It's time for school again, please god give me strength!

For the first time EVER, Natalie began all day classes at school, as she is now in First Grade. Man is this transistion going to be hard on both of us! She has never attended an all day program away from some sort of family member, so I'm not sure how she will react, or to be honest, how I will react! They grow up so fast, and it hurt me so bad to stand there all alone and watch her walk off as she prepared for her first big day. Although the school here in Vegas that she is enrolled in is only temporary until we sell our house in Northern Nevada and can move to Louisiana and get settled, it was still a big deal to both of us. It's times like this when I miss my mom the most. She'd be the first to call as soon as Natalie got home from school to find out how her day went. Of course, Ruben will call or vice versa - but still, it's not quite the same as girl talk with Grandma, in which I would get to snitch that Natalie got ahold of a pair of scissors and decided all by herself that she was old enough to cut her own hair. Not to worry, she only cut her bangs, but waaaaaaaaay too short. As for the rest of it, we went and had it cut prior to school, and she loves the new shorter look. Here's some pictures from her first day:

What to do in the meantime

Well it's officially been one month since my mother passed. I am somewhat homeless. Although our house in No. Nevada has not been sold yet, all of our belongings have been packed and moved to storage. Ruben is living out of a hotel in Louisiana, while I remain here in Las Vegas at my MIL with my kids. I really wasn't sure that I would be here this long, so it appears that first thing in the morning I will have to go register Natalie in school here - even though we should be ready to move within the next 2 months (I HOPE!) I don't really care for the school systems here in Nevada, but it's not like I can do much about it at this time. My dad took off for Mexico already. He left last weekend, same as my husband. He came down before heading to LA, and I got to spend 1 whole day with him. I was hoping for more time, but since his flight had to be cancelled due to last weeks National crisis in which they raised terrorist alert and heightened security, he had to drive the 1700 miles to New Orleans. But as a treat for him, I bought him new chrome rims and tires, and he bought me a new iPod as he wanted my old one for the trip. I've been trying to stay away from any of the scrap stores in town, because the more I look, the more I buy, and the more I buy, the more I want to scrap. So earlier this evening I did a little digi-scrapping. This is a first for me, so I hope the LO's don't look too awful. Yeah, I know, 3 in 1 day - but I needed the distraction to keep my mind off my mom.

Obituary.

Today, my Mom's Obituary hit the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Even though some time has passed since her death, the mourning still comes in waves....just not as often as it did at first. Sometimes it's silent tearful rememberances, while others can often be both good or bad dreams about her. My daughhter is taking it amazingly well, which makes me wonder if she's too young still to understand what's happened, or if she's just smarter than I give her credit for. All I know is that even though her death is coming more at ease to me, I still love and miss her terribly......and wonder if I am feeling more at ease, and mourning less, does that make me a bad person, like I don't care, or does it just mean that I am understanding and coping better? In any case, here is the obituary that my Dad wrote........

Published August 09, 2006. BRITTON, LINDA LIKE

On July 20, 2006, Linda June Like Britton, passed away from the arms of her loving family, into the embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Born June 10, 1946, in Washington, Ind. Linda was a woman of great faith and love for her family. She loved her music and singing. She also enjoyed scrapbooking. Linda was a retired insurance agent in Fairview, Ill., where she lived most of her life, and met her husband, Vincent Britton. She liked to travel and always wanted to see Rome, Italy. Linda's favorite time of year was Christmas. She was an active member of the Red Hat Society in Las Vegas and Mexico. She was a deaconess of the Full Gospel Las Vegas Church. Linda is survived by her husband, her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grand-children. She recently retired to Lake Chapala, Mexico, with her husband, where they enjoyed their retirement activities and many friends. Memorial was previously held.