A Southern Rehabilitation

A few weekends ago a bunch of us met in Waxaw, NC, at our friends', RB and BP's house. Both RB and BP are high school friends, both are East coast born and bred, and they just recently moved back "home" from Las Vegas a little over a month ago. THANK HEAVENS! Anyway, it was kind of a little "back together again" weekend and it was a get together for a definite purpose weekend. A couple of months ago, Beth sent us all an invitation to join the Purple Stride 5K in Charlotte, NC, the weekend of Sept. 12. The Purple Stride 5K is a walk or run in support of finding a cure for Pancreatic Cancer, a very very deadly disease. There doesn't seem to be any coming back once diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It's more than horrible. Here is a link to look up Purple Stride.  We did raise almost $500. I say *we*, but I had nothing to do with it. Two other friends got those donations for the cause. I merely walked. :) You see, we got together and wanted to do...

It happened. That moment you know that is bound to happen but you are so not ready for? You know "that moment." For those of you who have been divorced or been in long term relationships that have ended, you know this moment.  It's called "The Other Woman Moment." I don't care if my divorce is final. I don't care that J and I haven't been "together" in 3 years. I don't care that this is all part of the process. It just doesn't matter. When you find out there's someone else, it's a sucker punch and it hurts like the dickens! It just does. It happened to me just a few short weeks ago. I had just gotten back into town from an Asheville visit and I needed to drop some things off at the "other house." This was not just a drop in unannounced visit. I had talked to J only a few days before and told him I would be by the house on Sunday afternoon. Well, he didn't remember that fact. As I drove down the street towar...

I love to dance. I always have and I'm sure I always will. I've been contemplating "life" recently and it seems to me life is very much a dance... all kinds of dance. I LOVE LOVE the show Dancing With The Stars on ABC. I have watched it religiously since Day 1. Top reasons I love this show: 1. I love to dance. It makes me happy. I love music. I love to dance to good music, fast or slow. 2. The dancers are extremely good looking and not at all difficult to look at (Can we say, VAL and ARTEM with no shirt!) Dang. 3. I would love for my body to look like those dancing pro girls, especially Sharna (yes, I know I shouldn't have body image envy, but HELLO!) 4. I really wish I could dance like that! Like really. It's on my Fantasy List (#6) to dance the Tango with Derek Hough. I have taken Ballroom Dance lessons before and perhaps I will do it again one day. It is terribly expensive but it is something I truly enjoy. So who knows. We only have this one life, rig...

I have been unable to wrap my mind around what I wanted to blog about these last few weeks simply because there has been so much going on. I thought I had a title settled in my mind, then I changed it--a few times. " Just One Tent Away " is perfect. The last month has been CrAzY! The days have all blended into each other due to the non-stop packed action that has been crammed into each 24 hour time period. I wrote a post about how I could  "Feel the Water Rising"  in early February. Well, the water rose. It all started with that impending dread of "April 14th" being "the day"-the one year mark. So technically the inside jerkiness started days before the 14th. On top of that gem, my aunt was being discharged from the nursing facility on the 14th b/c she was too self sufficient and could no longer stay due to "Medicare stuff" and the possibility of the facility not getting paid. (it's all about money, folks) Never mind the fact th...

Have you ever wondered what the term "letting go" actually means? We say it all the time. You need to "let go" of that hurt. You need to "let go" of the pain such and such is causing.  "Let it go" and move on.  People say to me, "You're just going to have to 'let it go,' Dawn." Every where we turn we seem to hear those words. There's even a VERY popular song called "Let It Go."  (If by some miracle you don't know the song, you can listen to it here ). It really is a pretty good song... now if only I could be that brave. Let my hair down, shake off the old dress for a stunning gown, stretch out my arms and sing my heart out! The thing is, HOW do I just "let it go?"  I am working on trying to figure that out. It's the very last day of March. This means the one year mark for our Separation is only 14 days away. 14 days and we can file for divorce. It is very doubtful that it will happen on ...

I am a teacher. I teach Kindergarten at a really great school here in Winston-Salem. I have 23 5/6 year olds. Thankfully, I also have an assistant who happens to be a very good friend as well.  Whew! This is my fourth year teaching Kindergarten. I taught 4th grade for 10 years. The switch was nothing short of a very long nightmare of Alfred Hitchcock  proportions. However, now I love teaching Kindergarten. My job is more missionary work (due to the hideous low salaries we make) but the rewards are very high. Very. At least I think this 95% of the time. :) Recently, we had two straight weeks of some bad weather here in North Carolina. It is nothing compared to our friends north of the Mason Dixon Line, but when it happens, the state shuts down. HA Our governor even declared a State Emergency on the day "it" was all gonna start but nothing had even happened yet! It was kind of funny. (only in NC)  So anyway, due to this bad weather, school was closed 7 out of 10 days. Yes...

Yesterday and today have been "Snow Days."  A snow day is when the kids are out of school due to inclement weather. I am a teacher so that is doubly exciting for me--maybe even triple the excitement! We even got out two hours early on Monday b/c of the "expectation of snow coming." We didn't get near the amount of snow I had hoped for, but at least it covered the ground for the most part.  I've been off these last two days and it has been fabulous. I woke up late, stayed in bed even longer b/c I have this wonderful new mattress that is a work of art, a slice of a heaven. I traveled to SC to get it. It was made just for me... not kidding. I digress, sorry. I didn't make my coffee until almost 10:00! (WHOA! That's a big deal.) I sat and watched TV for a while and didn't make breakfast until lunch time. It was a great morning. It's been a great TWO mornings. Today was actually an "Optional Teacher Work Day"... ok, really??? Keyword: ...