My Poor Neglected Blog

Dec was a busy month for me. Aren't they all?

My home photo studio officially opened in Oct. My website was built and my portfolio. Oct and Nov I didn't see any business, which is ok. But in December I did 3 photo shoots. It was lots of fun, and my clients were happy with their results. It was pretty neat seeing the photos I took of their kids on a Christmas card they sent me.

We also attended a benefit for a friend of ours. He almost lost his life in November, but the doctors were able to save him. He somehow had infectious tumors in his neck and throat. He had 3 long surgeries in 5 days. He has about a 4 month recovery period. Needless to say his illness and recovery time has forced him out of a job. His baseball friends all got together and held a benefit for him. It was a really good time. You paid a cover charge to get in, and got free food and beer. Then they had a silent auction. We won/bought a Margarita/Mexican bag. It has chips, salsa, a chip bowl, 2 margarita glasses, and margarita mix.

I've also been working on my book edits. I finished my book on Tulum, Mexico and the Maya, so now it's editing time. Edits are going pretty good.

Kevin had a Lego Robotics tournament at the end of November. His team did a really good job, and they are moving onto the state tournament at the end of January. It's a really busy and fun day for the kids, but it's a very long and boring day for the parents. Lots of sitting, and even more time spent between performances. His team is made up of 5 sixth graders, 4 boys & 1 girl. They are all pretty excited about going to the state tournament. They have practices scheduled twice a week to get ready for it. I hope they do a good job at the state tournament.

This year for Christmas I only set up a small tree. It's about a 1 foot tall tree. With all the Dec happenings, I just didn't have the energy to go all out. Plus, with our new kitten, I don't trust her enough to stay out of it. I don't feel like coming home to a destroyed tree every day. Not to mention taking it all down. I usually never get my tree taken down until around Easter time. February if I'm lucky. It's such a big project.

So I put up the little tree on a table and next to it put a snow man snow globe, a nativity set, and a nut cracker. All small pieces. It's a nice little decoration, and the cat has only knocked it off the table 3 times. Not too bad.

I got all my Christmas shopping done. I did most of it online, and just hoping it all gets here in time. My mom and grandma's present is going to be late, but I get her the same thing every year. Not really a lot you can get a 72 & a 101 year old that they don't already have or haven't already given to you. But they will always need a calendar, and that's what I get them. Each month has a photo of us in some way or fashion. They really enjoy it, and it's a good way to show off their grandsons.

Our new kitten had her claws removed and spayed right before Thanksgiving. The little stinker was healing fine over the weekend that we were home, and then as soon as we all left for school and work, she tore out a stitch and managed to get her tummy surgical cut infected. So everyday, I had to clean it out, put antibiotics on it, and give her oral liquid antibiotics. Good thing she liked it. I had to put a cone around her neck and she absolutely hated it. It took a while to get rid of it, and I didn't dare take off the cone until it was all healed up.

Christmas is just a few days away. We plan on spending time with my husbands parents and family. That is always a real fun time. The kids have a real good time with their cousins.

This Christmas we are starting new traditions. My kids have reached that age where they know Santa isn't real and they want more expensive toys. The annual tradition of visiting Santa just doesn't cut it anymore. So we will spend time with the family, got to midnight mass (now that they are old enough to sit through it), open gifts on Christmas morning (as usual), and then we are going to a movie. I'm also going to make a nice Christmas ham. So as the kids grown, we form new fun traditions. I remember as a kid at their age, our mom would load us all up in the family car and we would drive around town and look at all the Christmas lights in town. We'd get home and before bed, we got to open one gift from an out of town relative. It was always so fun to get a sneak peek. On Christmas morning, we'd open gifts, and then go to Christmas mass.

This year also marks a first that my kids are old enough to understand the spirit of giving gifts. They took me shopping with them so they could get their dad and me a Christmas gift. I was just along for the money. It's always so nice that I'm so needed. It's the thought that counts, and I'm pretty proud that they wanted to do that all on their own. They are such sweet kids. They were able to hide my present from me, so I have no idea what I paid for. I'm excited to see what they picked out.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!