Our Nick is coming!!!

The Welch household is full of excitement these days. Our beloved Nick is coming to sunny North Carolina at the end of next week for a 10 day visit… and we could not be happier! He is bringing with him his lady love Amber, & stepdaughter Jade- who is aged in between Rikki & Lilly, so it will be an estrogen extravaganza! We were planning an excursion to Washington DC, but it looks like Myrtle Beach, SC may be our destination. Such a hard choice! But…nothing beats warm white sand in between your toes, a cool breeze, and waves rolling in as the Pelicans glide inches above the water. There is a seaside amusement park with roller coasters that look out into the Atlantic, MidEvil Times dinner theatre, and tours of old southern plantations. Sounds like a great memory making experience! We will get to be there for Easter Sunday too.Lilly will love finding eggs hiding on the beach I am sure!

Lilly received all A’s and B’s on her report card, and will get an honor roll award certificate later this week. She is so proud of that accomplishment because she has really been struggling in Math and thought she was going to get a bad grade. She also was “asked out” by a fellow 5^th grader named Greyson on Friday. She isn’t allowed to have a boyfriend until she is 14, but for some reason, she went ahead and accepted his offer. BLECH!

Rikki’s grades could be better. She currently has high C’s in her honors civics and geometry. She is always pissed because here, the schools operate on a 7 point system, so that means 93-100 = A, 86-92 = B, 79-85 = C and 72-78 = D, and 71 and under = a big fat F. So, she is sitting at 78 and 77 in those classes at present, and none to happy about it. But, she needs to study – I was going to say harder, but the kid doesn’t study at all. She gets these grades really with minimal effort, so I know that if she actually studied, she’d be killing it!

Soon I will need to go shop for them, because Lilly is so tall and looks me straight in the eye, and Rikki is hard on her jeans, although she is not getting any bigger, they all have holes in them, and we have no local Nana to mend them!

I also am in need of a little shopping, because my pants are all falling off of me, but I don’t want to get new stuff now, and then again in 2 months, etc.

I guess that leaves Rick shit outta luck! Nothing will be left for him. Poor fella! Lol!

Ticks' the season!

Oh man! Temperatures here have been amazing! We have consistently had sun filled days in the 70’s and today 85 and we LOVE it! Along with beautiful springtime southern weather comes the “nasties.” In a word…ticks. Ack! I can hardly even say it without quivering! My girlfriend Jen called me yesterday, telling me she had 3 nasties crawling on her from being out weeding the yard! Makes this girl not want to play outside- I have far too many nooks & crannies a tick would have to hide in! LOL!

Events taking place at the Welchs lately…as I have said before, Rick is coaching the high school track team sprinters and relay teams, and having a lot of success! He has helped them to achieve proper hand off technique and has developed a weekly workout schedule that the head coach supports, and has made several occasion to personally thank and credit “Coach Welch” for his efforts and enthusiasm.

Speaking of “Coach Welch”, the younger Ms. Welch is coaching too, the high jumpers specifically. In fact, she has done a phenomenal job with the kids, who were being taught incorrect technique by another coach, and was able to not only help them correct it, but has succeeded in getting 4 jumpers to actually clear the bar for their first times! The kids openly attributed their success to her in front of the former “experienced” coach and high school teacher, much to his dismay. I have to just say how proud I am of her spunk; the former coach attempted to redirect the jumpers, saying that Rikki was wrong, and she stood right up to him explaining that he had been teaching it wrong and because of that the kids were jumping into the bar instead of over it. After a bit of research by the head coach, he confirmed that Rikki was indeed, correct! Way to go Coach Welch, Jr.!

Miss Lilly has surprised me lately. The last two mornings, she has left for school wearing a bit of light green eye shadow and mascara! She actually did a good job- I am guessing Rikki must have taught her a few techniques. I’m not prepared for both of my babies to be growing up as fast as they are. But, even still, Lilly remains a play-in-the-dirt type of girl, and I love that about her- but now I’m freaked because of the Ticks! Gross! She is currently trying to sweet talk me into a cell phone, but we are not going down that road yet! (If you don’t recall- Rikki ran up a 2400$ bill her first month with a cell phone!) So, we are just keeping that at bay as long as possible.

Bloom

Hey there y’all!  Things are looking mighty beautiful around these parts. All of the flowering dogwoods are in bloom with brilliant white blossoms that seem to dot the rolling landscape perfectly. Raleigh is defiantly full of life in the Spring time. People seem to be in better moods altogether; we have yet to see any sign of real southern hospitality here in NC. Rick & I did get it in Charleston, SC, but that was it. My favorite thing is walking out my front door on foggy mornings; the thick warm mist is only broken by the sound of thousands of frogs off in the woods croaking love ballads to one another. I’ve really come to adore their song. The sunsets right now are amazing! Orange and red paint the skies for miles.

I have been quite busy lately & am missing Rick & the girls lots! I have been working until 8pm this week, then coming home kissing everyone really quick, and jumping feet first into the creation of my Isagenix business. I have come to realize that working for someone else is not getting me (or my family) where we need to be. I’m really not suited well to spend 40 hours of my life in a depressing blue cubicle trading hours for dollars, only to be under appreciated and under paid. I think that with the changing times, holding a traditional type job is becoming obsolete and network marketing is the business of the future. So, I am in this to build the strongest future for my family that I possibly can in this lifetime.

Rick has been an entirely priceless support person. He is helping me out by keeping the household chores done, monitoring a very social teen and a carefree tween! That takes a lot of dedication! And that is all in addition to his workweek at Sara Lee. Rick has also taken up coaching track at Corinth Holders HS. He is really loving being out there teaching the sprinters technique and helping identify the talent.

I have not seen much of the girls this week, although I can say that Rikki received a package in the mail from Spokane (ahem- from a boy) and she could not have been more excited! Inside she found not 1, but 2 heart shaped boxes of chocolates, a stuffed teddy bear and a beautiful heart shaped diamond necklace that looks fantastic with her dark hair. Ryan (the boy and our future B.A.S.I.L) also included a letter to her, and a letter to Rick, Lilly and I. We all adore him.

Lilly- I suppose she’s been running amok with her girlfriends. She has been doing fantastic at keeping her room clean, I am all too proud to report!

Until next week…love you all Spokane!

It's March!

 Erin Go bragh!

We had a FANTASTIC weekend enjoying 83 degree temps and loads of sunshine. We (Rick, I & both dogs) spent all weekend on walks & at home with doors and windows open! Perfect medicine for wintertime blues. We found Lilly hanging out at the “rock”. Apparently, that is what the local kids all call this giant boulder in a strip of the woods just off of our street. She was getting dirty & having a ball with her little friend. Rikki spent some time with her friends & talking on the phone to a BOY!! Blech ;-)

Unfortunately, Rikki is unable to participate in track. She has sustained a foot injury that continues to worsen, so we have just told her to “call it a day”. She did talk with the coach and will still go to practices to help the jumpers, and he seemed pleased.

Rick did get the green light to help coach the sprinters…and his head is swarming with practice ideas already. He is very excited!

We are all looking very forward to Nick & Ambers visit next month! They are coming for 2 weeks & will be here over his birthday. It will have been 1 ½ yrs since he has seen the girls or Rick, so I am very anxious to see his reaction to how big they are (not Rick of course!)

We plan to take a small jaunt down to the beach so they can walk in the warm Carolina sand which I know they will love. If we are really lucky, a visit to Washington DC may be on the agenda because it is only a 4 hr road trip away. But, one has to have the funds!! With this month having  St. Patrick’s holiday…I am hoping to see some GREEN CASH!!!

This week @ the Welch's

Oh boy! Is everyone in Spokane freezing this week or what? I heard 10” of snow and sub zero temps! Brrr! If you want to know why I can’t sweet talk Rick into moving back near home (Seattle-fingers crossed), take a step out side & feel the cold. He has stated numerous times he will not go back to it. But, I still have a glimmer of hope anyway because this girl is ALL about Seattle. In 2 years from now is when we will make a move…my guess is may be to Phoenix, but, you never know. With Rick in charge, we may end up in Florida or something; we are not ruling out anywhere with warm weather at this point.

I was looking at a picture board that I had made to put updated pictures of loved ones and so far it is coming along well, but I am missing so many! On my board, I see the beautiful smiling faces of Katie, Olivia, Julia, Britney, Nic, Jillian, and jade (but Lilly stole her pic and has it up in her room). If you or your children are not listed…then that means I NEED PICS DANG IT!  We are missing you all so much & want to be able to see you in some way!

Rikki now has to have an echocardiogram to check for pulmonary hypertension due to the condition her lungs looked to be in on the CT scan last week, the doctor is suspicious. That won’t be done until early March though.

With regards to Lilly, did I mention how tall she is now? I know- everyone is tall compared to me (except nana-LOL). Lilly is looking me directly in the eye, but seems to be perhaps ¼ of an inch shorter, if that. At 11! I just feel like she is going to pass Rick by at this rate! He whole body hurts from growing so fast, and she complains of aches and pains a lot.

I think Rick is planning a golf outing tomorrow, with the new friend he made who works for Rikki’s pulmonologist, so he will be a happy man! He also talked with Rikki’s track coach and volunteered to help out at practices because they have the head football coach trying to direct sprinters and jumpers. Talk to Rikki and ask her how well that is working out!

I am busting my rump on a daily basis for Bristol-Myers Squibb & they are killing me with all their recalled medications! It has doubled my workload & not with people who are glad to be calling me either, so I have become a PRO at deescalating ticked off doctors, pharmacists, nurses & consumers, but it is wearing on me no doubt. I have been finding some solace in meditation, and studying Buddhism.

I do believe the next few days will be spent at our neighborhood gym, & perhaps grabbing a movie. Nothing big planned! Stay warm Spokane & Seattle & Phoenix!

Enough talk about NC!

Alrighty then! So, to briefly catch you up: Rick LOVES the weather here & is content, at the moment, with his job.  He gets to sleep until 4 am and considers that getting to sleep in.  He is home every day when the girls get home from school, and sometimes gets to sneak in 9 holes on the golf course too! Other than that (sounding like Grandma Welch) well, he’s just doin’ mighty fine!

Rosey is nuts. I really don’t know where to begin with her. She is doing Yearbook journalism in school, as well as film production, and she really loves what she is learning in those classes. Outside of school, she is still playing violin, & running track participating in sprinting and high-jump. This has become a bit complicated lately. For those of you who do not know, she was just diagnosed with mild Emphysema (aka COPD) & mild asthma as a result of exposure to second hand smoke as an infant. This has had a very devastating impact on all 4 grandparents, but mine in particular, since they were the source.  So- just giving a shout out here for awareness…secondhand smoke exposure really does cause long term chronic illness in children. This is a condition that has no cure, but with aggressive therapy, her doctor is hoping to improve the quality of her lung function.  With daily medications, she is able to maintain good o2 sats and continue to participate in sports. We are glad that she has a good sense of humor and is taking this in stride. In fact, she said her COPD should qualify her to get a handicapped parking tag for the car! Kids-Oy!

Lilly- keeps us on our toes, and seems to be finding her sense of “balls”, as Rikki would say, for lack of a better term. What do you call it anyway when a girl is considered “ballsy”? Her ovaries have matured? Her eggs have released? She got her fallopian tubes? What is it?  All I know is when Rikki is talking about a boy standing up to someone, or for himself or what-not, she says his “balls have dropped”. LOL. Lady like aren’t they? Well, little miss has been expressing her opinion in a less-than-polite way lately, & has almost lost her bedroom door a time or two because of it! She has also reached a spot where she must have bangs and begs for colored streaks in her hair. I did that for her once in the 3^rd grade and she won’t let it go! Lilly is still playing guitar, and writing her own tunes for it. She says she is looking for a drummer and vocalist for a garage band.  She even told me that she was ready for me to “book her gigs” at local restaurants so she can play her guitar for tips! This kid, I swear it! She did play for a sold-out talent show crowd of 450 people, the Johnny Cash song “I walk the line”, and was great!  She was nervous, but pushed through it & we are so proud! The town mayor was even the MC, so it was a big deal here in our modest little town.

As for me…well, I am trying to keep my feet planted in one spot, which is hard for me because I thrive on change & love to travel. I’m trying to focus my attentions on writing this book I’ve been working on for a few months, but can’t get to sit long enough to create anything substantial…that, and I am overly critical of my work and tend to edit, edit, edit! Also, I have been browsing some Masters programs, but we’ll see. Nothing serious yet.  I’m still on the weight loss roller coaster, but never giving up.  Anyhow, since I could have written 5 chapters of my book by now, I will bid you adieu!

Where are we anyway?

For those of you who do not know, we live out in the country, about 20 minutes outside of Raleigh, the capital city. The area is beautiful, woods all around. In fact, when you are driving on any road, lane, highway or major freeway, all you can see to either side are the trees. It can be a bit much at times when you’d like to catch a glimpse of “the big city” or figure out what is off the freeway exit-you never know what you are going to find! One time, Rick and I took an exit that was called “Greenfield Parkway”, we thought we’d see where it led. We headed off, and it looked interesting, some offices for Papa Johns pizza, UPS, and other businesses. We noticed that we seemed to be driving in a large circle, and wound up in a parking lot with nowhere to go except back to the highway. Rick was like “Parkway? Really? How can you call that a “Parkway?” It was more like an extra long off-ramp to a parking lot! Had we been able to see through all the trees, we might have noticed that it went nowhere, and passed it by.

We are lucky enough to be within 2 hrs of beautiful white sand beaches & we often take day trips down to Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, & Surf City. In fact, when we were in Surf City, the 4 of us were waded way out to our waists in the ocean. The waves were rolling in clear blue warm water & we were all talking about how easy it would be for sharks to just ride up to the shore & get someone. I was a bit freaked out by that realization because we were too far out to hop out of the water. So, like I said, were chilling out there and all of a sudden, this big wave roars up and in the wave coming at us we see a huge school of stingray. My first thought was “Eye crikey! That’s what killed the Crocodile Hunter, mate!  I let out a yelp and start propelling myself backwards as Rick is notifying the girls to look & stay put.  Before we knew it, we were surrounded with stingray just gliding along at our waists, not caring at all if they bumped us. I was wigged big time, but tried not to let the girls see. We all did get out of the water for a bit though.

I will say our most memorable beach experience has got to be on the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks is a row of barrier islands that is incredible. You have heard of the wild Spanish horses that roam free? They are still there! The infamous pirate Blackbeard actually claimed Ocracoke Island, part of the Outer Banks, as his home & was killed there in 1718. Anyhow, Nana & Papa were here on vacation, & we had just visited the site of the First Flight by the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills, and attempted to see one of 4 lighthouses that line the NC shore. It was cold, & raining, but we had to stop at Kitty Hawk to see the beaches. Nana & Papa stayed in the car, but the 4 of us got out and onto the sand we went. We all walked along at our own paces, and occasionally called out to each other regarding some neat discovery we had made; the beach stretched on for endless miles upon miles and there was not another soul on the sand that day beside we 4. All you could hear were the sound of the waves crashing along the coast & watch the Pelicans gliding low overhead. It was so serene; even with the cold & rain, Rick & I hold that day as the best beach experience we have had since living out here.