My day...and resolutions

Today was a pretty busy day. I was up about 8:30 (sleeping in - whoohoo, but early for a Saturday). MIL had arrived with Clayton's car since it had started acting odd yesterday. So, he goes out to start working on it and I hop in the shower. MIL emails FIL. Anyway, we all went to Wal-Mart for Clayton to get a tool that he needed for the car. MIL takes a nap when we get back to get rid of her headache. I start pulling all the Christmas decorations off the tree and from around the house. We get the tree down and stashed in its bag. (This tree is destined for the dump - it's all rusty). MIL and I head out to Wal-Mart in search of a birthday gift for Andrew. Actually, I already knew what I was going to get him - Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. $4.50 a piece. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, we get the gifts and pick up the cake. We picked out the cake last night. His choice? Shrek. Of course. It was a cute cake, but by the time we got around to singing and eating cake, Shrek had been pushed halfway into the cake, kinda like Lord Farquad in the first movie. By about 4, everyone for the asado/birthday party was here. We kept it small and familial this year. Next year I'll probably have Andrew's little friends from church over or out somewhere. The asado was great. Clayton grilled chicken, bratwurst, steak, pork, and provolone cheese. MMMM. Karen made potato salad with just potatoes and carrots. Yum. We also had bread. Andrew got some cool gifts. My parents got him a Play-Doh activity table. He loves it. MIL and FIL got him some more Thomas legos. (My parents gave him a set for Christmas). Lin gave him a Crayola magic fingerpaint kit. Phil and Beth gave him a magazine. It's been a good, but tiring, day. After everyone left, I put the leftovers away, cleaned the kitchen, straightened up the living room, and cleaned Andrew's room with his help. It's about time to go to bed, but I wanted to talk to my mom and dad first to tell them about the party since they couldn't be here. (They're STILL trying to finish with the house repairs from Hurricane Ivan. They've got their new roof and have gotten central heating and air, new ceilings, and have pulled the carpet up. Next is new carpet and new cabinets for the kitchen).

I plan for MIL to teach me to knit when they come on their next long furlough. It's going to take awhile, I think. I've not been able to teach myself, so I'm hoping she can help. I can crochet, and have been off and on since I was in 4th grade. I'm currently working on a blanket for Beth's baby. Who's not here yet. Who we thought was coming 2 weeks ago. Who probably won't be here before Karen goes back to Argentina.

Resolutions? Do I make them or not? If I don't, I have nothing to break. If I do, I have a goal ahead. Hmmm. What to do...What the heck, I'll do it.
~ Read my Bible at least 3 times a week. Every day would be best, but I need to start small.
~ Lose weight. (Doesn't EVERYONE resolve to do this EVERY year?)
~ Find time to fit exercisde in my day. (Yeah, good luck with that).
~ Be more adventurous and spontaneous.
~ Put my FULL trust in God EVERY day.
~ Do my Christmas shopping throughout the year instead of waiting until December.
~ Get a new job. (Working on that...couldn't get my fingerprints done for my application the other day because the Sheriff's office stops doing them at 11:30 and I got there at 12:45).

I think that's enough for now. I can already tell you that I won't be up until midnight to see the new year in. It's just been too long of a day.

Discouraged

I'm getting so tired of this TTC thing. Or maybe it's the results I'm getting tired of. Yes, I know I'm blessed to have one child, especially when I know there are plenty of people who can't have their own children. I just don't feel that my family is complete with only one child. We've been TTC for about 15 months now and it's just hard. I was so hopeful this month. I went past my maximum cycle length of 31 days. That was hopeful even though I had 2 negative HPTs. I was just hoping that I ovulated really late and it was still too early to get a positive. Nope. My body's playing games with me. Even Clayton was getting hopeful, and I had to convince him to have a second child. I'm so close to the point where I want to say 'find out what's wrong. I don't care what the cost is.' Unfortunately, I do care what the cost is. Insurance isn't gonna pay for a blasted thing, so I have to care what the cost will be.

In other news, my almost 3-year-old has RSV and a double ear infection. He started wheezing Monday night, so I took him to the doctor Tuesday afternoon. She gave him meds for the ear infection and to calm his breathing. She warned me that the meds for his breathing would make him bounce off the walls. He's not exactly bouncing off walls, but he is talking a mile a minute, crashing, and starting all over again. Clayton kept him home today, Nona will be here tomorrow, and Clayton will tough it out again Friday. (He's got to work tonight and Thursday, but is off Friday, so will forgo sleep until I can get home from work. That's how we've got to do it since the company I work for doesn't offer sick leave...)

Madness.

We braved the madness that is Wal-Mart tonight. Yes, 2 days before Christmas we were in Wal-Mart. I don't plan to step foot in there again until Monday. We need a new Christmas tree and I'd like to get one on the day after Christmas sale. We finished the shopping though. All that's left is to get an online phone card for the youngest BIL. I still have to wrap and put 'gifts in a jar' together. I'm hoping I can work on that sometime tomorrow. We'll see. I volunteered to drive MIL to her hometown tomorrow. Should be an adventure. At least we're taking Andrew and my nephew with us. We'll have an excuse to leave if we need it.

If I'm not back on before Christmas, I hope everyone has a merry one!

What a surprise!

We got an email yesterday from my father-in-law stating that someone needs to be at the airport at 9:00 am Wednesday morning. The reason? My mother-in-law is going to be here. Now, keep in mind that they live in Argentina. Yes, this was kind of a spur of the moment trip. She decided Sunday she wanted to come cheer up my 9 months pregnant sister-in-law. (She's due Jan 8). So, tomorrow, I'll be working only half a day because I will be at the airport.

In other news, we had an ice storm last week (Thursday). People are STILL without power. Hopefully everyone will be restored soon. We were fortunate and did not lose our power at all. Power at work did go out, though, and I couldn't go in Thursday or Friday. Andrew had to stay home from daycare yesterday because they had no power until sometime yesterday.

Mish-Mash of Subjects

Andrew has discovered Christmas lights. He LOVES them. So, tonight, we're taking him to Hollywild (www.hollywild.com) to see their Christmas lights. I'm very excited about it. Fortunately for us, we only live about 3 minutes from Hollywild. Should be fun.

We got Andrew's big Christmas present last night. He's getting a bicycle. Yeah, I know, he's not 3 yet and he's getting a bike. It seems kinda odd to me, too. But, I think he'll love it. He always wants to get on the bikes at Wal-Mart when we go, so I think we made a good choice.

I got my Christmas bonus last night at my work party. I will be making a deposit in the very near future so I can send off my PACE application. I will also be getting fingerprints done and sending off a request for my college transcript. It will all be done this week. Hmm. I bet UM (www.umobile.edu) is going to be closed soon for Christmas break. I may need to fax that information over this afternoon.

I'm sooo excited! My friend from college, Angela, is coming to visit after the new year. She is teaching in Panama and will be home for about a month or so and is coming to see us. I can't wait to see her again.

Woohoo! It's about time to head out of here for lunch. So, I'll just end here.

Profound thoughts.

I am in the midst of the Beth Moore Bible Study, The Patriarchs. In tonight's video, Beth said something so profound that it made me stop. She said that God takes the things we are fearful of and and uses them. In that statement's profoundness, I find promise. A promise that if I go into the thing I am most fearful of that God will be with me and He will use that thing. At this moment, I would say the thing I am most fearful of is teaching. Yet, that seems to be the direction God is leading me in. I have filled out the application for the SC PACE program. All I have to do now is sign and date it, pay the application fee, have transcript sent, and be fingerprinted to start the process. I'm scared, but at the same time, I'm so, so drawn to it. I can almost see myself in front of a bunch of 7th graders teaching them grammar, reading aloud from a novel. What's more is that even in my fear of it, there's a great sense of peace. He knows my path. He knows what He has planned for me. Only He knows how I'm going to get there and if I'm going to stay on that path. Oh that I may never stray from the path He leads me on. That, in all things, I will trust in Him.

Ever had one of those days?

One that you want to go back to bed and start over? Yep. That would be today. It's not been a *bad* day, just one I'd rather do over. It started out this morning when I got up and realized it was freezing in the house. My wondeful husband went running yesterday afternoon and apparently turned the a/c on and didn't put the heat back on when he left the house for church last night. So, I wake up at 6 with it freezing cold. I figure out the problem and get the heat going. Thirty minutes later...the electricity goes out...just as I was about to step in the shower. So, I wait around and nada. I call the power company and report the outtage. I take a shower and get dressed in the dark. I get ready to take Andrew to daycare and head to work. Uh-oh. Garage won't open. I can't yank the door open either. Sooo, I move his seat from the van to Clayton's car. I defrost the windshield in Clayton's car. We head to daycare. Yeah, there's more. I'm driving along and notice that the transmission isn't shifting like it should. Drat. I finally make it to work and talk to Clayton around 9:15 or so. He knows the car is having problems. So? We'll put in a new engine/transmission sometime after Christmas. Or maybe before. Argh. I'd really like for him to have something newer to drive, but another car payment just isn't in the budget right now.