Okay this is a whine.  You've been warned, don't read my whine and then leave me a comment about how much worse your life is and quit whining. 

This was my second Christmas without my husband home.  I don't know which is worse, the fact that he wasn't here or the fact that I don't really even care if he's here anymore.  It's just that I've come to expect the absences.  I know that's part of military life and I've acclimated to it.  I remember when we first joine...

This is beautiful. Hope you enjoy...



Link


May all our family, friends have a wonderful Holiday Season.



We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Holy and Healthy New Year.

I don't know what my problem is.  I 'm just having the hardest time getting into the holiday spirit this year.  I'm just not feeling it.  I haven't done half of the things I normally do.  No baking.  No Christmas cards.  Note to all those who sent me cards.  I loved them all and have decided that I will send the earliest Valentine's cards instead of the latest Christmas cards.  I know that I am a lazy procrastinator at heart.  I have such good intenti...

As some of you should know by now, we decided to just use a picture of our little ones for our Christmas card this year.  It was fast, easy and we thought they turned out well.  But getting one photo that was decent enough to use, well, that was not fast or easy. 

Alex would only smile for a split second, Jessica wasn't feeling well, and tried her hardest to muster a smile, but it just didn't work.  And Aubrey, well, she is just Aubrey.  You never quite know what you...

[This article was also posted in a similar form at my Live Journal disaster_cat where I am posting more often these days) but I thought folks here might enough it too]..

So, I woke up this morning and realized as one does that it was a bit chilly and I needed a bath before getting dressed. Went to turn on hot water, now lately because our pump is going out (and no one will replace it until after January 4th, so sorry it is the holidays says the plumber) we often don't have much water. Excep...

Well two thirds of my brood are NOT laughing at us anymore. The other third is still laughing his head off but he's yet to visit us here in Sunny Florida. But hey....his time is coming when we can wipe the smile off his face like we did his brothers....lol.

When we first told them the news of our leaving the grand ol' State of Maine for Florida they all laughed. Of course the middle son just had to say we are moving to set ourselves up to die hahahahah. Let the old jokes begin. We've h...

~naps

~striped socks

~sleeping on my hubby's shoulder

~littlest pet shop toys

~a fresh made bed

~comments on my blogs

~shoulder rubs

~Christmas cards

~discovering a great new song

~driving around looking at the Christmas lights and decorations

~fabulous clearance finds

~a winning bid on Ebay

~funny tshirts

~kid's artwork

~singing Itsy Bitsy Spider

~looking at photos on Flickr

~fruit loops and milk

~jumping on the trampoline

~swinging

~sing...

Ashley was afraid of Santa this year.  He gave her a treat right after they took the picture and she liked him again.  Ryan said the same thing I thought, "He should have given her the treat first!"



And here she is having more fun playing with decorations for our tree at our cottage

Christmas cards should not be this hard. Not only do you have to go out and purchase the cards, you also have to come up with a list of people to send them to and take time to fill them out. Then there is the postage and the mailing. Quite a process just to spread some holiday cheer.

Unfortunately for JD, the process of figuring out who to send cards to is a bit byzantine. JD and Wife sit down and go through the address book, then there are deletions, additions, maybes. The whole process kin...

So many of us don't need more stuff.  There's stuff everywhere.  We have to buy stuff to hold our stuff.  We rent storage areas to keep all the stuff that doesn't fit in our overflowing cabinets and closets.  I say let's stop buying so much stuff.  Where is all the stuff you got and gave for Christmas last year?  Think really hard.  Is it buried in a closet?  Did you already pass it on at Goodwill?  Does it reside at the bottom of the colorful, plasti...

My youngest son passed his drivers license test today.  This is him driving off by himself for the very first time.  This is me, watching my son go to work without needing a ride there and back!!!!  !!!!!Finally!!!!!

Ok... yes... I've been out of it.. but today I'm doing better, we have snow. not a lot, but some... it's icy.. so i have the day to enjoy as well as tomorrow.. Time to get the place cleaned up a bit and relax and enjoy the beautiful snow.

I'm doing some online shopping, sending them to the grandkids... its that time of year... but then they get spoiled 12 months out of the year anyway.

I love snow, i love the smell, the look, the quietness at night, the crispness.... ok I'll stop. ...

On Oprah's show yesterday she interviewed Mitch Albom,  the author of the book "For One More Day."
The question gets asked,  word for word from the Oprah's site:
" If you could spend one more day with someone you have loved and lost, what would you say?"

http://www2.oprah.com/harpofilms/films/day/slide/day_101.jhtml?promocode=HP22

More than quoting the question from the book,  which O has made into a special Oprah Winfrey Presents movie,  I just want to look at that q...

Isabella turned one on Thursday. With Adrian gone it felt like the year just crawled by, but in retrospect it feels like it went by pretty quickly. Even though she is still a baby, Isabella's turning one makes me sad. I'm sad that her first precious year is over. She went from a tiny little 8 lb, 7.5 oz little newborn who ate and slept and depended on me for her every need to this big, rambunctious toddler who rocks her babies and likes to make fart sounds with her mouth. She is really spec...

Do Kids drive sane people crazy?

I have a blissful day of solitude. John took the kids up to the Inner Harbor where the fun never ends...and I get to be at home to catch up on housework, have silence so I can think straight, and prepare some activities for the kids to keep them out of cartoonland when they have downtime. During such a rare day of solitude I can think a bit straighter than I do when two kids are squealing and clamoring for my attention all day long.

Ahh, peace n quiet.

...