I have taken a short sabbatical from DA, but I am back. I would like to thank you for the numerous postings, favs, and notes. I apologize for my abrupt absence. I have many photos to process and post. I have been a busy bee. I am completing the last 12 hours of my master's degree this summer and then will be moving on to my doctorate. I have to get moved out of my house. A slow process at best, but I nearly have everything out. There will be one final bulky load before a trash day and garage sale. I have made a killing at half price books over the last week as we do not have the shelf space at my new house as I did at my old house. It is amazing how one small office could hold so many books!

Everything else is going well. I got remarried over spring break to a wonderful man. I now have two more children as a result of this union, a 21 year old and a 16 year old. (In addition to my 12 year old) My mother-in-law hates me for no apparent reason other than I am who I am. She had been taking my husband to side and saying horrible things about me, so one evening I picked up the phone and asked her what I had done to offend her. I was never much on stabbing people in the back. I have learned to tell it like it is, find a resolution, and move on kind of person. She told me that I had no compassion for her and that I spoke down to her. Since I have never attempted to do either one of these, I asked her for specifics, but got some long drawn out diatribe about how she was comfortable in life, and she didn't want to learn anything else or get into a verbal competition with me. (I am still drawing a blank here.) Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I really haven't done anything wrong it is just that she has chosen not to like me and will find fault with anything I do. She is threatened by me. Every time I have seen her, she feels it is necessary to discuss her dead sister and how much her sister was a better teacher that I could ever be. Her sister would never give kids grades. Etc. Etc. Etc. Anyway, it is as if she feels like she is competing against me. Which is insane since she is retired and never completed college, which I am okay with who she is. I do not rub my education or anything else in her face, but she seems to think that having goals for your life and passions is something threatening to her personally. My husband tells me that she does not like the fact that I am good looking, intelligent, and motivated. I personally think that she wants to be in competition with me, she sees me as the enemy and wants the affections of her son solely to herself and this is the root to her disliking me. I can call into evidence that she have never liked anyone he has dated or married, so I think it is a getting my son's attention issue on her part rather than something I am doing. You know, life is too short to deal with negative people who don't like me. I don't have time or energy to go about and create garbage that isn't there. Even if I did, I wouldn't as it is a massive waste of time. So, I will let her deal with the situation she wants to create and not play into her little games. I will continue to be pleasant, but reserved, and not give her anything that would be used to hurt my husband and kids. Too bad, I think I am a pretty good person who would bend over backwards to help someone. She is only hurting herself.

But other than that little snag, life is pretty good right now. Nothing is perfect, it never is, but would we really enjoy life if it was perfect all the time?