New Years

New Years...it's always a mix of blessing and, well, not-so-blessed...

My first-born child, my only son, was born at 12:52 a.m. on January 1. We had to drag the doctor away from his New Year's Eve party to come to the hospital to deliver him. I'll never forget the nurses telling me not to push...the doctor will be here soon! I was already 2 1/2 weeks overdue, I missed out on my income tax deduction for 1981, I had to pay my insurance deductible for 1982 now...forget the doctor, I thought, I'm not waiting for him to be done partying! That was the best New Year's I've ever had.

Most, however, have been the other kind. My husband, self-employed business owner, stressing about year-end...working himself to a frazzle trying to get things wrapped up for one year before heading into the next...every. stinking. year. for the last almost 30 years. This year is no different. No coming home early. No spending extra time with the grandson, um, not to mention, the wife. These are the times when I hate being self-employed; when everyone else is getting off work early, and he's staying late, snapping every time the phone rings, the office staff swirling around him...he's busy! too much to do! year end!

bah humbug...oh wait, wrong holiday.

Brrrr!!!

I am freakishly cold today.
I cannot seem to warm up.
It could have something to do with the fact that it's raining ice outside and there's snow on the ground.
It could also have something to do with the fact that there are no blinds on the windows in my so-called "office".
I'd like to think it had to do with the fact that I've lost a million pounds and have no insulation on my body.
But that wouldn't quite be the truth.
I think it has more to do with the weather.

It was a good day!

Today was SUCH a good day! I slept until 9:00, watched TV until 10:00, took a bath until 11:00 and then went out to lunch with my daughter. After that I came home, did some picking up around the house, started some laundry and got on the computer for a couple hours. I went to visit some friends in their brand, spanking, new house...(which is gorgeous and I absolutely love, Nancy!) then back home, did some more putzing around the kitchen and now I'm back online. I probably got more accomplished today than I do in a lot of days where I'm rushing and running around.

What made it such a good day? It was quiet. It was simple. There was no rushing, no pressure, nowhere I had to be and nothing I had to do. I'm wondering if it's possible to schedule such a day into my calendar once a week...just block out the whole day for me! Something to think about.

blog suspended

So far this week:
*-my car broke down, was in the shop, and is now repaired.
*-i broke a tooth and have been to the dentist twice to get it fixed.
*-the painters showed up on monday and spent two days painting. i now have fresh paint in my living room/dining room, bathroom, family room, kitchen and breakfast nook
*-spent last Saturday doing shopping for my husband, who was in Bend, OR visiting his brother...which meant that my day to finish my shopping didn't happen
*-got the carpet cleaned in my family room

due to all of the above, i still haven't put up my Christmas tree, finished Christmas shopping, repositioned all of the furniture back into freshly-painted rooms or finished planning the menu for Christmas Eve dinner which is at my house. I also have four Christmas presents I need to finish making and a Christmas party to attend on Saturday. AND, of course, church on Sunday.

I am a wreck. I swore last year that I would not let another Christmas season come and go where I was stressed out and unable to enjoy it, and that is exactly what is happening. I don't know how I am going to get everything done, but somehow I will. This WILL NOT happen next year.

This blog is temporarily suspended until I have a life again. Whenever that may be. IF ever.

Reason for the Season

Is there a reason that the heater in your car breaks when it's COLD outside? I guess it would make sense that you don't use the heater when it's hot out...but seriously, it's COLD outside...and now, inside, too!

Is there a reason that the one time in the whole year your brother-in-law, who lives in Hawaii, comes to the mainland to visit his boys, who live in Bend, Oregon, a six-hour drive away, is the same weekend as your grandchildren's Christmas program at church, which you've shuttled them back and forth to Sunday School for practice for the last month, and promised them you would be at?

Is there a reason that the painter you have been waiting patiently for, for four months, finally has time to come and paint your family room, living room, kitchen and bathroom the week before Christmas, when you have twenty people coming to your house for dinner and you can't even set up your Christmas tree because it will be in the way and your sewing machine is set up on your desk, along with yards and yards of fabric, waiting to be made into Christmas gifts, and you have to clean it off and move your desk so the wall behind it can be painted and Christmas is only a week and a half away?

I must remember the reason for this season and not let these temporary inconveniences distract me. I love you Jesus.

I'm back, somewhat!

I haven't posted in awhile. I've had lots of appointments and running around and changes happening in my life, again! Busy, busy, busy...too busy!

I don't have to be anywhere this morning until 11:00...dentist, yuck! Actually, I was SUPPOSED to be in Olympia at 8:30, but didn't make it on time and had to reschedule that appointment until this afternoon. All this running around, I hate it! I want to stay home.

On the bright side, I now have an hour to putz around my house. I'm cleaning and decluttering my desk, yet again! It seems to be a catchall for everything else that I don't know what to do with. Makes it kinda tough to get any sewing done when I can't find my sewing machine. Rumor has it that there are painters showing up here tomorrow and I'll have to move furniture...all the more reason to get my desk cleaned off!

Wake up!

Proverbs 20:13 (The Message)

Don't be too fond of sleep; you'll end up in the poorhouse.
Wake up and get up; then there'll be food on the table.


My thoughts exactly.

Put the baby in the Beemer...

Wild Weather

The last few days have brought us the most wild weather. I've read various reports showing our rainfall as being anywhere from 5-8.5 inches in the last two days. The wind was blowing gusts up to 50 mph and our power went out yesterday for about 7 or 8 hours. It took my son's girlfriend two hours to make the trip to work that normally takes her thirty minutes, because of a mudslide that closed the highway. All in all, it was a pretty darned excitin' day!

I pride myself on being fairly organized and prepared for whatever may come my way. I've often lectured my kids, telling them to be prepared "for when the big one hits!", and my daughter tells me every time, "We don't need to be, we'll just come to your house!"

I must say, however, that this time I wasn't so prepared. I always have a lot of food in the house, but yesterday was that quick grocery-shopping day...you know, where you need milk, bread, eggs, juice and a Diet Coke? All the stuff, well, maybe minus the DC, that people RUN to the store for when there's a looming power outage? Those people that I laugh and scoff at because I am ALWAYS ready for an emergency? Yea, well, I became one of them. Pitiful.

I DID have gas in my car. We always have water...there's a hot tub and a lake...both of which can be used to flush the toilets with...plus a hot water tank and a cold water holding tank, so water isn't an issue, and I always have at least a gallon of drinking water. I have cash, in the form of a jar I collect change in, and we can cook on the bbq. That is, when we have enough propane, which we were almost out of yesterday. We are also out of propane and firewood for our fireplaces, which left the house a bit chilly when the sun went down.

So, when the PUD originally said our power would be out for two days, I got a little frustrated with myself for my lack of planning, still I knew we would be fine. This wasn't a major emergency, and besides, our office had power and so did my daughter's house. BUT, if we did have a major earthquake or other disaster and didn't have power for a long time, things may have been quite different. I guess it was a good lesson learned.

Hawks

Way to go Hawks! It wasn't always pretty, but in the end they posted another W. We'll take it!
8-4 baby!
oh yea, how about that Lofa Tatupu? Did he have more yards than Alexander this week?