Long Overdue

I think one of the reasons I don't post on here very much anymore is because I get intimidated when I go to write something. I start trying to sort out all my thoughts so that I can write an interesting post that fills you in on what's been going on. But there's so much going on that I get all overwhelmed and my thoughts get mixed up and I just wind up logging out and doing something else. I haven't even written in my good ol' Microsoft Word journal for myself lately. When I go back and look at that years from now, there's going to be a big gap from about September to December of this year.

Part of it is able to be blamed on pregnancy; just being tired and not feeling well. The rest can be blamed on the fact that so much of what has been going on is not really stuff that I feel comfortable sharing with the whole world.

Both of my brothers have been dealing with some very difficult issues in their lives in the last few months. Well, Greg's has been ongoing for a couple years now, on and off, but Jeff's has just started in the last couple of months. Again, not something that I feel is appropriate to share, so I am going to be very vague. Basically, Jeff picked the WRONG GIRL to get involved with. He decided to not be involved with her anymore and she lost it. She is doing everything she can to make his life a living hell. And she's doing a very good job. For now things are calm, but we still are not resting easy, as we never know what could come next. All I'm worrying about right now is him coming home for Christmas and being able to give him a big ol' hug.

ANYWAY, moving on.

Let me tell you, in a nutshell, about all the other stuff that's been going on and that is coming up. We had a nice Thanksgiving, and then Mama and I had to get to work on a couple of Christmas parties that we catered the first week in December.

Also the first week in December was Douglasville's Old Fashioned Holidays Tour of Homes. Not only was I on the committee that put it on, but our tenants in the "Green House" (that is now the brown house) put their house on the tour. They are a young couple and didn't have a whole lot of Christmas decorations, so I wound up taking our whole house a lot up there and then decorating a lot too. It was fun for me to do, but it wound up being a lot given everything else that was going on (being pregnant, brothers in distress, parties to cater, committee member, oh, and a sick two year old at home).

Here is a picture of us with Rachel and Kyle, our tenants in the house formerly known as the Green House. They are so wonderful. We love them!



Daddy's birthday was on the 8th and unfortunately I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with him because I worked that day and went straight to a bridal shower for a very good friend of mine from college at the Chocolate Bar in Decatur. I enjoyed a glass of wine that night - the first of this pregnancy, and boy, was it good. Don't worry, I don't make a habit of it.

Yesterday Mama and I went to the first (annual?) McLeod Women's Christmas Luncheon at the Jasmine Tea Room in Sharpsburg. There were 24 of us total, and it was so nice to see everyone. I hope it becomes a tradition!



Today is my birthday and Josh made breakfast for me and invited Mama, Daddy, Greg and Elizabeth to join. I think we're going to dinner tonight somewhere. :)

Thursday, the 17th, is Bennett's birthday. He will officially be 2 years old. And a 2 year old he is! What a handful that boy is. He can make you want to pull your hair out one second and have you in a fit of laughter the next. It's such a fun roller coaster.

Friday night is the Hilti Christmas party in Atlanta, and then Saturday we're having a small party for Bennett (um, that I haven't sent invitations out for and probably won't at this point, but it's really just going to be us and the grandparents this year - and Lauren if for some weird reason y'all are able to come we would love it). I plan to make his cake, but I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do yet. I'm pretty sure it's going to be Sesame Street themed because that's what he's into right now, but I need to get to work on the details.

The following Sunday is Josh's family's Christmas dinner in McDonough and then I plan to take the next few days before Christmas to make my homemade Christmas gift for the person whose name I drew. It's a family tradition of ours that we all draw names and we have to make a gift using only things that we already have on hand. Nothing is to be bought in order to make the gift. We usually get a pretty good laugh out of this little exchange.

So then there's Christmas with both of our families, and after that we'll be off to North Carolina to see Josh's dad's side of the family, which we are looking forward to.

So! There you have it. I'm exhausted just writing all of that. Will I be able to make it to the end of December? Stay tuned!