Life

The Little Things

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

As time flies by too too quickly, I am trying to think about and appreciate the little things.  The amazing smile and giggle of my little girl who can now climb up the stairs.  They are growing up so fast.  Noah is constantly amazing me with his verbal skills–he is picking up about 5 new words a day on average and I don’t see it slowing anytime soon. 

He makes Bill’s coffee every morning–we have a one cup coffee maker.  Yesterday we were talking about making daddy’s coffee

Me: Noah you want to make daddy’s coffee?

Noah: Sure, mom.

Bill: I’m going to take a shower.

Noah: Mom, maybe daddy’s takes a shower first, then I make his coffee.

Me: Okay. 

Where does this kid get this stuff.  He’s only 2 1/2.  Today he fell at school and has a huge fat lip.  So big he is having a hard time talking.  He cried and cried…I had to go and get him at school and bring him home.  He is growing so fast and it was so hard to have him in pain (it looks like it really hurts) and not be able to do anything about it.  He was a little better when I got home from school tonight but it still hurt him.  He finally let me give him some Tylenol. 

I am trying to find a way to get back to life.  I am feeling disconnected from the world and from myself.  I have allowed myself to be too busy to take care of myself.  I have some issues to deal with and confront.  I don’t feel as though I have the strength or energy to do it right now.  Am I hiding?  Maybe.  But I am coping and getting through.  I need to face the facts and the truth.  But right now it is the little things that are getting me through until I can deal with those bigger things.

Where Do All The Hours Go?

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

I have been a really bad blogger lately.  I haven’t posted as often as I should nor as often as I’d like.  But things are just busy.  We are leaving on Friday for a fabulous trip to St. Maarten courtesy of my mother.  Sadly, her travel planning skills suck ass, but we will get there.  Her travel decisions have us flying to Chicago on Friday night–spending the night then flying from Chicago to Charlotte–an hour layover in Charlotte and then flying on to St. Maarten.  This is a woman who never flew with small children–well any children really.  We drove on all of our family vacations.  It’s a lot easier to pack everything you need when you are in a car. I don’t think she fully appreciates the hassle it is to travel with two little one and having to schlep all their crap to and from an airport.  But, I will try hard not to look a gift horse in the mouth.  She is paying. 

We are also preparing to have our bathroom gutted and redone while we are gone so I am preparing for that as well as trying to get my homework done so that I don’t have to take it on vacay.  I am busy lining up my scuba diving classes and shark dive.  Yes, I said shark dive.  I am trying to find an underwater case for my camera, because it would suck to not get photos of me diving with sharks.  I mean really. 

I hope to post more, but we leave on Thursday.  So, let me know if you are interested in guest posting here while I am gone.  I’ll need a couple bodies to keep the lights turned on for me. 

Drop me an email….dawn at thedalaimama dot net.

How Much Is Too Much

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

Thanks for all your kind words about my photog business.  It has been in the making for a long time and I am happy to finally have it be “official.”  I certainly won’t get rich-as my availability is quite limited–as I have two kids, go to school, serve on the board of a non-profit, am learning how to write grants and serve as webmaster/designer for my mom’s website.  I swear that I also enjoy my husbands company.  It’s a shame we rarely get any quality time together. 

I was talking with hubby yesterday about my photog business and he quietly laughed and said that I must not think 5 jobs was enough.  I looked at him and he listed them….

“mom, wife, student, EOR board member/grant writer, webmaster, and now photographer.”

I had to remind him that I am not content unless I am doing all that I can.  I love being a wife and mother but neither of those things are fulfilling in and of themselves.  They bring me great joy but not enough to make me feel “complete.”  I love working with EOR and that is an awesome responsibility and pleasure.  It will keep me busy but there is more.  I don’t even want to talk about school.  It has become such a part of who I am as a person.  I have been in school the entire 12 years that my husband and I have been together.  I know he  is waiting for the day that he can know me as a non-student.  Webmaster for my mom is less of a job and more of an obligation.  But it’s really only something that I have to do two or three times a year.  So that’s not too bad. 

I think my hubby worries that I am taking on too much.  My photog business is going to be very relaxed and I only hope to do a few sessions a month.  Nothing major.  I know I don’t have a lot of time, but this is something that I have hoped and wanted to do since Noah came home and I really got back into photography again–I did go to school for it for a couple years.  I finally feel like I am nurturing my whole self. Like I have something for all the parts of me.  Maybe it will be too much.  Maybe I will become successful at it–I know I am already successful with taking pictures, but you know what I mean. 

I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I don’t want to wake up and wonder “What could have been.”  That would suck.

Busy Day

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

Hubby had an endoscopy today–no ulcer. YAY!!!!!!!!!!  Been working on doctoral paperwork for two or so hours for my meeting with my advisory committee tomorrow.  Tired and so very much want to finish the fourth book in The Twilight Series.   

Hubby giving me the evil eye–which means it is time to turn off the computer.  I think part of me is slowly dying inside. 

Later….

A Sad Day

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 13 Comments

We have to say good-bye to two of our family today.  Two of our cats–whom we welcomed into our home about three years ago–are not adjusting well to the second addition to our family.  They have stopped using their litter boxes and have made it impossible for us to keep them.  We are sad to see them go.  I am more sad, because I know that the chances of them finding a home a slim–they are close to four years old and lets be honest there is a pet-over population problem.  I feel horrible knowing that there is a real chance that I am sending them to their death and I am sick knowing that.  But I have to look out for the health and safety of my children and it isn’t good or healthy for safe for that matter for them to be around cat excrement and I am tired of washing and cleaning places I shouldn’t have to.  I have a hard enough time keeping the places I need to clean. 

The vet whom we adopted them from has agreed to take them back and made sure I knew that they couldn’t promise placement.  I wish I didn’t have to do this and it is so so sad. 

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This is them as kittens.  They are still just as cute.  Damnit!