Photos that I somehow missed during my last posting craze!

David brushing his teeth after bath time

Bwee-ta-nee and Jess-eee-ca...and Emma-wee

Before Jackie and Kevin's Wedding

Hi guys!

I have feet!

They're funny...

Belated

Pre-move

David and Grandma

Meet Dixie

Jessica, meet Emily

The official "Ms. Norwood"

Lingerie shower fun

There are never enough!!!

Farewell dinner with the Burns

Sit pretty

Silly baby

Fourth Festivities

Brittany-Brittany time

Mr. Will

Pre-fireworks with Katy

Mom and Jeanette

Fireworks

Good ol' Cumming, GA

Our family photos are always demented

First Fourth!

Waiting for the steam engines

Where's David!? (It's like Where's Waldo...only easier...cause I marked him with a red arrow in the bottom lefthand corner)

WHOOOOOO. And the steam engines make it allllll worth it.

Parades make me sleepy...


New home!

Ducks, man...ducks...

Smile Therapy

So I'm considering launching a new kind of therapy. Smile therapy. I'm feeling rather overwhelmed and inept in the music arena these days. I guess it's hard to explain, but I feel completely out of my league right now. As if I have been living a lie for the past four years, convincing myself and others that I was something of a musician. Music. I can't think about it right now. Back to my opening statement. Amidst the sea of doubt and discontent, my smile is apparently a beacon. Corny, but true. Since beginning my work at the VA, several individuals have stopped me for the sole purpose of marveling at my smile. It's a Julia Roberts-esque smile. You know...the one that seems too big for the rest of your face but somehow stops people in their tracks? Yeah. So. Smile Therapy. I'm sure I could even find some kind of scientific support for my idea. What say you?

Update

My first week as an intern at the Augusta VAMC has come to an end. It's hard to believe that it has only been a week since we arrived and began unpacking boxes. A large part of me feels as though we must have been here years. On Monday morning, I rolled out of bed ten minutes before my alarm sounded. My sleep had been restless due to the nagging fear of getting off to a late start. It ended up being a good thing that I was already awake. When the alarm was due, my phone geared up and promptly vibrated itself off of the night stand, hitting the carpet and lying still before even having time to sound. There is no snooze on my cell, so I have continued to use it...forces me to get up immediately. I readied myself quickly, slipped into my new work outfit, and stole down to the clubhouse for continental breakfast. I walked back to the apartment, left a muffin on the counter for Johnathan, kissed the sleeping small fry, and hoped for a successful day. If I were afraid of being tossed in headfirst, I need not have been. I barely touched an instrument during the entire course of the day and mostly observed from the sidelines. Three hours in, I was introduced to the early stage dementia group that has already won me over. We cheerfully sang around the piano, sipped coffee, and munched on cookies. Blank hours were filled with cleaning, and the afternoon was devoted to "the band." Tuesday was largely spent gathering paperwork, being finger-printed, and obtaining my badge. I had a long lunch with my family, and in the afternoon, I met a man who is guaranteed to challenge all notions of self worth. Upon meeting me, he cut his eyes to Sheri and drawled, "Not to be rude, but is she any good?" In some ways, it only motivates me to surpass his expectations. We finished up with more cleaning, and I wearily collapsed into bed at 10:00...the earliest night I have seen in quite some time. On Wednesday morning I obtained my codes for computer access and played around a bit with some programs. There was more to the day, including an attempted treatment team meeting, but most of it was lost in the wild finish. As the band wrapped up in the clinic, the sky outside turned a menacing shade. Rain began to pour, the room went black, and firedoors slammed shut all over the building. Rain obscured even the closest parked cars from view and the trees were bending at an alarming slant. My old fear of storms began to revive, and I crept unashamedly from the second story office to ground level. After grabbing a cup of coffee to steady myself, I called Johnathan to make sure they were tucked in and safe. I then fell deeper into old habits and nervously called my Mom. After thirty minutes of raging, things had died down enough for me to head home. Trees were down in places along the way and some shingles had blown loose here at Mark's Church. It was well into the evening before I felt sufficiently recovered. Thursday morning was brilliant and sunny, and I narrowly avoided an encounter with Mama Duck on my morning jaunt to the clubhouse. Once at work, I was introduced to the other side of the dementia unit. Yeah. Not so pleasant. This side is for the "behavioral" patients, and I found myself truly afraid of a client for the first time. He started aggressively in his chair and with each movement came closer to leaping out of it in our direction. He growled profanities, screaming "F--- you...all of you" more times than I care to remember and told us in no uncertain terms to go to hell. I didn't mind the language. Inhibitions break down and the mind becomes a slave to a dark, confused realm. Many who fall prey to dementia act and speak in a manner that is foreign to the former self. No. It was the absolute hatred in his eyes that unnerved me. I'm not sure I have ever been face to face with such resentment. It's a look that will remain in my memory for quite some time. The rest of the day was busy, but very pleasant. I laid down with the baby as soon as I got home and slept for at least an hour and a half. It must have been just what I needed because the feeling of exhaustion that had followed me all week slipped away. I woke with renewed energy and began bustling about the apartment. Sheri was off of work today and informed me that I could take the day off as well. Oh, happy day. I slept about an hour later, then cleaned for the first half of the day. Emily and I went walking at the mall, then we all ate dinner out on the patio. Things have been a bit garbled this week. Emily's sleep schedule has been a bit out of joint and David was close to his former tantrum-phase. I had been most worried about Emily's adjustment to Johnathan, and I never expected it to be so difficult for David to readjust. It makes sense when I think about it, though. He's probably angry with me for leaving and given his limited vocabulary, angry retorts are his only expression. I couldn't let him kick and scream at me, but my reprimands only fueled his frustration. It was not a happy ending, but the past two days have been much smoother. In a way, it makes me feel good to know that David needs me more than I had realized. To add to matters, Emily decided to become nocturnal and refused to go to sleep before 11:30 for two nights in a row...thirty minutes after I should have been asleep. She has been fine this evening, though, so I'm hoping things are settling. It's amazing how everyone falls into line when the whole family is together. I watched "You've Got Mail" last night. I had forgotten how great that movie is.

I'm still feeling a bit in-over-my-head, but much more positive than I felt at this time last week. Things will be okay. Somehow. It will take a great deal of work and determination on my end, but I'm capable of that. My perception of veterans has become an interesting development, but more on that later. I will also be posting Fourth of July photos as soon as I have time to upload them. Thanks for the patience during my long absence.

Heavy sigh. I'm afraid I got too into my book. I tend to become enveloped by things that interest me. Needless to say, I'm finding it very interesting. I had to stop reading because I was becoming too emotional. It recalled too many personal memories, and I found myself becoming angry and sad.

I'm not angry now. Just thoughtful. I remember all too well what it's like to be in dazzling sunlight, then experience a sudden, cold darkness. I never understood how someone could switch off emotions like flipping a light switch...how suddenly there's a vast wall...too high to be scaled...too thick to be penetrated. I've stood in front of that wall twice, and it leaves an indescribable void that fades but isn't forgotten. It's virtually impossible to cope with because it's something beyond the realm of understanding.

I flipped my book upside down and promptly wrapped my arms around my husband's neck. Closing my eyes, I was thankful in a way that almost moved me to tears. Despite that, I still felt a void. I think it's because my mind was wandering to the thousands of people across the nation who are plagued with similar situations. People are struggling to hold it together in all corners of the globe. Ten years of happiness vanish in a blink due to drugs. Twenty-five years of commitment stand threatened. I'm sure this gives a much different vibe than I intended. No worries, reader. I'm not abandoning hope or entertaining ideas. It just makes me feel.

The baby is stirring, signaling that my writing should draw to an end. I don't like leaving on such a dark note, however, so I will give a quick update. The moving sale was a bit more successful than we had anticipated. All in all, we raked in somewhere around $60, which wasn't bad for a small, last-minute collection. Half of my kitchen is packed into boxes. David's room is completely ready to go, and ninety-five percent of the livingroom is ready for removal. A chunk of our room has been completed, and I'm steadily working down the laundry pile and sorting it into boxes. I think I'm dreading the closet most of all. So many bulky uncooperative shoes. It's also the storage area for our overwhelming collection of text books. I'm feeling quite accomplished, however, and I'm looking forward to creating a new home. I'd like to turn my patio into an escape. I'm also envisioning a nice sitting area for reading in my bedroom. I'm better at packing and not-so-good at actually carrying objects. Johnathan would rather carry objects than pack them, so I think it will be a nice trade-off. I pack, we load, he hauls, and while he's hauling, I can be unpacking. We're also going to re-work the way we work finances. I'm too scattered. I was shuffling through the bills today going, "July first...that's next week." Then I realized that TODAY is July first. Fortunately, it's not anything we'll be fined for, but still... On the flip side, I'm much better at informing of purchases than Johnathan is. There have been several times that I've had to check the online register for purchases he neglected to tell me about. I think this way will work better, and I'm glad that we can complement each other even through our faults. I do much better when I write things down, so I plan on utilizing my planner again. This new beginning is going to be a time for organization, organization, organization.

I got an "Everyday with Rachael Ray" magazine that's full of bright colors and interesting recipes. It makes me happy, but I can't seem to finish working my way through it. Once again, I've stayed up past my bedtime. I'm very excited about fireworks, parades, and adorable children in patriotic attire. It's going to be a nice holiday.