Keltia and her brood have moved to Tennessee... And, while we miss them terribly, we know that this move is really what their family needed to do right now... I can't believe we haven't seen them since September... (It's crazy how time seems to fly even more once you become a parent)... Luckily, Clark and I have vacation time that we can add on to our New Year's Day off, and we are heading down for a visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be so good to see them all -- and we will even get to be there for LittleBro's birthday! Of course, "taking this trip" means driving about 14 hours each way... But, we think it's worth it... Plus, Clark bought me a GPS for Christmas, which will make it much easier to find a rest stop, food, or a hotel along the way... Now, I only need to pray that Boogie and the weather don't conspire to make this the trip from Hell... (eek!)... Later days...
As much as it stinks to have to work on the day after Christmas, there are definitely a few perks... First of all, I have had enough "free time" to get through a couple of mini-projects... Secondly, I have not had to deal with nearly as many patrons as usual, which (by statistical likelihood alone) has decreased the number of stupid questions I have had to handle... And then there is the third bonus, which has nothing to do with the actual date itself, but is more of a cosmic Christmas present -- I have had more than one patron comment that they were happy to see how I have rearranged parts of the library collection (although I am sure they don't realize it was my idea)... There's nothing better than hearing that you did something right and that the extra work you created for yourself was worth it because it actually helped people the way you had intended... Yay!!! Other than the fact that this day feels like it will never end, I would say it's not entirely as bad as I thought it would be... Later days...
Everything is unwrapped, and the pain -- I mean joy -- is just beginning... I think Boogie and Clark are very pleased with the gifts I got them, and I am more than happy with the gifts I received... Right now, though, we are going through the obligatory How many batteries do we need and how the eff do we put together all these damn toys? phase... Once Unka and Clark finish putting together the track for the race cars, I think Boogie will be a little less annoying... He is chomping at the bit since we won't let him just have at it, but we aren't exactly keen on having these cars flying all over the house instead of running on the track for which they were intended... Yeah... I definitely know that I need a nap, but, other than that, my Christmas is going swimmingly... Hope y'all are enjoying your day too... Later days...
I definitely believe that spending time with family is the most important part of any holiday (no matter how dysfunctional mine may be)... Today, Boogie and I went to my mom's house and picked up Princess so she and Boogie could spend the day together playing and such instead of only seeing each other for dinner and presents tonight... When I cleared the driveway and the walks, the two of them were wicked cute and played in the snow together... We even built a non-gender-specific "snowperson" together when I was done... Apparently, the hot cocoa did not meet their satisfaction, but at least the hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese were a big hit... Right now, I am catching up on my internetting while we all watch Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas... Man, have I watched this movie too many times! Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, since I still love to watch it, but it's a good thing Clark isn't here... I keep finding myself not only singing along but also speaking right along with all of the characters! Teeheehee... The movie is almost over, so I better get going... I need to dry my hair before the kids and I get started on making the brownies we'll all be having for dessert tonight! Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later days...
Apparently, I am even an over-achiever in therapy... My therapist literally asked me if I even thought I needed to keep coming in to see her! She said that I am a "breath of fresh air" because I always follow through and I have "the non-resistant kind of OCD" that actually lets me try something new to see whether it works... I guess I have the kind of OCD that works to organize my life instead of the kind that cripples people... Works for me! (literally)... Teeheehee... So, yeah... I have opted to keep going to therapy because it is only about once a month and the co-pay is less than $20... Why quit just because I'm ahead, you know?!? If I start feeling like it's a waste of time, I will definitely stop going... But I think there are certainly some things that I could use help with for the time being... Yay for therapy! Teeheehee... Later days...
Thanks to a friend's blogroll, I discovered MightyGirl a few years ago (omg... I think it was like 5 years ago!)... I have kept up with her blog and her flickr, and sometimes I feel like I actually know her... It's not that I am some crazy internets stalker type, but more that she really hits close to home with a lot of her posts and I agree with so much of what she says... Now that she is posting videos from Momversation, I am all the more thankful that I have kept her blog in my reader (despite the fact that I keep trying to trim down on the number of blogs I read)... She recently posted one video from Momversation about whether or not to have another kid, and I have to admit that seeing other moms struggle with the same questions and self-doubts is [sickly] comforting... It's not that I want all moms to feel as torn as I do, but it's just good to know that even moms without fertility issues worry about whether they are making the right call to stick with an only child... I think my feelings are likely to continue waffling, but it's nice to be able to take solace in the fact that many moms aren't really sure how many kids they want or if they will end up regretting the decision to stop procreating when they did... With Christmas only days away, it is easy to start feeling sorry for myself that I will never have another child with which to share the holiday joy...... But, it's just as easy to think, "Well, at least I won't have to worry about trying to get two (or more) kids in and out of snowsuits every time they want to help me shovel!" Yeah... Staying positive is definitely nice... I need to work on it a little more, but I'm getting there... My therapist should be so proud when I see her tomorrow! Later days...
I already knew that a lot of my teens "love" me, but I wasn't quite aware how far it has gone... You know you must be making a difference in the teens @ your library when they sneak a call to you from school (on a cell phone) too see if you will still be open when they leave school early for the impending snow storm... Yay!!!!!!! Later days...
It's pretty easy (too easy) to take electricity for granted... I am only able to post to my blog right now because of a very generous friend who offered up a room for us to sleep over last night... We could have slept in our own home, I guess, but it would have been much less comfortable -- since we have no prospect of power (and therefore heat) for a few days still... Yeah... During the ice storm Thursday night/Friday morning, a giant pine tree in our front yard started losing huge branches... Some of those branches knocked down the power, phone, and cable lines running to our house... So, we now have a tangle of wires and branches in the front yard... We have no idea whether the power company will take full responsibility for their wires or if we will have to find an electrician to reattach the line to our house... We are pretty sure that the line hasn't completely detached (but we can't be sure since we turned of the whole breaker box as a safety precaution), but the line has definitely come off the side of our house, and that is not happy times... I haven't even bothered to call the cable or phone company yet... I figure they would probably appreciate having the live power lines taken care of before they show up, you know?!? But, yeah... We are here for at least a little longer today... We have an offer to stay over at another friend's house tonight... And it isn't that I am not grateful for the awesome friends we have, but I just wish we didn't need to go through this rigmarole -- not to mention the worry that a lack of heat could lead to burst pipes, etc... Gah... I better get going before I stress myself out even more... Later days...
OMG... I love the fact that you can embed the new Elf Yourself videos into your own blog... Check us out:
Teeheehee... Later days...
Boogie, out of nowhere, decided to give me a little anatomy lesson tonight... He said, "Girls are made of all skin." I said, "Boys are made of skin too." His response? "No! Boys have penises!" I stifled a giggle and said, "But penises are made of skin too." Boogie simply replied, "No, they're not. Penises are made of wood." I just about lost it, but I somehow managed not to laugh out loud... When I asked him why he thought his penis was made of wood, his only answer was that "it turns into a penis when I need to pee, but then it goes back to being wood when the pee is through." OMG... The comedic value alone is enough to make up for temper tantrums and messes... Teeheehee... Later days...
