Hi  - my name is Lisa.  I am not a baker nor a gourmet cook.  I can't sew or grow an organic garden out of recycled bottle caps.  I don't build my own furniture and have never made my kids' Halloween costumes (well, maybe once).  I don't have a Norman Rockwell life - or family - but when we have is honest and, I'm guessing, pretty similar to many other families out there!  I pray - and I curse.  I make good home made meals one week, and pick up deli chicken and order pizza the next.  Sometimes my house is clean and sometimes we are just a hot mess.  I aspire to be the best mother, the perfect wife, the greatest friend . . .  and then I get home from work and just want to crawl into bed or lose myself on Pinterest and pretend I'm not the grown-up.  Some days I get it right.  And some days go really wrong.  But we are a family and at least we are screwing it up together :) 

So - my musings about 'normalcy' shall commence.  I have worked in the Child Welfare field for the State of Missouri for 23+ years.  Phew.  I love it.  I hate it.  It breaks my heart and fills my spirit to overflowing.  It's hard.  Every day.  And sometimes I give all I have before 5:00 PM.  That makes me kind of a poor mom and wife some days.  Then I try to redeem myself . . .   my family sort of understands.  I have three amazing children - and I'm not sure how they got that way.  And grandchildren?!  Well, I could spend weeks writing about nothing but the pure genius of them.  I have God in my corner and that makes everything else ok. 

I have some major life changes coming up . . .  after years and years (and years) of struggling with my weight and health, I am currently waiting for the final approval from my insurance company for weight loss surgery.  I was really hoping it would occur before the end of the year, but . . .   we will have to wait and see.  God's timing - not mine.  So, I believe this blog will be about my journey, my family's journey along side me, the crazy making that is a part of Middle America.
Normal?  You be the judge.  2 parents, 3 kids, 2 grandkids, 1 dog, country living, 6 jobs in the household, 1 'wanna' be crafter, 1 kayaker, 1 teenage boy and his teenage friends, neighbors, small town living, and our daily experiences.