Maybe THIS year I will put aside more time to actually update this darn thing!
My current excuse? I’ve been “deathly” ill since Christmas Day. I reckon I am about two steps away from a major sinus infection, but having no insurance and very little cash available for out of pocket doc visits is keeping me from finding out. So, I suffer through, with the help of Rite Aid and lots of sleep….well, relative amounts of sleep.
Work has been downright boring. I won’t have any major product launches until probably Feb., so that has left me with little to amuse myself with as I’ve pretty well cleaned up, sorted and tidied all that I can. Bother. I have instead been spending oodles of time on the Etsy store whilst at my ‘day job’. *shrugs* Atleast it’s something to keep me from losing my mind entirely - due to boredom?
The Holidays came and went rather quickly. With Dan’s work situation we really didn’t have a ton of funds to deal with, not that we ever seem to at Yule, but even more so this year. We did spend some time with our close friends here in Eugene, which is always a bonus! There was much food, laughter, goofing off and lazing in front of the roaring fire. So, I guess I really ought not to complain too much :) We are really so blessed to have found such fast and true friends here in Eugene! Erin and Rachel are just amazing! It often feels that we have known all of them for eons! I think that is one thing we were kinda worried about when we moved up here. We knew NO ONE. Not a soul. Not being very “active” or “social”, we knew it was going to be tough going, making some networks and such. As always, She looked after us and our path ran smack dab where it needed to be! I honestly don’t know how we would have survived the year without the four of them!
Dan has scored a part time job! Its good timing too, as his unemployment funds ran out about two weeks before Yule. Yikes! He will be working -apprenticing for a local Bronze Caster, working mostly in the wax dipping room. He seems to be really excited. This is the first “non office” job he has had in a LONG time, and he seems to be jazzed. He won’t be making buckets of money, and its part time to start…but it’s a foot in the door! We will take it! He starts next Monday, so we will have to report later, as to what all it entails and the like.
He has finished all the “steps” needed to satisfy his legal issues from this last summer. Counseling is done, community service is done, he’s begun small baby steps in communicating with Thomas and he has a job now! The only thing left to do are to pay the court fees, continue to meet with his Parole Officer and wait the 2ish years needed to get his Felony moved down to a Misdemeanor. Its been a long road, but he’s kept his chin up and is doing the best he can. I am very proud of him.
Thomas is still down with my Mom and Step-Dad. He was originally going down for the summer, partially to get him with some “new faces”, as regards authority figures, but also to allow Dan to come home so he could be with me and the girls. He ended up staying there and will continue to until the end of the school year. My parents enrolled him in a private Lutheran school, and he seems to be thriving. I speak with him often, and he is enjoying himself, learning alot and having a good time. He’s learning Spanish and taking violin lessons! He’s recently made the cut for the local boys club basketball team, so he is jazzed about that. He’s become quite the little sports dood. My step dad is a huge USC fan, so Thomas has become a little Trojan himself. Although, he does still root for the Ducks as well…so I guess we can let him live ;)
It’s been weird not having him around. I am still licking my own wounds as regards the summer’s “issues”. I do miss him; I think of him, I wonder what he is up to. I am also concerned about him coming home. My Mom and Dad have quite the income, compared to our meager budget. He’s been able to do, see and go to quite a few places that I would not have been able to duplicate. His Christmas seemed quite “healthy”, and his Birthday was as well. How am I supposed to be able to “compete” with that? I worry that he will get back here and be miserable, because we are on such a limited budget - food stamps - for crying out loud!? :( I guess we just take it one step at a time. There is also the fact that he has been completely engulfed in the Christian Religion. Mind you, I am VERY tolerant of ALL religions, and will gladly see to it that he gets to go to whatever place of worship that he desires….I just wonder if HE will be as tolerant of the fact that I do NOT want to go with him, and that I am NOT a Christian. I guess the biggest thing I worry about is that he will get here and then want to leave. Probably more paranoia than truth….but its there.
The girls are doing just fine. Haley has been driving me bonkers. Gotta love Winter Break. She, like all teenagers, has good days and BAD days. For the most part its mostly been me not feeling well…but MAN. Sometimes I just want to bang my head on the wall and kill my Mother for placing the “I hope you have FIFTY JUST LIKE YOU”, curse on me. ARGH! She was a big help with the Holiday cookie and baking rounds, as always, and didn’t complain a stitch at the meager amount of gifts under the tree. A co-worker of mine had need to re-home his young female guinea pig, so that was our Yule gift to her. Her name is Whimsy. She is quite cute. She’s a long hair “silky” breed. Mostly black with a very defined white stripe down her nose and a healthy patch of white on her back. Claire calls her a porcupine. ROFL! Haley had a concert at the local amp theater in early December with her Concert Choir group from school. She got all gussied up, looked and sounded like and Angel :) I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up!
Claire has been just fine. Due to budget constraints she is pretty much home with Dan full time. Although with his new part time job coming up, she will be headed back to Lori’s soon. The terrible three’s are what my kids do best. Never mind the two’s. Those are a cake walk. My kids save it up for three. OMGoddess. She is NON stop! I swear we should have named her Dennis. She gets into EVERYTHING. I know its curiosity and testing of boundaries…but sheesh! She’s smart as a whip, picks up and retains info very well and quite quickly and has a really strong vocab. We need to start working on shapes, numbers and colors this year and get her ready for preschool. She’s got a good grasp of them, but she guesses alot, time to get a bit more consistent with the “guesses”. :)
The jewelry business is going very well. We did quite well for our first “year” (not quite a full year, but close enough) and are thrilled to have had such positive results! We hope to do more shows this year, perhaps as often as every 6-8 weeks, goddess willing, and continue to grow our Etsy store. I’m still kinda astounded by the whole thing. It seems like just yesterday that I was learning the basics of making a necklace, and now here we are, full fledged (mostly) business! Dan and the girls have been quite patient with me, considering I spend nearly all of my “non work” time working on the store. Its either shooting pictures, processing pictures, listing items, tweaking items that are already listed, making even MORE items, prepping or DOING shows….and the list goes on. Its been really satisfying to have something “I” own and control. I would LOVE it if I could stay home and do it full time, but I reckon we are a good two years out from having that be a reality. Mind you, I do intend on making it a reality!
I am hoping that I will atleast get word one way or the other about the hiring freeze at Symantec in the next couple of weeks. The fourth quarter has just started, so there is a glimmer of hope. If it’s a no go, then I will have to tough it out to April for quarter 1 of the 2008 fiscal year. *sigh*. Man do I need a vacation and a trip to the dentist!!
Well, speaking of work, I suppose I ought to go do something productive….
I hope you all had a safe and happy Holiday season!