January, February, March...and an epiphany or two.

So.

I, umm, apparently, kinda, sorta took a bit of a blogging break. A three+ month blogging break. It wasn't intentional - at least, not at first. In my last post (I know, I know - over three months ago) I mentioned that we were working on some house projects so that we could try to sell the house again this spring.

The projects just kind of took over my life - along with trying to keep up with two teenagers, college applications, FAFSA forms, taxes, interviewing realtors, touring colleges, dance concerts, car issues, and so forth and so on. And somewhere in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle that took over my life for a while, I realized that I hadn't blogged. Or read any blogs. In fact, I was rarely going online - and when I did venture forth into the world wide web, it was via the iphone or ipad and only for brief forays onto instagram or twitter or more research into colleges and costs. And the real epiphany was that I sort of liked it. I liked the freedom of being disconnected. I enjoyed the freedom of not feeling like I HAD to post something or read a gazillion blogs and comment in order to get people to come read my blog and comment back. And then I realized that somewhere along the way, my blog (and me) had lost it's (our) purpose. Originally, I began blogging as a way for friends and family to keep up with us and our family and as a way for me to document our daily lives. But somewhere along the way I started trying to get more followers and comments. I became competitive. And when I was in the midst of my "hiatus" I realized that I needed to change. 

I want this blog to revert back to what it was in the beginning - just me and my crazy family sharing what we are doing and who we are. No competition with other, better, bloggers. No trying to be something I'm not or trying to re-invent myself (a personal pet peeve of mine!) 

So, I apologize for the long break. I don't even know if any of my followers are still around or if you've all given up on me. I've gotten some lovely messages and emails from a few of you telling me that you've missed me - and I honestly can't tell you how much your sweet words of support have meant. I have decided to close comments for future posts - most of you know how to get in touch with me via email (and I can always be found on twitter or instagram) - and please know how much I LOVE hearing from you! I'll leave the comments on for this prodigal post and finish by trying to give you a brief glimpse of our lives for the past few months...

The Boy went on the Diocesan ski trip in January and had a blast...

And he also started back at Tae Kwon Do after taking a break of a year and a half - Mr. Wonderful and I are very pleased about this!

We finished The Princess's room (new carpet, new paint, painted furniture and she got new bedding for Christmas.) We also refinished our bathroom and her bathroom, installed new toilets in all the bathrooms, and painted our bedroom, the laundry room and the den...

We've also been doing yard work, getting screens repaired, and getting the grout cleaned. We even put the kid's friends to work - the VK's really KNOW how to entertain!

The Princess has been very busy with dance competitions and dance concerts and dance workshops... She did well, had a lot of fun, and ran into some old friends from her old studio while she was Atlanta...

I might have let my feelings for dance competitions be known on twitter...

We've been overwhelmed by the amount of lemons, and oranges and pink grapefruit that our trees produced this year. I've been juicing and zesting like a madwoman...

The Boy has done a bit of fishing with his friends...

And I learned (the next day!) that one evening he and a friend found an old couch sitting on the side of the road. They loaded the old couch on the top of the car, carried it down to the end of the dock, and sat on it while fishing the next day. Then, when they were finished with it, they returned it to the side of the road where they found it. 

I am appalled. In an amused sort of way.

We finally finished the painting, and re-carpeting, and grout cleaning, and dusting, and organizing and de-cluttering, and mulching and planting and pressure washing...

We listed the house.

And nothing.

Just nothing.

It's rather demoralizing and depressing.

But, you know, at least the house is clean. 

* Thanks for bearing with me as I try to get back into the blogging world. I've missed it - and you! I apologize for the quality (or lack thereof) of the photos - I had to "borrow" them from instagram!

Hodgepodge

* My car has been repaired and is home again. I'm very happy about this. We had a few issues with the other driver's insurance company (and I was surprised because I've always heard good things about USAA) but in the end, the car DID get repaired and it looks great. 

* The Princess and her BFF, Corky, had a get-together and made cookies. From scratch. It was...entertaining.

Honestly, I didn't think that baking cookies from scratch was all that complicated. But to two 16 year olds, apparently it was!

I popped in to the kitchen when The Princess informed me that we didn't have enough baking soda. I was confused because I thought we had almost an entire box. It turns out that the recipe called for 3/4 of a teaspoon not 1 and 3/4 of a cup. 

Of course. Anyone could make that mistake, right? 

Actually, The Princess has done this exact same thing before. And THIS is why these two girls have been best friends since they were in pre-school.

There may or may not have been a teeny tiny flour fight.

I'll never tell.

* We finally finished hanging curtains and pictures in The Princess's bedroom. It looks great and she is very happy with the results!

* On Christmas Day, opening day, we went to see Les Miserables. I was a bit worried because I had such high expectations - I was afraid I would be disappointed. I wasn't. I LOVED it. 

To be fair, I love the musical...I've seen it four times, three of them in London. I've heard some complaints about the singing not being up to par, and it's true that some of the actors are not exactly Broadway or West End caliber in the singing. But, this wasn't on stage. It was a movie. And the acting was amazing. Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean) and Anne Hathaway (Fantine) were incredible. Oscar caliber acting. 

One of the best things about the movie was seeing Colm Wilkinson cast as the bishop. When we saw the play in London, he was Jean Valjean - and he will always be in my mind.

I had tears in my eyes at the end. The theatre broke into spontaneous applause. And I want to see it again. And again. And again....

* Christmas was great. It was a wonderful day filled with family and food (and Les Mis!). 

The kids had a lot of fun trying to dress Jack up like the jolly old elf. Jack didn't have quite as much fun.

However, he loved all the wrapping paper and empty boxes. He's a bit perturbed that we took all his new fun "toys" away.

Now I am busily taking decorations down and packing things away. Life has been so crazy around here the past few months - from our impromptu trip to south Florida to pack up my MIL's condo when it sold, to me being sick and the death of our cat, followed by the death of my stepfather and being rear-ended - it's been one thing after another. We are trying to take care of a few projects around the house before this spring when we will try once again to sell our house. I know it's early to take decorations down, but I just want to get the house back to normal and get some cleaning and de-cluttering done.

* These alternating school breaks are killing me - The Princess got out a week before The Boy. Now she goes back to school next Wednesday and he has another week off. I'm ready to get back on a bit of a schedule...

What's new, pussycat? (woah woah)

This past week has been crazy. My step-father's death threw us all for a loop. Then I was rear-ended while driving carpool (everyone is ok), and have been getting estimates on the repair of my car and trying to deal with insurance companies.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photo. It was taken with my cell phone in the pouring rain. 

The good news about the accident is that although I was hit by a larger vehicle and knocked into a much larger vehicle, the only damage to my little car (that we know of) was some scraping and a few bent clips on the bumper. 

Then a couple of days later a big moving van drove down our (private) driveway - the one past a dead end sign and with numerous address signs posted - and then, once he finally realized he had the wrong address, attempted to back down the driveway. He managed to take out several of the landscape timbers in the process. So we've also been dealing with the moving company trying to get them to come out and repair the damage.

There have been some positive moments this past week as well. (Thank goodness!) The Boy was accepted at two more colleges this week...

I took some time out to cover up some gray, get a few highlights, and a much needed haircut...

We had some good news regarding Mr. Wonderful's job...

And we got to catch up with my nephew when he flew down for the funeral...

And, of course, the news out of Newtown, Connecticut has broken our hearts. I can barely watch the news coverage and the stories about those sweet babies makes my heart ache for the families. I cannot fathom the pain they must be feeling.

The past week has been filled with both happiness and sadness, elation and despair. Time flies, and life is short. Be kind.

Yesterday is gone.

Tomorrow has not yet come.

We have only today. Let us begin.

What can you do to promote world peace?

Go home and love your family.

Mother Teresa

Sad

In loving memory of Robert L. Kramer

(AKA G-Dad/Skipper)

7/27/40 - 12/7/12

Death is nothing at all.

I have only slipped away into the next room.

I am I and you are you.

Whatever we were to each other

That we are still.

Call me by my own familiar name.

Speak to me in the easy way you always used.

Put no difference in your tone.

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

At the little jokes we always enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effort

Without the ghost of a shadow in it.

Life means all that it ever was.

There is absolute unbroken continuity.

What is death but a negligible accident?

I am waiting for you for an interval

Somewhere very near

Just around the corner

All is well.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost.

One brief moment and all will be as it was before.

How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

(Canon Henry Scott-Holland, Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral 1847-1918)

I'm back, I think!

Thank you all for the great tips on how to work around being unable to
post photos on the blog. I plan on trying all of your suggestions and am
still looking into switching to Wordpress or Typepad as well. 

I just need for things to slow down here a bit so I can spend a day on
 the computer trying things out!

We are still working on our projects. The new carpet is installed in the 
kid's rooms and I am slowly putting things away and hanging pictures 
on the walls, etc. Slowly because I am going through EVERYTHING 
with a fine tooth comb and a lot of stuff is being thrown away or donated. 
I cannot believe the amount of "stuff" those two kids have managed to 
accumulate. It's disgusting.

Also, I've been distracted by getting Christmas decorations up. And by 
wrapping gifts and getting Christmas cards addressed and packages 
ready to be mailed. You know how it is...so hopefully we'll manage to 
get those rooms completed soon and then I'll get to start painting our 
bedroom.

We're still picking lemons and I'm still making lemon marinades and 
lemon vinaigrettes and so on and so forth. We're kinda like Bubba 
Gump, except with lemons instead of shrimp!

I also wanted to share a bit of sad news with you. Two days before Thanksgiving we had to say goodbye to our sweet kitty, Roxy. We rescued her when she was about 2 years old and had had her for almost 14 years. She was our own Grizzabella and the sweetest cat ever. In her heyday, she was constantly gifting us with dead snakes, mice, rats, and moles. She definitely earned her keep!

We miss her a lot.

And finally, here is The Boy's senior picture...

I am in complete denial that my little boy will be graduating in about 6 months.

This. Is. Killing. Me.

Ugh.

Anyway. 

Right now I am fighting a migraine and we have roofers up on our roof pounding away as they repair a bad spot on the roof. You can imagine what fun that is. My head in pounding away in synchronization with the pounding on the roof. So, because I can't think straight and because I don't have anything else to say and am probably repeating myself, I am signing off.

Now that I've finally, hopefully, figured out a short term solution to the blog problem, I hope to be posting more often...