Reflexions Of The Old And Anticipation Of The New.

On this, the early morning of the very first day of 2008, I'm trying to be a little reflective of the past year while at the same time not giving too much attention to the overly *canned* tradition of the New Year's Resolution. Of course, it is always enlightening and informative to take stock of one's life. If you haven't at all this year up until now, then by all means - let today be the day. My blog-friend , Heather, wrote a very insightful post on New Year's resolutions. With that post in mind, I think I'm going to try to make an effort to be a better, healthier, friendlier person every single day - not just once a year. So I hope Heather is starting a new trend. I'm definitely on board.


Another blog-friend, Ami, posted about her friend, Rosemary, regarding the importance of being grateful for everyone and everything in your life every single day. It really gives you something to think about and it's the kind of lesson we should all remember. So while you're resolving to be this and do that and lose this much weight, don't forget to be grateful for all you already have and have done. I'm sure all of us can find that we are all blessed in one way or another.


Also, I do want everyone in the world to know, that long ago, in a land far away, three people who didn't even know they had been flying along lonely and solo, crash landed into an incredible avalanche of passion, happiness, honesty, communication and, most of all, acceptance and love. All of us had seen too much, done too much, been hurt too many times, and had put up many many walls of defense around our hearts and emotions. Until this perfect storm occurred, our individual futures were undefined and unremarkable. Now that this stormy avalanche has happened and hopefully will continue to roll into eternity, life is good!

Today is also the anniversary of the day Mom #2, Baby Boy, and myself became a family.

Happy Anniversary to us! This is my favorite day of the year, except now that Baby Boy is taller than everyone else in the house, I do start to feel a little aged, and not in a good way, like with wine or cheese.

***** Then . . . and . . . Now *****

Yikes! Maybe I will resolve to lose weight and perhaps use a little more wrinkle cream this year. *SIGH*


Well, we had a very festive evening last night filled with family, friends, food, fun, and fireworks. Right now I'm enjoying the few quiet moments that I get before everyone else realizes that I've awakened and reported for duty. I'm going to try to get some reading in before I clean up last night's mess (inside from the family, friends and food - outside from the fun and fireworks). After that, on to the laundry. Happy New Year.


I hope everyone reading had a wonderful 2007 and will have an even more Fabulous 2008!


Smooches!

Some Christmas Photos And After-Christmas Musings . . . Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful time.

We went to Mom #2's parents' house for breakfast (delicious bacon, homemade waffles, and homemade biscuits and gravy) and then to my sister's house for dinner. Dinner was potluck style since my sister doesn't really cook. We brought the turkey. (I simply must laugh every time I say that we brought the turkey to Christmas dinner - LOL)

This is the first super-big holiday since my mom and dad have separated, and Dad in true difficult man fashion, showed up very late and then refused to eat, but we had a good time anyway.

Here's a photo of us all sans Dad at my sister's house. Mom #2's family doesn't really take the time to do photos, but I hope to change that in the upcoming new year. They are very nice people, just more private, I guess.

My sister, Me (Mom #1), My Niece, Baby Boy, My Mom and Mom #2

Baby Boy got everything he wanted for Christmas. *Santa* heard his many powerful prayers and came through like a champ on the Nintendo Wii.


Actually it's for the entire family. We have been having so much fun playing it. My whole body is sore! I haven't moved around this much in months. It may actually have been the smartest gift we could have given/received this Christmas.

Baby Boy also received a new formal white tae kwon do uniform. He wears the casual black uniforms for every day classes/training, but the formal uniform for belt and phase testing each quarter. Last quarter his uniform was looking a little dingy and small, so a new one was definitely in order. He seemed pleased with it.


I received gift certificates for professional massages, manicures, and pedicures. I am so happy and excited! These are the things I have given up in light of our recent financial troubles. Now I can go without feeling guilty because they are pre-paid. Hallelujah! There is a God!

Mom #2 is back to work today, well not really, but she did go in to check on some jobs she was finishing up before Christmas and getting an ETA on some work to come after the holidays. Just keep us all in your hearts and minds this coming New Year. It seems like we're always on the brink of financial disaster, but have managed this far and won't be giving up anytime soon.

Baby Boy and I are taking two weeks off from school so I have none of those details and no curriculum reviews for you today. In fact he's finally sleeping in today. He's been getting up at the crack of dawn everyday, I guess just typical Christmas excitement.

I'm going to use this vacation to take a little time to reflect on what my New Year's resolutions will be, deep clean the house (or not), get some advanced lesson planning done for our home school, and take a good hard look at our family budget (YUCK!). I'm also going to try to free up a little extra change to get fireworks for New Years Eve - Yes we're one of THOSE families.

Anyway, I hope every one's holiday was wonderful and peaceful, full of family togetherness and love.

I'll try to get back on board before the New Year, but no promises. New Year's Day is also Mom #2's and my anniversary, so I'm trying to put together a little something for that.

So much to do... is two weeks vacation enough? I guess I'll find out.

Until next time . . .

Smooches!

Last Day Lo-Down, My Niece's Piano Recital, and Remember That Romantic Weekend. . . IT'S BACK!

Well today is our very last day of school before the Christmas Holiday. We've been sort of doing *school light* this week. We ditched geometry all together. Last week we finished up a chapter and just didn't see the point of starting another one without being able to finish it before Christmas. We certainly didn't feel like rushing!


Baby Boy wrote a fabulous letter to Jeff and Lisa, of Rear Window fame, explaining to them in detail why they should get married. (That was his writing assignment for this week)


Of course, we have brand new art projects to report on. This week we learned about warm and cool colors and how they complement each other on the color wheel. This week's project is. . .

Warm Leaves on a Cool Background


By Baby Boy

and

By Mom #1

On a non-homeschool note, last night Baby Boy and I went to my niece's very first piano recital. She's only been taking lessons since August, so it was a labor of love, but that's what family is for. Right? As I've mentioned in other posts, my niece is my kindred spirit. I love her with everything I have inside me. She's an incredibly special little girl. My sister is a single mother and not able to homeschool (actually she's not the homeschooling type, so she probably wouldn't homeschool even if she could, but that's a whole different post. LOL) My niece received a full scholarship for a private all girls school because she is so wonderful and well-rounded and smart. Music lessons are part of the curriculum.

Here are a couple of photos from our visit to the recital.

Baby Boy and My Niece


My Mom, My Niece and Me (Mom #1)


And finally . . . THE PERFORMANCE!

Well, I'm off.

Baby Boy is finally getting to go on his vacation weekend to his grandma's house, so Mom #2 and I have the house to ourselves for the entire weekend. This time it is actually happening and the only way I know for sure is that he is already gone. This is a very rare treat and hasn't happened in at least two years if not a lot longer. We are a very together family. Mom #2 and I are relatively broke and probably won't do much at all this weekend. We'll probably finally get around to wrapping gifts and shuffle around in our pajamas all day. Maybe we'll watch some rated R dvds. We usually keep it PG-13 and below for Baby Boy's sake. No matter what we do, we'll be doing it together. ;-)


If I don't get back before Christmas,

Happy Holidays to all

and

thanks so much for stopping by!

Smooches!

The Christmas Tour!

I thought I'd give you a little tour of some of our inside Christmas decorations. There are lots more lights and stuff outside, but it's too cold to go out. It's about 40 degrees today, and while that may not be cold for some, it's freezing to me and I am not interested in getting all bundled up and going out into the elements.

It's supposed to get back into the 70s later this week, so I'll try to get the outside shots then.

So, without further ado. . .


Our Christmas Tree and Dining Area
(Notice the garland and ribbon around the window frame and the snow globe on the buffet.)

Our Mantle

Our Breakfast Bar
(The top is covered with snowflakes which we use for decoration and as coasters for drinks.)

Our Coffee Table
(More snowflake Coasters and do you think I like giant snow globes or what?)

And now we head into the guest bathroom. . .


The Toilet Seat



The Mat You Stand On To Wash Your Hands




The Hand Towel

And finally, the pièce de résistance, The Soap Dispenser
(When you press the top to get soap, it lights up in red and sings a little Christmas carol.)
I LOVE IT!

I know it's not quite as fancy as the White House Christmas Special that I just watched on TLC, but it's the best we can do on our country-time budget. When it warms up outside, I'll post some shots of the lights.

Until then. . .


Smooches!

Relaxing Weekend In The Company Of Good Friends.

We had such a nice relaxing weekend. It was wonderful.

The chores got completed on time and everyone was content to play a few hands of Gin Rummy and watch DVDs. It was too cold to go outside, and we all despise pretty much any public places on weekends due to crowds - especially this time of year. So we just relaxed and had a few mugs of Mom #2's special Mexican hot chocolate. Delicious!

Baby Boy's good friend from Phoenix came and spent the entire day with us on Saturday. They ate lunch and snacked and played video games and terrorized Baby Doggy a little bit. They had a lot of fun, and I hope it won't be the last visit between them. I know it may be logistically impossible to get them together often, but I hope they do at least stay in touch. They are very close in age and have similar interests as well. When it comes to teenage boys, it seems good friends are always in short supply.

Here's a couple of photos of their happenings on Saturday.

Having a little lunch.

and


Teen boys' favorite pastime. . .

Playing Video Games

I wish his family a safe and happy trip home.


Smooches!