It Still Makes Me Smile

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Old Wounds....

It's amazing how many years it has been since Brian has passed away. I can still picture his 16 year old face, and can't help but wonder what it would look like now. What would his life been like if he hadn't been taken so soon from us. Would he have been a great father like his own? Teaching his sons to love hockey as he did? Would his daughters have his fun smile? Losing Brian was the first time I experienced raw pain, and I suppose I will always have a gut wrenching feeling when I think of him. But it prepared me for the reality of losing people we loved, something we all face.

Patience Is a Virtue...

....that I am severely lacking (OK- I don't want tons of comments from my friends reminding me of all the other virtues I'm missing also). I am aware there are only 15 days left before Christmas. But when you buy your own presents, there is no reason to wait to wrap it, put it under the tree and wait. So, no presents for me on Christmas morning, we'll just tell the kids that Santa didn't bring me anything because I was bad....LOL.

It's a cute, dark blue Toshiba Laptop. It was on sale at Best Buy. I set it up last night and it was pretty cool. And yep the next morning, while in bed, I was on Facebook. Ah, fun, now I don't have to leave the privacy of my bedroom to interact with the cyberworld, or to write this blog. I'm sure this bit of information will make your day.

Seasonal Affect Syndrome

One day without sunshine and I am in a bad mood! Wow, I guess I have been so spoiled by mild temperatures and sunshine. With temps barely hitting 60 and overcast skies, I am so unhappy. My plans to decorate outside no longer appeal to me. I did some baking, but the kids were on my nerves too much for it to be fulfilling. We finished the tree, but it was just a chore. I cleaned and vaccummed for lack of better things to do. It has even made me sleepy. Instead of hyping myself on caffeine and sugar, maybe a good nap will make me feel better.

I was brave today. The kids had a half day. Without thinking, I take the kids to the local outdoor mall to do some Christmas looking. It was around 3 pm, and the mall was dead quiet. Not bad for December and a nice day. After dragging them to a few stores, I relent and take agree to go into Build a Bear. Well, dumb me forgets it's December and the Santa man is there....right there.....with NO LINE! As soon as it is pointed out to Rachel, she goes off running, excited as heck! This is the biggest thing in her life! I just had to smile as she was so happy to see him. We even convince the 9 year old the get in the picture! LOL

In the Name of Christmas Spirit

It has been brought to my attention I have been a little crabby this season. My Ho Ho Ho needs a little Ha Ha Ha. So I'm am vowing to *attempt* to be more in the Christmas happy spirit. In this effort, I will try my best to not talk smack about people who annoy me. I will smile as I tread through the never ending list of people I need to buy presents for. The decorations will not make me swear and curse when the lights don't work correctly. I will try not to over sample all my baked creations, therefore not sending me into a spiral of negativity as I am cursing for having to add 20 minutes on the elliptical. But most of all, I am going to have to pray harder to make these things happen. How long before I slip??

Peer Pressure

I am giving in. Yep, I admit it. I'm allowing myself to be pressured into reading the next (and I have the following 2) Stephanie Meyer's novels. We read the first one, Twilight for book club over the summer. It was okay. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a juvenile fiction book, but otherwise it wasn't the worst thing I read. I never had any inclination to read the others in the series, until now. I guess I just have to see what all the hype is about before all the stories are made into movies. Speaking of which, I am in charge of getting the book club girls together to see that. Hmm....I better get going on that. I think it is relatively safe, the teenage girls should have mostly seen it already!