Privacy


I seem to have been a little lax in my privacy settings. I suppose it was naive of me to think all of the people I wanted to avoid from my past wanted to avoid me, too. Especially my ex-boyfriends. I mean, seriously. If I WANTED to have anything to do with you, I'd have let you know by now. Considering I've been married for nearly four years I think I've had ample time to make that contact. Silly me. Thinking silence spoke for itself.

So, now I've had to modify some things to keep unwanted "guests" out. How irritating. Having to invite people to read this. Having to change all of the privacy settings on every semi-public profile I own. Feeling all creeped out by the fact that people I try my hardest to forget can't seem to let go of the past. Ugh. Get lost already!

Ugliness aside, Christmas was great. Perrin loved his John Deere pedal tractor, of course. Abby is having fun with her new dollhouse. Those were their "big" gifts. They've been enjoying all the "little" ones, as well. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did on Christmas Day since we had to get them up at six in the morning. We had to be at my mom's by eight so Will and Betsy could get on the road to her parents' house. I can't really complain, because I know it wasn't an easy for them, either. Of course, keeping us up drinking on Christmas Eve didn't exactly help. (Just kidding guys!)

Heath finally got to open the new television. He's been waiting for an entire month to do that and I know it hasn't been easy. Now he can enjoy football on 42 inches of lovely plasma and actually SEE the score. It's nice to see him enjoying something instead of just working. I'm sure it was nice for him to have a few days off. I have to admit, even I enjoyed having him around more. Maybe I don't need to be crabby all the time, after all...

Counting Down


I can't believe it's almost Christmas again. 2008 is almost over and the kids will be having birthdays soon. How is it possible that my "baby" is going to be three years old?! And Abby is going to be FIVE! She's going to be in school by the time I've blinked. Crazy, crazy, crazy. I've been dragging out Christmas stuff from the boxes Heath got down from the attic above the garage. I don't even know where to put all the little knick-knacky things to keep them safe from the kids and the cats. The tree was bad enough. I had the presence of mind to use shatterproof ornaments on the lower half of the tree and thank goodness I did. The cats won't leave them on the tree. It could be worse, I suppose. They could be CLIMBING the tree. I actually don't understand why they haven't tried this. Perhaps not having front claws actually HAS hindered them in some way.
Abby and Perrin have really been enjoying the advent calendars. That's the first thing they want to do when they wake up each morning. Finding stuff to fill Perrin's wasn't easy. They really don't make tiny toys for boys. Oh sure, Legos are tiny, but how much fun would THAT be? One Lego each day? Those were out. Matchbox cars were too long to fit. Candy wouldn't really have been fair to Abby (or his breakfast). I managed to find a few little animals and a tiny tractor, but I used Littlest Pet Shop toys to fill in the rest. Technically, they're girl toys, but he usually wants whatever Abby has anyway, so... I did what I had to do. He's having fun and that makes me happy.

I've gotten all of the Christmas cards ready to mail out. I just need to get the money for stamps to mail them. I really should have controlled my spending better. I also have to mail Heath's mom's Christmas gift and on ornament for an ornament exchange for Perrin's Birthday Club on Baby Zone. I haven't really started the baking yet, but my mom bought me a stand mixer for my birthday. As soon as I pick it up from her house I can get started. I'm lazy, though.

The kids and I have been watching all of the usual Christmas specials on television. Rudolph in still my favorite. The animated Grinch is a close second. As for "grown-up" Christmas movies, "A Christmas Story" is, by far, my favorite. How many of us grew up with the classic "You'll shoot your eye out!" line? Not Heath, apparently. He hadn't seen it until he met me. Poor guy.

I don't know how much time I'll find to write before Christmas, but I'll try. Probably late at night when I'm having trouble sleeping. All I want for Christmas is a good night's sleep.

The Holidays Begin


I can't believe how long it's been since I've written anything. I guess it's just that time of year. It seems like everything gets so much busier after Halloween. Heath's birthday was on November 7th and mine was on the 25th. We went out with Will and Betsy and some of their friends for Heath's birthday and Betsy took me out for a "Girls' Night" at Mickey's for mine. The last part of that night is pretty fuzzy to me, but we had fun. If only I could remember the name of the guy standing with us in the picture on my camera...

Having a late night out drinking was a nice change, especially with Betsy, but I didn't stick with my plan to take it easy and I paid for it the next day. It was the day before Thanksgiving (which I was hosting) and our house was still a disaster. Yet, all I could do for most of the day was lie around and try to rehydrate myself. Heath took pity on me and helped me clean, though, so we managed to get most of it taken care of. Thanksgiving went well and I somehow managed to get all of the food ready at the same time. Hosting my first holiday dinner wasn't as bad as I thought. Although, I was more than ready for a nap when it was over!

Heath and my dad got up somewhere around 3am on Black Friday to go to Wal-Mart. They each bought a new 42" flat panel television. I even persuaded Heath to pick up a few things from the rest of the ad while he was there. I went out to a couple of places later that afternoon when it wasn't so busy. I'm always glad I no longer work in retail when this time of year hits. At least my years doing so has taught me to have patience with those who DO still work in retail.

I started reading the "Twilight" books just before my birthday. Curiosity finally got the better of me. I read the first two in about 48 hours and started the third before my birthday and Thanksgiving hit. I bought the fourth on this week, but I also read another novel in between, so I've read over four books in the last week and a half. I've really missed reading. I've been trying to get the kids to bed earlier and then I stay up and read. Sometimes, for hours.

As for my medical issues, all my tests came back normal. That means there is no underlying cause for my mental issues. I was kind of hoping for a scapegoat. The increased dose of Lexapro seems to be taking the edge off of me, anyway. I'm a bit less unpleasant.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're getting ready for our first Christmas in the new house. I bought advent calendars for the kids to countdown to Christmas. They're having fun with them. It's nice for them to have a tangible way to see how many days are left. We also got the tree bought and put up. Still haven't gotten to decorating outside yet, but maybe tomorrow. I hate snow. If only it wasn't so cold. I'm really loving our fireplace right now. Not too much though, because it's not cheap to use it. So, Santa, you don't need to worry about being toasted when you come in. I'll just leave a nightlight on.