Chelsea, Eline, and I are enjoying a very white Christmas in N. Idaho! We have had a great visit with all our family. Eline has fit right in with the rest of our family. She and my dad have enjoyed sharing their jar of pickled herring. (YUK!!!) We all gathered here at Mom and Dad's house on Christmas eve, as we do every year. We had a great meal and then opened presents. Everyone was very spoiled by my parents, and we all had a wonderful time. We went to my sister's church for the candlelight service which was beautiful as usual. Later everyone went to their own homes, and Chelsea, Eline and I went back to Mom and Dad's. The girls watched National Treasure and the rest of us went to bed.
On Christmas morning the living room was filled once again with presents. These were mostly my presents to the girls and to my parents. Mike arrived around 9:30 and we had to wake the girls up in order to open presents. For all of those anxiously awaiting: Mike gave me beautiful diamonds for Christmas, a necklace and earrings. I was thrilled and relieved, because I am not ready for anything else right now. He got along well with all of my family, but had to head back to Montana today because we got about 8 inches of snow last night with more coming. Chelsea was thrilled with her presents also. She got a laptop, which wasn't a surprise since she paid for half of it, plus many other gifts. Eline was thrilled because I spent the same on her as I did on Chelsea, with the exception of the laptop. That was fair because she got about the same amount in $$ from her father for Christmas. I really don't think Eline expected anything so it was fun to see her face when she saw the pile of gifts for her.
The girls are now at the movies with all my teenage neices. They went to see National Treasure 2 and then they are going to the Resort for "gooies" which are some sort of huge ice cream dessert.
I am just chilling and enjoying the quiet.
Mom is doing much better, but is dreading her second surgery on Jan. 10th. I wish I could be here to help out, but unfortunately the girls and I all need to return to school.
Eline goes back to Utah tomorrow to spend some time with her best friend, and Chelsea and I will return on Sunday.
We hope all of you had as wonderful a Christmas as we have had. You can't ask for anything better than spending the holidays with family and those you love.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Crazy!
Life has been crazy busy around here! Finals took up much of my energy but they are over. I got sick with a cold last weekend and am just now starting to feel better. I think I'm done with all my shopping and am pretty much packed for our trip tomorrow.
My mom ended up back in the hospital for a day and a half because she still couldn't keep any food down. She's back home now and doing better. Scared me though when my dad called to tell me. He rarely calls so I instantly got scared when I heard his voice. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and all is well now. I'll be home tomorrow afternoon so I can help dad take care of her. I told the girls that our job isn't to relax and be lazy, but to do all the cooking, cleaning and waiting on Grandma. They both agreed that that is what we need to be doing.
Mike and I are going to a party tonight so I'll take some time to relax. I baked and delivered goodies to my neighbors, volunteered at the local domestic violence shelter, made a few gifts, cleaned the house, ran the girls around, shoveled snow and now I think its time to chill for a few hours.
I'm sure I forgot something but that's okay. I'll probably take a little time at Mom's to blog about how Mike's visit with my family goes. He's pretty nervous, although I've told him my family is very laid back and easy-going. I think he's more nervous about my dad, who has informed me he has some questions for Mike. :) We are flying home this year, because after totaling my Highlander on last year's trip home, I've been forbidden to drive home in the winter. Wonder why? That's okay, besides the expense, I actually prefer driving. But I bought the tickets in July so they've been paid for for a long time, so all is good.
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
My mom ended up back in the hospital for a day and a half because she still couldn't keep any food down. She's back home now and doing better. Scared me though when my dad called to tell me. He rarely calls so I instantly got scared when I heard his voice. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and all is well now. I'll be home tomorrow afternoon so I can help dad take care of her. I told the girls that our job isn't to relax and be lazy, but to do all the cooking, cleaning and waiting on Grandma. They both agreed that that is what we need to be doing.
Mike and I are going to a party tonight so I'll take some time to relax. I baked and delivered goodies to my neighbors, volunteered at the local domestic violence shelter, made a few gifts, cleaned the house, ran the girls around, shoveled snow and now I think its time to chill for a few hours.
I'm sure I forgot something but that's okay. I'll probably take a little time at Mom's to blog about how Mike's visit with my family goes. He's pretty nervous, although I've told him my family is very laid back and easy-going. I think he's more nervous about my dad, who has informed me he has some questions for Mike. :) We are flying home this year, because after totaling my Highlander on last year's trip home, I've been forbidden to drive home in the winter. Wonder why? That's okay, besides the expense, I actually prefer driving. But I bought the tickets in July so they've been paid for for a long time, so all is good.
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Well the weather outside is frightful....
Unfortunately I don't have a fireplace to make it delightful, but I do have a nice furnace which is keeping my house warm while it continues to snow. I woke up to about 2.5 inches of snow and there is now about 3 inches on the ground and it is steadily snowing. We definitely need this moisture so I'm not complaining.
My mom had surgery on her cervical spine a few days ago and thankfully it seems to have turned out well, although she is still having issues with nausea caused by the pain medication. She and I share that problem, which pretty much means we don't take prescription pain medication unless we are really in a lot of pain. We both have real tolerance for pain so this only comes into play when we have surgery, and unfortunately that is all too often for both of us.
I was talking to my dad while Mom was in surgery and he asked me how things were going with Mike. I told him everything was going well, and for the first time in my life Dad gave me relationship advice. He and Mom have been married for almost 50 years (Aug. 2 will be 50!) so I think he knows what he's talking about. He asked me if I loved Mike, I said yes, then he said then you need to make it work, because you can overcome anything if you really love the other person. He said not to expect anyone to be perfect, and sometimes its just easier to keep your mouth shut when you are angry and just go out into the garage for a few hours (at least that's what he does) and usually things can be worked out when you are calm. He also said that he and Mom had had their tough times but their love had pulled them through. Now my dad isn't one to go around talking about love, but he even got a little choked up when he was talking about how much he loves my mom. The fact that she was in surgery at the time probably is what brought that on but it was obviously heartfelt. That conversation means a lot to me and one I'll always remember, especially when things aren't going perfectly with Mike, as I'm sure sometimes they won't.
Okay, now a little funny: The other day I told Eline that I was going to the store and if she wanted anything to text me. So I'm shopping and I get a text from her and it says "I need chopsticks and maybe some cookies for after school." I'm wondering about the chopsticks, but she is in an art class and a pottery class (she has 30 more credits than she needs to graduate so she gets to take mostly electives) so I thought she might need chopsticks for that. As for the cookies, that girl can put down some Oreos! I have never seen anyone who could eat a whole pack in a day and not gain an ounce! That is one thing I will be mailing to her when she goes back to the Netherlands in June! So, I get home and give her the cookies and the chopsticks and ask what she needed the chopsticks for. She looks at them with a blank look on her face, the I see the "clue light" coming on and she starts laughing. She meant Chapstick! But when she says it she does pronounce it like chopstick and the text program on her phone automatically put an "s" on the end. :) So now we have a pack of chopsticks for the next time I get Chinese food, and Eline still needs Chapstick.
The other day we started decorating for Christmas. As you can see Chelsea the Clown is responsible for putting the beaded garland on the tree. That is one silly girl!
Eline was surprised to see that we had an ornament from The Netherlands, from out trip to Europe in 2000. I let her put that on the tree. I am giving her an ornament from Utah to take home with her, for her tree.
We celebrated St. Nicholas Day the other day. Since we don't have a fireplace the girls put their shoes in front of the tree. They put carrots in them for St. Nicholas' horse. Unfortunately Scruffy (our cute, veggie loving dog) ate the carrots so the horse went hungry.
St. Nicholas did manage to find our house and left the girls some small gifts and some treats.
On Thursday the girls made a Gingerbread house. It was Eline's first time doing this. I think they both had lots of fun.
Here's the final product. Looks great don't you think? As you can see we are all doing well and are getting along great. Life is so good!
My mom had surgery on her cervical spine a few days ago and thankfully it seems to have turned out well, although she is still having issues with nausea caused by the pain medication. She and I share that problem, which pretty much means we don't take prescription pain medication unless we are really in a lot of pain. We both have real tolerance for pain so this only comes into play when we have surgery, and unfortunately that is all too often for both of us.
I was talking to my dad while Mom was in surgery and he asked me how things were going with Mike. I told him everything was going well, and for the first time in my life Dad gave me relationship advice. He and Mom have been married for almost 50 years (Aug. 2 will be 50!) so I think he knows what he's talking about. He asked me if I loved Mike, I said yes, then he said then you need to make it work, because you can overcome anything if you really love the other person. He said not to expect anyone to be perfect, and sometimes its just easier to keep your mouth shut when you are angry and just go out into the garage for a few hours (at least that's what he does) and usually things can be worked out when you are calm. He also said that he and Mom had had their tough times but their love had pulled them through. Now my dad isn't one to go around talking about love, but he even got a little choked up when he was talking about how much he loves my mom. The fact that she was in surgery at the time probably is what brought that on but it was obviously heartfelt. That conversation means a lot to me and one I'll always remember, especially when things aren't going perfectly with Mike, as I'm sure sometimes they won't.
Okay, now a little funny: The other day I told Eline that I was going to the store and if she wanted anything to text me. So I'm shopping and I get a text from her and it says "I need chopsticks and maybe some cookies for after school." I'm wondering about the chopsticks, but she is in an art class and a pottery class (she has 30 more credits than she needs to graduate so she gets to take mostly electives) so I thought she might need chopsticks for that. As for the cookies, that girl can put down some Oreos! I have never seen anyone who could eat a whole pack in a day and not gain an ounce! That is one thing I will be mailing to her when she goes back to the Netherlands in June! So, I get home and give her the cookies and the chopsticks and ask what she needed the chopsticks for. She looks at them with a blank look on her face, the I see the "clue light" coming on and she starts laughing. She meant Chapstick! But when she says it she does pronounce it like chopstick and the text program on her phone automatically put an "s" on the end. :) So now we have a pack of chopsticks for the next time I get Chinese food, and Eline still needs Chapstick.
The other day we started decorating for Christmas. As you can see Chelsea the Clown is responsible for putting the beaded garland on the tree. That is one silly girl!
Eline was surprised to see that we had an ornament from The Netherlands, from out trip to Europe in 2000. I let her put that on the tree. I am giving her an ornament from Utah to take home with her, for her tree.
We celebrated St. Nicholas Day the other day. Since we don't have a fireplace the girls put their shoes in front of the tree. They put carrots in them for St. Nicholas' horse. Unfortunately Scruffy (our cute, veggie loving dog) ate the carrots so the horse went hungry.
St. Nicholas did manage to find our house and left the girls some small gifts and some treats.
On Thursday the girls made a Gingerbread house. It was Eline's first time doing this. I think they both had lots of fun.
Here's the final product. Looks great don't you think? As you can see we are all doing well and are getting along great. Life is so good!
Sunday, December 02, 2007
End of the semester
I hate this time of the school year! I just finished a research project which ended up being almost 30 pages. YUCK! But at least its done! Now to finish several other projects/papers I need to get done! By Friday they will all be turned in and I will have two finals to take next week, then it's vacation time for me!
This week has been good. Things seem to have calmed down a lot with Eline. We are all getting along really well. The girls went snowboarding today and it was much better than last time, since we got some new snow the past few days.
Mike and I are dating again, for those who don't know. A few weeks ago he took me to dinner, apologized, explained himself, declared his undying love for me and begged forgiveness. My mom says everyone deserves a second chance so I gave him one, with the understanding that there are no 3rd chances with me. It is so nice to be in love again. Of course, I never fell out of love with him, just accepted that he was gone forever, so I thought.
He is treating me like a queen and I really could probably ask him for anything right now, but I'm not taking advantage. I am enjoying the attention and his declarations of love. So we'll see how it goes and I'll keep you updated. So far so good, but it's only been two weeks, so we'll have to take it a day at a time.
This week has been good. Things seem to have calmed down a lot with Eline. We are all getting along really well. The girls went snowboarding today and it was much better than last time, since we got some new snow the past few days.
Mike and I are dating again, for those who don't know. A few weeks ago he took me to dinner, apologized, explained himself, declared his undying love for me and begged forgiveness. My mom says everyone deserves a second chance so I gave him one, with the understanding that there are no 3rd chances with me. It is so nice to be in love again. Of course, I never fell out of love with him, just accepted that he was gone forever, so I thought.
He is treating me like a queen and I really could probably ask him for anything right now, but I'm not taking advantage. I am enjoying the attention and his declarations of love. So we'll see how it goes and I'll keep you updated. So far so good, but it's only been two weeks, so we'll have to take it a day at a time.
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