Christmas Eve 2016

The holidays are starting off quite fun with family this year. My mom & step-dad came to town before Halloween. They are staying in an RV park about 20 minutes away. We have gone up to see my step-sister & her family several times. My sister came today.  She'll be here from Dec 24th until today (Jan 1st). We haven't been around family during the holidays for the last 4 years. It is especially nice to have my mom around to do a lot of the cooking.

This evening (Christmas Eve), we had a special dinner and talent show. Here our Santa place settings:

Then we had a talent show. I read the Night Before the Night Before Christmas, which is shorter than the Night Before Christmas. It is quite funny.

Lexi and Paige were next. They sung a song that Lexi wrote:

Jordan was next with the 12 days of Christmas. This is a song he LOVES to sing, especially when he is taking a bath:

My mom recited a clever poem about a boy that didn't believe in Santa.

My step-father wrapped it up with a song that Lexi & Paige helped a little with:



Finally, we opened our one present on Christmas Eve to find that it is always what we get the night before Christmas - our pjs.

Bracing for the New Year

Isn’t it odd that many of us seem to spend the first week or two of each New Year bracing to see what it will bring? We are a bit nervous about whether or not it will be a good year. If last year was particularly rough, we hope and pray that this one will be a huge improvement. If we had a great year, we are extremely anxious that the pendulum will swing the other way. Lots of people, who claim not to be overly superstitious, look for little signs that will give clues as to what’s to come. It is almost humorous that the changing of a number such as 2011 (simply mankind’s way of keeping track) causes numerous emotions.

To be honest, I can’t remember having one year that I would deem as “bad.” Sure there were years when it seemed like lots of things hit hard, but in those years good things happened too. Sometimes the good and bad things carried over into the following year. Life seems to be more of a crazy mixed up ball of uncertainty that does not pay attention to a silly thing like what month or year it happens to be. However, outward randomness is not necessarily a negative thing. At least it is always interesting.

I am not sure where I am going with this. This little post is probably just a pep talk I am trying to give myself. I am trying not to view the negative occurrences that have recently happened as signs of what is to come. It all started one day, last month. I suddenly had a feeling of dread come over me. I felt like something terrifying is going to happen, but that in the end everything would turn out better than it is now. I have no idea what this means or when it will happen.

I would like to believe it has something to do with my ex being laid off last week. Sure I will not get child support for a while, but then maybe he’ll get a better job and be able to move on with his life. Even better, perhaps it means I’ll meet Mr. Wonderful and I’ll be extremely nervous about the new feelings. Beyond those two, I start to really dread what could be coming my way. With all my heart, I hope it isn’t that my company decides they don’t have enough work to keep me employed. I haven’t exactly been busy for the last few months. Plus, I desperately hope they can put me on full-time in the late summer so that my Texas plans will be a reality.

Despite the fact that being nervous is just a useless waste of energy, I am still bracing for whatever may come my way. Please be mostly kind…2011.

Decade Recap

The other day, I read Crazy Bloggin Canuck's post that was about her Decade in Review. I liked the idea, so I am copying it. Here goes:

2000: Living in Miami, long term relationship with Arab boyfriend I met while living in the Middle East, went to Jamaica for friend’s wedding

2001: started the year off with lasik surgery, broke-up with Arab boyfriend, moved to a small apartment, went to Houston for mom's wedding to step-father, started working on a huge project in the Bahamas, moved to the Bahamas for work, met my (now) ex-husband there, spent the holidays at Paradise Island and experienced Junkanoo

2002: moved back to Miami, visited a good friend in NYC and had job interviews there, started dating ex-husband, got a new job with the company I am still working for, got engaged during the holidays

2003: got married in Miami, honeymoon in Jamaica, week long executive training at Dartmouth, spent the holidays in Texas attending my brother’s wedding

2004: worked, traveled for work, experienced lots of hurricanes, and saved money for a house

2005: bought our first house, found out my mother-in-law had terminal lung cancer, 2 weeks later found out my dad had terminal brain cancer, a week later found out I was pregnant, experienced several hurricanes, went to Texas for Thanksgiving and last time to see dad, a week later he died, spent the holidays with in-laws

2006: Lexi was born at the beginning of the year, worked from home instead of taking maternity leave, a month later husband lost his job, scrambled to get him a job, went back to work and had my sister be our nanny, put our house on the market, mother-in-law died that summer, sold our house that Fall and moved to South Beach, spent the holidays in San Diego with my family

2007: was on TV on the Today show while watching a morning concert on South Beach the weekend of the Superbowl, found out I was pregnant that Spring, husband lost his job in the summer, sent him to Houston to find a job, quit my job and moved to Houston that summer, went to husband’s granny’s birthday party in Virginia, gave birth to Jordan (early) the beginning of December, flew father-in-law to Houston to spend Christmas with us.

2008: potty trained Lexi, got kidney stones, received a call from my old boss offering me to work part-time from home, bought a house, joined Facebook, went to my family reunion at the Grand Canyon in the Summer, survived hurricane Ike, and bought my own mommy vehicle at Christmas time.

2009: knew this was going to be a crazy year and that divorce was coming, felt insane so took a trip to San Diego to visit mom for 6 weeks, realized I should consider her offer to move here, went back to Houston to discover marriage situation was worse, filed for divorce, husband lost his job, scrambled to help him find a job, put the house up for rent, completed divorce, moved to San Diego, and spent the holidays with my family.

Perhaps, this little idea just made me tired. That, or it is getting late.

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas was wonderful. I was my usual shopping crazed self. My Christmas shopping was basically done in November, but by the middle of December presents were wrapped and hidden. Like every year, I began to wonder if I had enough. I started shopping again and the kids ended up very spoiled. To be honest, I don’t feel guilty. I am not much of a toy shopper throughout the year. Clothes are my ultimate temptation, so that is what I focus on during the year and should feel guilty about. I figure that Christmas is the time that the kids need to win the shopping battle. Santa was definitely too nice.



Christmas didn’t end up being the relaxing day that I had predicted. Due to invites that were extended on Christmas Eve, our plans changed. In the morning, we went to a fun brunch with some of our best friends. They not only fed us, but entertained us with a puppet show. That evening, we had Christmas dinner with some new friends that have 4 young daughters. We all enjoyed socializing.

Now, New Years Eve is tomorrow and we have party plans with some of my old high school friends and their kids. Another year has flown by and like everyone else I can’t help but reflect on 2008. It brought a few big changes like buying a new place and a vehicle. I also started working from home, which lead me to put Lexi into a mother’s day out program and hire a cleaning service to come every other week. We also went to the Grand Canyon for my family reunion and I got to reconnect with some of my cousins that were practically like sisters to me when growing up. Other things happened, but none come to mind right now.

2009 is quickly approaching and I can’t help feeling insanely nervous about what it might bring. I am mainly anxious that my workload is going to explode for the next few months. The last few months it has been slow, but I have still been getting paid. I have a feeling that I am going to be suffering for that soon. I wonder if I can keep up with all that is probably headed my way. People’s jobs are depending on my ability to secure projects for the company. I am not the kind of person that allows myself to fail no matter how much I have taken on. I hope I don’t go insane trying to keep everything in my life balanced. In fact, thinking about it makes me feel exhausted. Somehow, I’ll get through. I will just be keeping my fingers crossed that some huge projects will come through quickly and I’ll be off the hook.

I hope 2009 treats everyone in blogland fantastically! We could all use a good year, right?

Another New Year

We really enjoyed the holidays this year. Christmas brought lots of presents for Lexi, which she loved. Plus, I was spoiled with a mother’s ring with all of our birth stones from Steve. He even shocked me by saying we could add another birth stone if we have another baby. Anyone who has spoken to him over the last 9 months has heard him say that he is done having kids and that he is going to get a vasectomy. When I laughed about him mentioning another child, he just said “IF.” I guess this is a topic for another post.

December has flown by and here we are in the New Year. I can hardly believe it. My new baby is a month old and my little toddler is going to be 2 at the end of this month. Life sure goes by quickly.

Looking back, I realize that 2007 wasn’t the uneventful year I had been hoping for, but some wonderful things happened. At the beginning of the year, we were living on South Beach. Steve worked in downtown Miami. Lexi went to daycare and spoke more Spanish than English. I was working as a Marketing Manager at the same place I had been for the past five years. My work life revolved around going after a huge project. It was all I could think about day and night. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be due to blatant political corruption. My view of politics will forever be tainted. In the Spring, we went in with my brother on a cheap house in Montana. Our original plan was to flip it, but later opted to rent it out for a while. In May, I found out I was pregnant, which we had been “working on” since January. June brought another big change. We started a big job hunt for Steve and he flew to Houston for interviews. He accepted a great one and then the moving process began. We arrived at the end of July and I officially became a pregnant SAHM. Lexi and I have enjoyed our time together. In September, Lexi and I took a trip to Virginia for Steve’s Granny’s 90th birthday. After that, life was basically uneventful until Baby Jordan was born the beginning of December. He has brought amazing happiness to our family.

Looking ahead, I realize this year could hold many interesting surprises just like every year does. We would like to buy another house and we are planning to attend my family reunion in July at the Grand Canyon. Other than that, I guess anything goes except for my resolution which is to get in shape. Actually, calling it a resolution makes it sound like a wish. This is more of a MUST/WILL do thing. I am no longer pregnant or devoting most of my life to work, so the time is now. Lexi, Jordan and I will have fun eating healthy food, exercising, and doing outdoor activities. I am looking forward to it. We will also maximize our time with Steve, who has a lot going on at work, but still finds the energy to help out at home.