And So It Goes...: Happy New Year…A Little Late!

Good grief, it's been over a month since I posted. Tsk tsk tsk. It seems I have difficulty finding the right balance. I don't blog when I'm down and out. I don't blog when I'm feeling great. Lucky for me, the reason for the quietness on the blog is due to my kicking some ass lately.

Normally, Christmas is a pretty rough time of year for me. I have trouble getting into the spirit of the holidays and everything feels like a chore. Not this year! I was feeling merry and jolly ever since my Prozac hit the 60mg mark while we were in Vegas. I think we've finally found the right pharmaceutical cocktail for me! I was beyond ready for Christmas this year…buying the Elf gifts for the Elf box well in advance so we didn't run out, saved myself from endless hours in the kitchen by buying a goodie tray from a local woman, buying gifts online with plenty of time for them to arrive, Christmas tree set up on December 2nd and on and on I could go. The one thing I didn't get done that I wanted to was decorating a gingerbread house with Katelyn. Oh well…next year!

I have had drive, motivation and energy. Laundry is folded and put away as soon as it's brought upstairs, dishwasher is unloaded even before the steam has a chance to clear, toys are picked up at the end of the night…I'm a lean, mean, cleaning machine! I wake up early and actually look forward to waking up. Maybe part of that is because I go to bed anywhere from 9:00-10:00, instead of staying up until the wee hours of the morning like I used to do!

All this being said, I still have a huge amount of anxiety over subbing. On Wednesday, I took six calls in 24 hours for sub jobs. I only accepted two of them because I can't just throw myself back into subbing all willy nilly and expect to be okay. My first set of jobs is lined up for January 12th and 13th in a PreK classroom at a local school. January 12th is K's 6th birthday and I'm already anxious over getting the cupcakes I'll bake, for her and her class, to school safely. As Mike pointed out though, money for subbing trumps cupcakes. I'm not NOT subbing because of cupcakes!

But enough about the bad…let's focus on some good. Our Christmas this year was the best I've had in five years. The Elf came and visited Katelyn and Andrew once a day and left gifts in the Elf box. We never saw the sneaky little guy, but we heard him in mommy's closet the one day! Our Christmas Eve was great…we celebrated with Mike's family, even though Mike was feeling under the weather, and we all had a great time! Christmas Day started off at 7:30am with me having to wake the kids up (the didn't go to bed until after midnight on Christmas Eve!). Mom and Dad came over to watch the Littles open their gifts and then it was over to M and Ds for Christmas morning brunch and more presents. We came home and napped for a bit and then back to M and Ds for turkey supper! Mike worked Christmas night so the kids and I were home in time for him to go to work. We were all beat as it was, so there wasn't much complaining from the kids :)

New Years Eve was another great night. My sister-in-law and nephew came up from Saskatoon and spent the night with us. The kids played Minecraft and other video games while us adults chatted and enjoyed yummy appetizers (apple and cheddar smoked wood bacon bites anyone?). We set off fireworks around 9:00pm as it was time for Andrew to go to bed. One of the fireworks was a dud so we had to call time of death on it or I'm sure Mike would still be out there trying to light the damn thing.

So far, the New Year has been great. We got a lovely dumping of fresh white snow the other night which means Mike can get out snowmobiling now! Katelyn started back to school this week and made it to kindergarten both days (her attendance has been dismal due to her anxiety)! I've started seeing a new counsellor and am excited about the journey she and I will embark on! Now here's a few of my favourite pics from over the holidays!

And so it goes…

Our little tree, all aglow

Helping Joel open his presents on Christmas Eve morning

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…
I picked two of my favourite Christmas pics and blew them up to put in the frames on the fireplace. Normally those frames hold the kids' nine month photos