Breathe In, Breathe Out

Once again I have fallen victim to life itself and have completely avoided any blogging attempts. I just can't seem to pull things together these days. I think I'm going through a rough patch in life. Yeah. That's it. Its a rough patch, yet everywhere I turn is rough. Thus technically its more like a rough pasture and not a patch. Eventually, I will find a way onto a smooth paved road, but not with the help of a GPS. I'm lost enough, I don't need a faulty computer generated GPS to get me stranded in the middle of nowhere. (haha) Anyhow, back to the point of this blog. Breathe in, breathe out. These are the words I speak to myself every few hours. Yes, I'm talking to myself now, but not answering so there isn't much to be worried about. After having moved into this new enormous home that we purchased we've been pretty busy as one could imagine. This isn't a fixer upper by any means. Its a brand new house. But there are things that have to be done to make the house a home, and make it comfy, cozy, and welcoming. Therefore, a lot of painting has been going on. The kids' bedrooms, laundry room, office and garage have all been painted. The garage has a pretty new epoxy floor. Its actually quite nice, and Mark did an amazing job on it. Furniture has been moved in, boxes have been unpacked and so on and so forth. The backyard has been demolished and is now pretty much a blank slate; with the exception of the 3 trees left back there. Now the yard needs to be cleared of all the debris. That's going to be fun. A fence needs to be built. Shrubs have been uprooted in the front of the house leaving the flower beds stark. Enough talk about the house. Christmas as well as the New Year has come and gone. Christmas was uneventful and by far the smallest Christmas we have ever had, however the kids didn't utter a single word of disappointment. They each received a single gift from Santa in addition to 2 gifts from us. Collectively they got a Wii. Yes, a Wii. We aren't big gamers, but we finally broke down when the offer was too good to pass up. They love that thing. I on the other hand, well, I will be playing games while the boys are at school. I totally got owned by Taylor on every single game we played together, with the exception of pool. I didn't hustle the kid. I can barely play pool in real life. Now, when I was a kid and we had a pool table in the dining room, I could hustle anyone that came in the house. I'm a lot out of practice these days, but I won that game. It was so bad when we were playing baseball that I lost the game because Taylor's team mercy-ruled my team. Now that is pathetic. I got mercy-ruled by an 8 year old on Wii. Bonnie got the kids a gift that the entire neighborhood loves. A trampoline. I have to say, I was pretty stoked about getting the trampoline myself. Memories of my teen years drifted into my head, but I'm not posting those here. I've gotten on it and jumped a few times with the kids. They love it. I love it. Mark loves it. The neighborhood loves it, so thanks Gammie for the awesome gift! Mark and Rick actually put it together in the pouring rain on Christmas Eve. They had on rain coats, but no rain pants. They came in completely soaked from the waist down. It was funny, and I'm sure that is a memory the two of them will share for a long time. So, back to Christmas Eve, my grandfather passed away early that morning. I was very upset, and it wasn't the best of Christmases for me, however, I was expecting it. He wasn't doing well, and I already had my suitcase packed with funeral appropriate clothing. I was in Texas by myself for 5 days. My absolutely, wonderful, God-send of a sister took care of the kids for a couple of days while Mark worked. It was nice to be able to go to the funeral and grieve on my own. The kids didn't know my grandfather, other than very vague memories of a man in a wheelchair who couldn't speak. Explaining death to them was not on my agenda any time soon, so I opted to leave them behind. My grandfather will be so missed by us all. We all loved him dearly, as he loved us dearly. Quick anecdote: When I was about 4 years old, my grandfather had a black, mustang hatchback. Oh how I loved that car. I still love mustangs to this day, and definitely favor the older body styles much more than the newer ones. I've always wanted a mustang, and perhaps one day I'll have one. Anyhow, I loved that car. He knew I loved it, and he would take me along for rides whenever he could. I always asked if I could sit in the back up by the window and he always told me no because he could get into trouble for it. Forget about it being dangerous! LOL. I guess I pestered, begged and groveled enough because he finally gave in one day. After basking in the glory of my success for a little bit, he was pulled over. Yep. I helped my grandpa earn a ticket at the young age of 4. I will always remember that day, and I can't help but to laugh when I think about it.
Okay, enough of that. I enjoyed the time with my family, and it was great to see them all. I spent my last night there with my older cousins. We had a few too many drinks, but it was a fun time. The next day I journeyed back home. For New Year's we didn't do anything at all. We watched Up with the kids and fell asleep before midnight. haha Fast forward a few days to today. Mark is gone, again. He is back in California for 3 months. I am still looking for work, and trying to get school situated. Like I said before, breathe in, breathe out.