I'm Dancing Again

YEAH!

They finally did it! The kids made it to one whole day of school, without a delayed start or a snow day! Definitely a day for dancing...so why am I sitting at this computer? I better go get my feather boa!

What New Year's Resolutions?

Ok, by nature, I'm not a complainer. Today I just want to say....

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

We are only 2 days into the New Year, and my resolution was to dance more....but so far, I'm having a hard time making that work....

Take today for an example, my goal is to get my house back in order. The Christmas decorations are down, I really was looking forward to just getting the 6' of dust cleaned off of everything, and get rid of my mold-ridden toilets. (It is very hard to be festive when you have to clean bathrooms all the time).

Instead, I get the call from Handsome that he needs me to pick up food for the restaurant, I won't bore you with why I, the lowly housewife is doing this, but suffice it to say, this is the 3rd trip in 4 days...I got one day off because after all, it was a Holiday.

Not a problem, but I think I will start the self -cleaning oven before I go, because even the oven could have fed a third world country.

The smell in the house became toxic, I made all 4 kids go for a ride with me, only to get them away from the big black box and the little white wii. (How can they learn to beat me in tennis, if they are not home practicing!), anyway, I digress.....

Off we go to the restaurant supply house. I'm told, get there around 12:15 because they will have your order for you..I figured, give them a few minutes, and arrived at 12:20. I walk in, and am told, "There Is no way your order will be ready until at least 1:00!"

Dilemma.....do I drive the kids someplace, or do we just wait...wanting to be environmentally conscious, I decide to wait. Of course, with kids, you don't wait in silence, so the stereo goes on. Now, knowing how prone to killing the battery my children are, I diligently, start the car every five or ten minutes.. 1:00 comes, I back my car into the bay for my pickup, go inside, get my invoice, then wait for another 10 minutes for them to pull it. NOT A PROBLEM......

The order arrives, and I start to have a panic attack!

I NEED A U-HAUL!

I can do this...

With some very clever maneuvering, tripling kids into seat belts, we are finally loaded.

Go to start the car, and nothing.....not anything. The car is dead. A very kind man came and jump started it for me, with my jumper cables, because, like most men, he didn't have any.

Go to the restaurant, ask one of the managers to get a dolly because I have tons of food, and he says that they don't have any that they would want to put food on! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have been here how many times? Do you need me to show you where they are kept?

Sorry, I got a little angry!

Finally, the food gets unloaded, our meal that Handsome had prepared for us is ready, and we jump in the car ready to go home, 3 hours later, and the car won't start again! HELP!

Luckily, Handsome was nearby, he could save the day, except that the battery in his car is smaller than most, (for racing, you know light weight batteries), it doesn't have enough juice to start my car....I wanted to cry, I didn't....finally, we got the car started. That is when SWEET Michael says, "oh yeah, we didn't leave the car running long enough..." (lessons learned from draining the battery on numerous occasions).

Finally, we drag our butts home, walk in the house.. ready to wipe out my beautifully cleaned oven, when I see.....

THE ERROR CODE

I can do this, I calmly walk over to the oven and begin pressing various buttons.....

NOTHING. The door won't unlock.

I go online to find a manual. There is nothing in the manual about error codes! I wait on hold for 10 minutes, only to be told, unplug it, if it doesn't clear it, it is broken and you need to call the repairman. I pull the oven out. I gasp at the mess underneath it, but look at the blessings, and say, not a problem....I can clean this too. I plug it back in, still the error code....I have pushed various buttons, wanted to kick it, but stopped myself because I don't want to completely annihilate it, so I think I will walk away and make a cup of tea.....

Just saying, this is only the 2nd day of January!

Out With the Old

Today we are seeing the final day of 2008. I am leaving it with some gratitude, some sadness and some hope for what is to come. This year has been an incredible time of change for our family, as was the 2 years before that. We have loved to have come into contact with some fabulous people from Nevada and now from Washington. We are not sad to see the struggles that we have faced financially and health wise pass with the year, but these have made us more understanding and I hope better people.

I never did accomplish the family Christmas Picture, nor was I diligent about my exercise after our move. I haven't found a job, but I have found peace. I have discovered that you can be sore after playing video games and I have discovered that I have missed dancing and having joy in my life.

So, 2009, here are my resolutions....to appreciate every singe day, even if it is laundry or cleaning the bathroom day, to DANCE more, to laugh more and oh yeah, to exercise more!

Have a happy and Safe NEW YEAR!

Catching Up

As so often happens in December, it feels like we are running so fast, that we hardly have time to document our days. Yesterday, I was talking to a friend, and she asked, "what is new?" Of course, my stock answer was, "nothing". Then I proceeded to tell her in bits and pieces about life in the Chanfandamly. That is when it hit me, so much is happening, I better document it so I can remember it!

Handsome and Son got to go to a Seahawks game, The Son was excited as his team, the Patriots won!

Thanks Jamie!

We had the Angel Breakfast for YW early on a Saturday morning. See how excited they were to be up?

The Fearless Leaders, we were equally excited to be up!

For my birthday, we made gingerbread houses in two teams

We thought they were finished.....we didn't know that Handsome would still be adding things the next day!

Notice the firecrackers surrounding their house, and the missile launcher in Gingerbread's hands!
The finished products!

I also want to give a shout out to our neighborhood Home Depot, who when asked, donated a Christmas Tree, the ornaments and a hug, for a family in our area, FOR FREE!

And last but not least, I have spent the last 2 days, watching, laughing and singing to my new Mama Mia DVD.

Well, back to the couch! Have a great rest of the week!

Birthday Wishes

A long time ago....

In a galaxy far away....

Or, about 25 years ago, (that is all I am copping to), I was born. It is funny how our expectations of our birthdays change with age. Don't get me wrong, I love birthdays, as long as they are not mine! What has happened this year on my birthday, is I have re-evalutated what I want. Don't get me wrong, I still want the body I had at 26, (Oh, I mean 24), and the hearing, and not having the gray hair that I faithfully cover every 6 weeks. But as far as things, I can't think of one thing that I am lacking. How fabulous is that?!! My needs are taken care of.

We are not having a big party, but instead, we are going to put together gingerbread houses as a family. What more is there? I ask you, to get to spend time with my kids before they all decide to grow up and leave home. So that is my birthday wish this year, to spend time with my family, without the customary screaming and fighting, and to enjoy this birthday, without a lot of fanfare.

It's December

Yeah, it is my favorite month of the year! Could it be because it is my birthday month? I think it probably started off as that, but the older I get, the more inclined I am to forget that day. Could it be the snow? Nope, definitely not! I am so grateful I live in a place that barely sees snow, or freezing cold days! Could it be because I am seeing so much red? (My favorite power color), or is it because it is time to finally try and get another amazing holiday picture of my kids? That is it! The power struggle with taking over 200 photos to try and find that one! To have the kids not making horrible faces at each other, or Quinn getting yelled at because he is goofing around, when we finally get a shot with everyone else looking good. Now that I am committed to the task, I must go forward with faith, that this will be the year when I finally get the shot in as small amount of time as possible. Wish me luck!

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2005

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the calm that come after everyone has left for school and work. I am thankful for the quiet, and not having kids screaming at me that they have NOTHING to wear or that SHE in my closet, stealing clothes again! I am thankful for no noise.....