Out with the old, in with the new!

Wow. Another year over. And this one really flew. But it's been a good year. I can't remember too many awful things that happened, which is a good thing. Call me Pollyanna but I just feel like each year gets better and better. Maybe my expectations keep dropping. Or I'm happier with less. Or I'm just chronically optimistic. Whatever the case, I feel incredibly blessed by my life. My family, my children, my friends, my job...everything. Far more than I probably deserve.

I'm always kind of excited about New Years because it's a time of newness. New calendars. New goals. It's like starting over with a clean slate, even though the first day of the year really isn't much different that the one before. I guess it's more of a mental thing. I really find myself wanting to dive into the depths of my closets, junk drawers and garage and just clean stuff out. Throw it away. Quit hauling it around and stepping over it and rummaging thru it. I mean, if it's sitting in boxes and the recesses of the closet, is it serving a purpose? Is it really that valuable? It's funny because for the last few months, I've really felt this pull to minimize things in my life. No, not my friends or my oxygen intake. Just the stuff that is taking up space. I want what I have to be of quality not quantity. I read a book earlier this year (The Lady in the Palazzo) and one of the ladies in the village had a quote that I just loved: "The less you have, the more important it becomes." It was how she lived her life and while she may have had very little materialistically by choice, she had a very rich life through her friends, family and experiences.

So for 2008 I want more quality time with my family & friends, more happy memories, more laughter, more sunshine on my shoulders, more sand in my shoes and less STUFF. But that doesn't mean you should forget my birthday.

Happy New Year!!

Random Thoughts

Wow, that's quite a list of books that I've read this year. Not as many as I'd hoped - my goal was 100 books in 2007 - but I think I kind of overshot that one not realizing that would mean reading on average 2 books a week. My current book is #34 on the list, which isn't bad. In my defense, several of the books that I read were 700+ pages each, so that's really like TWO books. Anyway, I'm nerdy and last year created a spreadsheet to keep track of my literary accomplishments and will continue to do so in 2008. It's kind of fun to look back at what I've read. I've already got a stack of books waiting to be read in 2008, not to mention my ever-growing wish list at the library.

Since the New Year is almost upon us, everyone starts talking about New Years Resolutions. I haven't made actual resolutions in years, because frankly, I can't take that kind self-abuse. I mean, why set myself up for failure? Instead of resolutions, I try to set a few goals to accomplish over the next year. I think of it as my List of Intentions. What's on it this year? Hmmm....let me think.

1. Finish up a couple craft projects that have been patiently waiting for my attention.
2. Quit spending so much time on the damn computer.
3. Make my husband go on a vacation with me.
4. Be more active!
5. Revamp my wardrobe.
6. Learn how to use my camera and take some really awesome pictures.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there will be more. But my head is starting to pound from all this thinking. Or maybe it's my cold that's making it hurt. Time for more Sudafed!

Happy Festivus!

So the other day, Hubby rolled all the coins from our coin jar (aka the pickle jar in the closet) and gave me the coin rolls to take to the bank to cash in. I swear, the man is finally catching on and realizing what I'm all about. He told me to take the cash and buy myself some of this:


And God love him, I did. Bless his little heart, I think he may have actually been listening a couple weeks ago when we had a "talk" about me and my needs. I don't recall actually telling him I needed top-shelf vodka, but far be it from me to question his interpretation. I think he hit the goose on the head.

The Next Ansel Adams

Let me tell ya, I have been having SO much fun with my new camera! It arrived about a week ago and I think I've probably taken 200 pictures already! Granted, not all of them have been good and I've deleted quite a few, but I'm still learning how to use all the features. Even with my limited knowledge, I've managed to snap some really good pictures. The clarity is amazing - so much better than my point & shoot Canon.

Here are a few of my recent masterpieces:

The kids at the park

Murphy, the cat

Zoe Grace

I will continue practicing and learning how to use all the features so that hopefully I can get some good pictures that can be blown up. I'd love to have some that we could use in our house. That'd be cool.

My new toy!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am over my latest purchase! Even though yesterday was technically The Hubby's birthday, I ordered myself a present. Not without his consent/approval/permission, of course. Especially since it's probably the most expensive thing we've purchased since we bought our refrigerator about 7 years ago (not counting vehicles). But I digress.

I bought a camera! And not just any ol' camera. I purchased my very first digital SLR camera, a Nikon D40. The thought has been in the back of my head for awhile now that we really could use a nicer camera, if we ever wanted to actually get pictures of the kids that were spontaneous and of any kind of quality. But then after discovering my now-favorite blog, www.thepioneerwoman.com, and viewing the awesome pictures that Ree takes, the hunger grabbed ahold of me. Then my girlfriend, Brooke, who is a photo enthusiast also, got a new camera and I knew I just had to join the club. I'm such a joiner.

I researched cameras on line, read reviews and even went and fondled one at Target to see what it actually felt like. Let me tell ya, it felt good. So I grabbed a $12 CD for The Hubster as his birthday present and rushed to home order myself a $500+ camera. Ok, it's not really all for me. I have to remember that and let Josh use it too.

But I can't wait to get it! And it comes with all kinds of accessories: two tripods, a hard carrying case and a soft one, a wide angle lens, 3 filters, a 4GB memory card, a memory card reader, and a car/home batter recharger. I'll be completely set up and ready to shoot. I'm looking forward to getting some good pictures of the kids, especially with the holidays coming. And maybe for Christmas I'll ask for a telephoto lens. That'd be cool.

Later I'll tell you why I think I've bought this from The Mob, but for now Miss Z keeps saying "Take a baf, me!" Time to go get clean.

Love Languages

So I took this quiz this morning: http://edified.org/myspace/lovelanguage. I suspected what the results would be, considering I've read part of Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages, before (I actually own it). The book, and quiz, are geared towards helping you figure out what makes you feel love or what your love language is. Anyway, here are my results:

Acts of Service: 10
Words of Affirmation: 9
Quality Time: 6
Receiving Gifts: 3
Physical Touch: 2

Hmmm. Looks like a typical profile of a mom with small kids, don't you think? Translation: Help me clean this damn house, tell me I'm doing a good job, let me have some time for myself (aka quality time), remember my birthday, and give me an occasional snuggle.

I'm sure that if I were to have Hubby take this quiz his results would probably be an upside-down version of mine. I'm sure Physical Touch would top his list, because, well, he's a man, then he'd probably want some Affirming Words, then Quality Time, Acts of Service and at the bottom of the list would be Receiving Gifts.

I wonder if I can get him to read that book.

Books, Books, Books

I love reading. It's ironic too, because I have a very vivid memory of being in kindergarten, sitting in a circle on the floor and having to read outloud for the first time. I remember thinking "I HATE this. I HATE reading and I'll NEVER do this for fun." It's just occurred to me though, that it was probably more the public speaking that I hated than the actual reading.

And if it was the reading I hated, I quickly got over that feeling because I remember spending many a summer's day laying on my bed, engrossed in a book for the entire day. Or hiding under my covers with a flashlight and reading way into the night, like 11:00pm or something. I still can't go to sleep without at least opening a book, even if I'm so tired that I read the same paragraph three times before finally giving up.

I just love books! And it seems like I'm always finding more that I want to read. I swear, I must have a list of about 30 books that I want to read. And that doesn't include the ones I want to go back and RE-read. I just have found so many good authors and stories lately that I want to experience them again, and make sure I didn't miss anything. It's a sad dilemma, I know, when my biggest quandry of the day is what book I'm going to read next. Like right now, for instance, I have one that a co-worker loaned me. And the polite thing to do would be to read it next and get it back to her as soon as possible. Yet, I've gotten a couple other books recently that I really want to read. But since they are either part of a series, or 800+ pages long, I suppose I'll read the other one first. I better go get started!

Happy Reading!

I Survived

Phew. I survived that crazy week, but just barely. I knew it would all work itself out but it was just a bit overwhelming to have it all on the horizon. A quick recap of how it all played out (as much as I can remember, that is):

Tuesday - Stayed home before work, did all the laundry, figured out menus, made shopping lists, went to work and blathered about how crazy things were going to be.

Wednesday - Hubby ended up getting home before Sam's asssessment, but Miss Z was still napping. I took Sam for his asssessment, he had an unprecedented attack of shyness, but managed to cooperate eventually. After that, we spent several hours doing errands: grocery shopping, buying birthday presents, acquiring soccer paraphanalia. Hubby's friend Nick called at 9:45pm to touch base about getting together.

Thursday - Cleaned house, prepped stuff for dinner, then took Sam to soccer. N & R arrived shortly before I got home from soccer so the timing working out great. We had a very nice evening - great food, good company, fabulous sangria - I really liked Rattana and understood most of what she said.

Friday - Tidied up the house, made a big pot of marinara sauce for dinner, baked Zoe's cake, got Sam ready for his first day of school, went to school with him (SO much fun; heart-wrenching but fun...I was so hugenormously proud of him I almost burst!), decorated Zoe's cake, got dinner ready for our 10 guests.

Off to school

Concentrating very hard on his self-portrait

Zoe's kitty cake

The Birthday Girl

Life is settling down now, I guess back to it's normal level of craziness. Of course, I'm already starting to think about the upcoming Christmas season, which brings it's own special brand of sugar-flocked insanity. I can't wait!

My Reasons for Living

My two babies, eating breakfast the other day.

They must have been half -starved to look this happy about a bowl of cereal.

Teetering on the Edge

I'm really feeling like I want to just crawl in bed until at least next Monday. This week is going to be hideously busy and I just don't know how I'm going to get everything accomplished. And it's not even stuff that I can postpone, neglect or ignore. Here's what my week looks like in a glimpse:

Tuesday - Work 3-11:30pm
Wednesday - Sam's kindergarten assessment 2:30-3:30pm
Thursday - Zoe's birthday, Sam's 1st soccer practice 4-5pm, Nick & Rattana visiting from Maine
Friday - Sam's first day of kindergarten, Zoe's party/dinner with family
Saturday - Neighbor Maddie's birthday party 12:00pm, work 3-11:30pm

Ok, so that doesn't look too scary or overwhelming in writing. And if it all just magically happened with no preparation, forethought or planning required, then it wouldn't be so bad. But it's all the details that have to happen surrounding those events. So let me revise and show you the small print:

Tuesday - Work 3-11:30pm - Having already worked Monday night until 11:30pm and then stopped at the grocery store for a little shopping after work, I'm already tired. Today is seemingly an "easy" day, but it's really not. See, my house is a disaster, the laundry is piling up and it's raining. You might not think that rain would be a problem, but it is. It's a problem because IT KEEPS SAM INSIDE. Today is hard because it's too early to do any cooking/baking for the back-to-back dinners I'll need to cook on Thursday & Friday. I'd consider going shopping for said dinners except I have no idea yet what's on the menu.

Wednesday - Sam's kindergarten assessment 2:30-3:30pm - Hubby was originally going to go with me for this appointment, which is why I made it in the afternoon, but now he says he doesn't want to ditch out of work early. So that means I potentially have to wake Little Sister up and take her to the appt by myself. When I really want to be focusing on Sam and his impending education, I'll probably be chasing Sis around, keeping her from destroying things.

Thursday - Zoe's birthday, Sam's 1st soccer practice 4-5pm, Nick & Rattana visiting from Maine - This is the day the poo hits the fan. Hubby's friend Nick is in town from Maine, along with his wife, and they are to come to dinner. SO....that means I'll need to clean the house, and figure out what's for dinner. Nick is a good cook so I feel the need to prepare something other than chicken nuggets or hotdogs. It's also Zoe's birthday and though we're not officially celebrating until Friday, I want to do something a little special with her on this day. No ideas though. In the midst of all this, Sam's first soccer practice is at 4pm. RIGHT when I need to be getting dinner going. I hear you suggesting "Why doesn't Hubby take him?" Hmm. Well, yes that would be nice, but considering I don't really know Nick all that well and his Thai wife at all, it makes more sense for him to stay home and entertain them while I play Soccer Mom. (I'm secretly hoping that maybe Nick will lose our phone number, or something will come up that will prevent him from visiting. Nothing personal, I'm just slammed this week.)

Friday - Sam's first day of kindergarten, Zoe's party/dinner with family - This is the day my little man starts school and the parents are invited to stay for all or part of that first day and dang it, I'm going to. MIL is going to come up early and stay with Sissy so I can participate in this milestone with Sam. Of course, he doesn't get out of school until 3:30pm so then I'll need to rush home and get dinner ready for the party/dinner with my family and Hubby's parents. Oh, and at some point I'll need to bake and decorate Zoe's kitty cake. And get a minute alone to shop and buy her some presents.

Saturday - Neighbor Maddie's birthday party 12:00pm, work 3-11:30pm - Neighbor Melissa specifically planned the party for noon so that we could come before work. It'll be nice and since we're the only people invited, we should go. So, I need to find a present for Maddie too. Although that should be easy. It's just finding the time.

All of this on top of the usual kid care & entertaining, house cleaning, laundry, bill paying, meal-planning, hair-pulling, teeth-gnashing, breathing, peeing and minimal sleeping that is part of my daily life.

Do you see my dilemma? If I clean too early, it'll all be for naught, because approximately 12 minutes after I clean something, it's dirty again. If I wait too long, it may not get done and then my house will look like it does now. And it frightens ME so I know it would frighten guests. And I'm afraid that if my house is in too much disarray when my mother comes on Friday, that I may let loose on her and tell her what I think of her perpetual negativity and unsolicited opinions. I'm already formulating my response to her inevitable commentary on the state of my carpet.

I need to shop - for food, for birthday presents, for soccer shin guards and socks. I need to clean and do laundry. I need to focus on my baby's 2nd birthday and my son's first day of school.

And for Pete's sake, I need to watch tennis. It's the 2nd week of the US Open!

Has it been a month?

Good gravy, has it really been a month since I posted last? Well, no wonder my written journal has gone the way of the dinosaurs. Time is plotting against me and the days disappear faster than I can keep track of them. It's cruel really.

Anyway, I'm much too full to write much or be excessively creative/funny/witty. I made Chipotle Chicken Tacos for dinner again, tweaking the sauce recipe this time, and they were even MORE yummy. I think I ate 4. Or 5. I lost count. My dad came over for dinner and he ate 5 too, so I guess he liked them. Along with dos cervesas, the tacos are plotting in my belly to send me into a food coma, but in an attempt to stay upright and conscious until my children are in bed at least, I decided to plunk my butt in front of the computer.

Ok, so this post was interrupted by my search for Sam in the woods after hearing crying off in the distance. The Neighbor and I searched around, hollering, until we could see the kids coming thru the brush. As Sam got closer, I saw blood on his bottom lip, shin and smeared on his neck. Long story short, he had one of his arrows in his mouth, probably tripped on the stairs he was going up (in a neighbor's yard too far from home) and it busted and jabbed him in the lip and top of the mouth. Hence the blood. After closer inspection, he's okay. And the kids all got a lecture in straying too far from home and the inherent dangers.

Until next time...who knows when that'll be...

My first attempt

I recently have discovered a blog that I am just enamored with. I am just addicted to it, even though I've just recently discovered it, and not only because of the captivating content, but the general premise. I mean, to have an online journal that friends, family, and perfect strangers have access to? Pretty brave, especially if you choose to be completely honest and talk as though to yourself.

Anyway, after spending multiple hours reading the afore-mentioned blog, I remembered that I had set up one of my own here on blogspot.com. So, what the heck. Here I am. Not sure what will become of it, but who knows. It may take on a life of it's own and grow beyond my control.