Shopaholic in Alabama

Do you ever have a brief moment of clarity?  It could be about anything life throws your way - a gut instinct regarding a career change, a relationship change, or a change in your habits? Oprah calls these "Ah Ha" moments, and I'm inclined to agree. Last week I was faced with evacuating from my home here at the beach due to the pending arrival of Hurricane Isaac. Luckily, our area was mostly spared from any damage and turns out evacuation probably wasn't necessary...but I still had to go through the motions.  After packing up all my important papers (deeds, titles, insurance documents), my wedding photos (I got married such a long time ago there are no electronic copies) and my jewelry - I was standing there in my spare bedroom looking at the contents of my closet. Then I looked at my second closet. I had to decide - what to take and what to leave. As you can imagine, the entire process was completely overwhelming. It was in that moment that I went "Ah Ha...

My 42nd birthday is Sunday. I usually like to have a big and fun birthday celebration with family and friends - a beautiful cake - a fancy dinner out - and all the trimmings. This year, it's going to be a little bit different, I fear. Our Nanny is not doing very well. Last night her blood pressure went down to 88/41. My Mother has spent the last two nights at her house. Nanny is also having complications from the breast cancer surgery and isn't healing at all.  Last night we also found out that my husband's mother, who is a 15 year breast cancer survivor, was in the hospital. Apparently she went in on Monday for a procedure (we had no idea, weren't told this was happening) and got sick and is having complications.  I do know this - I have a ton of fun dresses planned out to wear, no matter where the weekend takes us. :-)  It's also been another crazy week at work, I'm so happy to see Friday. Hope your week has been good!