Happy 12th Anniversary!

America The Beautiful

Labor Day Fun

Our neighbors have a yearly Labor Day oyster roast party. They rent the biggest water slide available and they also have a pool in the backyard. The kids love it and it keeps them busy while the parents visit and share a few spirits. Sean jammed his second toe on the slide. We taped it up and off he went. He is paying for it today. It will be a quiet day at the O'Neals today. Mike is heading to Tallahassee today for the Florida State University vs University of Miami game. Go Noles!

School has started!

Nicholas started Kindergarten on Monday! Sean started the 4th grade. Nick acted like he had done everything before and took it all in stride. Sean was excited to go "upstairs" since only the 4th and 5th graders go upstairs. Sean was also able to put the urban legend that there was a swimming pool upstairs to rest.

The Summer of 2009

Just a glimpse of your very enjoyable summer. We went to San Diego and met up my brother and his family, went to the beach, swam in the pool and went camping. It is my FAVORITE time of year!

Happy Birthday Nicholas

My baby is 5 years old today. I'm excited and sad at the same time. We love you Nicholas!!!

Washington DC for Memorial Weekend

This weekend we flew to Washington DC to visit Mike's brother Jonathan, his wife Isabel, my nephew Jack and my NEW nephew Luke! We had a great time. I have a bunch of pictures, but will only post a few tonight so I can get to bed. Traveling is exhausting!

What a difference 9 years makes

This was our first picture of Sean 9 years ago today. Definitely not the Gerber baby you expect. If only I could go back in time to whisper in my ear, "he is going to be just fine".

Camping Fun

The dock at North Beach Campground and the discovery of Shuffle Board. We took our neighbor Zach with us.

Great big gators at the Alligator farm.

We loving camping!!

A Good Day At Work and "You're Not The Boss Of Me"

Aw, it is a good day at work when you find yourself in a helicopter. I absolutely love it. Here is a view of Jacksonville from above. Everything looks so different from the air.

Below is a reenactment of a conversation with Nick. Sean was apparently being bossy. Nick is at the age now that he acts a little goofy when the camera is out.

Spring to the Zoo

We went to the Jacksonville Zoo last weekend and saw the new Komodo Dragon. Nick was mad in the picture to the left because we had to get on to him about walking on the grounds and not on the sidewalk. There is a huge sidewalk and he has to walk in the mulch and narrowly missing some beautiful plants. Mind you, neither of the kids wanted to go to the zoo fearing they may miss something with the neighborhood kids. So, after much arguing and threats of doing "nothing" all day and "YOU WILL HAVE FUN AT THE ZOO OR ELSE!", We made it to the zoo and actually did have a good time.

I made it back.

I made it back from the Charlotte snow storm. It is always nice to have some girl time.

I'm home with Sean today. He is sick and I sure hope I don't get it. He is a good patient and eating try cereal and sipping his drink.

A friend of mine emailed be the below information and I thought it was funny.

Are you tired of those
sissy 'friendship' poems
that always sound good,
but never actually come close
to reality? Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of
True Friendship.

1. When you are sad,
I will jump on the person
who made you sad
like a spider monkey
jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!
2. When you are blue,
I will try to dislodge
whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile,
I will know you are
plotting something
that I must be involved in.
4. When you're scared,
we will high tail it out of here.
5. When you are worried,
I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse
it could be.

6. When you are confused,
I will use little words.
7. When you are sick,
Stay away from me
until you are well again.
I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall,
I'll pick you up
and dust you off--
After I laugh my rear off!!
9. This is my oath...
I pledge it to the end.
'Why?' you may ask;
-- because you are my FRIEND

Try sending this to
10
of your closest friends ...
Then, get depressed
'cause you can only think of
4!

TRAPPED IN CHARLOTTE!!!

What happens when you try to have a nice girls weekend in March? Lots of snow, that's it. I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday afternoon to spend a couple of days with my Ohio peeps (Julie and Dawn). Today, Delta Airlines cancels my flight home! It's March for crying out loud!!! It is really coming down right now and I'm not sure I'll be home tomorrow either. More girlfriend time. Sorry Mike. I swear I'm coming back. At least it's pretty.

Happy 6th Birthday Julianna!

Today is my niece's 6th birthday. February birthdays are the best!! This video was taken last May when the Idaho Weinert's came to visit. That ocean water was still cold as you'll see at the end.

WE HAVE TO GO BACK!

I must say, I am addicted to the show Lost! I've been watching since season two. I normally don't like "sci-fi" types of shows and that is why I did not watch season one. When the show started I remember thinking to myself, "people plane crash on a deserted island, REAL ORIGINAL". I don't remember why I started watching, but it did not take long for the addiction to begin. I know so much of the plot line I miss or it is over my head. A guy I work with watches too and his teenage son thinks he's figured every thing out. I have not heard his theory yet.
How do writers come up with these ideas?

I really don't watch much TV and only on the weekend. Thank God for the DVR.

I just remembered why I started watching.... Matthew Fox! I have liked him since his Party of Five days!

Appreciation

No new medical issues to report (knock on wood).

I must say a three day week this week was nice. I normally work 4 ten hour days with Friday off, but three days is even better. Thursday afternoon I got a dose of appreciation for my "chaotic" life. A couple of the guys from my unit and I were helping to investigate a burglary of some guns. Without getting into too many details, the suspect's home was absolutely deplorable. I cannot believe people live in those conditions. The only bright spot was that no children were in the house. Besides being a complete mess, the plumbing did not work. They had buckets in every room for that, the bath tub and even the back yard. GROOOSSSS! I feel blessed to have never lived in those conditions and had parents that worked so I would never have to live in those conditions. Sometimes I get frustrated with life, but I have a family and a home to live in. I literally bleached the bottoms of my shoes when I got home. Sad to say, I've seen such things before. If you ever need to feel good about your life, ride with a patrol officer for a night. What you may see will make you appreciate your situation and maybe even your problems.

An Apple a Day...Not

Thank God for Walk in Clinic's. Is it a bad thing when they know your name at the Walk-In Clinic? About two days ago I noticed a small spot on my lower right abdomen area. The next day there were a few more spots. I thought maybe I was having an allergic reaction to my anti-inflammatory medication. The same doctor who gave me the good news about tendonitis stated..."Shingles!" "What? I'm only 38 years old." Yep, it is more common in those over fifty (maybe my Wii age is right). So along with my anti-inflammatory drugs, I'm now on anti-viral medication (3 horse pills a day) for the next week. So far, 2009 has been an awesome!

RUN DON'T JUMP!

So, last December 21st, Mike and I ran our first (and most likely last) 1/2 Marathon in Jacksonville. The weather was ideal, not too hot and not too cold. My mom and dad had the boys for the weekend and I had been training for ten weeks. I was running 4 to 5 times a week. I was feeling pretty good about myself. The day of the race, we got there at 6am (race started at 7am) and we had plenty of time to prepare. You have to get there early because the lines for the restroom are ridiculous. Something about running makes people have to pee or poo apparently. The race went fairly well. I did find it interesting to see all these men run to various bushes along the way to pee. We are in a neighborhood people!! Anyway after mile 10 I was quickly running out of steam and interest. I swear someone kept moving the finish line. Mike took this picture of me (he finished about 25 minutes before me) crossing the finishing line and yes, the girl behind me is much younger! I had her by a good two steps, although she was wearing some silly Christmas socks.

Fast forward to the first weekend in January. I admit I took some time off from all exercise after this race. I was burnt out. It's Saturday, I'm trying out the Wii Fit ski jump. I crouch down and stand up quickly for the jump. "Hmmm, that kind of hurt my hip". I ignored the pain until this past Tuesday when I could hardly walk. By Wednesday, I was miserable and left work to hobble into a walk in clinic. "Tendonitis". I received a huge shot of steroids in the booty and I'm now on steroids for the next six days to be followed by a month of anti-inflammatory drugs. I thought maybe it was a result from the running, but the Doc said you can get it from one sudden movement. Run, don't jump.

The Shack

This is an amazing book. It was written by WM. Paul Young. I just finished it last night and I find myself thinking about it a lot. The book is fiction, but very thought provoking. In substance, this is what the book is about:

A grieving father receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to meet in the Oregon wilderness where his daughter has been abducted and murdered. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?"

I felt this was a perfect time to recommend this book as I recently learned that a friend of a friend, who I have had the pleasure of meeting, passed away Wednesday at age 36 leaving behind two young sons and a husband. The only answer that makes sense to me is that it is not for us to understand, but to have faith in God and know he is always with us. We just need to call to him and listen.