The New Year Cold

Happy New Years Eve!  *Achoo!*  It never fails.  I ring in almost every new year with a cold.  Unless this one is going to get worse I'm better off than I was last year, but I'm still irritated.

So here we are, the world didn't end, and actually 2012 turned out to be a fabulous year for me, in some very unexpected ways.  You just never know where this life is going to take you.

My resolution last year was to stop living so much of my life on autopilot, and I feel like I have done a good job of that.  This years resolution is kind of vague but it has to do with living a more healthy and purposeful life. 

Last year I sat on the precipice of 2012, sicker than a dog, eager to get on with it and grab life by the tail.  This year I can only hope that 2013 will be as good! 

As my Mom used to say, "Life is what you make it." and I will leave you with that.  MAKE it a good one!  Oh, and buy a Shamrock pizza or two. (tonight's dinner) They seems to fix just about anything. :)

End of Days

Well...... it's 12:30 p.m. CST and we're still here.  I was hoping for Zombies, but no such luck.  Well, of course I was hoping that it wouldn't happen at all, but if it has to happen, I believe Zombies are the way to go.  If you have to die, it might as well be interesting!  Something to give you a little street cred when you pass through the pearly gates....... or any other kind of gates.

So I thought to myself in the middle of the kaos that this day turned into, what if this were it?  What if yesterday was your last full day on this earth?  Well first of all, if I knew it was going to be, I wouldn't be at work.  That's a given. 

I try really hard to not leave things undone or unsaid.  Life has been a harsh teacher with that lesson.  My family and friends all know how I feel.  Have I accomplished everything I set out to?  Well, not quite, there are still some places I would like to visit, and things I would like to experience, but I wouldn't have any huge regrets.

If this day has "The End" stamped on it, I would feel pretty good about the way I have lived my life, and the way it's shaping up.  I hope it doesn't though, I have to see how this season of American Horror Story plays out, and it's only a few weeks before season three of Downton Abbey!  :) 

Plus, well you know.  Ack..... I'm not supposed to write about it.  Hmmm...... I will just say that I love my life, the one we are building together.  It's taken awhile to get here, and nothing short of an apocalypse would pull me away.

Santa

I have seen this posted several places on the net, so have no idea who the original credit goes to, but this letter sums the whole Santa thing up pretty well.

I was a bit older when I learned the sad truth, fourth grade to be exact, so I would have just turned nine, and it was pretty close to Christmas.  That damn Frank Bronson.  I defended my belief practically to the death and then marched home to tell my Mother, who informed me that he was, in fact, correct. It went something like this, in that lovely tone she had. "Well Joanmarie, what did you think?" (evil woman)  Just like that, the magic was gone.

That was not a good Christmas.  My younger siblings still believed, and I had been warned to keep it that way.  I have vivid memories of the Christmas prior to that one where we tried to stay awake to catch Santa, creeping down the stairs at intervals to keep watch, sneaking a flashlight upstairs with us, and entertaining ourselves with shadow puppets on the ceiling.  Jerry and Katy wanted to do the same thing this particular year and I just couldn't bring myself to participate.  Heartbroken,  I told them they were on their own and went to sleep.

Shortly after that my youngest brother, David, was old enough to grasp the concept of Santa, and Christmas became fun again.  I really do prefer the magic and the giving over the gifts.  Although all gifts are greatly appreciated and accepted. :)  I even wrote a little note to Santa, because I believe!  As I informed "The Artist Formerly Known As Pablo" last Christmas, "If you do not believe, you do not receive."  That sure changed his tune fast!

Christmas is one week away, and being the host of the dinner, working full time, finishing up gifts, and just life in general are all trying to Grinch me out, but it isn't going to happen.  I am going to keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart and maybe a little rum chatta in my coffee. ;)  Ho ho ho!

Christmas Cookies

Friday was the annual Goover Christmas Sleepover, complete with a bit of holiday baking.  I was able to get the afternoon off, so went over to the girls elementary school for their Christmas program.  To say that the event was shadowed by the massacre of the school children in Connecticut is definitely an understatement.  The kids were oblivious and joyous, but the audience was full of teary eyed people.

As a former teacher my heart goes out to the teachers at the school in Newhope.  I totally get it.  There isn't one of us who wouldn't do absolutely anything to keep those in our care safe.  God Bless them.  The parents and children are definitely in my prayers, because that's about all we can do.  Things in this country need to change, but that's not today's blog.

Hannah's class was up first.  She is in the white in the middle.  She said she was scared, and I believe it.   She isn't the performer in her family.

Caitlin is in the pink........ she is not shy. :)

After the program we packed up the car and headed back to the apartment to meet Miss Ashlyn.  The little Goovers and I started in on some snicker doodles.

The girls were very helpful, until the third batch was ready to roll.  Thank goodness Ashlyn had arrived, because I totally lost the little Goovers to the un -decorating of my house.  They love to play with the village, and all of the nicknacks, and nothing is off limits at Auntie's as long as they are careful.  That has worked out well so far, except for having to totally redecorate after they leave. :)  These two can trash the joint with amazing speed!

The little ones had nothing really to do with the pb cracker cookies.  They just wanted to be in the picture. :)  Ash did a good job, and it was nice to have some big girl conversation while we worked.

After some hot dog hotdish we snuggled up to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and then there were some other random specials on while we enjoyed our snacks and hot cocoa.  The Goovers made a fort, but Milkie went in and claimed it.  She sat on one of the chairs and growled at them every time they tried to go in.  I told them to just ignore her, but they didn't trust her (smart kids) so we cleaned that up and headed of to bed.

I tucked them in and kissed them goodnight, went back out to the living room and kissed the oldest one goodnight, leaving her to watch things unfolding on the news, with a "If it gets to be too much, turn it off and come and snuggle up with us and A Christmas Story."  We drifted off to Ralphie, the last thing I remember was "Fudge", then I was waking up to static.  I wandered out and turned the TV off in the living room, sneaking another kiss onto the oldest one's forehead, knowing full well this could be the very last Goover Christmas Sleepover for her, as she not so kindly reminded me, she'll be off to college soon enough.

The morning brought bacon and mickey mouse pancakes, what else?  A little playtime, a little UNO, and then Ashlyn drove her sister's to bowling.  I didn't even have to get out of my jammies!  Sometimes it's nice that she's growing up.

They all got extra tight hugs as they walked out of my door........ they know they are loved, and that's the most important thing.

Wish Book

A friend of mine posed a question on Facebook today, "What gift did you most want for Christmas as a kid?"  Several things came to mind, and then a childhood story or two started rattling around in my noggin.  Visions of telescopes danced in her head.

Our Christmas planning (Jerry, Katy and mine) began in late August when the Christmas Wish Books from J.C. Penny and Sears would arrive.  Do you remember those things??  They were awesome!  Huge catalogs full off fun.  We would each grab a pen, curl up on the couch or the big rocker together, sweat dripping off of us, and mark away to our hearts content. For at least an hour my mother would have three little cherubs who were not arguing, tattling, or tormenting each other.  Then at other times we would each grab a book to sit with for some alone thinking time.  I loved, and so looked forward to those wish books arriving.

The problem with this system of my mother's was that two of her children began with the same letter of the alphabet, "J".  Even if I wrote the entire "Joanie", something that I had my heart set on would inevitably end up under the tree with my brother's name on it.  Imagine it.  Sneaking down the stairs at three a.m. and seeing that telescope you are longing for under the tree, then creeping back upstairs to dream of it until the allowed Christmas morning wake up time (somewhere around seven) only to come down again and find YOUR BROTHERS name attached to it.  Another year it was a keyboard, for my drum playing brother........  oh Mom. ( eye roll)  I asked for a Chinese baby doll for years, and finally got it when I was to old to enjoy it, and probably wasn't even marking the catalog anymore, but I still remember her sweet face.  One year I even asked for, and got, a unicycle!  I never could make that thing work, but I remember trying and trying down in the basement.

The one gift that I remember longing for,  LONNNNGING for (teenage dramatic affect), was a pink sweatshirt from Maurice's.  It had something about Paris on it, and was expensive.  I hoped and waited for it all through December, and was so excited to find it under the tree.  I wore it that New Year's eve, and that damn David ( who was probably five) ruined it with some orange silly string that would not come off, period.

Now that I'm older I'm much more excited to give, and am more into meaningful things, like the wreath my sister in law made me last Christmas.  However, I still have a list for Santa! :)