Holidays

Oh the Holidays.  A great time of year to spend with family and friends.  I feel so blessed to have such a great family, new and old.

But with the happiness comes the sadness.  And this time I don't mean Shawn.

I mean babies.  Yes AGAIN with the babies.  Holidays mean cards and pictures of moms and dads with their new babies and their old babies.  And while I have two step children now, I don't FEEL like a mom.  I don't have that connection with them that biological moms get.  I want that feeling and I will never get it.  It makes me sad.

So I need to suck it up, enjoy the time with the step kids and stop dwelling on the not's.  My life is great.  My life is full.  My life is alive.

A Fabulous Blog Post for the Holiday Season

Piper's great blog post

Read it and spread a little good holiday cheer :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has been one hectic holiday this year!  I offered up our home to host dinner and while it was an awesome meal and great having everyone here, it took its toll on me!

Sunday I started running a fever.  101.1 which is pretty high even for me and my night time fevers I get.  I didn't take anything so I could see if it would wear off over night.  While it didn't disappear, it at least came down to 99.1.  However, after being awake for almost an hour it rose to 99.5 so I took some Motrin.  That kept it down till early evening when it started creeping up again.  I took more and I have been fever free since.  The only time I felt bad was when I had the 101.1 fever.  I felt crappy for about 2 hours before the thermometer even showed it.  It kept reading between 98.0 and 98.5 and I kept swearing I had a temp.  See, I knew what was up!

Emily and I were supposed to leave for PA yesterday too.  At first I was very disappointed on Sunday when I heard there was a blizzard coming and the chances of leaving Monday morning were going to be zilch.  It ruined my morning and part of the early afternoon.  But looking back, maybe something/one knew about those fevers coming and decided the only thing keeping me home to rest would be an act of Mother Nature.  We all know, fevers don't keep me down!  I would have left and possibly made myself worse.  So this blizzard was a blessing.  Instead we are leaving in about an hour.  Our bags are packed and once I shower I can pack the van and we can be on our way.  I'm looking forward to spending a few days with my family and seeing everyone.  Plus I can't wait to give out gifts!  We will be home late Thursday night, just in time for New Year's Eve with my honey.

Here are some pictures to see of our hectic holiday:

Do you still love me?

I know I know!

I am a horrible blogger!!!

With the holidays approaching I have been super busy shopping, crocheting and preparing for my first family Christmas dinner at our house.

Nothing to report which can be a good thing.  I have started the admissions process for grad school!  I hope to start this upcoming summer.  If I can find my GRE scores all will be OK with the world.

Well I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  And to those who don't celebrate, I hope you have a happy Holidays :)

Peace on earth...good will towards men...and be an organ donor!

Merry post-Christmas!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! It was great spending it with my family. As much as family can try your nerves, they are still family, and I still love them.

I am leaving today for my little vacation up in Boston. I am packed for 2+ weeks, and have no idea when I am actually coming home. Being officially retired, I can stay until the 19th if I want to lol (next doctor appointment is on the 20th).

I will update and blog as much as I can while up there, but it will be a bit limited I am sure.

Much love to my readers and I hope that the New Year is wonderful for you all!!!!!

New Year's

    

my BFF and I...It was well past 12 here but she wanted the pic with the hats on :)
  

my mom and I...yes that is me under all that!!!

my mom, her boyfriend and my aunt

New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun!!!!  I had a great time at both house parties I went to.  And I managed to stay sober so I could drive home and sleep in my own bed.  Mainly because I had to get up so I could make it to LBI (Long Beach Island in NJ) for the lighting of the lighthouse.  

Which I was wrong about in my previous post.  It hasn’t been lit since 1932.  It was built in January 1859 so it was the 150^th anniversary of the building of it.  It was FREEZING!!!  As you will see by the pictures we were all bundled up.  My batteries in my camera wouldn’t even work right!  At least that is what some guy told me when we were leaving.  I managed to get a few pictures before it just died on me.  We had to walk a few blocks to get to the park.  Seems everyone in NJ was there to see the lighting!!  And LBI is a small island so God only knows how it was holding all those people hehe…well it does during the summer but winter it is like a ghost town.  My Aunt lives down there so we were able to warm up at her house.  

So back to new years.  I did not get my new years kiss, though there really wasn’t anyone there that I wanted to kiss.  And the one person I would have kissed was not able to get out that night.  He was on baby duty.  Oh well!!!!  I still had a fabulous time and stayed out until 3:30am!  SO LATE for me!  Even my BFF commented that she couldn’t believe I was still there. 

Well enjoy the pictures!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!  Eats lots and party hearty! :)

<3

Thanksgiving thanks

My turkey day was pretty good!!  I ate WAY more then I can fit in my stomach comfortably haha!!  But that is the joy of Thanksgiving!  

I went to my mom’s to help cook around noon.  Hey she didn’t get up until 11 either!!  Everything was mostly made we just had to cook things.  I got to peel the potatoes…I think there might have been some finger skin in there too haha!  Just kidding!!  Our goal was to create a centerpiece that would look nice…and stand on its own.  We started out with candles inside apples.  They did not want to stand alone.  So we tried scotch taping them to the table.  Even worse!!  So then we got a basket and put the apples in it and got two lemons, skinned them, ad put them in there.  Worked great!!  But it was a little bland.  So my aunt went to the neighbors house and collected some sap filled pine cones.  That helped tremendously!  My mom had some gourds so they were placed around the basket too.  Ended up looking mighty nice!! 

I was supposed to eat dinner at my mom’s and then go to my dad’s for desert.  Since the two of us slept late I ended up switching it around.  I went up to my dad’s around 3:30 and had appetizers and then dinner.  Stuffed me-self!!!!!  But it was de-licious!!!!!!!  

Dinner was a little sad.  On the way up I found myself crying a little.  It was our first real holiday with out Ashley (Step-niece who was killed in June in a car accident, 2 weeks after her 21^st birthday).  I felt sad that she was not there.  It would be very strange!  Florence (my step-mom) said the prayer and she started crying before she could talk.  She just thanked everyone for being there and all.  Everyone pretty much had tears in their eyes.  We were all very thankful to be there and be able to be with each other.  The first family-holiday after losing a loved one is the most difficult, in my opinion.  That is when you truly notice that person’s absence.  But after the prayer we a bucked up and gorged on food out the wazoo!!! 

When I was leaving my dad walked me to my jeep.  He always does, so sweet of him!!  It is one of the times when we get to be alone and just chit chat.  Of course he took the time to lecture me on the dangers of traveling to another city to meet someone I met online!!  I assured him I felt safe going out there.  I wouldn’t have gone if there was any doubt in my mind about my safety!!!!  But that is a father’s job…to worry about his daughter.  I love him!!!!!! 

I ended my evening at my mom’s with the miss-fit group.  She likes to invite people that have no where to go for dinner.  Mainly the people that live at the Langhorne Hotel.  Its very kind of her.  Just makes for a weird dinner haha!!!  

So to end on a good note.  What I am thankful for this year: 

•          To be alive and well to spend another year with my family
  
•          To have great family and friends
  
•          To have a job with excellent benefits in this spiraling downward economy
•          To have found someone that I care about and look forward to talking with every night
  

Here is a picture of the centerpiece both before and after!