I seem to have forgotten I have a blog

I am not entirely certain if I haven’t written a word on this blog in nearly one month’s time because I have nothing to say (which isn’t wholly true) or I’m too dag gum busy (which is wholly true) or some other reason that escapes my tired brain… oh, yes, I remember now, a couple things called Facebook & Twitter. Between the two of them and my regular every day family/life/work stuff I manage to stay quite occupied. But I am still alive and kicking for those of you who only know me through this blog.

It’s also the start of a new year, which means that I have to assemble all the data from 2008 into a legible, manageable form to present to the CPA so he can in turn assemble our tax filings. And I have to do this for both our business and our personal records since I am the anal number cruncher of the family.

So until I can get my head in gear to post something of interest to me (because it’s all about me, really), it might be a bit light around here for awhile. We shall see.

In the mean time, here is something that did manage to make me laugh so hard I was crying & my stomach ache from using muscles that haven’t been used in over three months (that would be about the time I did my last workout, truth be known). And frankly, I’m not super happy with that situation which makes me think I’ll be gettin’ back to the gym next week. Hopefully.

Enough for now,
Ciao

It’s time for some more of my favorite Quotes!

I think sufficient time has past since I last posted my favorite quotes. Therefore, I’ve decided today would be the day that I’d force some more down your throats. I say it this way because generally I find myself drawn to “preachy” quotes. The kind of quotes that teach or attempt to impart some sort of lesson upon the reader. So if that’s not your cup of tea, then TOO BAD. Heh. I’m just saying, these are my favorites, but I hope you enjoy them as well.

I’m going to start this batch with the coup de grâce:
It is not uncommon for a mother, particularly, to feel overwhelmed by the complexity of her parental assignment. For each child she raises, she is the primary protector of his health, education, intellect, personality, character, and emotional stability. She must serve as physician, nurse, psychologist, teacher, minister, cook, and policeman. Since she is with the children longer each day than her husband, she is the chief disciplinarian and main giver of security and love. She will not know whether or not she is handling these matters properly until it is too late to change her methodology. Furthermore, Mom’s responsibilities extend far beyond her children. She must also meet her obligations to her husband, her church, her relatives, her friends, and in some cases, her employer.
~Dr. James Dobson
Can I get an AMEN?!

All right, moving on…
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Aristotle

Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.
– Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death.
– Joan D. Vinge

When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.
– George Bernard Shaw

I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.
– Harry S Truman

You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.
– Olin Miller

Time is like a handful of sand- the tighter you grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers.
– Anonymous

To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
– Nelson Mandela

Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.
– Charlotte Bronte

Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.
– M. Scott Peck

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky

For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.
– Margaret Atwood

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
– Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)

Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us.
– Charlotte Bronte

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky

Never pray for justice, because you might get some.
– Margaret Atwood

Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.
– Emily Bronte

Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he who finds himself, loses his misery.
– Matthew Arnold, ‘Self-Dependence’ English critic & poet (1822 – 1888)

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky

Look at what your idea of success would be. The more that you take in external motivators, the more it reduces your ultimate satisfaction because it doesn’t come from inside.
– Chris Messina, Cashing In or Selling Out, SXSW 2006

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow US poet (1807 – 1882)

You create your opportunities by asking for them.
– Patty Hansen

The soul is healed by being with children.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky

Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.
– Mary Tyler Moore US television actress (1936 – )

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600 Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 – 1616)

Enough for now,
Ciao

More Quotes on which to reflect

Without much ado… on to the quotes: 

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.
- Danny Kaye US actor & singer (1913 – 1987)

Conquer thyself, till thou has done this, thou art but a slave; for it is almost as well to be subjected to another’s appetite as to thine own.
- Sir Richard Francis Burton British explorer & orientalist (1821 – 1890)

Wisdom doesn’t automatically come with old age. Nothing does – except wrinkles. It’s true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place.
- Abigail Van Buren, 1978 US advice columnist (1918 – )

When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.
- Paul “Bear” Bryant, I Ain’t Never Been Nothing but a Winner

The gods too are fond of a joke.
- Aristotle

Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world.
- Annie Lennox

Better by far you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad.
- Christina Rossetti English poet (1830 – 1894)

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
- W. Somerset Maugham

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.
- Harry S Truman

Leave well – even ‘pretty well’ – alone: that is what I learn as I get old. 
- Edward Fitzgerald English poet & translator (1809 – 1883)

Life is a long lesson in humility.
- James M. Barrie

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-Steve Jobs US computer engineer & industrialist (1955 – )

We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
- Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)

But penance need not be paid in suffering…It can be paid in forward motion. Correcting the mistake is a positive move, a nurturing move.
- Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000

Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
- Walter Anderson

Complaining is good for you as long as you’re not complaining to the person you’re complaining about.
- Lynn Johnston, For Better or For Worse 11-06-03 Canadian cartoonist (1947 – )

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- CP Snow

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.
- Colette, The Pure and the Impure, 1932 French novelist (1873 – 1954)

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pan American Day address, April 15, 1939 32nd president of US (1882 – 1945)

The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
- Jane Wagner

Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.
- Victoria Holt

Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty… Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words.
- Rainer Maria Rilke German lyric poet (1875 – 1926)

Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so.
- John Stuart Mill

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.
- Carl Jung Swiss psychologist (1875 – 1961)

If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.
- Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine US actress & television talk show host (1954 – )

More Quotes

OK, more quotes that I find interesting.  Still too busy to think for myself and write a post about something or anything of real import.  Although, I can blame part of it on the fact that I got a new laptop to replace my home & work computer so I’ve spent the last 4 days trying to reload all my programs, files, etc.  It’s crazy how long that stuff takes.  Really, it’s difficult enough trying to reload items from a single computer, imagine doing twice as much.

Anyhoozlebee, hopefully you’ll find one or two of these quotes thought provoking.

Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them.
- Suzanne Necker

The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.
- John Lancaster Spalding

It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable.
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
- Leo J. Burke

Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same.
- Pearl Buck, quoted in O Magazine, May 2003 US novelist in China (1892 – 1973)

The human brain is unique in that it is the only container of which it can be said that the more you put into it, the more it will hold.
- Glenn Doman

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
- Walter Bagehot

If you don’t accept responsibility for your own actions, then you are forever chained to a position of defense.
- Holly Lisle, Fire In The Mist, 1992

What’s the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile.
- George Asaf

A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. 
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi US (Hungarian-born) biochemist (1893 – 1986)

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.
- Marilyn vos Savant

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
- Benjamin Franklin US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 – 1790)

If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.
- George Bernard Shaw

I think when I work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky.
- Armand Hammer US industrialist & philanthropist (1898 – 1990)

Each new day presents an opportunity to start all over again, to cleanse our minds and our hearts anew, and to clarify our vision.
– Mary Kay Ash

There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
- Booker T. Washington US educator (1856 – 1915)

We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them.
- Cato the Elder Roman orator & politician (234 BC – 149 BC)

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.
- Oprah Winfrey, in Good Housekeeping US actress & television talk show host (1954 – )

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
- C. S. Lewis English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 – 1963)

Say not, when I have leisure I will study; you may not have leisure.
- The Mishnah

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man; it is what he wants and must have to be good for anything. Hardship and opposition are the native soil of manhood and self-reliance.
- John Neal

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.
- Seneca Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC – 65 AD)

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
- George Bernard Shaw

Quotes part deux

I have been freakin’ busy lately so I have been unable to come up with anything original to write in this blog.  Then again, I don’t think that what I’ve written so far has been all that original either, but anywhoozlebee, here is a bunch more of my favorite quotes. 
Bon Appetit!  (Geez, I must be in a french frame of mind or something.) 

All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon – instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
-Dale Carnegie

If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I can neither give nor receive.
-Dorothee Solle 

It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.
- Robert Anton Wilson

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed.
-Gordon Parks

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.
-Pablo Casals

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.
-Shana Alexander

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.
-Henri-Frédéric Amiel

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
- Aesop

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
-Unknown

Perfectionism is simply putting a limit on your future. When you have an idea of perfect in your mind, you open the door to constantly comparing what you have now with what you want. That type of self criticism is significantly deterring.
-John Eliot, Ph.D., Reverse Psychology for Success

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.
- Brendan Gill

The best cure for worry, depression, melancholy, brooding, is to go deliberately forth and try to lift with one’s sympathy the gloom of somebody else.
-Arnold Bennett

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-Marcel Proust French novelist (1871 – 1922)

There are lots of ways of being miserable, but there’s only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running round after happiness. If you make up your mind not to be happy there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a fairly good time.
- Edith Wharton

Enough for now,

Ciao

Favorite Quotes

Here are a few of my favorite quotes.  I won’t waste my time explaining each of these as I assume you all have a brain (not one shared brain, of course, but one inside each of your own head) and can figure them out for yourself.  Besides, in some cases my interpretation may be different… so read, think, and comment ~if you wish.  Enjoy.  

The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn’t matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.
-Barbara Hall

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.
- AA Milne

I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life….Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.
-Abigail Adams

Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.
- James F. Byrnes

At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t.  The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.
-Ann Landers

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
- Elbert Hubbard

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
-Carl Jung

Do not measure your loss by itself; if you do, it will seem intolerable; but if you will take all human affairs into account you will find that some comfort is to be derived from them.
-Saint Basil

There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women.  Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL.
-Qoute by Unknown Author

If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.
-Yugoslav Proverb

Happiness depends upon ourselves.
-Aristotle

It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
-George Eliot

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever, have enough.
-Oprah Winfrey

For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.
- Virginia Woolf

The things we know best are the things we haven’t been taught.
- Marquis de Vauvenargues

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
-Marcel Proust

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.
- John Ruskin

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sometimes I wish…

That I only needed 5 4 3 hrs of sleep per night.  Oh, and I would be completely refreshed, ready to take on whatever the day had in store.  If this wish were to come true, I would have enough time to do everything that I wanted to do.  I was contemplating this, the other night, as I was falling asleep.  I had so wanted to spend more time writing but I knew that I needed to get to bed at a decent hour ~ decent hour being something like 11:00pm ~ and how this would be absolutely necessary for me to have enough energy for the next day (or everyday for that matter).  I am perpetually facing this limitation, not enough hours in the day….  Certainly I’m not the only one that feels this way.  But we’re not talking about them, we’re talking about me.  So, there. 

Now, if I only needed 5 4 3 hrs to rest each night, then I would be able to do the following (in no particular order):

• read,
• watch t.v.,
• exercise,
• listen to music,
• check my emails,
• travel,
• read blogs,
• scrapbook,
• volunteer,
• write blogs,
• chat with friends,
• mess with myspace,
• talk to my husband ~in more words than “ah uh, yeah, ok, whatever, no, did you, sure”.  I would love to speak in whole sentences about important world topics or our life & future together or our children, 
• write more of my book,
• journal,
• give blood,
• play /read with my children,
• and so on. 

Not having 21 hrs to do all of the above (and more) means that I have to be really selective.  No time wasting for me.  And even still I have to choose wisely between what has to be done & what I want to do.  It just doesn’t add up.  If only I could be selfish and do the things I want to do.  I would say “screw you” to all the work, chores, homework (now that we have started back to school) and other responsibilities that must come before the fun stuff.  I suppose if I had the extra time, then I wouldn’t have to say “screw you”, I could just do everything!

So, I’ll say it again, sometimes I wish that I only needed 3 hrs of sleep.  Imagine all the wonderful things that I would be able to do!  Aaahhhh, what a delightful thought.

Enough for now (cause I have to go to bed),

Ciao

All I can say is wow

I was shocked when I read this article about obesity. Who knew?!  All this time I thought I was fat because I wasn’t eating healthy foods and exercising properly.  But as it turns out, I can blame it all on someone else!  Now, I’ll be realistic and say that it probably had something do to with those factors but it sounds like it is really plausible, either my family or friends are making me fat!  Unfortunately, it works both ways… maybe I’m making some of my friends fat.  Sorry =)). 

But what I think is so interesting about this study is, are we trying to find ways to PROVE that other people are responsible for making us fat?  OR is it perhaps that during general research they stumbled upon this result? 

We are a nation of finger pointers.  ‘It’s not my fault, it’s his/hers/theirs!’  How many rediculous lawsuits have been won by people blaming others for their own idiocy?  I will refrain from ranting on and on because I don’t have the time necessary to fully GO OFF on the stupidity of people.  “oh gosh, I don’t know how I got so fat, I mean I only ate McDonalds (or fill in the blank of your favorite fast food joint) every day.”  Come on!  Let’s all learn how to be responsible for our own actions again!!  If you eat junk food all the time and you don’t exercise, then you are going to get fat.  I’m pretty sure that’s a proven fact.

Anyhooo, over the past couple of years, I have been steadily working to lose the excess weight (cause I was eating too much junk food, eating portions of food that were too large, and not exercising consistently ~ but now I am!) so hopefully that will filter thru to friends and family, if this study is to be believed.  And in truth, I think that it probably has made a difference with the husband.  He has made some changes (not so much fast food ~no more big macs, ~no more three sodas a day) that have helped him slim down a bit.  But for him, he was always sort of a scrawny skinny kid, he finally feels normal having a few extra pounds on.  But I think that not only the husband & I will benefit from eating healthier, our children will immediately benefit as well.  And when you have girls, who are so easily influenced by pop culture (my 7 yr old is trying to tell me that she is fat ~ just for the record she is NOT AT ALL FAT~ and that she needs to exercise more), it is even more important to stress that good eating habits & normal play/exercise is really all it takes to maintain a healthy mind and body. 

Oh, I have no doubt that someone could say that this point isn’t true.  And sure, there are medical conditions that do cause certain people to have weight issues.  BUT, for the majority of Americans, I don’t believe it has anything to do with medical issues.  Merely our laziness and bad eating habits.

All right, enough for now,

Ciao

I have an opinion about…

Shaving.  I can’t stand it!  Doing this all the time is sooooo freakin annoying.  Why did ( do ) we buy into this?  Who is responsible for making most women feel like they HAVE TO shave or else there is something wrong with them?!  Is it men?  Or is it some women’s magazines that ran story after story about shaving/waxing?  And when did it start being de rigeur?  Has it been slowing developing into this daily part of our regimen?  Maybe it has something to do with the lack of clothes most women wear now.  We reveal more skin now than in all previous generations.  

Sure, in the 60’s there was lots of skin exposed but it was strategically revealed.  They had the itsy bitsy tiny weeny bikini but we have THONGS (no, I’m not talking about the shoes) now.  And people are wearing them on beaches.  I won’t go on and on about whether people ACTUALLY have the figure to be wearing thongs on the beach, but I’ll just say this, think Brazil.  In my opinion, they are about the only people that can get away with wearing them on beaches.  They have the figure and the tan.

So the sad truth is that I know I am too far gone.  I won’t ever be able to go back to the days of not shaving.  It is completely ingrained in me now.  In fact, I think there is something wrong with me if I let the hair on my legs or underarms grow out even a millimeter.  It weirds me out just thinking about it.  Despite the tediousness of the task.  I remember being in elementary school asking my mom if I could start shaving my legs.  I believe, if memory serves, she warned me that once started you probably won’t want to stop.  

Recently, I had my 7yr old in a dressing room with me while trying on a couple tops and she asked me why I had hair under my arms.  Mind you there was probably only the barest amount of hair, cause on this ONE day that I didn’t shave my underarms my child has to notice it!!  But I got self-conscious.  I stammered about adults and hair and I’ll tell you more when your older.  I can already see that I’m going to do a terrible job when it comes time to have ”THE TALK“.    

Back to the topic at hand… shaving, it’s just so ridiculous.  Everyday I have to do this.  And why?  So other people won’t judge me?  So I won’t compare myself to others ~ on this topic too?!  Honestly, I nick or cut myself EVERY SINGLE TIME I shave.  Either on my shin or my knee or the ankle or the back of my thigh.  And for some reason, beyond my understanding, this type of bleeding doesn’t stop as easily as with other cuts or scrapes.  It seems to flow out of the body at a much more rapid rate, too.  Waxing is only slightly better.  At least it lasts for longer than a day.  But unless you are really skilled at handling the hot wax and peeling those strips off without peeling off the top layer of your skin, then I wouldn’t attempt it.  So off to the salon or spa for waxing.  Might as well get the upper lip done.  Wouldn’t leave without getting the bikini ”area” done. 

I’m about ready to go to Laser hair removal.  That is the extent of desperation that I’ve reached.  Could it hurt any more than waxing?  It should certainly last longer.  I mean really, it’s a LASER.  And how much money does that cost?  Well it depends on where you go & who does it.  So far I’ve spent way too much money on waxing.  I don’t have a clue how much laser hair removal costs.  If I don’t want to spend the money, then I’m forced back to shaving.

Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to learn to deal with this too.  Because I know I’m not going to change my mind, about stopping shaving, any time soon.

Enough for now,

Ciao

We’re moving, again.

Now, this might be expected if we were in the military, but we are not.  As a child, my family moved almost every year until I was in the 4th grade.  This had a big impact on me.  Being forced to leave friends & schools then make new friends at new schools was not the easiest thing to do.  I did not want to ever move again once we got settled into that house.  Well, I can firmly say that that did not happened.  What I’m attempting to convey, very poorly, is that I continued to move.  We did stay in the same house for many years (7 yrs – ooh, I mean really, some people stay in the same house for their whole lives!) but then we moved again.  I stayed at this house until I moved out with the husband when we bought our first house together!  Granted it was a “townhouse” but it was a really good size for a newly married couple.  We lived in that house for 3yrs.  We even got a cute little puppy that started to grow into a big puppy.

We bought our second house but had to *wait* for the construction to be completed.  This house was larger and a “single family” home.  But while waiting for the house to be built, we had to move in with the in-laws!  Then, after 6 months we (finally!) got to move in to our new home.  We lived in this house for 2 yrs.  We loved the location.  It was extremely convenient to a couple freeways and the city.  Around the 2nd year mark, we found out we were going to have a baby and decided that we wanted to move to a house that was a little bigger with a larger backyard and better schools (basically the sub-suburbs because we were already in a suburb of the city).  So we bought a new house again, this one was not built yet either, had to move BACK in with the in-laws, luckily for only 2 1/2 months this time.  We moved into our newest home about a week and a half before Christmas.  Nice Christmas present!

Our daughter was born about 2 months later.  We did better here than at any other house.  It was bigger still as compared to the previous homes.  We even built a pool in the back yard!  We lived there for 6 1/2 yrs!!  That was great for us.  And when we bought it we *really*truly*believed that we would stay there until the kids were grown and gone.  HA!  It didn’t stop the urge, need, desire, insanity that over took us and “forced” us into selling the house and buying another one.

I’m beginning to wonder if a pattern is emerging here based on my childhood experiences….

This time we really moved up and I mean that figuratively & literally.  This house was located in the same town but on the side of a hill looking down into the valley.  THE VIEW!! It was truly spectacular.  We had 5 acres (space- blessed- space ~for the first time, all the other homes we lived in were constructed within about 8ft of the neighboring house, part of the problem with homes in many California towns), we had bedrooms for everyone, bathrooms for everyone, a dream garage for the husband (btw, the garage was 1,094 sq. this was about the same size as our townhouse!), plus an incredible formal living & dining room.  We’ve lived in this house for (almost) 1 yr.  But it was not meant to be… we are so very sad to have to leave.  We’ve been wonderfully lucky to have had the little time we had here.  The parties!  Good times, good times.

It’s just what happens when you are in business for yourself and the economy takes a big down turn.  I get to go through yet another exercise in packing and disposing of all the miscellaneous junk we’ve all accumulated in the last year.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly we collect things.  I don’t know why I am surprised, we are a whole family of collectors… see Things I find in pockets.

So, we are moving again.  We’ll be dramatically downsizing which is probably a good thing all around.  Less mortgage, less maintenance, less insurance, less bills for upkeep, and definitely less property tax!  This should mean less stress in general for the future.  We shall see….  FYI, we are going to do our best to keep the kids in the same school so at least they won’t have that to endure that torture too…

Enough for now,
Ciao