A New Year: I Can See The Future
In households across the country people will be making their New Year resolutions. This has never been the tradition in my house. My parents always took a piece of paper and wrote down their New Year PREDICTIONS. They would predict what was going to happen in the coming year and then seal it in an envelope. On the following New Year they would open their predictions to see how many came true.
I would like to continue this tradition by asking YOU to write your own New Year’s Predictions. My family always liked to cover a wide range of topics from the political to the mundane. Write 5 predictions (feel free to use the graphic here) and then tag 3 of your friends to write their own predictions. You can also just leave your predictions here in the comments area. I will be the keeper of your predictions and next year we’ll see how we all did.
1.) Britney Spears will challenge Keven Federline for full custody of their children
2.) Gasoline will see $1.15 a gallon before creeping back up to over $2.00 a gallon
3.) Michael Jackson will move back to the United States
4.) Lucy will start school and discover that it isn’t nearly as bad as she anticipated. However, Mommy will discover that the home-schooling part will be far more challenging than she thought.
5.) Max will discover his independence and easily rid himself of his pacifier addiction. (I think this is wishful thinking more than a prediction).
The three people I’m tagging first are Jane from “What About Mom”, Annie from “The Daily Digress” and my old friend Holly from “Migraines and Mortgages” who has actually participated in the original version with real paper.
Happy Blogiversary! (I Think The First Year Is Paper)
This is sort of my blog-i-versary. I don’t really have a set date because well, there were several starts and stops. It took me almost an entire year to figure out what I was going to do with my little corner of the internet and so my early posts are a very strange combination of topics. It wasn’t until I realized that I needed to filter LESS not MORE that things fell into place. I thought I would take this moment to tell you what I learned this first year.
1.) Writing several times a week is a lot harder than it looks. When I tell people I blog I get one of the following reactions; a.) blank stare b.) an “oh really? I should do that” or c.) “does anybody read it?” The truth is, it is hard to do. Oh, it was fun and heady the first couple of months but quickly (sometime around July) it started to get painful. Frankly, I’m not that interesting and writing 3-5 times a week can be a stretch sometimes.
2.) The internet is filled with lovely people. I’ve made some amazing friends this year and met some incredible women. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve never met them in person, but I know their stories like I know my own. I’m proud to be a part of the “mommy-blogger” club because we are an impressive band of sisters.
3.) The internet is filled with people that have no sense of humor. I’m sarcastic and I get the fact that sarcasm doesn’t always translate well in the written world but c’mon people – really? I periodically post in some public venues and I’m always amazed at the vitrolic responses I receive on the most basic, humorous posts. It has made me very sympathetic and understanding of bloggers like Dooce. I can only imagine the hate-mail she receives. Eegads people, lighten up.
4.) I would do this even if nobody read it. The most surprising, and yet obvious, thing I’ve discovered is how much I have missed writing. My bachelors degree was in creative writing and I suppose I always assumed I would be a writer some day. My blog has really allowed me to pursue that. It is nice that people read it and even nicer when people comment, but fundamentally I do this for me.
Lastly, I have not finished this year without the amazing support of my parents, my husband and my readers. David has been unabashed in his support and even designed my header graphic. My parents have read every post, and as always, have been my most honest critic. My lovely, lovely readers who have rallied to my support, laughed at my jokes, provided me with wonderful tips and lead me down new paths of discovery — thank you. Thank you all. I hope in 2009 I continue to entertain you.
St. Santa Pictures
I’m not the kind of person who wins things. My luck just doesn’t run that way. However, somewhere in the cosmos the “Saint of Santa Pictures” has looked down upon me and taken me into his favor. I say this because I have had uncanny good luck with my kids and Santa Claus. Lucy’s very first picture with Santa Claus looked like it was taken from a brochure. Even Max has only provided me with one tearful photo in the 3 years we’ve taken his picture. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this and I’m sure that now that I’ve drawn attention to it I will forever be condemned to horrid photos. However, for this year we were successful:
My kids take the best Santa pictures EVER!
For those of you living in the Dallas area I would like to let you in on my secret to some of my success. I always go to the Willow Bend Mall. Why? Because that mall is filled with stores that nobody can afford to shop in and thus is ALWAYS empty during the holiday season. If you get to the mall at around 4:45 during a weekday you are sure to not experience a line for Santa.
