Better late than never. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of my online pals. I hope that the New Year finds everyone happy and healthy. I know I say it every year but I plan to actually lose the extra pounds I am dragging around with me. I am starting a new budget ( with Misty’s help). I plan to save and be able to take more mini vacations with my family and maybe sneak in a few with just my man. This year is all about me and my family. More quality time with my kids and my husband. For so long, my husband and I let our time fall to the side with the birth of each child and all the added responsibilities that came along with it. I want to get back to the days when we had dates and time alone. So far so good. We have been getting a lot more together time in. I think that we are both trying harder.

I got my neighbor to agree to be my walking buddy. Last night we went in the 20 degreee temps and it was windy on top of  that. Hopefully our schedules will allow us to go at least 4 nights a week.

My husband asked me to grow my hair long again. I have always been that girl that did the opposite of what he wanted just to be spiteful but I have been thinking about growing it long for a while now. I think I am going to give it a try. Lets see how long I last.

I met my husband. I was 15 and he was 17. Me friend and neighbor, Erik, had a small get together. It was just 6 of us. I was immediately taken with him. Unfortunately, he hit it off with a friend of mine and by the end of the night they were lip locked. A few weeks later we ended up at a concert together and really got along great. By the end of the night he asked me on a date.

It is so hard to believe that it has been 20 years. We have been through a lot together. We have had some great times and some not so great times. Tonight, whether we have plans or not, I plan on having a great time with my man.

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Mine turned out better than I thought that it would. The kids were happy, the man was happy, and the man bought me my very first laptop. That made me happy.

What made me a bit sad was the fact that our loved ones passed so close to Christmas this year and they were so greatly missed at the family gatherings. My mother and father left town on 12.23 to go to the mountains. Normally we spend Christmas Eve with them and this year they weren’t here. They didn’t come home until 12.28. I know that they desperately needed the time together so I am glad that they went. We also had to put out sweet dog, Madison, to sleep on 12.17. She was almost 14 and could no longer get up. It was the hardest thing to do but I know that it was the right thing to do. She is buried in our backyard.

Daniel had to work Christmas day. That was the first Christmas in almost 20 years that we weren’t together. I did not like it one bit but it is part of the job. I missed him terribly and so did the kids. We did go to the station and spend a couple hours with the guys that evening.

As for New Year’s Eve, we have no concrete plans. My mil said that the kids could stay the night with her so we are free to go out if we want. That’s all I have for now. I leave work soon and I am meeting a friend for margaritas. Yay!

Yes I am still alive. It has been over two months since my last post. I have felt as though a black cloud of bad luck/negative energy has been following me around since my last post. A lot has happened and some of it very personal so I am not going to go into full detail but I am, hopefully, on the upswing.  After that weekend girl get away that got blown apart by the swine flu things went downhill fast.  We lost my husband’s grandfather 11.10.09 to lung cancer. Thank GOD he did not suffer long. Over the course of about 3 days he became bedridden and died. On that same day, we got the news that Mason needed surgery to repair an inguinal hernia and an undescended testicle. We had a nasty Noreaster that blew through on Thursday the 12th. The same day that Daniel’s grandfather was to be buried. The service ended up cancelled due to the weather. We were finally able to have the funeral on Saturday the 14th but the cemetary could not bury him until a week later due to all the rain. We ended up without power for 4 days because of the storm. The people on the next street over had power. We could look out of our dark ass kitchen window at night and see the lights coming from theirs. We finally got power at 3:45pm Sunday. I had to get my ass into overdrive because on Monday, 11.16.09, Daniel and I flew out to Las Vegas for 5 nights. We had a wonderful time. It helped put a spark back into our almost 15 year marriage. I felt, for the first time in a really long time, like I had my husband and friend back. We need to make sure we get our time more often. When I got home, I got the news that my grandfather was going downhill. He suffered several mini strokes and was dying. I also got the news that the day before we came home, my cousin’s ex mother in law had fallen in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, fractured her skull and died. Mason had his surgery on 12.4.09. It was extremely nerve wracking but it all went well and he was bouncing off walls the very next day. On 12.1.09, my rf tire blew out while I was on my way to work. I had run into a pothole the week before and never bothered to look to see if it had done any damage. Well it had bent both rims on my passenger side and damaged both tires. Thank GOD, insurance covered that. On 12.7.09, I went to sit with my grandaddy. We talked, told each other “I love you” and I cried. He kept asking me if I was going to spend the night. I told him no but that my mother and my aunt were. All he could say was “Good cuz I don’t feel so well.” That was hard to hear him say. I went home at 10:30 and to bed by 1 am. He died at 2:08 am with my mother and my aunt by his side. I got the call around 2:20 am. I went to his house before the funeral hime picked him up so that I could say goodbye. We just had his funeral on 12.12.09. I will miss him dearly. He was the best grandaddy you could ever have. He sang to us and played with us. We went on trips together and spent a lot of summers with him. These are the reasons for my late night facebook drinking and whining. It has been one thing after another. I am hoping that the new year brings my family joy and good luck.

When my phone rang at 6:30am this morning, I knew that it would not be a good thing. Today is the start of our girl trip to Roanoke. When I answered the phone, my friend Missy informed me that her daughter had woken up with a fever of 101 and a severe headache. She told me that she was going to take her to the doctor. I very jokingly told her to make sure that they test for the swine flu. Well, she called me after the appointment and informed me that she does indeed have the freakin swine flu. They caught it early and she was prescribed Tamiflu. I hope that she gets well quickly. I am a bit unnerved about driving 4.5-5 hours at night to the mountains with just my daughter but I can no not cancel. Haley would be totally crushed. I was so looking forward to having an all girl trip. The girls would have kept each other company and I would have someone to bs and gossip with. I know that we will still have fun.

I know that I have been away for some time. I have really not had much of anything interesting to say. I get home from work and the last thing that I want to do is look at a computer. I have been keeping up with all of you though. I am going to try to do a better job at posting regularly. So here is an update of my boring life:

• In August, we pulled Haley from private school and moved her into public school. Not quite sure that I think that was a good idea yet. I have a conference on Monday and will discuss my concerns with her teacher then. She has 1 b and c’s in everything else. I am not happy.
• Mason is still a major handful. I love when he sleeps. Is that terrible?
• Daniel is on the firefighter challenge team. He went to 3 competitions this year and they are now sponsored so next year they may ebter more competitions. Their sponsor will foot the bill for the travel and entrance fees. Thank GOD.
• We are trying to refi our house. If it goes as planned, our credit cards will be paid off. AGAIN. The only reason we have a balance is because we ran out of money for the house.
• If the refi goes through, we get to skip our December payment. Just in time for Christmas.
• I am ahead on truck payments….YAY!
• Work is ok.
• I need to get on the ball and start losing this extra poundage. Daniel has been working out and lost a bunch of weight. He is starting to show a 6 pack. While this is super sexy, it makes me feel fatter.
• This weekend, one of my BFFs, her daughter, me, and my daughter are taking a long weekend much deserved girl trip to the mountains. I can not wait. We leave tomorrow.
• I ate way too much broccoli today. Now I feel gassy.
• On November 16, my husband and I fly out for 5 nights in Vegas. Just the two of us. We never had a honeymoon and our 15 year anniversary is in March so  we are due for some alone time.

That is all I got. I will try to be good and write soon. Love you guys.

I really don’t feel like I have anything worthy of blogging. Hopefully, I will return soon.

My grandaddy is in the hospital. On Monday my mom called me right after I got home from work saying that the paramedics were on their way to his house. He was complaining of a severe headache and loss of vision in his left eye. I followed the ambulance to the hospital and when he got settled in the ER, I went back to see him. By that point, my mom was there too. When we saw the blood pressure monitor, it was reading 219/93. I remember thinking , HOLY SHIT THIS MAY BE IT!  Since then they have pretty much decided that he had a stroke. They can not do an MRI to determine that for sure because of his pacemaker. It was dicovered that his carotid arteries are extremely narrow. He is only able to pump about 35% of the normal volume through them. This is really bad because he can not endure any kind of surgery. He is hallucinating terribly. Not sure if this is because of the residual morphine in his system, brain damage, or if his time is up. People tend to hallucinate near the end.

Last night, I went to the hospital at around 6:30 and stayed to 11:00. I am really glad that I did. My mother and I left briefly to get dinner. At one point my mom left the room to answer a call. That gave me time to talk to my grandfather. We talked about how he met my grandmother and his time in the Navy as a SeaBee. It was really nice. I am always amazed at how a 91 year old man can remember the details from  so long ago.

I love my grandaddy and I feel totally at peace with whatever the outcome it this time. In the past, I have totally freaked out at any minor hospital stay because he is so frail. This time is different for some reason. I can not pinpoint why. When I get home I am going to cook dinner and then head to the hospital.

 On July 11 at 4:44 pm, my first born turned 8 years old. It is so hard to believe that 8 years have gone by already. She was such a good baby. I am in the mood to reflect. I went in for a scheduled induction. On Tuesday July 10, I went into the hospital at 7 pm. They got me all settled in my room and then gave me cervidil to help thin my cervix. Once that was in place, I was not really allowed to get out of bed. I remember being hungry so my mom and Daniel went and got me my favorite: SUBWAY! We sat and ate and watched a movie. The next morning at 6 am, the nurses came in and started the pitcoin to help induce the labor. I am a wimp and I did take the epidural. It made the whole birthing experience pleasant. I rememer that I dialated fast. I think I went from 2-10cm in just 2 to 3 hours. The only problem was that even though I was dialated, Haley was still high. So I had to do some practice pushing to help bring her down. Then they let me rest.  I was told that they would let the contractions do all the work for a while. By about 3:30 pm I was begging to push. They told me that I had to wait for the doctor. I remember an overwhelming need to push. I had no idea that I was about to squeeze out the largest turd ever. An 8 pounder. I started pushing at about 4:30 and at 4:44 pm my baby girl was here. Her sex was not a suprise for me but I had kept it a secret from Daniel and his family. Daniel was actually mad that I knew the sex. We actually came up with a boy name and a girl name while I was in labor. Don’t ask me what the boy name was because I really didn’t pay attention since I knew we were having a girl.

With in a short time of Haley’s birth, my doctor told me that she had to take me to the OR. She told me that she could not stop the bleeding. That really freaked me out. I kept thinking that I may never see her again or I may never have any more children. Of course these fears were totally fueled by all those damn pregnancy shows on Discovery Health and TLC. I remember the doctor packing my girlie parts full of gauze. I asked her if my husband could go too. She told me no and not to worry. It did not take her long to find the bleed. Apparently, Haley didn’t want to come out. She fought to stay in there. She tore my cervix. A couple of stitches and the bleeding came to a halt and then I was wheeled to recovery and reunited with Haley. It was an exhausting day but SSSSOOOO worth it. I would not change the experience for anything. I would do it again tomorrow to have that sweet 8lb 1/2 oz baby girl in my arms.

She has grown up to be such a beautiful, kind, sensitive, thoughtful young lady. I am very proud of her. She is independent and headstrong just like me. She has the most beautiful blue eyes with long eyelashes. She has curves, at 8, that I would kill for. I love spending one on one time with her. We try to have girl time at least once a month. We will go to dinner and then go shopping. She loves to shop. She does not get that from me. I hate to shop.

Here is a belated Happy 8th Birthday Haley.

These are listed in no particular order. I love them all for various reasons.

1. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
2. When Doves Cry - Prince
3. If You Leave - OMD
4. Love Cats - The Cure
5. I Just Died In Your Arms - Cutting Crew
6. In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
7. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
8. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
9. All Cried Out - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
10. Every Breath You Take - Police

Wow, that was hard. I love so much of the 80’s. I am a child of the 80’s.  I love the movies, the music, and not so much of the fashion. I wouldn’t say that there are only 10 favs of the 80’s. These are 10 that I love but being that I love most of the 80’s music I just picked some random songs that brought back memories.