2006 Ready or Not, Here it Comes!

Another year has come. And gone. I am another year older. Wiser? Well I suppose that is debateable, but I can't think of any major mistakes or regrets associated with 2005 so I'm good. Actually, I'm so much better than good. I am truly blessed. Just like New Year's Eves of the recent past, I am overwhelmed and overcome with how GOOD God has been to me and mine. Being the me that I am, it would be way way way too easy for me to get philosophical and sappy about my husband and children and parents and brother, but I won't do that. Suffice it to say that given everything that is going on in the world today, I try not to take anything for granted - there but for the amazing grace of God, go I.

Resolutions? Well I gave up making them several years ago because I seldom, if ever kept them. I have thought and thought and thought some more about making some for 2006. I still hesitate to be specific but I will say that I resolve to take care of myself in the new year. Less self-guilt. More self-love. Less self-doubt. More self-praise. Less, "I wonder what they will think." More, "I have to do what is right for me." I have this awful habit of making life harder than it has to be and putting myself through entirely too much undue stress. Wish I knew why, but that really isn't the issue. In 2006 I just plan to do less of this.

It's been a very long time since I posted any pics to my blog. So long in fact, that I may have forgotten how. Let's give it a try ...


Okay so it appears that my pics are at the top of this entry whereas I wanted them directly above this paragraph. Anyway, they are pics of my "new" scraproom which is a work in progress. It used to be cement white (both the walls and the floor). As you can see it is now a shade of blue that is the result of me combining the lovely shades of blue and green that I recently painted Jared's and Justin's respective bedrooms. I also now have a 8' x 12' piece of carpet on the floor - so you know how big (or small actually) my room is.

Where I used to have a farily large table at which to sit and scrap, I now have a new Craftsman workbench at which to stand and scrap. Where I used to have my paper and cardstock horizontally laying in the "Target cubes" I now have the Cropper Hopper vertival storage trolley. I also have that other Cropper Hopper drawer storage thingy too where I used to have a couple of Serlite drawer storage thingies.

My ever-present and all-important stereo is sitting atop the white cabinet that will eventually go back up on the wall to hold some of my scrapbooks as it isn't large enough to hold all of them. In my stereo, you know I have some jammin' cds - currently my main man Will Downing (so smooth), Sting (so cool and mellow-jazzy), Mariah Carey (so "hip-pop"), Babyface (also smooth, but in a different way from Will) and Jill Scott (so raw without being profane).

I still have a TON of stuff to bring back into my room but I'm taking my time so that I can find a permanent place for everything and so that I can remember all the new permanent places KWIM? Unfortunately, I need Dave to do a few things before I can move so much back in there. This is unfortunate because he is the KING of procrastination and of unfinished projects. Who do you think painted the room and put the workbench together? Yours truly. It is no fluke that one of my favorite sayings is, "God bless the child that's got his own." In this case I'm referreing to my own tools and ambition to get the job done!

Plans for tonight? Nada special. More simplicity over complexity. More of less being more. More chillin' with my man and my rugrats. More life etc.

Happy New Year!

td (tracydacy)

Merry Christmas

Well almost ... in two minutes it will be Christmas Day and here I sit up in bed on the laptop wide awake while not any other creature is stirring in the house. I know that it will be a while before I am able to drift off. Why? When were out earlier my allergies started acting up and I took a Benedryl. We got home around 6 or so, I cooked at ate dinner, showered and decided to climb into bed and browse some scrapping mags for inspiration with the January KNK kit, which was waiting on my doorstep this evening. Before I knew anything I was out like a light. I totally forgot about the Benedryl, only knew that for some reason I could not stay awake. Even if I had thought about it, I'd have thought that some two hours after I had taken it, the sleepy effects would have worn off. Guess I'd have been wrong on that count eh?

Anyway, I'm just trying to decide when to go downstairs and do the Santa thang. Shortly I supposed. As usual, the kids are getting a bunch of stuff but I can't wait to see their faces. Especially Justin's. Can't wait until he opens that "Chicken Wimbo" which of course is Chicken Limbo. I noticed today that my baby is now pronouncing his "L's" correctly. When did that happen? I'd say within the last two weeks or so ...

Oh well, at the risk of sounding really hokey and even a bit cliche, I plan to spend Christmas enjoying the most wonderful gifts, my husband and my children. We'll have a few folks over but Christmas has been a veg out holiday for us for the last four or five years and I am so looking forward to it - enjoying the simple things but oh so important things and that's it. No fancy stuff. Sweats, not sequins. Wing dings and cheese sticks, not ham or turkey and all the traditional holiday fixings. Simplicity, not complexity. It's like that, and that's the way it is. And how I prefer it.

Merry Christmas to all (and to all a good night!)

ttfn
td

Christmas Is Coming

I don't think I am necessarily trying to avoid or resisting getting in the Christmas spirit, it's just that it's not happening as readily as it normally does. I mean, I'm just not feeling very festive but my hubby is changing that. Yesterday he got out in the snow and hung some of the Christmas lights. I felt so bad that he was out there in the snowy cold that I went and stood out there while he worked for support. He was pretty chipper and cheerful the whole time, even having to work with the ever-stiffening rope lights. Even when I went in for a warm up break he didn't make a wise crack.

Then, between 8:30 and 9 PM last night he decided to put up the new fiber-optic Christmas tree. As I sat there watching him put it up, he got somewhat philosophical and started telling me how some of his co-workers complain so much but that he is really happy. Yeah, he knows that nothing is perfect but he is genuinely happy with his life and with me. I told him that I think that our marriage is the epitome of what a good marriage should be. From time to time we get on each other's nerves and piss each other off and just don't feel like being bothered with each other but the vast majority of the time we enjoy each other's company. We enjoy talking to each other. We make each other laugh. We look at the kids, and each other and we smile from the inside out and recognize how truly blessed we are.

I took a bunch of pictures of him putting up the tree. I'll do a LO of him once I get my scraproom back in order.

As I dozed off last night I thought to myself that spending the day with Dave in our junky home, with our loud unruly kids and slowly giving in to the Christmas spirit more than made up for the crappy mood/day I had on Saturday ...

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Ho hum ...

The saying goes, "No news is good news." I suppose this is true but no news can also be boring and that pretty much explains why I have not blogged in such a long time. In fact, I don't have any new news today either ...

Well there is some good news. Since I last wrote, Angela of KNK invited me and six or seven other KNK members to be the new KNK Design Team. I still remember my reaction to her initial email inquiry. I thought to myself, "Wow, she much kinda like my LOs eh?" It was such an honor to be asked and to serve on the Team with such talented other ladies. December is the first month that our creations will be feature in the newsletter and I adored that Fancy Pants kit!

The other news is not so good. Ford is supposed to "involuntarily separating" quite a number of salaried employees during the first quarter of next year. Can I just say how sick and tired I am of wondering and worrying about the status of my job?!?!? I can say that 90% of the time, I just go with the flow and think, "whatever" because I know that it is out of my hands and that there really isn't much I can do about it one way or the other. It's just the other 10% of the time when I worry and let my imagination run away with me. After I feel about ready to scream about it, my common sense and spirituality kicks in and reminds me that the Lord will provide - whatever the case or scenario.

I am feeling bummed today. Can't really put my finger on why, but I am. Part of it is that I really want to work on my scrap room but can't. I'm in the middle of totally redoing it, but I need Dave's help. Hopefully he'll do the tiny bit I need him to do tonight and then I can stucko it tomorrow or soon thereafter. I think I'm going to LOVE it when I get done. I got a new Craftsman workbench to go in there and I'm going to paint the room the same wonderful shade of green that I recently painted Justin's room. I ordered some Cropper Hopper vertical storage holders this morning and I going to look into getting the trolley too. I'm excited about it all, but as I also said, today I am feeling kind of blue. Kind of sad. I wish that Dave were here to hold me right now and tell me that everything is going to be just fine.

What else?? Christmas is three weeks from tomorrow. I am looking forward to being off and to seeing the kid's faces on Christmas morning, assuming that Santa actaully visits them. They have not been on their best behavior so it's quite possible that they will get nothing more than a lump of coal for the holiday. I can remember trying to be so good during the days leading up to Christmas when I was a little girl, but my kids just keep being bratty. Go figure.

See, told you I didn't have much to say here.

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tracydacy