The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009 is swiftly coming to a close and in my opinion it can't happen fast enough. In all of my 36 years I would have to say that this year has been the worst. It hasn't been all bad but it seems like it was. Here is my short list:

The Good:
Losing 12 pounds
Getting to see old friends this summer and reconnecting with them
Going to Scrapbook Camp twice with my sisters and good friends
Seeing the progress in Owen's speech
Being able to spend quality time with my family
Going to see Def Leppard with one of my oldest dearest friends
Blogging for the first time and finding new people who share interests with me
Paying off some bills
Learning that I am stronger than I thought and can handle things myself

The Bad:
Losing three girlfriends from high school to Breast Cancer this year
Putting my cat to sleep after 13 years of loyal service
Having problems with my eyes and having to spend about $500 on visits and drops
Homework headaches all year with my 8 year old and being frustrated trying to get him to remember to bring things home every day.


The Ugly:
The complete deterioration of my marriage. I really do not think that anything can repair the damage that has been done or change my mind about how I feel.
A 10 year friendship that came to a complete and abrupt end. I have blogged about this before and sometimes I am over it but still am very sad about it.
Finding that people who you thought you could trust with your feelings and personal information are not the people you thought they were and were just using you for personal gain or their own amusement


I know there are only a few things on my Ugly list but those things consumed most of my year and were the reason this year was so bad. All I can hope is that the changes I am trying to make in my life start working and that the people I know I can depend on will always be there.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Eve already. I am still at work for a couple more hours then the craziness starts. I have pretty much all my presents to wrap still since I was working so fervently to get the quilt done for my mom.

Over the next few days we will all be partaking in lots of food, family, and presents. We have three different places to go over the next three days, I know that it can get crazy and hectic going from place to place (like we always do) and sometimes we are more concerned that everything is going just so and not just sit and enjoy.

The one thing I truly enjoy about Christmas is seeing everything through my boy's eyes. This year should be especially fun since Owen is two and really getting into Christmas. They are getting so excited and we are going to bake some cookies for Santa this afternoon and just hang out.

I hope everyone has a truly Blessed Christmas and enjoys the time spent with family!

A Lesson in Giving

I always wonder what my parents did to raise three very giving considerate children. Really, not to toot my own horn but somehow they imparted on us the desire to do for others and that giving is truly better than receiving




 The stuff for the 15 year old girl


 Somewhere in the last month my adorable, sweet, 8 year old has turned into somewhat of a brat. It's probably no fault of his own because as the first child/grandchild he has been indulged most of his life. Now that isn't to say that he gets what he wants all the time. We only really buy toys and new stuff at Christmas and birthdays. When he wants something new I usually have him use his own money, or match it if he works for it.

I had finally had it one weekend when for the 100th million time I had to hear how BORED he was and there was nothing to do. I gave him my general lecture about how lucky he was to have all he has and blah blah, and his eyes glazed over like they usually do when I go on for more than three minutes.

I decided that he needed to see, feel, get a tangible idea of what it was to not have and to give to others. At work we did an Angel tree this year. Children who were in Foster care in our county. I chose a 15 year old girl and then I chose an 8 year old boy for him. I explained to him in great deal what Foster care was, and how this boy was one of four siblings and that he would not be with his parents and may not even be with his siblings for Christmas. We talked about it and he took $20 of his own money and we went shopping. I matched him and with some planning and store coupons we were able to get him a DS game, clothes and a book. He helped me wrap it all and seemed to finally get it. That he doesn't have to worry about any of that and we need to think of others at this time of year.

Yesterday we went to Walmart and the Salvation Army bell ringers were out. I asked him if he wanted to put the money in and handed him a single. He looked at me and said "Mom, don't we have a $5 we can give?" We did just that.

Homework Headaches

Just for the record, on a normal day my 8 year old is pretty great. He usually listens, and helps out, he plays with his little brother, and brings home his Homework folder.

Lately we have been having ZERO normal days. Nothing much has changed, but he keeps forgetting his folder. Twice this month we have had to go back to school to get his glasses. He doesn't take his work/papers out of his bag and gvie them to the teacher (even though she asks for them)

His dad and I are trying to come up with some kind of plan. Yelling doesn't work, we don't want him to feel bad but he needs to start learning responsibility. I am opposed to any kind of reward chart for this type of issue. He shouldn't be rewarded for something that is expected.

He has been writing sentences, but that too is getting old. Finally the other day I went to talk to his teacher, just to make sure there wasn't anything significant missing. Luckily there wasn't but she did say she is having trouble with him and most of the class following directions. (we have that issue at home lately too) She talked about homework detention after school, which is not good since I work till about 5 or 6 and his dad would have to leave work also. The next day his dad took him to school, and they decided he would miss recess and do his homework that he didn't turn in, and at home he would lose TV and Computer privileges that night and the next morning.

Guess what? He brought everything home yesterday! Let's just see how today goes.

A Mishmash of Info

So when I started reading all the updates I realized how far behind I am again. A variety things have kept me busy, none of the terribly important enough to not blog.

Thanksgiving was fine. Since I worked late the night before and had to work the next day I cooked. My in-laws came up to our house and it was a quiet day. Owen decided to be a monster when he woke up from his nap but other than that not too bad.

I did a little shopping Black Friday but I waited until about 8:30 to go anywhere and it was fine. My big score was going to Michael's on my lunch and getting Cricut cartridges for 28.88. They had them marked for 35.00 but if you mentioned Joann's was selling them for less they price matched. I got six of them. Merry Christmas to me!

Disclaimer: Any men may want to skip this next paragraph
I went for my yearly and turns out since having a C-section two years ago I am having problems. I have what is called Adenomyosis and am taking hormones to suppress my cycle for the next three months. After that another internal ultrasound to see if they need to do a Laproscopy and "fix some things" Yeah!

OK Men can read now

I had a great weekend. Went to my parents on Saturday and spent the day there. My mom, sister and I took the kids shopping a little while. The boys baked cookies with Grandma and I vegged out! The next morning we went to my other Sisters friends house and she took pictures of our kids for Christmas. We got about three good pictures before Owen abandoned ship and could not be lured back.

After that we had a surprise 50th Birthday party for my aunt. She is going to be on a cruise on her actual birthday later this month so her kids decided to do it now. It was great fun, she was really surprised and it was great seeing family! We then took the kids to see my Grandpa who loved having us drop in and then drove 2 hours back home!

I now have realized that we only have 18 days till Christmas and I have too much to do!