It’s been way too long… I’ve missed you guys!

Happy New Year! Man, it’s 2020… the roaring 20’s. My oldest graduates from high school this year. GULP! What did you do for New Year’s Eve? We didn’t ring in the new year like Gatsby, but we did get invited to a friend’s house for a NYE game night/pot-luck. There was tons of great food and lots of sparkly drinks (gingerale, people… where is your mind? This was a kid-friendly event.). My sensitive tummy HATED me for 2 days after all the cheese and bread and more cheese I ate (did I mention I consumed A.LOT.OF.CHEESE?). But the best part of the night was all the fun games we played.

Side note: we’re a big game family. Wait, that sounded weird. We’re not into “big game”, like hunting bears and elk (I don’t even know where elk live)... that’s gross. Let me rephrase. We love to play games. We have our favorites - ticket to ride, pig pile, exploding kittens (yes, that’s really a game and it’s SUPER fun).

Anyway… we took one of our favorite games to this NYE party and it was a hit! Dutch Blitz is a fast-paced, slap-your-neighbor, cross between solitaire, speed and getting into a fishtank with a very anxious electric eel. One of our daughters got it for Christmas and she’s a WHIZ. We’re all super competitive and this game DEF brings out the worst best in us. Fair warning: for the adults out there - check your heart rate while playing this game. You just might be able to skip your crossfit workout after you see how worked-up you get playing Dutch Blitz.

Enough about our New Year… I’m TRYING to get back into the swing of things and I just wanted to pop in and let y’all know what’s been up with me for the past little while. Ok, do me a favor and don’t ACTUALLY go back and calculate how long it’s been since I’ve blogged (or sent a newsletter or **insert mode of communication that I’ve not done in a while). Just take my word for it - it’s been a “fur piece” (My Granny used to say that and I’m not really sure what it means... but it’s a LONG TIME). I know you’ve been sad not having the opportunity to read all about what’s going on in “Laura Land”. But I’m here for you now… and for starters - it’s LOTS! LOTS has been happening! 

Just a little note about me - when I get overwhelmed, I do better when I can make a list. To do lists, running task lists, menu lists, chore lists (like when your family is fixin’ to visit and you haven’t vacuumed in 2 months and you need to clean ALL.THE.THINGS)... lists give me a goal and they make me feel better. So, below is my list of 10 things. What we’ve been up to. How I’ve been feeling (read: overwhelmed). What’s been happnin’ with the Amazing books. Everything… packed into a list of 10 (so probably not everything, but it’s close).

1. Nothing shakes up the holidays like an unexpected family tragedy. Please don’t ask because I really don’t want to talk about it - just know the week before Thanksgiving was A LOT to handle. What you need to know is that we’re ok, the kids are ok, our families are ok, the pets are ok, our home is ok, and we both still have jobs (well, Steve has a job and I own my own business). I hesitated putting this first, but it really shaped everything over the holidays (ie: the overwhelm, the lack of communication, etc.), so It needed to be up there at the top. Moving on now…

2. Thanksgiving. If I had to pick a favorite holiday (like on one of those “20 questions about me” things on Facebook), I’d have a hard time picking between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love Christmas because of the coziness of it, but Thanksgiving (read: ALL.THE.FOOD day) has always just made me feel good. The past few years Steve and I have hosted Thanksgiving, but this year was our first time doing the entire meal by ourselves. And we did a great job, if I do say so myself. I even made my FIRST pan of mac ‘n cheese. Yes, you read that right - I’ve never made mac ‘n cheese before…. can I even call myself southern? Well, thanks to Ree Drummond - NOW I CAN! 

3. According to wikipedia, a “helicopter parent” is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child’s or children’s experiences and problems. Ever since our family tragedy (see #1 on this list), I have been teetering between being there for the kids while giving them space. Trying to answer questions sufficiently but not too much. It’s hard. They don’t tell you this stuff when you leave the hospital with that sweet-smelling newborn that you’re just trying to keep alive. 

4. Our Christmas boxes are still in the guest room ready to go back in the attic. THERE! I said it. We’re lucky in that we have a full-size door in there that goes into the attic. It’s not one of those ceiling door things with the pull-down stairs that always sound like you’re going to crash to the ground, but I still hate going in there. Just use this as your warning if you’re wanting to come spend the night in our guest room - Christmas is still stacked in there (oh, and there aren’t any sheets on the bed… but I’ll get to that eventually too).

5. Alabama turned 200 years old on December 14th. My husband is the director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery and was/is on the statewide bicentennial commission and he has been super wrapped up with the planning FOREVER (actually it was 6 years, but it felt like FOREVER). The celebration was FANTASTIC, but I’m glad it’s over and we can go back to our usual schedule. I’m glad to have Steve back! 

6. My second book Amazing Georgia came out back in September, but I haven’t been able to work on publicizing and marketing it because I’ve been trying to get my third book finished. GOOD NEWS - Amazing South Carolina is DONE.DONE.DONE and at the publishers being edited (so I guess it’s not technically ”done”) and will officially launch in May. That is a HUGE sigh of relief and I feel like I can think about other things, rather than being so focused on finishing the book. It’s hard to enjoy the holidays when a massive deadline is looming. 

7. I totally missed the December Color-by-Month digital downloads. And January, since we’re all being honest with each other. I mean, why bare-your-soul if you’re not going to let it all out, right? I guess I’m going to take some time-off to rethink those. I love drawing them and based on the number of you who purchase them month-after-month - y’all seem to love them too! I’m so happy to be able to send a bit of joy your way every month, but alas - life happens.

8. I have been LOVING driving all over the place talking to kids about being an author and illustrator. As of right now, I’ve only visited schools in Alabama, but now that my schedule has opened up a bit (see #6 on this list) I’m gonna to start marketing to Georgia schools (and soon to South Carolina schools too… YAY!). You can find out a bit more about what a school visit entails by going here, but one of my FAVORITE types of visit is when we do an intro. to architecture workshop. This class is best for 4th graders and up and it’s wonderful to see how many truly talented kids there are out there. It’s such a shame that so many schools are cutting out art classes altogether. Of the 5 schools I visited in December, 4 of them had ZERO art classes.

9. Remember when you had your wisdom teeth out? Yeah, I remember mine, but I don’t remember how I fared. I was in the 11th grade and was one of the lucky ones who didn’t have any swelling, but I don’t recall if I was a good patient or if I gave my mom lots of trouble. Our 17 year old had hers out this past Friday and HOLY DRAMA, BATMAN! I don’t know what I was expecting, but the day of her surgery was a TRIP! Some good, some funny (OMG - have I got some videos), but mostly just really pitiful. She only had 3 teeth to begin with and her roots were non-existent, so it SHOULD’VE been pretty easy. In Theory. She’s back at school this week, but it was touch-and-go for a while. I mean, my sanity was touch-and-go. Thank God for “mommy juice” and lots of leftover Christmas candy. I may have indulged (read: self-medicated) a bit this past weekend.

10. I’m a Georgia Bulldawg at heart. I grew up in Athens and went to tons of football games when I was a kid, but I’ve also been a GA fan long enough to know that you never bet on the Dawgs. EVER. I’m happy with whatever wins they get. I’m not a fair-weather fan, but If they ever make it to the Natl. Championship, I’ll do my smack-talking and celebrating AFTER the game is over. Even though my whole family (99% of them, anyway) are all Clemson fans (“sorry” to everyone other than me and Dad), I have to say “Geaux Tigahs” (read: “go LSU tigers” in your best coach Ed Orgeron voice) after that incredible National Championship football win last night. It must be nice to cap off a Heisman win with a National Championship win!

There you have it. My 10 things from the past little while. I’ve missed everyone and I’m not 100% sure how often I’m going to be writing these going forward. I have a goal in my mind, but that goal may be completely unrealistic. That’s why I’m not going to divulge my goal to you all. 

See what I did there? Keep you hanging… longing for more. 

AND since I’m in truth-telling mode, I’m going to divulge one more little secret about me. Just to make you feel a bit better about yourself, I’ve only vacuumed my house 2 times since before Thanksgiving. I’ve straightened the house and done other things, but I hate to vacuum. Yeah, the dog’s hair is blowing around on the floor like mini-tumbleweeds. It’s gross, I know. But hey, I HAVE used the hand-vac a few times. Does that count? 

Since I just told you, I guess it’s not technically a secret anymore. Oops… 

Oh well, here’s to a fantastic 2020 anyway!