk about the bags under my eyes and the double chin. I hadn't noticed that before.

I'm going back to bed.