I went to church today! It was so nice to be back at my church ... I couldn't believe that everyone remembered us *L* Today's message was exactly what I needed to hear, it was about seeing challenges and "problems" as blessings from God. Amazing ...

I ran into Cheryl at church, it was so good to see her -- she's originally from Hawaii too, so seeing her was just awesome. She got me thinking about moving back to the area I lived in prior to where I am now. I wouldn't move back into the same town, but the same county - most definitely closer to church. Nick was very excited about moving back when I casually asked him about it, but this isn't a decision to make overnite. He's in a good school (Cheryl said there are a lot of good schools *L*), he's in the cub scouts (Cheryl said there are cub scouts in every town *L*), and I'm close to the lake (Cheryl said the county I used to live in isn't called Lake Country for nothing *LOL). We'll see though ... it would definitely have to be something much better than where I'm at, and there's really no reason why I can't find a nice house where I am now. I'm just fortunate to have options!

I did a little housekeeping/cleaning and the laundry, of course :) I also went through Nick's clothes, fixed a couple of holey jeans, and sorted out the items he's outgrown into three bags: consignment, freecycle, and garbage *L*

I'm looking forward to the coming week, I have two meetings tomorrow after work - one's a follow up with social services, and Nick's den meeting; then the kids have their annual physicals on Tuesday night, and Nick and I have a date on Friday night :) I have tickets to the Milwaukee Wave game, but we may go to the movies instead. I'll probably wait until Friday to decide :)

It was another long day, L didn't pick us up until 1:30p (and we were orginally set for 10a). But that's typical L.

We went to David's Bridal and Meghan tried on about 12 dresses. The dress I bought wasn't one that I would have picked, but L liked it, and it's her wedding. I'm still shocked that I spent $115 on a flower girl dress (in addition to the $185 I'm spending on my bridesmaid dress). I'm not accustomed to having to buy my own dress -- in Hawaii, the Bride pays for her girl's dresses, and the Groom pays for the tuxes for the guys. I don't know if it's an asian custom or just a Hawaiian one. I now understand why some people decline an offer to be in the wedding party, they simply can't afford it!

L told me again that S wants Meghan to be her flower girl -- I made some small comment about that. I think it's rude for S to ask L to ask ME to have Meghan as the flower girl. I know I don't see her very often, but if she really wants Meghan as the flower girl, she should ask L for my number and give me a call, right? I wonder what Dear Abby or Emily Post would say about this?

It's been a long day. *sigh*

I went shopping at Old Navy on my lunch break, and picked up a couple of shirts for each kid, and extra gloves and hats for Nick. Everything was on clearance/sale, so it was money spent well.

We made a stop at the pet shop this evening -- since we moved Kenai and Xena (our two red-eared slider turtles) into the 40 gallon breeder (courtesy of a wonderful freecycler), the 20 gallon long aquarium has been sitting empty, and whispering in my ear, "I need a pet!" *L* So ... we are now a family of one mom, one boy, one girl, two cats, two turtles, lots of fishies, and ... three hermit crabs *L* Wait!! Almost forgot about the hamster! *L* I think I'm gonna start charging admission when people come over :)

Tomorrow's shaping up to be a busy day ... I need to go to Sam's Club to pick up more disposable contacts and to buy all my bulky stuff, and sometime tomorrow I'm supposed to go with L to David's Bridal to shop for Meghan's flower girl dress. Meghan's the flower girl in both L's wedding (May 2005) and S's wedding (October 2005), so I'm hoping to get a dress that's acceptable for both weddings. Perhaps with an interchangable sash -- L's color is red and S's color is lavendar. It's probably too much to hope that it'll also be on sale! L was supposed to come over at 10a, but J already called to say L's gonna sleep in, so we're going shopping later in the day. One never knows how long L sleeps ... I'm not waiting around for her though, I'm gonna get on the road at 8a to do my shopping at Sam's Club. I hate waiting around when I have things to do. I'm normally a patient person, but I hate wasting time.

I have a challenge posted on my other site. If you're feeling lucky, check it out! :)

We are in the midst of our very first snow day since we moved to Wisconsin. It started off as a 2-hour delay in starting school. I dropped the kids off at daycare at 7:15, and my usual 30-minute commute to work took 90-minutes. As soon as I walked into the office, the receptionist informed me that the daycare called twice, saying they were closing because the school district changed the 2-hour delay into an entire closure. So. I rested for 20 minutes or so, then headed back home.

The kids are now playing outside to their hearts delight, sledding and snowboarding. I started to tidy up the living room and kitchen, but decided to just take a break and enjoy the snow day. I work for a wonderful and generous company, we do have a section in our employee handbook that allows employees that live in areas affected by severe weather to have the day off, with pay, without having to tap into sick leave, vacations, or personal holidays. I love my job!

The first winter storm is on its way to Wisconsin. When all's said and done, we could have 7 - 10 inches of snow by Thursday. We'll see ... personally, as this is just my 3rd "real" winter, I truly don't mind the snow! Bring it on, baby! :)

I was assigned the new manager at work yesterday. She's keeping me pretty busy, but that's a good thing. I also got a nice email from the President of the bureau thanking me for the thank you card I gave to him for my Christmas bonus. Yes, I gave my boss a thank you card for giving me a bonus. It was unexpected, and very much needed. I saved his email :) it was really nice and had some really kind compliments in it.

Nick was acting up in school today, I knew that the new before & after school care combined with having to ride the bus would stress him out a bit, so his behavior was expected. Poor kid has had so much change in his short life, it's a wonder he can tie his shoelaces in the morning. His 1st and 2nd grade teachers thought he had ADHD, but he was officially screened by two doctors, and both diagnosed him as an extremely bright boy (he learned to read in one week), with post-traumatic stress disorder, due to my ex-husband's abuse, and the huge move to Wisconsin. But things are getting a little better each day. When my mom came to visit this summer, she was amazed at how much he had improved (she hadn't seen him for two years). It's hard to notice when you're around him every day, but people that haven't seen him for a while, even a few weeks, notice the improvement in his behavior and overall attitude. He's a much happier boy, as he most definitely deserves to be.

*sigh* It's a struggle, but most definitely worth every single challenge!

Hi Vanessa, Shannon, and Laurie!

I felt obligated to counter my earlier snarky post, with a more uplifting and positive one, so here goes!

What will you do with all your Christmas cards? Do you keep them all in a box, never to look at the again, only to throw out the entire box when it's spring cleaning/purging time?

Well, there is an organization that will take your old cards, and will use them as supplies for crafts for children with medical challenges, that are in the hospital. If you still have your old cards (Christmas or any holiday), please send the front of the card only, without any writing on the other side (you will need to cut them in half) to:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children
100 St. Jude Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

Thank you for considering your donation to them. My dad was a huge supporter of St. Jude's. One of my earliest memories is my dad letting me hold his St. Jude medallion when we'd go out to keep me out of mischief.