Life Lately

Oh, my goodness! It has been 1 1/2 months since I last wrote anything!  Life has been sooo busy!  The before-Christmas rush included the death of my grandmother and subsequent funeral.  It was rather sudden but not totally unexpected since she lived to the wonderful age of 96.  It was and is still very sad and I often have to remind myself that she is no longer around which seems really . . . weird.  Every Christmas, since . . . well, always, we have spent December 26th with my grandmother.  This was the first year we didn't.  I did make a trip out to her grave stone and said a little hello.  That day wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't.  But I rest in the knowledge that I will see her again when I, too, get to that glorious place called heaven where she now lives and worships her Savior.  It was always her desire to live with her Jesus and I am so glad she finally is.  It still doesn't make the tears any less, though.  And I don't think I can ever listen to "O Holy Night" again without crying - it was her favorite Christmas song.  We sang it to her the day she died and again at her funeral. 

I also spent many hours sewing Christmas gifts (on my grandmother's old machine, which made me think of her often) - aprons and doll clothes.  It was a lot of fun and is one of my favorite Christmas traditions - staying up late, trying to get the gifts done.

Jason's cousin and family moved from Tennessee to close by so we took some time to spend with them.  We love having them around and are enjoying getting to know them better.

We also met with a designer to help us with the design of our country home.  The draftsman we are using just wasn't able to fully understand what we wanted and needed but our designer?  She was awesome!  She listened to what we said and was able to incorporate what we wanted with what she knew we needed.  She was able to give out many ideas for us to think about and in the end, we LOVE the design of the house.  The plans are now at the draftsman again for him to make the technical drawings so we can finally have working blueprints to hand out for pricing.  We also sat down with a contractor and are going to see what it would cost for them to do the contracting and some of the major work, like the concrete, framing, electrical, etc.   Everyone is waiting for those blueprints so we are a little antsy since spring is going to come sooner than we think.  We still don't know if we are definitely building this year but we are sure hoping.  We will not make foolish financial decisions just to regret it later - if we need to wait another year, we will.  But, it has been our intention to build in 2012 so we will see what happens.

December is also the time of year that we take the kids to the optometrist and, for the first time ever, the dentist.  We went to a pediatric dentist and it was a fantastic experience.  We did discover that Pepe has a crowding issue and because of that needs some fillings and needed to see the orthodontist.  We just took Pepe and his brother AJ to the orthodontist this past week and we learned that Pepe will be getting a retainer and partial braces in the next 2-3 weeks.  It was not at all surprising but certainly unexpected at this stage of the game.  I didn't realize they did braces at such a young age - he is only 8.  But with all the photos they took and the explanation, I fully understand why this action needs to happen now.  Pepe says he is okay with it so I hope it all goes well.

Now that it is January, I am trying to finish up the year-end books for the farm.  But, we bought a new-to-us computer and that required many hours of work on my part to install all the programs we use, network the computers and printers, and make sure everything was running smoothly.  I hate how much time it takes to do all that stuff but it was necessary.  The old computer was SO. VERY. SLOW that it was frustrating, in the least.  We have now moved that one downstairs and they kids can use it for their computer games.  Works out great, actually.  And the paperwork is almost done.

And one last bit of exciting news - for me, anyway!  I bought a saxophone!  It has been a dream of mine, for at least the past 15 years, if not longer, to own a saxophone and learn to play.  I was given some inheritance money upon the death of my grandma and I wanted to do something special with some of it.  The saxophone is a used one and not one of the big 5 in brand name but I am thrilled with it anyway.  I also got a bunch of music with it so I am having fun playing.  I have never played any instrument well (I took piano as a young child and classical guitar for one year as a college student) but the saxophone is one instrument I adore and will play it for a long time. Jason even suggests taking lessons so when that man says to do it, I will.  We just need to figure out the timing on that one.

That is the past 1 1/2 months in a nut shell.  Now we are trying to establish routine again since school has started.  I am contemplating building our next kitchen cabinets, studying some of the Psalms for my personal devotions, off sugar again for a year, trying to fly with FlyLady and wanting to incorporate TaeBo back into my day.  But more on all that another time.  Today we are off to the Kitchen, Bath and Renovation Show being held in the city and I gotta get ready!  We will talk again soon!  :)