An actual post with actual words and lots of rambling

Yeah, so apparently this is just a photo blog now, eh? *laugh*

I'll post pictures soon of the tree trimming and decorating we got done today, but thought I'd ramble a bit...

Kids are doing good. They have their moments, but as Tom and I were talking earlier this week, we are so lucky that they get along so well. I hear these sibling horror stories and we just don't have those. Maybe it's because they are pretty close in age. Maybe it's because I'm such a rockin' mom. Okay, it's probably pure luck and the fact that Jamie is basically scared of Cassie - she's mean! But seriously, they are great kids. And growing up... way way way too fast!

I'm working more than I should and not sleeping as much as I should, but that's pretty normal. 127 days and my volunteer commitment is over. As much as I've loved giving back to my industry, I'm ready to get back some of my life now. I'm really really enjoying the photography class I'm taking at LVS. It was cheap, but I really am learning what all those buttons do!

Tom is Tom. Reliable. Cute. Funny. Weird. Sexy. All that and a bag of chips - just ask him ;) He's really stepped up lately, which is good because I've been pretty much chained to my office trying to get everyone fixed up before January hits and the entire world collapses. I hate January.

We are settling in as homeowners again. I don't even know if I shared or not... we owned a home many years ago but it was like... well, do you remember that movie The Money Pit with Shelly Winters from the 90s? Yeah. Like that. So, we swore off homeownership. We lived in apartments, but the kids needed a yard, so we started renting this house. Well, the landlord was going to sell it and we were so sad. We love this house. We love our neighbors. We love the neighborhood. We LOVE it here. LOVE it. It's probably the only reason I haven't gone off the deep end and insisted that we move out of this state - no, I'm serious. Anyway, we signed off on it earlier this year, and it's ours (well, the bank owns it now I suppose). Nothing major has broken... yet. We lived here a year and a half before buying so I feel pretty confident that we know all the good and bad about it.

Thanksgiving was okay. We went to Tom's mother's house for Thanksgiving eve and spent the night with his grandmother so we didn't have to come back home because we had Thanksgiving with his grandma. Then went to his cousin's house for dessert. Talk about whirlwind!

The good: The kids behaved, the food was good, the company was good.

The bad: His aunt showed up sick and now I'm sick - as a dog. She said that she wasn't contagious but in the next breath said that she caught it from someone else. That should have been high alert for me. I get sick so easily. Anyway... so I'm sick and it sucks. I was going to get the flu shot this week too. Ugh.

The good: We had a really great time at his cousin's house. We don't get to see them often and I forget how much I really like them.

The bad: His family cannot seem to honor the one tradition that we keep to. Yes, we are the annoying people that stay home Christmas Day. I'll run all over the place otherwise, but that's our day. Everyone is welcome to come visit us and they know that, we will be in our PJs and playing with Santa stuff and just generally relaxing, but that is our day, as a family. It's been that way for 14 years now. It's not going to change, but every year they pressure us about coming to their houses. I always feel like everyone blames me because it's a tradition that started with my family, but it's one that Tom is ADAMANT about these days, probably moreso than I am. He loves that time with the kids and the kids love it too. Anyway, it just always make me feel uncomfortable. The only way this changes is if we visit family out of town (like last year - although we have vowed to not do that again - too stressful).