I'm Fired!

Apparently I'm not a very good blogger! I've been home from our little get away for over a week and have yet to post about it, horrible I know! See...I don't know that I've even fully recovered from the trip. I have never walked so much in my life. I'm sticking to my story that we must have walked 20 miles, up hill all the time, and sometimes I think it snowed too! We had a great time, just being together and taking it all in, but my feet and legs are still complaining (well, maybe not really, but they should be)! So...two full days in Washington DC is not nearly enough time to take in everything. We saw lots of great stuff, but we missed a lot of great stuff too. We had some great meals though...always important! As for pictures, we really didn't take a whole bunch. I actually felt kind of silly walking up to this gigantic monument and taking a picture. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. I also giggled at all the foreign people who were so interested in our history. I guess it goes to show how much we are respected by others. Anyway...the trip seems like it was so long ago that I've forgotten most details and all I have for you are some pictures...enjoy!

The White House...


Joseph really had to go...


The Capitol, this is as close as we got because it was "National Fallen Police Officers Weekend"...


The Metro was our BFF after we finally figured it out. This is DuPont Circle which I swear is the longest escalator ever. Oh, and when we left, it was broken so Joseph had to carry our luggage down this...fun times!


Our only picture together from the trip. We were standing on the Lincoln Memorial steps and that's of course the Washington Monument in the back with the reflection pool. Probably my favorite picture though!


This has to be the cutest picture. While walking to the WWII Memorial we passed this adorable little family, and fed them...


This next picture is the changing of the guards at Arlington National Cemetery. I remember watching this when I was little, and it's still an amazing thing to watch. It's not the greatest picture, since you can't seen the tomb or anything, but it's a picture.


I started with the White House, and I'll end with the White House at night. It was really beautiful to see at night.


And that's all for my pictures. I have brought work home with me...did you ever think you would hear a Kindergarten Teacher say that?! It's the last 7 days and there's lots to be done, so I'm off to do it. We have another jammed pack weekend camping with our friends, the next weekend my Sarah graduates high school (I rocked her to sleep when she was a baby!!!!) and then I'm flying off to Texas to enjoy a road trip with my BFF Lisa...busy busy busy. No promised posts for awhile, that's for sure! And I've got to plan my husband's 30th birthday, and my parent's 30th anniversary...I gotta go! Thanks for being patient. And a BIG thank you for the calls, emails, cards, donations, flowers, everything, that was sent or said to us about our Jackson. Hard to believe it's been 2 years. We wouldn't have made it without you, so thank you! As always, please REMEMBER JACKSON!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Details of our weekend getaway coming soon...I promise!

Not One of My Smarter Ideas...

My heart is completely breaking for Kayleigh's Mom and Dad today as they struggle with letting their little girl go. I know how they feel, kind of, I mean no two cases, situations, etc. are the same. But reading the post today for some reason made me go back and read Jackson's story from the month of May. Now, his eblogs site is gone, but thankfully I copied every bit of it into Word so that I'd have every post, picture and comment. So...I read, I giggle, then I ball my eyes out. I couldn't even make it through some of the comments. I'm just so thankful for the family and friends we had in our lives during that time because we would not have made it without you. It blows my mind that it's been two years since Joseph and I said goodbye...I just don't know where the time has went. But...we are stronger, better people because of our journey with Jackson. Please say an extra prayer for the Freeman's as they adjust to life without Kayleigh.

So...this year instead of balloon releases, dinners out, and pretending to be fine with the hand we've been dealt, Joseph and I decided...heck, let's get away. So away we go (hopefully) on Friday morning. We'll be flying out bright and early and heading to our Nation's Capitol to fix all the problems of the world, maybe! Joseph has never been to Washington, and I went when I didn't appreciate it, so we are going to go take it all in. We've got lots of things planned in our head, but nothing set it stone. There are places we want to go, people we want to see, but hey, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. We are just going to go do whatever we want and spend time with each other. Please pray for non eventful flying, as Joseph hasn't flown since he was in 9th grade, some 13 years ago. Fun times right there. Plus, I just hope he makes the trip. Right now he's asleep in bed with a wicked stomach bug/food poisoning/not really sure what is going on kind of thing. We went to a cook out Saturday night and 8 people are sick, but not everyone ate the same things it seems and no link can be found. However...Campbell's mommy is claiming she's the cause of the stomach bug of 2009. That Campbell sure is cute...hard to believe she might be the cause-hehe! Joseph begged me to take him last night to urgent care, but I didn't...I know I'm a horrible wife, but I had to go to work because it's state testing and I had no assistant, no plans, and I would have been in trouble. The worst part of the story continues below though...

So...many have heard, but many have not, that Joseph resigned from Rock Hill Schools for a better job, at Terminix. Now, NO, he's not a bug man, but they actually have a landscaping division, and that's where he's working at now. He started yesterday. This morning I had to call his new boss and explain the whole not going to be there because of the food poisoning/stomach bug thing. I felt so horrible calling, but they were very understanding. Joseph's Mom actually came and saved the day (that's what Mom's are for right) and she took him to the doc this morning...he got a shot and some meds and has been sleeping since I got home. Thankfully no more throwing up, and hopefully he'll drink/eat some chicken broth for me here in a little bit, fingers crossed.

That's a lot of info in one post...trip details, stomach issues, new jobs, tears for our angel boy, goodness. I'm not going to bug you to make a donation to Families of SMA, but if you can afford it, and you want to in honor of Jackson, just go to www.curesma.org and follow the directions. In the past I have done $141, a dollar for every day of his life, but this year with job changes, and our trip, I'm only donating $50, but it's $50 they didn't have...and it could be the $50 that finds a cure so that no one has to go through what Joseph and I did, and most importantly so no child has to go through what Jackson and so many precious children have gone through. I hope that you can join us in our fight to find a cure.

And that's all...I'm off to check on my patient, finish my book, watch some tv and hopefully pull myself together. Thanks for sharing in our journey and for always being there for us. As always, please REMEMBER JACKSON!

This is for you LG...

My girls have been on me about my lack of posting, but we've been really busy here at the Hedgepeth's. Sorry blogging has taken a back seat, and though I promise to try to do better, we all know how that usually goes...good for awhile and then slack. There's nothing major really going on...excited to be in the month of May (minus the 15th of course). Joseph and I have a slammed pack month, so hopefully that will help the whole 15th situation. We are actually flying out of town that morning to a secret destination...and you know me, I thought I'd make a little game out of it...Where in the World are the Hedge's Going?! Now...some people can not participate...Pam, Tammy, LG, Shell and my Mom. They all already know where we are going. And what I love about typing that sentence most is this...Chris does not know and now she's mad that Shell and LG do know and she doesn't....it's great! I've put up a little poll...take a stab at it...where do you think we are going? And the above mentioned people may not vote, or if you want to throw others off I'm ok with that-hehehe!

After our getaway we are home for a weekend and then it's camping with lots of friends, which should be super fun. We've got several campers going along with golf carts and boats, so we should have a great weekend...looking forward to it! Oh...we also got back our Memorial Day holiday so I'm excited to start out my summer the right way...on the boat!

Alright...I'm off to wait for dinner. I have fallen off the cooking wagon along with my blogging wagon apparently. Joseph's bringing home pizza....yum! Thanks for checking in on us. As always, please REMEMBER JACKSON! Also...if you want to make a donation in Jackson's memory the money will go towards find a cure for this horrible disease. You can do so at www.curesma.org Thank you so much for all of your support of me, Joseph and SMA and for always keeping us in your prayers. We love all of you...

no, no, No, No, NO!

One NO for each day of my Spring Break that I managed to do NOTHING on! It's over...and all I accomplished was eating out A LOT (I cooked one night and ate lunch here one time all week) and reading books 2 and 3 of the Twilight series! Where did my break go?! I will say that book 2-New Moon, was v-e-r-y s-l-o-w and I had a hard time pushing through until the last 100 or so pages. I don't even really remember book 3-Eclipse because I am now so into book 4-Breaking Dawn. I don't know what I'm going to do when I finish...Joseph won't know what to do when I finish-he'll have to share the bed and tv again!!

So, anyway, did you notice that Spring Break is over and I'm not to excited about it? I had great plans of posting lots of pictures from break...like the new additions to our family...three fish from my classroom. They had to leave school because someone tried to kill them...yes, someone tried to kill my fish by putting paint in my fish tank. So...they are now traumatized here at the house by three cats. Lucky for the fish it was non-toxic paint...but I'm still REALLY mad that someone tried to hurt my little fishes. Can you tell I'm a big animal lover..even if it is stupid little fish!

I also wanted to put up pictures of my wonderful weekend with my niece/nephew (remember the hermaphrodite dog) Bacon. I went and got her yesterday morning because Shawn and Lauren were out of town and my parents left for Cancun-thanks for that invite Mom and Dad! Bacon terrorized the cats...poor Charlie did not come out of the closet, but I'm looking at it as revenge for the cats terrorizing the fish...it all works out. Anyway...Bacon is gone, all is normal and quite here (Bacon barks at ANY animal on the tv-fun times).

This week finds me wicked busy with getting back into the swing of things at work but also running the park for my parents while they are out of town...I love being in control of it, gives me a power trip. Tomorrow I get to pick up permits, and make deposits and all the fun stuff associated with the park. I'm a little too excited...I know, big power trip!

Anyway...I better get off of here and try to migrate towards the bed before reading another chapter or two. 5:35 is going to come awful early....yikes! Thanks for checking in on us. Sorry I've been MIA all week...but start reading the series and you'll probably be addicted too! As always, please REMEMBER JACKSON!

Happy Easter!

I love Easter. There are so many wonderful memories from years past that make Easter one of my favorite holidays. Add in the fact that it was the day they found the grave empty, and wow, that makes it a pretty amazing day all in its' self!

My greatest Easter memory is, and probably always will be, spending it with Jackson at home. It was the only holiday that we had him at home for and it was so special. I got to make him not one, but two!, Easter baskets which was so much fun! I think we had entirely too much fun shopping for his baskets and we definitely spent too much money, but hey, it was for a perfect little boy so it doesn't matter! Anyway, I will never forget being at my parent's house (aka Home) for Easter and sitting around the table with all of my family and having Jackson right next to me in the pack and play sleeping. I even remember getting some chocolate on my finger and giving him a little taste. It is one of the greatest memories I have and I will never forget Easter 2007 with my beautiful son, wonderful husband and supporting family!

Today was another great Easter too, but I don't think any other one will every measure up! We had 20 people gathered around the table to celebrate and had a great time hanging out and spending time together. Today for the first time I felt like my old self. I often tell Joseph that sometimes I know I act completely different, because ummm, lets face it, I am completely different after everything with Jackson. But today...I felt like the old Nichole was creeping out, having fun with my family and just really enjoying the time we had together. It was a great Easter, and just like in years past my parents did an awesome job! Thanks Mom and Dad!

I don't remember if I mentioned that I finished reading "Twilight" and it was really good. We watched the movie yesterday afternoon, and it wasn't as good, but it was good. I went ahead and bought the next book "New Moon" and I started reading it today. I'm sure I'll finish it rather quickly since I'm Spring Break-yay! And I'm sure I'll let you know how it is too!

And now I'm off to fill out a US District Court Juror Questionnaire...of course! I have the greatest freaking luck remember! I hope that everyone had a great Easter and that you enjoyed the time with family and friends. Thanks for always checking in on us and sharing in our journey. As always, please REMEMBER JACKSON!

A Teacher's Favorite Words...

There are many favorite phrases/words of a teacher. But this month's favorite two words....SPRING BREAK! I'm heading out to begin my vacation...you might not hear from me for awhile...

Nichole