The Slacker Blogger Returns

OK, so I’m a fair-weathered blogger. It’s not the first time you’ve seen me write that. When I disappear from my blog it’s a sure sign that life is stable and relatively drama-free…well, as drama free as life can be when you are playing the real life role of Carol Brady. I actually had to go back and read all my previous posts just to see what I had rambled on about oh so long ago…

What’s new in my world? Amazingly, not much, which isn’t a bad thing. Actually it’s a fabulous thing. We are all healthy and happy…yahoo! With all of the financial chaos in the country in the past year, we feel unbelievably fortunate to have bought our house when we did. We feel blessed to still be gainfully employed and to not be facing the crushing financial situations that so many are.

Considering the last thing I blogged about was paint way back in November, I guess I can start there for some semblance of a segue into the present. I did manage to get the girls’ rooms painted. They picked out the colors—aren’t we incredibly brave?!—and they look great. The colors perfectly reflect our children’s personalities. Deep blue for AG, hot pink for A and pale pink for J. I still feel like I need sunglasses to walk into A’s room, but it is a fun space and she loves it, which is all that matters.

We had our first Christmas in our own home. What fun! I loved pulling out the boxes of Christmas decorations and finding places to put each treasured item. We all went to pick out a live tree that the kids decorated. It was beautiful! In spite of saying we weren’t going to overdo it with the gift buying, we did anyway. The major family gift was a trip to Disney World in February, but then somehow there were all sorts of other presents that showed up under our tree, like pink DS’s and a Wii! We may have set a bad, bad precedent.

So Disney…yeah, we did it. Seven people in the minivan driving seven hours to the Magic Kingdom. Was it worth it? Oh yes! We had some rocky moments—you can’t go on a major trip with four kids and not have those—but not many and overall it was a fabulous trip. The kids still talk about it and look at their photo albums on a regular basis. We’re already in family negotiations to determine our destination for next year. So far New York City seems to be the front-runner. Although I’d love to take them to a real dude ranch out west, or one of the amazing national parks in this country, or to the Florida Keys… There are just so many places I want us to go.

Speaking of trips, this weekend we head to the beach for a family reunion with my side of the family. There will be 18 of us in two houses. This will be the first time that my parents will have all three of their daughters and all of their grandchildren in the same place at the same time. My sister has hired a professional photographer to take pictures of our crew on the beach…could be a logistical nightmare but if it works it will be quite the treasure.

We’ll return home after a week at the beach and the usual summer semi-organized madness will commence. Two of our children will head off to NY for two weeks. Then there are summer camps, and work, and hopefully lots of afternoons and evenings out by (and in) the pool. We’re determined to get a few short weekend trips in to the zoo and Six Flags and Stone Mountain as well. I’m also looking forward to getting some more projects done at home. I still haven’t painted that 1970’s brown paneling downstairs…

**Isn’t this just the most exciting blog you’ve ever read?! Aren’t you beyond ecstatic that I’ve started blogging again?!**

I’m sure this weekend will provide me with much blog-worthy fodder. There’s nothing like bringing an entire family together for an extended period of time to produce drama and chaos that is sure to be a combination of “All in the Family” and “My Cousin Earl” with a bit of “Meet the Press” and “The Daily Show with John Stewart” tossed in for good measure. My mother is actually concerned about whether my husband will still be talking to her after this week is over as she is taking full responsibility for coercing him into the total family immersion experiment. I’ll have a bottle of single malt scotch and my therapist on speed dial just in case…