There's a New "Kid" in Town

We spent the most wonderful evening last night. Jackson--after three years of lessons and a year and a half of worrying and wondering if he wanted to play in front of people (nevermind the fact that his life's plan is to be ... a rock star)--did it. He got up in front of a room of 100+ and played his guitar, sang and smiled. He loved it.

I was nervous, anxious and excited for him. He had put in the practice time on the piece, so I was confident he knew what to do but I was nervous that he would, well ... get nervous! It was a Halloween recital so the kids all wore their costumes and he designed one specifically for the occassion as his favorite rocker - Kid Rock. He sauntered and swaggered - he acted like a rock star. His instructor Chris (a perfect match for my boy) played with him.

He played Luckenbach, Texas--an oldie but a goodie to country fans--a version we found done by Kenny Chesney and Kid Rock. Jackson was so taken with the song because Kenny and Kid are his two idols.

It is amazing as we watch our kids grow and change to watch them fall in love with life, to find their passions and be excited about doing and being a part of things. I could not have been more proud of the kid if he had sung in front of 100,000 instead. Loved it. Just loved it.

Restless ...

Fall is here. The colors are gorgeous, the weather has been beautiful. Our calendar is full of birthday parties, tailgates and football games and concerts. I have a new Kenny CD playing and my boys are off at school. I have work to do--work I want to do.

Somehow the restlessness that I get every fall has settled into my bones again. I feel melancholy on days like today--when the sun is hiding and the chill in the air is poignant. I feel nervous and anxious about being held under water for six months. That's what winter feels like to me--like I have to dive under, find shelter and wait out the time.

The feeling isn't constant--it just comes and goes--and most the time I'm genuinely happy in my own skin. I've just decided I was probably a mermaid in another life. The cold weather just steals my energy and despite valiant efforts to the contrary I keep letting it. This year I am feeling it stronger than ever--of course I say that every year--but the difference is we have no vacations planned (Disney World will be a blast with the boys but it's not quite the same as sun, sand and a Frozen Diet & Malibu ...) to the islands this year. We've been down there every year for 4 or 5 years (yes, I know how lucky I am ...) and this year is out. (Yes, I also know Jamaica in April counts for 2008 but I'm talkin' winter here ...)

So - my restless heart (make no mistake here, my restlessness comes solely and completely from my geographical position on this planet ... I love my husband. I love my boys. I love my house. I just wish, wish, wish it was on the coast of somewhere beautiful.) is going to look for a few answers to get through and I absolutely refuse to wish my time with my boys and EA and on this planet away.

10 things ... kind of

Okay so I'm following your lead. Sort of. I have a beautiful journal (it has the picture of a beautiful beach on the cover) that I have kept a list of things I want to do before I die. I don't have a number because I don't want a goal of things I have to do before I die ... I just wanted to write them down. I did really well with getting them done. At first. But then I got caught up in the day to day tasks of life and off my list blew.

So, here will be a list of 5 things I want to do in the short run.

1. Lose 5 pounds. (Okay, that's my staple goal - it'll always be here.)
2. I am writing all the time now. Every day. For all kinds of people. I want to get back to my manuscript and start committing a few hours every week.
3. Keep to my gym schedule - this is cheating because I don't vary from it often during the school year.
4. Go visit my mom in Florida again this year.
5. With my business, I accidentally ended up having most of my work be web based--writing content. I do enjoy it and it is a step in a professional direction as far as my writing goes--but I want to focus on some more print markets.

There they are. Nothing fancy. Just the thoughts that have been bouncing around my head. Oh ... I also want to get the 8000 photos on my computer backed up. It is kind of stressing me out a little bit that they're not backed up.

I'm going to go back to my pretty beach book and update it - mull it around a bit and I'll get back to you with a life list. I just have a lot of things to do on my desk right now and ... I promise I really will stop procrastinating and update my life list. Soon.