Post Holiday Greetings

Ho, ho, hum. . . . Well, another Christmas bites the dust! The madness and the mayhem was over within a matter of hours. I enjoyed this Christmas and tried to take it easy because, God-willing, next year I will have TWO children at Christmas- AGH! So, I enjoyed just having to focus on one child and play one game of pretend instead of being stretched between two children and feeling like I'm not devoting an equal amount of time.

Now that the holidays are about over I am starting to focus on how my life is about to drastically change in FOURTEEN short weeks! And I doubt seriously that I will even have time to take a breath. . .in addition to New Year's, my husband is running the Houston-Chevron marathon in January, hubby's birthday (along with 2 nieces, my moms, & only aunt birthdays) is in February, my son's b-day is in March and then BAM! Baby girl is due in April. OMG! People have been asking me about names. . .I am sooooo far away from thinking about names it's not even funny. I think I'll probably get it together after my son's b-day (March 2nd) maybe. . .I really need to FOCUS! I tell you what I am looking forward to the MOST (besides having a healthy baby) is taking THREE MONTHS off after my delivery!!! I am exhausted!!! Okay, I'm getting tired just thinking about it. . .

Instead I'll share my favorite story from Christmas. Christmas Eve to be exact. My son, got a ridiculous amount of STUFF from my family (as usual) and as he was opening his presents I was taking them and hiding them in the closet- because we open family presents at midnight and afterwards he needs to go to bed so Santa can make an appearance. One of the presents he received was a Batman shaving kit. It came with all the fake razors and a small can of foam a.k.a shaving cream.

After my family packed up and left (around 12:45am) I told my son it was time to go to sleep so that Santa could stop by and he started to have a MELT DOWN!!!! He had big crocodile tears and he was saying, "But I have to do something first," And I'm like- WHAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY HAVE TO DO AT 1:00 IN THE MORNING?!?! He started stuttering and blubbering that he: NEEDED TO SHAVE!!!!!! Bwahahahahahaha! He was sooooooo serious and looking so pitiful but I bust out laughing!!!! My husband didn't find it as hilarious. He told him he could shave in the morning and proceeded to march him upstairs. In less than three seconds he was out cold. He didn't wake up the next morning until almost 9:00!!! After he checked out what Santa left for him, he ran back upstairs to SHAVE!!! (I'll post pictures later).

I was still beyond exhausted so after playing one round of Power Rangers I went back to sleep. As I was nodding off that movie, A Christmas Story was on t.v. When I woke up it was still on so I thought I had only slept about twenty minutes- turns out the show was on a continuous 24 hour Christmas marathon loop and I had almost slept through it TWICE.

Now, I'm back at work still a little out of it. . .good thing Christmas only comes once a year because if it was more than once a year, I'd be celebrating Hanukkah!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas!!! I wish you much peace, love and exponential blessings for 2009!!!!

Balancing Act

Yesterday, my co-worker was going on and on about how she thought I was such a wonderful mother and that I seem to have found such a perfect balance in my life. I swear I just stared at her blankly for a few minutes because I thought she was gonna start laughing and say, “SIKE!” If anyone perceives that I have perfected “balance” in my life let me set the record straight: IT’S ALL SMOKE & MIRRORS.

I think one of the lessons I have learned- begrudgingly- since I got married and had a child is that, unfortunately, life is not all about ME anymore and that I have to put my selfishness aside. Armed with this knowledge, I have been able to avoid a lot of frustration and disappointment. Don’t get me wrong I still feel extremely overwhelmed from time to time but when I do, I just breathe and think whether or not it’s worth me losing my mind. And sometimes I TOTALLY fly off the handle to get my point across and to let the people in my life know without a shadow of a doubt : she’s kinda crazy. It’s been my secret weapon for years! :-)

Another thing that has really given me more sense of “balance” in my life is accepting my job for what it is. A job. It is not my “career”. I do not have delusions of grandeur or thoughts of climbing the corporate ladder. For the most part, I enjoy what I do and I when I am here I give 100% (it ain’t brain surgery, though) but I do NOT work overtime (I am salaried and don’t get paid for it), I don’t take any of the b.s. or politics home with me (I’m too busy pretending to be a Power Ranger with my son), and I don’t get involved in office cliques (I’m too damn old for that).

So, I have relieved an incredible amount of stress from my plate by not letting my job consume me or my time. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have options and I could work here or not and it’s not going to cripple me or my lifestyle so the way I see it, my job is pretty lucky to have me, not the other way around. And I say that strongly even in the current economic environment.

Besides I’m only one person and there is no way I can give all of myself completely to my job or to my husband or even to my son. It’s just not humanly possible. And there are times that I still feel like I am failing miserably in some area in my life but I just try to do better the next day. I want my mind to be strong and sound for decades to come so, I can’t afford to start losing bits and pieces of it now.
One thing that is out of balance is the weather in Houston. We keep going from 40 to 77 degrees (and vice versa) overnight! Here's a picture of my son playing in the snow from last week!

Totally Random

The most random thing happened in H-Town yesterday evening. . .IT SNOWED!!!! Earlier that afternoon I was running errands and it was COLD (32 degrees) and raining and at times the cold combined with the rain made it feel like ice was hitting my face but I never thought it would SNOW!

Let me just clear something up for anyone who doesn't know about weather in the South. First of all, anything below 70 is COLD to folks born and raised in the South. Second, this weekend is supposed to be around 74 degrees. So, color us a little shocked to get enough snow to stick to the ground and cars for more than an hour. Some places on the outskirts of the city actually got about 2.5 inches of snow.

The other thing that's so fascinating and somewhat cool about all of this is when I picked my son up from school yesterday he asked me if it was going to snow. I laughed and said I don't know. His teacher (remember he attends a Christian day school) however told him to PRAY and maybe God would make it snow. When we got home my son asked me if it was okay to pray for snow and who am I to challenge prayer? I told him to go right ahead. He took a prayer posture- clasped hands, bowed head and closed eyes and he prayed: "Dear God please make it snow today, in Jesus name, Amen."

When my husband called us around 5:30 and told us it was snowing my son- to say he was excited is an understatement. He kept running from window to window exclaiming "I made it snow! I made it snow!" I had to explain to him that he didn't make it snow, that God did. And he countered with, "But that's only because I asked him to," I didn't even bother. . .

It would have been really cool if this miracle could have taken place on Christmas like it did 4 years ago. It actually snowed on Christmas Even in 2004, my son's first Christmas, and hasn't even been that cold on Christmas since. They are trying to tie the snow to the hurricanes and some freaky weather pattern. Whatever the case, it was pretty awesome, that is until this morning when Houstonians all over town went sliding and crashing into each other. There should be a city-wide rule that if it snows in Houston or if there is ice on the ground- the city is CLOSED for the day! We can drive in rain but snow/ice? Not so much.

Tomorrow I'll post pics of my son throwing snowballs. . .

Little White Men

As I was pulling decorations from the Christmas crates I noticed that I have unconsciously started a collection of ceramic snowmen!! Aw, I'm either getting anal or old (perhaps both). Actually I think it stems more from me not wanting to buy Caucasian Santa's- I have one black Santa but he was hard to come by. . .anyway, in an effort to keep it merry and bright I've started this collection that I actually think is kinda cool.

My son probably won't appreciate this treasure after I go to the great beyond but I'm sure my baby girl will. . .unless she's like my mom and my sister who don't have a sentimental bone in their bodies!

Anyway, I'm still freakin' out because there are only 16 days until Christmas and I still have over half of my family to buy for. . .I would just get everyone a gift card but my family is so anti-gift cards. They prefer ripping open presents and pretending to be excited and then calling each other behind your back and saying, "what in the hell, why would he give me that ugly ass scarf," Ha ha! 'Tis the season!

Like Butta

Today I am taking a break from my hormone fueled rantings about marriage and focusing on the holiday season. After all 'tis the season to be jolly fa la la la fu- WTF?! Is it really 0nly 20 days until Christmas?!?!?

Okay, I am so not ready and this is so NOT like me. . .but I'm nothing like myself lately anyway so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I went out last weekend (not on Black Friday) to try and do a little shopping and ended up buying a few decorations and a gift for myself. They have this bath robe at Bath & Body Works. . .OMG!!. . .it is soooooooo soft and cuddly! I imagine that's what clouds might feel like. . .before you fall through them and come crashing to the Earth- but I digress, the robe is like butta! I LOVE IT! And I scored such a deal. It was on sale in the store for $29.99 and I had a coupon to get $10 off any item so I got this delicious robe for $19.99! The best $20 I've spent all year!

If you need a new robe or you want to give one as a gift you've got to check it out! It comes in it's own over sized box and a variety of colors. All you have to do is wrap it! Happy shopping!

Role Play

Okay, remember when I was ranting about the roles we play in marriages? Well, I almost went ballistic last night when my husband starting making snide comments about ME not cooking. Then he did the ULTIMATE and started to mention how his mother, God rest her soul, used to work full time and still managed to cook a hot meal every night.

First of all, I think I startled the entire neighborhood when I yelled, "I ain't yo mama!" Second of all, she had EIGHT kids! And I'm thinking at some point one of them should have been old enough to put some chicken in the oven. Apparently the lady had Julia Child aspirations.

I will be the first to admit my son could probably benefit from a lot more nutritious meals but one thing is for certain he eats EVERY night! Let's get that straight first. Now, regarding me being Suzy Homemaker. There was a time for a couple of years after we were married that I would come home after working 8 hours at a job that I HATED ( complete with a 1 1/2 hour commute one way) but endured because my salary was CRUCIAL to our household (still is) and I would cook a delicious, hot meal. I'm talking a meat and two sides! Sometimes dessert!

But as time marched on it seemed it went from being appreciated to expected. The number one thing I hate about cooking is that not only do I prepare the meal but folks sit down at the table and want you to bring them a plate and then I have to clean up the kitchen too?!?!? Oh, HELLLLL no! I found the kitchen stays a lot cleaner when nothing is cooked in it. Ha ha!

Seriously, can we step in to the new millennium DEAR HUSBAND? I mean I do work full time, my commute is about 35 to 45 minutes longer than yours, I go to school (taking THREE classes), I'm preggers, trying to be the best mommy I can be to our son and you think I'm gonna come home (when you're already at home) and start frying chicken and snapping peas?? Baby, I regret to inform you that you married the wrong woman. So sorry. No refunds.

I think I should probably call and tell him to stop and get a burger on his way home tonight. . .or he is more than welcomed to hook up a big pot of spaghetti tonight- he actually makes it better than me. So, what's really going on? I guess because he cuts the grass and changes the oil in the cars, boiling spaghetti is just asking too damn much.

When you stop by the Burger Shack tonight be sure to hold the onions and mayo on mine!

Blah-Blah-Blah

Happy Belated Turkey Day!! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was awesome. We went to my sister's house and gorged on way too much food! It was divine. Also, saw some family and friends that I had not seen in a while.

The day before Thanksgiving I had a doctor's appointment and it was confirmed that I am having a GIRL! Let the drama commence! Ha ha! My son didn't really mask his disappointment and he still refers to her as a "him" I guess he thinks if he wishes hard enough things will be different when April gets here. . .you never know. . .but I think both doctor's are pretty certain there are no boy parts in there.

It's getting to a point with this blog- unfortunately- that it's just another thing on my "to do" list. And I can almost predict its demise. It's been fun but I honestly don't know how much longer I'll keep it up. It was supposed to be an interim type thing while I regrouped with my parenting website but it kinda took on a life of its own and I never started the other website so I used this one for an outlet.

But with school, work, the holidays and a second child on the way- a sista is tired and totally not feeling the blog. I know it's getting bad because I don't even lurk around on other blogs like I used to. Although you wouldn't know it by the comments I actually get quite a few hits on this site about 50 a week. . .but there are only a handful of people who comment. I sincerely appreciate Super Dave, TheDad, Veronica and Don for taking an interest and leaving comments.

I am going to try and keep this going at least until the baby is born- don't want to leave everybody hanging but I apologize in advance if the posts are sporadic or just not that entertaining. Winds of change are blowing in. . .