1) Did you have to go to the hospital at all in 08? Why?
Yes, in February for CJ when he was in the hospital for five days due to failure to thrive. Then again December 5 to give birth and say goodbye to Celeste.
2) Did you have any encounters with the police?
Nope
3) Did you go on vacation? Where?
Yes. We went to Philadelphia over the summer for a day and then stayed with a friend in MD that night.
4) Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes, Celeste
5) Did you move or remodel?
Nope
6) What concerts/shows did you go to?
None and I think the only movie we even went to was Bedtime Stories on Christmas Day. No wait, we went to the drive in theater and saw Journey to the Center of the Earth and Batman.
7) When you think back on all of 2008, what stands out for you?
Hmmmm, it's been a rough year. I'm looking forward to a better 2009, but I guess the thing that stands out the most is the loss of my pregnancy and Celeste.
8) What was/are your most memorable moment(s)?
Celebrating CJ's 1st birthday. Unfortunately the thing I will probably remember most though about 2008 is December 6, 2008 when I gave birth and said goodbye all in the same moment to my daughter Celeste Alia.
9.) What's something you learned about yourself?
I can experience a great tragedy, but still pull it together for my children.
10.) Any new additions to your extended family?
My cousin's live in boyfriend Kevin. Hopefully 2009 brings a proposal for her too.
11.) What music will you remember 2008 by?
I'm not up to date on music these days.
12) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
I don't drink.
13) Made new friends?
No
14) Any regrets?
Way too many. I regret most not finding out I was pregnant earlier because I will always wonder if that could have saved my pregnancy.
15) What are your wishes for 2009?
I wish that things could improve in my relationship with my parents and that we all stay happy and healthy this year. No more death and no more hospital visits for any of us.
16) Anything you want to add?
Here's to a way better 2009 than 2008!
I saw this over on my friend Renee's blog and thought it looked like fun. The things in bold are the things I have done and the things I have in italics are the things I would like to do:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (not so much me, but Joe has done this)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (I did not have a cabin or anything though. It was the auto train when I went down to FL for college though and I was next to a very grouchy old lady)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (unfortunately this just happened with my rent check actually thanks to Joe's job not paying him his bereavement pay on time)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (my pinky toe)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (at least this is what I'm told, but I didn't realize it was that dire at the time. My dad cramped up in the pool once and I swam him back to the side so he could get out.)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day
This time of year is a time when people are spending it with their family. Maybe members they haven't seen all year long. It's fun and exciting, but not all the time. Sometimes they are just annoying and frustrating.
As a child I always thought it was great to see family. I never had to plan those get togethers though. Planning is difficult. Lets take my parents for instance. Usually we see them on Christmas Eve and then go to my Aunt and Uncle's on Christmas day. This year that was changed up a bit and we went to my Aunt and Uncle's on Christmas Eve. My parents were there as well. So we saw them, but my father was very sarcastic and my mother very distant. I tried to have a conversation with her, but she barely said two words to me.
Now why all the tension with my own parents you may ask? Well, if you haven't read about the issues I've had, then perhaps you should do that now. Aside from those past things they are mad at me now because I did not want to spend Christmas day with them. Now, it's not that I didn't want to exactly, but given the year that we've had and the extremely emotional and stressful past two weeks I wanted Christmas to be just the five of us this year. My parents had a hard time accepting that. They wanted to come to our house Christmas day. Instead I offered them the day after Christmas, but my mom had to work. So then I offered the Saturday after Christmas. That seemed to work just fine. I just needed to call with the details. But time slipped away from me and I didn't get around to calling. Tuesday I had e-mailed my mother, but she claims she did not get the e-mail and they went and made other plans. Okay, fine whatever. Don't complain to me that you don't get to see your grandchildren though. Because really how long did they give me to get in touch with them about these plans? Not very long.
But that's not the real reason of this post. The real reason is actually Joe's family. Well, Joe's brother to be exact. An interesting family dynamic there. Let me give you a little history. Joe's brother is just a year and a half older than Joe. So they were close growing up. I met Joe when we both worked at Dunkin Donuts and his brother even worked there too. So before Joe and I even started dating the three of us from time to time would even do things together. I like Joe's brother. He likes to exaggerate stories a bit and every time you hear them they always get bigger and grander, but I have no problems with the man. He's a good guy. So good in fact that we made him Kaitlyn's godfather. He was Joe's best man at our wedding. The kids adore him.
Over the years though we have seen him less and less. Actually the less part usually coincided with the times he was dating his now wife. Now there's another very interesting situation there. His wife years ago before Joe and I even met cheated on Joe's brother with Joe. Caused a huge rift between brothers. Joe continued to date her. He was even planning on marrying her until he started to suspect some unfaithfulness on her part. As things began to get serious between the two of them she went back to Joe's brother behind his back and broke Joe's heart. Things had mended in the relationship between brothers, but Joe's brother was addicted to this woman. They have been on again off again for years. Every time they are on again Joe's brother sort of disappears from everyone's life. And then during an off again time this girl began dating and even became engaged to their nephew. She even had a child with him 4 1/2 years ago. As if things weren't complicated enough. All this time I've been scratching my head trying to figure out why this woman is so desperate to be a part of this family. But we can't control people.
So now a year and a half ago Joe's brother finally ended up marrying this woman. He has also joined the army reserves. Last January he was leaving to be stationed in North Carolina. We got together with some ummmm prodding on Joe's part so we could say our goodbyes. His wife and her kids have remained here though. They were supposed to go down there once the house sold, but the house is not selling. Despite the fact that in North Carolina the five of them were going to have a very nice five bedroom house provided by the army they have remained up here. Joe's brother has been home on leave now a few times. Most recently at the time of CJ's 1st birthday when the ENTIRE family was here. We did not find this out until after he left because he called no one to say he was home. We would have had him to the party. He was home for a surgery that his wife had though so he says he wouldn't had left her. If it were me I probably would have really loved a day of peace to actually sleep after surgery without any children, but hey that's just me. She does have family which easily could have come to help her for an hour or two.
So now it's Christmas day. Joe has called all of his siblings to wish them a merry Christmas. His oldest brother who lives in CA told Joe that according to their other brother the reason he doesn't associate with the family is because no one accepts his wife. What? Okay, putting aside the fact that she has been sleeping her way through the men in the family. Putting aside the fact that she has a child with their nephew. What more do they expect from us? Time and time again we have invited them up or to do something. Now if it's the sisters that maybe he has a problem with, then he really needs to get over that. Or she does. I can tell you after almost 9 years of marriage to Joe and over 10 years of living with him his sisters haven't exactly been the closest sister in laws ever. And I didn't break the heart of two of their brothers over and over again to then move on to their nephew either. So I don't know what they expect there. And I really don't know what more Joe and I can do to be accepting of them. And just coming from my point of view he is married to an ex of my husband. Generally speaking your husband's exes don't become your sister in law.
But again Joe is trying to salvage some sort of relationship with his brother. So he called him up Christmas day and apologized if he wasn't accepting enough of his wife. And wonder of wonders it turns out that his brother is in town again. So Joe told him we should get together Saturday. Nothing was set in stone. Joe called him last night and told him Saturday or Sunday whichever works for them. They can come here or we can go down there. He said he needed to talk to her and would call back and never called back. So now we wait to find out if we are worthy enough to spend time with him or not. He goes back on the 31st so we don't have much opportunity with him.
And now Joe has called him yet again to find out once and for all what the verdict is. He got no answer. No voice mail or anything. Just six rings before the phone picked up and gave a recorded message saying, "The wireless customer you are trying to reach is not available." And now Joe says he's done. If he calls him back, then fine, but he's not bothering anymore. I feel so helpless in this. I feel like I've done my part and encouraged this relationship inspite of the fact that I can't stand his brother's wife. I just feel so insecure around her and out of the loop. She always purposely pushes me out of conversations when she's around and have I mentioned flirts with my husband. And yet I still try to make something work here. I guess it's all just for the best. No use in torturing myself anyways though, right?
But here's what I think about the real reason why Joe's brother doesn't associate with us at least. I don't think it has anything to do with no one accepting his wife. Nope, I think it has more to do with him not trusting his wife. I don't think he trusts her to be around Joe. He wants to keep them as far away as possible. He has been pushing his nephew away too. Harder to do with him since he has a child with her. But he definitely doesn't want him to be around his wife.
I do not understand families sometimes. I hope that Joe and I and my kids can all learn from all of this stuff though. I hope and pray everyday that when my children are grown that I can be accepting of the lives that they choose and be supportive of them. Not try to manipulate them into doing whatever it is that I want like my parents do to me. I hope that I can be involved in every aspect of their lives and just be grateful to have them and have every minute I can spend with them. Instead of spending the time I do have with them fighting and being angry and bitter I hope it can be spent laughing and enjoying their company.
And I hope my children always find a way to spend time with each other. Especially my girls. I hope they never let a boyfriend or a husband come between them and prevent them from seeing each other for whatever reason. I hope they can always have a close relationship even though their father and I don't exactly have that close relationship with our siblings. I want them to learn from our mistakes if they can and just find a way to always be an important part of each others lives.
Merry Christmas to all of blog land! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Ours for the most part has been relaxing. Joe and I were up until 2:30 wrapping and prepping. Then CJ woke up just as we were finishing and wouldn't go back to sleep. So we brought him to bed with us where he tossed and turned and fussed the rest of the night. The other two were up by 8 and ready to open presents. CJ didn't have too much interest in the gifts. Once everything was opened I made pancakes for breakfast. CJ wouldn't eat. So I gave him his Amoxicillin which he promptly threw up all over himself and his high chair. So I cleaned that up and put him down for a nap.
He slept for 4 hours and woke up in a much better mood. We tried something new this year. We went to a movie. I thought no one goes to the movies on Christmas. I thought wrong. We saw Bedtime Stories which was very cute by the way. CJ did very good for his first movie. We came home and CJ went back to sleep. It's now 8:00 and the kids are watching TV and CJ still sleeps.
Everyone was very happy with their gifts. In spite of the no sleep, a sick baby, and a fight with my parents this was actually a good Christmas. It was what I wanted it to be. Just the five of us together. We needed this day.
So I hope everyone else has had the day they wanted.
I'm totally a sucker for these giveaways. I never win, but I'll keep trying and trying. Hey, it's an addiction I guess, but way cheaper than lottery tickets ;). So what's the blog giveaway you may ask? Well, Renee over at Life With My Special Ks is hosting a giveaway. She's giving away Hallmark ornaments. All I have to do is say what my favorite Christmas tradition is. Well, that's certainly an easy one for me. My favorite Christmas tradition is...
This is the question of the day. Will Kaitlyn and CJ have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads tomorrow night or will they be all bogged down with fluid? If you haven't guessed Kaitlyn and CJ both have ear infections. Kaitlyn's is worse than CJ's, but you wouldn't know it to look at them. First of all the only reason I took them to the doctor was because Kaitlyn complained her ear hurt. Other than a cough with her and some congestion she doesn't really seem sick. However, CJ has been cranky, not sleeping, not eating, and even running a fever. Of course CJ also had the MMR vaccine last week which can cause a fever in 7-12 days which brings us to now.
But last night when Kaitlyn said her ear hurt I knew I'd be at the doctor's office today. I sent her to school though because it was only a half day and she had no fever. She didn't want to miss her party. She made it the whole day too, but was very relieved to hear I had set up a doctor's appointment for her later in the afternoon.
When we saw the doctor she asked about Kaitlyn's symptoms and before looking said I'm sure it's an ear infection. She prescribed pain medication and drops for her ears. Then she checked Kaitlyn all out and sure enough her right ear was very red and inflamed. So she's now on Amoxicillin for the next ten days.
Then it was CJ's turn to be examined. The doctor asked about his symptoms. I told her he's not eating or drinking much. He's very stuffy and has a cough. He's not himself. Very cranky and doesn't want to be touched, but doesn't want to be put down. He's just miserable. So she tried to examine him which he was really having nothing of. I've never seen a child be so difficult to have his ears looked at. A lollipop didn't make him stop screaming and neither could I. The nurse had to come in and blow bubbles just so the doctor could look in his ears. And even then his sisters had to entertain him by popping those bubbles. His ears don't look as bad as Kaitlyn's, but he does have fluid on the ears. So she also put him on Amoxicillin for the next ten days.
Right now they are all asleep and I can only hope there are visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. Hopefully they stay asleep tonight. Both of them were up last night. Kaitlyn I don't mind so much because she's pretty easy to get back to bed, but CJ is impossible when he's in a condition like this. I get to the point where I just don't know what to do for him and I feel so bad that I can't make him feel better. Thankfully it's not a virus though because usually once they are on antibiotics they are up and about and just fine the next day. I need happy children tomorrow.
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