Cornwallis Has Been Found

Well some of you may know the saga of Cornwallis. For those of you who don't, it goes something like this.....Our friend Jerry came to visit us with a menagerie of reptile about two weeks ago. On his way here one of his King snakes ate the other king snake. That was very tragic. Then his beautiful Ball Python came down with pneumonia, and was threatening death. During his last show here at the house we discovered his baby corn snake was missing....Needless to say we had some very nervous spectators....We assumed that he had escaped his cage and made his way into another cage. We did a search around the house but....Poor Cornwallis was nowhere to be found.
Until yesterday when our little neighbor boy went down to the play room to play and low and behold who slithers over little Tiger's foot but, hungry, thirsty, cold, Cornwallis. Brady comes tearing upstairs yelling, "Cornwallis is alive"! "Cornwallis is alive"! SO downstairs I go, and sure enough, under the lid to the lego's is, Cornwallis. the baby Corn Snake. I took him upstairs gave him a much needed drink of water and warmed his little cold body up. Today he thinks I am his best friend because I fed him a pinky (dead baby mouse). Boy was he a very happy snake. As far as snakes go. So we have another addition to the family, at least for a few months, until Jerry's son, Jason, takes him home in July. Until then, we will love him like our own ;)
P.S. This is not his only brush with death. He has also survived being eaten by a snake. He came out with only a few puncture wounds and an in-depth look at the anatomy of a snake.

Wow what a weekend!

Talk about trying to fit in as many activities as possible in one weekend. Let me list the many things we did this weekend. Well I played two tennis matches, for a tournament I was in (got my butt kicked in both) went to dinner with my husband (I think he felt sorry for me). Then I went to the cannery, took Brady to a birthday party, shuffled kids back and forth to the mall, and to friends houses, went bowling, went to feed the ducks, went to dinner, dyed four out of six of my kids hair, and managed to spend some fun time with my kids. Needless to say it is Sunday night, and I am wiped out. Sometimes I just feel like you could just wipe me off the floor and put me in bed for a week. Unfortunately, we are starting a whole new week all over again.
Do you remember when the weekend meant relaxation? I'm talking way before kids, like High School days. Those were great. I should have enjoyed them while I could. Instead, I would complain and say how bored I was. Oh, what I would do to be able to sleep in until 10 or 11 and then sit around in my pj's and talk on the phone or watch tv all day. If we only knew then what we know now....

Island Park Weekend

Viki and I went to Island Park Friday, for some time away from LIFE. We had a good time, but we both were under the agreement that it would have been a great time if all our other friends would have bucked up and came along. Of course everyone had a reason why they couldn't be there, so we just had to eat enough chocolate to make up for them not coming.
We ate chinese food in our pajamas and scrapbooked while watching a couple chick flicks. We were up until 2:30 and slept in way to late, which only made the time that much shorter.
Viki had this new fandangled machine that made some really cool die cuts. We had fun figuring it out, and made some really cute pages.
I left her up there and her husband and kids met her there later in the day. I'm sure she accomplished a ton when I left, but that night she had finished like 14 pages. I finished my Disney land book and about six other pages, so it was overall, a pretty successful weekend.
YEAH....... girls gone wild.

Tennis

So those of you who know me, know that I am a tennis nut. Like take today for example. I played at 9:15 again at 6:00 and then 7:15. I play on average of 5 times a week. I love it when I get on the court, I think of nothing else. I can have a really crappy day, but then when I get out there all I focus on is playing the game. This past year I had a great run, my mixed doubles team made it to districts and won and then in July we went to Boulder Colorado and took second. I was feeling really confident in my game and was starting to feel like I could do what I wanted when I wanted. THEN in November I got moved up. My rating went from 3.0 to 3.5, it's like starting over. The ball comes faster and harder and no matter how many times you get it over it seems as though the other team always gets it over one more time.
I guess the reason I really like tennis is....there is always a way to improve....there is always something you can work on and there is always someone you can beat and someone who can beat you.
I have been working on a few things and tonight I went to a lesson. My instructor (who is sogood for my ego) showed me what I am doing wrong, it was like a light bulb going on......wow, I get it. All of a sudden I was doing it. Now I have one more thing to work on and master. Serve...move in...split step...follow the ball....and return the ball. See easy...no problem. I will go back on Monday and work on one more thing and then next week I will learn something else or I will improve on one more technique and someday (or maybe not) I will feel comfortable at 3.5 . About that time I will get moved up to 4.0.

Here we go. Let's get started

Okay so everyone and their neighbor has a blog, so I decided to join the 21st century and create one of my own. Not exactly sure what I am doing so here goes.
I decided to name my blog "Reflections of a Middle-Aged Mother", because, although I don't feel middle aged, reality is that.... I am. It's not that I mind being middle aged, I think there is a lot to be said for being forty, ok....forty one. I think this is the greatest time of life. I don't change diapers anymore, I deal with relatively rational people, and I am much more comfortable in my own skin. I really don't care what people think of me (not that I ever have) but now I just choose to believe everyone loves me, and generally I don't feel I have any one that I really dislike. It's a comfortable place.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my babies and look forward to grandkids, but there is something to be said for having the perfect day.....Going to a movie with a friend, then to lunch, only to top it off with a pedicure. For so long in my life I went for months (like 8 or 9) without even a hair cut, because someone needed new shoes or jeans or we barely had enough for diapers. So this is good. I feel like I have part of me back, and that feels really great.
I think it really hit me when I took Ty to college, and we were walking around Sea World, just him and I. I thought to myself....Wow we've kind of come full circle. He's watching out for me making sure that I get on and off the rides ok and giving me his sweatshirt when I was cold. It wasn't that long ago that I was wiping snot from his little nose and kissing his scraped knees. It is the most rewarding thing to watch your kids walk into life, confident that they are whole people, ready to take on the world. Knowing that you did all you could to give them the tools to make it in this big scary place and it turned out pretty good.
SO ladies being middle aged isn't all that bad. Yeah, you sag a little more than you did 10 years ago and your a little more slow getting out of bed, but all and all it's a really rewarding place to be. :)