Okay I know pet-peeves while driving are inevitable, but this one has me so fired up.  I get stuck in this intersection on my way to work EVERYDAY for the same fricken reason and it’s driving me crazy. All I have to say is this…

DON’T ENTER AN INTERSECTION UNLESS YOU HAVE ROOM TO CROSS THROUGH!!!!

Ugh.. why can’t people understand this?? They insistantly, almost intentionally, enter an intersection only to be stopped half way through because of heavy traffic.. then the light turns green for crossing traffic.. BUT, because some idiot is blocking the way, I can’t get through!!! UGH!!!

Took Friday off and went to visit my sister, Renee, in Chicago over the weekend. Took my mother and Gavin with me. Not THAT bad of a drive.  Just the mere fact that your traveling with a 2 year old can make it a challenge.  It’s always good to see my sister and the girls.  We took a couple side trips to see the progress on the house they’re having built in Indiana, also went to a waterpark.  The house looks great, can’t wait to visit her there, plus it’ll cut and hour and a half off the drive.  I’m happy for my sister, she’s getting a great house, I just hope she’s happy.

So while I was there, I ended up reading this book that my mom wanted me to read.  It’s called, Embraced by the Light by Betty J. Eadie. What an amazing book, I could not put it down and ended up reading the whole thing in a little over 2 hours the first night at my sisters.  In it the author describes her near-death experience with the spirit world before returning back to earth. So much of it made sense, so much of it brought to light some of the things I’ve always wondered about.  After reading it, I went to bed, curled up next to my son Gavin and whispered in his ear.. "Thanks for chosing me.. "  The explaination she gives on reincarnations makes perfect sense. I’ve always had these dreams of another life and could never figure out where they came from, now I know.  In looking at the book reviews on Amazon, some might disagree that this is an actual account of what happened to the author when she had her ‘out-of-body’ experience.  Whether it be true of false, after reading it, I had a better sense or understanding of ‘who I am’ or ‘why I’m here’… in all truths, it strengthened my faith, regardless of denomiation.  If you’ve read this book, please let me know what you think of it.

Got in late last night after a long weekend at Gavin’s Aunt Renee’s place in Chicago area. Gavin was so excited to see his cousins. We (Gavin, my mom and me) arrived Friday evening. Saturday we hung around Renee’s and went swimming in the pool. Went downtown Chicago for dinner at "Ed’s", that was a lot of fun. Sunday we spent the day at a waterpark near where Renee and Gary are having their new house built in Indiana.

Gavin had a great time, we all had a fun weekend.

I’ve been watching an item on ebay for a few days now. I really want to get into photography, possibly wedding photography. This would be a great start to building on my equipement. I haven’t bid on it yet.. I’m afraid that if I do, it’ll go up even more. If I wait till maybe the hour of auction end, any bid battle I get into won’t be too bad cause there’ll only be an hour or so left.

I really really wannit!! Promaster FTD 5700 FLASH CANON EOS

edited 8/4/05 to add: I won the auction.. the flash is mine!!

I took this part time job in a financial office last November as an administrative assistant to one of the agents. We needed/need the 2nd income. For me, personally.. it was a way to feel useful, something to do with myself.  So recently my boss offered me an apprenticeship.  I would need to get licensed in life insurance and annuities.  From there he would mentor me, take me on appointments and share his business, making some good money in the process.  With the pressures of our financial woes at home, I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to help contribute more and then maybe Dave and I would argue less about money.  Dave and I have discussed this opportunity a few times, but more in depth last night.

For him, I believe it’s important that I’m home with Gavin.  If I took this apprenticeship, I’d have to put in at least 40 hours a week.  That in itself would conflict with the whole reason that I went part time in the first place, and that is so I’m home with Gavin.  Working 40 hours including nights and weekends could turn into 50 hours or even more.. then before you know it, I’m spending less and less time with my husband and Gavin.  Dave said I can do what I want to do. We talked about having more kids.. how would this new opportunity fit in with that? Dave said he doesn’t want him and Gavin to hold me back from potentially a new and rewarding career.. and asked me if that’s what I feel.

Is being a wife and mother holding me back?  I’m not sure.  I need to think and decide just what it is that I want.  Maybe now Dave will have a better understanding of how I feel about our finances? Has this, in a sense, made him aware of how his pressuring sometimes makes me think that I should make these decisions based on whether or not I’ll enough make money, instead of how such a decision will impact my family life?  If I wasn’t a wife and mother, would I still take this opportunity and run with it? That’s the question I need to ponder.

Today was Gavin’s 2 year check up… yeah, I know he’s 2.5 now, but I just never got around to making his appointment. Dr. Welker said he’s growing great. He weighed 31 pounds and measured 36 inches tall. We didn’t get any shots this time. I asked Dr. Welker about waiting until Gavin starts preschool before we start up with his shots again. I just hate all those immunizations. He hasn’t had any shots since his 9 month check up. I turned down the MMR and the Chicken Pox.  We had also delayed all his shots until he was 4 months old.  Dr. Welker said he should do just fine to wait till preschool. By then, we can probably get away with just one booster for the school year, which is cool.  However, I’m looking into a way to avoid shots all together.

At any rate, my little man is growing like a weed.

I’ve always thought of myself as an avid writer… I can write poems, stories and many the occassional letter that never gets sent. I have no problems writing to or about someone, anyone, other than myself. So like a writer staring at a blank sheet of paper, here I am staring down at my keyboard wondering what strokes to make, what words to use in expressing the contents of my head. I’m sure I’ll get better at this as I go along, afterall how boring it would be to have each entry a be simple blank [web] page. Could that be any indication on my life or what’s in my head? I doubt it. I’ve always kept a journal for years, since I was a young girl. I remember my first ‘diary’ it had one of those locks on it that never really worked but more or less acted as a deterant for whomever had wandering eyes, especially when they belonged to a younger sibling, a sister to be more specific. I still have that old diary… pages filled with "I love Shawn Cassidy" or "My little sister is a brat" or "Johnny actually looked at me in class today."

I’d like to think that I’m beyond those types of entries. At 36 years old I’m sure my pages can be filled with some pretty extreme and intense subjects. So if you’re wandering eyes should fumble across my little "space" here… feel free to add a comment or two.. come back and check in now and then.

We had a playdate this morning at Skatin’ Station in Canton. It’s a preschool skate.. kids just 5 and under. Gavin had a blast, I couldn’t get the skates on him fast enough.. he was dying to get out there and cruise along. He was holding my hand for awhile, then he decided he didn’t need my hand anymore and pushed it away.  He did quite well, surprised me! There were bigger kids that were having a much harder time on skates… Gavin just went out there with all the confidence in the world and had a great time!!

Well it’s been quite a while since I last updated.  Gavin celebrated his 2nd birthday last month, that was a lot of fun. It’s hard to believe he’s 2 already. Where does the time go?

Gavin is finally starting to talk. His vocabulary grows just about every day. Sometimes I think it grows faster than he realizes. He says things that we have no idea what he’s saying, but he’s so darn serious and looks at us as if we are suppose to know what he’s saying.  I’m going to schedule his 2 year check-up. Then we’ll know how much he’s grown. He’s wearing a size 3T now! He loves to play hockey with his dad. The best part is when he throws his hands in the air and says.. "Goal!!" What a riot this kid is, I’ll tell ya.

Well.. I’m hoping to get back on track with things and keep up with the blog.  I hope you enjoy checking in on little Gavin… I’m sure the "Day in the Life of a Toddler" is just what you need. LOL

Enjoy… and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This was a pretty normal week. Monday was Memorial Day..  we got up early and went and saw the Dearborn Memorial Day Parade. Gavin really enjoyed it. We were sitting right on the curb.. he wanted so bad to get up and march along with the parade. He was pointing and jabbering. They were passing out little hand flags.. Gavin enjoyed waving his flag.

Tuesday I found out that I’m losing my job on June 30th. They are phasing out my position and other departments are currently in a hiring freeze so I can’t change departments. It’s a huge disappointment and I’ll miss this job a great deal.

Gavin has had a stuffy nose the past couple days. It doesn’t seem to phase him much.. he’s his usual happy-go-lucky self. Tomorrow we are getting him a twin bed for his room. We’re hoping to start transitioning him out of our bed and into his own bed. With the twin bed, I’ll be able to lay down with him if he’s having a bad night.. plus with me still nursing him, it’ll be much more comfortable. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Off to bed…