Should Old Aquaintance Be Forgot...

I have a theory that applies only to me - every odd numbered year is generally not very good, even year's bring much more joy.

Starting in 1989, I can prove my odd year theory...
1989: New boss at work - the worse I've ever had; prompted me to hand in my resignation the end of the following year
1991: Bad leading to good - leave my home, my best-friends, my family; and move to the other side of the country. Meet John two weeks after I arrive :)
1993: John loses his first job; My Mom died
1995: John loses his next job
1997: My company refuses to compromise on my return after maternity leave, I quit and go freelance
1999: Stuff in our marriage - won't go into details
2001: REALLY bad stuff in our marriage (briefly break-up), and of course, 9/11
2003: John without work, forced to leave California for Ohio
2005: John still without permanent work, takes job in Wisconsin, we see him 4 days a month for almost two years; I take a new job at the university that I HATE!
2007: John has two jobs, second one ends unexpectedly; I quit my job earlier than planned - go deeper into debt

And the even year's:
1990: Tour with the Molson Indy circuit (a blast!), go to Vancouver, decide to quit my job and move!
1992: Marry John
1994: Cameron is born
1996: Jackson is born
1998: Caeden is born
2000: Buy new house in California; elected PTA President
2002: Marriage is GREAT; 10th Anniversary; lose lots of weight, look great!
2004: Start new job in advertising, start to settle into living in Ohio, Cameron makes first All-Star baseball team
2006: Back with advertising company, get lots of new clients, start making really good friends in Ohio
2008: My company is starting to take off, John has a new PERMANENT job he loves, boys are all very healthy, I will lose 40 pounds...(had to throw in a resolution somewhere...)

...THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

The Jersey

Jackson got a new football jersey for Christmas. Actually, he got it yesterday because Santa and the United States Postal Service had trouble communicating our address!

So Santa had to write a note explaining why the prized Devin Hester Chicago Bears #23 home jersey was not under the tree.

The USPS elf dropped the box in the middle of our garage floor sometime Thursday -- I only discovered it as I was leaving to go to the post office yesterday to find out where the heck it was!

I've written about Jackson's obsession with his jersey's before. He sees holes and threads, some imaginary, some created by the constant picking; his obsessiveness has relegated some jerseys to the closet, never to be worn again! (Not such a bad fate for the Troy Smith Ohio State jersey!)

Devin Hester arrived pristine in its package from the NFL Shop. He carefully put it over his head...and started examining the you-know-what out of it until...yep - there was actually a flaw on the sleeve!


I had visions of a major meltdown -- the wailing and tears -- the insistence on getting another jersey...

Instead I got - "You know, I'm getting okay with this..."

Christmas miracles...

The Power of Blogging

We had friends over for dinner last night. During the conversation Vickie asked, "have you updated that blog yet?!" I didn't even know she had been reading it!

While in Canada, my mother, John's brother, and several friends asked me the same thing, "When are you going to post again"? My mother was particularly vocal, "I've told all my friends to read it and now you stopped posting!"

Frankly, my initial reason for starting this blog was to make money. I had been working with a friend on his charity website, www.puzzleofhope.org; and we had been discussing ways we could generate hits to his site. We started researching blogging and I saw how people were making hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars a month by simply writing about their lives!

Why couldn't I do the same thing? I had the subject matter...kids and sports...who wouldn't want to read about that? Seemed simple.

And it was simple...I set up the blog on my own and started writing. After a few posts, I was able to sign up for Google AdSense -- this was the money side. There were various ways I could generate income, the easiest was allowing Google Ads to be placed in my site. Again, simple.

What I didn't realize is that you need THOUSANDS of hits PER DAY to actually make money, unless someone clicks on the ads; then I could earn a couple of dollars here and there. There are millions of blogs, and unless you work the web everyday, it's really hard to get readers to find you!

After three months I have had a total of 2,688 hits and earned $57.13. So much for hundreds and/or thousands of dollars per month!

But I discovered something along the way...I really didn't care about making money. I was really enjoying the opportunity to write and even more, I enjoyed writing about my family. It became my journal, with the added bonus of having others share in our experiences.

So for all those who have become loyal readers; I thank you. Now, if you just take a look at the ads across the top...:)

Ohhh...Christmas Tree!

A couple of days after Thanksgiving we found the PERFECT Christmas Tree...you may recall that my parents participated and greatly contributed to the discovery of this treasure.
You may also recall how beautiful it looked once home and decorated. The perfect size; the angel almost touching the ceiling.

But our beautiful tree did not react well to being chopped down and brought into our home. She started to lose her needles. Of course, all trees lose needles but not like this...

We knew she was in trouble when we left for Canada but we had hope that the copious amount of water we were putting in her pot would prolong her life until after New Years (our traditional schedule for taking down the tree). We even had our neighbor, Ken, attend to her needs in our absence.

On our return Christmas Eve, I went over to say hello, touched her delicate branches...and heard the sound of thousands of needles falling to the floor.

Alas, our beautiful tree was gone...

Yesterday was her funeral...as we carried her gently outside, she left a trail of needles through the entire processional route.

Our neighbors will be able to continue to call on her at her final resting place at the curb...until Tuesday when she turns to dust in the back of the garbage truck!

I'm Back...

Where on earth did I go? I have no idea why it has taken me THREE weeks to write a post. I would get up in the morning with the intent of writing something and then go to bed at night realizing I hadn't even logged into my account.

And it's not like I didn't have anything to write about!

Since my last post on December 3rd we have had...
Wrestling matches... (still working on learning the new camera),

Christmas concerts...
We bought a new Chrysler Town and Country...

Cameron celebrated the first snow day by building "Mt. Cameron" in our front yard!

We had our annual Christmas visit to Canada - John got to drink REAL beer (see Moosehead)
...the boys were able to snowboard with their girl cousins, Kelsy and Alana. Kelsy is "going on 14" and not so happy with cold and snow...but she's great at posing for pictures! Seriously - we are so happy that they are growing up together as friends...




On the way back from Canada, Caeden started throwing up - IN THE BRAND NEW VAN! Hence, it was the first time we weren't able to go to church as a family on Christmas Eve. By Christmas morning all was back to normal, and seeing the boys faces is always the biggest gift of all!

Long and short of it...while typical December stress created a writer's block for me, it didn't diminish my desire to celebrate my family highs and lows with all of you!

I'm back...wishing everyone a belated MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The New Job

John started his new job today.

You have to understand that I have held back from really letting myself believe this would happen until he actually set foot in the office and signed his first paper with our personal details for insurance, banking, 401K's.

We've not had much luck with jobs over the last five years, in fact, we even had a job with a signed contract that was canceled the day he quit his previous contract (and they couldn't take him back...)

So, he's officially in the office and filling out the mountain of paper work!

I had the first phone call at 10am - "what's your social security number..."

Second call at 10:20 - "what's Caeden's social security number..."

Third call at 10:30 - "what's the school district number..."

Fourth call at 12:10 - "going to lunch now..."

Fifth call at 2:55 - "they work 8:30 to 5:30 so I won't be home until around 7 - but the hours are flexible so I'm going to do 8 to 5 from now on..."

He's been home with me for five weeks...I guess it's withdrawal... :)

The New Camera

I have a new camera...not just any old camera, it's the camera of my dreams. It's a Nikon D40 with 18-55mm zoom lens!

I have wanted a camera like this since the dinosaur days of 35mm film; back when I entered the advertising industry in the 1980's. I dreamed of taking beautiful C/U shots of my friends -- fashion shots, pensive shots, artful shots. I was in a creative industry, after all.

Once the boy's came along, I so wanted to take pictures of my beautiful children and put them in frames all over the house. Of course, these would need to be black and white pics, with the light and shadows falling away in classic film noir style.

Then came sports and the documentation of every game. Oh how I wish I'd had a decent camera to catch all the action -- the first soccer goal, the first time pitching, the first wrestling match, the first home run...I missed all these firsts for Cameron!

But now I have the real thing, due largely to the fact that I now have my own company and can write this off as a business expense!

I have learned the basics and couldn't wait to get out and start taking shots of the boys in action. Unfortunately, my desire to be a photographer and the reality of my skill are miles apart. Hopefully this will improve before baseball season!