Somehow 2018 has swept nearly to a close.  In many respects it has been a hard year for our family.  We have had a number of expensive dental issues to face, several super expensive house repairs to face, car repairs up the wazoo,expensively ill pets,   and so many other things that if I write them all it looks whiny so I won't.  There have been good times too, but I think I have felt more stressed at times this year than at any other year I can recall.

However, there is still much to be grateful for.  We have each other.  We have a roof over our heads and food on our table. We have jobs--and mine has blossomed with potentiality right at the end of this year which has caused me great excitement and joy.  We have a faith community that embraces our entire family, with all their quirks and uniqueness. we have friends and are deeply rooted in the community we live in.  I have been able to attend yoga semi regularly on Saturday mornings and love it.  I got to go to Zumba very regularly in the summer and adore that.  I have children who are exciting and motivated to try new things--jobs, auditions and friendships.  Being brave enough to step out and risk failure is the greatest  part of living, because without that risk life grows very, very stale.

I know that New Years resolutions are a hot button thing for many of my friends.  I know too that the same is true of self improvement efforts such as exercise.  I have many friends who feel that speaking of such things negates self acceptance or makes those who are not able at this time to make physical changes, feel badly.  So I whisper quietly that one of my goals this year is to incorporate more physical activity into my life.  Not because I hate my body.  I don't.  I genuinely enjoy exercise.  I am weird that way!  It makes me feel good. It reduces my stress.  But incorporating it when the kids have dance and scouts and youth group and all the other things that happen with a growing family is challenging.  To that end I am trying to work out at home, with the idea being I can do a 30 minute work out in between the taxi runs. So dear friends I am not doing this to be a "beautiful person" nor am I doing it because I hate my body.  I am doing it because it makes my spirit happy and that helps me be a better person in my interactions with others.  May we all find something that helps our spirits soar in the year to come and give back to the world we live in in meaningful ways.

Instant Love

Well, Instant Pot that is!  We got an instant pot about 6 months ago.  I am officially in love with it.  For me as a vegetarian I can cook whole grains and beans quickly and easily.  I can saute, slow cook and pressure cook all in the same pot.  Have I ever moaned about how much I hate doing dishes?  The IP means literally one pot to clean up.  My favorite veg things to make are hard boiled eggs, chili, vegetable soup, broccoli soup, refrieds, and black bean soup, risotto, cooked barley in tomato sauce and I am sure I am forgetting a host of others.  This has been a life saver since this year KC and Elisabeth are in different dance groups and much of my time is spent running between home and the studio.

However, the IP has also been helpful for cooking for my wife.  She works a different schedule from our family eating schedule and this has led to really unhealthy eating choices for her. (read fast food on a regular basis or skipping supper and enjoying a really big bowl of ice cream)  I get that when you get home around 7:30 or 8 no one wants to cook.  I suggested that I leave her a plate of whatever supper I had prepared for the family but she steadfastly declined. 

I eventually realized that this was because she no longer ate a vegetarian diet.  While I think that the veg diet would be healthier, that is not my choice.  The dilemma is that after 30 years of not eating meat, I really get grossed out by meat.  I am not being mean, it just literally grosses me out. BUT in the Instant Pot I don't really have to handle it.  I don't even have to look at it for long.  I know, some folks are probably doing that eye roll that happens when omnivores have to put up with vegetarians.  But it seriously is important to me. 

I suggested to her that we get some freezer storage bowls, similar to those used for TV dinners and I would make her some meals to freeze.  Then she pops it in the microwave when she gets home and all is good.  I have found a number of meals that she likes--honey garlic chicken is a favorite, as well as something called mississippi pot roast (which I used chuck roast for)  I did a beef stew that went over well and a hamburger stroganoff. For someone who will not taste test any of the meat dishes I make I consider that I have been uber successful!

I have also taught KC how to cook his penne for pasta in the IP  We have a gas stove and I prefer that the kids don't use the stove top when I am not around. The IP lets him cook his pasta and his taco meat in what seems more safety to me.

Kirsty has long expressed a desire to travel cross country in a tin can on wheels  camper when we retire.  I have not ever really loved that idea, though I do dearly want to see the country. I am jut not a camper kind of gal.  But with a small tent for me to sleep in, a camper for her, and an instant pot to cook with, it could work!

Decorating for January!

in some aspects of my life I crave minimalism, I am all about decorating for holidays.  And I need decorations in January especially because that is when winter gets real up here.  Though we are slowly getting back our daylight, there are lots of cold hard days and nights ahead.  So today, I put away the Santas and the reindeer and brought out my snow man collection.  

They are super cute and live on top of my cabinets in the kitchen all through January.  My collection has grown so much over the years that they also decorate the dining room as well.

They are whimsical and help my spirit to welcome the snow and inclement weather.  My wife says you have the same amount of snow no matter your mind set, so I have endeavored to have a more positive outlook.  It is hard for me as being cold is physically uncomfortable, but hey, snowmen are adorable! Latly I hung up my lucite stars. They catch the light of the chandelier beautifully and remind me to look up in the cold dark nights and find those bright pinpricks of light.

Christmas 2018

It's been a busy few days.  The holidays always are.  Somehow, despite the best of planning, the most earnest decisions to "not get caught up in the hype" we do. There is never enough time, particularly this year.  I have had extra duties at work this year, my wife's business has been busy. The teen is now working two part time jobs and both he and his sister are busy with extra curricular activities as well. 

Yet somehow, it gets done. Cookies and fudge are made.  Cards are sent out, albeit later than I would have liked. The house is decorated and stories of Christmasses past are re-told. New memories are made.  Laughter and music ring through the house. 

Do we get it all done?  Heck no.  This year we were able to find time to take the family drive looking at decorated houses.  We skipped that last year and the kids mentioned that they really missed it.  Back onto the clipboard of fun it went.  But off went touring the city Festival of Trees.  Because, well there are still only 24 hours in a day folks.  Even though I personally think there should be some sort of magic extender of hours around the holiday time.

The house cleaning was of the "lick and a promise" variety up till Christmas Eve Eve when I was finally off of work. Then I tidied and cleaned around the glitter and garland and promised our home that in a bit over a week I'd be cleaning it up for reals! 

But as long as things are sanitary, that is truly good enough right now.  I need time with the kids, with my wife, time to make coquito and deliver to my friends.  Time to wrap and enjoy it and not race against the clock.

Christmas Day Fiona came home for the day and it was wonderful to have her here. It is always a double celebration day as it is also her birthday.  I made a German chocolate cake and we had a festive Christmas dinner with several of her favorite foods.  She loved her gifts, both the Christmas ones and her birthday ones.

Today we went to Maine to do Christmas with my mom.  This too was fun, though I can see that she is beginning to age.  Well, we are all always aging, but to be less robust, less able to do for herself with ease.  It hurts to see that.  We decorated her cane for her while we were there--another aging sign that was not there the last time we were together just a few months earlier. She loved the time with the kids and they with her.  I am grateful for the constant loving presence that she has always had in their lives.


Tomorrow I have another whole day off from work and then back I go on Friday.  But this has been a lovely break and a truly wonderful Yuletide season. 

Of cars and care

I am often mindful of how the universe has plans for us beyond our knowing.  I drove to church today and my newly repaired car began smoking just as I pulled into the church parking lot.  We worship in a city about 30 minutes from where we live so this was a cause for considerable alarm.  I have AAA but a tow would be to a place in the city I am in, not the city I am from and this would be a challenge.  I texted my wife that I might have a problem and asked that she pick KC up from work.  He had a morning shift at the market and I was going to pick him up at 12 on my way home from church.

However, the universe is amazing.  It turned out that one of our parishioners used to own his own auto repair shop.  Although now his focus is on hybrid vehicles and electric cars, he had a lot of knowledge to share, even about old Scion's!  He said he would check it out and low and behold my mechanic forgot to tighten down the oil cap after doing my oil change last week.  He declined my cash and went to an auto parts store  to get me an oil cap, cleaned the top of my engine where oil had probably sprayed out during the drive (hence the smoking I had seen!) 30 minutes later I was safely on the road home.

When  I pulled into the parking lot in my smoking car I was thinking to myself how this was such a problem--I was so far from home and it was another potential bill in a year that has besieged us financially.  Instead, grace smiled on us and we were helped with knowledge and kindness.  I am so lucky and will pay this blessing forward.

Happy Almost Birthday Elisabeth!

She is sassy and stylish, funny, with a quick wit and cutting sarcasm.  Fiercely loyal and yet not afraid to be herself and to stand by what she believes in. . . she is my youngest.  And in a matter of days she turns 12.  This past weekend we had her friend birthday party--a sleepover event with 5 of her friends. 

Elisabeth has really good friends.  The kind that I hope will all still be friends years from now.  The interesting thing is that they are from all walks of life.  Because we homeschool she has friends from the neighborhood, from Girl Scouts, from her time in basketball   and from her dance classes.  Yet they all mesh together well and they are really kind to each other.  They know her well, as evidenced by the shirt she was gifted with! 

As I watched them this weekend I was struck by how grown up she looks and acts.  Wasn't it just yesterday she wore a crown and hit her brother with her birthday wand?  LOL

Next year it will be her turn to go through our church's Coming of Age program, as if this mama didn't need more proof her babies are growing up fast!  But I am happy for  her and excited to see what the future holds for her.  Her actual birthday is this Sunday and she wants to spend Sunday afternoon helping to distribute gifts to foster kids.  She is deeply moved by the fact that she knows foster kids often lose treasured items because they leave their family home so quickly and/or move so often.  She knows that some of her siblings have been through foster care and she has chosen to help work with a friend's new nonprofit which will help 400 foster kids in our city have great Christmasses. I might mourn the loss of my "baby" but I sure love the heart and passion that she has for the world.

Sunday we will bring cupcakes to church and Monday we have her family party and she will at long last get her own phone. 

Stepping forward

This guy here?  The one with the two legs, not the four.  It seems like not long ago that he was so little, so anxious about the wider world.  I remember that despite his love of dance, he would tremble back stage, clutching my hand, nearly breaking the teeny bones in my hand because he squeezed so tightly.  

I've never been one to push my kids. They only squeeze your hands for a moment in time.  And then you turn around and they are a teen.  Going off on mission trips and helping others.  Chatting with friends and planning outings that only occasionally involve me getting him at least part way to the destination. This year he has two part time jobs---one at the dance school and one at the local grocery store.  He's saving up for a cooler phone than what his mom will buy him.   And the little guy who was afraid to go on stage?  That guy decided to try out for one of the acting roles in recital.  This studio does theater as well as dance.  He auditioned and got a part.  He will be the godfather in the dance school version of Shark Tale!  

This spring he will turn 15 and I know the pace of changes and separation and working towards newly defined dreams will only intensify.  So for now I am grateful for the fact that he still gives hugs warmly and willingly.  That he asks each day when I come home how my day was and that he enjoys movie nights with his doddering parents.  I am blessed.

Interim excitement

So I wrote a post back probably in the end of January, or perhaps early February about my boss leaving and how I applied for the job.  I was summarily told I was not particularly qualified for the position and sent back to my office.  Well, not exactly, but it was a very short conversation and the person in chage of hiring was very definate that he felt I was unqualified.

I spent about 24 hours wallowing in self pity and then moved on emotionally.  My plan was to continue building my skill set, taking classes that my company will pay for and then take those skills to another company (I actually have a company that said they would take my resume)  Meanwhile, no new manager was hired.  Many were apparently interviewed but no one fit the bill.  I took this as an opportunity to take on more tasks, learn more "managerial" tasks and reports, and to try to make things easier for the portfolio manager who was overseeing not only our site but at least 9 other properties.

On Friday she called me in to her office and said that she has been advocating on my behalf for the position. She said that she sees leadership potential in me and has been talking with folks at corporate.  She has told them about the tasks I have taken on and the things I have learned and apparently. . . I am to be an interim property manager with the possibility of things being permanent if I continue to show my worth.

I am so excited!