Oh my - i have no excuses

It's been almost a month since my last post - no excuses here, just apologies. We celebrated the new year as we do most every year, we had C&D come over and we had a major Wii bowling tournament. I had to work from 7-11P but then we all saw the new year in together with lots of yelling and such. However, upon the stroke of midnight, D became sick and began a 12 hour round of vomiting - nice, huh? Poor kid - I put him up in Lulabell's bed so he could be near the bathroom - we all went to bed late and slept late the next day. It was almost 11 before I got up and I checked on D and he was still asleep - I had made sure he had water and a bucket next to him all night. They finally went home about 2 PM and I began to not feel so well. I ended up getting the nasty bug D had and spent the next 24 hours wearing a groove in the floor between the bedroom and the bathroom - awesome! I finally began to feel better by Monday though, ugh.

The kids have been back to school and things seem to be moving along for 2009. Our weather went from no snow to TONS of snow and in fact, we had a snow day the Friday before Martin Luther King day - so the kids got a 4 day weekend (YAY!) We got a total of about 15 inches of snow over about a week's period which was really nice - you know I love extreme weather, right? I'm a little worried about our trampoline, which is completely filled with heavy, wet snow and I'm pretty sure that is not too good for it, you know? I should get the kids out to clear off the snow from it.

Big news for Lulabell and I - in early March she and I will be taking a little trip south - to Florida!!!!!! My mom is down there now, as she goes every year for several months. At the last minute her place to stay became available and off she went - she always wants me to come down for a weekend or something and I just haven't been able to do that financially and otherwise. Well, just for the heck of it, I checked out the flights and was pleased and surprised to find them very reasonable - about $150 round trip. So, I talked to Stu and it was decided that I should go. However, the guilt of not being able to take my family with me was always one of the reasons I have not gone before. How could I go and enjoy myself in the sun and sand of south Florida while the rest of my family suffered in the cold and snow of western PA?!?!? So, to assuage my guilt, I thought I could take one of the kids and decided on Lulabell - who was of course thrilled beyond measure at the thought of going to Florida - Peaches was a little upset but I told him that if we go next year, he would be the one to come - which he was all right with, surprisingly. Stu was a little miffed because he loves it down there too, but he just got to go to SF this past summer and there wasn't much he could say about things - So, Lulabell and I will be getting our swimsuits ready and we will be spending 5 days with grammy and aunt Lisa and family and we are so psyched! It's wonderful to have something so delicious to look forward to, you know?

Peaches is no longer wrestling as his grades plummeted and he was failing 4 classes. I had to pull him out and I don't think he was that upset about it....he was resistant to the wrestling at the end (they only had a month left) as I think he had become the "punching bag" for the wrestling team - not in a bad way - I think the other boys were fond of him and generally treated him well, but he usually ended up being the fall guy for the wrestlers, somebody they could wrestle and beat every time! He was in it more for the social aspects and the exercise but the bruises he had were overwhelming, not to mention the six stitches he got early on. So, he is done wrestling for ever, he says. Hopefully now he can start pulling those grades up.

Lulabell made honorable mention at school for her grades, just a smidge below honor society (we'll get there). She is enjoying her friends and it is a relief that the singing thing is over for now. December was insane with practices and performances taking over our lives. She did enjoy it very much though and hopefully can become involved in something similar once she moves to the middle school next year. That's right, my baby will be in 7th grade next year and moving to the middle/high school - ARRGGGHHHHH!

Work is going all right - keeping pretty busy as always. I am enjoying the heck out of working at home and in fact, had to work last weekend at the hospital which was just about the worst torture I could have imagined for myself. I was grumpy all day last Saturday just thinking about having to actually go into the hospital to work - how did I do it for all those years then? It didn't seem so bad when I actually worked at the hospital to go in everyday. Now that I have it good working from home (usually in my pajamas and slippers), having to actually go somewhere to work is just tortuous. Stu is still with Blowes and he is doing well there. We are just working and living, like everybody else does, trying to get along and have some fun every now and then.

The excitement of our new president is keeping me even more involved in politics these days. Having voted for Barack makes it even more exciting for me - I am caught up in the possibility he represents for a new world - keep your fingers crossed for this wonderful man and his family, will you?

Unfortunately, the stoopid Steelers are going to the Superbowl again - ugh. You can imagine how Steelers-crazy western PA is right now - torture for all the non-Steeler fans, I can tell you - I'm sure you can guess who I am hoping will win on February 1st!

Just a quick mention that this is my birthday weekend - I'm going to be 44 on Sunday the 25th! Spare me a thought on Sunday will ya? I certainly don't feel 44 - although some days are better than others. However, my health at the moment is good and I am lucky to have my family and friends - overall a good life. I certainly hope my 44th year continues to see me through good times and avoid the bad - or at least minimize the bad.