2005: A Year In Review

JANUARY
1. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? To lose weight ... still trying to achieve that resolution ... here's to 2006!
2. Who kissed you at midnight? My husband?? I don't know ... I can't even remember what the heck we did last year.
3. Did it snow where you live? I'm sure it snowed at some point during the month of January ... this is Chicago afterall
4. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? No, but I bet that would be pretty cool

FEBRUARY
1. Who was your valentine? Mike
2. What did your valentine get you? LOL I can't remember
3. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class? Yeah, only because we were made feel like we "had to"

MARCH
1. Are you Irish? Nope
2. Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day? I doubt it
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day? Nothing special

APRIL
1. Do you like the rain? Not really, usually puts me in a crappy mood
2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year? No
3. Did you get tons of candy on Easter? No, didn't buy the kids alot either

MAY
1. What's your favorite kind of flower? Any that are given to me!
2. Do you like the spring? Yes, aside from the allergies
3. Finish the phrase: "April showers bring...": Itchy, watery eyes and sneezing
4. What would you think of as a spring color?: Pink, lavender and mint green

JUNE
1. What year did you graduate from school?: Class of '98
2. Did you go on any vacations last June?: No

JULY
1. What did you do on the 4th of July? BBQ at my sister's
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month?: No

AUGUST
1. Did you do anything special to end off your summer? Moved into our brand new house
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '05? Watching our new house in the final stages of being built
3. Did you go swimming a lot in the summer? I don't think I swam once this year
4. Did you go to the beach a lot? Nope

SEPTEMBER
1. Did you attend school/college in '05? No
2. Who is/was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Arizpe back in junior high
3. Did you like fall better than summer? Yes, fall is my favorite season

OCTOBER
1. What was your favorite Halloween costume ever? I can't remember
2. What's your favorite candy? Heath bars, Mon Cherie, or just a basic Hershey bar covered in Jif peanutbutter (too bad those aren't handed out for trick-or-treats)
3. What did you dress up like this year? Nothing

NOVEMBER
1. Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving? My brother and SIL
2. Do you like stuffing? It was Stove Top (my favorite), but it was too greasy from the turkey "juice"
3. What are you thankful for? My family and friends

DECEMBER
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes-sir-ee
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe? Yep
3. What did you want this year for Christmas? Nikon D50 digital camera
4. What's the best present you ever got for Christmas? How about my first born child, 13 days before Christmas, 4 years ago :)
5. Do you like cold weather? Yes, for a little while at least
6. How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10? 7 - it was a very good year overall, but losing my Grams was a hard part

2am

Here it is after 2 in the morning. I'm hoping my husband walks in any minute.

I'm in need of cuddling. No, nothing sexual. Just honest cuddling. I'm beginning to feel a lack of "togetherness" and spooning may just help that.

I just can't even begin to explain how depressing it is to go to sleep alone, and when you wake in the morning to get ready for work, your spouse is still asleep since they got in so late - so you quietly get ready, kiss them goodbye, and by the time you get home from your long day, your spouse has already been back at work again for hours and it's days before you actually get to "connect" and talk to them again.

It's sad.

Thank you Douchebag P. at BS for keeping my husband from me, and our children. (note: heavy sarcasm)

Brief Job Bullshit

I'm at work, and getting ready to call it a day.

Just wanted to briefly update. Mike is totally unhappy at work. It's a long story, but he's pissed. He's calling the guy that hired him (I forget what his *title* is -- he's like an area manager or something like that, where he oversees many stores, etc) and asking him to come into the store. He wants to talk to him, and also wants him to view the security tape from Christmas Eve. There is a "new manager journal" on the office PC (one that Mike has access to and MUST use to complete his job) and it's a long list of "complaints" and "problems" and "things he does wrong", etc. Well, most recently, she wrote down that on 12/24, as everyone else was closing, Mike was up front playing the crane (grabbing) machine. It's right by the front door - where the security camera is. Mike never touched the thing and was HELPING another employee do pie counts, etc while he was supposedly playing with this thing.

My point is this -- if she feels the need to lie about things like that, what else is she lying about? It might be in the company's best interest to investigate her and how honest her work ethics are.

Bottom line - Mike's going to tell him he wants to be moved to another store NOW. He's had it. The past 3 weeks of scheduling and this upcoming week, he's been scheduled to close EVERY day he works. He hasn't been home before 2am in a month. And, he's scheduled to close on New Year's Eve which is 10pm. Meaning, he's had to work and close EVERY holiday so far; Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and now New Years. It's getting ridiculous. I'm not sure what this general manager has against him - but apparently there's something. Her claims and accusations are mostly bogus, but Mike can suck it up and agree that not everything is false (coffee machines were left on one night - and he said yes, he did forget to check them before he left). Otherwise, she complains that he is not doing the closing properly, yet he is scheduled to close every single night that he works (which is 5 days/week). She claims he's been talking on his cell phone alot (I know this is false, the few times I've tried calling him on his cell, it's always rang and rang and gone to voice mail). She says he "hides" in the server isle during his entire shift (I know my husband, and he's a people person - which is why he hasn't taken an office job where he'd be dealing with people over the phone -- he's about face-to-face communication). She also goes on to write that the other staff "takes advantage of him" -- well, how do they take advantage? And if they are in some way, shouldn't that be stopped? How is that Mike's fault? Then she even writes that some servers call him "stupid" and that it's "like having a teenage babysitter there". What the FUCK does that have to do with how Mike does his job?? That is someone's OPINION -- and IN MY OPINION, that isn't something you put into an employee's work journal.

So, all in all -- he's pissed and he's had it. Good for him. I would have told them to go choke on a pie a long time ago.

But, the ball is moving since he's going to open his mouth for once. We'll see where this takes us.

Sights of the Season

A couple holiday favorites. I would have never been able to capture a photo such as the gumdrops with my previous digital cameras. The Nikon D50 ROCKS!

Merry Christmas to ME!

I got an early Christmas gift!!! Mike gave me the Nikon D50! I'm THRILLED! Already charged up the battery and took a few shots. I have to get the battery fully charged for tonight's festivities - and of course, for tomorrow!

YAY! I'm stoked!! Best part is that he got it on credit, interest free for 6 months so there is no worry about paying outrageous interest rates. My Christmas bonus will go towards it, and since the car will be paid off in a couple weeks, we'll use that to go towards the camera as well.

I'll share a couple pictures in just a moment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

This is not working out

Yeah, Mike's job with BS is just not working out. And now that I've called it BS - the name really does fit, because it's complete B.S. = BULLSHIT.

Things were going really well during training. I figured things would change a bit once he was actually working the position, as he was doing his training with a GM who's hours may not be what a normal AM (or whatever BS exactly calls his position) would be.

So, he gets transfered to a different store (closer to home, as we were hoping) and has pretty much gotten the shaft ever since.

The past 2 weeks he's been working til close EVERY time he works. It's really getting to be annoying. Even though on days that he doesn't close, he's still not home til 8-8:30pm.

And then for Thanksgiving - the night before he was scheduled to close. Since T-giving is such a busy pie holiday - the restaurant was busy with pie pick ups and several transits or transfers or whatever they call them. Long story short - he didn't get home until after 5 IN THE MORNING the day of Thanksgiving. So, he finally crawls into bed to go to sleep somewhere around 5:45am - and had to be BACK AT WORK AT 11am. Yeah ... nice, huh? So, then he's scheduled to close. The store was closing at 5. He didn't end up to our Thanksgiving festivities until after 6:30.

So, now it's time for Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. He's scheduled "2-?". Yes, that is a question mark. Apparently they don't know when he'll get off -- but my question is this .... they know what time the restaurant is CLOSING - so why not just get to the nitty gritty and put down 2-CL like they normally would do when someone is scheduled to close. WTF does "?" mean???? Can anyone explain??

I mean -- I know better -- and if he's going in at 2, he's closing. So just put down CLOSE then. Don't give someone the impression that maybe - just *maybe* - they will get out of there sooner.

His hours are down as 2-? for today as well. I talked to him half an hour ago and he still wasn't sure when he'd be out of there - which to me, says he's CLOSING. Especially since looking at his management schedule -- he is the ONLY one out of the management staff that is scheduled later than 6pm. So what does that tell you??? Now in that respect tomorrow is questionable then -- the other 2 management staff is scheduled til 6, which is the time the restaurant closes. So, what does that mean -- they get to run out the door at 6pm, and Mike stays behind to mop floors and that's why they don't know what time he'll be out of there?? Otherwise, when you're on to close, the schedule always reads whatever time to come in to CL (close).

It's all such bullshit. Then, I find 3 pieces of paper folded up on the nightstand (where pocket contents generally get placed when getting undressed). It is a "new manager journal" and has a list of "complaints" and "wrong-doings" and such. Even *I* was getting pissed reading this, and I don't even see him in his workplace and could tell that some of this stuff was untrue (though some of it, I could see being an issue because of the way things are done around the house as well).

So - all in all - when I talked to Mike this evening -- I told him it's time to look for something else. He agrees. Honestly, with it being Christmas, part of me is screaming -- tell them to go piss up a rope and quit your job. But then I realize -- NO ... we can't. We need the health insurance and the money right now. If he quits he won't at least get unemployment to get us through until the next steady paycheck comes in.

So, I guess what we hope for now, is for something better to come along so that Mike can leave this job to start fresh. Or, if it really comes down to it - that he's let go, and can collect unemployment while he focuses on finding a new job.

One thing is for certain, though - I am calling the pediatricians office on Monday and scheduling Braeden's 4 year check up and Kaelynn's 18 month. And I'm going to try to get them in as quickly as possible. Then we will be set for 6 months until Kaelynn needs to go in for a 2 year check up (unless they got really sick - in which case, I'd suck it up and take them in and pay out the ass if need be to keep them well).

I'm just so frustrated and tired of him being walked all over. I know the restaurant business does have shitty hours - and I've come to terms with that - but not when they have only one person -- the SAME person -- closing every single night when the other management doesn't. That is unfair. There is another person that holds the exact same position - so if anything - they should be the ones to switch off on closing, because I know the precious GM normally doesn't work later than 7pm.

One thing I'd REALLY like under the Christmas tree

This is one thing I REALLY want. Haven't really, really, REALLLLLLLY wanted anything this much in a looooooooong time.

If this was the one and only present I got, I'd be a happy camper.



But, it probably won't be under the tree. Unless Mike totally surprises me. He's already got me several gifts .... mainly clothes and I'm assuming the last couple seasons of Friends to complete my collection.

I won't be totally disappointed to not receive it, afterall, I'm already planning on using my Christmas bonus to put towards it.

Of course, I want the 18-55 mm zoom lens (as pictured with it above) that is sold separately as well.

:sigh: PLEEEEASSSSEEE Santa, I've been REALLLLLLLLY good this year. ;)

4 Sleeps til Santa

Only 4 more "sleeps" and it'll be Christmas morning. 4 more times of getting the kids into their Christmas pajamas, tucking them in and then peering over the little cherubs as they sleep.

Sunday morning they will awaken and head down the stairs to see a large array of gifts that Santa has brought.

I'm excited. Very much looking forward to Christmas more and more each year as the kids get a little older. I know my time will be limited, as they will grow up and eventually catch on to the whole Santa thing.

My boss and I discussed Santa, and whether or not her 10 year old twins (turning 11 in February) still believe. They haven't said they don't - but she's still *not sure*. Her 14 year old daughter hasn't believed since she was in the 3rd grade, but has been exceptionally good at NOT giving away the secret, even during the ugliest of family battles (which are very common during these early teen years it seems).

My neice is 10 years old as well, and as far as I know, she still believes. She hasn't told my sister otherwise at least.

Which it got me thinking - when did I stop believing? Honestly, I really don't know. There wasn't some life altering moment where the world stopped turning and I said "You've got to be f-ing kidding me; there isn't a Santa Claus?!?" ..... no, in fact, once I knew, I even asked my parents to continue to wait until Christmas Eve to put all my presents under the tree.

It's just a glorious illusion - it's almost hard to give it up. There is something so innocent about believing in Santa, and something so special and endearing about the whole thing. I don't think I can quite put it into words ....

I wish I still believed. But, I do have to admit, that I do like being on the other side for once, getting to be Santa myself.

On my mind

Mike's mom had called him last week to see if we'd be spending Christmas day at his Aunt S.'s house or his grandfathers (depending on where the festivities would be hosted). We are now just 5 days away, and no one has let us know the definite plans or given us an official invitation.

Quite honestly - this is where the problem comes in. I don't want to go.

I have no interest in joining in their festivities. Since Aunt S. has made it so very clear that I have never been welcomed into their family, I really don't feel comfortable in spending time with them for the holidays.

But, my issue is this - if we don't go, once again, *I* will be blamed. While it will boil down to MY decision -- how can they really honestly expect me to WANT to go after all that was said?

If the tables were turned, and I had sent an email like that to one of Mike's family members, all hell would have broken loose, and you better believe, they wouldn't have anything to do with any of our festivities. It's the same with Braeden's birthday party -- Aunt S. was not coming, simply because she was pissed off.

I've told Mike that this year I'd rather start a new tradition. Staying home on Christmas day. I'm tired of running around after the kids finish opening their gifts - taking them away from all the new toys and goodies they get. He hasn't given me a definite answer, but it does seem he's not that interested in visiting with his family (on his mom's side).

We did already get together this past weekend with his brother, his fiance and their daughters and exchanged gifts. And we'll find time to get together with his dad, stepmom and sister.

I'm just sick to my stomach about all of this. I have been since it all happened. I'm tired of feeling like this when I did nothing wrong! And I can't believe someone would have the audacity to say the things said! Honestly - WHAT was the point in saying such nasty things? I am his WIFE ... not just a girlfriend that will probably be old news in a week. I've been with this man for nearly 7 years, married for a little over 5. I'm not going anywhere.

ABC Fun

A is for age: 25
B is for birthday: April 11
C is for career: assistant office/general manager
D is for your dad's name: Gary
E is for essential items to bring to a party: present
F is for favorite song at the moment: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee)
G is for favorite game: Yahtzee
H is for hometown: burbs of Chicago
I is for instruments you play: none
J is for jam or jelly you like: strawberry or grape
K is for kids: Braeden and Kaelynn
L is for living arrangements: House with hubby, 2 kids, parents, a cat and 2 fish
M is for mom's name: Diane
N is for name of your crush: Matthew McConaughey
O is for overnight hospital stays: only for the births of my kids
P is for phobias: Bugs!
Q is for quotes you like: My family tree is full of nuts!
R is for relationship that lasted the longest: Husband, married for a little over 5, together for almost 7
S is for sexual preference: whatever feels good ;)
T is for time you wake up: between 7-8am
U is for underwear: bikini or thong
V is for vegetable you love: sweet corn
W is for weekend plans: baking Christmas cookies
X is for x-rays you've had: teeth (a couple times) and neck (when in car accident many years ago)
Y is for yummy food you make: butterscotch brownies, peanutbutter chocolate chip cookies
Z is for zodiac sign: Aries

Womanly Things

I've been tracking my cycles lately because I have a habit of not writing things down and then I'm scrambling to make sure I have supplies on hand in my purse.

I was sitting here tonight, dealing with massive cramps, ovarian pain and breast tenderness and thinking - yep, I'm ovulating for sure. This isn't the first, or even tenth time I've noticed this. My body has been reaaalllllly good at letting me in on it's secret.

I've just never really completely zoned in on all the technicalities of it all.

Sure, I recorded my daily BBTs when we were TTC our children, and I could somewhat tell from that when ovulation had occurred. But now, it's all pretty much spelled out and I haven't used that thermometer in over 2 years.

So, I sign in to my monthly cycle tonight to check things out, and enter some symptoms into the calendar. I see that today is CD17.

Look back, and sure enough - CD17 is my lucky day, as it's been like clockwork that I record these symptoms then. And I've pinpointed my luteal phase to be 13 days. That is one thing I never could answer - and now I know.

Lucky me. Funny thing is, all this information will never help me in conceiving a child, as we are not going to have anymore (most likely).

And while it's nice to know how my body works and that it is working properly, it's also very frustrating dealing with the pains TWO times during my cycle. Looks like I better keep ibuprofen on hand for ovulation AND when AF makes her visit.

:sigh: The joys of being a woman.

Let's wrap it up

I just spent about 4 1/2 hours wrapping presents. My neck hurts now because of the way I sit on the floor while I wrap. I got a HUGE chunk of gifts wrapped, though. Still not finished, but close enough that I can see the end in sight.

I even got a head start on the gifts from Santa. They are wrapped and inside large boxes in my closet. There's no way we can do our family get together on Christmas Eve, then wrap presents and put together the kid's playhouse. Not to mention fill stockings and pull out all the gifts to tuck by the tree (which is already overwhelmed with gifts underneath AND around it). That's one thing about having 6 people in the house .... even more presents.

So, now it's 1:15 am -- and I am just now beginning to feel slightly tired. At this rate, I should be able to stay up and wait for Mike to get home. I'd think he *should* be home anytime between now and 2. But, like I said, he *should* be. Whether he actually is or not is a different ballgame.

My vent about his job should be in an entirely separate entry - because it could be long.

But - speak of the devil - he just pulled into the driveway. Off to my hubby and bed I go!

My little boy

Tomorrow my little boy turns 4. It's hard to believe I've been a mommy for 4 years. Time is going so quickly. Today I was reminiscing and WHAM! - the thought crossed my mind that next year, he will be FIVE!

Why is it that FIVE seems sooooo very much older than four?

We had his birthday party yesterday. It was nice and he enjoyed himself tremendously. And when he opened his Justice League Martian Manhunter we got him -- he was sooo flippin excited. He looked at it, and stammered "What the .... !?!" and then said "It's Martian Manhunter - the one me has been looking all over for!!" I paid a bit more for it on ebay because I couldn't find it ANYWHERE in stores. It was worth EVERY PENNY for his expression. We got it on video, and watched it later that night just to see it again. I was in tears. Felt like a big idiot in front of all the family and friends - but he was SOOO HAPPY, and my heart just exploded with happiness for him.

Now I really cannot wait for Christmas!!! Only 14 days to go (well, now we're ticking away to nearly 13)!

At War With the In-Laws

I've about had it with some of Mike's family members, and I think he has, too.

I've posted before about RSVPing and the fact that so many people are ignorant and do not response. WTF do they think I put a RSVP date and phone number for?? Shits & giggles? Please.

So this year I had enough. B is going to be 4 years old. This has been on ongoing issue since his 1st birthday. So, I sent an email to those who hadn't responded. My FIL took it the wrong way - because I'm an idiot and thought I put an RSVP date of 12/3 down, when in fact, I wrote 12/5. So when I emailed on 12/4, I jumped the gun a bit. REGARDLESS - I send a 2nd email apologizing, but asked if everyone could still respond yes or no and that we hoped we'd see them on Saturday.

And so - Mike gets a phone call from his Aunt S. on Monday. She basically rips into him on the phone. After he hangs up, we talk a bit about "the email I sent" and I get more and more pissed off. End up getting home to find out that Aunt S. emailed our family group email (a private yahoogroup for both his & my family to keep in touch with us and see photos of the kids, etc). And the email was NOT pretty. I mean - she was a B. I. T. C. H. She basically blamed me for everything - even going back to our wedding in 2000 and people we did not invite! You know what - F-U-C-K Y-O-U ... it was our wedding, and we chose the guest list. End of story. Get over it. She made all these "claims" that had no grounds. But everything she said, was MY fault. That Mike doesn't call or visit his family -- yep, my fault.

But, of course. Afterall, I do shackle him to the bed each morning as I leave for work. And I break the bones in his fingers everytime he tries to dial the phone to call one them. And, the time he tried to get in the car to go visit them -- oh yes, I set his car on fire. I do whatever it takes to keep him from his family.

GIVE ME A F-ING BREAK!

They simply cannot handle the fact that maybe - just MAYBE - HE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE OR CALL THEM, OR GO TO THEIR STUPID PIG ROAST. No, no. Of course he wants to -- it must be his bitch of a wife that keeps him from doing these things!! Yes, of course!

I'm done. I do not care to speak with or see that particular family member ever again.

I spoke with FIL for a good hour last night about all of this. I got to explain myself and he filled me in on some things. Says that Mike gives them all the impression that *I* am the one keeping him from these things. When I asked Mike about that - he acted as if he didn't know what I was talking about. And I said to his dad - I don't want to be his excuse - but maybe he uses me as one because he can, and because it looks better to blame someone else instead of having himself look like the asshole.

And then I find out - because Aunt S. mentioned something in her email about us not even being able to change our Thanksgiving plans to spend it with R. (Mike's grandfather, he's ill, dying of cancer). I didn't have any clue about Thanksgiving - as I was NOT invited and nothing was mentioned to me. I found out from Mike - that Aunt S. called him for his dad's phone number because she invited him to Thanksgiving and then says something along the lines of "I was going to invite you, but figured you wouldn't come anyway" -- WTF?? How 'bout this? Take your Thanksgiving turkey and stuff it!

I wrote back to Aunt S. - not because I want to work things out - but because she accused me of everything in the book - and I needed to defend myself. So I did that, and got a few jabs of my own in there. She hasn't written back.

It's all about her and that side of the family. Everyone should cater to them. We should go there for this and that, and we should call - but do they? Absolutely not. It's up to US.

And this is a family that rarely called Mike while he lived in Florida. I met him soon after he moved back here in IL. No one tried to contact him in the few months he was living here. After we started dating, he contacted the family and it went from there. So it was okay for them not to call, write, visit - nothing - during all that time.

It's sad, really. It truly is a dysfunctional family. I look at mine and realize how lucky I am to have such caring family. No matter what - they are always there. They don't get pissed off and petty because they had to be the one to make the phone call 9 out of 10 times, or that you can't make it to their weekend BBQ, or that you didn't invite so-and-so to your wedding. It's called being an ADULT. And Mike's family has proven that they are still growing up.

Oh! And I almost forgot!

Wrote out some bills this evening ... and made out our car payment -- my payment booklet has one -- just ONE -- payment stub left. Which means, the SUV is almost paid off in FULL! Yippie!!!!!

I can see how people get carried away

I realize how people can get carried away with their holiday spending. When you have access to stores around the world 24/7, it's hard NOT to spend $$$.

I just placed an order at walmart.com. Remember how I said I was DONE shopping for the kids? LOL Yeah, right.

Turns out, "Santa" called and needed help finding something else (funny, isn't it because he's the one that is supposed to make all the toys?) and I found it at Walmart, available online only. I originally saw the item on ebay, because Toys R Us (amazon) didn't have it, and I haven't seen it in stores. But it was $18.99 (buy it now) and $10 shipping. Kind of pricey in the long run.

So when I found it on Walmart, I was all over it - and I got some other shopping done, too. Got a couple things for Mike, and got to take advantage of some of their shipping deals - so I didn't actually pay an arm & a leg for shipping. Well, in the end -- with my order of 4 items (one large, a medium and 2 small items) -- I paid $10 for shipping. Still better than paying $10 shipping on just ONE of those items.

So, because "Santa" now had 1 more gift for Kaelynn than Braeden, I had to find something else for Braeden to even it out (am I the only one that does this? I can't imagine I am!). So - did some reworking (because of the whole "Santa" themed gifts this year) on the list and swapped one of our gifts for a "Santa" gift - and bought something else from Walmart that just came out, which will be from us. Did I confuse you yet? LOL

So, I've spent the last 2.5 hours or so, surfing the net from one store to another ... but thankfully I haven't gotten too carried away. Only placed the one order -- WARNING: Start tangent -- (though I placed one on at Gymboree yesterday. Couldn't help it. Got my Gymbo Visa reward gift card in the mail (not much, only $13 and some change), plus they are giving Gymbucks - so I spent $50. :sigh: I need to stay away from that place. That was for 1 outfit (shirt, pants & socks) for Kaelynn and a pair of cords for Braeden (to complete an outfit from a line that K has an outfit in, too - so that'll make GREAT sibling photos)). -- End tangent -- But now to continue my search to finish my shopping. If my list is right -- I only have 2 people left to buy for. My brother and his wife. I may take the easy way out and go with a Sears gift card or something since they are having a house built (by us!) and will be moving in next summer. Lots of window treatments, furnishings and decor will be needed.

So, that outta wrap up the shopping -- and then I can get on to wrapping up the presents!

THE Closet

Here it is. The disaster area. I had to take a few shots because I couldn't get the entire mass of boxes and bags in just one shot.

Work, Eat, Sleep .... Same ol' Same ol'

It's been a couple weeks since my last post. Not that there hasn't been anything interesting going on.

There was Thanksgiving for one. Honestly, I didn't enjoy the holiday one bit. I just was not into it at all this year. I craved the food, and then once I started eating - it was just like any other meal. It's depressing, really. The whole fact that one of few holidays that the family gets together and really enjoys themselves, I was feeling out of sorts is just down right sad.

I'm thinking one of the main reasons - was that my Grams was not around for her favorite pumpkin pie this year. Thanksgiving morning, I had a good sob in the car when my mom and I ran to Meijer to grab some last minute items. I don't even remember what prompted it. All I remember is tears blurring my vision while I attempted to park the car and then putting it into park, and sobbing. That was the first cry that day, and not the last. I won't even get into the rest.

The next day I was in better spirits. Up bright (well, in this case it was still dark) and early at 4 - (yes, you heard right - FOUR) - in the morning. Headed out for some Black Friday sales, got some great deals and then went in to work. I'm nuts, I'll admit it. But it's one day a year - and yes, it really is sort of fun. My intentions were to nap with the kids when I got home from work - but that never happened and I didn't end up in bed until late that night. I was beat!

But, like I mentioned, I did get some good deals. One gift is already wrapped and under the tree. It's a HUGE box - a gift for Mike - and I know he's trying to figure out what it is. But knowing him, he's already got it all figured out. He's good like that. He knew exactly what a gift was one year without touching it, shaking it, smelling it - he just briefly looked at it and knew just what it was.

I've done quite a bit more Christmas shopping and I'm --->this<--- close to being finished. Tonight I X'd off a couple more people from the list. Now to just start wrapping it all! I should take a picture of my closet! It's insane. I have a large walk-in closet - and one side has been taken over with boxes and bags galore. There really are ALOT of people we exchange gifts with. I want to say there are a good 25 people, plus then all the gifts for our kids. Actually, now that I get to thinking about it - it might be closer to 30 people plus our 2 kids.

Other than all that .... my days are pretty much the same.

But - can you believe it - 23 days til Christmas?? Well, by now you can say 22 days. And - my little boy will be FOUR in just 10 days! :sigh: Time is flying.