• I love, love, love Old Navy’s Dreamer jeans. I forgot how wonderful it is to wear jeans that don’t gap in the back. In fact, I want to buy more and just toss out all my other pants.
• I won – Thank you Cursingmama! – a copy of The Mayo Clinic Diet book & journal over at her review blog. I also started it even though it cautions to wait until a good time. The week before Easter is decidedly NOT a good time. As I have mentioned every single year on this blog, my favorite candy in all the world is only available at Easter. The first two weeks (the Lose It! portion) you are suppose to give up sugar. Hahahahaha. Yo, that shit is hard. I’ve done… ok. Not perfect but not nearly as bad as I would have been if I wasn’t doing this. Also? I have to decided to eat as much candy as I want on Easter. For one day. I will be in a sugar coma. Then? I might extend the first 2 weeks for one more. We shall see.
• As anyone who follows me on twitter already knows, I had my annual review yesterday at work and it has been decided I’m full of the awesome. As for a raise, extremely minimal merit raises are being offered up. I for one am glad to have a job. Not that we couldn’t use the money but I’d rather have no one lose their job.
• Found out a friend from high school is in the hospital with an infection around his heart… from twitter. Twitter FTW! (As for the other business on twitter. Suck it, don’t suck it, I’m out of caring. Although, thanks for the entertainment.) As for my friend, I’m seriously worried. He is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and we just reconnected. Get well Alan!

Child update for the related people and grandparents out there reading – non-related and non-grandparents, do not feel the need to read my annoying gushing. (I must gush when I can because usually I’m just complaining about them):

• Alex played for the Varsity baseball team during a scrimmage the other day. He was not nervous. I was a wreck. He held his own though. It’s his first year catching and he’s doing great but has some stuff to work on. What? I don’t know – see: not informed about sports. Still, the coaches seem to like him and he’s getting the hang of it.
• Tyler made the JV golf team. He’s very excited and we are very proud. Now we need to invest in a membership for him at the local golf course.
• The last parent-teacher conference ever for Dylan was the only one where the teacher had nothing negative to say. Only lovely words were spoken. And his grades are higher than they’ve ever been. Also, it has been agreed by all that Jr. High should be good for him. Apparently letting him almost flunk out last term worked. He’s getting all his homework done at school now. Now if he would just let me cut his hair.
• Zach. What to say about him. He’s a bit sassy. A bit whiny. All brilliant and still adorable. Baseball starts next week.
• The 3 youngest have all signed up for the mini-triathlon again.
• Clearly none of these children are related to me.

As of today, the OFA has just barely 1300 scarves. They need 3000 for the Red Scarf Project, to send in care packages to college students formerly in foster care, who are going it on their own.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of these kids. This isn’t just some nutty knitters feeling good idea. The students truly appreciate what you are doing, knitting something by hand for them. Not only is it likely to be the only handknit they receive, it will likely be the only care package.

Here’s the plan:

1. Cast on for a red scarf and work on it as much as you can this week, and if you’re in the US, especially over Thanksgiving. Pick a simple pattern and you’ll maybe finish it by Sunday. Or next.
2. Be thankful for whoever supported you with a care package when you were a student. Think what it would have been like without them. And if there wasn’t anyone? Then you really know how it matters.
3. Tell another knitter about it . There’s info on the Red Scarf blog. And patterns.
4. STEAL THE POSTER above and put it on your blog. Really! If you click on it, it’ll go to my Flickr page, just steal it from there.
5. Call your local yarn store and tell them about this. If they need a poster to print out, there’s one of this one, print sized, linked to the Red Scarf blog. Offer to print it out for them & hang it in the store. Maybe they want to offer a discount on any red yarn for one day to perk things up?
6. Knit! I’m determined to finish the one I’m on now, and crank one more by the December 15th deadline. It is do-able. Join me?

My last pep talk on the subject is here, it has additional suggestions for helping out.

Don’t forget to show your love for your honey by celebrating. You can learn more about it here.

I did however take the children skiing more than once. I rented skis for the season, I suited them up and spent a day reading in the lodge with breaks to hand out money, food and hot chocolate. I also bought a snowboard for one of them and last night… Last night I skied for the first time in five years. My planning skills really need work. Not only do I have to adjust to being back at work, I had to figure out how to get to my second floor office without going up the stairs. Also, the screams every time I rise from my chair are upsetting my office mates. I don’t think they appreciate it on this first day back to work.

As for holidays and new years and resolutions…

The holidays were good. Much Rock Band 2 was played on the Wii. During said play it was discovered my 12 y/o’s voice is changing and now I have to pay him to not sing. A nasty head cold made the rounds but overall it was a healthy holiday. The new year was celebrated by bowling. And we were witness to another holiday miracle…

My 14 y/o was invited to a New Year’s party and did not even ASK if he could go. He told his friend he would be bowling with his family. Yes, a 14 y/o boy willingly spent time with his family over the break. He played games with us, bowled, and did not sulk. I’m trying to soak up and enjoy each and every moment before the wind changes direction. I know this will not last but for now I even have photographic PROOF of this miracle. Of course I can’t post it because it would require me to actually take the photos off my camera. That has not happened. I’m thinking I need to put more photos on Flickr so maybe I’ll start with these.

As for resolutions, I’m not a fan. Some years I make them, most years I don’t. I think this is a don’t year. They just make me feel bad when I don’t accomplish them. 2009 seems to be the year of let’s see what happens. Of course, I just realized I mentioned I must work on my planning skills. That without plans I get nothing done… hmmm. Still, right now feels like a take life where it leads you time.

Things I learned over the break:

1. I can not drink 10 cups of coffee in one day unless I want to be up until 3am.
2. I need a plan or I will get nothing done but watch Gilmore Girls.
3. I think I’m in love with Gilmore Girls. I’m on season 6. I don’t want it to end.
4. Your arms can be sore from skiing. No, I don’t know how that happens. It just does.
5. It is possible for teenage boys to play Rock Band for 7 hours straight with only one break for food.
6. If not playing video games they eat approximately every 23 minutes. (Okay, I already knew this.)
7. Sometimes your kids will want to play a board game with you.
8. A cool uncle present will up the time your teen will want to spend in your company.
9. If you need to laugh until you cry, hang out with a sibling.
10. Mondays are harder than you remember when you have to go back to work after a vacation.

• My brain is swirling, swirling, swirling. It will not stop. I keep trying to grab things and write them down before I forget them but I still feel things I’ve forgotten waiting at the edges of my consciousness waiting until it’s too late to pounce.
• The lights are still not on the tree.
• The house has not been cleaned.
• The baking has not been done.
• The food shopping for tomorrow is not done. I was suppose to do it yesterday but instead spent the evening at the doctor’s with the 10 year old. Earache and possible strep. Every year one of them is sick. It seems he is the chosen one this year.
• I only have a couple of gifts left to wrap.
• A Hanukkah miracle has occurred. The older two received Cranium WOW for the first night of Hanukkah. We have all played it twice since then. The miracle? My FOURTEEN year old played and had fun and was animated and excited to play a board game with his family. Trying to hold on to that memory. Who knows when it will happen again.
• I have a late-breaking gift for one of the children which has thrown off the whole fairly even, fairly fair gift piles. Now I’m trying to figure out how to work it into the rotation. What I’m not willing to do is buy 3 more gifts. What to do? What to do?
• I really need to relax and approach my shopping without a frantic edge. It’s all about state of mind now. I always make sure to not have to go to the store on Christmas eve. I hate the kind of crowds out there and yet here I am making lists of food for tomorrow, last minute needs and last minute chores. I’m afraid there isn’t enough time left to get it all done.

Have a Happy Holiday! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! May it be fun and stress-free.

Since his birthday is on a school night he has planned his own get-together with his friends. They are coming over to a adult-free house after school and playing snow football. Now the reasons I have allowed a bunch of unsupervised teens in my house is this, there will be no girls as they don’t usually like snow football, they will be outside most of the time and he is fourteen (gasp) and he and his friends are pretty darn responsible. Please do not take the time to tell me how foolish I am. I’ll be home approximately two and 1/2 hours after them. I’m guessing I will find them playing Madden ’09 on the Wii.

Tonight is also the second night of Hanukkah. The kids gifts went over well last night – in fact the game (Cranium WOW) I got the older two went over better than I thought it would. Two of the boys gave me a pair of lovely earrings. It seems my second born has impeccable taste. Or at least he always knows exactly what I like. The earrings are dangly and it’s weird but I haven’t worn dangly earrings since the kids were born. Or at least only when I was dressed up. I forgot how much I enjoy them.

The only disappointment was the gift I got my husband. He always tells me not to get him anything and of course, I always do. Get him something, that is. He always acts… what is the best word to describe it? Respectful? Thankful? Annoyed? Never, ever excited. I’ve never, ever seen the kind of smile that you just can’t repress when you receive a great gift (like the one I had when I got my flash for my birthday). It’s been sort of my mission to get one of those smiles out of him. I thought I had finally nailed it. I really did. I even got an amazing deal on it. Turns out? Not so much. I actually think I may give up. I mean, I can’t. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Accept he’ll never be happy with the gifts I give him? Not try to find the perfect gift? Just give him underwear and socks? Gah! It should be noted, he shows proper excitement when other people give him gifts. It’s just the ones from me he seems resigned to. Maybe I’m just a terrible gift giver. Seriously? If the Christmas gift I got him doesn’t do it, nothing will.

I have decided tonight is book night. The kids and everyone get books. I try to arrange the nights very carefully to maximize excitement and things to keep them busy. I do themes each night and I think only once did I do a misc. night. There is ALWAYS a book night – or two. This year we had game night, tonight is book night (the children have been complaining they have no good books to read which 1. is a lie and 2. there is a library 1/10th of a mile down the street), tomorrow we are celebrating with their Grandpa so no gifts from us, Wednesday is clothes night (so they will be comfy over the holiday), Thursday is Christmas so no gifts yet again, Friday we are going to rent their ski equipment, Saturday is celebrating with Nana and Aunts, Uncles and cousins. I have no idea what to do on Sunday. By that point they will have a present hangover. Maybe I should divide the giant stacks of books into two nights. Guess I better figure that out pretty quickly.

As for Christmas, my mother and I have decided to go with mini foods in a buffet. Oh, and ham. Crackers, cheese, hummus, mini quiches, mini pizzas, meatballs, cookies and whatever else I find at BJ’s tomorrow night. We all get too full off snacks on holidays anyway so why bother with the sit down dinner? Snack, drink and pie. Must not forget the pie. Crap! Must remember the ingredients for my traditional Christmas morning coffee cake. This is the only time a year I make it.

As for the cookies? I’m thinking the week AFTER Christmas is a good time to make them. What are your plans for the holidays?

Yesterday I crashed my site. Complete meltdown. Nothing showing up. Nada. I spent many hours fixing what I’m sure a fourteen year old could fix in about 15 minutes. Many, many hours. As in late into the night or rather, into the early morning. I also installed WordPress. I may even like it. I can’t really tell you though because my brain is not actually connected to the rest of me at the moment. And yes, I do have a 14 y/o. But my 14 y/o can’t do such things because apparently when you have a mother who knows even a little bit about computers, you don’t feel the need to learn anything about them yourself – much like cooking.

It seems to be up and working today. It’s actually working much better than my brain. I was even an hour and a half late for work this morning (one of the 3.5 hours spent sleeping was when I am normally getting ready for work and getting the kids ready). Just know, there is not enough coffee in the world right now.

In other news, I have had my own personal Christmas miracle. I would say more but there is always the chance that one of my offspring will read this. A small chance but who wants to blow the miracle now? Just know that miracles do happen. And remind me to tell you about it after the holiday.

I seem to use the phrase, “In other news” much too often.

I have to ask, are your children, assuming you have them or have spent some time with some recently, insane? I mean really. Mine are driving me mad. They are fighting and teasing and whining and WILL. NOT. STOP. TOUCHING. EACH. OTHER. I get that they are excited but lay off already. When at least one is in tears at a near constant rate it may indicate you should leave your brothers the hell alone. For those of you who don’t know what I refer to, it goes something like this:

1. One brother (any brother) does something he knows will annoy the snot out of everyone. Or just one someone.
2. Said brother is told to stop behavior.
3. Repeat step 2.
4. Repeat.
5. First brother is attacked physically by other brother(s).
6. Melee ensues.
7. First brother ends up in tears.
8. First brother tries to garner sympathy from parental units.
9. NOTE: Step #8 NEVER works yet child keeps doing it.
10. Repeat steps 1-9.
11. Repeat steps 1-9 with different brother playing the part of First Brother.
12. Repeat steps 1-11 over and over – even while parental units scream, yell, and send everyone to their rooms.
13. And keep repeating until parental units are dead on floor from apoplexy.

There is no amount of wine that will take the edge off this chaos. Believe me, I’ve tried.