UP and down

2014 certainly has not been dull. It's been a roller coaster of highs and lows.

I got a new car. Chrysler 300 S. It is the nicest, smoothest, sleekest, smartest vehicle I've ever been inside, I love it! I could live in that car.

In the winter I took my daughter to a play area in a mall, this winter was just too cold to even spend much time playing in the snow so we spent a lot of time at the mall. My daughter pushed...lightly...another little girl-this set off the other mother into a bizarre fit of rage. The woman began screaming, cursing and threatening me with physical violence. And she was dead serious. I was very cautious of how I handled this situation but I suppose ultimately I did the right thing seeings that everyone left unharmed, though this ridiculous spectacle did end with a police report filed against her and not surprisingly was broadcast on a local news source. One of the things that upsets me the most is that this 'woman' was so aggressive and violent towards me- there was at least one hundred people in the very nearby area and not one single person did or said anything to help out a mom with a child. Watching an adult behave in such a way is still and forever will be very hard to even believe.

On the lighter LIFE LISTING side, we went to Disney on Ice, I took a French Cooking Class with my long lost girlfriend and ran into another old friend there. We're on our 7th Hula Class getting ready for our 3rd my show this summer. We survived a polar vortex, arctic blast and pothole purgatory. We paid off my braces and I completed my invisalign treatment to which I'm very happy with my teeth and too afraid to fix the few small things I don't like since the last time I got a new retainer it chipped my tooth! My husband and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary at the shooting range where a complete ass who was standing right next to us, with zero muzzle discipline, pointed his handgun directly at my head standing about 2 feet away. Like my husband says "Never point your gun at something you aren't willing to destroy." If I ever see this nut again I'm going to engrave that on a wristband to serve as a daily reminder to just be PLAIN RESPECTFUL towards people who ARE NOT attacking you!

We booked our cruise to the Bahamas and our good friends surprised us and are coming with! We're all very excited. I think the only thing missing from our trip to Disney last year was that we didn't have anyone with us so this ought to be an ever better trip!

We've been internationally spoiled, my Indian student and his roommates cooked us, my Brazilian friend hand made us sushi, my Russian student brought us a bunch of treats on her recent trip to Europe.Then another friend cooked me a traditional Filipino meal! One of my student's mothers sent me my very own Sari from India, which was a terrific surprise and not to mention a LIFE LIST item of mine!

We gutted our bathroom...it's about 400x the amount of work I expected it to be but it'll look great when it's done. We had our mud room, living room and main hallway repainted and it looks great, we're very happy with the new look.

I had some problems at work which was extremely stressful but thankfully things have calmed down now.

I think I had about 9 different viruses and colds....severe headaches...but feeling very good now!

I am no cook. I just don't see the point. Everything I make tastes terrible. I'd rather just make some toast...or a juice. But one day I got a little overzealous and attempted to make guacamole. It was so hot I felt dizzy and thought I was going to pass out. The volcanic eruption of heat did not end there...apparently I am the only moron who does not know that when you're cooking with hot peppers YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH THE SEEDS...but I didn't just 'touch the seeds...incidentally I chopped them up and added them to the guac....but that's also not where I stopped either...since I obviously do not have the correct instruments with which to make guacamole I had to use an improvisational method of turning it into a paste..so I used my bare hands. That's right I squished all those ingredients together and smashed jalapeno pepper seeds deep into the pours of my hands. For 9 hours I felt as if I was holding a scalding curling iron in each hand. Just imagine that...picking up the hot end of 2 curling irons...and sitting on the couch watching TV while you hold them in your hands...for 9 hours. At 3h in the morning I was laying in bed with winter gloves on my hands which were resting on ice packs whimpering and praying for it to go away. I finally passed out from shock of this incendiary vegetable. I guess I learned a lot that day.

My family met up in southwestern Tennessee....last minute my mom convinced me to take my daughter-we made it to southern Kentucky. A series of events forced me to turn around. We ended up staying the night in Dayton Ohio. Initially, I was disappointed but my daughter frequently talks about our 'bacation' to the hotel with breakfast and swimming. So, the fact that she had fun on our very busted trip makes me smile.

Then we hosted Easter dinner at our house which included my parents, my sister, the Brazilian family, the Russian student, the Indian student and all his roommates. It was 9 internationals to 6 Americans...and it was the best Easter we've ever had.

I've got a ton of things in the works and I'm juggling a million different ideas, plans and adventures! But, right now things are really great and I'm very excited about the rest of the year!