It's time to say goodbye...until next week at least.

The thought still enters my mind.  "This would make a good blog post."  I would think about taking pictures not for the sake of capturing the memory, but to make sure that I had a picture to upload with my story.

When the boys were babies it was easy.  Put them down for a nap, write a little, give them a little tummy time, write a little more, start a blog, write a column, write a book, get published.

But now my days are more like this:

• 5:30am--Alarm goes off.
• 5:39am--Hit snooze.
• 5:47am--Hit snooze again.
• 5:55am--Hit snooze...again.
• 6:04am--Go get the picture.
• 6:17am--Finally get out of bed.
• 6:54am--Get the boys up.
• 7:00-7:45am--Fix breakfast, make lunches, make sure teeth and hair are brushed, tell them to put their socks on, finish putting on makeup, empty the dishwasher, tell them to put their socks on again, head out the door.
• 8:30--1:30--Monday through Wednesday work at the church, staff meetings, team meetings, executive board meetings, PTA meetings.  Thursday and Friday clean house, run errands, and do all of the things I don't have time for Monday through Wednesday.
• 2:00--Pick up the Monkey from school.
• 3:30--Pick up the Cheese from school.
• 3:30-5:30--Help with homework, serve snacks, empty backpacks, worry about what to make for dinner, return phone calls, emails, etc., etc., etc.
• 6:00pm--Dinner, tennis on Wednesdays, drums on Thursdays, Life Group on Tuesdays.  Fridays usually a sleep over or movie night.  Saturdays watch football all day.  Sundays go to church and take the boys to Jr. Golf at the club.
• And don't forget to throw in the random birthday party, volunteer opportunity, trip to the vet, trip to the pediatrician, and if I'm lucky a walk around the block for a little exercise.

Yes, like all mothers, my life is busy and I hate it.  My time is precious and when I actually have a little extra time I have recently learned that the only way I actually get anything done is to avoid the computer all together.  Why?  Because it is a BLACK HOLE.  Facebook, Twitter, favorite blogs, and now (Lord help me!) Pinterest, eat up my extra time like it's a plate full of warm brownies.   When I'm on the computer I avoid my kids and although that's not always a bad thing, my kids need me.  They need me to be present.  They need me to spend actual time with them instead of blogging about the time I spend with them.

All of this to say...I'm taking a break.  At first, I was going to delete my blog and be done with it.  Put it to bed.  Say goodnight and not worry about it anymore.  But I know myself well enough to know that there is a distinct possibility that I might want to return to writing in the future and it would be a total pain to start from the beginning all over again.  And clearly I don't have time for that.

Sure I'll be back.  It probably won't be on any kind of regular basis.  I'm sure something will hit me and I'll feel the need to blog.  We'll see...

So those of you who are used to keeping up with my life via my blog, we'll, you're just going to have to do it the old-fashioned way--through Facebook.

See you later...

Stephenie

Because I've become a coffee snob.

When you've been up the night before worrying about your children, a handmade mug from Coronado and fresh coffee beans from Undergrounds (coffeeundergrounds.com) makes everything better.

If not better, at least wakes you up to deal with today.

God Bless you, Judy Blume.

Tonight the Big Cheese and I started reading Superfudge by Judy Blume.  I've tried to read some of the "Fudge" books to him before, but he wasn't all that interested.  But tonight as I made the voices of Fudge and Peter just to his liking, he "got it."  I'd read a funny paragraph and he was laugh out loud and say, "Read that again."  It was clear: He had fallen in love with his first piece of classic literature.

Yes, in my house, my world, Judy Blume is classic literature.  (Okay, classic children's literature, but a classic nonetheless.)

Even though I'm not that old (because I'm NOT) and Judy Blume was in the midst of all her author glory during my childhood, I still did not grow up thinking that reading was cool.  Sure, there was reading going on and books that were my favorites, but you know...it was just...reading.  Something I had to do.  I found a few that I enjoyed (usually involving talking animals) but I wasn't picking up book because I wanted to.  I read simply because it was required and nothing more.  And it stayed that way for a long time.

Then one day in 1999, while teaching 5th grade, I had a kid that would not put down the book that he was reading.  All day long I had to ask him over and over and over again to put his book down.

"What are you reading anyway," I finally asked him.

"It's called Harry Potter," he told me.

Before long, all of the kids in my class were reading the infamous first book in the series and so was I.  I couldn't teach math or social studies because my students wouldn't put their books down.  And honestly, I didn't want to either!  It was out of control, I tell ya!  Books were everywhere!  It was mass reading chaos!

And in that was the moment my world shifted ever so slightly and reading became very, very cool.

Of course, being an elementary school teacher requires that you read a lot of children's fiction.  I feel in love with books that had been on the library shelves when I was in school but I never touched.  I read Holes aloud to my class every year and feel in love with it right along with my students.  I used phrases like, "Books are awesome!" and "Never stop reading!" and the students responded by thinking and doing just that.

But I haven't taught in over 10 years (okay, maybe I am getting old) and I have enjoyed Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Frog and Toad probably a little more than any parent should.  But I've been patiently waiting.  Waiting for my boys to be old enough to discover in childhood what it took me 25 years and 2 college degrees to discover: There are some really awesome books out there!

So the other day, I snuck the credit card out of the Golfer's wallet and went crazy on Amazon.  ("It's for the kids honey!  For the kids!")  Here's a little of what we'll be reading at our house this school year:

1. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
2. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
3. Tale of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
4. Frindle by Andrew Clements
5. No Talking by Andrew Clements
6. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
7. Picklemania by Jerry Spinelli
8. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

And this won't be the end of our list for sure, but the last thing I needed was for the Golfer to get some random phone call from the credit card company.

Yes sir, um...there is some suspicious activity on your account.  Seems that someone is trying to buy 52 new books on amazon.com?

And sadly, he wouldn't be shocked or surprised.  And gratefully, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Weekly Column: There's Only One

:: from coton-colors.com.  feel free to buy me one. ::

I love living in California.  You know I do.  But there's one time of year that I do not love living here.  Football season.

As a matter of fact, it makes me cry I miss game day so much.  Do I cry over missing my family?  My friends?  My home state?  Uh...no really.  (sorry, everybody.)  But sing the first few words to the OU Chant and tears will be running down my cheeks in no time.

Some of you may relate.  Some of you might think that I have lost my mind.  But I have a feeling that those of you who relate grew up wearing crimson and cream.

It seems silly, doesn't it?  That a girl could be so emotional about football?  But I have often said (and possibly right here on this very blog) that there has been one constant in my life: Section 5, Row 9 in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.  Let me explain.  My great-grandfather bought those tickets.  Our family has been sitting in that section on that row for--literally--decades.  Those seats are like home to me.

• As I little girl, I sat there when it was the weekend with my dad.  When you're parents divorce and you are an only child and a girl, weekends alone with your dad can be a challenge.  But game days were special.  I looked forward to them.  They were comfortable and fun.

• I sat there in college instead of the student section trying to spot the boy I liked across the field.  He was sitting in the student athlete section near the bottom with his teammates.  A bunch of cute golfers.  Eventually he came over to sit with me. 

• I sat there pregnant, focusing more on my game dog that the game itself.

• And most recently, I sat there with my 2 boys during an A&M game watching their whole faces smile with excitement and delight.  They are being raised as Californians, but they will always be Sooners. 

When we moved to California, I didn't officially get homesick until I turned on the television to watch the first home game.  I cried looking at the stadium.  All I could think was, "All the people we love are in the very same place."  Because of course they were.  There's no other place you'd rather be on a Saturday in the fall.

So every year around this time, I feel myself missing home, missing Norman (the city, not my dog.)  I miss the friends who would stop by our house for a cold beer before the game.  I miss meeting up with our family at The Library for a game dog.  I miss walking to the stadium, hearing strangers yell out, "Boomer!" to which of course you would reply, "Sooner!"

L.A. is great for a lot of reasons.  Wanna do some shopping?  This is your place.  Need a day at the beach?  Just minutes away.  Sure, there's some good college football here, but it just isn't the same.  I will fly our OU flag and the boys will wear their OU gear to school every Friday, but no one will really appreciate it.  I will wear a T-shirt in early October that says, "Beat Texas" and will remark several times throughout the season how much I hate the color orange and no one else in town will understand.  I will get up at 7AM every Saturday to watch College Game Day and will be furious when Fox Sports West shows a west coast team instead of our team.  My team.

Because after all, there's only one team that matters.  There's only 1 Oklahoma.