Bah Humbug!

I was really starting to get in the Christmas Spirit, until I found out that my husband would be deploying overseas 5 days before Christmas.  This is the 2nd time in THREE years that we have been screwed out of Christmas with him.  I know that he chose this job, and I am very grateful that he has a job that provides for us so well.  I do not like the trade-off.  This will be the 2nd birthday of his that we have missed spending with him.  This will also be the 2nd anniversary out of 5 that we will not be celebrating together.

I am just not feeling into it this year.  There's been so much bad news in this world and in my world lately.  My problems seem so small compared to the grief that the families of those poor little innocent babies and their caretakers massacred in the sanctuary of their school.  That's about as bad as it gets, I hope.   However, my problems are still my problems.  I feel like I should have the right to sit around and pout for a couple of days if I want to.  I know it seems selfish, and really juvenile.  I just don't feel like being the "strong one" right now.  I want to cry.  I want to complain.  I want to cry some more.  That is the only way that I feel like I will be able to get it out of my system.

Part of me wants to take it out on my husband, even though I know it's not his fault.  Well, it's kind of his fault.  I mean, he did CHOOSE to go back into this field.  He did CHOOSE a job that would take him overseas for weeks, or even months at a time.  He also "let" me rent our brand new home out to join him while he was in the US about 1000 miles away.  Now that he's leaving, my only options are to find another home (furnished) to rent (because there is absolutely NO WAY that I am moving my stuff again until my house is available), or to stay with my parents.  My husband wants me to stay with either my parents or his parents.  I would feel MUCH more comfortable with my parents, because...well...they're MY PARENTS.  However, I don't like to intrude on their peace and quiet.  I have a noisy two year old that likes to throw food at the table.  I also have a dog that is rather large, and makes their much smaller dogs a little nervous. With that being said,  my folks are pretty awesome people.  I know that it's not in their plans to have their 30-something daughter and her 2 year old, accompanied by my big dog and my cat and her smelly litter box moving back into their home.  However, they are both pretty generous, and I plan to do as much as I can to help out while I'm there.  Cleaning??  Let me do it.  Cooking?  I haven't cooked in a couple of months, but I'd love to help out if I can.  I will help out with the groceries, and anything else they need while I'm there.  I'm hoping they're not ready to throw me out before my husband comes back!

So, please excuse me if I'm not in the holiday spirit this year.  I've got some stuff on my mind.  It may not be a big deal to you or anyone else, but it's a big deal to me.

Our 2012 Christmas Card from Shutterfly

Stationery card

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Getting Back to Blogging

I've been MIA, and for that I apologize (mostly to myself because I don't think I actually have all that many followers here).  I started a new venture with Macaroni Kid back in February 2012, and that has consumed most of the free time that I utilized to blog.  I found that I have immensely missed putting my thoughts onto (paper) this screen, so I have made a commitment to myself to make time to do it.  I'm not sure how regularly I will get the opportunity to sit down and write, but for now I will just try to do it when I feel compelled.
I also started a couple of new blogs (anonymously) detailing a couple of other aspects of my life.  One is about our journey to becoming ex-Pats (an ongoing journey that will probably take a couple of years at a minimum), and the other about our current living situation.  I find that writing anonymously is pretty liberating. I don't have to worry about who is going to read it, what they will think, who they will report back to...I highly suggest it!  I don't share those blogs on my social media sites, and even my husband doesn't know that I keep them.
This blog, however, is not anonymous.  Some of you may know me personally.  Others ended up here through a friend or perhaps through a giveaway.  I'm happy to have you all here and reading, if that's what you choose to do.
Happy Holidays to each of you and I am working on a few posts as we speak.

Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway

Melissa & Doug is offering a Twenty Days of Terrific Twenty Giveaway on their Facebook page.  This event began on Tuesday, November 6th, and continues for 20 days!

Melissa & Doug will be giving away one item from their Terrific Twenty list to at least one of their lucky Facebook fans each day!

I'll be joining Melissa & Doug in their giveaway by offering any item from their Terrific Twenty List to one of my readers!  You can enter the giveaway below. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Accountability

Sometimes we all need that proverbial foot in the rear to get us going.  I'm one of those such people.  Left to my own devices, I will sit inside my house, perfectly content to never socially interact face to face with another human being.  I'm pretty sure that watching shows like "The Real Housewives of (insert any city here)" and "Teen Mom" have left me to believe that other people have WAY too much drama in their lives and I want no parts of that!  Besides, girls are MEAN (at least on those shows they are).

I recently started a new venture called Macaroni Kid.  I publish a weekly e-Newsletter about family friendly activities in the greater Melbourne FL area.  I knew that jumping into this venture I would have to put myself out there a little more.  No more hiding out in my home.  No more hiding behind this computer screen all day!  I am going to have to get out, meet new people, and actually interact with other live human beings!  Shocker!

I had started to get out a little bit before that, attending some Barre fitness classes at a local Pilates studio.  I was then introduced to a local Mom's running group on Facebook and now I'm hooked!  I never considered myself to be a "runner" per se.  I still don't.  With that being said, I would really like to become one.  My husband runs, and has almost always been an active runner.  I'm really proud of his accomplishments in that arena.  I would love to be able to participate in races with him when he's home.  Or by myself, when he's not!

This running group has allowed me to meet other moms (and other women, in general), that are either just starting to run (like me), have been runners for awhile, or are somewhere in between.  It's also nice to find out that 1) not all women are catty, as seen on television 2) not everybody's life is full of drama, also as seen on television.  I've also pulled back from being online so much, which is why you haven't seen me posting as often on my blog.  Between my new "fitness" schedule, my youngest son, and my Macaroni Kid business, I don't have much time for this anymore.  I'll still be posting from time to time, but my first priority will be my family, then myself (fitness and fun), then my Macaroni Kid site.  Be sure to follow me there and subscribe to my weekly newsletters!

Tax Time

It's January 31st, and you know what that means!  Today was the official deadline to have all W-2's, and other tax documents postmarked and mailed out.  We've gotten all of our paperwork in from employers and such, and I have been busy compiling a list of our deductions (or hopefully so) for last year.  Normally I file our taxes myself.  This year, we've decided that for peace of mind, we're hiring a tax pro to do our taxes.  A friend of my husband's recommended his tax guy who is based in Texas, but who has extensive experience with couples and individuals in our circumstance (hubby works overseas).  I have to admit, I'm very apprehensive about what the end result is going to be.  I'm terrified that we're going to owe tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS this year.  We've had to pay every year except one, and the year we actually got a refund, it ended up going to pay off the taxes that we owed from the prior year.   Since we don't own a house, that hurts us a bit too.

I'm looking for some sort of software that will allow me to input my expenses for the year, as I incur them so that I'm not sitting here again next year at this time inputting all the items that I can manage to find when scouring through our bank statements.  I typically will just drop my receipts as I get them into a file folder, and then when it's tax time, I will enter them all into an Excel spreadsheet and categorize the expenses and which taxpayer (me or hubby) incurred them, the date, the amount, etc.  The poor tax man...at least they're somewhat organized!  If anybody out there reading this has any suggestions on a better way to do this, please comment!!

Hiatus Interrupted

I've been on a writing hiatus for quite some time now. Life happened. My husband came home from overseas for a break, we enjoyed the holidays with our families, and I just haven't gotten back into my writing groove. I'm working on it though. I'm excited about a new project I'm starting, which I promise to tell you all about as soon as it's a done deal. I'm just waiting on the final details!

On another note, I'm also really excited about a few upcoming events. Next month, I've secured a ticket to see John Edward speak. Some of you might ask, "Who is John Edward?" He's a world-renowned medium. The "I see dead people" kind of medium. I used to watch his show, Crossing Over years ago, and I remember talking to my mom about the show back then (before my grandmother had passed) and about how cool it would be to sit in and watch him work. Of course, I had forgotten all about that until last night. I was watching a DVR'd episode of the Kardashian sisters in New York, and he made an appearance on their show to read Kim. I was moved by his message hitting home with both her and her sister Kourtney (ok, I know some of you are already scoffing at the facts that 1) I watch the Kardashians, and 2)that I buy into the "medium" stuff). As I usually do, I started surfing the net on my phone, found his website, and saw that he has tour dates scheduled for 2012/2013. One of them just happens to be near me, in Melbourne. It also just happens to be two weeks from yesterday. It also happened to NOT be sold out (yet). Surely this is a sign of some sort. I figured if the stars would all align, then it was meant for me to be there. It's seeming to be a happy accident of sorts, so far. Today, I was able to get my sitter lined up for that evening. I purchased the ticket. For those of you that TRULY know me, you KNOW that I am SO NOT the type of person to go to ANY EVENT alone. However, I am making a HUGE exception for this event. I feel drawn to go, and while I realize that the odds of me being read are slim to none, I am super excited to hear him read others in the audience. I'm taking my tissues with me because it's sure to be one heck of an emotional night! I'll let you all know how it went...

The next thing that I'm really excited about is Valentine's Day. Yes, I realize that my honey won't be with me on V-Day. However, I've got a surprise in the works for him and I can't wait! I've started the ball rolling, and I will share some of that surprise with you all on Valentine's Day as well.

Lastly, my hubby will be home in just over 5 weeks. We're planning a monumental trip to Whistler, BC so I can lose my skiing and snowboarding virginity. The only part I'm NOT looking forward to is the long day of travel there and back, especially with our 16 month old in tow! It will be well worth it once we're playing in the winter wonderland! I'll be out of touch for about 3 weeks while he's "home" next time. We'll see how this 3 week vacation turns out.

I hope you've all had a great start to your new year so far.

The Mom: Informed: How Much Proof Do You Need And How Much Press Does...

The Mom: Informed: How Much Proof Do You Need And How Much Press Does...:      If something is shown to be 500% safer than something else, and proven to save 92 out of 100 lives, why would you not do the safer ...

Back into an old (or new) routine

It's been quite some time since I last posted on this blog.  My husband was home for most of the month of December, and I made a vow to not spend any time on the computer while he was home, unless I absolutely had to.  Now that he's gone again, and I've had a couple of days to get settled back in at home after our holiday travels, I'm working my way back into it.

With the start of the new year, I tend to feel a need to clear out the clutter.  Usually just putting away the Christmas tree and decorations aren't enough.  All the fake pine needles have to be vacuumed up, and the glitter needs to be wiped away.  During that process, I'm usually pulling out furniture to vacuum and dust behind.  It's a snowball effect.  Once I pull out the furniture, I find piles of dust bunnies (translate: cat and dog hair that has migrated under and behind all the furniture in this house) that need to be cleaned up.  Once that's done, I look at where the furniture is placed and usually end up rearranging something.  Today was no different!  It's a workout pushing furniture around the house!  Lucky for me, I had a big helper today.  He (yes, I said HE!) loves to vacuum.  He is pretty entertaining when he does it too!  Check it out and see for yourself!