Sweet Carolina Blog

Ooooh apartment living, how very strange you are. I lived my entire life in a ranch style house (my parents house) before getting married (minus a few early years I don't remember in a trailer and duplex). I romanticized the idea of apartment-living because it meant my OWN space! Freedom! And that first year or two, it was pretty fun. We collected our own furniture, most of which was bought for us or given to us.  In the years that followed, we quickly began to outgrow our space and "upgraded" to a 2-bedroom with close to 300 extra square feet. We quickly filled that up as well, but as long as I keep a handle on our clutter and try to toss or give away what we don't use or need, the space stays manageable.  My husband LOVES apartment living. Mainly because, we have no yard work to do, since he hates to mow. Also because, anytime something breaks, it's someone else's job to fix AND pay for it ;-) But there are some other odd things that take place when yo...

On Monday, September the 16th, 2002, at about 7:45 AM, I was on my way to Dr. Dan Strait's Advanced English Composition class. Driving my cute little, baby blue, '94 toyota tercel. I had stopped to get gas that morning near the Meijer grocery store and a thick fog hung in the early morning air. My favorite music to listen to in my very first car that summer had been Superchik, Switchfoot and A Walk to Remember Soundtrack. It was one of the best summers of my life, filled with new found freedom and the new adventure of heading to college.  The road was narrow that led down that steep hill into Wilmore, KY. I reached into the passenger seat of my car, averting my eyes from the fog filled road for just a brief moment to pick up my water bottle. As I reached, my steering wheel shifted with my gaze and the unfinished shoulder of the road began to rattle my car and my bearings. I swung back onto the road and back again attempting to regain control. At this point in the road, the sp...

  Life is full of so many choices. There could be many "right" choices and even the "wrong" ones can be made "right" by the way you react and respond to them. Something I have learned about my melancholy personality (based on Personality Plus by Maria Littauer) is that the melancholy personality labors over each decision. Not because we don't know what we want, but because we are afraid of making the wrong decision. Because to the "perfect" melancholy, everything should be just that: perfect. I fully believe in living and making decisions based on faith and NOT fear. I also know that God can redeem any foolish decision we do happen to make. So that should ease my mind, right?  I face this dilemma now because I sense that I am at a crossroads in life. For the first time in over 10 years I am completely unemployed. I have applied to various jobs and received a couple of interviews. A note on something I have learned, but no one r...

Wow, our lives have changed sooo much even just since January. Let me start from a little before then. Last Christmas was probably my most difficult. Christmas has always been a magical, fun time for me. I love getting around family, giving and receiving cool presents. I love the food and the laughter and the conversations. Last year, I was the sickest I have been...maybe ever, but at least in a long time. We had been talking about the possibility of having children in the next year or two, possibly we might start "trying" in April of that next year. Well, with my laryngitis voice,  I told my husband, next year for Christmas, I wanted a baby. Lol. So, whether it seemed like the best time financially or not, I knew our family was missing a little somebody. I wasn't given all this heart and passion for children just to shower it on other people's children, although that had been working out just fine. I knew I was designed to take care of my own little kiddos. So in Mar...

December 19th we said goodbye to little Joshua.  He will be attending a daycare close to his mommy's place of employment. It is sad to say goodbye to the joyful little boy whose life I was a part of since he was only 3 months old. In the business of childcare, the hardest part is opening your heart to each child, only to eventually say goodbye and know that they might never remember you or the time they spent with you. It's a lot of investing yourself and your emotions, never really sure of the return on that investment. I try to trust that even if they don't actually remember me, they will remember the love and the care and the fun. They will remember they were loved and cared for during those pivotal moments and years of their lives, someone thought they were special. That is my prayer for each child in my care. All the children that I watch in my home now have wonderful families. During my time in traditional daycares, I couldn't always be sure of that.  There a...

Day, let's say 8 of laryngitis 2012: Not sure why I get laryngitis nearly once a year, but I am sure of the near torture it provides. 1-2 days of silence is difficult, but bearable. 5+ days becomes, in short, depressing. There is no real way to "cure" laryngitis. Things I have tried: 1) ibuprofen/acetaminophen to reduce swelling of the vocal chords/larynx 2) constant drinking water (followed by trips to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so...annoying, lol) 3) hot tea with lemon and honey. and hot tea with simply honey 4) vocal rest (i.e. NO talking or vocalising of any kind) 5) humidifier 6) Gargling with hydrogen peroxide and water solution (to decrease any infection) 7) saline nose spray, to combat post nasal drip That may or may not be everything I've tried. I truly believe I deal with a pretty constant post nasal drip throughout the year. Most likely, this is from allergies undiagnosed. My aim last december (after my last bout with laryngitis), was to be ...

So, a little bit about this baby business of mine. A good, cheap form of birth control? Ha! Sometimes, yes. I have always loved children. I grew up the oldest of four, with my youngest siblings as young as ten and thirteen years younger. So I was quite the little mom. I graduated from college WITH a music degree and WITHOUT any real ability to play any instrument, other than the one God gave me from birth...i.e. my voice. Not a lot to recommend me for a job in that field (note: a later post about whether or not college is a great idea for everyone). I had oodles of experience in childcare! I easily got a job at Walnut Hill Day school, an adorable, peaceful looking place. And funnily enough, the director was really impressed by my music degree. Not that I made any real use of it there, but it was enough to set me apart and so I suppose it was useful. I worked there for a year and a half and eventually got a Pre-K music teaching job at another local daycare! So, this music degree ...