SimplistiKate

March 12th, 2017 I just spent the whole day tidying my house. Not cleaning, tidying, like picking up everybody's stuff laying around the house. Seriously though, I love tidying. The picking up and putting things back in their place. Finding the missing sock and marrying it back to its lone mate, finding toys stuffed between seat cushions and putting them in their rightful place, making the kids bed and putting their favorite toy or stuff animal as the centerpiece of their bed, laundry is caught up, just the simple act of putting things back into their place. It's work, but it's refreshing the rest of the week knowing lost items were found, broken pieces tossed, and everything is put in its rightful place, at least for that  day. My floors still need cleaned, urine clings to bathroom toilets, tabletops need dusted, but everything is tidy. I feel like I can breathe more easily when I can see floor space or counter space. Though I still have a whole list of rooms that need c...

Life is so noisy. What I think I really mean is life is so busy, but saying it's noisy sums up more of the overall feeling to life right now. It is a pounding, reverberating headache that ceases to alleviate. It's 1 o'clock Saturday morning, and I had finally dozed into a dream when I heard the cry of my son, Leo. Instantly, I knew the cry. It was the cry for help, he had gotten sick. For a split second I squeezed my eyes shut hoping his cry would fade away, so I could enter back into the dream that still loomed in my head. But instead, I quickly shot out of bed, grabbed the trash can from the bathroom, just in time for his first rounds. Poor kid. Earlier, he had fallen asleep on the couch with a low fever and I had hoped that that would be all it mounted to. Again, poor kid. The thing about sickness is, once one person gets it it is a matter of time before the rest of the crew catches it too. Leo is the 4th to last to get this. Now it's looming when Luke will come down...

Trial, hardship, brokenness, death, and loneliness. Shea has been through everything. What I love about this gal is she is figuring it out as she goes. Keeping close friends and her older sister a phone call away, she knows it isn't good to be alone. With the tragedy of her mothers death, followed by her fathers death just a couple years later, this young woman knows heartbreak. A void fills her. Nothing can replace her mom or dad, no one can replace your family. Shea joined the National Guard right out of high school. When I asked Shea what made her want to join the Guard, she said "Honestly, it's because of cheerleading, competitive cheerleading actually. I was in the best shape of my life, I loved how we had to work together as a team, I loved stunting and knowing that you are being depended on to make a stunt work. After my senior year of High School I missed it, I craved that kind of teamwork, that kind of family. So the closest thing to it was the National Guard, so ...

This gal and I are two peas from a similar pod. We both enjoy decorating, organization, flowers, wine/beer/margaritas, children, Mary Kay, vintage inspired things, furniture, books, our husbands, cheerleading/dance/ballet, etc. But there are so many things about this woman that make her truly unique. Melissa Woodward always has a good book to recommend, profound knowledge about WWII, or any era for that matter, she's a mother and a step-mother, she has an obsession with the color teal, and she loves Colorado (her home state). Enjoy getting to know her more yourself, she's one heck of a lady... Why do you hold such a passion for WWII? After my great grandfather passed away this spring, I really felt a need to honor him in some way. This just fits. My great grandfather, Burdett Cain, was a Master Sargent in the Army Air Core during WWII. He worked on B24s and was stationed in Italy during the Allies occupation. He and I were very close, closer than the average great grandp...