My awesome family gave me the very best surprise party yesterday for my 40th birthday!! They completely threw me for a loop and caught me by surprise, even though my silly husband had managed to spill the beans a week ago! I was so happy that I was surprised anyway!

Oh man, oh man – I’m sneezing my friggin’ head off right now – I’m going to have to finish telling you all about it later on! I’ll be back!!!! Promise!!

Why in the heck does this goofy, spelunking (not!) hippie miss Dallas, Texas so darned much???

My Family!
First, and most importantly – of course, my family! Duh! I lived in Dallas from the time I was eight months old until I was thirty-six years old. And my folks and one of my brother’s and a few cousins still live there. I love, love, love my family and I miss them like crazy! So they are definitely the number one, and MAIN, reason I miss Dallas and go back every summer. And more, when I can help it…. Boy, I sure would love to get to go to Open Camp in August. I’m going to try to swing it, but, I’m already going to another conference in HOTlanta that month, so it’s not totally sounding do-able. Wah. But that wouldn’t really count as visiting family, as I wouldn’t get too much time with them if I did that. I could maybe get a day or so before and/or after the conference. Anyhoo…yeah, the TOP reason I go home is my family!

I absolutely love this article – it really backs me up on my way of thinking for how I feel about my children and I parting in the morning. It makes me soooooo bummed and sad if they leave for school sad or mad. If I’ve had to yell at them in the morning, I try to make things nice between us before they leave. It doesn’t always work and so then I will usually go light a candle for them. I’m kind of kooky like that. But this super groovylicious article backs me up!!

From my friend, Ellen, over at RaisingSmallSouls.com:
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I would think there’s been a mistake somewhere, because, I’m really sure there aren’t enough ‘grown up’ cells in my body for me to actually be FORTY YEARS OLD. However, it seems that it’s true – I am 40 years old today. Wow.

I have, thankfully, been reassured by some family members that they will never, ever mistake me for a grown up. Awesome! My 16 year old son, though, goes, “You’re 40. That’s like …’an adult’.” I’m greatly satisfied and feel highly complimented that even my own teenagers don’t see me as an adult. I’m sure that’s wrong, somewhere in some big book about psychology and parenting. But I’m okay with it. I’m quite happy with it, to tell you the truth.

Occasionally they do forget that I still have to be ‘the mom’ even though I’m ….uh …not like the other moms. Quite often, though, it’s their friends, I think – that make this mistake. My kids are used to me and know (*snicker* as if a parent of teens should really say this) that I am actually in charge. I’m just goofy, crazy, and silly. But I’m still ‘the boss’.

Forty. Forty. Hm. Interesting number, that.

On the whole of the whole, God is awesome, my children are wonderful, my life is blessed, and I feel like I’m going to fully embrace this decade with the freedom of BEING 40. You know, the whole thing about growing past and above what people think about you. Living with a bit more of a view of the big picture and letting that give me ease and confidence. All that good stuff about women turning 40, you know.

But… then there’s that thing of ‘how in the hell can I be 40?’ I asked my sister-in-law today if anyone on the plant who has ever spent any time with me or had a conversation with me would see me as an adult or as a grown-up. She said, emphatically, “NO WAY!” To which I breathed a sigh of relief.

So the whole world thinks you’re immature and you’re happy about that?

That does sound kind of funny, doesn’t it? I’d tell ya what I meant by it if I hadn’t completely lost my train of thought by going outside to bring the dog in. And if I had a few more brain cells left – they all fried up today in my hot house. Our air conditioning broke down again and I sat here all day (and yesterday) waiting for the A/C fix-it man to come. Which he did not. *sigh*

And darnitall if the dog didn’t just go back outside. I opened up the doors to let some air in here and he keeps just wandering out. He’s really good and won’t leave the property (except to sometimes go next door and then back) but if people are out taking walks, he will go up to see them. He is a super sweet, gentle, loving dog – but, he is 120lbs. Some people can just tell right off that he is a nice dog, but, some people just see GIANT DOG WALKING TOWARD ME and get really nervous. And I don’t blame them! I probably would, too.

Anyway, you can see I’m rather scattered today and this post, therefore, is rather scattered. Bottom line is … I’m 40. It’s my birthday. Happy Birthday to me!!!

I love this article by Nicole Dean so much!! And I would absolutely subtitle it:

Wisdom bubbled up from a pineapple under the sea.

That is, by far, the BEST quote of my week! What about yours? Let me tell you, I just love Nicole’s marketing style, her business acumen. She is a very successful businesswoman, but she is STILL Nicole! There could be no better mentor for me, I’m telling you. If there’s one thing you cannot tame into a business suit and a bun – it’s my “Lisa-ness”. It’s just not budging. Not going anywhere. You cannot stuff it into a box for eight hours so I can ‘behave’ for the day and make my wages. It just won’t work. And the awesome thing I’ve learned from Nicole is that – none of that needs to happen. What an amazing breath of fresh air!

Read on and see how dead on she is about spicing up your article marketing with just the right touch of a living, breathing, dynamic you!

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[Have you read the first part of this story? You can find Part One here: I Dreamt That I Felt Beaten...]

Ok, I’m pretty wiped out here, but, I promised to continue the story after lunch and, well, it is ‘after lunch’ – just a little more after than I’d intended. I had a major sleepy attack earlier and this story was just not coming out of me! My typing fingers were on strike! They’ve come back to me, thank goodness!

When I left you, the kids had just left for school, with Patrick telling me as he was leaving that the floor in the basement was wet and the carpet was stinky. Oh great. This has happened before and the last time it did, it was the A/C unit down there leaking. As soon as they left I went down and confirmed it to be that. I came upstairs and eventually remembered to turn OFF the A/C (duh! took me a while…) and procrastinated about calling the husband with the bad news.

You see, we’ve been swamped by bad news lately. First, his grandmother went in the hospital. Then while she was in there, his mother collapsed and was admitted, as well. Next, Granny was released and came home and a few days later, mother-in-law came home. In the meantime, Granny has a surgery scheduled in Birmingham and went back in the hospital last week. That right there is enough to make us all loony. Between making sure the houses and the animals are both taken care of – and trying to take care of Granny when she was home, who was partially paralyzed – we were worn out!
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