Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Whew. I've finally recovered from 5 days away from my beloved computer. I say this as I sit here petting it like a pet. LOL Seriously, our vacation was actually quite fun.

We left 2 1/2 hours late on Wednesday. We planned to depart at 8 a.m. I woke up at 9:01 to discover that Glenn was the only one up. Kelly had still NOT packed and we were holding off on waking the beast (better known as Cameron) until the last minute. So instead of being in Hagerstown around 11 or 11:30 we didn't get there until 2 p.m. We had a great lunch with Tammy and her family. It was a surprise that John was able to bring Jessie up to join us. I just love that little girl. She makes me laugh.

After an hour and a half and some great hugs we departed for North Carolina.




We finally arrived about 11 p.m. and poor Mom had to wait up for us. Normally, she's sound asleep by 10 p.m. We quickly put up the beds, unpacked the car and snuggled down. Need I say that we were all exhausted?

Christmas Eve dawned cold and early. We were a bit concerned that Mom's normal coffee klatch would wake us up early, but they stayed home and let us sleep til around 9. Mom toured us around and introduced to just about every senior citizen in North Carolina *just kidding* and we dealt with a very excited little boy.

Around 5 we headed a few miles down the roads to McAdenville where all the houses on the main road decorate. The lake was high so they did not light up the decorations over it. While we waited for Santa, Glenn and Kelly drew a mural for Santa.



Poor Santa couldn't visit until about 3 a.m. Around 7 we woke up to see all the stuff Santa brought. There was one happy little boy who got an Xbox 360.



Christmas night we had Cameron's birthday party and one of Mom's friends has a 10 year old grandson who came. It was nice for Cameron to have someone his age to play with for a bit.



Saturday, Glenn and I had a date to Sonny's BBQ and then Sunday morning we came home. We stopped in Hagerstown again to see Tammy and exchange gifts. The kids played Rock Band on PS3 and all in all it was tons o fun!!!



So as I close I wish you all had as much fun as I did and wish you all a happy, prosperous and most especially, blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas

Well, I'm going off on Wed. for 5 whole days. NO COMPUTER!!! I haven't been this long without my computer since 2007. I feel like and addict going cold sober. Fortunately, I can access facebook and email on my phone. But, no blog and no games :<
If you haven't talked to me or read my Facebook updates I'll clue you in. We are leaving on Wednesday morning to drive to Hagerstown. I will be meeting my sister, Tammy in person. Honestly, I'm more excited to see her than I am to open presents. Then we are proceeding down to Charlotte, NC to see my mom. We haven't seen my mom since we moved to Pennsylvania in July, 2007. Yeah...I miss her!!!
We've made Cameron aware that Santa ends his visits at age 10. However, since Cameron is not technically 11 until 11:07 a.m. on Christmas, Santa will still visit this year. He took it amazingly well. I hope the fact that he is getting the major thing he asked for will make up for any sadness he is feeling inside. Well, one of the major things. He's been asking for an Xbox 360 for about 5 years. We have fought this item for 5 years and finally gave in because he wants NHL 2K10. Of course, this game is not for PS2 or Nintendo Gamecube. Only PS3 and Xbox. Since he has asked repeatedly for Xbox, that's what he's getting. He also asked for a dirt bike. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Glenn and I figure we'd like to be in our own trailer on some property next year so maybe he can get it then.
Kelly wanted a digital camera but settled for a ticket to Florida. She will be moving back to Florida on January 6th :<. I am very sad to see her go. She has a countdown clock telling her precisely how many days, hours, etc. until we drive her to the airport. AM I THAT BAD???
While in Charlotte, we will go to a hockey game. The Florida Everblades will be in Charlotte on the 26th. Then on Sunday we will drive home via Hagerstown again. This time I will get to have dinner with Tammy and meet her family while we exchange gifts.
I wish you all a very merry Christmas. May you remember the reason for the season. In my house we don't say happy holidays as JESUS CHRIST is the reason. I'll see you all on the flip side. If I don't get back on before...HAPPY NEW YEAR, too!

She did it, she's lost her wisdom.....teeth

Kelly made it through her oral surgery fine yesterday. I have one picture of her in the recovery room on my phone but have been FORBIDDEN to post it. She was quite loopy from the anesthesia and I took great delight in laughing at her antics. Cameron and I took her to Grandma's house where she promptly laid down on the couch with the comfy blanket, her baby blanket and her Kelly doll and fell right back to sleep. She texted me a few times last night and said she felt fine other than her jaw hurt. That was to be expected as the doctor said the teeth were in there pretty tight and he had to work them out. I'll be seeing her this afternoon when we pick up Grandma for the Glenn Beck Christmas Sweater show.

Cameron is excited to be the only child at home and has complete control over the living room television. He just seems to think it means that he can stay up as late as he wants watching it. He's under the impression that with Kelly gone all rules are out the window. Glenn popped in yesterday morning to find Cameron eating a handful of Hershey Kisses for breakfast. I asked if Glenn reprimanded him and he said no. I guess he figures it's no big deal if Cameron is sugared up for a day with Mom. I, on the hand, find it to be a very BIG deal.

There was a tremendous windstorm in Western, PA yesterday and our home did not go unscathed. Physically, we survived fine, but our power went out around 1 p.m. It was all good and fine until we came home around 4:30 and it was still out so we went to dinner at Eat n Park and then to Robinson to get kerosene for the heater, in case the power stayed out ,and return a few items to Pep Boys. Glenn decided to spend about 30 minutes perusing tires and I felt that his punishment for making me endure that treacherous ordeal was a trip to the mall. Heehee. He actually agreed and I managed to get Kelly another present and Glenn a new pair of sneakers. I got my phone fixed and it was pretty awesome. Thankfully, the power was back on when we returned home.

While at Eat n Park, Cameron angrily displayed his displeasure at having no power. How would he survive the night with no TV, no game system and no computer? We tried to explain to him that as children, we had none of those things. Well, we had TV, but it had 4 channels and we did not get one in our room nor did we get to stay up late watching it. We explained that there was no such thing as Cartoon Network. He claimed we were liars because there was in fact Bugs Bunny back in the "olden days." He could not grasp the concept of Saturday morning cartoons.

This left us to wonder if our children have too much. Of course, they do. We just don't know how to change the present situation. I have decided that once the new year has come, I will be packing up the game systems and he will get one at a time for one month at a time. I will also severely limit the amount of time spent on such items. Once spring comes, he will be spending more time in the great outdoors. This is difficult for us because we live in the city and we have no yard, so he has to ride his bike in the alley. I'll need to make more of an effort to take him to the park this year so he can skate and ride his bike. I'll be able to use my time to walk. I hope I can find a park that's not quite so hilly as the one around the corner. We Florida girls don't do hills very well!

Coulda woulda shoulda....maybe kinda possibly

Yesterday morning I received a telephone call that caused me to spring out of bed like a firefighter on call at 2 a.m. Kelly's oral surgeon called to tell me since she had a heart murmur she would need to take 4 antibiotics 1 hour prior to her appointment next week. My reaction..."huh, what heart murmur?"

Then I began to recall that maybe, kinda, possibly I remember something about a possible one when she was 4. I took her to the pediatrician for a physical prior to her first year of cheerleading. He heard something but when we went back for a follow-up, nothing! He signed off on her forms and away we went into the wild world of sassy 4 and 5 year old girls.


Kelly when this all started

I've taken Kelly for a physical every year of her life. I'm that kind of mom. If there is a vaccination my kid needs, I'm all for it! Never mind the fact that they are screaming in a corner out of fear, hey, they'll get over it quicker than I will if I have to deal with a case of whooping cough or some other freaky preventable disease. Bring on the extra staff, let's hold 'em down and get this over with. Not that Kelly ever needed to be held down once she was about 5 or 6. She discovered at that age she liked needles. Dear God, it was a sign of things to come. Instead of being scared of this development, I praised her for being such a strong girl. Now look at the little pierced freak! I want to hold her down and prevent anyone from getting near her with another needle.


Kelly and her step-sister with one of their many piercings

Kelly has been approved for multiple years of cheerleading, soccer, basketball, dancing, hockey, and the ever physical sport of attitude throwing. What's that you say..attitude throwing does not need a doctor's approval? Hmmm...well when the kid rolls her eyes like a bowler with a 200 game and throws an attitude like the pitcher in the Olympic Women's Fast Pitch Softball finals, it sure seems like it should require some sort of physician's approval for such rigorous activity. Of course, I've yet to find the doctor who will provide me with an excuse to prevent her from participating in attitude throwing. Sure they'll give me one to keep her out of school or out of work, but none for that. If anyone finds one, please forward the contact information, I'll be sure to schedule an appointment ASAP.

So now I sit her pondering whether I should allow her to recuperate at Grandma's. Not that Grandma's is an unsafe place. It's just that there is minimal supervision there as Grandma is in out of the house all day for work. What if something goes wrong and noone is there to notice it? I know that a dental procedure on someone with a heart condition can be dangerous or even fatal. I worked for the American Heart Association and had to provide many brochures to patients and dental providers in my 6 years off and on there. Infective endocarditis is a serious thing. I'm not done being tormented by this young lady.

I guess time and the doctor's recommendations will tell what I decide to do. In the meantime, I'm going to keep looking for that doctor who will give me the "no attitude" pass and hope all Kelly's man-made holes close up while she's recuperating. She assures me they won't, but a mother can dream can't she?

Oh, and she gets "a" sip of water to take all 4 pills. I don't know how Kelly will get them down, but I wanted to tell the nurse "good luck with that!"

Time flies when you're having...

I can't believe it's already the first of December. I have been blessed in so many ways this year. My daughter came home, my son has grown emotionally as well as physically and my marriage is awesome. I have always been grateful to have Glenn as my husband. We may have a few rocky patches but who doesn't? Seriously, who doesn't. There are no perfect marriages or perfect families.

I used to think my family was the most dysfunctional thing on the planet, but, the more I look around, I realize that we are just NORMAL. Even rich people have messed up lives. I am rich because I have a husband whom I know will NEVER leave me. He's had his chance and chose to stay. No more chances cupcake.

Expanding our family has been a blessing. We are on new, uncharted ground and I'm enjoying the opportunity to map it. Who knows where my life may be in a year. I'm just happy to be where I am today.

I have managed to reconcile a few past rocky relationships and left some to stay in the rubbish pile. I know that God asks me to forgive, but, I'm just not ready to do it. Maybe by next year I can do it. Glenn will not forgive. He has a problem with the level of forgiveness I've doled out already.

I look forward to expanding upon the friendships and relationships I've discovered this year. I plan to try to be a better friend and family member to all.

If you read this, please take a moment to share with me in the comments your best memory of our relationship. Think of it as encouragement of my goals. LOL Yes, I'm a bit low on self-esteem and need to be told I'm loved. But, I find that I love memories and often I forget things that others find to be precious. If you take a moment to share, I'll be sure to share my favorite memory of you.

Merry Christmas. I love every one of you.