More Snow...

Yup. Four more inches.  We are now buried in about a foot and a half of the stuff.  It's going to be quite a mess when it melts... which might be today since it looks like it might be in the 40s.  

Josh cried when Eli threw his last touchdown pass.  How he became a Pats fan, I have no idea...oh wait... yeah, I do.  A couple of years ago, his friend gave him his Pats uniform and Josh's heart was connected immediately.  Our house was divided last night with Hunter, Jacob and Josh with Tom and Jeremy and I pulling for Eli.  What an exciting game to watch!

I have been struggling a lot with self-discipline and long to be more focused and deliberate with my time and life.  

A Day at the Spa

In the beginning of December I went into Spalon Spa in Aurora to buy 7 spa day gift certificates for the ACS coaches wives and was given the opportunity (since I bought gift certificates) to register to win a gift certificate of my own...7 times!:-)  Imagine my surprise and delight in January when I received a call telling me that I had won!  It was sort of a pay-it-forward moment and it really made me smile.  I had worked really hard to raise a lot of money to bless the coaches by blessing their wives and then God turned around and blessed me.  It was cool.  Today I went to Spalon and soaked up a massage, a Chinese Herbology treatment, a facial, pedicure, manicure and shampoo and style.  It was relaxing and fun but it was nothing in comparison to knowing the one who gave me the gift.  He is more sweet and dear and fulfilling than any spa service could ever be and Lord, I love you very much. Thank you for being such a lavish giver of good gifts.

Today

Began with snow.  Lots of it.  I am guessing over a foot.  Jeremy had to go to work but the rest of us had our stuff cancelled for the day and were left with the shoveling.  Jacob and I enjoyed working together and were proud to have a nicely cleaned driveway and sidewalk after a couple of hours.

Hunter tested for his yellow belt in HapKiDo and new marshal art that he's begun.  He passed and we were proud of him.  He seems to be enjoying this new focus.  I took pictures but have not uploaded them yet.  I will try to do that tomorrow.

Back in Business

My Mac is Back!  So glad to have the ability to record all my inmost thoughts and read yours.  I have heard that my sisters and father have now been brought into this "it" only community and for that I am so excited!  Hey Dad!  Hey Sisters!  Not sure that I will have anything all that interesting to say but at least you will know that I have said it.

I am cold.  That's about all the news for today.  Cold and snowy.  I am so hate-ing it in this place right now and mentally have gone to Florida.  I just got over a cold and now Jeremy is sick.  The boys are all fine and won't be wanting to walk to school today.  Just about everyone missed Jacob's 11th birthday so don't feel bad and just so you're prepared, Jona's is February 21 and Jeremy's is Feb 27.

That's all for now...hope you all are well.

Bondage

That's what it is really. If you want to get honest. It's bondage. As www.dictionary.com states: Bondage is the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.. and there is no doubt I am bound by the very things I depend on.

Or... maybe it's not at bleak as all that. Maybe it's merely dependance: the state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like. Yes. That sounds more paltable. Dependence it is.

I am dependent. Dependent on the very things that I use to "keep" me. The things that keep me on time, on task, "in the know", connected to others, the things that keep me from getting lost, keep me from forgetting who I am and help me keep others from forgotting that too.

I surrendered my computer on Saturday night. It was a horrible feeling. I have been putting it off for a very long time and waited until nearly the last minute before the warrenty ran out to send it in for the long overdue repair to the flickering LCD screen. I thought I was prepared for this surrender... but I was wrong.

I had made sure to make all the necessary fixes on my children's computer so that it would be able to function, passably, for my uses. I had prepared my mind, or so I thought, to be without it for about two weeks. And then.... I marched right in and handed it over... and I was fine. For about 20 minutes. I was perfectly fine with it... until I remembered that I was to finish up the last few changes on my voiceover files so that my friend Tim could finish his work on my work website....by Wednesday. And then, things just went downhill from there. When I tried to access my .Mac account on my kids computer it just wouldn't work properly. So, it appeared that they only way I could really do mail for the next two weeks was on my Treo. Oh, well, I reasoned.... at least I have that. It could be worse... I could be without it. I should never have thought that.

I stopped by ATT yesterday to get them to look at my phone and it's terribly annoying habit of beeping for no particular reason... constantly. They decided to just swap out the phone for a new one.. no biggie.. really. I had backed up everything at home. Well, it WAS no biggie until I got home and realized that the computer I had backed my phone up on was gone. I was at a total loss for about 30 minutes trying to figure out how I was going to do my life without my calendar/daily schedule, my phone numbers and (most importantly) EMAIL!

I called Best Buy. At this point, it had become PAINFULLY OBVIOUSLY that I was NOT ready to be without my computer for two weeks and it just needed to come home. But my heart fell when I was told it had just been sent out. It was at this moment that I felt my accute bondage, I mean, dependence and felt something had gone terribly awry in my life.

I was able to go back to ATT, get my old phone, bring it home and sync all it's information to my kids computer and then take it back to the store and switch it back to the new phone they gave me earlier in the day and then sync it to my kids computer. So.... at least I only had to spend one day "unplugged" but it was quite enough to show me that I must do something to break free from this "dependence!"

Problems

For some reason Blogger is not uploading my other pictures so I will have to try again later... but at least you got the most disgusting one.  We met with the doctor last night.  All seems fine neurologically and it seems to be sewn as best as it could be.  He will most likely need plastic surgery at some point.  We take him to get his stitches out on Saturday, if they are ready.  If they are not, he will get them out on Monday.  I don't think I am going to send him back to school yet... we'll see how he is when he wakes up.

Here They Are

Well, the pictures you have all (all one my one readers) been waiting for!

This is Josh just home from the hospital.

Monday, Bloody Monday

Little did I know yesterday that today would be the bloody day!  It's midnight and Jeremy just returned from the CDH ER where Josh was given 16 stitches to his forhead and Jeremy almost needed mouth to mouth.  Story and pictures to come....

Ah... Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

                         Josh and I at a Bulls game just before Christmas

It is that time of the week.  Sunday.  The day of rest in a long and weary week.  Why, oh why, might I ask you, does this NOT feel like a day of REST???  Rushing to dress, feed the kids, dress the kids, load the kids in the car, sunday school, church, lunch, pick up the house, get backpacks unpacked from the week before and repacked for the week ahead...etc. etc.  Oh.. yeah.. it doesn't feel like a day of rest because it's NOT RESTFUL.  My rest day?  Friday night.  It is my absolute FAVORITE time of the week.  From 4pm on Friday until whenever I go to bed that night, I am in total bliss.  It just feels so free.  I can go to bed early or stay up really, really late, go out or not....There is really no agenda for Friday after school or Saturday morning and so it really feels free and restful.  I love Friday.

     This morning at 5:30 I left to drive Hunter to school to meet a bus and 100 of his close friends for a senior trip to HoneyRock camp in Wisconsin.  His senior class at school is going to be gone until Thursday night.  I do hope this will be a positive time and full of wonderful memories for him.  I will enjoy the break from driving to and from Aurora twice a day!  I am also looking forward to being able to focus more on the other boys.

     My goal is to try and stay as free as possible this week so that I can get myself and my house focused and centered.  I do so hope I can make this happen!

     Thanks to Myra and Matt for helping me figure out some of the ways I can better use blogger.  It is definately not easier than Xanga but it is possible to do all the same things.  I hope to be adding some more pictures, a slideshow and some videos as soon as I have time.  Stay tuned!

Last Day of Break

Today is the last day of winter break and I am a bit sad.  I have enjoyed the lazy mornings and the ability to hibernate. Have you checked out the Chicago weather lately?  It's frigid!  Snow on the ground and barely above zero.  The snow is not too bad... at least it makes things prettier.  But the wind and the freezing air... unbearable.  Today I need to get serious about getting Hunter ready to leave on his week long winter trip with his senior class.  Now where IS that form with all the important information????  

Savoring the Moments

Only a few precious hours of being unfettered... soon I will return to the demands and responsibilities that mold my days as well as my nights.  Don't get me wrong, I am not upset or dispondent. It is those exact same things that give me purpose, joy, focus and provide the opportunity to grow beyond my own selfish and self-centered nature.  I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband who I actually like, respect and admire and who loves me more than anyone ever could, children that are healthy, fun and funny, a home that is safe and warm, a car that not only works but is dependable and comfortable, a budding business that is fun and fulfilling, a hobby that keeps me in shape and connected with people, not to mention all the friends that love me and lean on me from time to time and who, in turn, I can lean on, too.  My blessings are too numerous to count.  However, it has been refreshing to step away for just a couple of days and have only myself to tend to.  I have been able to start things when I wanted to and keep at them until I wanted to stop.  I have been able to think whole thoughts without getting distracted and have had the opportunity to gain a bit of perspective on my life.  I have enjoyed a bit of the city life and catch up with a friend whose time I really enjoy.  It's been a happy way to start the new year.  This year I hope to simplify my home life, spend more quality (and quantity) time with the members of my family, lose 30 more pounds, read through the bible once, scrapbook and document our family history more faithfully and get all my old pictures organized, blog more regularly, and try to get (and keep) my home more organized.  Wish me luck!