Keeping a Resolution

Gosh, I’m good! One of my resolutions for the New Year was to sort through my boxes of accumulated stuff in the basement. Jeff and I cleaned out two storage areas earlier in the week when we were putting Christmas things away and the boxes (4 large totes, 3 small totes and four large bags of clothes to go to charity) had been sitting in the hall waiting for me to sort them since then. We have played this game before. In the past the boxes sat and sat and finally got shoved back into storage just as they were. But not this time! I sorted all but two bags of clothes! Out of all the other things I sorted I ended up with one box that I put all my 'keep' stuff in which will need to be sorted one more time into piles so things can go to their 'homes' (kids school papers I want to keep, craft stuff that wandered off and never made it back to the craft box), etc. I have a HUGE amount of trash and things to go to church for their thrift store.

I am tired but happy most of it is done! I enjoyed the feeling of this so much that I decided to sort some more! I have what I call 'baby boxes' (boxes I have for each child with all their baby stuff, like cards, banners, baby books, first outfits and then school stuff) and have started going through those. As a new mom I saved everything. Every little booklet the hospital gave me, every envelope, every school paper when they were little. Now I look at this stuff and think 'what is it??' I have finally realized that these things will not be nearly as interesting to the kids as they are to me. I want them to have a small amount to look at so that they won’t feel overwhelmed by it and I want what I keep to really show who they were at age 4, age 5, etc. without taking a long time to tell the story. Jennifer loves giraffes. So when I come across a little one line story with a drawing of a giraffe on it, this is who she is. She also loves drawing ballerinas, so those are keepers, too. The art she did in kindergarten where the art teacher did most of the work does not show who Jennifer is. So that stuff can go. I have it down to science now *feeling proud of myself* and I feel like I finally see the light as far as my final phase of de-cluttering my house goes. I feel refreshed.

Shaking Off the Blues & Ready for the Weekend

So I played a little online and decided it was time to shake my blues away. I started making a list of things I want to get for my house. A berry wreath would look nice on the wall behind the front door. I would like a key holder for next to the front door so I can stop wasting time searching for my keyring! Gooseberry Patch has some braided trivets that would look really cute in our lodge themed family room. I also want to get a basket for holding rolls or bread at dinner. A set of new placemats would be nice for the table, too. I must admit that made me feel better! That and the grilled turkey, bacon and provolone sandwich I made for lunch! Yum! I love comfort food!
Today is Friday and we call Friday night 'Pizza Night' at our house. Every Friday we have pizza and watch the travel channel. We've been doing it for ages and we love it. In our jammies early, each one of us brings our blanket out to the living room and we set up camp. Usually we have chips & dip later on (Tostitos and cheese & salsa dip) and most of us end up falling asleep with the tv on. It is a great way to start the weekend! This weekend we don't really have any plans. It is supposed to be wicked cold (using my best Boston accent) so I am thinking about making a crock pot full of chili on Sunday. I have been promising Bethany I would play Life with her and since I am feeling better I guess I had better honor that promise. She got it for Christmas so has been pretty patient!
I hope everyone stays warm and cozy and has a wonderful weekend!

My Mother (kinda sad)

I am really missing my mother this morning. She has been in heaven for almost thirteen years and while I miss her all the time some days it is more intense. Some days it feels like she is still here and I just want to sit and have my morning coffee with her. Is that too much to ask? I imagine her sitting at her kitchen table with her bagel, coffee and grapefruit juice. She is reading the newspaper. She has on her glasses, the ones that turn into sunglasses outside, but the light in the house always made them go dark and she would complain that she couldn’t see the newsprint.
I want to hug her gently. She was so tiny I always wondered how she ended up having such not-so-tiny daughters. I tend to miss her most in the morning, when the house is quiet and I am alone. We were supposed to be old ladies together. We had a plan. We were going to tint our gray hair blue and buy support hose together and go pick up our free cheese on Wednesdays. She was a very young 68 when she died. I was 32. We had a plan and I feel cheated.
I always thought it would be cool if we were neighbors and could just walk on over to visit with each other. It never occurred to me she would leave so soon. She was seldom sick. But when she got sick it wasn’t pretty. Cancer isn’t a pretty disease.
I was surprised toward the end that she was mourning all the things she wouldn’t get to do. Wait a minute. What about me? Aren’t you going to miss me?? I’m losing my mother here. But nope, it was all about her as well it should have been. But I was feeling my impending loss so greatly that it shocked me to realize what a loss it was for her. How stupid of me.
The anniversary of her death is next month. I try to ignore it, to forget the dates. One year a ‘friend’ of mine called to see how I was doing. Fine, I told her. She kept on, wanting to know was I really fine? Yes, fine. She kept it up. I asked her why she was asking me and she she answered with ‘you know’. No, I didn’t. Not until she finally said ‘it’s the anniversary of your mother’s death!’ Oh. Yes. Well, um, I was fine but now I am bummed like anything. Thanks for reminding me. Friend. In my family we try to slide past those days, knowing full well our loved one wouldn’t want us to be sad and dwell on it. They would want us to be happy. So in March I try to be happy and ignore the days. But usually sometime in January or February I get my day to dwell anyway. I don’t know who decides when that day will be but it happens every year. I start missing her like crazy and it feels like she is still here and I just want to sit and have my morning coffee with her. Is that too much to ask?

Gus

I just found a lump on Gus. It is on the left side of his neck and is about the half the size of a marble. I called the vet right away but he is leaving for vacation tomorrow for a week. We have an appointment for next Thursday at 10 am. Beth said she had noticed it on him a while ago but I never felt a thing. Now I am worried. I have always said 'pets are pets' but now I feel maybe they are a little more than that. At least he is to me. I hope it is just a swollen gland and that he is just trying to fight off the virus I had and the flu Jeff has had. Not feeling very happy right now.

It's Snowing!

Wee-hee! It's snowing! I love snow, especially when it comes down the way it is today. It looks like a snowglobe with huge fluffy flakes and it's sticking, which it wasn't really supposed to do. It looks like we have about three inches. Gus went out for a little bit, digging his nose in it and snorting and prancing around. I know it's supposed to turn to rain later on but that's ok. I will take what I can get and be glad.

A New Day

Jeff is still home sick but feeling a bit better than he was yesterday so we decided to take the Christmas tree down. First we needed a couple of boxes that we had shoved in a future bathroom downstairs that now currently just pretty much collects junk. We ended up cleaning the entire room and then moved on to the storage area under the stairs so we could put the junk we took out of the bathroom in there! Finally, after sorting, tossing and cleaning we got to the Christmas stuff. Only by this time it was just me working on it. Jeff was distracted by his xbox 360. No fun for me who was anxious to get it done! Abigail and Mariah came home from school and they helped me get started and actually finished up the tree when I had to go pick Bethany up from Girl Scouts. When I got home we finally got the boxes up to the attic. Jeff decided a couple of boxes up there that belong to the older boys could come down and be taken home by their owners. So I still have boxes around! But at least they will be leaving here and I won't have to deal with them anymore! I still have things out on the buffet that need to be put away and the boxes in the corner of the kitchen as well as several boxes I need to sort from the bathroom & storage area! Like I didn't have enough to do already! Well, at least the tree is down and maybe this will be the year I actually sort those boxes of stuff. I have been putting it off for years. If there is one thing I have learned it is to tackle the chores you dread the most first and just get it over with. Unfortunately these are not easy boxes to sort. They are baby clothes and cards and letters that are twenty plus years old and just glancing over them makes me want to look and read and naturally get distracted. So each day for the next week I will try my best to start just one box and go through it as efficiently and quickly as possible. Hopefully I can get these six or so boxes down to two or three and reclaim my house! I do hate the way 'stuff' takes over and can really control your life if you let it. So I guess I have one New Year's resolution - go through those boxes. I am a bit curious to see what treasures I will find.
I have learned one other thing - to think twice when I start decorating next year. Maybe I don't need to put out quite so many decorations!

A New Year

A new year is upon us and here I am, still a slacker in the blogging world! I keep promising I will do better but for some reason I just can't get in the habit! I journal in my own private journal very often and post on message boards but am such a slacker here! Well, I will try to do better, promising myself I will post at least once a month. It's not like there is nothing to blog about. There is always plenty going on. This month the most significant thing happening in our house is sickness. I have had a sinus/headcold thing going on since New Year's Eve. Yuk. I didn't even make a proper New Year's dinner of pork and sauerkraut, I was just too sick. And here it is the 14th and I am still getting over it, but am much better than I was. Now Jeff is sick with the flu. He is achy and coughing and off of work. Next week he'll probably have the sinus thing and I'll have th flu! I'll tell you how bad I have been feeling - our Christmas tree is still up. And I don't even care.
I am still doing EMS but mostly driving the medic unit which I prefer. Life at a firehouse is a like a soap opera and I have a hard time stomaching it. But I do love EMS so the medic unit is the place for me right now.
I am still teaching ccd and helping with Girl Scouts from time to time but the plan now is to run a junior/cadet troop next year since I will have 3 girls in those levels and they are not happy with the troops they are in. It won't be bad, it will only be 2 meetings a month and I will be leading with friends. I enjoy volunteering and have over 1800 lifetime hours. I have earned the bronze, silver and gold Presidential Service Award pins for volunteering and have my girls logging their volunteer hours now, too. www.presidentialserviceawards.gov is the address if you are interested.
Since my last post we have added a new member to our family. Little Gus, a Yorkie, joined us on November 17th. He was my early Christmas gift and we all just adore him! He is such a baby and spoiled beyond words!
The coming months have many exciting things happening for our family. Mariah will be baptized on Easter Sunday. Abigail will be confirmed in April. Mariah receives her First Communion in May, James gets his master's degree in May and Joe graduates from high school in June. I have many things to plan for but they are all happy things!