What were you doing when...?

It's one of those questions that I know will be asked of me when the boys get older. It's one of those questions that will be inevitable in time, such as "what were you doing when Kennedy was shot?" back in my parents' day. In my day, there's the question of "what were you doing when the terrorists attacks happened?"

So what was I doing?

7:30am Central time. It was during the time we lived in Omaha, NE. I had the Today show on in the living room mostly as background noise while I got ready for work each morning. I worked at Pinnacle Bank and usually didn't start until 9am so I took my time getting ready.

I remember being in the bathroom getting my make up on when the first plane hit. I remember Matt Lauer was doing some interview with someone and when I came back to the living room they were showing something about a plane. At the time they thought it was an accident. In typical fashion like watching a train wreck, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen, realizing something big just happened. While still keeping tabs on what was going on, I continued to get ready.

Then the second plane hit as I sat on the couch watching in horror. It was like watching something out of an action movie, only it was real. It was surreal. That's when everyone knew it was not a coincidence.

I continued watching the news until it was time to leave for work. When I got to work everyone was talking about it. It was a Tuesday and the bank was always slow on Tuesdays, but that day it was even more so. The customers that did come in had no idea what was going on on the East Coast. My manager brought in the TV from the employee room to the lobby so we could all watch and keep tabs on what was happening. I think we all knew back then that we were watching some major history in the making. We all watched in horror as the Towers fell, killing thousands of people.

I had a half day that day since I had to work on Saturday, so I came home at 1pm. I received a few phone calls from my mom and some friends checking up to make sure we were all ok. Bob called to also tell me (in excitement) that Air Force One flew right over him! President Bush had been flying around to stay safe and apparently ended up landing at the Air Force Base Omaha, near where Bob worked. It was quite the sight for him!

The rest of the day I spent watching the news, trying to hear as much of it as I could.

This day was also mine and Bob's second wedding anniversary. We had plans to go out to eat that night at a nice restaurant and spend an evening celebrating 2 years of marriage. Unfortunately that didn't happen as the entire city pretty much shut down in light of the circumstances. It made for a pretty crappy anniversary. Even the next few years we didn't have the heart to celebrate, knowing thousands of people lost their lives.

The attacks scared me for many months afterward. I heard lots of talk of war, and was concerned of a draft. Bob was prime material at the time for a draft, and I was terrified of losing him. We were also looking at starting a family during this time (I believe we had started trying right around this time) and I was worried about what kind of world I'd be bringing my children into. I rethought the decision to have a family.

It was a very uncertain time.

Your number is up

Question: Do you have a lucky number and why is it so lucky?

Yes I have a lucky number. In fact, I have several lucky numbers. I'm one of those strange kind of people that has a bunch of lucky numbers (6 of them). Enough that I could probably use them to play Powerball or one of those silly lottery games. But technically these numbers aren't really lucky at all. They are more sentimental than lucky. I've never won anything by using these numbers or played the lottery or had anything of luck actually happen while using them. They are just numbers I like that mean something to me.

My favorite number of all of them is 28. I have a weird emotional attachment to this number. Yes I do realize that makes me sound crazy. As if one can be emotionally attached to a number. But I am. It stems from way back in high school when my BFF and I made up our own soap opera. Ah yes, those were the days! We were very creative at the time. Made up characters, stories, plots, all kinds of stuff. The only thing we weren't creative with was the name. (Dynasty II, or D2 for short). It was named after her favorite show at the time.

My favorite character of D2 was Andrew Zachary Springfield, also known as "Spike". He was a rebel without a cause. He was the rebellious, impulsive, tall dark and handsome, leather wearing, motorcycle riding, rock n roll singer with a chip on a shoulder type of guy but deep down had a heart of gold. He was the guy all women wanted to date and all the men wanted to be. He was in trouble with the law frequently and had issues with alcohol, yet there was something about him that made him irresistible. He had a rough life and an even rougher time when he made it big in the rock band. All that fame and money messed him up even more. But yet one felt bad for him because he didn't want to be the way he was. He wanted to live a normal life and live out his days with the love of his life, Surprise (yes, that was her name) and their daughter Monica, but something inside him always prevented him from being happy.

Spike was 28 yrs old. Not only was he my favorite character but I just felt very strongly about him. Not in the I'm-in-love-with-a-fictional-character sense...though that's a whole other post for another time. But we had a real attachment, a real emotional response to our plots and stories we made up. We felt the emotions of the characters, sometimes rather strongly. And I felt very strongly about Spike. He was so misunderstood.

So that is why 28 is one of my favorite numbers. It reminds me of a time in my life that meant a lot to me. Back when I was more creative than any other time. Back when the only thing I had to worry about was what plot was going to come next!

I miss D2 :)

On Writing....

So if I want to keep up this blog, I'm going to have to get a bit more creative. My life is boring...at least in terms of interesting and exciting things to talk about IMO at least. Sure I can discuss what I do all day, such as make snacks and lunch for the kids, break up fights, reprimand Kyle for testing the boundaries, more snacks, break up more fights between the boys, make dinner, walk the dog, sit down and watch my soap opera. I could discuss plot lines of my soap :) lol My days are very busy, but unless you are a stay at home mom, I don't consider them "exciting' or very "entertaining" to discuss. I'm just an ordinary, every day midwest mom.

Anyway, I need to get more creative. So I figure I can use this not only to share the fun and exciting things in my life, but also to share some of what I'm truly passionate about--writing. I LOVE to write. Ever since I can remember I've always loved the written word, writing it and reading it. I've written poems, stories, and have even written a full novel. I've done NaNoWriMo twice, once actually winning it. I will be taking a writing class later this month via online. Writing is my passion.

I may not post things I have written such as poems and/or stories (due to copywrite...I don't want my stuff stolen!) but I have found a few sites with journaling topics I can use to help start off when I don't know what to write about. I'm actually pretty excited about it!

on to a new chapter in the writing process..... Stay tuned!!

I honestly haven't been in a under a rock for the last 3 years.....

Wow. Really?! I hadn't realized it has been several YEARS since I have posted here. Well. A lot to catch up now on I suppose.

Ryan is now 8 (almost 9) and will be starting 3rd grade next month. Where the heck does that time go? I remember when he was a wee little one in my arms and I had a difficult time forcing an ounce of formula down him. Now the kid eats twice as much as I do! Since he's been in school he also has learned the "attitude". You know the one. The one that says "Hey mom, yeah I may be smaller than you and younger than you, but I know MORE than you do." Yeah, that one. The my-8-year-old-going-on-18-years-attitude. From what I hear from mothers with older ones, it doesn't get any better. Lucky me! lol :)

Ryan was in karate for 2 years (initially started out to help him with focus and discipline issues) but has recently lost interest in it and the issues he needed it for have improved. He does baseball every summer and has been in swimming lessons.

He is still an incredibly sensitive and caring little boy, unless of course he's fighting with his little brother. Then all bets are off.

Kyle is now 4 and will be in 4K next month. He has been in speech therapy since he was 2. He has made leaps and bounds with his speech, though still not perfect. He is still in his Terrible 2's. lol He's what I would call a "challenging" child. He has a huge attitude, along with huge temper tantrums, but has a huge heart :) He can be so difficult at times, but when he's not, he's so lovable. His favorite thing is cars! Well actually any type of transportation: cars, trucks, trains, planes, boats.... if you can get around in it, he loves it. He usually takes one of his matchbox cars to bed with him.

Kyle was in soccer this past Spring, but that didn't go over so well. He was good at kicking the ball and he seems to feel left out with all the activities Ryan is in, so we signed him up for soccer. Yeah. He's not ready for organized, team playing sports yet. All the kids would kick the ball one way and he'd kick it the opposite way. He likes to be his own person, doing things his own way which is usually the opposite of what I'd like him to do. He's VERY independent.

As for me, well I still love to write. I finished the first few drafts of my novel and am still currently editing (that never ends!). I will be taking a writing class later this month that will help in the process of editing it. I did NaNoWriMo last year and actually won! Of course I haven't finished the novel yet but I at least got up to 50,000 words :)

So life has been going well. I will see if I can keep up this blog again. Might help with my writing skills which have been lacking lately. I haven't written anything since NaNo in Nov. I could use the practice!

Glad to be back. :)