January has been good to me

Even though it is gloomy and cold out, I was thinking January is a very good month for me because some of my very favorite people were born in January!

In Date order:

January 2: My Grandma Millie who was such a wonderful lady, she taught me you can be tough and feminine at the same time, and was so generous to all her grandkids.

January 3: Karla, my very best friend in Florida, she was my boss but became my close friend through so many tough times in our lives, pregnancies, births, deaths, her husbands bout with cancer. She was understanding and supportive through it all, she made being a working mother bearable and treated my kids like they were her nephews. We had so many great walks and fun parties and not to mention 40 hours a week for 15 years of work!

January 7: My sister-in-law (more like a sister) Jeaneen, we also have been through every imaginable and unimaginable life event together, and still manage to take time to have fun together. I definitely cherish our friendship.

January 10: A new friend (for 5 years and counting) Susan, she was a breath of NY when I moved up to the south, the minute I met her I knew she was my kind of people. A great and thoughtful friend and always good for a laugh or a strong opinion!

January 14 (or 17): I am having a mental block on which day it is, Wendy, my best buddy from our formative years, one I will never let go of! SO glad we reconnected and picked up where we left off after almost 20 years of drifting apart, we never forgot about each other but forgot to make time. We won't do that again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the lovely ladies in my life!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 was nice and easy, not too much stress, boys were happy with what they got. Went to a few parties, ate way too many goodies, stayed close to home, didn't do the last minute shuffle this year, a good change. Enjoyed church Christmas Eve had some friends over for a drink and then lounged around on Christmas Day.

Check out Chris rocking in his boxers!

Bah Humbug

I guess if I want this blog to be an accurate diary of my life, all entries can't be cheery. I don't know if it's the gloomy weather or all the bad news on TV, (I think I will take a break from news this weekend). I am in a pre Christmas funk, mainly beacause Jim and I who both normally get bonuses at the end of the year, didn't. I know, I know we should plan all year for the holiday spending, but it never happens that way. And I know, we should be thankful we have jobs, but we both worked "over and above" this year and it is just plain disappointing! So I guess my shopping is coming to a screeching halt, we have warned the boys "don't expect much" and they are understanding, although Chris keeps looking nervously under the tree. Things could definitely be worse, but this is my blog. It is interesting how the extra money is never spent on me, it always goes to others gifts, but it bothers me, I guess it is true Christmas is about giving and when you can't give freely, it is just not as fun!

Trying to Keep the "Reason for the Season"

Bryan and I had an opportunity through our church to help with some holiday good deeds. It was great to get out and see what wonderful things are available for people in need right here in Woodstock. We delivered foodbaskets to the Hope Center it is an awesome place for women who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy, a monumental time in a person's life for sure. We had a tour of the facility, and met the director Cindy O'Leary, she is so full of joy! she is doing such wonderful work, she left her lucrative corporate job to do "God's work" and seems so happy. Maybe in the future I will become a mentor for new mothers since, I think I developed some mommy skills raising my 2 boys.

Today we are going to deliver our Adopt a Senior gifts and food, I am doing this in honor of Jim's Mom and my grandmothers, I can't stand the thought of lonely elderly people at Christmas! I really don't feel like it is enough, but we got them what they requested.

After this we will get back to the partying and shopping!

Over the river and through the woods...

Actually it was many rivers and lots of woods, we drove 14 hrs to NY to spend the holidays with my family. With gas so cheap we decided to go for it, we saw it for $1.47 in one spot in Ohio!

It was really nice to see everyone, I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving in 15 years. I got to meet some of my 1st cousins once removed (we figured that out after much debate) for the first time, my cousin's sons. We found out my cousin Ted has to go back to Afghanistan for a year, tough with 2 small kids!

We had a few memorable moments, like when the oven became locked on the clean cycle just as we were getting ready to roast the turkeys (Jim's fault-I knew it would time lock!) So we ran the turkey over to the neighbors, thank God she had room in her oven! 

We hit all the highlights: Schallers Bill Grays and Abbotts, still just as yummy as ever. We are a low budget bunch although dinner for 6 a Bill Grays runs about $72 dollars! 

It was a tough 16 hour drive home, between the weather and the traffic. I actually really enjoyed the farmland scenery in Ohio and Kentucky and was impressed with Cincinnati, it is a cool looking city. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Mom's Taxi Gets a Break

Well unfortunately for Bryan his football season that began with training in April ended abruptly Friday night when they lost in the first round of play-offs. Everyone was stunned, it was a really good season the team was 9-2, and I am sure he made lifelong friends. I can tell they are really making a man out of him, because this morning despite temps in the 30s and 40 mph winds he got up early and walked the 1/2 mile to the bus stop, not waking me for a ride. His workouts continue even though the season is over. It is so nice not to run him around everywhere, but I must admit, we have our best talks when we have uninterrupted time in the car, also when I am transporting his friends which happened often, I would get to catch up on the latest things going on in the mysterious life of 15 year olds.








So our nights are a lot less hectic now until March when baseball starts up again.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

We were all snuggled in our camper on Lake Allatoona Friday night. It was very foggy and still, when we were awoken by loud crash, when a 40 foot tall tree decided it was the perfect time to drop one of its branches. It came right through the window sending shards of glass everywhere in the camper. Luckily no one was sleeping under the window they would have been injured for sure. We spent the next hour carefully looking for glass pieces, which when we were sure we found them all, another one would appear. Jim and I were shaken up from the sudden jolt, the boys on the other hand, didn't hear a thing! Jim taped up the window and reinforced it with cardboard since it was going to be in the 30s by morning.

We managed to have a nice family weekend after that watching the new Indiana Jones movie, Get Smart with Steve Karel and a movie called 21, we liked them all. We also built a campfire, played Monopoly and Chris and I (a budding artist maybe?) drew pictures and took crazy pictures. Here are shots I took of the lake and fall foliage: