Where to Begin?

It's the middle of February. Wow. I haven't written anything of substance since December and it was a recap of my vacation in November. Holy cow! Obviously, there is a lot that I haven't written about. What do I do about that? Catch up in bullets? Forget that it all happened and start from now? I don't exactly know the answer yet, but for the time being let's start from now. Maybe I'll write regularly about what's going on currently and will occasionally fill in what I missed. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.
Soooo... the middle of February huh? In 2010... It's so weird that the number of the year isn't really throwing me off at all. It's just a number. Kind of like feeling that being 35 is just a number. It doesn't define me. I don't let it. Now, the age of my kids? THAT defines me. They are 11. Not that interesting of an age. Except... They will be 12 in 5 1/2 months. 12 years old is the last year before they are teenagers. 12 is the year that signals a shift in how they relate to the world, to themselves and to us. It has already started in little ways. Manageable ones, but still. It's just the beginning. I wonder all the time if we're doing this parenting thing right. Shell & I talked briefly last night about it. We've been assured by others that we are doing something right. They get awesome grades. All A's this year with only one B for each thrown in. They are well behaved when away from home, polite to others, kind, outgoing and compassionate and not picky when it comes to eating. We are told that we have "good kids". That we are lucky. And I believe that we are, because I don't know how they got this way. Parenting them hasn't been hard or much of a challenge really, so did we have that much to do with it? Or are we just "lucky" that we were blessed with "good kids". And now that we're approaching those infamously difficult years, will our luck hold or will it run out?

A Catch-Up Note: One of the detractors from writing in my blog continues to be Facebook. I still love it. And I love the applications. From Farmville to Zoo World to Happy Aquarium. From the quizzes to the Photo of the Day. I love it all. There is no way I could stay in touch with all those people any other way. I'm finding a way to keep updated on my Facebook friends and try to stay up to date on the blogs I read. I am horrible about commenting though. I want to get better at that. And I want to post regularly here too. But then my crops need to be harvested or my fish need to fed or I have a baby lemur being born and I'm drawn back to Facebook. But I'm going to try to be better. And I hope that those 13 people who commented on my Delurker post will stick with me while I figure it all out. And maybe a few more will show up as well. I'd like to make it worth it. For you and for me. :)

Come out, Come out...

whoever you are!

Ok, I have to admit that I'm not really all that thrilled about having a male flasher here, but it's the logo and it get the point across.
I'd love to know who reads my blog, especially those who don't comment. Unless the only readers I have ARE the ones who comment, in which case the 4 of you can just say hi as usual. In the spirit of this, I'm going to go comment on your blogs today too. You know, because I don't have anything else I should be doing, like oh...say post a REAL entry here.
Thanks to everyone who reads. Really, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

Goodbye 2009

I know that I am behind on posting, and as soon as the craziness of the holidays is officially over I fully intend to catch up and stay caught up. I just wanted to post a quick thanks to those of you who read my blog and a sincere thank you to those who comment. I hope you all have a fun evening tonight in whatever you choose to do. Shell is working tonight, so it'll be me and the kids as usual. The sparkling cider is chilling and we'll break out the fancy schmancy glasses to toast with. We'll watch the ball drop and after polishing off the cider we'll head to bed. I'm very happy to see 2009 end and have high hopes that 2010 will be better.
Happy New Year to all my new blog-friends and to those who might read and never comment, a Happy New Year to you too. Maybe I'll get to know you too this year?

Better Late Than Never (Right?!?!)

It's been 3 weeks since we got back from vacation and so much has been going on since then, but I really want to write about the great time we had. I also want to remember how hard this month has been for us so that I can look back next year and be thankful for how much better it is by then. (Wishful thinking here) So, on to the fun stuff...

Our vacation was great. We were very busy and some of us (my boy & Shell) got grumpy at times, but all in all it was a fun trip. This will get long, but I don't want to forget anything.

We had planned to leave Monday by 7pm. There was a storm passing through that day bringing snow to the mountains and we were a little nervous about driving through it. My boss let me leave early to get a head start, so I hoped to go home and pick up Shell to head to the car rental shop. Well, I ended up waiting a little while because she had FINALLY (after feeling crappy for about a week) decided to go to the doctor. She walked out after being diagnosed with an ear infection, a bladder infection AND walking pneumonia. LOVELY! After getting her prescriptions filled, we went to pick up the car. We got an awesome Nissan Altima and Shell accidentally dropped her phone and it broke in 3 pieces. Of course, we don't have insurance on our phones and we haven't been with this carrier very long so we'd have to pay full price for a new phone. Um, no thanks. That won't be happening until AFTER Christmas. I took the dogs to my parents house and loaded up the car while waiting for her to get back. We ended up leaving our house at 7:30, but then stopped at McDonalds to eat, putting us officially on the road at 8:00. Not bad, actually. We did hit horrible snow and ice once we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel, which slowed us way down, but we were careful and made it through safely.

Sleeping in the backseat. Totally the best way to travel!

We made it to Las Vegas at 6:30am and met Shell's dad for breakfast. We visited a little and ate very good. We stretched our legs and the kids had a great time with their Papa.

Once the Vegas rush hour traffic died down, we got back on the road. California was right around the corner and we didn't want to wait any longer.

Our hotel was very close to Disneyland, and it was a busy week so there was a lot of traffic around the hotel. We were lucky that our room was ready early, so we were able to check in as soon as we got there. The room had 2 queen beds in the main room, plus there was a separate kids room with it's own bathroom, TV and bunkbeds. The kids loved it. We unloaded the car, settled in and Shell & I showered. Then we were off again to see a friend from high school who just had her second child at the beginning of November. It was nice to visit with her and her kids and Shell, my girl and I got to hold and love on her baby girl. From there, we headed to Shell's aunt's place where we got to hang out with aunts and uncles and cousins. Shell's mom got there soon after with Shell's brother and SIL and we ate homemade taquitos, quacamole, beans & rice. We were starving for real food and it all hit the spot.

Wednesday morning we got up early and headed to Disneyland. What a day that was! We were there from 9am to 1am. We rode so many rides and had so much fun. My best friend Eric came with his boyfriend, who we hadn't met before. Shell's cousin and her family were there, as were two other cousins who we met up with periodically throughout the day. We even went across to California Adventure (which we'd never been to) and got to see the charm of that park too. There were A LOT of pictures taken that day, and here are just a few.

Sleeping Beauty's castle & Shell on the Jungle Cruise.

The Haunted Mansion & the Rocket Ships at the entrance to Tomorrowland.

The kids with Pluto & my boy looking for something?

The kids in Toontown & us

Thanksgiving Day was spent with Shell's side of the family. It was only the second time she's ever been to her grandma's house, so she was a little apprehensive at first. But it ended up being a fun time. The kids played outside with cousins that they've only heard about and we spent time with people who love us. We were only there for a few hours, but our time was spent well.

3-Legged Race and Potato Sack Race with the cousins.

My girl and I & Shell with her cousins, her brother and her grandma.

The rest of the evening was spent in our hotel room just relaxing. Shell was starting to feel the effects of her illnesses and was running a fever. My boy complained of a sore throat and we thought that our remaining time in CA might not be as fun as originally hoped for. But we persevered.

We visited my grandparents on Friday. Shell hadn't ever been to their house, so it was a big deal to me for her to be there. My grandpa bought pizza and we had 7-Up with it. When I was young, I used to spend the night on Saturday nights so I could go to church with my grandma and they always had 7-Up. I think it was the only soda that they ever bought. So it was kind of neat to share that memory with my family. Then my grandpa served us ice cream, which was another tradition from my overnights there. Shell says that I was grinning from ear to ear. I probably was. After we ate, I walked them through using the DVD player that my sister hooked up for them and then we went in the backyard to take pictures. Shell doesn't usually take pictures, but she did a great job getting this shot of me with my grandparents and my kids.

Shell's aunt took our kids shopping at Toys 'R Us then we went back to her house where the worst part of our trip happened. Worried that with 2 more days of vacation still ahead of us my camera's memory card might get full, I moved the pictures to a flash drive for storage. Then, I rotated the ones that needed it and decided to delete the very blurry ones. Well, unfortunately the ones I had rotated were still highlighted and I inadvertently deleted those too. In an instant my heart dropped and my eyes welled up. I went to the recycle bin and found nothing. I couldn't restore them, as they were deleted from the flash drive and not from the computer. When we got home I tried again with photo recovery software and the files were found, but had been corrupted when they were rotated. 42 pictures gone. I am still heartbroken about it.

After having a moment to berate myself for my stupidity, I picked myself back up and we headed to have pizza with Shell's family for one last hurrah. We wouldn't be seeing them again before we left for home.

Shell with her brother & her mom and aunt.

After leaving the pizza parlor we went to Shell's brother's apartment and visited more with them. It was 11:00 when we got back to the hotel that night and Shell was running a fever again and we were all worn out. But we still had two big days ahead of us.

We slept in a little on Saturday and then went to visit a lady who lives on the street where Shell grew up. Alice pretty much was Shell's safe haven when her own house was full of chaos. When we first started dating, Alice welcomed me into her house and listened when we felt like it was us against the world. She is a very special lady and we love her to pieces.

Shell with her Aunty Alice & me with my boy.

Then we headed to Thanksgiving Part 2 at my Grandma's house. We had a houseful! My grandma, my aunt, my sister and nieces, my oldest cousin and her family and my youngest cousin were all there. Eric & Jake came later to make the day complete. We had a great visit by a cousin on my dad's side that I haven't seen in 20 years. We ate and visited all day. Jake brought fuse beads for the kids to work on and it kept them entertained and quiet. Eric brought the MJ stuff that he bought for me at the memorial service. My boy had a reaction to something and was getting some hives, so my aunt found some Benadryl. For the first time, he successfully swallowed medicine in a pill-form. It was an accomplishment. By the evening, Shell was feeling really yucky and her fever was back again. I really didn't want to leave, but we did end up leaving earlier than I would have liked. It made me feel very lucky to have the people I love all together like that after so long and I wanted to bottle the feeling and take it with me.

My nieces, sister, newly found again cousin, me and my kids & the 11 year olds doing fuse beads.

Eric and Jake & the kids.

My grandma with her granddaughters.

We had one last day in California on Sunday and were heading home that evening. The story of that day and the days since then to come soon.

Spreading the word

Heidi at Thinking Miracles is having a giveaway for an adorable bib & barrette set. Go check it out here to enter.

We got back from California on Monday and I am playing mad catch up at work. I have a lot of pictures and great memories that I want to post, but there is so much to do at work and at home that I am overwhelmed. After a week, there is SO MUCH to catch up on in my blog reader too. I'm slowly making my way through it all. I will write soon, I promise.

I'm a bad blogger...

It's so ridiculous that I think about blogging EVERY DAY, and don't. And then I get overwhelmed thinking about how long it's been and what has happened and what I've missed writing about. And then I turn around and it's been almost a month since my last post which was just a filler anyway. When I saw that NaBloPoMo was this month I thought perfect, that's what I need. Then realized that I will be gone for a week over Thanksgiving and why even sign up for it if I already know I won't be able to do it. Excuses, excuses...I know.
So, what HAS been going on? I'm sure I'll forget something, but here goes...

• Since the sudden loss of her much loved chinchilla, my girl has adjusted to her new normal with a lot of tears and an admirable strength. We cleaned out Noel's cage, but it still sits in my girl's room. She isn't ready for it to go yet, and that's okay. She talks about her a lot and misses her fiercely, but she's moving on. It's been very hard, and I'm so proud of her.
• Halloween was fun. My girl went as a dragon lady with decorated kimono & sash and Chinese fan. Her hair was crimped and she looked great. My boy was The Joker and absolutely loved his costume. We trick or treated for about an hour and a half and they got a good amount of candy. My girl had a friend over who went with us and stayed overnight.
• November 1st we saw "This Is It". Shell, Dana, my kids and I all went and we loved it. I cried a few times, not because the film is sad but because of the loss of all that talent. It's a wonderful film. When we walked out of the theater I told Shell I wanted to see it every day until the run ended. She had no doubt that I was serious. But since I have neither the time or the money to do that, I waited until my parents went on the 7th and tagged along. I didn't cry as much the second time. I left that to my mom. I still wish that I could see it in the theater one more time, but if I don't I'm happy that I got to see it twice and I will eagerly await the DVD release.
• F*cebook is taking over all my free computer time. The applications that I participate in are growing and I love them. And I love the connections that I've made on it. But I need to find a way to share my extra time with my blog as well.
• Went to a fun book signing in Denver on the 2nd. Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) was here to sign her new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I was there about 2 hours before it started, and it was already filling up by that time. The bookstore was not prepared for the turnout she got, and it was packed. But I got my book signed and chatted with her for a few minutes. She is adorable and sweet and courteous and genuinely appreciative of her followers. I met interesting women and just had such a nice time. Definitely not my typical Monday night.
• Shell and I have fallen in love with two new shows this season. The Good Wife and Modern Family. They are both very good. We are about halfway caught up with the episodes that are in the DVR of both and can't wait to catch up. But we are on a mission to get as much watched as possible before we leave for vacation.
• Ah, vacation. We have 2 weeks left before we'll be in California. We are driving (rented a car) and will leave Monday evening on the 23rd, arriving midday on Tuesday. We are taking the kids to D*sneyland on Wednesday, Turkey dinner with Shell's family on Thursday, visiting with my grandparents and other casual visits on Friday, Turkey dinner with my family on Saturday and a fun excursion to Los Angeles and Hollywood on Sunday before heading home Sunday evening. We will be exhausted, but it will be so worth it.
• 2 weeks after we get home, I will hop on a plane back to CA for my little sister's graduation. She has worked so hard to become an R.N. and I'm so glad that I get to see her achieve it. I'll only be there Wed-Sat, but I'm looking forward to it so much.
• And that will take us right to Christmas. Of which I can't deal with thinking about too much. I think we are somewhat in denial, because we really have no plan of action. Usually we tackle a big portion of our shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but we won't be home on that day and certainly aren't shopping while in CA. Should be interesting.
• I will be on vacation when my company does it's year-end inventory. So, we are going to do a preinventory in my office before I leave to try to pinpoint any problems ahead of time. Which means that I have about a week to get prepared for this. Plus knowing that I'll be gone for a week, I want to get my desk in order. I have A LOT of filing that needs to be done. A soon as I get done posting this, I'll start to tackle the August filing and make my way to the October stuff. Fun times!
• We are going to see Wicked this Sunday with Dana & Jeannie and are so excited. We love it so much and can't wait to share it their first time with them.

I'm keeping up with the blogs I read, but sometimes am a few days behind. I have pictures on my hard drive at home, so maybe now that I've updated I'll just do a post of pictures to accompany it. I do appreciate whoever reads my blog and love the comments, so thank you.

A little different meme

Easing back into posting with a meme I saw on GR-E-G's blog.

1. What is the color of your toothbrush? Pink
2. Name one person who made you smile today. My daughter
3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Working
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Still working
5. What is your favorite candy bar? I love the Snickers with Almonds
6. Have you ever been to a strip club? A few times, yes.
7. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Thanks" to a coworker
8. What is your favorite ice cream? Mocha Almond Fudge
9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Water
10. Do you like your wallet? I guess. It's a wallet, nothing special.
11. What was the last thing you ate? Breakfast burrito
12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? Yes, a pair of pants and 3 shirts for me and a bunch of clothes for the kids at the Macy's sale last weekend.
13. The last sporting event you watched? Back-to-back football games last Sunday
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Hot air popped with real butter poured over the top. No extra salt.
15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? Wife's best friend
16. Ever go camping? Haven't since I was a kid when we used to go every year.
17. Do you take vitamins daily? No
18. Do you go to church every Sunday? No
19. Do you have a tan? No, sun exposure is not my friend
20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? yes. unfortunately though, pizza for a family of 4 is much less expensive than Chinese for a family of 4, so pizza wins out 9 times out of 10.
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? I don't drink much soda, but if I order it and it comes with one, I'll use it.
22. What did your last text message say? "ok I had only mentioned it in passing so I wasn't sure"
23. What are you doing tomorrow? Working of course.
24. Favorite color? Right now I love various shades of green
25. Look to your left; what do you see? Filing cabinets
26. What color is your watch? I don't wear a watch.
27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”? dream vacation
28. Would you strip for money? hmm. it would depend on so many factors-for whom, where, how much....
29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? usually drive thru
30. What is your favorite number? don't have one
31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone? customer
32. Any plans today? same ole, same ole..
33. In how many states have you lived? 2
34. Biggest annoyance right now? work
35. Last song listened to? Seasons of Love from RENT
36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? not quickly
37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? haha. hahahahaha. no.
38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? I like my new black mules. usually I don't think of my shoes in terms of favorites. either they match what I'm wearing or appropriate for the weather is what I'm most concerned with.
39. Are you jealous of anyone? I try not to be
40. Is anyone jealous of you? I doubt it
41. Do you love anyone? every day with all my heart, yes
42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes
43. What do you usually do during the day? sit in front of the computer, answer the phone, enter data. and wish I could afford to stay at home.
44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? no
45. Do you use the word hello daily? yes
46. What color is your car? silver
47. What size wedding ring do you wear? don't remember
48. Are you thinking about someone right now? yes, friends who are going through tough times
49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? once
50. How did you get your worst scar? by having my twins via c-section. worst scar=best reason