goodbye 2008. We will never forge...what huh, you wanna dance 2009? Okay, wait I think I was saying something....

I like the feeling of being "back". It's good to start the day with a run...we didn't today cause it was early to work instead, but tomorrow we will. I'm back calling people to hang out and stopping by to say, hey. I'm going back to knitting group tonight and beginning a new project which will hopefully become a gift for a new little man that will be joining little mister in a couple of months.

I'm back blogging, but that was obvious. So I'm back, back with another list for you, this one inspired by - er I mean stolen from - Jem and his blog found here

Things not invited back for 2009

1. Divorce
2. People leaving
3. house hunting
4. election related paraphernalia, or commercials, or rallies, or blogs, or news commentaries, or mass emails claiming this or that about one of the delegates, you get my disdain don't 'cha?
5. Celebrities buying- I mean adopting kids from Africa, what about China for a change? (Seriously, read through the linked article. It's got great quotes.)
6. Coffee breath at 3 in the afternoon
7. Stephanie Meyers lack of writing skills
8. the recession
9. my nephew getting bit on the face by a dog
10. blogs from women complaining about their husbands
11. clutter
12. oh, I almost forgot, World Hunger.
13. And...birthdays. Forget 'em. Who needs 'em, I'll just take the presents.

Also just so you know, I posted on the Push This Blog

It has nothing to do with a new year but...

I click the words "new post" and imagine the tapping on the keyboard I'll make. And then it appears. The blank page before me, it begins to become a group of words squished together to form sentences that then become paragraphs. It hits me. There is so much to say, but nothing that I'm ready to say out loud. And so. I'll hit you with a few facts from the last couple of months in the format I am most fond of right now, a list.

1. Parents from both of our childhoods (mom, and mom and dad) came to visit for Thanksgiving.

2. I failed to complete NANOWRIMO, or at least I stopped after 2 weeks because I figured out that although the acronym seems to work for using the month of November as it's time frame, life actually frowns on the idea with the holiday and visitors taking precidence.

3. I blogged like twice at the Push This blog so that was kind of the same amount that I blogged here, but then I failed to blog a promised follow up blog, so that's on the list for monday.

4. Andy's computer crashed and won't start up anymore. So, we've been sharing my laptop, which I guess now is technically "our" laptop and I sorta blame that for the lack of blogging, and general lack of internet use in the last couple of months. I would really like to remedy this soon.

5. My birthday is this coming Thursday. It'll be my last drink of the devil's fruit for a while. I'm cleaning out my body and trying to get rid of the extra fat around my *commence general waving of the hands in a circular motion* this section.

Which leads me to 6. I ran today.
It was freezing. It made my lungs hurt when I breathed. But, the good thing about it being so damn cold was that I ran for longer than I'd scheduled to cause I didn't want to stop and get cold again. Which eventually I did, stop...and get cold again.

7. It snowed at our little house.

8. I sent out Christmas cards. If you didn't get one, it's either cause I don't have your address, or I ran out. Sorry.

9. I spent Christmas Eve, semi without Andy. He had to work. Ya. Lame.

10. We spent Christmas day with other orphaned friends in Eugene and enjoyed our time with them immensly.

11. I thought the kitty was lost forever, but it turned out she was just hiding in a bucket under the bed trying to stay warm.

12. I'm really into Ghost in the Shell right now

13. Andy bought me the most insane Christmas gift - he surprised me with a Chi

14. We bought him rain gear so he can ride the motorcycle again now. Although I still need to get a helmet, so if you know of one, or find one that you'd like to tell me about, I'd be happy if you did.

15. I finally hung some stuff in the Living Room utilizing our sweet "picture molding" Which means I had to learn to tie sick, never loosening knots in fishing line that the frames hang from little hooks on the molding. It was great. I love the internet. I feel like if you know the right questions to ask, you can learn almost anything.

16. I read the entire Twilight series.

17. I'm trying to knit my first hat

18. I missed being with our family this Christmas for some strange reason.

19. on thursday I'll begin my last year in my twenties.

20. I love my little house.

This is not a New Year's resolution or anything, but I'm trying to be more social, hang out with people a lot this year and invest in people the way I want to but always don't, or can't find the time to. I hope this blog is filled with more posts of musings, lists, discoveries, and pictures of things and people I love. This is going to be a year of calm goodness. That's what I think anyways. What's your year going to be?

What? So what if it's been like a year

It has been almost a month since my last confession, err blog. There's been family visiting and snow falling, Christmas decorating, and work, working. And yet. There hasn't been blogging. One thing making that sort of difficult is that Andy's computer took a dive and won't revive. And by dive I mean figuratively, and by die I mean it won't start anymore. So, we share mine...ours. And it makes it tough to do more than just check email or whatever.

But here I am. Writing a blog. He's at work. So that helps. Work. Yes, at night. I know. It's this new thing we're trying out, it's all about having enough money to pay the mortgage, which also translates into not seeing each other due to the working all the time thing.

A dear friend is coming into town for a visit later this week. I'm thrilled about it. Hopefully she'll make an appearance on the blog.

I've done some baking. Made a few little gifts, and prepared our presents for the nieces and nephews. But alas, Christmas is less about gifts this year as it's about time spent with people we love. Andy has to work on Christmas Eve. Suuuper lame. And supposedly he's working New Year's Eve too...Also suuper lame..

We did some awesome Pushplay Christmasy things this week. The little photos are a bit of a taste of what's to come...and Santa.

I've really enjoyed life this last month. Here's my list in no particular order, well ok, the order in which I type them and that's all:

1. Family Visit
2. snow
3. walking with Andy in the snow
4. dinner at Soriah's
5. Christmas music galore on a cd from McKenzie

How about you? Wanna make a list?

It takes a village

We had a night. The kind of night that doesn't include much sleep. We figured we'd slept from about 3:30-3:45 till about 5:30am. The sun doesn't look like it's going to make an appearance anytime soon.

Bella endured her second getting out of bed and walking with the walker while only putting pressure on one foot extravaganza since I've been here. Twice in the last 12 hours. Simply amazing. We're hoping she'll be able to get the catheter out soon, move out of the hospital, heal and get better damn it.

So I get the ice, call on the nurse for warm blankets from the "microwave", help to physically move her broken body from one position to the next. And I sit within a few feet in case she has another seizure spasm, or needs help in any other way. Someone else has been in my place all week, someone else will fill it later this morning. Apparently there are a lot of things that take a village.

It's been a long night. I am in awe of everyone that has stayed night after night or day after day. This family is tough. They are fighters. They are seriously a testament to love.

A good sleepover in the worst place

I'm here. We're hanging out. Listening to good music, going online, trying to bypass the hospital's internet so we can get on facebook. When I spoke to Andy he asked how the slumber party was going. It's going good, if good is even a word I could use.


It's been so long, I could barely think of what it would be like. I remembered the time Flo came over while I was house sitting in the little cabin and we stayed up all night, laying in the dark talking about this and that, and boys.
Tonight there was a little talk of boys, or rather the men we love. There was definitely the staying up late, and there was partial dark.

But this was different, it was hard to just hang out and talk, there was a lot of pain. She's in as good of spirits as she can be, giving thanks in moments of excruciating pain that her daughter escaped uninjured. There is pain when she moves, and there is pain when she doesn't. The smallest task takes a very long time and brings with it new kinds of pain. But she is strong. In time she will heal.

The bed time routine was a step by step how to be a good mom routine. Complete with a shower cap that when heated and rubbed on her head, simulated a shower, complete with shampoo and conditioner


There was the leg shaving, the changing of the sheet, the brushing of the teeth, the fresh socks and jammies, and the shower cap that washed her hair, I know this is the second mentioning of it, but trust me, it deserves that much play. This thing was amazing. Apparently the day after Bella arrived here a nurse found her one from another floor, then for the rest of the week they were "out"...yes, they're super popular.

Upon finalizing the nighttime I handed her the "breathalizer" to exercise her lungs and she responded, "you must be married to Nancy Pindell." Yes. It seems that way doesn't it? Thanks for the complement dear. All this means is that Bella has friends. Friends that seem like family. Friends that care deeply for her and her family and will do anything, anything she asks. Oh, and mostly what it means is that they'll make sure she does her exercises and gets her meds, and help her walk, and on and on and on. She is loved.

It's 1:30 am and she's beginning to doze. She wore herself out over the last 2 hours as she strained to move off the bed, inch by inch, minute by passing minute, until she stood on one leg, leaning on the walker, myself and 2 nurses. She fought the pain, held back the emotion, and slid forward inch by inch. It's a very good thing, for her to get out of the bed and attempt movement. But it's tough.

When she does fall into a quiet sleep she wakes with a start, the cramping in her legs, causes her to jump and wake herself up, which causes even that much more pain throughout her body. I hope soon you'll be able to hear in her own words what's been going on. My observations in no way depict what she and her family have been dealing with. I know she appreciates all of the well wishes, prayer, and support everyone has given her and her family. Please don't forget them this holiday. Be ever so thankful for those in your life, the love that surrounds you and the life you have to live. We are all so blessed.


I'm set up in my own little space, right by the window with the sill covered in flowers, gifts and cards of well wishes. It's a peaceful place, but I can't wait until she finally gets to leave and be back at home with her girls and her man. Sleep tight Bella, even if it's only for 10 minutes. Rest and heal.

me to you

Today was a really good day. We were out late at the Science show at Lucky's and we talked until early in the morning, so when eight o'clock rolled around, we stayed right where we were, in bed. We finally got up around nine and made breakfast, and little by little I woke up.

When I turned my phone on I had missed a call from Bella and after a brief conversation I had my day planned.

Andy 'n I spent hours in the back yard, getting the pond finished, and by finished I mean getting it ready to be less of a hole and more of a part of the patio. It'll be a great project to have complete...next week. Yeah. We're not done.

We took a walk together then piled leaves upon leaves in preparation for our first garden next spring. Then he dropped me off at the hospital for a few hours with Bella.

I want to keep privacy for her and her family so I won't go into much but to say that she is doing well. I will say that I am impressed with her strength. She is a beautiful woman and I am proud to call her a friend. I'm sure we'll all be hearing from her as she rejoins us in blogging world soon.

When friends need friends.

Dear friends of ours were struck by a life altering event this past week. Their family knows grief and trial well, and watching them dealing with this event from the sidelines has been a true lesson in faith and love. It is best if you hear it from them so I'll post the links to the blogs below.

I haven't made my way to the hospital yet, we are new friends in their lives that are deeply rooted in the community we share. The are taken care of, being helped by family and friends. Really I feel like I don't know what to do. I have a sense of helplessness. I am willing and able to help in any way, but somehow I am held back, I am unsure of what I can offer. I'll call. I'll offer something. Maybe they won't need help right now, that's okay. I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon. I'll be around six weeks from now.

They'll need people around them for a long time. If you think of it, keep their family in your thoughts and prayers. They'll need a lot of strength between them.

News Link Here
Blog Post 1
Blog Post 2