Resolutions

Ahhh, it is New Year's Eve. Time for a few resolutions. I only have one.... I resolve to be a grown up in 2008. What does that mean? I will think about what I eat. I will think about when I move. I will think about what I do with my money. I will think about how I treat others. I will work on accepting Alec as he is... all in all, I will be a grown up! I can do this =-) HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008.

Santa Baby...

Kassie the pekingese dressed up for Christmas Day! She was Mrs. Claus. My sweet 8 year old one-eyed blind pekingese. Kassie follows me around, sleeps with me, and is my angel. What a loving little angel! =-)

Saturday!

This week off is already gone. Boo hoo! I have absolutely loved getting to sleep forever in the morning. I think I am still a teenager at heart. (Clearly not at body, but at heart.) Things are moving right along here. The boys are enjoying their games and new goodies from Christmas. In typical Alec style, he has already spend most of his Christmas $$$.

The funniest thing happened though. I bought "Memory Mixer" from QVC a couple of years ago. It is a digital scrapbooking program. On Thursday morning when Mike went to his surgery I decided to install it and play with it. OK, love it. I can't imagine becomming a full digital scrapbooker... but I do see visions of doing both. In fact, I think I can stay current much easier. Seems crazy. But, it is what it is I guess. I got some of my first pages done at Costco (12x12 page only $3 to print) and love them. Weird.

Not sure what is happening here this afteroon... maybe some more digi scrappin! LOL

Whew, we survived!

I love Christmas! I love the lights, the sounds, the smells. Christmas Eve is Mike's birthday though, so first things first.

He bought a new desk system for his office last weekend. He couldn't get his file drawer open and closed without tools, not a good thing. So, he has been looking at Ikea, and finally got something. He spent Saturday and Sunday putting it together and dragging the other stuff (with Alec's help) out of his office. Then on his birthday, he wanted to go to work! What a funny boy! The good news is that he got all of his stuff back in, and organized. He is thrilled with his new setup, and not having to go to the floor for a drawer.

He did get home in the late afternoon. We had planned on having New York steaks after our French Onion Soup. But, the soup was so yummy and so filling, we put off the steaks for a couple of days. I fry up 3 large onions in butter... maybe half a stick. I add some garlic cloves in too, maybe 2 or 3...depending on my mood. Then I put two heaping table spoons of flour and fry up some more, looking for some brown. Then I add 2 cans of beef broth and about a cup of good red wine (whatever we are drinking at the time). After it starts to thicken up some we scoop it into bowls for baking. I put two slices of sourdough baguette and two slices of swiss cheese on the top, broil until brown.... and YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY. So, there you have it!

After we cleaned up, we put some goodies out and opened our gifts. The boys seemed happy with a few gifts from gramma and granpa Donovan, some cash from gramma and granpa Strickland, and a gift card each from Tabitha & her new hubby Mark. They each got a few gifts from us too. I was happy with a body pillow from Casey, fuzzy socks and a big punch from Alec (OK I told him which one to buy), and some nice base makeup from Mike (Jane Iredale). Did I mention we had goodies?

It was pretty late when we started, and finished our gifts, so off to sleep! The boys get stocking stuffers from Santa in the morning... but they are too old to think that is worth waking up really early. So, about 10am they were both up checking their stockings. We enjoyed a few hours of peace and quiet. Then it was time to get to work! For Christmas dinner we had Danielle & Bill (our neighbors from the coast) and Danielle's sister Wanda over for dinner. We had lots of yummy cheese and crackers for appetizers. Then for dinner we had roasted red potatoes, veggies, and Cornish game hens with a raspberry red wine sauce. It was very good. Casey just would not eat the hen. He really could be a vegetarian some days. If he sees it raw, chances are pretty good he will not eat it! Dinner, complete with good wine, was followed by Mike's famous Banana's Foster. OMG it was wonderful! And of course, he lit it on fire for us too!

Wednesday morning was Mike's follow up to his cortisone shots. The good news is that he is not currently a good candidate for surgery. Yahoo! There are other procedures that they will try first. In the past the shots have worked, but not this time. So, today we went for another series of shots with both cortisone and numbing medication. Hopefully this will offer some relief. But, typical Donovan style, it can't be the simple answer. Figures, huh?

I am enjoying the week off from the pressures of school, well Alec school. I love sleeping in (well except for today when we were on the roads at 5:55 am). And, I am looking forward to another week of this.

We don't know what we are doing for New Year's Eve yet. But, I am sure something good will come up before Monday. Happy Kwanzaa to you. L

Christmas is coming! Ready or not...

I can not believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. But first in our house, tomorrow is Mike's birthday. I have his present wrapped, but nothing wrapped for Christmas. I guess I should be doing that instead of blogging. But, I did clean the house today (usually my Monday job) so that I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow. It feels good to be done.

Our tree looks a little sparse this year, and even with a few wrapped presents I don't think it is going to look too much better! LOL Mike keeps calling it the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. It doesn't really, but in comparison to OUR usual tree... maybe it does. It is only about 6 feet tall. Very pretty. Maybe I will take a photo before I take it down. It is really going to be a more simple Christmas. Too darn many medical bills this fall. Fortunately the boys get it. Well, Casey gets it for sure. I am not always sure about Alec, but I think he understands. We got the smaller tree because I knew that Mike would lift it onto the car top, bad back and all. And, of course, he did! Live trees are pretty cheap in Oregon. In fact Oregon is the number one Christmas Tree supplier in the nation.

Alec helped get it set up and we all decorated together. Surprisingly Kassie has not walked into it yet. In general I think she knows the layout of the house now. So, my blind in her one eye pekingese is getting around pretty darn well! Her hearing is getting better by the minute. I am not sure I love that, but it is what it is! She knows what is going on all of the time! She can hear someone getting food from a mile away! And, when I get up to go upstairs, she goes with me. She is a mama's girl alright.

We will be alone tomorrow night, and Bill & Danielle will come on Christmas day for Christmas dinner. Danielle's sister Wanda is here from New Jersey too. I plan to make Cornish Game Hens. Hope they are yummy! I think it will be fun! Oh, and New York steaks for Mike's birthday tomorrow night. YUM. Our program seems to be that Dec 24th is Mike's birthday until after dinner... then it is Christmas Eve. So we will do our usual thing and open our presents Christmas Eve after dinner.

It is going to be a peaceful Christmas here in Oregon, and probably wet too. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Holiday Prayer...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares .

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last Christmas season that they go shopping together .

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of a ll the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Crusin'

I am happy to report that my official Close To My Heart report shows that I have now earned the cruise to the Mediterranean next fall! I am so excited. I really pressured Mike in the beginning to beg borrow and steal to get the week off to go. So, he is taking 3 personal days, all he will have by then, and is doing an educational project for the other 2 days off in October. I *know* how guilty he feels about traveling in the middle of the school year. But, I pressured him hard to go on this once in a lifetime cruise. We are going to take the kids. I know it will still be expensive, adding two people to the free cruise. But, I am excited and ready for it!

We will have a mini suite with a balcony. I love Close To My Heart! It wasn't easy to earn this, but it was worth it! This is the first time I earned 2000 of my points for team sales. I am thrilled! It is amazing what can be done when you set a goal, post it, and work toward it! This will be my fourth cruise with CTMH. Maybe I will take next year off? I don't know, but I do know this.... I am ready for it to be October of 2008. Spain, Italy, France.... here we come!

Christmas Cards

LOL Oh brother, it is the 19th and I still don't have all of my cards out! But, I will get them done by the end of the week. I am glad the kids are in school through Friday. Here is the cute picture I am including for relatives far far away!

Those boys sure are growing into handsome young men! Alec is 13 and Casey is 11. How did that happen? Love you boys!

Surf Pines looks like a war zone!

So, out at the coast for a turn and burn on Saturday night, and WOW Surf Pines (our old neighborhood) looks like a bomb hit. I can not believe the devistation to all of the trees, and roofs too! We did run into (not literally!) the local herd of elk, over 30, that live in the area. They are so beautiful up close. This pic was in the neighbor across the street's from our old house yard.

Alec enjoyed his evening with his girl friend. I enjoyed my evening with my friends. It was all good... well, except for Mike's back! Even the drive home was pretty uneventful, except for the fog over the mountain pass. It is about 75 miles each way from our new house to our old neighborhood!

Alec is home again today. He went to school and then called after first period. Will he ever make it through the day again? Oy!

Vroom vroom vroom....

Driving a ton this week! Everywhere. On Wednesday I picked up Danielle at the airport after her week in Anchorage. We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. YUM. I had the appetizer thai lettuce wraps.... I just absolutely love them. And, I bet you can guess what for dessert... cheesecake.... chocolate peanut butter cheesecake to be exact! After a few minutes in the mall I dropped her off at her son's house and came home..... that was many hours in the car!

On Thursday Mike had an appointment to get a cortisone shot in his back. It went out last weekend, and was the worst it has been in a lonnnnng time. So, I drove him over to the East side of Portland for his 2pm appointment. We got home at about 6pm, after a couple of hours in traffic. BOO TRAFFIC! I jumped on line and ordered Papa John's pizza (my fav!) and then flew out to the Target Pharmacy. He was soooo loopy, and still sore. Poor guy. The doc ended up giving him three shots this time.

Today I spent most of the day driving to and from schools.....Casey, Alec, Alec, Casey, Alec.... poor Alec fell off a chair today in Geometry and hit his head. Fortunately it was mostly Alec drama, but that can be a little scarey!

Tomorrow we are headed to the coast for dinner. YUM. I love it when Danielle cooks. She is like a rock star in the kitchen. I think she is the best cook I have ever known. Yahoo for us. Alec has invited his girl friend Marissa to join us. Hopefully he will have a good night. =-)

I am glad it is Friday. I look forward to sleeping in.... I still have not done our family cards. I want to get a picture of the boys. I was thinking tonight, but maybe tomorrow instead.

By the way, the seat warmer in my car is the BEST extra I ever got. It feels soooo good after a few hours in traffic (ok, even after a few minutes in traffic). I just love it!

I Miss My Friend....

Hard to believe that mom died 20 years ago today. Wow, I miss her so much. She wasn't there when I got engaged (although she seemed to know Mike was 'the one' wayyyy before I did). She wasn't there for our wedding, Alec or Casey's birth. She wasn't there when we decided Mike would get his admin certificate so that I could stay home. She wasn't there when I stayed home.... yet she made all of those decisions with me. Her influence, and personality, shows up in me every day of my life. I look like her, act like her, miss her terribly. I know that God (and my dad) needed her more than I did.... I am able to think like her, without her input. I guess the message was follow your heart, and don't worry about how others react to that. Times I have tried to not listen to my gut, I get burned. So, now I make every effort to follow my heart.

I know that my mother impacted me in so many ways. I am about 100% sure I would not have wanted to be a stay at home mom if she had not passed. I realized how important my 22 years with her were... and how short they were. I remember her listening to me through my teens and through college--yikes, that must have been hard! She was my best friend when she died. I just couldn't believe it. But, I had a life to live. It has only been in the past few years that I even THINK about Christmas before December 12th. It must be something inside that just felt until after the anniversary of her death, it couldn't be Christmas. So many hard Christmas times. When Alec was born I started forcing myself, but finally it comes naturally to actually get ready for Christmas.

I no longer remember the sound of her voice. I no longer remember the taste of her cooking. But, I do remember that she loved me. I do remember that she was always my number one cheerleader and biggest supporter. And, I always remember that she knew (from experience) that it was OK to march to the beat of your own drum. As the youngest of 12 from a small town in Virginia, it was hard to believe that she was the one that left! She moved to Washington DC to go to GW for college.... her father objected so she just had them send him the bill. He paid. She went to Chicago to work for the airlines.... then she became a club director in Japan during the Occupation of Japan. That is where my parents met, and were married, in 1949.

I am an only child, I guess I was a gift. They were married 16 years before I was born, I was appreciated. My mother was a strong woman. It must have been hard in those days to not have a small child. Now it is common to be forty something and have a baby, but not then. I think I did have a different upbringing because of that. But I learned honesty, and integrity, and love from both of my parents.

One thing is for sure though... on December 12th I remember the events of that day in 1987... my first year of teaching.... a million years ago.... and truly, truly, I miss my friend.....

Hot chocolate

Doesn't matter what you call it, cocoa, hot cocoa, hot chocolate, choc-o-latte... it is YUMMY on a cold day. We started today meeting with Alec's principal, counselor, and math teacher. I think they felt good about the meeting. Overall, I think we re-confirmed that he needs a lot of support to get the work done. He understands the work, but really struggles with the processes.

I have really been thinking about something Susan said recently. She compared me to her mother, who is an Alzheimer's caregiver. I am seeing my role with Alec as a care giver as well as parent. I think this is helping me to handle my own feelings about all of this better. I don't know why it can be so hard, but is sure is.... maybe 2008 will be the year I will take it less personally when he is upset with me. I know he doesn't mean to act difficult, and I need to keep this in mind.

Later today I got a little work done. So hard some days... just waiting for the call from Alec....

But the best part was after school, Casey and I got to sit and enjoy our hot cocoa together! Yum... fireplace is on (gotta love gas)... dog is barking (don't love her gas)... sitting quitely NOT and sipping our cocoa... LOL I love my crazy tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life!

Lost or stolen?

Yesterday I came home, and my order was not on my doorstep! Of course, when you are expecting goodies to touch, that is very disappointing. I thought, OK weird, but maybe all of the flooding has made a difference here...... I logged on to discover that it was delivered at 1pm. OK, so where is my order? I asked my family, no. I checked with my neighbors, no. No one had seen my box o' goodies! So, I email Sheena.

At 7:30 am UPS calls me. (Great job Sheena!) No, no one else in my family has it. No, my neighbors don't have it. Yes, I get a lot of orders and it has never been a problem. OK they will research and get back to me, goodbye.

So, I have a thought, I had a box out for my USPS woman to pick up. Maybe she wanted my CTMH stuff too? Na... but, who else??? I did mention that to the UPS woman, who thought it could happen, but seemed doubtful...

Fast forward to 2:30 PM today. Knock, knock, knock. I open the door to see my box. I leaned out the door and said, "ah ha, so you stole my box" to my POSTAL CARRIER! What??? She is clueless and just thinks she is delivering a box with my address on it! LOL How funny is that! She walked back up to the door, apologized, giggled, and hugged me. Yep, she took the box without even looking at it. Brought it into the PO and then brought it back today. Clueless that she had taken my UPS delivery! If I hadn't been home I might have never known that it was indeed my postal carrier. I told her, "I know you knew there was good stuff in there, your conscience just got the best of you!" LOL

I just thought I would share my Christmas season story! Hope your USPS carrier doesn't try to steal any of your boxes!!!

Seaside

Well, we were able to talk to some friends out on the coast within the last day. They are now starting day 4 without any power or telephone. They didn't even have cell reception for the first day and a half. Then they were able to get calls, but not call out. Now, finally, just this afternoon, they have cell reception back.... not that it is ever great out there.

I understand that it looks like a war zone. Trees down everywhere, roofs torn up, signs blown over. I am sooo glad I am not out there, I feel AWFUL for those who are... tonight it is supposed to be down below freezing.... brrrr. Once when we lived at the coast (7 years) we went without power for about 23 hours. That was awful! I can not imagine 4 days or more.... there doesn't appear to be an end in sight. Residental is last on the line to get power and phone service back. I guess it is good that they have gas, at least. My heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to all of those living through this.

Tis The Season

Wow, it is hard to believe that the kids have only 2 1/2 weeks of school left before winter break. This year is flying by in so many ways. I am feeling behind, as always! I am going to try to make my Christmas Cards today, we'll see. That would be huge. I also need to finish (ok start) shopping for our 'adopt a family.' Well, I do have one gift, but one is not enough. I don't love shopping for clothes, but that's OK, at least I don't have to try anything on! LOL

The hope for my day is that Alec makes it through the school day without having to call home. We realized last night that it has been over a month since that happened. Thank God I am able to be at home during the day so that I can be at his becon call.

I heard from CKC. Currently I got waitlisted for Portland (which I expected) and Phoenix (which I didn't expect). I did get the Seattle show in November though, so that is good. I did really enjoy that show last month. It is busy, so the time goes very fast!

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