Michigan Trip 2008

Last weekend I took at trip to Michigan.
Yup, you heard that right.
MICHIGAN.

Now, when I say that to most people, their response is usually, "Hmmmm, Michigan? Why would you want to go there? In NOVEMBER?". So I end up explaining that I grew up just outside of Detroit, and that Erika, a good friend of the family - someone I actually consider to be family - got married and it was our good fortune that the wedding was taking place right near our old family stomping grounds. I spent the first thirteen years of my life in Michigan, and believe it or not, I LOVED growing up there as you will probably be able to tell by the ridiculously large amount of pictures to follow. Having the opportunity to go back there after all these years was amazing and at the risk of sounding like a complete sap, it was quite possibly one of the best family trips I've ever taken.

Okay, prepare yourself for a pictorial essay on my childhood!
Are you ready?

Well, to start with, here is how we officially knew we had entered the Midwest - below was the sign outside the door of our hotel's lobby:


You won't see that in California!

Below is the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center (otherwise known as the JCC) which was where we spent the majority of our childhood. My mom worked here for years, and this enormous building was essentially our playground. Growing up in this place was the reason why I went to college and got a degree in Recreation Administration and Business. It was always my dream to come back and work here someday (but alas, Michigan is kind of a far commute from California!):


This is the first house I ever lived in on Tammerlane Drive in a subdivision called Old Farm. Boy, it seemed so much bigger when I was little!


Here I am in front of where I went to kindergarten at Ealy Elementary School:


This is the house on Strathdale Lane that we moved to when I was in third grade. We lovingly refer to it as "The Sinking House" because the foundation was actually sinking, something that we didn't realize until we spent several years having to trim our vertical blinds like hair because they kept "growing" and hitting the floor. Ah, good times!



We lived right down the street from a park that was located on Moon Lake. I used to ride my bike to the park, walk down the path to the dock, and catch tad poles for hours. I never realized how breathtakingly beautiful it was down at the lake!:









The next place we went was our old elementary school, Pine Lake, that had an awesome wooded path that we used to walk through everyday on our way to school. It looked exactly like it did when we were kids:







And not only did the path and the school look the same, but we were amazed to find that they even still had the same playground equipment that had been there when we were kids twenty something years ago! Unbelievable! Of course, I had to take pictures to prove it:







After freezing our butts off playing on old school yard equipment, we headed out to one of our favorite childhood restaurants, Olga's.



The last time we were at this particular Olga's, about 25 years ago, our whole family got a nasty case of food poisoning. We figured that by now they probably got that worked out and we wolfed down some deliscious food that tasted better than I remembered it. But in an odd (and somewhat amusing) twist of fate, Jer ended up getting food poisoning AGAIN later that night. Okay, well, maybe it wasn't that funny to Jer (sorry, Bro!), but I figured we could all laugh a bit at his expense.

After lunch, we decided that we couldn't truly experience fall in Michigan without stopping by the old Franklin Cider Mill, the site of countless school field trips and autumn weekends during my childhood. The Cider Mill uses an old fashioned water wheel to power the apple presses that are used to make the cider.





They have the BEST apple cider and homemade old fashioned donuts I've ever tasted - it is AMAZING. Of course, we had to take some to go!



Later that night, we got dressed up and headed to the wedding, which was beautiful:




Here's a picture of the happy couple - Erika and Ron, who, as I write this, are probably having drinks on a beach in Buenos Aires! Congrats, you two!:


The entire weekend I walked around with a big sappy smile on my face. What was so darn great about a weekend near Detroit? Well, I got the chance to see old friends that mean the world to me:

Amy Jablin with Baby Mia and "The Kids" together again, Jer, Amy, Erika and Me


My dad and his best buddy, Alan Jablin, and my mom with her old friend Margery Jablin


But more importantly, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time walking down memory lane with my brother Jeremy and my parents (Rory and Hoby sat this trip out and stayed home.) I don't think the four of us have been alone together on a trip in years and it was bittersweet considering all that we've been going through this year since my dad's cancer diagnosis. I think that we were able to wrap ourselves up in a warm, fuzzy blanket of nostalgia and take our minds off the harshness of reality, even if it was only for a little while.

So, yes, I spent the weekend in Michigan - cold, run down, middle of no where Michigan. And you know what, I wouldn't have missed it for the world...

The Joy of Raising a Boy

A good friend of mine recently found out that she was pregnant with a boy and was more than a little stunned. A few of us decided to take action and try to put something together that might make her more excited about having a bouncing baby boy. At first I had a TERRIBLE case of writer's block - even though I've actually been in this very position before myself. I had been so sure that Rory was going to be a girl that I practically had to be picked up off the examining room floor when the doctor announced, "It has a penis!" However, once I finally figured out what to write about, I have to say that I'm kinda proud of the words that came out. And since this blog also acts as my version of a baby book for Rory, I thought I should include this letter so that someday he can read it, too:

When I was first told I was having a boy, I was in a state of shock. A BOY? What did I know about boys? My fantasies of tame little tea parties, picking out cute clothes, and playing with each others’ hair were dashed in an instant. A boy would be loud. A boy would be rambunctious. A boy was NOT part of my plan.

Fast forward to almost four years later, and I have to say that my original thoughts were not far off from the truth – I most definitely knew NOTHING about boys. I didn’t know that my son would have a huge, tender heart and that he would always be the first to run over to console his friends whenever they get upset or hurt. I didn’t know that he would love being “The Kiss Monster” and coming over to smother my face with wet little smooches and giggles. I didn’t know that he would jump at the chance to be my helper, and that he would get more enjoyment out of vacuuming and dusting than I certainly ever did. And I certainly did not know how much the words; “Mommy, you look beautiful!” would mean so much more to me when said by my little boy.

I also never realized that having a son around would be so darn handy! There is now always someone around to help me kill spiders and sweep away cobwebs (and he doesn’t make fun of me for being squeamish about bugs!). Hoby now has someone who actually ENJOYS accompanying him on those mundane male tasks that need to be done on Saturdays – like going to Home Depot or having the oil changed – so I am free to pass on these activities without feeling the least bit guilty. Having a son means there is always someone who wants to help you dig in the dirt, and who actually volunteers with enthusiasm to mow the lawn, blow the leaves off the porch, and use the weed whacker with gusto. And aside from just being handy – which is definitely an added bonus! – I’m also finding that watching Rory play gives me a glimpse of what Hoby must have been like as a child. I get the chance to learn more about the man I love just by having his son. An added perk that I never knew existed, but that I feel very blessed to have.

So while I may not be having tame little tea parties or getting to pick out cute, pink party dresses, I honestly can say that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on much. Every day with a son is a new adventure, and I look forward to being pleasantly surprised about what I “didn’t know” about the joys of raising a boy.

Yup, We've STILL Got It!

I promise to write more about my fabulous five day trip to Orlando for my Disney Cruise Line Reunion, but until then, here's a little teaser for you:



You'd never know that it's been TEN YEARS since we all last boogied together - it's nice to see that we can still shake it on a dance floor.... sort of!

As you can probably tell, I had a BLAST :)

Adventures in Obnoxious Parenting

The past few days, I have seen some parenting skills that have really made me shake my head in disbelief - and of course, I have to share:

1) There is a 4 year old boy that we know - let's just call him Wild Child - who is completely out of control. Now, normally I try to give kids the benefit of the doubt (maybe they are having a bad day, didn't take a nap, etc.), but after watching this little hellion down five Coke Classics in a row at a BBQ and then eat two bowls of ice cream with a popscicle chaser, all while his mother looked on without so much as batting an eye, I realized that this kid's problem is actually a serious lack of parenting. He's consistently disruptive, pitches a fit when he doesn't get his way, and rarely does his mother even look in his direction, let alone try to curb his behavior. The last time we ran into him, Wild Child decided to make Rory his new "best bud"" and was constantly jumping on him, putting him into a strangle hold and trying to get him to be his partner in crime. Hoby and I kept having to step in and pull Wild Child off of our son and tell him to quiet down - and to my utter disbelief, his parents were NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. And trust me, I looked. AND LOOKED. Who the heck leaves their hyper-active four year old son without direct supervision for 40 minutes? UNBELIEVABLE!

2. Shortly after that, we took Rory to an outdoor mall where they have a cool little fountain/wading pool that keeps him happily occupied hours. As we were sitting there keeping an eye on Ro, we saw a little girl slip and fall down on the pavement pretty hard. I mean, she REALLY ate it. I quickly looked over at her parents, who were sitting across the fountain from us, and then jumped up to see if she was okay. I helped her up, and again looked over at her parents because this girl is obviously upset and probably hurt and astonishingly, her parents are not even moving! They don't come over to see if she's okay, don't call to her, no reaction at all! And it's not like they didn't see what happened or couldn't hear her crying. They just sat there and watched us. Uh, don't bother to get up or anything, people - feel free to let a perfect stranger look after your injured child while you finish your soda. Sheesh!

3. And last, but certainly not least... Yesterday Rory and I went to an indoor play area called Playsource. There weren't a lot of kids there, but being the social butterfly that he is, Rory went over and started to try and play with the only two little girls in there, who were probably around five years old. I was sitting right next to both of their mothers watching the kids interact, when I suddenly hear one of the girls say to Rory, "You're a LOSER and I don't play with losers, so get lost!" I was totally stunned - I actually think my mouth may have dropped open in surprise - and poor Rory had no idea what she meant but I could tell he knew she had said something mean. So I looked at her mother, expecting her to say something to chastise her little bully-in-training, but all she does is turn to me, shrug her shoulders and say with a smile, "Kids these days! They just say the darndest things, don't they?" Uh, WHAT? That's it?! Are you KIDDING?

Now, obviously, I'm not exactly in the running for "Parent of the Year" either, but when I see crap like this take place, it actually helps me realize that I may not be doing such a bad job after all...

Saving Your Bucks at the 'Bucks

Can't live without your daily stop at The Mother of All Coffee Houses? You and me both! It's been a painful (and expensive) adjustment now that I'm no longer working at a coffee shop and getting my drinks for free. However, there are a few tricks I've learned over the years that will help you save some green while still getting your daily fix of caffeine.

1) Take advantage of refills! Did you know that you can get refills of coffee, iced coffee and iced tea for only fifty cents? While this technically is only supposed to apply to refills during a single visit, they will rarely question you if you show up with your cup from a previous visit and ask for a refill. So remember that saving your cup means saving money.

2) Bring your own cup. Okay, so bringing in your own travel mug only gives you a ten cent discount, but if you get coffee every day, this will eventually add up to big savings. And it helps save the environment, too.

3) Taking your kids to the 'Bucks for a blended ice cold treat? Order a Venti of their favorite Frappuccino and ask to have it split into two small cups. You'll save several dollars without sacrificing a single sip of sugary goodness.

4) Your little ones want hot chocolate but you're a little low on cash. No problem! Ask for child sized hot cocoas (or vanilla steamers) - they only cost a dollar and ten cents each and are the perfect size for tiny tummies.

5) Are you one of those people who always has to dump some of your coffee out in the trash so you can add just the right amount of cream? Next time, ask for them to put your coffee in the next cup size up (for example, "Can I have a grande drip in a venti cup please?") so you can add as much cream as you like without having to dump any coffee. You get a couple of extra sips that are your perfect blend of cream and coffee, and your favorite barista will be happy that they don't have to drag soggy trash bags across the store. Trust me, happy baristas = better coffee!

Okay, so now that you know all my tricks... go out there and get your daily fix for less!

A Near Death Experience at Chipotle

How crazy would it be if my husband had to tell people that his wife choked to death on a tortilla chip at Chipotle? Well, today it seriously almost happened!

I was snacking on some chips and salsa at lunch today when suddenly, I felt a piece of chip get stuck in my throat. I wasn't too worried about it at first. I grabbed for a drink and took a big sip to wash it down. But instead of going down, the drink actually backed up in my throat. And suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

Cue panic! I tried to calm down because I knew that panicking would only make my throat close up even more, but let me tell ya, it was HARD to do. Hoby saw I was choking and started pounding me on the back, and finally, after more than a few hard wacks, the chip started to very slowly scratch it's way down my throat. OUCH.

What did Rory think of all this? Well, let's put it this way, when we tried to put him down for a nap after all the excitement of the day, the King of Procrastination grabbed his throat and said, "I can't go to sleep, Mama - I'm choking!". So while I might not be interested in eating chips again anytime soon, at least I provided my darling son with another way of putting off his naptime!

We Love Wii!

Our family loves our Wii. It's a regular evening activity at our house and is a definite crowd pleaser when family and friends come over. (We should warn you - a few hours at our house may cause you to run out and buy a Wii of your own!)

And now, I have a whole NEW reason to love Wii! Wii Fitness is coming out on May 19th and it looks pretty awesome. Here is the game description from Amazon.com:

The active-play phenomenon started by Wii Sports now spreads to your whole body thanks to a pressure-sensitive Wii balance board, which comes packed with Wii Fit. The board is used for an extensive array of fun and dynamic activities, including aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games. Many of these activities focus towards providing a "core" workout, a popular exercise method that emphasizes slower, controlled motions. Family members will have fun staying active and talking about and comparing their results and progress on a new channel on the Wii Menu.

Check out a demo video here (also compliments of Amazon).:

Happy Wii-ing!

It's a Small World...

Back when I was working at the Mother of All Coffee Houses, I was taking a girl's order and asked for her name. She said it was Marin, which happens to be my niece's name as well. So I said conversationally, "You know, Marin is a name you don't hear very often, but I have a Marin in my family. And the funny thing is, her name is Marin Pearce and there is actually another Marin Pearce that lives in Ventura, the same town as her. Crazy, eh?" The girl gets this really weird look on her face and she says, "Are you kidding?! That's my name! I'm the other Marin Pearce in Ventura!"

Now what are the chances of that?

A Golf Pro in the Making

Our entertainment for the evening:




Perhaps we should start saving for a set of golf clubs, although the back scratcher is kind of a nice throw back to my husband's Mariposa roots. Just kidding, honey!

Girl, Interrupted

Just a quick note to let everyone know that my email address with AOL has been frozen, which essentially means that life as I know it has come to screeching halt. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it sure FEELS that way. So here I am in the first few weeks of adjusting to my new stay at home mom status and then Rory gets sick. Sinus infection, double ear infection, snot everywhere sick. We are basically confined to our house for five days and not only am I drowning in a pile of dirty Kleenex, I'm also totally climbing the walls. And now, to add insult to injury, I CAN'T GET MY STINKIN' EMAIL! My lifeline to the outside world has been cut off!

Here's the story: Today I go to log into my AOL email and I get this error message that says, "This account has been frozen for security reasons. Please have the account holder contact AOL." Uh, what? I've had this same email address since AOL first came out FIFTEEN years ago and I've never had this problem. So I call AOL's service line to see what the deal is and when they ask for my name to verify that I'm the account holder, there is a long pause. The guy comes back and tells me that the account holder is actually my father. You see, all those years ago, my dad set up my email address as part of a family account and apparently that was never changed. The guy also tells me that only my dad can call to get the account re-instated. UH OH.

Now, usually that wouldn't be a big problem, except of course my parents just left for a two week trip to Rwanda to see gorillas (yes, totally random, I know) and seeing as how they are in the middle a jungle somewhere retracing the steps of Diane Fossey, well, they are sort of UNREACHABLE.

ARRRRRGGGGH!

So what the heck am I supposed to do for two weeks? I can't even send everyone an email to tell them to use a temporary email address because my contact list is in my AOL account. WHICH IS FROZEN.

Soooo, just in case any of YOU are trying to get in touch with me via email, please use my Yahoo address, which is rorysmama@yahoo.com until further notice.

If I can survive that long...

Panic Attack

We've been working hard at getting Rory to go to sleep in his big boy bed by himself, and I mistakenly thought we were finally getting things under control. Last night, Hoby put him to bed, and since he didn't take a nap, it wasn't a surprise when everything got quiet upstairs fairly quickly. Hoby and I actually had a few hours together and I was patting myself on the back for getting back into some semblence of a routine.

Two hours later, we head up to bed, and Hoby goes to check on our sleepy head while I go put on my pajamas. Two seconds later, I hear Hoby say rather loudly, "Stacy, WHERE IS RORY?!". And I think, kinda late for a joke, isn't it? Hoby appears at our bedroom door and says, "No, really - WHERE IS RORY? He's not in his room!" and I can see by the look on his face that he's TOTALLY NOT KIDDING. And suddenly, I can't breathe.

We start to look in all the other rooms upstairs - the bathroom (maybe he's in the bathtub sleeping?), the laundry room (did he climb into the dryer?), until finally, Hoby opens the door to his office (which is off limits to Rory) and there is he is - fast asleep on the couch. And once my lungs had a chance to re-inflate, and all of the horrible visions of missing children ads on milk cartons stopped blurring my vision, I smothered my Rory with kisses until we tucked him back into his bed, safe and sound.

Rory, don't ever scare your Mama like that again!

Passing on the Love of Target

Recently I bought Rory a little book in the dollar section of Target called "Bye Bye Pacifier." We've been trying to work up the guts to get rid of his "chewie" as he calls it, and I thought this book might be a way to start the process. So I'm reading Rory the story this afternoon before naptime and it goes a little something like this:

Bye bye Chewie? (Actually, it says pacifier, but you get the idea.)
No! I love my chewie!
I take it with me everywhere,
but sometimes it gets in the way.
My mommy is always so happy
when I take my chewie out of my mouth.
One day she asked me if I would mail my chewie
to a baby that needs one,
so I took my chewie out and put it in an envelope.
Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me!
They say I'm a big boy now!

After I finished reading this little gem to Rory, I say to him, "Hey Ro, how would you like to give your chewies to some babies that need them?"

He shakes his head and says, "No, that's okay, Mama. Their mommies can just buy them some at Target."

So much for THAT idea.

My Brother is Dating Who?

I open up my online news page today and see this headline:
"Lindsay Lohan's New Squeeze is Jeremy Greene"

After laughing my ass off, I decided that I just had to post this on my blog. (Not that it couldn't happen, Bro - hahahaha!)

Four Things About Yours Truly

Okay, for some reason I can't help but do these things when people send them to me. Come on admit you, you kinda like them, too...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Barista at Starbucks
2. Corporate Meeting Planner
3. Marketing Coordinator for a publishing company
4. Programming Counselor for Disney Cruise Lines

Four movies I’ve watched more than once: (not including the one's that my son makes me watch a million times, like Polar Express and High School Musical!)
1. French Kiss (This is not as kinky as it sounds - it's a Meg Ryan movie, really!)
2. Titanic (Who HASN'T see this more than once?!)
3. Momento
4. Never Been Kissed

Four T.V. Shows that I regularly watch:
1. The Office
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Lost
4. Chuck

Four places I've traveled to:
1. Kenya, Africa
2. Venice, Italy
3. London, England
4. Nassau in the Carribean

People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Sara Cameron
2. My Mom
3. Hoby
4. Pam Gil

Four of my favorite foods (WHAT? ONLY FOUR????):
1. Peanut Butter
2. Sushi
3. The cheese bread from Red Lobster (Yummo!)
4. Anything with Chocolate AND Peanut Butter

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Getting a massage
2. In a boat (preferrably on a lake)
3. On a beach in Hawaii with a drink in my hand
4. At the movies (Hey, I had to make at least ONE of these somewhat attainable.)

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Rory being potty trained
2. My 10 year Disney Cruise Line Reunion in Orlando this July
3. Going on a cruise to Mexico in August
4. Hopefully having another baby

Four things you probably don't know about me:
1. I'm afraid of fire
2. I'm flat-footed
3. I'm a speed reader
4. I can't drive a stick shift (ridiculous, I know - but true.)

Ode to Flip

This past Tuesday, one of my favorite older cousins, Flip Harris, passed away. She was a cousin of my grandma's, so I'm not sure exactly what our relationship was (you know, first cousin, twice removed, or third cousin once removed - however that works) but I know that she was one cool old lady and that she will be dearly missed. (And for those who are wondering - yes, Flip IS her name, although it's short for something that I can't remember at the moment - she's just always been Cousin Flip to us.) Although I didn't live close to her, one of my earliest memories is of visiting Flip and her sister Jules at their house, I think in Arizona, and where they had their very own horses. And, like almost every other girl in the world, I was absolutely fascinated with horses for awhile, so in my young eyes, I thought these ladies were the luckiest EVER.

My most recent memory of Flip was from my road trip across country ten years ago with my best friend, Holley. We were working for Disney Cruise Lines then, but since the ship we were supposed to be working on wasn't finished being built on time, all of the crew got sent home for an eight week paid leave - which was basically an eight week PAID VACATION. How often does THAT happen? So Holley and I jumped into my old red Pontiac Sunbird and took several weeks driving across the country - it was very Thelma and Louise-ish of us and probably one of the best trips I've ever gone on. (Ah, the good old days!)

Anyway, we kept our costs down by staying with friends and relatives along the way, so we ended up stopping to see Flip while we were passing through Arizona. Being the computer geek that I am, I took my trusty laptop with me on this amazing trip (which was no easy feat ten years ago - they weighed a TON!), and I started what I guess would be considered my very first blog, "Adventures in Red." Below is the entry from the day that we visited her:

April 20, 1998
Hello again! Here we are in beautiful Leisure World (Mesa, Arizona), where the sun is shining and the seniors are hoppin'! We finished off our visit with Jer by driving out to see our frisky cousin Flip (yes - that IS her name) at her beautiful home outside of Tucson. She entertained us with stories of our family scandals and her two tiny, yippy dogs, Butch and Casey. She definitely reminded us of the spunky old lady in the movie "Titanic" with her jokes and her forward way of speaking. Needless to say, we were all VERY entertained.

I only saw Flip one more time after that visit, when she had to uproot herself from her beloved house in Tucson and move to Florida to be closer to family because she couldn't take care of herself as well anymore. But she still managed to keep her amazing sense of humor, even though I'm sure it broke her heart to leave Arizona...

Flip, you were one amazing lady. You will be missed...

We're All In This Together...

High School Musical is the new favorite movie in our house (it's even surpassed Polar Express, if you can believe it!). Rory watches it at least three times a day at the moment, and listens to the sound track even more. Who would have a thought that a two and a half year old would get so entranced by a musical! But as you can see from the video below, he LOVES it, and we love watching HIM.



Guess we better think about getting him a real microphone stand, eh?:

Rock on, Ro.

Tickling the Ivory Keys

Now available for booking at your next party or event!

Jingle Bells

Okay, so the guitar isn't even remotely in tune (mostly because we can't get Rory to let go of it long enough to get it done!), but luckily he could care less as long as his shoulder strap is positioned just so and his MaGyver-esque "microphone stand" is ready to go.

Now if only there was a toddler version of American Idol...

Chrismukkah 2007

My kid has got it made during this time of year - he gets to celebrate Hanukkah AND Christmas. He's been getting quite the sampling of both holidays this year, especially since he goes to a Jewish preschool. We've been lighting Hanukkah candles each night and getting to eat candies from our advent calender as we count down the days until Christmas.

This past weekend, we took him on the "North Pole Express," a special Christmas train ride that serves cookies and chocolate milk while we go to pick up Santa at the "North Pole." Since Rory is sort of a "Polar Express" junkie (we've probably watched it about 500 times in the last 12 months), he was nearly jumping out of skin with excitement. Towards the end of the train ride, Santa came through and asked all the kids what they wanted for Christmas, and of course, Rory asked for a guitar. (We're grooming the next Elvis, you know.)

Fast forward to the next night, and we're celebrating Hanukkah with my parents. Rory opens his present and sure enough, it's a GUITAR! But wait - he JUST told Santa Claus about it the night before on the train. How did it get here so fast? Hmmm...how do we explain that one? So we came up with, "Santa called your Papa that night and told him that you wanted a guitar so badly that it couldn't possibly wait until Christmas!" And I'm thinking to myself, hey, that's not too bad. This Hanukkah-Christmas mixing is a piece of cake. And Rory seems happy to accept that answer, and even says, "Sure, he called Papa - on his cell phone!" Whew, potential Chrismukkah crisis averted.



Later that night, Rory is rocking out with his new guitar on my parent's coffee table, singing his own little made up songs, and of course we're all sitting around watching him. Suddenly, he points to sky dramatically and sings,"Jesus Lives! Ya ya ya! And he plays dreidel! Ya, ya ya!"

We all burst out laughing, while my dad muttered something like "Boy, this poor kid is so confused!" But I couldn't help thinking how that summed up Chrismukkah at our house pretty darn well.

Way to go, Ro!



Happy Chrismukkah, Everybody!

The 16th Anniversary of My 16th Birthday

Happy 32nd birthday to me!

Sorry for the lack of posting... I'm making some changes in my life that should allow for more time to write, so just bear with me for now...