Are you ready for Christmas?

What does that really mean anyway?  I hear it alot, just about everywhere I go people ask me "are you ready for the holidays?" or "are you ready for Christmas?" or my favorite, "are the kids ready for Santa?"  Well, duh! They are, they were born ready to get new toys and new clothes and just about anything new. 

My idea of ready has more to do with the emotional and spiritual connection we make with this special day.  There's so much stress during this time of year and it's mostly related to the whole "shopping, baking, card and newsletter writing, making the deadline at the post office" thing.  

Well this year I decided, sort of unwillingly, that I wasn't going to stress about all that. I had faith that things would fall into place in due time and I need not worry so much about meeting deadlines and sending cards.  Did I stress about my long list of things to do? Yes, I did, for about 5 minutes then I thought long and hard about what would happen if I didn't send out cards on time or if I didn't bake the cookies before Friday.  Nothing would happen.  Except maybe that I would be stressed, exhausted, and very hormonal, if you know what I mean.  

Since one of my goals is to start taking care of me first then everyone else I had to just give up all that and do only what I could.  Relaxing and taking my time was the best thing I ever did. Everything just fell into place this week.  All the painting was done last week, the carpet was installed on Thursday and by Sunday evening we had a beautiful tree, by Monday evening the tree was fully decked.  The kids had a great time talking about the ornaments we have collected over the years, many of which were home made.  

Children bring such joy to the holiday season, even when they talk about what St. Nick will be bringing and what new toys they want, they also have a way of making it fun to sing Christmas carols while decorating the tree and while baking cookies.  We watch festive movies, play fesive music and talk about what Christmas means to us.
Each year my kids take turns putting the angel on the tree.  I take pictures of the event because in the past we have forgotten and that usually leads into an argument and someone walks away mad.  This is my 18 year old son whom will soon graduate High School and go off to fullfil his dreams of a career in music.  No doubt he'll do great but I will miss him when he's gone. Colletively, we all decided that he should put the angel on the tree this year, regardless of who's turn it was.

We had the best time decorating the tree.  I ordered picture cards from Snapfish.com and had them printed at Wallgreens, they were ready the next day and in the mailbox by Monday.  I had a chance to attend a "girls only party" with my best friend; I bought everything I needed to and wanted to buy and I still have a day to spare.  Tomorrow we will prepare an awesome meal, attend Christmas Eve service at our Chapel and then, the next day, we'll sit back and enjoy watching the kids open their presents.

It will be fun and I didn't have to loose sleep over it.  As for the cookies and bread, they will be done tomorrow morning, before anyone has a chance to pull themselves out of bed.

From my family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas and prosporous and healthy new year!!

Final Exams Today!

Here it is, the day of my finals and you wonder "why the heck aren't you studying instead of blogging?"  Well, I know what I know.  I can't possibly memorize all this stuff and my brain is sort of fried.  I need an outlet for a few minutes.  But please, wish me luck.  I have  a headache and did not sleep much last night.  Once this is all over I will have a long break to focus on family, the holidays, and relaxing without thinking about school work.  I can't wait!

So here I go...hope everyone has a great day and for those of you in the middle of the ice storm, may you soon return to your warm and cozy home.

My house, our home

We have lived in this house for 3 years now and have begun the process to move again next summer.  We are military and the Navy is making the final decisions about our next duty station.  What does that mean?  Well, it means looking for a new home, new schools, new friends, new neighbors, etc.  It also means selling the current home, packing, cleaning house, painting and most important dealing with emotional issues from the kids who would rather not move.  That is subject for a different blog.  We don't like to leave our friends but that is the nature of our life in the military.

My house has been sort of painted since I moved in.  The interior was painted in a comercial, sort of off white, looked more like dirty wall color.  Every trim, baseboard, door, and crown molding was the same color.  I like color, must have color in my house so I took on that job as soon as I could after moving in.  In the mean time I was going to school, working at the gym, toting a pre-schooler around and just when things couldn't get busier I had a baby and my husband was sent to Iraq for 7 months.  Well, obviously, no painting was going to get done during that time and after that I had a baby to entertain and many other things to do so, OK, my walls would just have to stay 1/2 painted until I could get back to that project.  How frustrating.

Recently, my brother-in-law Mosh found himself out of work, due to the collapse in the economy.  He is a mason and painter by trade.  I offered two weeks of life with my family in exchange for his expertise in painting.  That was the best decision ever for both.  He stayed with us until this morning and in the mean time spent every single day, except weekends, painting my walls, doors, trims, etc.  He did such an excellent job and always cleaned up and put everything back the way he founded or the way I wanted it to be. He also went fishing with my husband and they actually brought home dinner.  Very cool.

My house looks great, well the walls, because the messes kids make never seem to go away.  We are having carpet installed on Thursday, wood floor in the foyer and tile in the kitchen are all done and the beautiful cabinetry my husband hand-made last year for the kitchen is clean and looking great.  The reality of all this works is that I'm really doing this to clean up the place and hopefully sell it next year.  I'm not holding my breath and would rather not break up the family but right now things are not looking to good from a sellers perspective.  We soon shall see.

It is a great house, 4 large bedrooms, 2.5 bath, master bath with garden tub, nice neighborhood and good schools.  Close to the Army, Navy, Cost Guard and Airforce Bases in the area and in the heart of history.  The beaches are close by, rivers, fishing, boating, parks, etc.  Ok so there it is and will continue to be.  My house can be a great home for a large family like mine.

WOW

It's been too long since I had a second to sit at my computer to read, write and man, I miss it, I really miss not being able to share and discuss.  This is my time, ok, well maybe not really mine because I do have four kids and a husband.  Anyway, I'm still here people.  I will be back to my old self never but I will make an effort to come back and share with everyone.

'tis the season to be happy so I will!!

Until later, stay safe!