The Veranda and The Briar Patch

     It is eleven o'clock at night, three days shy of a much needed spring break, in my twenty-first year of teaching. My four year old has snuck into my big, comfy bed and claimed her spot on "my side". My husband is two days away from catching the red eye home after working five straight weeks. My almost twenty year old (gasp) daughter is on the other side of the bay preparing to send her beloved back to work in a foreign country. All is crazy in my world. Eric and I are on the last leg of building our dream home, graduating one daughter from college, and enrolling the other in 4K. We are starting all over again as parents. It seems odd reflecting on the fact that sixteen years ago he was right beside me as I put Ashley in school for the very first time. But more of that for another day. I need to explain the name of my blog. I named it The Veranda and the Briar Patch. A veranda or veranduh is a porch, something we southerners just can't live without.I needed porches so much in my dream home that as crazy as I am I put three of them in my new house. We will have the front porch, the back porch (for cooking out ) and the screened in porch. So I will have my choice of porches to sit on , sip a glass of iced tea, and watch Anslee play as we  live out in the country. The briar patch on the other hand , is a dense patch of thorny vines,an entrapment to some if you would. It's the place we are all running away from but always  seem  to get stuck in. Like the old saying goes you can run but you can't hide. As complicated and crazy as my life takes me at the end of the day I would much rather be sitting on my veranda, sipping a glass of iced tea, and enjoying life. However , I know that the dice don't always roll in my favor. I always seem to get stuck in that briar patch, twisted, conflicted, full of thorns , trying to find my way out. Always trying to find my way back to that ever peaceful veranda where I can live my southern way of life and enjoy the many blessings that do happen to find their way to me. So sit back , take a load off of your feet , grab an iced cold beverage and stay awhile....I will be back again with another story  real soon......Kim