Do you hear that? That, my friends, is silence. The Girl is at ballet and the Boy is at an all-day chess tournament. (Say it loud, say it proud; we are a family full of nerds!) The older the kids get, the less time I have to myself. Scratch that. The more I appreciate the time I get to myself. Life is crazy as always but I have this new found sense of self-awareness where I realize all of this (stress, issues, life, etc.) is temporary. When I get super stressed at work (which is my baseline state at this point) I know that it's not going to stay like that forever. When the kids drive me crazy, I try not to work myself into a frenzy because they will not stay 9 and 5 forever. I can only teach them what I can for the short amount of time they will listen. Even my relationship with D has evolved to where I realize that being a couple does not define who I am. We've gone through some rough patches over the last few years but we know after 14 years, we still want to grow old together. I don't have it all figured out, nor do I fool myself into thinking I ever will.

Anyhoo. D and the Girl are going to a Father-Daughter dance tonight so I'll be sure to post some pictures later.

Happy New Year from my family to yours!
O.K. I realize that I'm using the same cheesy line from 3 posts ago but don't I get any points for trying?

Long and short of it: kids good, husband good, we're both still employed, Chicago winter cold, another year older and wiser, blah, blah, blah. Same details, different decade.

Damn. I was on such a roll with 2 posts in a row. Let's see what's new. D had a job and then was laid off again after a week. (Official score: Mint - 1, Sucky Economy - 2). Luckily he got another job a dew weeks later although it was for a lot less money and much further from home. He has since been offered yet another job which he'll start on Monday. It's more in the field that he wants so he's happy. I'm a little seasick from all the ups and downs. I'm not complaining, I'm just stating a fact.



My sister, Dr J, had twins about 6 weeks ago. They were a month early but she was so uncomfortable and tired and her bladder was only holding the equivalent of a shot glass before she has to pee. The boys are so precious , they make my ovaries hurt.



I had a great whirlwind visit from Nutty in April. She was in town for business and I was able to meet up with her and her colleague for the day. She's as wonderful as I imagined she would be in "real life". It's funny when you meet someone who you know only through their blog. Although I'm fairly anonymous on here but I still find that I censor many of my thoughts. If you feel you know me through this blog, I fear you'd be sadly disappointed when you met me in person. With Nutty, she's sugar and spice and all things nice. : )

Here's a pic of the lovely outfit Aunty Nutty gave The Girl.

I leave you with a few pictures of the last few months.

D finally got a job! After months of waiting and countless interviews he found one that was right for him. (And by "right" I mean they will give him a paycheck every 2 weeks). We're a two income family again but I think the chill of unemployment has left me scarred. I make a good living so we were never in fear of losing our house or car, but what about the gazillion other people out there that didn't make it through unscathed? The unemployment actually brought D and I closer together but I don't think everyone is that lucky. Next month we'll celebrate 13 years since we first met. 13 years?? My arthritis flares up at the thought.

I know you don't want to hear about the weather but it's brain-numbing cold. I literally walked out to warm up the car this morning and forgot where I was. For those of you in warm places who are unfamiliar with the concept, you literally have to go out and turn on the car 10 minutes before you go anywhere so it can warm up. This morning the van failed the first two twists of the key and hurled obscenities my way before it finally gave in. The Boy was always losing a hat or 1 random glove until 2 weeks ago when I sent him to school with what extras I could scrounge including 1 pink mitten and 1 red Spiderman glove. Miraculously he has started taking care of his things since then.