Another Year Gone

What I did this year:

• I gave birth to my second child, Matthew, in June, just a week after my oldest's 5th birthday. Aren't they cute?

• I moved my sister out of my house and to Kansas City in the spring and my brother moved in this fall. My mom has been living with us for almost 2 years now, so I haven't had space in my house for a while. Fortunately, both my mom and brother make great babysitters.

• My laptop died on me and has yet to be fixed, and I have no idea if it will ever be revived.

• Both of my best friends seem to have found meaningful relationships with guys whose favorite band isn't Def Leppard.

• I went on a camping trip with my grandparents for the first time since I was a kid.

• I took an upholstery class and learned stuff I pretty much already knew, but needed the practice.

• I drove for 14 hours through a blizzard - but I got to play in the snow!

What I'm doing next year:

Keep in mind that I don't make new year resolutions. It's a waste of time. I do, however, have goals to attain.

• I'm taking my last two classes in order to graduate with my associates degree. I'm diving into painting and ceramics, both of which I have experience in, which should be fairly easy enough to bring my GPA up, and allow some "me" time in the process. I'll be out of the house 3 days a week. I should graduate with my degree in the spring. Yay!

• We're also planning on taking our first real family vacation that doesn't occur strictly on a weekend. I'm taking more camping trips, even if I have to go by myself. (I wouldn't get that lucky.)

• I want to redo my house, or at least parts of it. I have to replace my back door, since the frame is rotting. I'm afraid it's going to just fall over one day. I'm making and installing sliding drawers in my bottom kitchen cabinets so I can be more organized and have a little bit more storage space. I would like to paint the living room and kitchen, but I honestly don't see that going very far. I do want to repaint my kitchen cabinets, which is something I can do myself. They're pink. (gag) I'm going to install shelves in my laundry room for small appliances, cookbooks, and baking goodies, so I can use the bakers rack that is in there out in the garage to put all the extra flower pots and gardening goodies on. I'm putting shelves in the boys' closet and reorganizing it so you can actually find things. Matthew will be crawling soon (he's already getting up on all fours) so I need to make sure he can't get to all the tiny army men and legos.

I need you all to keep me focused on this crap. Seriously, I'll forget. I still haven't finished the other projects listed down at the bottom of the page, partly because I got 4 new books at Christmas I really want to read, and partly because I'm just lazy.

Do you have any goals for this year? Maybe we can keep each other accountable.

A Three Hour Tour...

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I would like to tell you a tale of why people from Texas should just stay inside if they even mention snow in the forecast. Hubby, the boys, and myself followed my brother and mom in my brother's pickup. Now I know what Gilligan felt like.

We left out of DFW Christmas Eve morning to my grandparents' house. Being the intelligent people we are, we should have seen the writing in the snow, or ice as it were. We were under blizzard warnings and facing the worst snow storm Texas has seen in 80 years. The smart thing would have been to just go back to bed, but alas we did not. It was snowing when we left about 9:30 that morning. Now, this is typically a 3 hour drive up 287, through Wichita Falls, and to Vernon. Ha! We got to Bellevue before things got really bad, and my husband, the wonderful and intelligent person he is, suggested we turn around. I should have listened, because this is what it looked like.

Ice was beginning to accumulate on the road at this point, but at least you can tell where the lanes are. That didn't last very long. We made pretty good time believe it or not. I really began questioning my sanity, though, when we saw this.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you who live in Texas, but I have NEVER see this here. It was absolutely beautiful. Then, ice started to stick to the windshield, and the wiper blades froze up. I had to stick my hand out the window, while driving down the highway at 40 mph, and break ice off the windshielf wipers so they would work. Even with the heater on, ice was sticking.

We finally made it in to Wichita Falls. At this point, we had been on the road for 4 hours (2pm). Still not too bad, especially when you consider that this is what it looked like when we got in to town. This is the welcome sign along the side of the highway. Can you see the snow drift there along the side of the road?

The roads were so covered in ice and snow you didn't know whether you were on the road or not. We decided to stop at IHOP, the only place known to man to be open during a blizzard. I thank God they were there, because we all needed coffee, and the boys needed out of the car. We decided to wait out the rest of the storm for the next 2 hours so that we could see where we were going. This is what it looked like outside.

In the background you can barely see the highway. At this point, there was already about 8 inches of snow on the ground. I'm glad we were some of the few people in IHOP, because my 5 year old decided to run around like a crazy person, while wearing the GI Joe vest (complete with hand grenades and helmet) my in-laws got him. I honestly didn't care anymore, and noone else seemed to either. There were a few stuck people, and they were all headed in the same direction.

At 4pm we finally got back out on the road, if you want to call it a road. There were snowdrifts everywhere, and with the wind still blowing at 40+ mph, it looked like one of those films from Antarctica. We followed this cop. We figured he knew what he was doing, plus he had snow chains on his tires. (Cops are some of the few folks allowed to have snow chains on their vehicles in Texas. They would have been really handy for us.)

Can anyone see the highway? Seriously, this is a major thoroughfare through the state. We were trying our best to stay in tire tracks already made. Here's what I think is the side of the highway.

You can see a church in the background there. I have always loved this church for its simplicity, and the fact that you don't see many little white churches anymore. Here's a closer look.

The sun was starting to go down at this point, and we were driving on an inch of ice and packed snow. Everything that had started to melt refroze, and the real fun began. This was, by far, the worst leg of the trip. It's typically a 45 minute drive from Wichita Falls to Vernon. After an hour or so, we got to Iowa Park (about 5 minutes down the road). We then proceeded to sit for an hour due to a major accident before we could get off the highway and take backroads. (Big mistake!) We got around Iowa Park with a lot of sliding and freaking out and back on to 287, only to be forced to sit on the road again about a mile from Electra, with no backroads in sight. I wish I had pictures of this, but my phone had died by this point, and I was having major panic attacks and imagining us being found the next day dead and frozen in our car.

After sitting for what seemed like forever, my husband decided nature was calling. So, out the car he goes, through the median that's knee deep in snow, and to the other side of the highway where noone can see him. He makes it back to the car and jumps in. After taking his gloves off, he realized he had snow all over his jeans, so he jumped out to brush it off - without putting his gloves back on. His wedding ring flew off his finger, and we were unable to find it. This of course, pissed him off even more than he already was, which made sitting on a highway not moving all the worse. He finally decided that he was going to see what was going on, and see if he could help. Of course, having the baby crying and our 5 year old whine that he's bored and wants to get out of the car, and why aren't we there yet, and we're never leaving home again, would make anyone want to chance it out in the weather.

FINALLY, after sitting for hours, the RV that had spun out across the road and blocked traffic was moved, and we were moving again, thanks in large part to my hubby and his heroic/insane efforts. This was at about 10pm. We got to the other end of Electra, and the roads had cleared considerably, getting us to Vernon at 11:30 at night. We missed dinner and opening presents, but we got there in one piece. Hubby and I were still at each other's throats when we got into bed that night, but everything brightened up Christmas morning, as it should. I was able to take a few more pictures and, for the first time in 20 years, play in the snow. Here's my grandmother's backyard.

You can see my little chihuahua, Ren, standing at the gate. Here's the snow "angel" she made.

And here's the snow monster I made. I've always wanted to make something like out of the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons you get, so I took my chance. It's a little hard to see thanks to the shadow from the tree, but you get the idea. It's about 3 feet tall.

We came home Sunday afternoon with very little resistance in the way of the weather. There were still about 30 or 40 vehicles on the side of the highway abandoned. I think TXDoT completely skipped Wichita Falls in all the plowing, because the highways were still horrendous and covered in ice and snow. Other than a near miss with a 6 foot snowdrift in the middle of the right lane of the highway this side of Wichita Falls, the rest of trip home went well, and we made it in 4 hours. Not too bad for a 3 hour tour.

Santa's Little Helper (tissue alert)

I love helping Santa out. Don't let anyone ever tell you he's not real, because he is. Now, seriously, grab some tissues, cause you're going to need them. I'll be lucky if I can make it throught this post without tearing up.

My mom's tiny little car looked like Santa's sleigh this morning as she left for work. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, (I haven't had all my coffee yet this morning, so bear with me) but we adopted a family this year for Christmas, as we have done in years past. This year it was a lady my mom works with and her 2 small kids. She's taking all the gifts to her this morning. I was amazed at the outpouring of support we got from friends and coworkers, and all three of them will have their own very large sacks full of gifts, including coats, clothes, and toys.

This is a really big deal to me, because my mom raised the three of us on her own, and there are people out there who helped us out, without us kids knowing until we got older. I remember one year, when we came home after our annual Christmas Eve get together with the whole family, we walked into a living room filled with gifts. My aunt's church had adopted us that year without even my mom knowing, and they snuck over while we were having dinner at my grandparents' house. We were still pretty young, so we assumed Santa had just come early.

I have gotten my 5 year old, Benjamin, into helping as well. He helped us pick out some of the gifts and wrap them. He even offered to give some of his toys to the kids at the homeless shelter, because he knows Santa can't always find them to give them gifts. When we were putting all the gifts into the sacks, he said to me, "Those look like Santa's bags." Know what I told him? "They are Santa's bags! He gave us the bags, wrapping paper, and gift tags that he already "signed" and asked us to take care of some gifts for the family. Santa is really busy this time of year, and sometimes he needs help from us to make sure all the kids in the world get presents." I'm proud to say that he accepted this as fact. It doesn't hurt that my mom went to the North Pole over the summer (she was in Dinali when I went into labor) and went to Santa's house. Both boys also got letters from Santa a few weeks ago, so it just drives in the point a little better.

So, yes, there is a Santa Claus. Sometimes, though, he's not who you would expect. :) Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

I Think I Had a Serious Brain Lapse...

I'm seriously questioning my own judgement after this weekend. My mom pressed me pretty good to help her finish her Christmas shopping, which I did. Never again, people, never again! My oldest has been wanting this aircraft carrier for a while now, and it's the only thing he wants for Christmas, so my mom decided to go to Toys R Us on Saturday to get it. Really?! Toys R Us the Saturday before Christmas?! Now you see why I'm questioning my judgement! Soo...I decided to drive her there and help her find it, since I knew exactly where it was in the store. After being smart and parking as far away from the store as possible so as not to get stuck in the traffic jam, we walked in. It looked like they took everyone that was in Walmart that day and crammed them into this store. Several times I heard my mom yell at kids for being in the way. I think 2 or 3 times it was the same kid. Really, people? You're shopping for Christmas, probably for your own kids, and you've got them with you in a toy store? This is just asking for serious trouble, especially with my mom around. Believe me, if I weren't in such a horrible mood, she would have been worse. I think she was trying to keep me from having a panic attack and going American Psycho on her. We managed to get to the right side of the store, and guess what? They didn't have it. I think I lost a little bit more of my sanity when I started looking in people's buggies while their heads were turned, determined to grab it out of someone's basket while they weren't looking if I happened to see it. This morning, after looking online, I found that they got a new shipment in yesterday. I'm sending Hubby to get it after work today. :) This is the VERY last thing we are buying, since we've already blown our budget.

Dave Ramsey would be so dissapointed in me.

One Week Left!

We only have one week left until Christmas! I'm excited, especially since I've got my shopping finished. Now, I'm just ready for it to be here and done!

Work has been insane, but it looks like I may be able to take tomorrow off for my oldest's school party and then, hopefully, a trip to the newly renovated science museum. I fell into a lunch induced coma yesterday after our staff lunch, so not much got done. Today I'll be wrapping up the final things here at the office.

My mom insists that I help her finish shopping this weekend, though I don't know how well that's going to turn out. Maybe I can find some good deals on clothes while I'm out. :) We also have to do our "Santa" drop for the family we adopted. I'm sure I've said this all before, but I'm in a great mood today, so far. We'll see how well that turns out when the choir gets here for practice in an hour! I'm definately going to have to shut my door and turn on my music. :P Hey, at least they're feeding me!!

OMG!!!!

My mom just emailed this over to me. Natalie Portman will star as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!!!!! This just made my day. :)

Monday is Here...and Things Seem to Have Calmed Down

Yes! It's a shocker. Even though I have been busy all day, it's been fairly quiet. I've managed to get quite a bit done thus far, so I can get everything for next week done early (hint to boss!).

We had a great party Saturday night, and just enough people to make it fun. I don't have pics because I spent so much time and energy cleaning and cooking that I didn't even think about the camera until most folks were gone. Noone started leaving until about 11 and the last person slunk out about 1am. And, yes, the kids were up the entire time. I tried to crash about midnight, but it failed. For some reason the stereo in the livingroom is louder in my bedroom than it is in the rest of the house, and the bass makes it that much worse. We still haven't figured this one out. Hubby was nice enough to take care of the dishes last night and I didn't have to cook since we had so much food left over from Saturday. Yay! Of course, you can't tell that I spent all day Saturday cleaning house and cooking. I got what amounts to my annual week long spring cleaning done in 1 day, and I'm still not done with laundry. Oh well - at least you can open the door to the laundry room now!

I get to spend this week finishing up the house work and making sure everything for my oldest's "Winter Party" at school is ready to go by Friday. I'm hoping to take that entire day off and go to the science museum afterwards. THAT would be awesome! :)

In other news...The laptop is still down. It seems it may either be an issue with Windows or my motherboard is fried. I'm hoping for the first one, cause I can't afford $500 for a new laptop. In the meantime I've got my desktop running - although it sounds like a lawnmower when it's on thanks to the CPU fan being slightly loose.

I have more work to do here, including wondering outside to change out a sign now that it's warmed up for the day. (Yay 60's!!!!)

More on Computers...and a Promised Cat Story

Well, the laptop is still not up and running, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I spoke with my neighbor yesterday as he was replacing fence posts on our side of the fence (great neighbor, huh?) and told him what happened. Long story short, I need to pop the memory out of my laptop and put a new one in, because it probably got fried. My brother gave me a new stick of memory, so we'll have to see if it works, otherwise, guess what I'm getting for Christmas? Hubby set my desktop up, but it is sooo sloooow. He doesn't want me using his to update my blog, because in his words "I don't know what kind of diseases my computer might get from your blog." Ah. Paranoid much? I still love him though, especially since he took the day off to take the baby to the doctor.

On to the cats! All my pics are on my laptop, so we're kinda screwed for real visuals at the moment. But, imagine this:

First, let me introduce my cats to you. Emma (short for Emma O, the Japanese ruler of Hell) is my momma cat, and solid black. A friend found her wondering as a kitten on the side of a very busy highway and brought her to me. I've had her for 6 years. Sylvester is my black and white cat from one of the many litters Emma had. She's really sweet, but skittish. She's about 3. Bitty Kitty is my solid black baby kitty. I call her a baby, because she is so much smaller than other cats, but she's about 2 years old. I found her as a kitten in the parking lot at work, abandoned by her momma kitty, because she has a gimpy leg. I'm typically the only person she will come to, and she won't come out until the boys are in bed and noone else is around.

My cats before the surgery were really bitchy towards each other and anyone besides me. They would hiss and growl at everyone, or just hide.

When I took them in last Monday to get them fixed, it turned into a cross between a cat rodeo and a Looney Toons cartoon. Have you ever tried to put an unwilling cat in crate? How about 3? This is basically what it looks like.

So, after wrestling all of them in to crates, I make the drive in nearly freezing temps, with cats howling in the back seat, to the Humane Society, and stand outside with the cats filling out paperwork. See, the Humane Society decided not to open the doors, so everyone was pretty much stuck outside. My cats looked like this after an hour.

But, we finally got them off to the kitty surgeon. I picked them up later that evening. So far, they are healing very well. Friday, I started hearing noises very close to my Christmas tree, and immediately went to investigate. See, Emma destroyed the last tree I had by laying on the branches about half-way up. Sylvester, the strange cat she is, eats the plastic needles off, then usually pukes them up on the tree skirt. Bitty just plays with the ornaments. This is what I normally expect to see.

I was astounded when I didn't find any of that. No, I found all 3 cats curled up in a giant cat ball asleep. Together. Under the tree. And that's pretty much where they've been all weekend, only coming out for the neccessities. I think my cats have been abducted by aliens or something, because they never acted this way before. However, their cat like instincts kicked in when they all looked at me very dismayed last night as I was putting gifts under their tree. I have to say, I think they might be somewhat back to normal.

I'm Screwed

Unfortunately, it looks as if my laptop has bit the dust. I haven't taken it in to have it looked at, but it's either the hard drive or the ram that fried. Sucks to be me, and I can't really afford to buy a new one at the moment. Fortunately, I have a spare computer lying around, which I only need to buy (or find) a keyboard for. I think the sound card in that one is fried, but it's better than the hard drive! Maybe the hubby will be nice enough to get it set up for me this weekend. The party starts in ~ 2 hours from now, so I guess I better get my butt in gear and get ready. Once the other pc is hooked up, I can (hopefully) get pictures up, and you can see my pretty face again.

Tomorrow: a post on my cats...it's amazing what a little surgery can do to their attitudes.

Stupid Computer!

I got home yesterday and tried to turn on my laptop. Nothing. Hard boot it. Nothing. Last resort: use the boot disk. You know, the one that wipes everything off your harddrive? Nadda. It will boot up to about 80%, then do absolutely nothing. It won't even let me in to the boot-up screen. I think something ate it. I can just imagine this creepy looking worm eating through my little harddrive. Or something like Tron. You do remember Tron, right?

Sooo, posting this weekend will probably be a bit hard for me until I can dust off my desktop computer and get that baby running and set up with all my stuff. Let's hope I still have a monitor to go with it, or it's not gonna do me any good.

I finish 90% of my Christmas shopping tonight. Yay! Hubby is taking care of the rest of it. Yay! Then, we have this huge Christmas party for his work to go to. A night off without the boys: Double Yay! I promise, once I can get things straight with the PC, I'll put my pictures up. I promise!

Snow!

I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground this morning. Now, some of you up north may be saying, "so what?" but snow here is rare. Usually we get ice, but there were giant snowflakes falling. This, of course, means that people freaked out. As my best friend put it, everyone's IQ fell by about 20 points when they got on the road this morning. All the meetings at work were canceled, and the boss won't be in until this afternoon, which means I am all by myself today. Woohoo!

All this snow and the falling temps means that my growing season is over. So sad. I still had tomatoes and peppers on the vines. Guess I need to pick all those when I get home and throw them in the freezer. I don't get it. Nothing started to fruit until the end of the summer, even though I planted at the end of March. The summer wasn't even that bad, since we only got up to 100+ about 20 days. Oh well. How's your day going?