Our Year in Review

Many things have changed in the last few years around our house. One of those is the amount of quality time I spend with a good book. It’s mostly my fault because I haven’t forced myself to make time to read, but the girls do get a small portion of the blame as well.

I don’t read much anymore. I did find time to read a handful of novels last year which is an improvement from 2007. As I was perusing the Sunday paper last weekend I noticed Dave Barry’s Year in Review. I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan, but I do enjoy his wrap-up of the prior year so in the spirit of the New Year, here is my attempt at 2008 in review (this would be better with pictures but I haven’t had time to load them to my new laptop so you’ll have to use your imagination).

January – To be truthful I can’t remember what we did last week let alone last year so I’m guessing we were doing the same as we are right now, recovering from the holidays.

February – I changed my schedule at work from a “normal” 8-5 work week to four 10s so I have Friday off. Working until 6:00 every night took a little getting used to, mostly just the hour I miss with the girls every night, but having a 3 day weekend every week is worth it.

March – Flower’s first birthday and since we’re boring people we had a small party with family. Two parties actually, one at Nana and Papa’s house and one at Grandma and Grandpa’s house up north. Flower thoroughly enjoyed her birthday cake and made a huge mess….as expected. We cleaned cake and frosting from every inch of her and her chair.

April – Daddy’s big project at work really picked up and his work schedule went from semi-normal to 6 AM to 7 PM on a good day. When summer came he started working from sun up to sun down seven days a week. Needless to say we didn’t do much but hang out at home all summer.

May – Our “vacation” if that’s what you want to call it, was a road trip out of state to visit family and celebrate a cousin’s college graduation. Luckily our pick-up has a DVD player so in preparation for the trip I invested in a half dozen new movies. Unfortunately, Princess wanted to watch Shrek II the entire trip. Since Daddy couldn’t get too much time off we drove there on a Thursday and Friday, played on Saturday, and drove back on Sunday and Monday. Flower was so tired of her car seat that she would start to cry when you had to buckle her back in at each stop. We decided another 12 hour road trip would have to wait until Flower was a little older. By the way, the week before we left both the girls had terrible colds which they graciously gave to me so I was miserable the entire trip….and probably grumpy….but you’ll have to ask Daddy about that!

June – Daddy finally buys the raft he’s had his eye on for over a year. I’m still not sure why because he’s working 80 hours a week and doesn’t have time to use it but whatever. Cousin H was born at the end of the month and Grandma and Grandpa headed south to meet her. We had a slow leak in our water heater so Daddy and Papa spent the majority of two days trying so install a new water heater….but that’s another post.

July – Princess discovered fireworks this year. I’m too cheap to buy fireworks (besides being outrageously expensive they are also dangerous) which isn’t a problem because our neighborhood is a war zone on the 4th. The neighbor directly across the street dropped some cash at the firework stand this year and Princess was delighted. Our neighbor’s kids are in high school so I think he enjoyed all the innocent “ohs” and “ahs” from Princess. Unfortunately Princess was not happy on the 5th when we had to tell her she would have to wait another year for more fireworks.

August – Auntie C and Cousin H come to visit us at the end of the month so we spent some quality time at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Keilie-dog has yet another surgery, this time to remove an enlarged spleen. The testing determined it was cancerous and a different type of cancer than the tumors which were removed in 2007. I have yet to figure out if that’s good or bad. Knock on wood but as of her last check-up she is still tumor-free.

September – Princess turns four and I decide to enroll her in dance class. I think I started this blog around that time as well so if you’ve been reading you’ll already know most of our activities. Dance doesn’t go so well for a number of reasons….tights, ballet slippers, ponytails….just to name a few. So we attend class for a month, on the sidelines, and decide it’s not for us.

October – Hunting season opens. Do I need to say more? Daddy manages to find time to go hunting while still working crazy hours but don’t get me started. The girls and I get ready for Halloween which Princess remembers vividly from last year. She has a sweet tooth just like her mommy. We decide to enroll Princess in the same gymnastics (a.k.a. tumbling but Princess insists on calling it gymnastics these days) class as one of her friends from daycare. She loves to dance and we thought a familiar face would help. Princess was a little hesitant at first, but she loves class. She takes after me in that she likes to sit back and watch before jumping in to new things. Flower is very interested in participating too so maybe next year we’ll see if she’s able join.

November – Preparation for Christmas began with practices for the church Christmas program and the dance performance. We didn’t have to do much outside of our usual routine but it gave me a glimpse of what’s to come in the next 17 years…. We spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa’s house so Daddy could get that last weekend of hunting in and Flower discovered popcorn. I know, probably not the best snack for a one year old child, but Princess shares her intense love of popcorn with her Grandpa and we couldn’t keep it from Flower any longer.

December – Refer to November. We got the dance performance and church Christmas program out of the way early in the month. That was very fortunate for us because Princess picked up a nasty stomach bug which landed us at home for 5 days mid-month. After the initial “sick” stuff was out of the way it was a nice long weekend to stay in and get some things done. I was mostly done with my shopping so we took the opportunity to bake cookies and make candy. I’m thinking I might try to set aside one weekend next December to stay home as well because I think it helped us get through the activities of the following week. Oh, and I should mention that we cut our own Christmas tree this year and it was a beauty. Daddy picked a gorgeous (and not too big I might add) tree and we had a wonderful afternoon of sledding and hot chocolate with friends. Definitely a must do again next year. I have one final note to add. December also brought us a gift of another sort….Auntie J moved closer to us….much, much closer….and we are really excited to be able to see her more often.

That’s it….an entire year in 1,000 words or less. I hope 2009 is as kind to us. From our house to yours, God bless and best wishes for a healthy and happy 2009!