Anniversary

So yesterday was the anniversary of my dad's passing. My mom, Robert and I went out to lunch. At this point I think the acuteness of the sad has waned but every now and then I see a person that makes me look twice because of the resemblance or hear a song that reminds me and I just well up inside. My friend talked to me last year and said, " we didn't know how sad we were until a year later, we're finally starting to come out of it." I kind of feel like that too. We've had a rough two years in our family, but we have also been so richly blessed in so many different ways.

I Love this picture of my dad. He let Katie put stickers all over his face. He was always doing stuff like that with the kids.

Momentary Tooting of my Own Horn!!!!

You might have noticed my blog entries have been a bit sparse this month-- Okay, maybe no more than usual. BUT I HAVE AN EXCUSE :) I have just finished Les Miserables (UNABRIDGED, no less) for the first time ever. Of course I love the Musical and have seen it umpteen times (2x this summer alone), but I have always wanted to read the book, partially because it was so gargantuan. It was an academic Everest for me. Well, I've never had the time. Who does? This time, however, I had extrinsic motivation. An informal class I'm taking had it on the list. (Yes, I am the only public school parent in a group full of home schoolers, but I'll hang out with anyone who wants to talk about books) . One of the rules of this class is that you may not discuss the book unless you have finished it. So, I ignored my housework and read my little heart out for an entire week to finish this behemoth. I did it! I did it! I did it!I did it! I did it!

Can you tell I'm just a little proud of myself? Why such madness? BECAUSE . . . It's also on MY list (you know the one--stuff you've always wanted to do). And I have just got to whittle this list down a little.

I'll review Les Mis in my next post but as it is 4:45 a.m. and I am beginning to feel the effects of the last half hour of late night expositing, I'll catch you tomorrow.

Brenda's Visit

My cousin Brenda visited Saturday and Sunday. We had such a great time. Now that Adrienne is in college, I'm hoping we'll see a lot more family around here. It was a lot of fun because Brenda and Julie are the closest thing I ever had to big sisters and I remember spending an awful lot of time together, especially during the summers. The shared experience of my childhood is something I so rarely get-- so when I have "pseudosisters" around, I get a glimpse of what it might have been like to have some siblings. Family is used to the "I remember whens" don't often enter into conversations about me. This time they did and it was such a cool feeling.

-- I don't really have time to wax philosophical tonight as we are preparing (read scrambling) to attend the all-important and never-boring Pine Wood Derby. But Only Childness is definitely on my list of blog-worthy topics.

Thanks Brenda and Adrienne for making such a long trip to hang out with us.

The State of the Nation-- or at least my neck of the woods.

Hey, what's it like in your area economically? It seems like around here things are very scary. Everyone is affected by the slowing economy. It used to be that Real Estate agents were the only ones at risk in a housing slowdown, but around my neck of the woods nobody is unaffected. Moms are going back to work because Dads haven't worked for a while(usually in some sort of construction or contracting trade). But even seemingly unrelated areas are scaling back like engineering and accounting, even doctors are losing business in areas that are considered "non-essential". In SG alone, the city elected not to give the customary holiday bonuses, wouldn't hold a tree lighting ceremony for Christmas, and is cutting benefits. There is no work to be had-- in any sector. College students--eminently employable because of their willingness to do absolutely anything for money-- are not able to find work. I can't watch any of the 24 hrs news channels because I don't need them to tell me what's happening when I can see it in my own backyard. Our family scaled back Christmas and gave some of what we would have spent to those who needed it more than we did. What else can we do? Any ideas?
-WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS?

Princess

This Picture of Princess K. Just makes me happy. > I was laying on my back and had my Father-in-law's amazing Digital SLR camera. I love playing with amazing tools.

New Family Picture From Christmas Eve.

CHRISTMAS PIX

Tubing the Day after Christmas
Nate got Hungry Hungry Hippos for Christmas!!!
Nate gets the hang of the Wii-- our main family gift.
Rob reads to the Kids Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve Dinner at Grandmas

Return from the Ashes!!!!

CHRISTMAS IS OVER!!!! Yeah!!. OOPS, did that reveal me to be a scrooge? I hope not. I just love the NEW YEAR!!! I love the motivation and energy to renew goals and commitments. I love pruning my roses and planning a vegetable garden. I love this time of the year. Bring on Spring!!!!! January feels like spring to me.
In three short days my lovely, wonderful children will return to school and I will attempt to tackle laundry, organization and deep cleaning that I have put off since October. At least that's the plan. But we have a bit of news that might put a wrench in all my plans-- We're expecting a baby on July 16. This baby is Number Never Again. I'm just getting too old for the pregnancy thing. That being said, we are so excited. The kids are more elated than me and Robert more than anybody. I'm hoping that the 2nd trimester energy and well-being will be more than enough to make my spring spring.