One Last Post Before 2009!

It's only a few hours before 2009 and I figure one more post would do.

It's been an amazing year, with ups, downs, new friends made, searching out old friends and becoming reaquainted, and making some adventurous trips around this great nation of ours.

I don't really regret any of it, the good or the bad, because I have grown and learned from all the actions that I have made and been through.

The reason I started blogging in the first place a few years ago is because I was obsessive about getting out of debt. I changed it to a family blog when I felt guilty for not suceeding in that endeavor in the time I had allotted for myself. I am still in a great deal amount of debt and my job dealings are not looking so great despite having a degree. The economy is all making us suffer right now and my life is certainly no exception. This blog will continue to be about me and the family and everything I happen to want to write about. It's my journal to cheer, vent, scream, and to let out my emotions, which thankfully do have thier ups too.

As I live this life that Heavenly Father gave me, I will continue to strive to do my best and learn along the way. I know it won't be boring, not for me anyway. Hope it isn't for you either.....

Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Gosh, I needed this vacation!

You have no idea how much I needed this for my psyche. I have slept in, not "had" to do anything and it's been wonderful! If I have a plan, and it does not get done, I do it the next day. I am not pressuring myself. It's 9:13am and the family is still asleep. It's going to be unseasonably warm today and tomorrow so I am going to go for my 3 mile walk these two days. I put on pounds again and I want to get back into some kind of fitness routine so I can maintain my weight. Yeah, that sounds like an new years resolution. Nah, I don't keep those, it's just a wishful goal for the coming months.

I am happy to report that Christmas was a success. All the presents were well received and that is my biggest worry at Christmas. Arielle loves her easy bake oven, her DS, and our MP3 player. She and I are sharing one. Allen loves his new 360 games and can't stop texting on his new phone. Hubby smells great due to the new cologne I bought him and he is enjoying downloading mp3's from the internet so he can listen to his favorite music on his new MP3 player. He also needs to watch his new DVD I got him.

I am totally addicted to facebook.com. I have found some friends from my childhood that I never imagined that I would ever talk to again. Our neighbors in Maryland, (1978-1986) now have facebook because of me. Well, at least the mom does. Her 3 daughters and me and my brother used to play endlessly back in those days. The memories are just so vivid when you relive them with people lost before.

Well, the family is still asleep so I better get some things done before they wreck my momentum.

Have a great day and week.

Progress..

Allen's room is more organized than it was before which is a huge improvement from what it was. You had to step over stuff just to get to his bed. It was awful! His clothes are hung up, his piano is set up on a table and he can actually pactice his music.

Arielle helped with her room. It was not bad to begin with, tackled that mess a few months ago and she has held it up pretty well. Clothes are put away so that is the biggest hurdle in that room.

I was going to take down the tree but I never got to it. Maybe tonight after church. The living room couch has been cleaned and deodorized and the floors have been swept and cleaned.

I went to the laundromat again because of the excess clothes, sheets, blankets, needed to be cleaned. They all smell nice and fresh again.

Today I will hopefully tackle the tree, refrigerator, kitchen, and make and serve dinner before 7pm.

The family got MP3's players for christmas. It isn't an IPOD but I am very impressed with what it does. I am learning about it and ripping CD's so we can all have our favorite music, pictures, and videos with us where ever we go.

I also delivered cookies and treats to neighbors, friends and loved ones. It's always better to give than to receive. Warms the soul when you see the people happy with what you brought.


Toodles...

The Day After Christmas

They are still sleeping, the hubby and kids,
While mommy sneaks to the computer to get her daily, hourly fix.
Christmas is done, and while it was fun,
There is still so much work to be done

Cleaning bedrooms, sweeping up dirt,
Family must help, or mommy's back will hurt,
So many things we must do and not say
Weather is crazy it's 64 degrees in Illinois today!

Life can be good, smiling faces in the house,
We'll call for the cats, if we see a mouse.
Look forward to new, get rid of the old,
The best stories ever read are happy endings told.

Make this new year, 2009, your best ever!

Why??? Because I said so!

Merry Christmas!

I am up, hubby is still sleeping and the kids are at their fathers until tonight at 10pm. We'll open all the presents then.

We had a wonderful time with the family this week, and makes me want them all to live closer so we can do it more often. The kids played nicely and the food was excellent and the laughter from stories and watching the new baby was contagious. We did have a few sicknesses that brought down a few family members but yesterday, the house was full with everyone (except my hubby, who had to work) for a musical recital from some very talented family members and the Christmas Story being read out of the Bible before the family got to open presents. The kids, all 17 of them, loved it. They all got the present they had asked "Santa" for. And the adults were pleasantly surprised with their exchange gifts too.

Today we are eating with family again and I have to get my part going. I'll probably post later tonight or tomorrow with the gift tally for the kids.

Hope your day goes well and stay safe. Half of the United States is having a white Christmas! Some of you may grumble by that news but it is Christmas and winter after all. Love to ALL!!!

Week of Family

My hubby's family got into town this weekend and we spent all day with them on Sunday. We went to church and then went to oldest sister's house and ate, chit chatted for hours, and had lots of family bonding time. We're doing it again today. I appointed myself the photographer of our newest addition to the family who was born this month. She is so adorable and I got some cute pictures of her as she was being held by members of the family. Her parents have a blog and I'll give them copies of the pictures and then I'll link them to this site.

This whole week is family oriented (this week should be, it's Christmas) so I'll not be around so much. I'll update after the presents have been opened. Have a great week, Happy Birthday Kate, and have an enjoyable and safe holiday.

We'll see you all later...

It's a week til Christmas.,,,

I have to wrap and bake cookies but that is about all I still have to do to get ready for the holiday. The kids are going to be at thier dads this weekend so I can get that stuff done. Hubby's family is coming into town this weekend also. All the cousins will be here, all 25+ family members are converging in on Illinois to celebrate the first granddaughter of the oldest sister on his side. Plus Mom and Dad are getting up in years and the whole family being together means pictures.

Arielle and I went to the mall last night to see Santa. It's probably her last year for pictures with Santa. For one 3x5 and two keychains, it cost $17.00. They have a standing rule that no personal pictures are allowed to be taken so I bit the bullet and bought the cheapest package. In 12 years when she graduates high school, and leaves home, I know I'll look at that picture and remember the smile and the fun time we had that day. The money won't matter and it really shouldn't matter now. I am just glad that technology has grown and now there are scanners, digital photography and the delete button for those stupid pictures that got developed and paid for so many years ago. Who can forget the pictures that were blurry, dark, too far away, off shot, red eye, or just plain goofy! And we paid for them to be developed. Talk about wasted money! So, paying $17 at the mall for a Santa picture in 2008 is not that bad after all.

I found a new addiction. It's called Facebook.com. I know some of you have heard of it. I have found people who I lived by and grown up with. People from my past that I never thought I would talk to again. If they have a facebook account, they can be found. And most are happy to talk. I found a lot of my past friends from high school, I have 2 former boyfriends on there that are doing very well in thier life. I have friends that live 2 miles down the road that I keep in contact with over facebook better than I can in real life or over a phone line. Life is just too busy sometimes but facebook is available 24/7 where as if you call someone at 1:38am, they'd be a little ticked at you for waking them up. 2 out of 3 friends from my NYC trip are on Facebook. Little snippets of life are displayed for friends to see and to keep in contact with. It is so cool! If you don't have one, it's also good for networking.

Well, today I guess, I am spending at home. I worked yesterday at a school but no phone call yet today so it may not happen. I have been called for work later than this, but it's rare. So, I will enjoy the day, stay indoors since it is 20* outside and get some work done around here.

Hope you all have a great day! Talk to you later!

Jumbled rambling....

We had power all day long....and we had a pretty good day overall. That was the good news. We have another scattering of storm to get through tonight and then...maybe clear skies in a few days.

I still have to tell my sons band director about the peed on band uniform. Oh, I am going to hate having that conversation.

I spent the day cooking...all kinds of food, tapioca pudding for son, zucchini and eggs for whoever wants to eat it, a strawberry compote that I put into the tapioca. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. I am going to make a couple of chocolate desserts for the pre-Christmas party. My ex made chocolate covered peanut butter filled ritz crackers while we were married and I always liked them. I still like them but out of stupidity, I just couldn't dare to eat them. But this year I bought the ingredients so I could make them. I also have the fixins to make a whipped creme dessert of some kind. I want to bake and cook and I really have the cravings now to do it.

I also finished writing the Christmas letter and I got the cards ready to be mailed out tomorrow. Talked to my mom and sister today and my father yesterday. I played a board game with the girl and she was happy about it. We have a decorated Christmas tree in the front room. The living room is clean. Laundry is folded.
While I was finding Christmas decorations I came across some stuff from my daughter, Jessi. I found videos that I had lost for awhile. They were back when she was a baby, her first and second birthday parties. It was good and bad to watch them. I am so glad that we took the videos and that I can now watch them but I would love it if she came here to the house so we could watch them together with her brother and sister and step father. I have to get those taped transferred to DVD so I can edit them to a format that I can work with better. I miss her so much! The holidays make it so hard to let her go. I know she is doing well. Her step mother and I had a long talk the other night about her. I found out that she has been accepted to a few colleges but she doesn't yet know where she is going or if she'll even be able to go. Money is the biggest obstacle there, as it always is.

I still have a list of stuff I have to do but the list is getting shorter. That makes me feel good. Maybe I can survive this holiday yet. Maybe not...we'll see.

Have a good night.

Lovely DAY!

I wake-up this morning to no power for an hour. Lovely #1.

My cats peed on my son's band uniform. That'll cost me my deposit. Sorry, Mr. Band director, can you dry clean Bubba's uniform, cats decided it was a litter box...Lovely #2.

My clothes from last night were never put in the dryer to dry. Hubby did his first and didn't bother to put mine in. Lovely #3.

Now that the power is back on, I wonder for how long since the wind has picked up immensely and will knock it out again, plus the ice storm hasn't even it yet. When is the question. Lovely #4.

The cell phone is being charged to full power as we speak so it'll be ready for when I do need it.

I HATE WINTER!

Can't wait until April when the threat of snow and ice aren't near as bad!

I'll post after the disaster is over... Be safe!

This truly is NOT working...

I went on with my normal Saturday errands. Weight Watchers was my first stop. IN the past 2 weeks, I have gained 5 pounds of my loss back. WHAT!!! OK, stress over work has been hard but I should still be losing, instead of gaining a freaking bag of flour back. I'll figure that one out this week with a new tracking food system that we learned today at the meeting.

Second item of business: laundry, at a stinking laundromat. I had to do three loads (son, daughter, mine) today and most of it was towels. With me not working as much, I need less clothes to wear because I leave the house less to do stuff, thus less showering, (day and a half), if I am going to stay in pjs all day. I washed 14 towels in a week. That is not the norm. Usual is 9 or 10, not 14.

There is a huge storm (ice storm) coming into the area Sunday evening/night. They are expecting ice and snow into Monday morning and then all day Monday which will make Tuesday a mess on the streets. This is the good thing about not having that other job. With subbing, I can choose if I want to work this day or that so I have already told the switchboard that I was not coming in Monday or Tuesday. If the weather is bad, there may not be any school anyway. Yeah for all of us because then I don't have to wake up hubby so he can take kids to school. Because if they are having school on Monday, my car won't move from the driveway anyway. I hate the weather that they are forecasting!

My last errand for the day: Weekly groceries. Milk, eggs, bread. There is a ton of food in the freezer that I can make meals from so we'll be alright there. I still have to get local Christmas cards in the mail so they can be delivered. I am saving wrapping until next weekend since the kids will be with thier father for a few days.

Things to do at home today/tomorrow:Put up Christmas decorations. We have to clean up the collection of a mess that has been transferred from room to room and finally do something with it; be it put away, trash or take to Goodwill. This chore has to be done this weekend.

I hope all your weekend ends up safe and let's pray that our area does not suffer too harshly from the storm that is about to hit!

Little Miracles...

We have a newest family member. My niece had a baby and she was born on Tuesday and Mommy and Daddy are so happy that she is finally here. Makes this Christmas fun for the family. I can't wait to hold her, and then give her back when she cries.....LOL!

Congratulations! We love you and the newest little one too.

Christmas Shopping is Done!

EDITED::::See below....

With the job loss, the Christmas budget went down drastically but we still wanted it to be nice so we went quality gifts rather than quantity gifts. The tree will be bare this year because the gifts are smaller but pricier. We'd be better off putting up our 3 foot tree. The presents would fit nice and it would look like a lot. Oh, it's going to be so pathetic this year. But, the situation being what it is, there really is no other choice. Maybe, hopefully, next year it'll be better.

Working has been sporadic at best but I hope that after the new year, it'll pick up a bit. I like being back in the schools and I like getting to see friends that I had made before Arielle was born. Most of the school district had renovations done to their schools so it's like I am walking into new schools and I dont' know where anything is anymore. It's exciting.

I am reading two books right now that I bought for my trip to NYC that I never even cracked the spine to. With the extra time off, hopefully I'll read these and I am also doing some more sorting through stuff (an endless task).

Hoping your week goes well.


Edited to Add: I just had a brilliant thought on how to add to the presents to the tree. I have been nickled and dimed all year with "I want"s and "please give me"s all year long. I am going to get all those "presents" and wrap them up again. They received them during the year but they would have made awesome Christmas gifts so that's what they will be. That requires more wrapping for me but I am the only one to know whats in them so it'll be a bigger surprise when they open them up again. *tricky little Mommy*.....I feel better now...

Gotta go where you are needed...

I didn't even get out of bed this morning until the phone rang. I figured that I hadn't been called in three days and I had gotten up and waited so I just dozed after my alarm went off. The phone rang at around 6:19am for a school opportunity. It wasn't the greatest but I had to because my Christmas budget was not stretching big enough to put it all in. I dreaded going to work and it was ok for awhile but as the day crawled endlessly on, I just wanted it over. I made the money today but I won't be going to that classroom again. I like the older classes better. Give me a middle school or high school and I like it much better.

It's now the weekend and I am relaxing again. I have to do laundry, do some shopping for next week, and go through some more stuff around the house. Right now I am waiting for a friend online so I can veg out a bit. I am also reading some more books that I have put off.

Have a great weekend and have fun at whatever you are doing.

The Benefits of A Vacation

Everyone always asks "When is vacation, I need a vacation." In my life, vacation means a trip somewhere with kids, luggage, lots and lots of driving in a car, hotels, fast food, and watching the money disappear from the vacation fund or adding debt to a credit card that will take years to pay off. Not a pretty sight in my eyes anymore.

I just had a weeks vacation and it didn't cost me a dime. My vacation consisted of waking up at my usual time, everyone else sleeping, me getting some alone time on the computer, reading a few things that I had tossed aside for another time, making breakfast for the kids, getting them off to school, and then laying around, doing what I wanted to, if that meant doing dishes in the sink, picking up the clothes in the bedrooms, or just watching tv in my bed. No must do's, no rushing to get somewhere...none of the hustle and bustle that stresses people out so much. It was a nice week.

Yesterday I went through pictures. Years of pictures in no order whatsoever. A picture of me, at 5yrs old was in the same stack as a 1998 Christmas picture of the kids. I'll fix that mess over the next month.

I have now determined that I will work part time for now while the kids are still at home. There is time for me to work after they leave the house. Life is better at home now and my brain isn't near as stressed as it was and has been the past month. Thank goodness that I figured it out soon enough. I was going crazy! Now I know it was just having to step back and reanalyzing how my life was being handled and I am much happier now.

Have a great day!

Renewing Past Friendships, Time Passes By...

I lived in Maryland for 8 years. I moved there when I was 7 and moved away at 15 so I had my formative, skillbuilding, teenage heartache years there. I had my worst years of life in those 8 years but I have also learned that I want to go back and see what I missed in those chaotic years.

I called a past neighbor friend of the family last night. She was shocked to hear from me. The last time we spoke was probably 10 years ago. Kids have grown and moved out, health has declined, parents have died, divorces run amok; so many things to catch up on.

I was totally blown away by the news that a good friend I used to dance on the couch with to FAME records and my ex-boyfriend married and now have 3 kids. WOW!!!!

Time does tick on. Why does it shock us so much? Why are we shocked that life hands us bad things to deal with and we are shocked that our children act like devils in their teenage years. It should not shock us at all. It's happened for millions of years. Adam and Eve had the same problems with their kids. One son killing another son would be a cause of hysterics in my home too. It'll keep going until the Earth doesn't exist anymore. Time ticks...bringing good or bad...it still ticks...

Have a great day!

Getting Life In Order...

I love the new gadgets they have to personalize your website. Makes it comfy and homey and yours. I added the calendar to basically keep track online of what is happening in my life. I was called into work at a school for this afternoon so that's good. My last paycheck at the old job came today and it was bigger than expected so the extra has already been transferred into savings. I was going to put it towards Christmas but the kids are already getting decent presents so it'll go to something later, if needed. We should always have a stash of savings anyway for emergencies so that pot is a little bigger now.

Have a great day, everyone.