Whoot! Whoot!!

If someone were to ask me what my favorite time of year is, I'd have a very complicated answer. Mostly depending on what time of the year you were to ask this question. During the summer, I always dream of fall being around the corner. I love it! I love the colors in the leaves, the crisp air, pumpkins, and of course Halloween! I love to do fall decorations and enjoy the perfect weather with an even more perfect breeze. Nothing better than being able to turn the air off and open the windows in order to air the house out. Not to forget, it saves on your power bill!! ;) And although I love Christmas, I am miserable during that time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love decorating for Christmas almost (almost being the key word) as much as I do for fall. I love the feeling of coming home to a nice, warm, cozy house with twinkling lights on the Christmas tree in the same room as I sit. I've never been the type to really "want" something for Christmas. Even growing up when my parents would ask me what I wanted, I would always shrug my shoulders and say I don't know. My dad used to always joke and tell me if I didn't tell him what I wanted, he would pick it out and it would be certain that I wouldn't like it. Actually, one year after not coming up with anything in particular to tell him, while at his house to open gifts, he handed me a itsy bitsy little box with a smirk on his face I will never forget. Thinking that it must be jewelry, I opened the box as fast as I could all to find a rock, a match, and a stick in the box. And yes, he made me sit there while everybody else opened gifts making me think that was literally all I was getting. Of course, I had tons more under the tree! =) BUT, it taught me my lesson!! After that, when Dad would ask what I wanted for Christmas, I made sure I came up with some type of answer!! Even though I've never been the "wanter" of the group when it comes to gifts, my buying gifts for people is nothing of the same. I absolutely love to buy people things! It's like a special mission for each and every person on my list. I want to make sure I get the perfect gift that I know they will love and have a fit over when they see it. Problem with that, I'm not always certain that someone will love it. I see things that I fall in love with and have a fit over, but then I stop and think to myself "Just because I like it, doesn't mean they will like it..." and that is where my holiday stress begins. Naturally, it always ends with an even more emptier pocketbook than what I started with and what I am able to start with isn't a lot if that tells you anything!! But, while all of this coziness, sweaters, yummy cookies, sparkly ribbon, and twinkling lights bring a month of joy into my life, at the exact moment I have this joy, I have a miserableness in me also. As soon as it starts to get cold outside, and I am referring to the cold that you don't want to go back out in once you make it to where you are going, I get so depressed. I get cabin fever awful during the winter months!! Not to forget, I get a case of the big let down worse than anybody I've ever seen before! What's the big let down? ya know, where you have Christmas coming up and you are out running around buying all of the gifts while hearing your favorite Christmas carols playing over the intercom in all of the stores you grace your presence in, and then after all that anticipation, that one day of the year comes and goes faster than any other, and then it's done. It's over. All you have left is a big mess to clean up, and an even bigger array of decorations to put up. You wake up the next day all for life to go back to the gruel cold you've hated the whole time to begin with. Only difference is that before Christmas, you know what you need to do in order to get the holiday rocking and rolling in your house and you don't think twice about the bitterness of the cold. But once its over, you are back to not wanting to even leave the house because of the thought of jack frost nipping at your nose. Then spring starts to roll on in around the corner. You start off with that one day that is unusually warmer than all the others, and you start to get a little pep in your step. All of the pretties with polka dots, and flowers in your favorite bright colors start to make their appearance in the stores and you get that feeling to where you are ready to start brightening the house up. It's back to opening the windows and airing the staleness from the winter from your home. In the midst of this season 101 I am lecturing, I do have a point. My point being, even though I wait for these holiday's to come, and when it is 100 degrees outside I secretly day dream about the day that it starts to cool off, summer is my favorite season! my favorite season for one reason and one reason only... I get to spend the entire summer months with my little Trenton Lane!! =) I love when school is out and he and I get to come and go as we please with no certain schedule to follow every single day like we have to during the school year. The school year schedules remind me of the movie Groundhog Day. It's like the same day, over and over and over with nothing changing. I hate it!! Not only do I love our randomness in life during the Summer months, I love going swimming with Trenton. About 2 years ago, he taught himself how to swim and ever since then, it's just gotten funner and funner for us!!!

Today, Trenton and I went to the water park in Bowling Green and we had an absolute blast! I figured since school starts next Tuesday (eek!) we should be living this last week as free birds up! So this morning we got our sunscreen, towels, and bathing suits and headed down to the water park. We had the best time today!! I love when Trenton and I go do things just the two of us. I love being able to focus all of my attention on him without being side tracked by talking to people with us. And how could I not love the sweetness in him on these days? =) Our special date days as Trenton refers to them. He was so good today also!! As soon as I would tell him we needed to do something, he would instantly get up and be ready to do it and not insist on me giving him a few more minutes at what he was currently interested in. We drank the best pink lemonade, and had cheese pizza for lunch followed by a Hawaiian shaved ice later in the day. As I mentioned above, Trenton taught himself how to swim about 2 years ago. Since then, he has really gotten good at it!! Way better than he has even given himself credit for or believed. It's actually kind of strange because he will swim all the way across the pool in the 5'ft (where he can't touch) but if you talk about getting him into deeper water (such as 8'ft or 12'ft) he gets so freaked out and says he can't do it because he isn't a good swimmer. Never have I understood this other than it might be because if he truly needed to touch the bottom in order to get to the other side, he is able to push off the bottom of the 5' ft with his feet and come up for some air and in the deeper water, he can't do that. Today, we sat over at the big pool so that Trenton could swim around and our seats were probably about 10 ft from the diving boards. We watched the big guys do back flips and gainers for a while and saw a couple wee little guys running and jumping off the end and then I heard the words that shocked me.. "mom, I wanna jump off the diving board!" Oh my! When he said this, I got so excited! And sure enough, he got right up on the diving board, ran to the end and went for it! jumped right off!!! I stood on the side just in case he started to freak out and couldn't make it over to the side swimming by himself, but let me assure you, he didn't need my help at all! He swam like a little frog under water all the way to the ladder and as he was pulling himself up out of the pool, he had the biggest smile and look of pride on his face! Of course I stood there with the same look on my face for him!! I was so shocked that he just went for it like that and didn't get scared in the least bit. Actually, I think i may have been a little bit more excited than he was. As he got out, I gave him a high five, and let out a high pitched "whoot whoot!" and as I did that, Trenton looked at me with the most serious face and said "Mom, please don't do that again!" haha!! Oh me, I laughed and laughed at him over that but it also was one of those moments that makes you realize they're growing up. It's official. He is at the age he now gets embarrassed by mom. Boy, is he in for it these next years!! lol! Not only did Trenton jump off the diving board without an ounce of fear in him, he also went down the water slides for the first time by himself without having to have me stand at the side waiting for him to come down and then jump in the water and grab him. So many "little" big accomplishments for him today at the water park! May sound corny, but it was one of the most precious things!! I believe I can rest knowing that he will be sleeping too tonight because we were both so wore out when we got home! He actually fell asleep in the car before we had even gotten out of the water park's parking lot. Luckily, he woke right up when we got home so he just got a good 40 minute nap in. ;)

Sounds like my date with Trenton today was just what I needed right? You betcha'!! Such a good day!! But, it started out just as dang good! I found out that they are for sure doing The Derek Byrd Award at ESPN!! How honoring!?! I mean, really!! Finding that out did so dang much for my heart you have no idea!! They already have the plaque made and are planning on doing a ceremony on Derek's birthday, November 16th. My goal now is to make sure I am able to save up enough money to fly to Connecticut in November to watch and be a part of this award being given out. Oh my gosh, if I am not able to make it, I seriously will be so heartbroken!! I posted this big news on my facebook this morning and a friend of Derek's commented saying "the person that receives this award will be well-deserving of it" and boy are they right!!

I was mentioning how tired Trenton and I were when we got home today, and unlike Trenton, I didn't get a 40 min nap in on the way. I am burnt, and beat!! This chick is ready to hit the hay and pray for a day like I had today, tomorrow! Good night!