Being that it is the Eve of the 1st I was thinking about making a resolution. Everyone seems to be doing it. As I was writing the things that I wanted to accomplish this year I realized…why do I need a list? I do not need a list to remind me that I need to lose weight. The scale does that every morning for me. I do not need to be reminded that family comes first. I do not need to remember the fact that I have not taken a walk. My dog sniffing and whining does that every afternoon when I have not taken her for her stroll.
I am starting something new for myself. I am resolving not to resolute. I, on the other hand have decided that there are some habits that need to be refined, tweeked, abolished…etc.
The habit of getting up every morning and not making my bed because…I will just sleep in it in less than 14 hours. What is the sense? That is going to be tweeked. I can not expect my children to make their beds daily and tidy if I do not lead by example. If I can not roll out of bed to at least shrug the covers into their place what kind of sloth am I? Ok so enough with being slothish. (is that a word? If not it is now) I need to get a pair of snow pants. No longer sitting inside watching the kids build their snow tunnels. I want to play. Yes, I will have to buy mens….tick me off. Should that derail our fun? NO! I need to buy a good iron. My husband’s clothes have gone to the cleaners for long enough. The children are at school full time now. It is time for me to make time to show him I love him. Yes, in his mind nothing says love like laundry actually being done and put away. If it was also ironed I think he might actually fall over. I am tweeking laundry. I am going to attempt to do at least one load from start to finish a day. I think the earth may swallow me alive if this becomes habit, but really this is something that has bothered me for years. Why can I not make time to take the dog around the block at least four times a week? How tough can that be? It’s been a bear since we got our dear Macy Mae. I just need to make the time to do it. I have the time now. Now I just need to manage my time a little better. I want to seek out one thing that HH would be shocked to see accomplished. I want to do it. I want to nail it. I want his head to spin. I have the energy now. I have been sick for so long and now I feel great. Now I need to get gumption in my motivation and just “Ger ‘er done.”
I resolve to do nothing. I will tweek and refine my habits. Shut up…it’s not a New Year’s Resolution.

For the last few years I have needed a new vacuum. My old one would get clogged every time I used it. It drove me batty. It is not that the floors were that bad it was just that we have pets. With that I vacuum probably at least once every other day because we have uncles and cousins that are allergic. Normally they do not have problems when they come here because I am relentless on keeping everything cleaned up. Minus shaving the cat and dog we controlled it as best we could.
For Christmas I have asked over and over for a better vac. This year that was answered. HH gave me the ultimate gift. Yes, he gave me a vacuum. I could not have been more thrilled. I know some ladies would be offended and peeved that their hubbies didn’t get them jewelry or something personal. Nope, not me. Get me something that is useful for the house and I am a happy mama. This year he got me the Dyson Ultimate. I LOVE IT. My carpet that is old and kind of showing its years looks like I just got it professionally done. It is made for my home. With pets and children I needed something that could take a little abuse. Already I have used it. I hate to say it but the other vac was not even coming close to getting up a fraction of what was in the carpet. *creepy crawly shivers
My review….two thumbs up!

I am a complete backwards kind of cleaner. Spring Cleaning means nada to me. It means…just maintain. May be I will air out the house, but Christmas puts me in the mood to purge purge purge.
So for the next week I will be busy as a bee as I purge all of the closets that have been neglected most of the year and get the house back into my kind of clean type order.
Another way I am backwards is that I start buying for Christmas in January. So I am off today to find the deal of a lifetime so that Christmas next year will be painless yet again. I will only have to get the one they ask for from St Nicholas. Or should I say that I will pass the info back to St. Nicholas!
Anyway, I hope your Christmas was merry and bright . For us….about a foot of snow. Want to sled?

Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope your holiday is blessed with family and friends. If you don’t have family or friends…we have dinner at 1:30. Stop on by.
Take wonderful care and enjoy your days off of work!

GUESS WHAT?! I am launching a new website. Actually it is our company web site, but still it is an exciting time. We hope to have it launched in just a few days. Isn’t that exciting?
With the help of Genuine and One by One Media we are locked and almost ready to open. Hopefully by next week.
I am like a kid in a candy store.

First off if you don’t know what I am talking about READ HERE VERY IMPORTANT!!

I got a call from the foster family for the oldest son. Her and her husband always wanted a large family but could not have children. She explained to me from the start that they had hoped that the 13 year old (for his privacy sake I am referring to him as such instead of by name. No disrespect is intended) would be able to be adopted. They were running into issues with the court system because they were hoping because of the felony charge against the mother for child neglect resulting in the death of an infant would automatically make it so he could be adopted. Not the case. BUT last week the boy’s mother decided to give up any parental rights (even though they were revoked and legality was holding everything back) and the remaining 4 were now adoptable.
The foster mother called me. I don’t know why she thought to call me but she did. She shared her heart. She cried her heart out that now she was going to be a mom. I choked back the tears of disbelief. I have known this woman for quite a few years. I know that the desire of her heart was to be a mom. She informed me that they were petitioning for all four children. *gulp 4 children There was a small hiccup. Even though the parental rights have been revoked, the mother is in jail, the father is in jail, and now the state has made these 4 children adoptable the 9 year old does not want to be adopted. She did not know if they should go ahead with the adoption of him or just let him be. I had no words. What a heavy decision to make. One part of me felt that if he felt the love in that home that he may eventually come around. The other part of me knows that handling two little ones under 5 a 9 and 13 year old would be a lot to maintain. Especially if one was holding a torch for his biological mother.
Last night again she called and said that they were going to go ahead and adopt all four. She felt that in the long run that he would eventually come into his own understanding with their love and support.
This has been an emotional journey. I felt guilty for stepping in because I am a mother. I now understand the other side of it though. Biology does not always make you a mother. Biology merely gives you the gift to become a mother. I have felt the burden of tearing a family apart. It was torn apart to be rebuilt with a new beginning. Each one of those boys has a chance to be in a loving and caring home. Good does prevail.
Baby Alex is in God’s hands. The adoption of the remaining 4 will be final next month. And with that knowledge…my Christmas is complete.

It does not take much to get me in the Christmas Spirit. A few years ago was the only year I had problems but that was because Christmas felt like it came on so fast that my head was not wrapped around it being Christmas already. I had already had my shopping done since May so there was nothing left to do.
Before children it was just the anticipation. Yes, I am as giddy and anxious as a 5 year old when Christmas is around the corner. HH normally wraps my presents around October so that he can have his fun by tormenting me. Unfortunately, because all of that time has passed I have the presents somewhat either figured out or completely shook up that they are a jumbled mess.
The first strum of “Silent Night” or “Jingle Bells” sets me in the mind frame that Christmas is right around the corner. The millionth time of either sets me gritting my teeth. That poses the other question of WHY do they start Christmas in October? As a consumer, if I have any more shopping past October I do it on line. I can’t stand the chaos. It sucks the holiday spirit right out of me.
For some like my dear friends Deb and Laura I know that a friendly…ok spiteful competition gets them in the swing of things. They have a neighbor that they compete with every year. Deb is the decorating guru that has to have the house decorated to a T! For other friends it’s snow.
So what does it take to get you in the Christmas Spirit?

We never know when an angel in disguise will cross our paths. I was always taught that if we show love and kindness to all we meet we never have to worry about not knowing if we have encountered an angel. This weekend that teaching was put to the test.
On Sunday I heard a knock on my front door. HG looked a little nervous. I answered the door. In front of me stood an unkempt man. He looked like he had been bumming on the streets for years. He stood there humbly looking at me with his young son by his side. He asked if he could shovel my walks. I explained that my husband would do that and not to worry about it. He then pushed a little harder. I saw the desperation in his eyes. “Please let me. I will only charge you $5.00 and I’ll do your sidewalk as well. I just need grocery money.” I considered for a moment. I knew that HH was hunting with his brother and would not want to do it when he got home. I considered and told him that he could do it. I left the front screen door locked but left the front door open a little. I heard him talking to his son. “Now we only need to do three more and we will have enough for meat for supper.” My heart dropped. I kept eves dropping. He was truly in need.
I asked HG to get hot chocolate for them and I would put together a bag of groceries. I put in a thick roast with carrots, potatoes, and cheese with egg, a loaf of bread and a stick of butter. I also put in fresh vegetables and fruit. When I went outside to give him the chocolate, I also gave him the bag of groceries. He looked at me and with tears in his eyes he said, “You would exchange money for groceries? That’s exactly what I needed. I prayed this morning for meat for my family and you have provided.” I responded, “I haven’t provided. God provided this for you. You were laid on my heart.” As they were leaving I gave them money for their work and sent them on their way. As I saw them walking in the distance I heard the father say to the son, “You never know when you will meet an angel.” With that I agreed. I did not know how blessed I was to have two men working side-by-side clearing about a foot of snow. I did not know how blessed I would be in showing my children that one person actually two can make a difference and touch a heart, my heart. I did not know how blessed I would be to be able to show my children the blessing of looking beyond the exterior and looking into the heart of a person.
HG and I were talking later. She told me that the man scared her when she first saw him. I honestly told her that he scared me too a little. I took precautions just in case my heart over ruled my common sense. She thought it was neat that they had called me an angel. I explained to her that I was not the angel. They were. They were angels in disguise. They opened the door to a discussion that was near and dear to my heart, the discussion of love and kindness to those we meet no matter their position in life. Paying it forward was important. Expecting nothing in return was reward enough. Yes, I did get a reward by having the walks shoveled. But an even bigger reward was that of a lesson that I could live out in front of my children. Kind of like that visa commercial…. walks shoveled….15.00, groceries…30.00, to be able to live what you teach your children…PRICELESS.

I live in a state that is known for its snow and it’s skiing. It was not until 11 years ago that I witnessed my first white Christmas. Why? We always went to my grandparent’s house in Arizona for Christmas.
In Arizona we would swim until we would look like prunes. My grandfather kept the pool at 92 to make sure that we did not freeze ourselves. Someone forgot to remind him that we lived in the frozen mountains. Swimming in 92-degree water was like being in a really big bathtub with a diving board and slide. It was truly 10 feet of pure heaven.
On Christmas Eve we would go out to swim and the flurry of too many cooks in the kitchen came to life. My grandmother, two aunts and my mother would vie for their spot to make their delicious treats in a galley kitchen that was made for two. It was kind of like that joke about gerbils fighting for dominance. Never pretty but so much fun to observe.
At around 4ish we would eat a huge spread of whatever was on sale. That covered a great multitude of glutinous sins. Whether that was turkey, chicken, beef, ham or in the lean years it was tuna we ate until we got out fill and rolled out of our chairs to wait the designated 15 minutes before entering the pool.
After dinner we normally were forced to go to a “Singing Christmas Tree” or musical that my cousins were in. This was not a bad thing it was just that being young we were all anxious about opening our presents. The torture would continue when we arrived home and we were told to put on our own Christmas show.
Our family Christmas show was HUGE. Grandma and Grandpa had four girls and one boy. This led to a plethora of grandchildren (ok so only 13) that all had to perform their ditty to satisfy the family. This talent show consisted of everything from singing “Silent Night” to playing the arm farts to “Jingle Bells”. My cousin got quite good. He always had a tune to fart out. Then my aunt in a drone sounding voice would read the Christmas story. After that we knew we were in good. It was going to be time to open the gifts.
Oh, the gifts were as much fun to give and receive. Mom always let us go to the dime store to pick out anything that we wanted to get the grandparents for under $1.00. Generally that ended up with some type of unique and lovely treasure of “Eud De Stink” or “Musky Muskrat” One year we got my grandfather denture cream so he would stop sharing his teeth with grandma. Come to find out years later that he just did not like to wear his teeth so he told us that he let grandma borrow them to get out of having to put them in.
At night we would go to sleep knowing that Santa would fill our stockings with tiny treasures like yo yo’s, crayons and one year…. underwear and pantyhose. Crazy Santa.
Now that I am a mother I love the traditions we have kept. We have lunch at 12, play games all afternoon, go to the Candlelight Service at church and then go to mom and dad’s house to watch the children do their lovely renditions of “Silent Night”. It is so wonderful and special. I think HB will probably play the arm farts this year. Who knows? We will find out Christmas Eve when we are given the show of our lives.