Guys. I miss you. Seriously. It’s been too long. And I hope not to make a habit of it. But sometimes things happens. So many things, actually.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want my “word” for 2013 to be, and due to recent events I was able to do that quite easily.

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It’s not easy to guess that I’m a family girl at heart. But I want to make more of an effort with my extended family.

I want to see my Grandma and Grandpa more.

Me and my Grandpa back in the day. I swear he still looks the same today!

I want to talk to my cousins more often, and spend more time with them. They’re awesome people!

Hehe.

Same thing goes for the rest of my family.

We may be a little a lot crazy, but we’re a pretty damn cool family.

Did you pick a “word” for 2013??

The cute little Caitlin tagged me last week in her 7 Random Facts posts. I started thinking about it and figured why the hell not.

Seven Random Facts about Heather:

1. You all have to know by now that my nickname is Heatha. It’s really not a spelling error, it’s meant to be that way! One of my best friends, Jen, got married about 10 years ago and we all got pretty smashed (that’s what you do at weddings, right?). Anyways, I was in the bathroom and she came in there looking for me screaming Heatha! Heatha! and I yelled back Jenay! Jenay! (I’m pretty sure I was sticking my arm out under the bathroom stall waving to let her know where I was, too – because, you know, she wouldn’t be able to find me in the small, 3 stall bathroom). And that’s it. The nicknames stuck and we still call each other those names to this day.

Jen and me on New Years Eve a few years back – I swear we do a lot more than just drink together.

2. I sucked my thumb until I was 6 years old. This is why I now have Invisalign (and a lot less money in my bank account). I remember my mom and dad put this hot pepper liquid on my thumb one time to try and get me to stop. Well, I forgot it was on there and I had to run to my neighbors house for water because my mouth was on fire and I knew my parents would not have been happy with me. I can’t remember the outcome (if my mom and dad ever found out about this), but I remember being so embarrassed. Maybe this is what finally made me stop?

3. I worked at McDonald’s for 7 years (all through high school and then college). I was even employee of the year one year, which got me nothing but McDonald’s stock that I still have and know absolutely nothing about. I eventually became a manager and would come home from college (University of Toledo) every other weekend to work. It was a pretty sweet job since I was in charge and mostly everyone who worked there was my friend (C’s dad worked there, too!).

4. I’m a landlord. When C’s dad and I got divorced (we were only 27), C and I moved in with my parents for about 6 months. And as much as I love my parents, their house was just too crowded (C and I were sharing a bed at the time!). So I bought a condo and C and I lived on our own until we moved in with J a little over a year later. It was quite possibly the best year of my life – I loved living with my little guy by ourselves. I swear it’s why we’re so close today.

One of the few pics I could find from the condo. It doesn’t show too much of the place, but it was too cute not to post!

5. J and I met playing on a Cleveland recreational kickball league. A good friend of mine worked with J at the time and asked us both to be on the team. Holtz didn’t know it at the time, but he was playing cupid! J and I had a lot in common (big breakups) and we pretty much hit it off immediately.

Me with the matchmaker, and a horribly old, bad picture – sorry, Holtz.

6. I would much rather eat cookie dough than actual cookies. I have all the will power in the world when it comes to cookies, but that will power doesn’t even exist when there’s cookie dough around. I’m a total addict. That’s why I don’t bake as much as I’d like to – I seriously end up eating my weight in cookie dough. I always end up with a horrible stomach ache but it doesn’t matter. It’s too good NOT to eat!

7. I secretly hate that I am so tall (5’9″). I’ve ALWAYS been the tallest of all my girlfriends and I’m usually pretty close to the height of the guys, too. I can never wear heels without being self conscious and lower heels are definitely not as cute. It pretty much sucks. I’m always in the back of pictures or the silly girl in front with her hands on her knees because if she stands up straight her monster height will block everyone else. The only person who I’m never taller than is my dad (who I obviously get my height from).

This is me, my dad, my mom, and sis on Christmas day. I’m so much taller than both my mom and sister and I’m not even wearing shoes!

And here’s me, Andy, and Christina. Check out Christina’s feet. She’s on her tip toes and I’m still towering over her.

I can still remember being down at the Basement (hell yes, went there every weekend!) many many years ago and some random guy at the bar saying to me “What are you, like 6 feet tall?”. Ughhhh……still gets under my skin.

Damn, that wasn’t easy to come up with!

Now, tell me one random thing about you……………..

So, for those of you who follow me on Twitter, or are friends on Facebook, you know that the past 2 days have been rough, to say the least.

I don’t really even have the words, or energy, to get into everything, but here is where my baby slept last night:

I have been extremely lucky in that C has always been a healthy kid. I rarely even have to worry about him having a cold! Seriously, last night when we got to the ER I didn’t even know what to do with the insurance – honest, I had no clue. I mean, is the whole primary and secondary thing confusing to anyone else?

So when he had to be given an IV and then admitted overnight for observation, I had to hold it together like never before. Let’s just say that as a stress eater, many sweets have been consumed the past 2 days….and my jeans may be a little tighter than they were last week at this time……just sayin.

But, one visit to the Urgent Care, trip to the ER, IV, cat scan, ambulance ride to another hospital, and overnight stay in one of the best Pediatric Units, we are finally home. C is feeling almost 100% back to normal and actually insisted that he go to school tomorrow! It seems we have a handle on the situation and we’re on the road to preventing this from ever happening again.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who sent prayers our way. They must have worked otherwise we may not be home safe and sound right now.

Please remember that every day is a gift, and to cherish your family every.single.day.

I’m off to cherish my comfy bed, as last night was spent here: