He did it....

Thought this photo was appropriate! He was very happy. I am such a proud mom! After 13 years of school Zack is moving on to the next chapter of his life. At this moment he plans to attend a local community college the possibly transfer to a university. This is not gonna be a sappy post more of a photo one!!! FYI I did cry.....

After crossing the stage!

Me and my boy!!!

My sons :-D

Father and son!

We are so proud!!!

Zachary is graduating!

Well the time has come. Zachary is graduating high school in less than 2 days. How did I get this old? When did he grow up? Why did it all have to pass so quickly? I want my little boy back! But I do enjoy the son I have now. I am very proud of him. We butt heads cause we are so much alike. We disagree and I drive him nuts. But I am a mother!!!! He is 18 now and moving on to a new chapter. I want nothing but the best for him in his life. I remember the day he was born in an ice storm no less and remember watching on tv that morning one of the worst earthquakes in California history to date had struck. Funny the things you remember. Funny how certain details stand out! I remember his first day of kindergarten we didn't know 2 buses came up our road. When the first one came by of course we both started crying, he changed his mind and didn't want to go. But by the time the 2nd one came by he was fine and I was still crying. School with Zack has been anything but dull! He has given it all he can ..... He plans to go to local community college then transfer to a local university. He would like to play a little soccer while he is there. I just want him to be as happy as he can. I want him to find what he wants to do in life that will let him do something he loves and he will never work a day in his life. I want him (as all parents do) to have a better life than I had. He was the first of my 2 greatest blessings in life. His sense of humor is great. He is kind. He is a hard worker. He is gentle. He is good young man. He will be my little boy forever with the baseball hat pulled down too far, jamming to Metallica even when he was little! I suggest if you have little ones at home spend every minute with them that you can. Don't worry about going out or me time so much. Cause once they are older you get plenty of that time. Take in every moment you possibly can. Love them, be the one to make the boo boos better. Breathe them in....  I am glad I was able to do that when my kids were little. I wouldn't trade that for anything. Anyway, I am proud of my son. I am holding it together and not letting him see me cry too much. I am not making any promises for Tuesday though!!!

Poem for Zack for graduation

To Zack.... as you graduate.

Memories flash before us,

As we stop to think of you.

If we could turn back the hands of time,

That's the first thing we would do.

We take ourselves back to the day,

We first laid eyes on you.

Your mouth (of course) wide open

Your eyes so big and blue.

It was at that very moment,

As you lay there oh so small.

We knew within an instant,

Life with you was going to be a ball.

Our instincts were right on the mark,

You have kept us on the go.

Always such a busy child,

With a charismatic glow.

A fanatic – full of questions,

Inquisitive, keen and daring.

Fearless, kind and loving,

So sensitive and caring.

Willful and determined,

You marched to your own beat.

True to your convictions,

In victory or defeat.

You're confident, devoted,

You're handsome, dignified.

You're a strapping , strong, tall leader.

You've filled our hearts with pride.

How we miss your tiny footsteps,

Dancing wildly on the floor.

Oh how we miss our little boy,

More than we ever have before.

Greatness lies within you Zack,

In time, sweet son, you will see.

If you ever need us,

You know there we will be.

We love you and are so proud of you on your graduation

Zachary Robert Reeves Scott.

Love,

Dad & Mom

Had a pitty party long enough

I have fussed and moaned and groaned forever and a day about my weight. Yesterday we had a graduation party for my oldest (that is another long blog to come) I saw a photo yesterday taken with my family. I was horrified when I saw my arms and legs and hips and just got sick. So this morning and after trying many restrictive and insane diets  I decided to take a new step. I joined Weight Watchers online this morning. I am at the heaviest I have ever been in my life. That is not okay. I know this will help with energy, my knees, my overall well being. I have watched my husband drop 80+lbs to date. What an inspiration. He is getting fit and trim and I am still his fat wife. We celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss yesterday, not always so blissful (you can read that in a previous blog) I want alot of years with him. But with family history of heart problems on top of my health problems I have already at 38 I am not gonna get to grow old and grouchy with him. I am hoping this works for me. Prayers needed, kicks in the butt warranted when i deserve them, and encouragement always!

Snow at my house....

We finally had a REAL snow. This winter has been crazy mild and I have enjoyed every minute of it! We had traveled for a weekend getaway to Charlotte that got cut short. They were calling for 4 - 8" at home for snow. I know those in the midwest that is nothing but this is Virginia that is a good snow for us. Keep in mind we are below the Mason Dixon! So better to be safe than sorry right we came home. I told Henry I was gonna be so mad if this didn't amount to anything and we lost a full day that I was so looking forward to. We made it in at 2am on Sunday morning, when I got up at 7am nothing had fallen except some rain and temps were still a bit high for snow. Well about 9 or so here it came and it didn't stop til after 10pm. We had over 12 straight non stop hours of snow resulting in 8". Finally the weather men had it right. Needless to say I am ready to move on to spring. But anyway thought I would show you some photos of the snow at my home I took. Enjoy.....

The Dash...

I attended a beautiful service today to honor a wonderful woman who I am sure as she did with me and my family left a mark on everyone who knew her. Maybe this isn't my place not sure if I should but this poem that was read really left a mark on me today. I have thought about it all afternoon and wanted to share it with you.

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.
So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?
© 1996 Linda Ellis

Been quiet lately....

Things lately have been pretty quiet around here. Which is a good thing for a change. Boys have started a new semester in school. Which means this is Zacks last semester in high school. Yes I am getting very sentimental about all those kind of things. Dylan is finishing his last semester of his first year of high school. He is holding down a 4.0. So very proud of him.
Zack recently got a job with Lowe's. I am glad he is gonna be making some money of his own. It will be good for him. He will be working with my sister and that makes things easier too. She can look out for him I know he is 18 but this is his first job. She can guide him on the in's and out's of Lowe's.
In about a month spring sports start back up around here. Zack will be playing soccer and Dylan is gonna throw in track. Right now Dylan is lifting for off season of football.
I am little sad this week Henry is away on business all week which is not normal. But gotta do what you gotta do. I am proud of him he is at the 50lb mark in weight loss. How awesome is that.
We went this last weekend to spend sometime with a family member that is shipping out to Japan this coming month for a  year. He has 4 small boys and a wife that has the patience of a saint I am convinced!
That is pretty much all that has been going on around here since Zacks birthday. We have had some car trouble, motor locked up in Zacks car, Henrys truck has a big scrap up the side not sure what happened.
Hope you are well out there in blogging land.

When it rains it pours....

What a 2 weeks it has been lately. We have had some really great up moments but seems like there have been some pretty low points as well. While we spent great time with family and had some great celebrations last weekend it has not been without it stress.
A week ago Friday my sons car just stopped on him coming up the hill on our street. Well we come to learn it locked up and there is a big ole hole in the block. Just peachy. ..... Yesterday we discovered something has scrapped all up the passenger side of my husbands truck. Really how do you do that and not be honest about it and make it right?
So it has been stressful, I deal with stress with retreating alone for long periods of time and eating while Henry just gets to that breaking point. He did go talk about things with his brother. He and I had talked it to death and I think that became one time he needed his sibling. So of course right here at tax season we are taking a big chunk to car repairs. Why does that always seem to be the case?
I cannot remember one tax time that we have not had to repair something? I just certainly hope this is the last repair on Zacks car for awhile. It is sad that we own 5 vehicles and they all need work.
Hoping to trade my van this year but gotta get a bit more stable with things first. Just seems to be slow going. But I know it will get there.
Speaking of getting things more stable. We are gonna start visiting some new churches, baptist, in our area. We have a wonderful pastor at the church we have attended for the last several years and appreciate him very much. However, it has gotten to the point other ministries are lacking for us such as a men's, women's and couples ministry. Also looking for youth group that does more community outreach. Who knows we may not move anywhere but at this point and time need to explore what is out there and see where God wants us. Hubby doesn't like change (I always joke that is why he remarried me) but sometimes I think change is needed to grow.
So we shall see and that will be a blog to come on how that is going. But we have gotten too far away from that foundation. I don't like the way it makes us behave. So anyway .... yeah that is just how we are right now... stressed to the max stretched as far as we can go and at the end of our ropes so we are tieing a knot and holding on!

Zack is turning 18

Well where do I begin??!! My first born will be turning 18 at 11:57a.m. tomorrow morning (1/17) Just so hard to believe. When I brought him into the world I was a single mommy living with my parents and sister. My mom was by my side the whole day. She held my hand and helped me through.
So on January 17th 1994 during an ice storm (and one of the largest earthquakes in LA) I brought Zachary Robert Reeves Scott into the world. I was induced into labor at 7:00 that morning once dad got us safely to the hospital. Once they induced me it sure didn't take him long to get here. I pushed for less than a half hour and hello world.
He came to us weighing 8lbs 9 ounces. He was 21 inches long. When he got here and my dad talked with me and my mom his words were, "hot damn I got a grandson" Keep in mind the entire time I was pregnant they told me he was going to be a girl. I had so much pink stuff!!!! My sister was only 8 years old at the time. When I told her it was a boy she told me to send him back. Which is really funny now since they are and have always been so close. Once I got him home she played with him like he was her baby doll!!!
Zack as I called him was always a good baby. His dad and I weren't living together at the time. Henry would call me each night at 9p.m. like clockwork. Well Zack would cry and fuss so until I hung up and then he was fine. So he was giving Henry a hard time from day one! He didn't have colic, he slept through the night early, he ate well. I was very blessed.
So here my little guy began to develop and become his own little person. My daddy called him Wobble head forever. He pestered his little brother to death when he came along. He was always my little helper. He never resisted a dare from the older kids and just became the entertainer.
When he was in 1st grade he had seizures the second day of school and was sent to Brenner's Children Hospital in Winston Salem. We were there for 8 days and that was the longest week of my life. We came to find out that he had viral meningitis. Never wanna have to deal with something like that again but thankful for the doctors, family and friends that were there.
So anyway Zack became my soccer player, polite helpful, funny, shy, smart, handsome young man! I am so very proud of him and the person he is becoming. He has dreams of going into law enforcement. At one time he has considered the military. I will support him in all he will do in life. I just cannot believe how fast the years have gone by. I have not always been the best mom to him and his brother.
I love this young man more than anything in this world. He makes me proud and I pray his life as he graduates this year offers him everything he wants. I pray he leans on God for all his needs. I pray that all his choices are ones that will let him look in the mirror with confidence.
I hope he knows as I have told him his whole life I love him more than the moon, the sun, and the stars in the sky!!!

My Oldest Son
From the first time you clutched my finger in your tiny hand,
I knew I was in love.
It was if you were squeezing my heart too.
I have never felt a love so pure and true.
And I would not give it up for anything in this world.
You are my love, My life, My first born child and I Love You!

What happened?????

Have you ever wondered what happened to people who were once in your life? Do you ever wonder if you changed and left or was it them? Well I do. I sit with Henry sometimes and wonder what happened to people in our lives.

There are women that have passed through my life that I thought would always be there with me through thick and thin. They promised I could always call on them and lean on them. I used to laugh and cry with them. Now I look around and they are gone...... Was it me???? I find myself this new year reflecting on this alot. I just really in a lot of ways am heartbroken by it.

Wonder if they realize how I feel or care? I know friends will come and go in your life I know that. I am so very thankful for the true friends I have in my life don't get me wrong. But some of those friends that have left me I miss.

Maybe I pushed them away or turned them off. Wish they would have told me so I could have made it right. Sometimes I wonder if I was being used or just a friend for the moment such as an end to a means. Who knows guess I am thinking out loud!!!

Just breaks my heart a bit.... every woman needs some good girlfriends.

Concert...

So Friday night I went out with a group I had not went out with very dear people to me. Although we realized it has probably been 20 years since we went out just the 4 of us. I went to see Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans, and Rascal Flatts with my parents and sister.

This is us (from l to r) my sister Julie, me, my mom and of obviously my dad. Had a house full of women and since my sister and I got married no other females have been added to the family on guys. We hope that will change when she decides someday to have kids. ANYWAY, my sister and I are 12 years apart. I left home when she was about 5. I actually left to go to RU the year she started kindergarten. So we pretty much grew up each of us as only children. As we were having dinner before the concert we realized we had not been out just the 4 of us since before Julie started school. So it was a lot of fun going out.

Mom and Dad treated my sister and I to the concert of Hunter Hayes, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts. It was an amazing concert from start to finish. I have to say I was a little uncertain about Hunter Hayes because I am not overly thrilled with his song, "Storm Warning" but as he played some of his stuff I like his music. Hard to get too excited since he is the age of my sons!

We had amazing seats. Box 9 row D seats 8-11. As you can see here perfect view of stage and performances. I definitely will say these are some of the best seats I have sat in at a concert.

We were sitting there (not too long) and the Absher family sat down 2 rows in front of us... hope they enjoyed the concert as well. Other than the drunk women who sat down and poured beer on the women in front of them we had a pretty calm (as far as not being idiots) section which was nice. They all had fun and no one acted like idiots after the drunk trio talked their way to the floor. Was not sad to see them go.

Mr. Hunter Hayes. He has some good music. His bass player with the long dreads was funny to watch though he had a rasta thing going on and stood out like a soar thumb!!!!

Sara Evans, I have always liked her and her music. That stands even more so after seeing her live. She does a great job. She seems very grounded, down to earth and she is funny. She talked about how she didn't like the clothes she had on. She had put something on before a designer sent her and thought she looked like crap so she changed 5 minutes before she performed. I liked her sense of humor was nice not to watch someone so up on their high horse. She has been through it with her ex and I know she is remarried and seems happy. Maybe will go watch her again someday.

This was the headliner of the concert Rascal Flatts. I loved their show. They were really fun as well and did an amazing job. The dude in the white pants black shirt to your far right of the picture is actually from Roanoke! How cool is that!

BY FAR BY FAR my FAVORITE moment of the night. Rascal Flatts came back for an encore. If you will look you will see 3 sets of stairs. Initially this is where the guys from RF came out of. Well during the encore the member of the Marine Corp came out stood at attention and the crowd paid tribute to them. I thought that was so cool regardless of what branch they were in. Very moving, since we have several family members and friends in the military home and abroad.

So that was our night in a nutshell!!!! Had a lot of fun with them and hope we can do the 4 of us thing from time to time. It was nice being with just them as it is nice when all our guys are with us!!!!!

:-)

Thought I would share the story about me in the news today.

http://blogs.roanoke.com/theburgs/community/2012/01/06/the-face-behind-christiansburg-footballs-fan-page/

Feeling attacked

Have you ever tried to enjoy something and try to be a part of something in the end you feel attacked? Well that is how I felt after last nights Sugar Bowl game.
I am neither a fan of Virginia Tech or Michigan. In my opinion I believe both teams played very sloppy for the caliber of team that should have been in New Orleans playing. The entire game was filled with  bad calls, from coaches and refs. It was full of badly executed plays and mistakes by players. The biggie in all this was when I made a statement on my Facebook page as to what I see as to why the last touchdown was called back that VT made in overtime. Anyone that knows anyone in my house none of us are Hokie fans. So I looking at my news feed and see a remark that has really dug at me. In a nutshell that I had no right to have an opinion. At least I felt it was an attack to me and any other non-Hokie fan that had anything to say about the game.
I know I should not let such things bother me, and jealousy on my part has NOTHING to do with it. I just love football and chimed in, guess I shouldn't have done that in somes eyes.
At some point in my life I will realize not to let those things bother me. But despite having a very outspoken personality I do get heartbroken pretty easy.
I am sure this holds no bearings on on much of anything on my day but kind of an example of somethings in my last post.......

Virginia Tech...

I live in Montgomery County in Virginia. I am in Christiansburg and located not even 10 minutes from Virginia Tech. I am not a fan ..... Now keep in mind I try not to "dog" on this team/teams unless someone starts on me. Have you ever lived in a "college" area and not been a sports fan of that college. Now keep in mind I know without a doubt that this is one of the best schools on an education level in the country. I will not take anything away from what this has accomplished with its academics or its sports.

Growing up I remember VT being known as an "ag" school. You could go to Lane Stadium and sit anywhere you wanted for $5. Now it cost a small fortune to take a family of 4.I will say I get a little ticked off when people in this area refer to me as a "Tech Hater" because I pull for a different team and have pulled for this team since I was a little girl.

I am a Tarheel girl always have been and always will be. So why is this not okay? Why do people tend to think because I have an address that sits in the same county as VT that means I have to become a Hokie? I have been put down, bashed, and cussed because I dont' pull for the Hokies. I am more than a little tired of it. My sister and her husband are FSU fans. She actually a couple of years ago had an old man cuss her because she had her FSU hoodie on the day FSU an VT were playing. Told her she shouldn't be living here. How pathetic....

Tech has a strong community and bond together in times of trials of adversity and for that I am proud of them. If one of my sons ends up at Tech I will support them. I always told the boys on the football team if one got a scholarship to Tech I would pull for them. Looks like I am gonna eat my words on that one as Brenden Motley is heading to Tech. Love that kid....

I am all for everyone pulling for different teams and having some good competition but when it gets to the point that you cannot stand for them to play because of how people talk to you about them if you aren't wearing the maroon and orange it gets old.

I have (as has hubby) liked Wake Forest. We want to move down south maybe to Winston and watch some Demon Deacons.....

My point is the fans (some of them) make it really harder to want to pull for the Hokies than really anything it has to do with the school itself. Character and attitude will turn me off in a minute.

Just please respect those who may not share what you like. Just respect them as a person and have some good fun without the names and mean comments. There is a line that can be crossed and all too often it gets crossed around here as I am sure it does with others that live in a college town and they aren't pulling for that college!!!!

First snow of 2012

Had our first snow of 2012 and really the winter season. Man did it bring frigid temperatures with it. When I left for work this morning it was 18 degrees. When I came home at lunch time it was 19 degrees. Big warm up huh!!! We really didn't get a lot of snow but enough to let the kids be delayed a couple of hours. The temperatures are sending them an hour later tomorrow.

This was early this morning before I left for work. As you can see it had started to snow again and not really amounting to much. But it is pretty. Boy let me tell ya the roads got bad really really fast. This was not fun last night.

We were on our way home from Blacksburg, the hubby and I , and as we got off the bypass we saw some vehicles slipping and sliding. My oldest Zack was on his way home from his uncles house and a guy in front of him laid his motorcycle down. Scary but Zack said the guy appeared to be okay. The speed limit through there is 25 so hopefully he was abiding by that.

So this is what we have going on right now on the top of Christiansburg Mountian.

2012

Cannot believe it is already 2012. How in the world did it get here as fast as it did? I don't know that I am too ready for this year. As exciting as it is there are so many changes and milestones rolling through our lives. Trying to hold it together as best as I can but we will see!!!
In 16 days Zack my oldest will be 18

It feels a bit overwhelming at times to think how fast all these years have gone by. I remember giving birth to him during an ice storm! Now he is at an age he will be old enough to vote in the next presidential election and go to war.

The next biggie in our home this year is my youngest Dylan will get his learners (or at least be able to take the test) the first part of April

This is even more of a when the heck did he grow up moment. My sweet Dylan strives to be the best at everything he does so I have no doubt that he will pass the test. This makes me realize even more that they are becoming more independent and don't need me for as much. :-(

So we are still in April and my hubby.... hitting 40

I love him so much more than I think he would ever know. I love my coach and the life he has built with me and works so hard to provide for. He is so much more special than he realizes. I am so proud of him too he is working hard and at this moment is right at the 40lb mark of loosing weight. He is a good role model to our sons and all the boys he coaches. I couldn't ask for a better man and truly don't deserve him I look forward to celebrating his birthday with him our family and friends and to be with him to celebrate him again in another 40 years!

Back to Zack .... graduation is coming in the spring this is where I really loose lots of tears happy and sad!

Man what a journey he is about to take. It will be over and gone sooner than he thinks and I would like. I am not trying to keep my boys in the nest just a little happy tears as they grow into men and do their own thing. I believe too some of it is that I cannot protect them from the cold mean world and I cannot do everything for them. He has to make mistakes and learn from every decision he makes. As he gets to this age and point in his life I realize now how hard all this was for my parents and I am sure still is where my sister and I are concerned. I will keep you posted on how I am doing!!!!!

Dylan

The boy is turning 16!!!! Sweet 16 and.... does that apply to boys I haven't figured that out yet. He and his brother are the best of me and Henry. I just cannot get over how well he is turning out. He is driven and excited about his future.

My parents long marriage

Well my parents are last big thing we are celebrating for the year of 2012 (well shouldn't say last it will be September and Dylans bday is October!)

Anyway they will be celebrating 40 years. They have  been through and back with each other and life. They raised 2 daughters 12 years apart and have made 2 of the best grandparents my sons and Julies future children could ever possibly have! I realize now as I am getting older how much I have really needed and loved my parents through the years. I gave them rough road too many times!

So as  you can see this will be a year of celebration and tears. It will be new starts to life as chapters end. It will be finding new meaning for each life. It will be learning a new place in the world

 It will be blessed