A Fortunate Life...REALLY!

So the past two years have been really rocky for me and my family. Those who follow my meanderings on here know that my Mom died in 2011 after a hard fought battle with lung cancer. Those who know me IRL know that in 2012 my Father died as well. I got a year and a week with him before he went to be with my Mom. He was not sick, it was very sudden and unexpected. It was also very difficult to deal with.

He died at his fishing "camp" and he had been out with his friends fishing the day he died. He died on July 19, but he was found on the 20th so that is the date in his death certificate. That bugs me no end.

I am finding it very hard to be an "orphan". I know that a 40ish mother of three can't really be called an orphan, but that is what I feel like. It is very easy to get bogged down with feeling sorry for myself. I am the last one standing. Of my Nuclear Family, Dad, Mom, Brother, Me... I am the only one left alive.

I have spent the last half of 2012 fighting that feeling. I stopped doing many of the things I enjoyed and that I used to get through my Mom's death. I stopped writing here, I stopped taking pictures for my 365 project, I stopped baking and crafting. I stopped volunteering in the girls schools, I even mostly stopped taking care of the house. It was all I could do to take care of my family and myself.

Then a day or so ago I came back and looked at this blog. I snorted and mumbled, Fortunate Life, my FOOT! Then I looked up at Mojo and the girls, I looked around my beautiful home and thought of my friends and loved ones who have been through so much with me and stuck by me over the last two years. I looked at Big Man and thought about how he loves me with all of his doggy heart, and I realized that yes I AM fortunate. So much more fortunate than I really deserve.

And so 2013 is going to be a year of awareness for me. A year of really feeling how very very fortunate I really am. A year of healing and reaching out to show how much I love those close to me. A year of being thankful for all the blessings that are in my life.  And I hope you come along for the journey with me.

Sofa Drama

So Mojo and I have been shopping for a new sofa for about two years. Not diligently or hard-core, but looking around and shopping none the less. It is difficult because out tastes are so different. I like mixy matchy textured sofas and he likes sleek modern leather.

This is what I like...



This is what Mojo likes...

So very different styles. We looked and looked and argued and then we only had a love seat and two chairs in the den and five people trying to sit down. So we kept looking and we finally, about two or three months ago found this...

We both loved it so we bought it. Paid for it and then waited for it to be delivered. After about a month the sales clerk called and our sofa had been discontinued and we could not have it! WHAT??? So she wanted to know did I want the floor model? I asked her how much the floor model was and she was surprised, I guess she thought I should pay full price for  it?  Anyway she had to "talk to her manager" who offered us a whole THIRTY dollars off our price. Because we had bought the sofa at ten percent off in the first place. I said no. We went back and forth and I finally just said that I wasn't paying that much for what was essentially a used sofa.

Walking around their showroom I saw kids jumping on the furniture. People lounging with open drinks on the furniture and doing God knows what else. So no, I wasn't paying the same price for a new one as for the floor model.

Later that day the Sales Manager called and made me another offer, I agreed and told her that we would come in the next day and look over the sofa and if it was in good shape we would take in home that day.

The next day, I really have no idea WHAT happened on the interstate but a 30min trip took 2 hours! We get there and everybody runs for the bathrooms! The we go to check out the floor model, only it is gone. I told Mojo that maybe because it was discontinued they had moved it to the back. But, NO! They SOLD IT!!!! They sold the sofa we had ALREADY PAID FOR!!!!

I could not help it, I burst into laughter. I mean REALLY?????? REALLY??????

So they tell us if we choose another sofa THAT day they will give us a "good Deal".
So we wandered around for 2 hours and finally choose this one...

Notice the cushions? Yeah, they came from the first sofa! The store was selling them! Someone did not get all the cushions with their sofa I guess! Anyway, Mojo being the wheeler dealer that he is got them for us for FREE! They were 30 dollars each! On top of the "good deal" on the sofa!

So we waited for THIS one. And it finally arrived and I LOVED it. It looks even better than I thought it would in the room! But then I noticed THIS...

OH NO!!! So I call them and send over this very picture and wait three days. AND they are sending us a new new new sofa! I thought it would be more difficult. So fingers crossed we will finally finally get a sofa!!!!

Who know that buying a sofa would be such a hassle???

100 year celebration

of Girl Scouting.

That's where we spent our day on Saturday.

Our council had a celebration fair and carnival and we went and volunteered at the memorabilia booth and the crafts and games booth.

We earned the original design first aid patch...

We stood in line for rides...

   

We learned about scouting in different countries...

We had a good time and we all got our first sunburns of the season!

Jennifer Thursday!

Mike Doughty - 27 Jennifers!
Enjoy

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Not really. I AM sitting at my breakfast bar wasting time. 'Cause I so don't want to clean the kitchen. I need to though, so I will get to it soon. 

I am also waiting for Mojo. {That sounds like a movie.} He has been gone for the past two nights on business. I hate it. The kids hate it. The dog hates it. He hates it. But we have to do it. Thankfully it doesn't happen very often at all. He used to have to do ALOT of travelling and I really really hated it. I got used to it though. I figured out how to sleep without him, but I hated it. Now I am out of the habit and usually wind up sitting up in bed all night imagining that the noises I hear are people breaking into the house to kill me and leave my children motherless.

This time I got smart and made the dog sleep in the room with me. He likes to sleep in his own bed at night and only come sleep in our bed in the mornings. He really didn't want to sleep in my room so on the second night he slept in the smack middle of the bed and made me sleep on the edge.  I could just imagine what he was thinking.

"Geez Mom, grow up! What exactly do you think I'M gonna do? Humph, well I'll sleep here BUT you won't like it! I'm sleeping right here in the middle! YOU sleep on the edge! I don't wanna be in here anyway! You closed the door most of the way and now I can't get out and get a drink of water or eat! You know I always eat after you go to bed. Man, I wish Dad would come home. Stupid Mom!"

He weighs 170 pounds! So I did not get alot of sleep last night anyway. But he got his revenge. Tonight Mojo comes home! So everyone can sleep where they belong, and the dog can get over being mad at me.

Until next time :)

Jennifer Thursday

It's BACK!

I know you've missed it.

Jennifer Thursday, where I post a link to a Jennifer song!

Here Ya go...

Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny

New Traditions

Every year on the last day of school I attack the girls as they get off the bus. And the annual "Last day of School Water Balloon Fight" commences.  This year as the Christmas holidays loomed toward me, I cast around looking for things to lighten me up and make me enjoy the Hols. I thought about the water balloon fight and about the fact that it was winter. I thought about the fact that the big girls don't catch the bus in out front yard anymore but down the street on someone else's corner.

I remembered something I saw on Pintrest. I didn't pin it at the time because I went back and looked for it for this post and could not find it. Anyway... it was a snowball fight in a can! I thought that is perfect. I can hide it behind the front door and bomb them when they walk in! So I went out and bought a Christmas tin shaped like a paint can and some white yarn. I spent one evening making big white Pompoms. I put it all together and hid it from my children.

And then I waited for the big day.


Only....

I forgot all about it.

Yep! I got sick with an inner ear imbalance caused by a prescription medicine and spent some time feeling dizzy and sick and throwing up and sleeping for days. And when the new medicine started to work and I felt a little better and finally like I could maybe drive again, Break was upon me and I forgot all about it in the frantic rush to catch up with all that I hadn't been able to do while living the worst hangover known to man. { and can I just say that it was HORRIBLE! and horribly unfair that I felt that way and I don't even drink that much! Like hardly ever! Not counting the company Christmas party, which is only once a year anyway!}

Nope, I had hidden the can in a tote filled to the brim with hidden presents and did not find it until Christmas eve. Doh!

So I decided that we would use it on New Years Eve! And that is what we did and the kids loved it. They want to do it every year now. so It is our new tradition. We don't have many for New Years. Really only the food stuff and the smashing of the gingerbread house. THAT is a subject for another post!