And they are happening again....

About a month ago, I got a phone call from George asking me if I would consider moving up to NC and having Danielle and Jeremy and Baby Allie live with me in our old home because there was a possibility of getting the mortgage payment reduced. In that same week, my relationship with Jody ended, so I put in my 2 weeks notice and started the process of moving to NC.

I didn't have much luck finding a job... Still haven't a month later. And we just found out the other afternoon that the mortgage company is not going to work with George on the lowering of payments. So, I'm airbed surfing at Kelly's until George moves to the Philippines, I'm w/out a J.O.B. and will be homeless again once the bank decides to forclose on the mortgage. Ya, I think I'm a little STRESSED.
The good news is, I get to spend time with Allie. Tansy came down last weekend and hung out, we had a blast, and I miss her already. (I take horrible self portraits!)

I LOVE Kelly's porch. It stays shaded most of the day, we've eaten a meal or two out there, and have hung out in the evening talking. I am so lucky to have such a good friend!

Jeremy, Danielle's husband, is graduating from school today... I'll post pictures later. =)

So, that's it for an update. Sorry it was a downer, but well.. that's my life right now.

The Weekend

My good friend, Amy, got married this weekend. Jody and I loaded up the car and made the 4 hour drive to Fernandina Beach, FL to see the happy couple start their life together. They had a beach wedding, the first one I've ever attended. It was beautiful!

Here's a picture of the beautiful bride and me! Amy is getting ready to hit the road with her cross-country driver husband. I'm not sure how I'll manage until she settles down in August!

Amy and Gwen May 8, 2010

Since we were "in the area", we were able to meet Lani and Beebe in Jacksonville. I didn't realize that they were driving 2 hours to see us! We ate at PF Chang's, (YUM!) had amazing conversation, and hated to see each other go! We will have to do it again, sometime soon, I hope!

Lani and Gwen May 8, 2010

Other than that, there's not much to report!

New Addition

The phone call came at 315 am on May 4th. "Mom, I think I'm in labor"... She wasn't sure how close together the contractions were, but it was pretty apparent that she couldn't talk through them. That was usually my sign to get the mamma to the hospital to be checked. I tell my sweet girl that she and Jeremy needed to load up and head on over, and I'd be there as soon as possible.
I quickly change out of my bedclothes and am in my car and headed down the road. Unfortunately, I have a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me. But, hey, this is her first baby, no need to speed, right? I get a phone call as I'm about an hour away.... It's Jeremy and he informs me that they've admitted her to the maternity ward, and that she's at a 6... Still, no reason to panic, right? First baby and all.
I arrive at the hospital and make my way to maternity. I'm trying to find my way through the maze when I see Jeremy walking down the hall. He looks at me in a way I could tell he's asking what took me so long? And then he drops the bomb.... Little Allie has made her grand appearance. I walk into the room, and Danielle is on the bed holding sweet little Allie.
Allie arrived at 6:13 am (grandma arrived at 6:30am!) weighing in at 5lbs 2 oz, and a whopping 18" long. Mom and baby are doing well. Grandma Gwen can't wait to see her girls again! For now, pictures will have to do.....

Changes!

Before (December 2009)

About mid-January, I decided that it was time to make a change. I was embarrassed last year out on our boat, I hated being seen in my swimsuit. Jody had already taken the plunge and joined a gym, so I enlisted the help/support of my friend Amy in my endeavor. I've been watching what I eat, trying to be mindful of my calorie count, and exercising several times a week. I must be honest, I've been slack these past few weeks... Amy is getting ready to move and then to get married, so we've been focusing on that instead of working out.

Halfway point (April 2010)

I've lost a grand total of 30 pounds so far. Yup, 30 pounds! I'm putting on clothes I haven't worn in years, and they fit/are too big. I need a new wardrobe! I am hoping (now) for another 20 pounds to go away, and then, I *think* I'll be happy.


Danielle is having a baby! She's due May 26, 2010. Let me just say, right now, I am soooo not ready to be a grandma. But it looks like I don't have any choice, so I'm going to be happy about it! This is a picture from her babyshower back in March. This is one of the rare photo's of me and my two girls.

Not only am I going to be a grandma, Danielle and Jeremy also made me a Mother-in-law. Egads! I know that they are hoping to have a "real" ceremony later, probably in about a year or so, when the family can get together and celebrate. Too many things happening at once, I tell ya!

Also, I have enrolled in school. Still need to take the placement tests, but that will be next weekend. The time is right, and I really need to start preparing for my future.

So, that's all the fun and exciting news happening down here. Hope y'all enjoyed the update. =)

Message in a bottle......

Here's hoping your Labor Day was as fun as ours! We met our good friends, The Gary's, out on the Lake as usual. We went to a different island this time, as they had spent the weekend camping. As we went cruising around the lake (a first for us) I noticed something floating in the water....




Yep, that is indeed a bottle with a message in it! Jody quickly pulled the boat around and fished out the bottle. When we reached Dreher Island, we opened the bottle to see what was inside.







So, we called the number listed on the letter. The mother answered the phone and was shocked to hear that her daughter had done this. And we were informed that her husband (a game warden!) would be "so pleased" to find out her daughter had been littering! It kinda made our day though..... What a fun idea, right?

This is Dillon. We took his mom (Ginger) and little brother (Drake) when we were going out for dinner on Saturday night. Dillon kept trying to get Jody to go faster! It gets kinda "choppy" on our boat, so we took it easy on him.


Drake. Isn't he a cutie pie? He loves sitting up in the bow and going fast just like his big brother.

We kinda left dinner a little late, so we were able to ride back to the dock as the sun was setting. THAT was a first for us too! It was so beautiful. We even managed to load the boat in the *dark* for the first time. YAY for Firsts!!! Especially firsts that go so well. =)




We figure we have a few good weeks left to hit the lake, and then it's time for winterizing and such. Not sure what we'll do once we have weekends with out boat time! I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Just sharing my weekend.

Our weekend home. (can't figure out HOW Danielle's head got chopped off)

They are growing up WAY too fast. Danielle and Jeremy.

Feel free to come out and visit any time.=)

UPDATES!!!!

Where to begin? Well, we got a boat, for starters! We went out on the lake with some friends a few weeks ago in their boat, and Jody HAD to have one. So he hunkered down, sold a camera system and installed it in a week so we would have the money to get a used one. We took it out for it's maiden voyage on the 8th, the same day that our friend was having his birthday party. Imagine about 10 boats "parked" and tied up to one another. We all hung out and had fun, Brian lit the bbq and cooked us up some hamburgers and hot dogs. Good times!

Jody was so happy in the water. I'm so glad that he was able to pull it together to get the boat.... unfortunately, it looks like there is a small leak around the transom, but he's fixing that and I think we'll be able to take it out this weekend! YAY! Danielle is supposed to join us for the weekend, to boot. I'm so excited!

Ok, on to other news.... I quit my job yesterday. Didn't even give notice. I've had it! Let's see... First they cut everyone's pay (I lost $.75 an hour), but that week the director went out and bought a cricut system. A few weeks after that, the owner of the daycare bought the director a new car... with daycare money.

Then, our work load increased. She stopped sending the "floater" down to help out, so the 3 of us had to cover each others classes as we got stuff cleaned up. Not a big deal until this week, when the teachers went back to work and brought their kids back.

The problem with that is I was left in a room with EIGHT (8) under 2's (3 were 18 months, 1 was 16 months, 3 were 14 months and 1 was 9 months!) for roughly an hour. What's the big deal with that, you ask? Well, my ratio is supposed to be 1:5! (another teacher in my building was over ratio ALL DAY LONG! ) Ok, on the first day, I could kinda sorta understand that the director was taken by suprise. (but she wasn't, she KNEW when teachers were starting back to work) But for 3 days? That's crazy. When I confronted her about it, she denied ANY knowledge of the issue.

So, I got fed up. I called Jody on my lunch break, and he told me to call Pam. Pam who owned the daycare I worked for for 4 days last summer and left because I "missed my babies". So I called her. She didn't even say "Hello"... she said "Gwen, I was JUST talking about you the other day....."

Needless to say, I went and met the "new" director at that facility on my lunch break, was offered a job (I start Monday!) and Q.U.I.T. OOOO, the bosslady was MAD. I can't blame her. But, I'm done. I'm done with covering her butt. I'm done with not having back up. So, time for a change! I had one mom tell me that she wished I was doing in home care, cause then she'd have me watch her girl and the new one on the way. *sigh* wouldn't that be NICE? I wish I could.

Not much else going on here. Will try to post pictures of our weekend with Danielle as soon as possible.