Only Fifteen Minutes Until the New Year

Do I have time to get one last blog post in? I'm trying to keep myself awake for another 15 minutes so why not spill out all of my thoughts for your reading pleasure (ha!). We have had a great New Year's Eve, well from about 2 on it's been pretty good. I have been struggling with depression and sadness for the past few days and think it may be related to going off of the pain meds I've been on for the last 6 weeks (on and off). I am hoping that tomorrow will be a happier day. But anyway, let's talk about tonight b/c I've had a good night. The girls are both sleeping over at friends' houses so Ollie and Joe and I were on our own for some New Year's fun. We went to a local sushi restaurant and had a great dinner. Joe and Ollie kept challenging each other to eat bigger and bigger chunks of wasabi. I can't believe how much of that stuff Joe was able to eat. After dinner we took a walk through the park by the lake and enjoyed the sunset and lights and peacefulness. Then we came home and Joe and I ate ice cream and played a couple of games and then watched a couple of hours of "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve." Joe really wanted to stay up until midnight and I was willing to let him even though I was getting super tired but when Ryan Seacrest took a break for the local news Joe decided to go to bed. So, he and Ollie are sleeping and I'm ringing in the new year on my computer. I asked Joe if he had a New Year's Resolution and he didn't so I told him that his resolution should be to get up every day and do school and chores with a joyful heart and to even do one extra chore a day without being told. He told me "only in your dreams." At least he's honest. I adore that kid. So, this year has been an interesting year. As with every year there were ups and downs. The last few months have been rough for various reasons, my accident being just one of them. I'm happy to say goodbye to 2011. I don't have big plans or resolutions or lists or even a word for 2012 but I did like what my friend Ann Marie said--basically, make it a goal to just be average this year. It's one of the most humble things you can do. That has struck a chord with me and I like it. I spend so much of my time trying to be super mom and have super kids and to do it all well and right and thoroughly. How nice it sounds to just strive to be average. No notoriety in average but that should be okay.
As we close out this year I have so many blessings and much to be thankful for. I have a living God who hears my prayers and guides me through this life. I am thankful for family and friends and my computer and Facebook and iTunes and Pandora and blogs and pain pills and so much more. Happy New Year!

7 Quick Takes--Happy New Year Edition

1. Once again someone posted the link to the "One Word" idea (of course I can't find it now) but the idea is that you choose a word to focus on for the coming year. Sort of a resolution type thing. I have never really participated by choosing a word and having that be the focus for the whole year but each year I mull it over anyway and usually come up with several words, some silly and lighthearted and some more serious and reflective. Here are some of the words I've thought of--

• WALK...obviously in light of my last 6 weeks, I am hoping that I will be walking and driving and back to my normal, busy life. According to the doctor I have 6 weeks and I'm praying that the timeline won't be extended. Please pray for healing!! I am enjoying the slower life and can find the good in this but this isn't my style...at. all.
  
• OUTSIDE...I am aware of how much time me and my family spend inside the house. There is a whole big world out there and I'd like to get out in it more in the coming year. More walks, more bike rides, more camping (maybe??), and more nature.
  
• DAILY DEVOTION...even though I am parked in my big green chair for most of the day and night I am still struggling with spending daily time with God. I am doing better than I was but for some reason this is still hard for me to have a quiet time with any regularity. I'd like to make this a habit in the new year.

2. I watched tv for hours last night. I NEVER do this but I was worn out last night and it was all I had the energy for. First I watched "The Middle." I love that show. I have just ordered all of Season 1 through Netflix. It is so funny and my kids like it too. I've only seen about 3 episodes but I've liked them all and felt comfortable with my kids watching them all. After the middle I watched about 4 episodes of "Raising Hope." Love that show. It's mostly clean but when it's not, it's not. So, it's not a show I'm watching with my kids. It's one of the few shows that makes me LOL. And, I need all the LOLing I can get because...
3. I'm fighting the "Broken Leg Blues." When the accident happened I was in the middle of a busy season with the kids--they had lots of rehearsals and performances for various theatre things. I had surgery and that seemed to wipe out days as I was in a pain med induced blur, then more theatre performances, then the hive of activity surrounding Christmas, then Christmas, and now...everything has just come to a screeching halt. I'm wondering how we are ever going to start back up into a normal schedule of chores and life and I'm dreading Ollie going back to work next week. Thankfully, Ollie's sister, Steph and her whole family will be renting a house in town for the month of January which means our life won't return to complete normalcy for a while longer. Their visit is a godsend because it gives me something to look forward to. Even with that to look forward to though I am struggling to stay positive and content. Each day is a new day though and even in my down moments I can find much to be thankful for. I am blessed.
4. I'm reading a good book, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. It's set alternately in 1940 and 1993 and is based on a German woman who was in love with a Jewish man during WWII. It's good but slightly depressing which may or may not be affecting my mood. I don't want to stop reading it though. I just need to read a more uplifting or funny book next. I have two to choose from, one is the new Celia Rivenbark book. She's the one who wrote Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank. She makes me LOL and I'm looking forward to reading that one. Just trying to finish the books I have checked out from the library first.
5. Anyone have any fun New Year's plans? We have none. We usually don't, but will at least make some fun food and watch Dick Clark's show. I don't know what we'll do this year. It'll be up to Ollie since he'd have to be the one making the fun food. We'll see...
6. I need a hair cut and I need my hair colored. I don't think I've had my hair cut since the beginning of the summer. I'm getting close to that 10 inches needed for Locks of Love. Maybe I should just wait a while longer... I can't wait to have it colored though, my gray is peeking through and I just hate it. I usually color it at home but I think I'll treat myself to a salon this time. Just need to make an appt. and find a ride.
7. The kids have one more week off and then theatre starts back up again. Their next show is a Follies show written by Joel and Amanda. This is the 3rd one they've done over the years and they are always really entertaining and funny. This one is 80s themed with lots of great 80s music. I can't wait to read the script and see what songs they are doing.

Christmas Day

 We started out Christmas morning with stockings (didn't get any good pictures of that fun) and then church.  It was an awesome service!  Lots of music and the reading of the Christmas story.  Our sweet friend, Reagan, sat with us while her momma sang--she was so cute and excited. 

 After church we went to Harriet and Billy's and celebrated with good food and presents.  In honor of "Tiny Tiffany" we had a Dickens' themed Christmas dinner with a goose, Figgy pudding, and Christmas pudding, and lots of other good food.  We also had Christmas crackers (above) and in each of our crackers was a paper hat that we all wore for dinner. 

 After dinner we had fun opening gifts and played a fun gift exchange game.  Everyone had a great time!

We had a great day with family, it was a memorable Christmas--lots of fun!

Christmas Eve

 We celebrate the present part of Christmas a little differently than most people--we open all of the gifts that are at our house on Christmas Eve.  Not all at once...we spread it out so that it lasts all day.  The kids open a present or two and then spend time playing with that present or if they don't get something to play with on that round we can be pretty sure one of their siblings will have something they want a playmate for.  :0)  It's been a fun day, the kids all got gifts that they really wanted and that was fun to see their excitement.  I got a camera--a pretty nice camera and I hope you'll be able to tell based on my pictures.  I think they are much better than I usually take.  Grace's big exciting gift was a new hamster.  Another benefit to opening on Christmas Eve--she opened the cage, put it together and then Ollie took them all to go pick out a hamster.  She would've had to wait for the hamster until Monday if we'd waited until Christmas day to open gifts. 

 Hannah was really excited to get an Adele CD.  I like the CD too but I'm already a little tired of it.  It's been on continuous play in the FL room all day.  I have Pandora going (the Straight No Chaser Holiday channel) on my computer but it's having to do battle with her CD. 

 Above is a pic of the new hamster--her name is Reba.  She's pretty cute.  And below....I was testing out my camera and took some pictures of the living room.  As you can see--I've been working on a Christmas puzzle and I got some rainbow toe socks.  :0)

 Joe got some blocks...he's been wanting blocks for a while to set up scenes with his Star Wars guys so he was excited.  Grace got a curling iron and she and Hannah both curled their hair. 

 Above is the card that Grace made me.  Isn't it so cute and sweet!?!  Love that girl.  And she loves her new exercise ball.  Below that Joe got the Star Wars guy (well, actually gal...) that he's been wanting.  She is not in stores anymore so we had to find her on ebay. 

I'll leave you with Grace's latest painting--I love it!  Merry Christmas to you all.  Enjoy your day tomorrow with family celebrating the birth of Jesus.  I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday.  It just feels right to start the day at church in praise and worship. 

Pictures and Random Thoughts

 We did an encore performance of our Christmas pageant at a local nursing home last night.  I was "backstage" so I didn't get to see it but someone took a few pictures for me.  The kids did great, even in an unusual setting with no chance to practice their entrances and blocking and all of that.  I think the residents were blessed.  Once again I was so proud of the kids.  They have done so well and helped me fulfill my vision of a Christmas pageant at our church.  :0)

 I think the picture above is the first picture I have of myself in a wheelchair.  Ugh!  Makes me want to vomit in my mouth--I look like a fat old lady with saggy boobs. 

 With Grace's help we took our snowflakes and made them into decorations.  I just love them, they make me so happy!  I sewed them together with white thread and she hung them up.  Aren't the pretty?

The girls babysat Landon the other day so his momma and I could go out for coffee.  Hannah did his hair up just like a little girl.  I think he likes it though.
I went to the doctor today and got the last of my stitches out.  I seem to be healing well.  I have a new plan for staying on top of the pain thanks to the nurse.  Mornings have been the worst for me and sometimes it takes a couple of hours to get it under control.  This morning it was hurting so bad I actually felt a little nauseated.  I am feeling much better emotionally though.  Having the surgery behind me is a huge weight off of my shoulders.  I am counting down the weeks until I get to walk again--1 week down, 7 more to go.  I'm excited about Christmas weekend.  We do most of our present opening on Christmas Eve so the kids are super excited.  The kids are each getting something from us this year that they are going to be super excited about so that makes it even more fun.  Of course we'll also read the Christmas story from the Bible and I have "A Nativity Story" on DVD so we may watch that as well.  Christmas morning we'll go to church and then over to Aunt Harriet and Uncle Billy's for some Christmas fun and food. 
Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafting

 We are loving these snowflakes.  We've cut all of them out and have them pressing in a book overnight.  Tomorrow I plan to direct the decorating with them.  I think I'll hang them in the door frames and maybe in our front window.  I love them!

 These are the photo ornaments I made this year.  I make a different one every year for us and this is my 2nd year making one for a friend, she has more pets than kids... :0)

And, I finished this puzzle a few days ago.  I haven't started a new one yet--been too busy with my other crafts but I'll get to them! 

Perspective

I have had so many people remark how this is just the worst time of year to have had this accident that has resulted in me being pretty much immobilized. I can't drive, can't go very far without being pushed in a wheelchair, can't cook, can't clean, can't even walk anywhere in my house and carry something with me. I've had surgery, I'm in pain...no, this is not a fun time. I've had a fairly cushy life and this is probably the most difficult experience I've had to go through. I've cried, I've cussed, I've been angry, I've been grumpy, I've been a bear to be around, I've been bossy. I've been humbled and thankful. I've also had lots of time, lots and lots of time. I haven't had this much free time since I was a child probably. I've wasted tons of time on FB and Pinterest and done a lot of reading. But...the last couple of days as our life has slowed down--no more performances, very little school being done--I've spent time with my family. We started a new Nancy Drew game, we've watched a Christmas movie, we've cut out countless snowflakes, and we've had some read aloud time. It's been nice to slow down. I have no parties to go to, no cookies to bake, none of the usual holiday hoopla. I did most of my shopping online and I've gone to Target a couple of times and I'll go again tomorrow. I have had this "Decorative Snowflake" book for years and this is the first year I've taken the time to sit and cut them out. I am usually much too hyper and busy to sit and watch movies with my kids. So, even though I know I will have down days or sad moments as I'm reminded of all I cannot do. I'm trying to be thankful for the time I have this holiday season and trying to make the most of it.

Bugsy Malone Pictures

 Here are some of the pictures from the kids' show this past weekend.  The show was "Bugsy Malone, Jr." and it was set in the 20s mostly in a Speakeasy with 2 rival gangs.  One of them has "Splurge Guns" full of silly string and they use those guns to take out almost all of the other gang.  Hannah played Flash Frankie (in the barber chair above) who gets splurged in the 1st scene and then she was in Dandy Dan's Gang--the gang with the guns.  Grace played a flapper girl as seen below and Joe was a gang member in Fat Sam's Gang as well as a dummy for the Ventriloquist.  It was a really fun show!

Friday Night Stream of Thought......

....brought to you by a little boredom mixed with regular doses of Percocet...so, I think all of my readers (all 5 of you) know that I had surgery this week. I went in on Tuesday morning at about 6 and was home by 2:30. I went in anticipating getting a plate and screws in my knee/leg and came out with a bone graft and coral in my knee/leg. I keep saying knee/leg because although I have broken my tibia, it's actual the tibial plateau which is part of the bones that make up the knee. After searching google images to give myself an anatomy lesson I think I finally kind of get where exactly my injury is. It's under my kneecap...sort of. Anyway, the surgery took about double the amount of time the dr. had thought it would take and according to his wife (yes, I know his wife and kids--his daughter is in theatre with Grace) my bone was a mess. He also told my mom after the surgery that this injury would likely be the "thorn in my side" and cause me pain and discomfort forever and that I would likely need a partial knee replacement in the future. I am not going to worry too much about that prognosis right now though..I'm just moving forward taking each day as it comes and thankful that I will be able to walk again....someday....I have two more months of no weight bearing on my right leg, no walking, no driving, no cartwheels, no sky diving. It's already been one month so when all is said and done I will have been out of commission for 3 months. I know I've said this many times but I am so thankful for all of my friends who have stepped in and helped in so many ways. We continue to have meals delivered almost every night, my kids have had rides everywhere they've needed to go, I've had people go to the library for me , the store for me, fold my laundry, and more. I am so thankful! Enough about my leg though...
Let's talk about Christmas. Specifically Christmas cards. I love sending Christmas cards, it is one of my favorite things to do. I usually write a letter and I usually get pretty creative and involve the kids in some way--having one of them write the letter, taking a survey, including their artwork, I try to stay away from what some people call "gag and brag" letters and make it unique. Well, I just can't pull it together this year. The last thing I want to do is write all about my broken leg (or should I say knee?) but yet how do I not write about it. Also, it seems like I will just be saying the same thing as last year--we're still homeschooling, Ollie's still teaching, the kids are still in theatre, Hannah's still a drama queen, and so on. Dare I say we're getting kind of boring. I tried interviewing the kids yesterday and I really think Hannah just wanted to make sure she came across as a real live teenager. Most of her answers involved Justin Bieber in some way. It just got ridiculous and Joe just wouldn't answer most of the questions and so I just quit. Then I decided not to do a letter at all. But then, if I don't do a letter I have to buy cards to put the pictures in. So, I thought I'd try to find a photo card. Well, photo cards at the cheapest are 40 cents and I need a 100 of them. Then stamps are another 44 cents. I don't have $100 to spend on Christmas cards. I've looked into photo postcards but they're not cheap either. So, that's where I'm stuck. I've about decided to post a picture on FB with Merry Christmas as the caption and call it a Christmas card. This may be the first year in a long time that I just don't do Christmas cards. I'm kind of over it. Fo rizzle.
My mom is here...praise Jesus my mom is here. She has been just amazing. She has been a great nurse and didn't even throw up or pass out when she took my bandages off yesterday. I couldn't even look at my incisions myself (I have 4). She took care of it and put new band-aids on. She has cleaned and done laundry, hung out with the kids, taken them shopping, taken me shopping, and more. Tonight she's going to help me clean up and re-organize this whole area around my chair. It's time to bust out the Christmas puzzles and I need some space to work. I am having a hard time focusing on reading much, I'm sure it's the pain meds. I've spent too much time on FB and obsessing over Christmas cards and letters and all that jazz.
Had a Peppermint Chocolate Chip milkshake from Chick-fil-a today. It was a little piece of heaven in a cup. I also did some Christmas shopping in downtown and at Target. I'm almost done shopping and thankfully I've been able to do it all myself. I love Christmas shopping, it's the only time of year that I like to shop and I didn't want to miss it.
Well, my thoughts are falling apart so I'm signing off...peace out peeps!

Bugsy Malone

Dandy Dan

Down and Outs from "Bugsy Malone"

Fat Sam's gang

Joe's a dummy from "Bugsy Malone"

My Name is Tallulah from "Bugsy Malone"

Show Business from "Bugsy Malone"

Bad Guys from "Bugsy Malone," Joe is on the far right

Picture Catch Up

 Landon was happy to pose for the camera last night wearing his reindeer ears. 

 These next few pictures were from a week or two ago...a few of the activities I have enjoyed while being immobilized.  Skip-Bo with Grace and Charades and coloring with Joe.  As you can see from the pictures, Joe was having a great time playing Charades.  He was so cute.

 I read the Autobiography of Santa Claus while enjoying Christmas Carols from my iPod.  The kids did the decorating and seemed to have a great time doing it.

 A few pictures from the pageant...