It's Sunday - family members are in town

We have family in town this weekend and this week. My husband's parents are here from Washington State and so is our daughter-in-law and granddaughter (also from Washington State) and no, they didn't all come together. It's kinda funny how it happened, really.

My in-laws are driving around visiting family in their motorhome and my DIL flew in yesterday to visit us for the afternoon and then be with her parents the rest of the week up in Prescott. She'll be back on Saturday to return home so we'll get to see them one more time before they leave.

YAY! I held my granddaughter lots yesterday and it was nice to see her. And my DIL too as I love her as if she were my own. It's nice having family around and getting to see them. We are going to my in-laws sometime today to visit with them one more time and then I don't know if we'll see them before they leave on Wednesday, but perhaps.

Carli's growing up and fast!

It's amazing (and a little bit scary) just how fast Carli is growing up. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that she is already seven years old and with a mind of her own! She's half way to becoming a teen-ager, wow...where has the time gone! I know Carrie and Becki are amazed at how fast their little ones are growing up, you guys - just wait until they're Carli's age! You think 5 months or a year has gone fast...you're right it has gone by quickly. And it will continue to do so...no matter if you have another child. I have only the one and time flies. But it's all good.

She loves going down the street to any neighbor that will welcome her in. People seem to adore her and allow her in their homes. It's funny you know? As she's growing up and becoming more of a social butterfly, people open up to her. Today she found a new little friend to play with. Her name is Anna and she lives two houses down. Carli went over and played with her for a couple of hours both inside and outside, just having a lot of fun. There are also two little chihuahua puppies at the house (one boy, he's the runt and one girl)...the lady of the house wants $150.00 each for them...kinda steep, but I understand why. They aren't ready to be sold just yet and that's ok...we are not getting another puppy. They are adorable though!

Happy New Year!

Wow, can you believe New Year's Eve is just two days away? Christmas was wonderful and I can't wait for 2010. My goal for 2010 is to find a new job, still within the school district, but as an Administrative Assistant or School Office Manager. I would like to be making more money (who wouldn't) and I need to be paid when I am not working - which admins do. The only thing I'm not exactly sure about are the days I'd be working that could quite possibly be different than what I'm working now, but I'm certain they will be different. Then the trick will be finding appropriate daycare or someone to watch Carli when I'm working. And, if I am unable to find a job close to home, one in which I can ride the bus - transportation could be a problem, especially if J.C. is working full-time at the Post Office, if he gets his way. My dream is to work at the same school Carli is attending, but I don't see either one of the ladies up front going anywhere anytime soon. So then what I need to do is map out where the elementary and middle schools are that are close to the house and apply there, provided there are job opportunites at these schools. So now...I've talked about all I wanted to and will go for now. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Bah humbug all neatly tied up with a really pretty bow!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Bah humbug all neatly tied up neatly with a really pretty bow...what a great title, huh? Yeah, I thought so. It's been a very long year and most recently some pretty cool stuff has happened near the end of it. Besides it being Christmas, again, I have been reacquainted with a biological cousin who lives in Florida - coincidentally near my stepdaughter. What a small world it really is. So on to what else has been happening as of late...I had begun to think that Carli would not be getting a Christmas this year. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. Thanks to the generosity of a couple of my co-workers Carli has a couple of presents under the tree and James was able to go out and buy her some neat toys. For her brand new baby doll (yes, I know she's 7 now, but she needs a new baby doll!) he bought a diaper bag and a Disney Princess Feeding Set. She also got a Sock Monkey named Maxx, some candy to go in her stocking, a Disney Fairie Nail Salon - my idea - a 3 pack of Littlest Pet Shop animals, a 5' pink feather boa, a Disney Easy Go Yo-yo (it automatically retrieves itself), Disney Card Game Pack (in its own vinyl bag, no less) and an 18" Cutie Pie baby doll. These are not exactly what she was asking for this year, but what she wanted was out of reach and the money just isn't here. Oh well. I'm certain she'll be happy with what she is given. And! I almost forgot to mention, Carli lost her first tooth last night (12/23). She put it in a plastic baggie and put it under her pillow and took herself to bed at 8 p.m. didn't ask for anything or get up for a drink of water or anything. By the time I went in to play the 'tooth fairy' role all parents get to play (oh, and my first time doing it, btw) I took my camera in to get a picture of her sleeping. She's a very beautiful child and I am in no way biased about that fact, either. HA! She has promised me that she will go to bed tonight at 8 p.m. so Santa can bring her presents. Such an amazing child.

Biological Family - First unofficial meeting

Today my cousin Terri and I met on Yahoo Messenger. We have not been officially introduced, only talking on the phone, facebook, Yahoo and today Yahoo Messenger with our webcams. I remember just the other day (Friday) being terrified at Terri wanting me to give her my phone number so she could call me after chatting for two days online. What if it really wasn't her? I braved it and gave her my phone number and guess what, it really was her! We talked for over an hour that first night and I remember it as if it were yesterday - because it almost was! We didn't talk at all yesterday, facebook, yahoo or on the phone and it felt almost strange because we'd seem to connect so well on Thursday and Friday, so I had begun to wonder if I'd said something that might have made her upset. I talked to her friend Marla on facebook for a little while yesterday and asked her if she'd heard from Terri. She said 'No' and was concerned because of Terri's accident this past September. I told Marla that I didn't know of anything being wrong with Terri, as far as I knew she was fine and that I didn't mean to upset her, just that I was concerned because I didn't see her online and haven't heard from her. Of course, I was not online much myself yesterday just because. I knew Terri would call me sometime Sunday, as she was off work and had promised she'd call. I got up at 9 a.m. knowing Terri wouldn't call right away at that time, because she knew I wouldn't be up yet. About an hour later Terri called and we talked for over an hour and then we set up Yahoo Messenger (thank goodness my computer has a built-in webcam) and she has a webcam too, and talked to each other for a couple of hours (for free) online! It was wonderful because we got to see each other and actually talk face-to-face, sort of, and see what the other looks like. It was cool because she and I share alot of the same facial features and we have the same sense of humor. Which is nice. Then after about an hour or so into our conversation, Terri decided she would get her mom on the phone and do a three-way phone call. It was wonderful talking to another person who remembers me from when I was really little. Aunt Jean was able to give me some more information and answer questions Terri couldn't. We talked for about 20 minutes or so, got her address also got my father's address and phone number so I could reconnect with him and my Uncle Vern. What a whirlwind weekend this has been. Not only for me, but I'm sure for Terri too. To finally be reunited with a cousin she watched get stripped away from her Aunt's arms and put into a car, not knowing why her little cousin was being whisked away or where to. After the three-way, we got back on line with each other on Yahoo Messenger and continued our conversation for about another 20 - 30 minutes and decided it was time to hang up and say goodbye. It wasn't easy, but we finally disconnected and ended up talking to each other later online (yahoo instant messaging and on the phone). It was/is wonderful having a biological family member in my life again. I was even able to reconnect with my father on the phone for about 5, maybe 10 minutes. He's ok. He remembered my daughter and husband, asked how they were doing. Now that I have his number and address, there is no way I'm ever losing contact with him again. I missed him terribly and I don't have to suffer anymore.

Sunday Musing 11/15/09

So, Sunday Musing seems to be a favorite title of mine and so, in order to keep them straight, I will add the day's date at the end of the title. Onto my musing...Thinking about Carli and her activities yesterday and my reaction to all of it. I'm grateful nothing bad happened to her and I really didn't get all that upset with her or cry like I have in the past. It's unusual that I didn't do any of that because crying and getting all upset has pretty much been the norm for me, so I was shocked that I was not worse. Oh well. Either it means that I'm beginning to realize that Carli is growing up and can somewhat be responsible for walking down the street here in Tempe safely, arriving at a neighbors house and not have anything bad happen to her. Fortunately, we live in a very quiet neighborhood, there aren't many cars zipping up and down the street (that's the thing that scares me most however, that she gets hit by a speeding vehicle). So, in that vein, I have been teaching her how to safely cross the street, showing her by example what to do, when and how. She pretty much has it figured out, but the street we live on has people driving up & down the street going faster than 25 (residential street speed limit) and using our street as a faster way to get around the slower traffic out on University. My goal? to get speed bumps or a calming circle put on the street, perhaps in front of our house to slow the crazy bastards who refuse to recognize they are speeding and that children live on this street. I call Tempe Traffic nearly every time more than one or two cars speed through the neighborhood. I just wish once the cops would stick around and watch the crazies driving through. But of course, when the cops are around, what do drivers do? Obey the rules of the road. Oh well, I guess my next option would be to sit out in my driveway with a radar gun and point it at the drivers who are speeding, get their license plates and tattle on them.

Weekend Edition

So, it's the weekend, again. Carli was busy earlier visiting neighbors and making a general pain of herself. She'd escaped out the front door and down the street to a neighbors house and neglected to tell me she was skipping down the street to visit. Needless to say I was worried half to death when I called her name and she didn't answer. I checked the entire house before heading out the door myself to find out where she might have gone. I started thinking perhaps she'd been kidnapped and gone forever. About a minute later (probably less, really) I found her at said neighbors house in the front yard. I tried calling the neighbors cell phone, but she had left it inside and she honestly thought I knew of Carli's whereabouts. Anyway, after visiting with the neighbor and our newest neighbors, we came home and now Carli is happily watching television in her room.