Life as a CrazyMimi

I love Christmas.  Always have.  I could listen to Christmas music 365 days a year.  I love the feelings I get this time of year.  I love remembering Christmases from my childhood.  I had the perfect childhood.  Not kidding.  Not one bit.  I had a perfect childhood. I used to get so excited on Christmas Eve that I would throw up.  I couldn't sleep. And when I came down those stairs on Christmas morning and saw all those presents displayed as only my Mom could do...err...umm...I mean as only Santa could do, I was the happiest little girl on earth!  Our gifts weren't wrapped.  They were displayed.  And I mean to tell you, they were DISPLAYED!  It was like walking into a toy store!  I don't want you to think we were spoiled.  We weren't.  We were extremely fortunate to have enough money to have a Christmas like that.  My Dad and Mom both worked HARD every single day...except Sundays...to provide for us kid...

As we all know, this year has been like no other in recent history.  I am very guilty of saying it's been a horrible, horrible year.  However, when I realize a few things that have changed in my life, I'm not sure it's been that horrible.  I've learned some valuable lessons this year. First, let me tell you WHY I say this year has been horrible....  March 9th, 2020, life as we know it in our family changed forever.  My husband Troy suffered a heart attack, coming very close to not making it.  I was told 30 minutes was about the time he had left when we arrived at the ER.  A stent was placed and he was good to go.  (Gratitude #1)  But this totally changed our world.  Troy had smoked for 50 years, and he led a pretty sedentary life.  I mean, he works and he works hard, but he really didn't do any kind of exercise to get the heart rate up.  He is now up to 2.5 miles on his walks. I joke that next year he will be running a 5K with ...

I get asked a certain question a lot, and I don't actually know how to answer it. The question is this - what motivated you to start running at this stage of your life?  I usually say it's because I needed to lose weight and knew as I got older, it wouldn't get any easier.   That really is one reason,  but I've come to realize that there is much more to it. Much, much more. It's the feeling of accomplishment, feeling good about yourself,  knowing you can do something that not everyone does. I really can't put it into words, but this is how I view running ~~~ I have a love/hate relationship with running.   Let's use last night for example...I love when I'm getting my mind ready to run the next morning.  I get my clothes out and ready.  I watch what I eat that evening to be sure I'm not sluggish, and I try to get to bed early. I love knowing I'll be putting in my miles for my half marathon training, burning calories, and challenging myself. The...

For the past several days, this Crazy Mimi has been living her best life.   No secrets here.  What you see on Facebook is what I'm doing.    Lake Anna, VA gets invaded yearly by a gang of hooligans I call my Punkins.  Ranging in age from 7 to 20, with one Great Punkin who is almost 9 months old, and has completely stolen Mimi's heart.  Like I mean gone, taken, never to return stolen. To see your Grandson become an incredibly awesome Daddy is so unbelievably cool!  So with four generations together, there's bound to be tons of pictures taken and memories made, not to mention the laughter that is loud and crazy, and probably terribly annoying to anyone close by.....like at the beach when we started getting looks...😆 Dalton, Shelbie, and Raylynn were only with us for one day, but what a day it was! I got to see Raylynn crawl, and it reminded me that I saw her Daddy walk for the first time at the lake.  This place just overflows with good memori...

To begin this post, let me explain who Nana is... My Mom is Nana to most of her Great Grandchildren. (Brandon calls her something else because he has another Nana.)  Nana is greatly loved by all her Great Grandchildren, and known for certain things.  For instance, she always has "Nana mints" on her.  Some people call these mint lifesavers,  but no...they are Nana mints! Nana's tuna salad is pretty famous in our family!  No one...and I mean NO ONE can make it, and have it taste like hers.  Many have tried,  many have failed. So I don't even try anymore.  When we go to the lake for vacation,  I buy her the cans of tuna, and she blesses us with her tuna salad which lasts a very short time. Same thing when we go to races.  Tailgating isn't complete without Nana's tuna salad. Nana is also known for homemade everything.  She keeps cookie jars full at her house all the time.  A sign hangs above them saying she charges "one hug" for "o...

As you know by now if you follow my blog, my posts usually have a lot of humor in them.  I like to laugh.  Life is so short that we need to seize every single day and make the most of it! Find something to be happy about and laugh about every day!  We never know what life will throw our way! So I just set this post up right there!👆 I recently bought a long desired kayak.  I've been kayaking for about three years now. I absolutely love the peace out there on the lake!  I don't do rivers or fast waters.  This is all about relaxation for me.   My granddaughter Emily and I love to watch the sun rise over the lake on our yearly vacation.  I kayak with all of my Punkins, my daughter-in-law,  and numerous friends.  So buying one was the highlight of my week last week! So I've been thinking that I should name her....yes, her.  She's female...of course!  With my sense of humor, I  have been thinking of names like "Wild Granny...

I, along with everyone else in this country, have seen and heard a lot of terrible things in the past week.  I have watched some awful videos, watched the news, and seen some things on social media that disturb me greatly.   I have also seen some good things.  I have seen peaceful protests, cops hugging, praying with, and having conversations with protesters.  I have mostly stayed out of conversations about this.  Why?  Simply because I'm a "Cop Mom".  I have a Son who is a respected, and respectful officer of the law. He has never had a complaint against him. He has risen through the ranks to Lieutenant, and has a spotless record. He respects human beings of any color, religion, or nationality.  He does his job, and for that I'm very proud.  He does his job well, taking his responsibility to his community very seriously. Not all cops are like that.  We all know that.  We've all seen that.  They tarnish the badge for all c...