It’s been a while….

I know, I’m terrible.  I’ve slacked big time.  But I’m back, and I’m going to take a break from writing about my sister.  Some of those entries really took a toll on me emotionally, and I’m not feeling up to continuing that story right now.  I’m sure you all understand.

So it’s November….holy cow!!  This year has flown by!  Thanksgiving is right around the corner, then Christmas.  But this has always been my favorite time of year.  Even with all the traveling, spending and stress of the holidays, I love them, because to me they’re also about seeing and spending time with family and friends, and that means more to me than anything. 

We go so broke this time of year…LOL!  Not only from Christmas, for which we have four kids and one grandkid to buy for, but all 3 of T’s daughters have birthdays before Christmas….C’s birthday is Nov. 10, S’s is Nov. 26, and K’s is Dec. 12.  Damn, we know what T and his exes were doing in the early months of the year back in ’91, ’95 and ’97…lol.  Thank goodness my son J’s birthday isn’t until April…gives us a little bit of a break.  Oh, but our granddaughter’s birthday is also in October, so there’s another one!  She just turned 1 this past October 26….my little sweetheart!  I wish we got to see her more often, but at least we get to see her more now that we’re in MI than we did when we were in FL, GA and MS.  Oh, and speaking of grandkids, T’s oldest daughter C, the mother of our granddaughter, is pregnant again and due in June.  We weren’t exactly jumping for joy when we found out because she’s not even 19 yet and this is her second baby, but what can you do?  It is what it is.  At least she’ll be done with beauty/barber school in May.  Then she’ll have to take some time off to have the baby and recover, of course, but she fully plans on going to work as soon as she can.  We just wish her damn boyfriend would get off his ass and get a job.  Right now he stays home all day watching their daughter and playing video games.  I know watching the baby is a help because they don’t have to pay for child care that way, but child care could be easily covered AND they would have money if he’d get a job.  T and I wish he’d give more thought to joining the military, but we can’t make him do anything….just hope for the best.

I’m leaving Thanksgiving afternoon for AZ for two weeks….I’m so excited!!  My mom and stepdad and my sister and my Aunt P (one of my mom’s sisters) and her husband, Uncle J, live down there and I’m really looking forward to some mom time.  I haven’t seen my mom in over a year and I miss her terribly.  I’m really looking forward to seeing my sister, too.  She’s been clean now for almost a year, she’s got a good job, and she’s doing really, really well.  We talk on the phone every now and then and the conversations are always great….we make each other laugh like crazy!  I feel I’m finaly getting my sister back….our relationship is healing and rebuilding and while a tiny part of me is still a little apprehensive about seeing her (residual from the past, I guess), most of me is very excited about spending time with her and hopefully getting even closer.  I love her so much, and I’m so proud of her for all she’s accomplished. 

But what I’m MOST looking forward to is December 30th….the day my son starts his leave and I get to see him….YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I haven’t seen him in over a year either, and I know I’ll probably bawl my eyes out when I do see him and he’ll say "God, Mom!"  LOL.  I can’t help it….I miss that kid so much.  And he’s bringing his girlfriend down to Evansville for the annual holiday gathering on my mom’s side of the family, which we always do after Christmas….it’s easier that way for everyone since we all have kids and other families.  Anyway, I’m sooo looking forward to meeting her!  We talk on Facebook a lot, me and J’s girlfriend, and she is just a doll!  She’s going to fit right in with our family, I can tell.  And I have the best idea for her for a Christmas gift!  She told me once in passing that she likes socks….lol.  Kinda like I like pajamas!  So I’m going to buy her a bunch of different, unique pairs of socks and inside each pair I"m going to put in either a gift card or a $5 bill.  Think she’ll like it??  She’s in college right now so I know she’ll appreciate the money and I’m going to get gift cards to places where she can get supplies for school or to places to eat.  J’s gift is his plane ticket home! LOL.  Actually, me and Tony are splitting the cost of his tickets with J’s dad and his stepmom.  And of course we’ll still have some gifts for him to open…but his big gift is his plane tickets, which he was more than okay with.

Speaking of gifts, I have the most AMAZING gifts for my BFF R….I am so excited to give them to her I don’t know how I’m going to possibly wait until Christmas….LOL!  But I will.  I’ll be seeing her on Christmas night, actually, because T and I will be in IL spending Christmas at my Dad and stepmom’s, then I’m going to R’s that night and spending the night with her because she and I are going to a Bears gave the next day.  It’s going to be sooooo much fun!!  My dad is going to be so jealous when he hears I’m going to a Bears game….lol.  He loves the Bears.  Me, personally, I’m not really into football so much….hockey is my sport….GO BLACKHAWKS!!!!!!  But I do like going to football games….they’re so much fun when you can actually be at them! 

On a different note….I am down 25 pounds!!!! *insert me smiling hugely*  I work out six days a week….three days a week at Curves and three days a week at a gym doing just cardio.  It helps a lot, but the biggest thing that’s helped is my doctor took me off insulin and put me on an injection called Victoza.  It’s not insulin, it’s a medication that works with my pancreas to make more of its own insulin.  She also put me on two oral medications.  This new cocktail has helped my sugars tremendously, and the injection pretty much kills my appetite, so not being able to eat much is another big help in the weight loss efforts.  I want to lose 40 more pounds, then I will be where I was when T and I got married.  I felt good at that weight and looked good, so that’s my goal.  But just losing 25 pounds has made a tremendous difference in how I feel.  Hopefully soon I’ll be able to get off of some of the medications I take….that’s my MAIN goal….but it’s all a work in progress and I know it takes time.  I think that’s another reason this time my weight loss efforts are successful….I’m being realistic, I’m not expecting miracles, and I’m taking things one day at a time.  Now if I could just give up the cigarettes! LOL

Anyway, I guess that’s about it for now.  I promise to try and write more regularly….gosh, I didn’t realize until I started typing tonight how much I missed this place

!  I hope you’ve all had a blessed weekend, and I’ll be seeing you soon!