Bless the Broken Road

Have you ever heard the song by Rascal Flatts?

It talks about the heartbreak suffered in your past but also gives thanks for that heartbreak because it leads you to where you are now, to who you're with now.

I'm not a huge Rascal Flatts fan, but I really love this song! It has such a good message. I have suffered plenty of heartbreak in my past; ended relationships and friendships, divorce, real true heart wrenching pain from losing someone or finding out that you never really had someone.

But here's the good part...this pain and heartbreak has lead me to where I am now; to my Husband who I thank God for everyday, to my "true" friends, to my family and my kids who I appreciate more now than ever before! If it weren't for all of the bad before, I wouldn't have gotten to the good now!

Has heartbreak led you to where you are now? Looking back, was it worth it?

Thank God that he blessed the broken road that led me to here!

Merry Christmas!

I have been so lax in keeping everyone up to date on what's going on in the Bouziden household and I apologize!!! But I did want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Hi Luis!

Sorry everyone else, I promised a friend!!!

Yes We Can

It's a great day in American history; a day we can all be proud of! We have officially named our President-elect Barak Obama and the change that is coming for our great nation has me overwhelmed with enthusiasm!

When I think of the millions of supporters all over the world that are cheering today, it gives me so much pleasure to be among those supporters!

To know that the United States will get the respect of countries and leaders from all over the world because we have finally stood up and said we will not continue to be narrow minded and we the people demand a change; it invigorates me to be involved in any capacity that I can!

It is time for us to come together as one people and to lift up this great nation; YES WE CAN!

5 things you may or may not know about me!

1. I'm a huge, orange blood spilling, Oklahoma State fan. I moved to Oklahoma at 6 years old with absolutely no family ties to Oklahoma, therefore was never a fan of either team. My Mom hated Oklahoma and everything about it, so I did too, I even cheered for Texas when I was a kid, because all the other kids were cheering for OU. But when I started dating my ex-Husband back in 1995, he took me to my first OSU football game and it just so happened to be Bedlam down in Norman, it was the first time OSU had beaten OU in like forever, and I've been a true blue (I mean, orange) fan ever since. Some people thought that after my divorce that I wouldn't be an OSU fan anymore, but once you have been a Cowboy, you're always a Cowboy! No band wagon hopping for Cowboys like the hopping that's been known to go on down there in Norman! Oh yeah, did I mention that my Pokes are 7-0 and ranked 6th in the BCS poll?!

2. I love to shop! And I'm pretty darn good at it, when I was a stay at home Mom and had more time, I was even better! Love to find those name brands at great discount prices! Headed to An Affair of the Heart this weekend, building upon building of shopping...it's like Heaven!

3. I love Coca-Cola! And I don't understand how something so fabulous can be so bad for me! I used to drink about a 12 pack a day when I was married, of course that was Cherry Coke. I've way slowed down, only a couple a day, and my favorite is Braum's Coke...try it!

4. My very best gal friend is Jen! We have actually only been friends for about 3 years, but she was recommended by Bridget, who I've known practically since birth, and when she moved to Wisconsin she left me and Jen here to fend for ourselves. So, we've adjusted to being best gal pals...of course, now she's leaving me to move with her honey bunny to Colorado Springs so I hope my Husband is ready for his new task as my best gal friend!

5. I've never broken a bone. I think this is quite a feat as everyone I know has broken some bone, at least a finger or something, but not I! I've never had a cavity either...must have something to do with calcium or something, that I have such strong healthy bones and teeth?!

I know you feel enlightened and so much smarter having read this blog entry all about ME!

CFHusband

Wow, twice in one day!

Now, on a more serious note, please check out the blogs at right...especially Confessions of a CFHusband. This is an amazing story of a husband who's wife has Cystic Fibrosis and they have a micro-preemie daughter.

The positive attitude that this family has is absolutely amazing, even after all the turmoil that they have had in their short life together! It's truly inspirational, especially when the worst thing I have to bitch about is carpool and numerous weekly football games. I'm sure Nate and Tricia are looking forward to the day that their biggest worry is how they are going to make it to all of Gwyneth's dance recitals!

God bless you all and your in my prayers!

Cell Phones

How did we live without them? I pose this question because Derek and I have just received a 3rd cell phone, for Tyler and Hunter to share...they're 12 and 9 years old.

Isaac didn't get his first cell phone until he was 13 years old, but we found that it would be easier at ball games, the mall, etc. to give the phone to Tyler if he isn't with us so that we can get a hold of him and/or Hunter.

Is it that we're lazy? Are we too lazy to get up off our fat butts and walk those fat butts to find them? Isn't that what our parents had to do? I need the exercise, it definitely wouldn't hurt for me to have to do that.

Or is it about time? Is my time so precious that I can't be bothered to go look for them, instead I'll just call?

I don't know the answer, I'm sure it's a combination of many factors, but I can say this...I love technology!

Great Success

Have you seen the movie "Borat"? It's definitely not for kiddos, but my Husband thinks it's one of the most fabulous movies of all time. In the movie, Borat uses the phrase "Great success" quite a bit, in his Kazhakstan-like accent, and my Husband has adopted this phrase as his own (accent and all).

My Mom threw us a wedding reception this past Sunday and can I just say in my best Borat voice, Great Success. It was perfect, great company, good food, everything went off without a hitch. We have had a ton of compliments and I am so happy at the turnout.

Reception

My Mom is throwing my husband and I a reception this Sunday, to celebrate our recent nuptials and I'm freaking out a little bit...6 days and it's crunch time, Mom and I are starting to stress!

I used to be so good at throwing parties, and I'm only helping with this one, but I'm really stressed about it!

Any advice...quick?!

Lonely

Have you ever had that feeling, the one where you are in a room with a ton of people and you feel completely alone? It's a terrible feeling, one which I experience way too often. What causes that? I think for me, it's when someone hurts my heart so badly that I don't think anyone can possibly understand the way that I feel at that moment, making me feel very alone!

Do people really intentionally hurt others? When someone hurts you, does it make them feel better?

I have hurt people before, usually it ends up hurting me way more than it ever hurt them! I've hurt people unintentionally, and always feel so miserable for being so mean or spiteful or inconsiderate or whatever it was that caused me to lash out! I think it's been a really long time since I have hurt someone intentionally; and I can't imagine hurting someone that I love intentionally, I would feel so miserable about it!

So, why do people hurt others, intentionally? What do you consider intentional, having no regard for that person's feeling or knowing that a decision that you make is going to hurt them and you do it anyway? And how many times do you forgive and forget? And how long do you let them chip away at you before you've had enough?

If you have hurt someone recently, intentionally or unintentionally, say "I'm sorry" and love them, in whatever way possible, love them! You have no idea how lonely they feel with that hurting heart that you caused, apologize, ask forgiveness, and try to never hurt again!

Lax...No, Busy?!

I was feeling like I had been very lax last week, but I really wasn't, just very busy!!!

4 football games, football practices, a Birthday party, a sick 12 year old, the doctor's office, a concert, brother in town, OSU football, errands, house cleaning, work, husband, attorney; I think I fit some sleep in there somewhere.

Oh yeah, also my father-in-law in the hospital 2 weekends in a row...heart trouble, please keep him in your prayers!

No time to blog today either, currently at work, followed by errands, football practice, a football game, and time with the hubby!

I promise to try to be more sociable this coming week!

They're not Gypsies!

I've been having trouble sleeping, on and off, for several months; so my doctor prescribed me some wonderful little pills called Ambien. When I've had a few restless nights, I will usually take one to get a good night's sleep. I took Ambien several years ago when I was going through my divorce, my doctor pretty much said drugs or the psych ward and I went the drug route.

When I took it before, I would have episodes when if I didn't fall right to sleep I would have these strange things happen (all in my mind of course). So one evening back then, I was laying in bed and there were all these gypsies just hanging out in the room with me. Imagine my soon to be ex-husband's surprise when I called him at 11PM to say that my room was full of gypsies, his response was "Laura, turn on the light", wah-lah, the gypsies were gone.

Fast forward to the present, last night I took an Ambien, after several restless nights. This morning as I'm driving to work, my husband Derek called, he informed me that from now on if I take Ambien he is sleeping in the other room because I was snoring like a freight train. He also mentioned that as I was falling asleep, I told him that our bedroom closet was full of people, but I kept saying "They're not gypsies". Of course, he was completely puzzled by the entire event...so after the above explanation, he understood my strange comment, "They're not gypsies".

This is the reason the warning on the label says, "DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY"!!!

Secret

So, in my dashing this morning (having to deliver 3 children to 3 different schools creates this dashing) I some how managed to forget to put on deoderant. As I'm driving to my first school (yes, I'm practically a bus driver), I'm arguing with myself, in my head of course, about how I could have possibly forgotten such an important task. I reach the conclusion that I'm a just a crazy basket case with B.O.

After my first two stops, I find that I have about 15 minutes before I have to be at the 3rd stop so Hunter and I run into Wal-Greens in search of Secret deoderant. $15 later, thanks to the fact that I can't stay on task and only purchase the one thing that I went in for, we're in the car and I'm putting on deoderant and feeling like a real loser for forgetting it in the first place. My wonderful little Hunter, sensing my disdain for myself, informs me that at least now I will have deoderant at work and should I forget it again I won't have to stop at Wal-Greens. Thanks to that very insightful 9 year old, I don't feel like such a loser anymore!

www.mealpayplus.com

I have discovered the coolest thing. Maybe I'm behind on the times and this is nothing new, but it's new to me. www.mealpayplus.com; you can monitor your kids lunch money on this website. You can even make payment toward their lunch accounts on this website. I love it, with my kids being in multiple households, this is huge!

So, if you are an Edmond public school parent, you should definitely check into this. Call your children's individual schools and get their ID number from the cafeteria, register on the website and you're ready to go...it's AWESOME!!! I'm sure it's available for other school districts as well, so check into it.

I love technology!

Overwhelmed...

...is what I'm feeling today! Ever had one of those days, well sure you have?! It's Tuesday, seems way to early in the week to be overwhelmed...but Hi, I'm Laura and here I am; OVERWHELMED!

I really don't even know where to start, maybe it started yesterday with work, followed by 2 (yes, 2) football games, then not getting home until 10PM. Today, work, 2 (yes, 2) football games, and my Husband wants to go to the State Fair. It's only Tuesday, I've done enough for the whole week already. We still have days of football practices, football games, homework, Mommy work, Husband work, Birthday parties...and by then it will only be Friday! AAAHHH...can you hear me screaming, listen closely because I'm sure you can!

I'm not looking for sympathy, trust me I know way to many Moms to even think about that...I just need to vent! And vent! And vent! And vent some more!

I love my life, I love my God for giving it to me...and I also love Him for providing the prescription "please make me normal" pills that I take everyday!

Today I'm a Sister!

I have to toot my sisterly horn today! My brother, the Marine, just made Staff Sergeant...woo hoo, oh wait...it's ooh rah! He is going to be leaving his fabulous Missouri locale to head back to the West coast, oh darn, I'm going to have to go visit Southern California again!

I promised my boys that I would take them this time, so they will be thrilled, my husband too...darn, we all have to go visit Southern California!

I have a half brother that lives out there too, so my Dad has his best chance at having all of his kiddos together when J is stationed out there; I'm sure he is thrilled as well!

Bottom line is I'm extremely proud of my brother...and ROAD TRIP!!!

Everyone is doing it!

So, you know how your kids will hit you with that statement..."but Mom, everyone is doing it"...and you really don't want to sound like your own Mom, but you hear the words coming out of your mouth before you even realize it..."if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too"?!

Well, the question is raised because I find myself starting a blog. What is the reason? Am I doing it because "everyone is doing it"? Wow, what would my kids say right now?

The answer, by the way, is NO! Although nobody may find my life at all interesting, I happen to be a fan and think it might be fun to blab about it! I promise to be honest and forthcoming. This may not be a good thing and I may upset some people (i.e. my husband and kiddos) when I get going but the reason I'm doing this is so maybe the people that do read can say to themselves "you know what, her life is just as screwed up as mine". And I promise it is, you are not alone!