Goodbye, Hello

Goodbye 2009...

...Hello 2010.

man, I'm old.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Yes indeedy, we had a WHITE Christmas. In fact, we still have a WHITE Wichita Falls. Christmas Eve the boys and I woke up to overcast skies. Not really caring about the weather, I didn't think much of it. But then around 7 am it started to rain. Small, light raindrops. My first thought-muddy dog prints. Honestly, those stinkin' muddy feet are going to get the best of me. My second thought-brrr, it's cold outside. Now one would think that I would have put two and two together; that one would be wrong. It never crossed my mind that it would not only snow, but that we would have a blizzard. Yup. A BLIZZARD. I am so not making this up.

The snow started about 8:30 am and just got heavier and thicker and the next thing we know it's a white out outside.

Of all the things...

Now this would not have been a problem at all had I not had to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. (Yes, I worked Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the day after and the day after that. And yes it would horrible. And yes, I hope to never have to do that again. And yes, I'm a little bitter about it. And yes I know that this is something that is only temporary and that soon Stuart will be done with school and he'll have a real job again and I can go back to being a SAHM but geez...I digress. Oh and have I mentioned that I also work New Year's Eve?) Stuart shoveled snow for an hour and a half to clear the van out of the driveway so that I could be the good little bread winner and get to work.

Here's the progression:

Uh huh, that's at least a foot of snow in our front yard. And here's the kicker-we still have it on the ground! And it snowed more yesterday! And this town is totally not prepared for winter weather so it 3 days to begin clearing out roads!

At least I am can say we have snow, snow, snow!

What A Day!

12-28-02

Yule Tide

He's Coming

Your Attention Please

Traditions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper until the boys are big enough that the "joy" of tearing thru wrapping paper has worn off, then gift bags (hello EASIER).
2. Real tree or artificial? I'm torn. Growing up I always had fake trees and up until last year Stuart and I did too. Last year we bought a real one and it was awesome. Only 3 problems: 1) cleaning up needles, 2) putting the tree out for trash pick-up on the correct day and 3) the purchase of a new tree year after year.
3. When do you put up the tree? I start thinking about it during Thanksgiving. When the tree actually materializes is anyone's guess.
4. When do you take the tree down? Depends on how ready I am to un-Christmas-orize my house.
5. Do you like eggnog? Not particularly.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Since my birthday is 4 days before Christmas I'm having a hard time separating the two but I think my charm bracelet.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Stuart. Hands down.
8. Easiest person to buy for? The boys.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No and I want to steal my sisters.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail!!! I LOVE sending out Christmas cards and I LOVE displaying received cards. Plus I take all the pictures and put them on my picture board for the year.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmm, I honestly can't come up with anything.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas. I could sing to that all day long.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? As soon as I realize that we have no gifts.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yup.
15. Favorite thing to about Christmas? The season. The lights. The music. The decorations. The giving. The reminder of Jesus.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Staying home is so nice but traveling is a must to see family.
19. Can you name all of Santas' reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Doner, Blitzen, Rudolph. (totally just sang it to get them all)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Depends on what I have-last year it was a bow.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both. One present on Christmas eve and all the rest and ones from Santa Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Long lines at stores. (agree with 'ya Aubrey)
23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? Wow, so many things to choose from. I like the "traditional" and simple themes-all silver, all gold.
24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? Pistachio salad. Mmm.
25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? For the boys to be happy.
26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Waking up at crack-o-dawn-thirty, passing out gifts, opening presents together, having homemade cinnamon rolls, then curling up on the couch for a long winter's nap. Fantastic.
27. Favorite tradition now? Don't really have any traditions that we have started with the boys. Maybe next year?
28. Favorite Christmas Memory? Staying up late with my cousins on Christmas Eve and telling each other what we got. So fun. :)

All Aboard

This train is about to leave.

Destination: Mimi and Peepaw's house (San Antonio)

Travel Time: 6 hours

Stops: A few for use of the facilities and nourishment

Estimated arrival time: ??? Late afternoon ???

Thanks for traveling on the Doss Express. We hope you have a lovely stay. Please keep all hands and feet to yourselves. All comments need to be directed to the Captain thru quiet, friendly voices. Thanks again.

Oh, and Happy Birthday SD (a.k.a. Grandpa)!

Cleaning Day

Today is cleaning day.

Otherwise known as get away from me or else I might bite your head off day. At least that's what we called it when I was little (sorry mom, it's true). So it makes sense that this "day" has passed on to me. Saturday was the cleaning day at my house growing up-which it totally unfair since that was our "day-off." We would get up, mom would do the breakfast thing, we would watch the coveted Saturday morning cartoons and then she would proudly announce, "It's time to clean the house!" You see my mom was obsessed with having a clean house (still is) but she was also really good at it so it made sense. (And yes, she is the person who is responsible for gifting me with my OCD. Amazing how this didn't get gifted to my sisters.)

Anywho, my mom would divvy out chores for the three of us to do (usually dusting, vacuuming, picking up our rooms) and she would tackle bathrooms. My dad mowed and we all generally tried to stay out of sight so as not to disturb the cleaning dragon (again, so sorry mom but it was true).

As I got older I realized that if we got a jump start on cleaning on say Friday or even Thursday, not only could we be lazy as all get out on Saturday but my mom was so overjoyed that we WANTED to help clean (yeah right) that she would end up doing most of it by herself. (Neat little trick)

Fast forward several years and I am now my mother.

That's right.

I said it.

I AM MY MOTHER.

Happy?

I loathe cleaning. But do not ever confuse cleaning with organizing. I could spend hours and I mean hours organizing and still want to do more. Cleaning...not so much.

But cleaning it what I must do today.

We are going to San Antonio tomorrow (and I can guarantee you that my mom is also cleaning her house today) and so our house must be spotless before we leave. Yes, thank you mom for that "gift" too. (My mom always had to have a clean house before we went out of town) You know, in case someone breaks into our house they can stop and appreciate the fresh scent and sparkling toilets. And so that when we walk in the door after being trapped in the car for 6 hours listening to cartoons so that we don't have to listen to our screaming and whining boys I can appreciate the five minutes it takes to devastate the order that I am lovingly going to create today.

Yup, the cycle of craziness goes on. But at least the house profits in the end.

Oh and by-the-way:

2 days till my 29th birthday

6 days till Christmas

9 days till our 7th anniversary

See, now why can't I see people like this at my Walmart?

Ahh, the hilariousness!

Tuesday

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..." Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

I needed to read this verse today. With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the last two years. And while I haven't fully processed or come to grips with what has happened, I know that He will be there and he's giving me all the time to figure it out.

While I was working

I came home to Tucker asleep on the couch. The rest of the house completely quiet.

Countdown:

7 days till my 29th birthday

11 days till Christmas

14 days till our 7th anniversary

Almost done

Yesterday Stuart officially completed his last fall semester of school.

He's almost done people.

18 hours this spring.

6 hours in summer I.

1 CLEP test done and passed.

2 CLEP tests needed to be done.

He.is.almost.done.

Dallas or Bust

Yesterday that boys and I loaded up and left daddy by himself to take his last final and headed to the Big D, well Coppell to be exact. I hadn't seen my middle sister and my oh-so-adorable niece since June. Gasp! I know, I know. Needless-to-say, this trip was long overdue.

While we were there, we:

• Attempted to get a good cousin group shot

• Opened Christmas presents

• Played, played, played, played, played

• Found out what it's like to to have three kids (April I don't know how you do it!)

• Played with cousin-in-law(ish) Annie

• Tucker pushed Kate

• Kate rode on Tyson

We had a great time and Tucker even woke up this morning asking for Kate. :)

Shout Outs:

Playrooms-all the toys in ONE PLACE

Jackets-it is 18 degrees here this morning. Brrrr.

Day trips-it's exactly 2 hours from my front door to Marci's front door. Perfect.

Countdown:

11 days till my 29th birthday

15 days till Christmas

18 days till our 7th anniversary

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You

Blessed

Some days I just need a good 'ole dose of reality.

After the rock crawling event on Saturday, we loaded back up and drove to Yukon, OK to celebrate with family for another family member's 50th birthday. My SIL explained exactly what kind/number of cousin we are to them but what it boils down to is that MB (birthday boy) is Jennifer's cousin. While I love getting to see family, I was also sad. Jennifer wasn't there and she SO would have been there. Her three children and their families were there but Steve (FIL) wasn't there.

There was a slide show of MB's life and in it was a picture of him and Jennifer. And I cried.

While we were gathered at MB's house afterwards, we were talking about this and that when Jennifer's name came up (as it should and always will). It made me sad that she's not there telling the funny stories.

And as we came home, Tyson was talking about family members; when asked about Nana, he asked "Who is Nana?" It breaks my hearts that he doesn't remember her anymore.

But then I read stories like this and this and this and am slapped in the face with how blessed I am.

I am blessed to have a family that loves me.

I am blessed to have a Father who will never leave me.

I am blessed to have my health.

I am blessed to have a roof over my head and food to eat.

I am blessed to have known and loved and lost.

I am blessed.

Rock Crawl for Kids

Yesterday, Stuart's off-road club, TORC put on a charity event that involved 4x4s, old cars, and well, crawling over them. Stuart helped with the set-up Friday night and we just had to go check it out Saturday morning.

Let's just say that the boys will be talking about this for YEARS to come.

I think they had fun.

My Little Red Head

I Am Thankful...email forward

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT, BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO, BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

FOR THE crazy people I work with
BECAUSE they make work interesting and fun!

Help

Alright ladies, I need some help.

I just finished reading the last book on my shelf and I have no idea what books/authors to start reading. I pretty much like anything except Sci Fi although I loved The Twilight Series and The Host (but are those Sci Fi?). Anything Christian; I've read all of Karen Kingsbury and Francis Rivers. I love Nicholas Sparks but again have read everything he has out.

Any ideas?

By the way, have you read about Luke recently?

And the countdown:

19 days till my 29th birthday

23 days till Christmas

26 days till our 7th anniversary

It's December!

Can you believe it???

In an attempt to get yet another family picture, I realized that my boys just don't like to take pictures. Really.

2008

2009

What a difference a year makes.