Dear Mom

Wow, five years. Some days, it feels like yesterday and somedays it feels like forever. It is hard not to feel a little sad today, but I try to let the happy things outweigh the sad. John and I celebrate 11 years today. I remember you saying I love you as you gave me away at the end of the aisle, that sneaky second tag on your dress and the way you smiled at the reception. We all had a great time! Nancy turns 17 today. Can you believe that? All of these "little" kids growing up. I think I am what I considered old when I was their age. Yikes!

Anyway, just wanted to say that I am okay.

I love you and I miss you...still, always, forever.

Thanks!

So I am back from my big weekend adventure. I am feeling relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the world again. I am going to blog about the weekend, but before that I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to my bestie.

I am ashamed to say this, but it had been three years since I had seen Marti. We talk everyday, so it really didn’t seem like that long, but it is terrible that we let it go so long. John and I met Marti and Coy in 1996 (I think) and life hasn’t been the same since. The day after we met, we were at their house eating steaks. Two days after meeting Marti, I accompanied her to Austin to get her car fixed. We rode all the way to Austin and back and never once had the radio on. We haven’t stopped talking since! From the beginning, it was like I had known her forever. Distance came between us quickly, but it only seemed to make our friendship grow stronger.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for being there for me through all the good stuff and the bad stuff that life dumps on us. Knowing that I can call anytime and get some encouragement means the world to me. Oh and thanks for helping my find my adventure again! Oh and I am so proud of you for running the 5K! Oh and I promise not to let it be three years again! Oh and I love you!

Hello 2010!

Here we are, almost a month into the year and I still can't stop myself from writing 2009. How did it get to be almost the end of January? Slow down the train friend, time is just speeding by. Kind of reminds me of Lindsey's new favorite TV show, Dinosaur Train, where the train speeds backwards into prehistoric times, except this one is speeding forward with me holding on white knuckles and all. We could call it the "Crazy Mommy Train." (Except that we don't use the word crazy anymore)

The year ended with a beautiful Christmas celebrated with family. So much better than last year, for so many reasons. Although Lindsey still does not like Santa and we didn't even attempt to take a picture, she did love the play kitchen he brought her. Everyday I am lucky enough to eat delicious meals prepared with such pride! We opened presents Christmas Eve, which I am still not a fan of, but it was necessary. Went to Pearland to celebrate with with my cousins. It was just the four cousins and their families. These celebrations used to consist of anywhere from 30 – 50 people. The 15 of us made the best of it and had a wonderful time, complete with some dice game that was hilarious.

Custom Woodcrafters is officially operating in our new facility! No more being gone four or five days a week. I was so excited about being home more, but it has taken some adjusting too. I am working everyday now which is hard. I have had to re-sharpen my organization skills, meal pre-planning skills and my getting up at 6:30 a.m. skills. Yuck! Lindsey has been a champ through it all, loving the “Big Shop” as she calls it. She has 15,000 square feet to run though, stairs to climb, acres to roam and most importantly plenty of cows and horses to admire. Hopefully the excitement will last for a while.

Lindsey continues to amaze me daily. She is so full of energy and personality. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. Most of the words I am happy about ;) Some of my favorites right now are, “No, way, Yes way,” “Do it again, do it again,” “Mommy, do you understand me?” and the always favorite “Mommy, you are making me nervous!” We continue to work on counting, colors, the ABC’s. She can count to 14 most days, sometimes getting hung up on eleventeen. She loves to go to the Children’s Museum, to ride the escalator at Macy’s, to play at the “Big” McDonalds and to read. This girl loves books! When it is time for bed, I often find upwards of ten books waiting for me. She has started to “read” to me as well. She knows almost the entire “Big Dog, Little Dog” book and reads it to me. What a nice change of pace. She has definitely begun to test me more regarding discipline, seeing how far she can push me. It is frustrating sometimes. John can just count to one and she pretty much stops what she is doing. When I count to one, she follows with two, three and smiles at me. I am trying to implement time outs, but it is tougher than it looks. We will make it though, I will not have a wild banshee for a daughter!

So with a new year comes thoughts of resolutions. Hopefully it doesn’t sound too selfish, but I kind of want to find me again. Sometimes, I feel like wife, mommy and employee have taken Susanne and are holding her hostage. Where did I go? John called me Susanne the other day and you know what, it felt good! No one calls me Susanne anymore. Even at work, we are all related so I am Mommy or Aunt. Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming anyone but myself. I have let it happen. So I will try a little harder because I think everyone will be happier with a little bit of old Susanne back in the mix. This is probably something that a good night out at the Chicken, playing pool and having a few adult beverages would fix. :) Ohhh, and I will also find a place to volunteer this year. I so miss my Catholic Daughters at home!

So, maybe I should lose weight, maybe I should be more organized, maybe I should do a better job at budgeting, maybe I should decide what to do with that closet full of suits that stare at me in my home office. How about I just do the best I can and that will have to be good enough!

Knock, Knock. Who's there?

Unfortunately, this isn't a joke. Christmas is just a little over a week away. Yikes. I have never in my life been this far behind this close to Christmas. The Christmas cards aren't mailed. Heck I don't even have a picture I want to use yet. The presents aren't wrapped. Well, that could be because I haven't bought them yet. I haven't been to the grocery store to purchase what I need for the Christmas meal. I am so going to love those long lines at the grocery store. John's birthday is Friday, the big 4-0! Am I prepared? Nooooooo.

I was getting ready for bed last night and slowly working myself into a tizzy. I stopped to read Lindsey her books. We are reading a Christmas collection and as I turned to the story of Little Robin Redbreast, The Little Donkey and the story of the birth of Christ, I slowly began to calm down. Jesus was born for me! Talk about the ultimate gift. How lucky am I? The presents and Christmas cards are nice, but they really don't matter. I am so fortunate to be alive, to have a wonderful family and friends, to have a roof over my head and food on my table and to have Jesus in my life.

So as I wrap up and get ready to jump back into the hustle and bustle of the season, I am going to try harder to keep this in mind. To really remember what is important and try not to get upset if something doesn't go as I planned. Wish me luck!

A Letter to Lift Me Up

My mother gave me many gifts, not just the material kind. She gave me faith, hope, eternal optimism and most of all love. I found this letter this morning. It made me smile and cry at the same this. This is why I am who I am. I don't remember what this letter specifically addressed, but I know I was preparing to graduate and head to A&M in the fall. I was very worried about my Mom, she would be all alone. She wrote this to me, probably as scared as I was at the upcoming change, but you would never know it from her words. Thanks Mom and dear Lord, please give me these kinds of gifts to give to my daughter.

Princess Butterfly

Halloween turned out the be a blast this year. The week of Halloween Lindsey told me she wanted to be a butterfly. I was so excited! She wants to dress up. So I quickly start making plans for her costume. Buy the cardboard to make wings, and whala, we have a butterfly. Thankfully I found cute hot pink wings at Wal-Mart for $5 so I didn't have to make wings.

Thursday, Lindsey says she wants to be a princess. She said please. Well of course you can. However, Mommy is on a budget so I can't bring myself to spend $30 on an outfit we will wear once or twice. I Google how to make a tutu and we are off to Wal-Mart again to find netting and supplies for me to make a tutu. I found some hot pink netting and ribbon and off we go. Making tutu's is actually pretty easy. Having a two and a half year old helping has its challenges, but it turned out okay. Since we had the wings, we put them on together with a black turtleneck and black tights and the tutu. Roll the music...we have Princess Butterfly!

Lindsey wore the outfit to the George Bush Presidential Library for trick or treating through the library on Friday. (What a neat event) She did well, even saying trick or treat and thank you. She was actually excited to put it back on again and go trick or treating down our street. She even added "Have fun" for all the people handing out candy.

Now it is done. Another Halloween under our belt. I am thankful she had fun. Thankful she didn't try to eat all of her candy that night. Thankful she is willing to share her candy with her family ;) Thankful she will let her Mommy throw a wild costume together. Thankful I have the sweetest little girl in the world!

PS - The plan to have the manager at Wal-Mart (see previous post) take the heat for the lobsters really didn't do much. It is slowing down, but anytime we are in or driving by Wal-Mart a lobster discussion is a given!

Can I Get a Manager, Please?

I like routine. It is a good thing. When something happens to change our routine, it takes a while to adjust.

Super Wal-Mart is a normal spot for Lindsey and I to visit. Unlike most, I have no problems with the place. In fact, it seems as if I spend more time in line at Kroger than I do at Wal-Mart. Anywhooo. Our Wal-Mart routine consists of a slight struggle to get Lindsey into the basket, we visit the lobster tank, proceed on to the moo-moo cow pictures in the dairy department where we usually enjoy a string cheese, check out the kid's clothes for clearance and then head to check-out. Simple and easy...until a couple of weeks ago when we turned the corner in produce and saw an empty space. "Mommy, where are the lobsters. I need to see the lobsters. Please Mommy, get the lobsters." Oh gosh, you can't be serious, you have taken the lobsters away? I ask the seafood man about them and he tells us the dreaded news, the tank broke and since the store is slated for a complete remodel they have decided the lobsters would not go with the new design. Wait, no one asked me, dont' I get a vote, I don't need a new and improved Wal-Mart, I need lobsters for my little girl!

Every trip since then results in the same questions about the lobsters. Well, last night she asked about the lobsters as she was going to sleep. We are in the stage of asking "Why" right now. I could not get her to stop so I told her that we would ask the manager why they took them away next time we went. I thought she would forget overnight, but no such luck. First thing this morning, "Mommy, let's go get the manager and talk." Oh goodness, what have I done? All day I heard about the manager. So, since I needed milk anyway we headed to Wal-Mart. I was thinking of just telling her the checker was the manager, but lo and behold guess who was out roaming the store, the store manager, the big kahuna, the man with the power, the man with is picture on the wall. I explain our situation and he expresses heartfelt sympathy to Lindsey and explains the lobsters weren't safe because their tank was broken. (Must have kids of his own) He tells us that other children have been upset since the lobsters departed and if there is anyway he can get them back safely he will. She said okay and it is the last I have heard of the manager and the lobsters! Hope this is a long term solution! :)