HOW MUCH IS NORMAL?

We are having a heatwave here in Michigan. It is so hot and humid here you can't even breathe. My air conditioners couldn't keep up with the heat, so we decided to shut off the bedrooms and at least let them be cooled down. Seriously, it's so hot here that during the day I think it's safe to say my air conditioned bedroom was at least 80 degrees!

In an effort to stay busy while locked up in my bedroom (my son is away at camp and hubby is off to work) I decided to organize my closets. Now, let me tell you, I love a good "deal". I never pay retail for anything. (Not even my wedding dress!) I use that to justify why I buy so much. I love to shop. I almost get a high off from it. I love news things. I don't necessarily buy very expensive things, but I buy a lot.

I don't think I realize how much stuff I actually bought until I started organizing the closets. I use to have it set up so that all my "casual" pants (khakis and such) were folded up on shelves. Well, I got a closet unit and it gave me twice the hanger space, so I hung all my pants up on hangers. I'm not sure I like this new way because the majority of my clothes are staring right at me when I open the closet door. No more ignoring them on the shelves. Not counting jeans (or what was in the wash) I had 27 pairs of pants. My husband counted because he was appalled. I think that sounds like a lot, but I'm not sure that's so out of the ordinary. I probably have about 15 pairs of jeans, and I'd say 10 pairs of sweats, and only 5 pairs of shorts. Add it together it sounds like a lot. Look at it in my closet, not so much.

Which leads me to the question: How much is normal? How many pieces of clothing does the average woman have?

HOME

I had a dream about Hawaii. I dreamt that I was back in Hawaii and I just feel so complete and kept on saying, "I'm home. I'm home. This is where I belong."

My heart belongs to Hawaii. There is no doubt in my mind. Even know, writing about it makes my heart hurt. I feel homsick for it, even though Michigan is where I've lived all my life. My heart truly belongs to Hawaii. 

Someday we will move there. 

TIME FLIES

Has it really been a month since I last posted. That is the longest I've went without writing since I started this blog.

So many things have been happening in my life: I was awarded enough grant money to finish up my degree. Awesome. My son received a scholarship that will pay for about half of his tuition. More awesome! My husband went back to work today. MOST awesome!

We took my son to talk with his guidance counselor at his new school. We all left there feeling like this is where he is supposed to be. I think it's going to be a great experience for him. I can not wait. I went from being really anxious, to being super excited.

Our puppies are growing like crazy.

They are so cute. But are getting into the whiny stage, especially at night, which drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!

Like I said, my husband is back to work, but he is still planning on starting his own business. We talked with our attorney last week, and he advised me that if I really wanted to push the issue he believes my former employer would have to buy me out of my contract, which had three and a half years left. I'm sure they don't want to do that. I know they don't have the money to do that. I don't think he will be a problem.

Funny side note to that situation: they had a temp in the office, and instead of sending me a copy of my contract as requested she sent me a copy of what my employer submitted to the Unemployment Office. I could have died. It was one full page of (very poorly written) lies, signed by the owner of the company. He claimed I did things in the office on dates I wasn't even employed! It was completely insane. Now I know what kind of person I am dealing with, and I can not be more thankful to be out of there.

With all the good things that have been happening for us, there have been bad. A few weeks ago a family friend took his own life. It was a complete shock to everyone who knew him- especially his wife and children. We knew he was having some problems, but nothing that would lead to this. Nothing. I will write more about it later, because I want to share with you the amazing funeral they had for him. It was amazing.

Until then.

God bless.