Friday, December 28, 2012

I spent Christmas Day (mostly) by myself this year.

This is how we wind up at this place where I find myself so often when it comes to the blog lately... The things I'm supposed to say...

I'm supposed to tell you that spending Christmas without my family here was the most devastating and awful experience one could have.
In fact, I'm supposed to write a gut-wrenching, ten-thousand-word lament on the subject.
I'm also supposed to think about how insensitive it would be okay with not having my family around when "so many others don't have family to spend the holidays with, or have family members they can't see".

I'm supposed to tell you that packing my family up and watching them drive off Christmas morning without me was one of the hardest things ever!

I'm supposed to tell you that New Year's Eve just won't be the same because they won't be home yet.

I'm supposed to tell you that Tobin had his first experience in the snow and my life with never be the same because I missed a first.

I'm supposed to tell you that the house is just too quiet without everyone here and I just don't know what to do with myself having no one around to take care of.

I'm not going to tell you any of those things.

The reality is...

Spending Christmas Day by myself was glorious!
I couldn't wait to get them out the door.
There will be no lament.
And while I do feel for those who have no choice but to be alone, or whose family members can't be with them for one reason for another, that is not my life experience so I will take a moment to revel in my aloneness, thanks.
If they were to set foot through that front door at any moment before January 1, 2013 I would, in all likelihood, spontaneously combust.
And while I would like to have seen Tobin play in the snow for the first time, I really feel like I have a fighting chance at living through missing "a first".
The silence in the house is almost more than I can bear, but not because I wish there was the noise of a full house happening. It is because it seems too good to be true, and I know that it has to end.
I also happen to thank the lord above for every moment that I have had not having to take care of anyone (but me).

This week has been awesome, and if I can be so bold as to be completely honest... I'd give anything to push it out one more.

In other news...
I went to the Verizon store today to upgrade The Teenager's phone. The white iPhone 5 is on it's way. I pick it up Monday, in plenty of time to have it wrapped and waiting for her when she gets home New Year's Day. I cannot wait! She is going to pass out. Seriously!
To back up a bit, we couldn't upgrade the phone until yesterday, so while The Teenager got a few other things for Christmas, I had to come up with a song and dance about not ordering her "main gift" (which I'm pretty sure that she things is a new iPod touch) in time, and that it wasn't going to get here before Christmas. I, of course, apologized profusely and "felt so bad!"
BAAHAHA! Little does she know... Ha!
I can't wait until Tuesday.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and that you all have a safe and wonderful New Year celebration, however you choose to do so!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Twist my arm...

Beth over at Living a Goddess Life shared this meme. While reading it I realized that I haven't done one of these in a very long time, and thought I might want to squeeze one more in before the world comes to an end. So here goes!

Five things I can't live without:

1. Coffee / tea
2. Slippers
3. Pajama pants
4. Books
5. My kids (well, I could certainly live without them for, like, a week. That would be awesome. But not indefinitely, ha!)

Four things that terrify me:

1. Spiders
2. Debt
3. Extremists of any kind
4. Dependency. It terrifies me how readily people give into the idea of dependency. Nothing is free.

Three things that annoy me:

Well, you might be aware that a lot of things annoy me (I'm not necessarily proud of that fact, let me be clear, ha!), but I will narrow it down to three for the intents and purposes of this exercise.

1. People who are incapable of maneuvering traffic circles. Seriously people, it really isn't that difficult!
2. Bad tippers. I get embarrassed if I am dining with someone who doesn't tip well. Especially when service is good.
3. Parents who let their kids run wild and unchecked in a public play area. I understand letting them play, but you still need to make sure that they aren't sitting on someone else's head, or shoving others down to get to the slide (or worse, pushing someone OFF of the slide). Put down the phone and latte, and parent your children. Please!

Two things I'm working on:

1. Myself
2. Clearing out excess crap (the seemingly never-ending project!)

One thing I am grateful for:

1. That 2012 is on the way out. I'm looking forward to the fresh start of the New Year. I don't believe, by any means, that it is going to be an easy or carefree year, but it will usher in needed change.

And there you have it!

Happy End of the World, y'all! 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

A couple of things...

Facebook Update:

Yesterday was hilarious. It is sad how automatic it is for me to log into Facebook. I can't tell you how many times I sat down to the computer yesterday and didn't even realize that I was logging into Facebook until I was hitting the button to log in. Then I would go into a panic, "no, no, no!" but it would be too late. I would then have to go over and immediately deactivate all over again. I think I have four messages from Facebook that I have deactivated my account. That means it happened three times on autopilot. And that doesn't even count the times that I caught myself before actually logging in. Ha!
This is how ingrained in me using Facebook is. That is sad, my friends.

Overall though, it feels good to be rid of it.

The Boy Who Lived:

...despite keeping his mother awake every single night for an entire year. He's not one yet, but I don't sense this pattern ending before February. Holy moly, this boy... gah!
His only saving grace?

This face.


Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Turn down the noise...

Well, I did the unthinkable... I deactivated my Facebook account.

Step one in turning down the noise.

I have to admit there is a small amount of anxiety swirling around inside of me over it. Facebook is my "go to" procrastination tool, but it is also full of noise, and I just really need to rid myself of excess noise right now.

We'll see how long I last, but I would like to try for six months. I shouldn't even say it like that, I should say that I am going to go Facebook free for at least six months.
In the words of a very wise Jedi Master, "Do, or do not. There is no try."

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, December 17, 2012


I have to admit, I'm kind of over all of the "Keep Calm" posters, but this one spoke to me, ha!

This weekend was filled with working and Christmas shopping. I'm just about done, I just have a few stray items to pick up that I'll probably end up getting this coming weekend. Holy moly that is going to be a nightmare. Guess that is what I get for waiting so long.

I did find one thing that I'm not so fond of at my job. Pushing credit cards.
It is expected that we ask each customer if they would like to open a credit line with the store, and I have no problem asking every person who walks up if they would like to, but I will not push them if they say no. I can't do it. I just cannot bring myself to trying to talk someone into debt. If they express interest the first time I ask, I'm all for opening a credit line for them, but I will not be the person telling them how they can open up to three lines, yada, yada. Nope. No way. Sorry big corporation, I will not help you in that game.

Credit card debt is a killer. Ugh.

I'm more scared of my kids getting themselves in trouble with credit cards than with anything else. Seriously.

Some parents freak out over premarital sex. Some parents freak out over drugs and alcohol. Some parents freak out that their kid might choose community college over some big name school with a name that they can proudly plaster on the back window of their car for all to see, or worse, not attend their alumni school!

Not me. It is the fear of my kids opening up unnecessary credit accounts that will keep me awake at night.
That there might be a moment where one of them would come to me and tell me that they are $10k in credit card debt even though we've talked and talked and talked about how utterly stupid it is to get oneself into such situations.

It is terrifying to think about. If I fail in anything when it comes to parenting, please do not let it be this!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday, y'all!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

I've decided that I am going to attempt to wean myself off of Facebook. 
It seems like a completely irrational task doomed for failure, but I'm going to do it. 

I'm not going to get rid of my account completely, but I am going to pare it down to the bare minimum of information, and photos, etc, and greatly reduce the amount of times per week that I log in. I've realized that Facebook really doesn't add anything of value to my existence, mostly it just adds excess noise.

It is time for excess noise to go.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

"I have an indication that when you look back a year from now on this time in your life, you're going to realize that you came through a lot. You can do it, that is from your spirit guide."


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A few random things...

1.  I got a part time job. It is in retail, which I wasn't sure I could handle, but I just wanted to do something that got me out of the house. As it turns out, I'm totally loving it.

2.  Tobin became an official toddler at nine and a half months old.
This is all fine and good, if I'm being honest, there are things that I love about infancy, but it really isn't my favorite stage. I just had a moment this morning when I realized that I will never have an infant again. My infant/baby time is completely over. I'm okay with it, I'm certainly not wanting any more kids, but it is weird to think about. He grew out of infancy way to fast. I feel like I was supposed to have more time. He's been up surfing and climbing on furniture since he was 6 months old, and he started trying to take steps around seven and a half months old, and now, at ten months, he is full on just walking around. Too fast, boy!

3.  I bought a sweet Batman watch and I can't find a photo of it online anywhere and I'm feeling too lazy to take a photo of it right now. You'll have to trust me. It was a good find.

4.  We're getting Mikaila an iPhone for Christmas (she doesn't read this so it is okay to write about it here). She's going to poop her pants. I can't wait. After years of waiting, she has definitely accepted that we are just not going to get her one, and that she will have to get it on her own when she can get her own phone plan. I seriously can't wait for her to open it. There is a good chance that she will either cry, or faint.

5.  This leads me to one of the many downsides to the over indulgence that rules parenting these days. I almost feel sorry for parents who cave to their children's every whim, or rush to make sure that their child has the next hot thing so that they can be better than everyone else - because that really is all it is about. You can hate me for saying it, but it is true.
Not only do you teach them that their value is in what they have, but you never get to experience the sheer joy of giving a gift to a child who has waited so long that they have finally accept that it isn't going to happen, just to find that one thing on their birthday, or Christmas. The joy that they get from opening it after waiting, and waiting, and hoping, and waiting is so fun to watch. You are totally robbing yourself, seriously.

That's about all I have for today. My to do list is calling, and I've been doing my best to ignore it all morning. I guess now that the kids are all sleeping I should get moving.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

Monday, December 3, 2012

I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of having a tree house. I would take up residence in a tree house permanently if I could.

Can you imagine coming home to this? Or having this to escape to?

image source: www.thedailygreen.com
Or what about this?! This one might actually be my favorite of all of them.

image source: www.treehouseworkshop.com
But then there is this one. Gah! I need one of each!!!

image source: www.treehouseworkshop.com
Here are a few more, just for kicks.

image source: www.treehouseworkshop.com
image source: www.treehouseworkshop.com
image source: treehouseworkshop.com
It is one of my biggest wish list items to buy a small plot of land somewhere, kind of in the boonies, but not so far into the boonies that a grocery store wouldn't be nearby, and build a tree house. It is going to happen one day. Mark my words!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

There is just something amazing about watching actors in a live performance. Seriously.

 Movies are all good and everything, but they just don't compare to watching someone get on a stage and nail their performance perfectly all night long. No "takes", no "cuts" - just raw acting. I love, love, love it.

We had so much fun seeing My Fair Lady last night! It was an incredible performance. 
I am so glad I went with my gut and got her those tickets for her birthday. She enjoyed every second of the evening.

We ended up making an entire mother/daughter day out of it. We got our hair cut, did a little shopping and then made our way to DC where we parked the car and metro'd down to have dinner. We stumbled upon a little street fair so we took a stroll through that, and after dinner we did some window shopping before heading back up to the theater to wait for our performance. It was a great time all around. I'm so thankful for these moments. I know that we will always have them, we will always do these things together, but she a year away from being an "adult" and she is going to be doing her own thing more and more, so the times that we get to spend together like this I cherish. 

How did 17 years just blow by like that?

I hope everyone else is having a great weekend!