Christmas

We had a great Christmas.  Just the kids and I for Christmas morning.  It was quiet.  Breezy got skirt, sweater, tights, camisoles, necklace, and gift card.  Chaz got cardigan, boxers, the new Switchfoot vinyl album, and Zelda Skyward Sword game for the wII.

The afternoon was spent with friends.  Dinner.  Playing 313.  Much laughter.  :)

Today, Chaz and Breezy are headed to Ft Pickens for a birthday celebration with a friend from Blue Ridge.  I got to meet their friend the other day when they came by to pick up Breezy to spend the day.

New Years will be spent with family less Chaz.  He's going to meet up with his girlfriend (via Greyhound) then they are off to watch the fireworks in Downtown Disney.  Bet that will be amazing, huh?

I've got dishes to put away and laundry to do today.  A bit of FB.  Been doing some praying for friends in need of prayer.  It is good.

Happy New Year!

We are going into 2011 with new kitties!  We are so excited.  I even scrapped it!

To anyone who happens by here, may 2011 bring you all the desires of your heart.  May you draw closer to God (as I hope to).  Be safe this evening!

I'll be delivering luggage and Chaz and Breezy will be at a friend's home with her 2 girls and a couple more people to celebrate together.

Thanks to the generosity of a man and his wife from Tennessee, we have TWO fur babies instead of one.  We are so grateful for that generosity.  Because of it, we got Merlot.

Journaling reads: “About two months ago, our kitty, Sammy, was killed while he was outside in the yard. Sammy had always been an indoor/outdoor cat because he had been a stray. He was a sweet cat. And a wonderful mouser considering he had been declawed before we got him. 

About a month ago, Brianne, Chase and I decided it was time to get a new cat. So Bri and I made a visit to the local Humane Society. We checked out all the cats but our favorite was Pickles. Pickles, as you can see in the photo, is a long haired gray kitty. She currently has a lion cut. However, we could not get her at the time because we just didn’t have the funds. Liz, the director, told us if we were to have her, she’d be here when we came back. We left with the intent of coming back to get her.

Two weeks later, Chase and I went back to see if Pickles was still there. She was but there was someone interested in her and they planned to take her home that day. Instead, Chase and I checked out the older kitten room. There we discovered Merlot. Merlot followed me all over the room. He was so sweet. And, black cats are difficult to adopt so Chase and I decided he’d be a great addition to our family but again, the funds were not available. 

Today, the funds were finally available! Brianne and I went to the HSOP to pick up Merlot if he was still there. When we got there, Pickles was there! Yahoo! We immediately decided to get her. I took Bri back to show her Merlot and felt so bad that we would be leaving him behind. 

While we were out front filling out paperwork for Pickles, I joked with the man filling out the papers about a “Buy One Get One Free Offer.” Oops, no BOGO offers. I told him we’d be back for Merlot.

A few minutes later, a man who was there with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, tapped me on the shoulder and said he’d like to pay for our other kitty! I was stunned. And in tears! He handed me the meney and we started the paperwork for Merlot. 

Isn’t God so cool? We have desperately wanted a kitty since Sammy disappeared. We wanted to give a home to an older cat which both Pickles and Merlot are. And we wanted a black kitty since they are so hard to adopt. 

We start 2011 with two beautiful new members of our family.”

Digiscrap kit by Trixie Scraps (Defining Me) and word art by Word Art World (Moments).  Both are available at Gotta Pixel.

Happy New Year 2009

Kids spent the evening at a capture the flag New Year party. I went to church for a worship service.

Afterwards, I joined Steph for coffee at Waffle House. Then home to play Animal Crossing City Folk. The image below is of my character at New Year.



Hope everyone had a marvelous New Year start and may the year be filled with blessings!

home again

We've made it home. The kids are at friends' house already. I'm sitting at Martelli's enjoying some time on the net and coffee.

Christmas was good. The kids made out like bandits this year. Their aunt and uncle (my sister and brother) got together and got them both a $100 gift card. Breezy's to Old Navy and Chaz to American Eagle. We converted Breezy's to an Old Navy/Gap/Banana Republic card. Grandma and Grandpa gave them both a gift card to Best Buy. Another aunt gave Chaz an Itunes card to use with his Zune and Breezy a card to Claires. Last aunt gave Chaz some clothes and Breezy a couple snazzy little purses for Breezy. Last brother is taking them to the Senior Bowl on the 26th. This is the second year they get to go and they get to go to the meet and greet with the players before the game as well.

In February, they'll both get $150 each as well. Their dad sent money that we used on bills and Christmas so I give them the full amount when tax refund comes in. On top of that, I'll add another $50 so they'll get a little shopping done then. I'll send them with friends though. I'm not sure I can handle the mall any more!

I got a gift card to Martellis, Target, and Joanns. I gave the kids money to buy me gifts. They did well. Breezy picked out the awesome pottery I showed her at Cordova Mall and Chaz chose a set of plates in my favorite color from Target. They both visited the glass blower booth at the mall. One piece says Mom with a heart and rose and the other is a brightly colored rooster. What they didn't realize was I used to collected the little glass blown pieces and had given them all away several years ago when we didn't have room for them. So these are extra special. :o)

I played 313 against my sister yesterday and this morning. Final score? Me - 4 wins, Her - 10 wins. So to say the least, I've had my tail kicked at cards this week! LOL

And the funny part of Christmas was Sunday night. We've had our tree up for 2 weeks with just lights on it. Sunday night I went to the laundry room to get the decorations and found the bag of beads that has been missing for 7+ months!!! That bag of beads has been a running joke between Andrea and I for months. And now I find it!

I did make 2 bracelets, 1 anklet, 3 pairs of earrings and 3 necklaces in the last 2 days. The one I'm wearing is the boldest. It's got tiny seashells, orange, olive, and turquoise glass beads, wood beads, some coral, a few pewter beads, and some little tiny birds made from shell. I think it's the bomb-diggity. Andrea will laugh when she sees it. Those orange beads are another running joke between us.

The other two necklaces are 6 feet long. One in black and red using red coral, new picasso jasper, and black glass beads. The other is peace jade, amethyst, and glass beads. Both of these have little birds in them as well. I'm hoping to sell them both. My sister seems to think I need to charge $60 a piece for them. We'll see.

Last week was the 5 year anniversary of my divorce. February will mark the the end of 8th year I've been single parenting. It's been tough. Sometimes I get frustrated being alone. I feel majorily unappreciated. Other times, I'm very content to be a single parent. I don't have to deal with things other single parents have to deal with. You know, like the kids being at one parent's house one week and the other parent's house the next week. Two sets of rules. We have one set of rules. Mine.

I'm trying to raise my children to walk with God. He is the final authority on things in our house. If their dad was involved, then we'd have one house following God and one who's not. And in that house is an alcohol problem and a lack of respectfulness. I'm not sure I could deal with that. So I'm grateful for being alone in that way.

Still.... One day.

God, I am grateful for a year of new beginnings. A year of the new. A year of changes and things to come. I am grateful for my children, my family, my church family. I am grateful for a great job (even when I don't feel appreciated).

insert foot here....

Located: all of the missing Japanese bowls/dishes.

Foot? I talked to M today. He asked if I was flirting with him. I told him no, if I was I would tell him.

The conversation ends. And as I'm thinking about the conversation afterwards, I realized I wasn't quite truthful. And so...

I called him back. And said...

I may not have been at that point flirting but it has definitely crossed my mind.

And he said...

"I'm flattered." And that was about it.

Insert foot, move over, make room for other foot.

I feel so stupid. What a way to start the new year. I feel like a fool.

And so... worship was good. And pastor stood up to pray afterward and said...

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1-2

The sermon is on "New Season." I could use a new season already. I know God is bigger than my mouth. I know He gives grace. I could use an extra dose today.

New Year Fun!

For New Year's Day, I did something I've never done before.... Got stuck in the mud. Up to the front axle of my van. In my sister's driveway!

It was a first for her as well. She says she's lived there for 14 years and no one has ever been stuck before. *sigh*

She had to have the neighbor bring his truck over and pull the van out using the rear bumper. It seems my van has nothing to hook a chain onto in the front. I'm grateful that her neighbor had a truck that was big enough to pull the van out!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Standard black-eyed peas for "luck" with pork chops, rice, and corn bread. Yummy! Some cheese dip with chips. What more do you need to eat? Oh yeah, dessert. Tasty chocolate cake with chocolate icing and more chocolate for topping!

Sis and I played 13 games of 313. She stomped me 9 games. I don't think I've ever lost so bad at cards in my life.

Today we popped by the new house and I did a few dishes.

A trip by the Navy Exchange to exchange Breezy's shoes for the right size. After we left she discovered that she has two left shoes. I get to take that pair back. I must remind her that she needs to try on both shoes to ensure that this doesn't happen. Oh well.

I've managed to get an email out with our new mailing address. Updated our addy at the bank, Paypal, amazon, and ebay. Ordered an updated driver's license. oh yeah, my military pay thingie also. I need to contact everyone else to finish that up. The post office would be a good place to have started.

Drove by the old place. The former landlord, it appears, plans to rent it out again!!!! DMV says they can't do anything about it.

Anyway, guess I need to start figuring out what to feed the kids before they are starving.

Tomorrow's agenda? Unpacking!

Happy New Year!

The kids had a New Year's Eve party hosted by a couple who work the youth at church. There were about 12 kids. After midnight, they gave the boys a ride home and the girls got to spend the night.

I popped in to say hi, left with one of the other adults who picked up the college length twin bed that I had left beside the trailer when I moved out. Helped her get it loaded at the old place and unloaded it at her place.

Had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. It's so nice to have a decent restaurant on this side of town. The soup and salad were great as always and the blondie brownie with coffee was yummy!

We finished getting moved out of the other place today. My neighbor who also goes to church with us took pictures of it in the event the landlord wants to be difficult. When we moved my bed frame, we discovered an opening about a foot long in the corner of the room that lets you see the siding from the trailer!!

I also walked around the trailer for the first time in forever. It's seriously leaning to the back left corner. I didn't even realize just how much until I started cleaning about 3 weeks ago and noticed a slant to the floor. But after getting the furniture out, it's like WHOA!

I plan on calling the DMV on Tuesday/Wednesday to report it. Did ya know that the DMV handles regulation of mobile homes? Neither did I until Friday.

As of today the kids will have new nicknames. Talia becomes Breezy and Skif becomes Chaz. Talia and Skif were names from my favorite books and as I no longer read the books and have gotten rid of them, I felt it was time for the kids to get new nicknames. Now all I have to do is remember them!

Later today, we'll be back at our new home unpacking. I'm so excited about finally being unpacked. I still can't get over the fact that I've not been completely unpacked since 1989!!! Mind boggling to say the least.

And did I say how grateful I am??? I am so grateful to the Lord for this new place and for my amazing children.

Happy New Year!