New Year's Eve was a Funeral

New Year's Eve was a funeral.  I don't mean a funeral like I was at a party and it was really dead.  I've been to those kind of parties though and they suck because you don't want to be there, but if you leave the host gets all offended because they know their party sucks and you leaving early just makes them feel worse.  It wasn't that kind of thing.  I mean I literally spent New Year's Eve giving the eulogy at a funeral.  It was my Uncle K's funeral.  He died just before Christmas and my poor aunt waited until New Year's Eve so that we could get through Christmas with our own families and deal with traveling and stuff after the holiday. Christmas was already kind of stressful (hence no Christmas post) because Big Man (the hubby) was out of town looking for work and it was tough to get through the season without him.  It felt weird and incomplete and we all felt kind of lost.

Then my aunt called to tell me Uncle K had died.  And she asked me to do the eulogy. I couldn't say no.  My Aunt K is almost my mom.  She took my sister and I into her home and helped raise us when we needed a safe place to live. She gave us the childhood we needed and had not been given the chance to have until then.  She treated us like her own children and loved us unconditionally.  How could I say no?  I wanted to, though.  Because eulogies are so personal and important and what you say when a person dies to commemorate their life may have a huge impact on the living who are listening to your words, trying to hear anything that might help them find peace or laughter or closure.  It's a lot of pressure to get that right.  To make sure you honor the dead and uplift the living.

How do I know it's pressure?  Because this is the third eulogy I have delivered.  The first one was for my Dad.  He was my dad and there was lots to say about who he was and how he impacted my life and there was never any thought about speaking at his funeral, it just seemed like it was my responsibility and I wanted the opportunity to honor him.  It was amazingly cathartic and I was so glad afterward that my sister and I chose to take on the responsibility, as tough as it was.

The second eulogy I delivered was for my grandmother.  My Aunt K had been her caretaker for several years and asked if I would talk about Grandma G.  My Grandma G was such a wonderful lady and she too did all she could while we were growing up to love us and help us through some very tough times.  I lived with her on two different occasions while I tried to find my path in life and spent many, many nights listening to stories about her life.  She was so tough and funny!  I loved going through all of her pictures and sharing stories about her life while we prepared for her service.  It gave me the opportunity to see her in all of her glory!

So Uncle K was the third.  An honestly, I wasn't in a real great place emotionally (what's new, right?), so when my aunt asked me to speak, I wondered why her kids didn't want to do it.  She went on to answer my question without me asking..."my kids aren't good at expressing themselves and sharing their emotions in public."  Ah. Well...I'm not sure I am either.  And honestly...who IS comfortable giving a eulogy?  Just because I like to talk a lot and don't mind doing it in front of people doesn't mean I have anything of value to say about a person who just died.  But...I would do anything for my aunt, so I said yes.

It was a tough eulogy to prepare.  I'd visited them throughout the years, but I hadn't lived with my aunt and uncle for 35 years. He was a truck driver, so even when I was living there as a girl he wasn't home a lot.  I had a few memories, but not enough for an entire talk!  So I started trying to interview his kids and brothers and sisters.  His kids couldn't seem to talk much.  Which is so opposite of how I process grief and sadness, so I was really struggling with how to talk about their dad without their input.  His younger brother, however,  painted an incredible story about a man I barely knew.  Apparently my uncle had a pretty tough childhood, which explains a lot about why he wasn't very talkative about his life.  I won't go into details, but it was tough and his dad made it tougher. His brother shared  a lot of things about mu uncle's life that even my uncle's kids didn't know about him.  What I really came away with was that Uncle K wasn't a talker. He was a doer.

He didn't tell his kids about driving trucks, he taught them how so they could make a living.  He didn't tell them how to fix cars.  He taught them so they could fix their own.  He didn't say he would be over sometime to help fix the house.  He just went and fixed the house. Almost every person I talked to shared an experience about how my uncle had helped them.  The picture that emerged as I wrote his eulogy was a huge lesson in judging people and assuming that we know people when we really don't.  Honestly, I always thought my uncle was kind of high maintenance, because I really only saw him at home, where he relied on my aunt a lot for his daily needs.  Turns out the person I thought I kind of knew was in actuality a much more giving, loving person that people realized.  He wasn't a touchy, feely, talky guy who walked around saying flattering things he didn't mean.  He served people.  He helped when he was needed.  He was present when he could be - Daddy Daughter events with granddaughters and nieces (me), time spent working on cars or in the shop with his boys or the neighbors, hiking, camping with the family and grandsons.  There weren't a lot of words.  He didn't talk about helping and loving and sharing feelings.  But there were actions.  He willingly gave of his time and talent when he was needed, from the time he was a young boy until his worn out body wouldn't work anymore.  And I think we all needed to know and understand that about a man that some of us thought was kind of quiet and detached, even grumpy at times. 

So I spent New Year's Eve talking about the life of someone who had just died, while pondering the beginning of a new year in my own life. It was an irony that was not lost on me.  At 48 years old, after five years of struggling with our finances and life in general, I am more lost than ever about who I am and how to get my family where we need to be.  I have no life plan anymore.  Our plans have fallen apart.  Our back up plans fell apart.  We have to start over.  I have to start over and I am scared and worried and afraid to take even one more step forward because I cannot handle one more failure.  So I have been taking stock of my life.  And then I got asked to take stock of someone else's life and present the findings in a pleasant way that would honor the way they lived. Karma or blessing? Maybe some of both.

I was surprised at how emotional I was during the talk.  I thought I would be more composed.  I cried more than I wanted to.  Because I was blessed to get a glimpse of who my uncle really was and share that with people who needed to see him in the most positive light possible.  I got to see how someone who rarely got the best life has to offer accepted what he was given and tried to do something good with it.  And I suddenly felt very grateful for the example my uncle had been.  I'm great with the words of love and support, something my uncle didn't always verbalize, but not so great at actually showing up when I can be of service.  I don't want to be the person who offers help and lots of hugs and "I love yous", but never delivers the goods when push comes to shove.  And sometimes when I am asked to sacrifice my time or energy, I complain because it seems inconvenient or hard.  Uncle K never complained.  He just did what needed to be done.  And mostly...I don't want to die and have my kids not feel like they can talk about me at my funeral because they didn't know me well enough to have something to share. Or because they don't like to speak in public.  I want to tell them everyday how much I love and appreciate them and what a blessing they are to me and how incomplete my life would be without them.  I want to tell them how important it is to serve and love others and not judge.  I want to tell them how important it is to be happy and positive, even when it's hard to feel that way.  And then after I tell them, I want to show them.  

I hope one day they will look back and say, "Remember when we spent New Year's Eve at that funeral and mom had to speak?  Boy...Mom really got her crap together after that.  Life got so much better for our family in 2013."             

Charity Never Faileth...My Holiday Post

Well, another year is coming to an end and I have to say it has been a pretty traumatic year for my family and me.  To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to Christmas.  I didn't even bother to go out to the garage to dig my tree out until December 16th, because it just didn't seem like we could celebrate the season with any kind of joy.  Then I realized that my kids needed to feel something from their parents besides intense stress.  So I forced myself to set up the tree and to decorate the house a little.

It took a few days of looking at an empty tree for me to find my Christmas spirit.  Once the Holiday Fever finally made its way through the doom and gloom and depression I have been feeling lately, I was able to embrace it and use it to help shoo away the fog of unemployment and financial struggles that has plagued us for a while now.  It was nice to have something to look forward to.  More importantly, it was nice for my boys to have something to look forward to. 

Honestly, this has been the most difficult Christmas I have ever faced in my life.  The move we made to our new state was supposed to be a fresh start.  Instead, it has turned into something akin to a modern day Grapes of Wrath story.  The joy and excitement we felt when we landed here was quickly replaced by fear as our best laid plans fell apart in front of our eyes.  Despite the rough start, we have held out hope that we could make it in this unique, homey town if fate would just give us a break and a fair shot at building a life here. Five months later, we are still struggling.  And wondering if we are complete idiots for daring to make such a big life change.  I'm sure there are a few of our family and friends who have already made that assessment and are wondering what has taken us so long to come to the same conclusion. 

The thing is...I still believe with all of my heart that moving here was the right thing for my family.  For six months before we came here, there was not a day that went by that my heart and mind didn't tell me that my family would thrive in this new environment.  My spirit spoke to me in dreams and in prayers and everytime I tried to look at a different spot on the map as a relocation possibility, my inner being would all but scream that I needed to quit trying to avoid what I already knew.  How do you ignore those kinds of thoughts and feelings and persisitent naggings?!  I don't know about you, but I can't.  Every good decision I have ever made in my life has come at the end of a long struggle with me trying to ignore and push away a force I could not explain, then ultimately giving in and accepting the message the universe was trying to send.   So it made sense to me to finally quit fighting this path too.  And when I quit fighting and accepted the possibility that the change might be good, things kind fo fell in place for us to make the move.  I truly thought we were on the right track.

My husband felt okay about the move too, but he was much more reserved in his enthusiasm.  He is no longer behind me on this one.  He is struggling.  He doesn't hate here, but so far he isn't finding a lot to love.  In his defense, he is not good with change.  I knew that about him, but hoped his desire to leave our old home state would be strong enough to help him overcome his fears.  Of course, it didn't help that he was lied to about the job he was supposed to start upon our arrival.  Having that rug yanked out from under him while he was trying to settle in a new place with his family left him unsettled and angry.  Who tells a guy he has a job, knowing he's relocating his family and then changes his mind without calling to tell anyone?  It doesn't matter anymore.  We are here and we have decided to try to make it work.  We just thought we would have things working before Christmas. Which is where I started this post a few thousand words ago.

Making it work here has truly been the fight of our lives.  So we were not spiritually or mentally prepared for Christmas.  Nor were we financially prepared.  Gainful employment is hard to find here...not for lack of trying though.  Big Man is working, but at a minimum wage job that is far beneath his capabilities and with earnings that are far below what we need to survive.  We had no money for gifts for the kids.  But we had a long talk with them about making sacrifices and we really tried hard, once we finally got our minds and hearts where they needed to be, to focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Christ.  The kids were doing okay with the fact that Christmas was going to be very low-key this year.  Then the miracles started happening. 

Our church family quickly rallied around us, offering rides to Scouts, sending job leads, doing what they can to help us feel like we are part of the community.  As Christmas approached, we were surprised by a Secret Santa this year who did the 12 Days of Christmas.  The boys tried hard to catch them each night as they left a fun treat at the door and it inspired them to look for a way to give to someone else instead of focusing on their own desires.  We were able to share an unopened toy from one of my product reviews with someone whose boys will love the gift and my kids were overjoyed that they were able to brighten someone else's holiday.  Then...we had another Secret Santa!  I know!!  They came bearing bikes, coats and much needed shoes, with the request that we not tell our boys the gifts came from them, but from us.   I don't know how they even knew about our situation.  Their generosity left me in tears.  THEN...another Not So Secret Santa showed up at our door on Christmas Eve with boxes of food and gifts that left me beyond speechless!  More tears (actually it was the out and out sobbing, blubbering, ugly kind of crying), more amazement and more wondering why we were found worthy to be on the recieving end of such kindness from people we barely know.  THEN...little surprises in the mail came as relatives sent cards filled with checks and gift cards to help us with our other needs.  I have never been so grateful and felt so humbled in my entire life.  

Even still, I sit here crying.  I had been praying for miracles, expecting a job to come through, I guess.  What I received instead was an amazing lesson about humility and gratitude that I will never, ever forget.  My fear and sense of hopelessness was replaced with a renewed belief, that despite all our differences, mankind is generally, inherently good.  And that when given the opportunity, people will look for ways to be charitable and care for their friends and neighbors.  Seeing this side of our new community has shown me that I chose the right place to raise my family.  How could we NOT want to be part of a place that values and actually practices these kinds of charitable acts? 

Thank you, friends, family and people of Boise for giving my family one of the most unforgettable Christmas' we will ever have.  Charity is the true love of Christ...we truly felt the sprit of love and service at work in our lives this season.  Merry Christmas. 

       

Oh Brussel Tree, Oh Brussel Tree

When I was shopping a few weeks ago, I came across this in the produce section:

I swear I laughed out loud, because seriously!?  When was the last time you saw a Brussel Sprout tree?!?  Me?  Never.  I've never seen a little tree full of brussel sprouts.  Okay, technically it's not a tree.  The correct verbiage would be a brussel sprout stalk. Whatever you call it, I think it rocks.  The lady next to me thought it was hilarious that I was so infatuated by a vegetable.  I was trying to explain that it wasn't the vegetable per se, but the packaging that was so intriguing.  She just shook her head and walked away.  Whatever.  I know she was secretly just as amazed as I was by the funky sprout tree, she just didn't want to walk through the store with the thing sticking out of her cart.  

There were stacks of these stalks piled on top of each other and being the fun mom that I can sometimes be, I thought I had to buy one of the Brussel Sprout Trees for my kids. It did stick out of the cart.  But I think it made me the most interesting person in the store that day.  I definitely got lots of looks and the cashier was at a loss for how to bag it. Apparently I was the only person at that point of the midmorning to purchase the item ( Really?  Am I really the only person in Boise who found these things cool enough to purchase?) and no one had discussed the bagging options with the cashiers prior to placing the stalk out for sale.  I opted to skip the bag and carry it out in my hand, kind of like a marching band majorette.  It was a great day at the grocery store.

I know...I totally geeked out over brussel sprouts.  Obviously I need a more exciting life.  But back to the story.

I've eaten brussel sprouts before.  I like them.  But I've always purchased them already cut off the stalk,  so I never once wondered, as I was picking out my "baby cabbages", how the things grew.  How old am I now?  47?  And I just now found out how brussel sprouts grow.  It also never occurred to me that someone had to do the work to get them to the little basket in the produce section as individual brussel sprouts for people like me to buy and enjoy.

After the hubby and kids also geeked out over the small tree, we decided to have them for dinner.  Which brings me to my next discovery about Brussel Sprout Trees.  They are damn hard to cut through!!  Now I know why the produce clerk decided to just throw the whole stalks out onto the display instead of cutting off the brussel sprouts.  I swear I was ready to have Big Man whip out the circular saw or his camping machete!  Cutting through the stalk with my knife was seriouly, ridiculously labor intensive!  Yeah...don't let the cuteness of the baby cabbages attached to the tree thing suck you in.  Because it becomes way less cute after twenty minutes of cutting, sawing and pounding on the knife handle to remove the little buggers. Of course, it didn't help that my knife hasn't been sharpened since my grandma gave it to me in 1996.  I never remember to get it sharpened until after I have to struggle through something like this. 

ANYWAY...I was almost finished cutting when my very smart 10 year old suggested that I just hit them at a downward angle ("just karate chop them, Mom!") to knock them loose from the stalk.  I tried that.  It worked really well.  On the last eight brussel sprouts.  Who knew?  And where was he 18 minutes ago? 

Whe I was done, I was left with an almost naked brussel sprout stalk.  That looked like this: 

Am I weird or does this look like a beautiful piece of greenery that could somehow be incorporated into a floral arrangement?  Don't ask me how to do it, I'm not good at flower arrangements.  I'm just the idea person here.  I was just really struck by the lovely patterns that the left behind leaves made on the stalk.  It seems like one could throw some flowers and ribbon and other cool florist type stuff in there and make something really unique and beautiful to gaze upon.  Just sayin'. You know how people put out pine bough wreaths and centerpeices for Christmas?  Maybe a shucked brussel sprout stalk could be the centerpiece for Festivus.  It's the centerpiece for the rest of us.  

I can't believe I just wrote a whole post about brussel sprout stalks. 

Late Merry Christmas Post!

It seems like this entire year has found me constantly running behind, in almost every aspect of my life.  It has been a chaotic, unpredictable, rough and tumble year for Boymom and my family!  So it seems fitting that I should end the year like I started, frantically trying to pull together a Holiday blog post before the year ends and I miss the opportunity to thank my friends, family and my wonderful readers for sticking with me and coming back here from time to time to read my...stuff.

So...how was your Christmas?  Ours, although hectic, ended up being a pretty good Christmas.  This year we really tried to focus more on the spiritual aspects of the holiday and less on the gift giving (lack of money was how that idea started, we decided to run with it!).  The gifts we did give were a lot more practical than in years past and thanks to the generosity of friends, family and a Secret Santa, the boys got more than they (or we) expected.  By the end of Christmas Day, I was feeling pretty grateful and extremely blessed.

I think this year, more so than any in the recent past, I truly felt the Spirit of Christmas in my own heart.  Maybe because I quit focusing on what we didn't have and what wasn't working and started focusing on what I could give back.  It was a joy and a pleasure to watch my boys get excited about our own Secret Santa project, which didn't amount to a whole lot of money, but definitely showed my boys that there are people in the world who are so much worse off than we are.  Little Man almost broke into tears when he realized that there are people who literally have nothing other than the clothes on their backs.  Listening to him pray that night for the well-being of a stranger we met who was living under a tree in a park is a Christmas experience his dad and I will cherish the rest of our lives.

I'm glad we took the time to help my boys understand that it's not about the gifts.  It's about being a good human being during a season when we celebrate the birth of one of the greatest beings ever to walk the earth.

(Ignore the tighty whities and focus on the Nativity, please.  The nativity set, people!!!

Merry Christmas, my dear bloggy friends.  Thank you for your wonderful examples, your kind and caring words, your generosity of spirit and good will.  You have made a difference in this Boymom's life.

Holiday Wish List Meme

Times are tough for a lot of people right now, right?  We don't have a lot of money any money for gifts this year, so in the spirit of hope and believing in the power of positive thinking, I am entering lots and lots of contests to help supplement the lame homemade gifts I will be giving.  I like this contest, because along with gaining me entry to win, I can share a little bit about myself with my friends and readers. 

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

Todays Mama (http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?  To find our path.  We have been struggling for 13 years now to figure out how to become the family we want to be.  We want a healthy family dynamic, a home filled with love and acceptance and the skillset to deal with and overcome adversity without losing our minds and our bearings in life.   And we want to find where we belong.  We want to find the place where we all feel like we're finally home.   

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?  Sadly, we haven't really established anything really great.  We all just kind of get up and watch the kids open gifts then I get breakfast.  Maybe I'll put on some Christmas music.  We didn't grow up with traditions, so we are still struggling to find one that means something to us.  Maybe that will be my goal this year is to really hone in on a Christmas morning tradition that will have some meaning for our family.  

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?  To have the money to attend a really great blog conference!  I love social media and I have so many ideas that I need help to flesh out and a blog conference would be the perfect place for me to network with the experts and get their input and advice.  Plus I would finally get to meet some of my great blog friends!  A vacation and a learning experience, all rolled into one awesome package!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? We try to focus on the real reasons we celebrate the holidays.  On Thanksgiving, we talk a lot about the blessings we've received throughout the year and we take time to thank our Heavenly Father for his love and support.  Throughout the Christmas season we talk a lot about our belief in Christ and really focus on loving and serving others as much as we can to create a spirit of warmth and love.  We try to give gifts that have meaning, rather than gifts that cost a lot of money, like photo albums, handmade cards, homemade treats, etc. 

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?  Ummm...we didn't play games.  We didn't really play as a family at all.  We didn't really have that kind of family dynamic.  My sister and I lived in many different homes with different family members, so there wasn't a lot of game playing, mostly just trying to adjust and survive.  To be fair, when we did live with my mom, she worked 7 days a week, so there wasn't really a lot of time for "playing" or doing stuff with the kids.  But enough of the whining!  I'm trying to leave those issues behind!  I do remember a few times, back when Atari Pong came out, sitting with my step-dad and playing Pong with him for $25 a game.  I KNOW!!  He played for some serious cash!!  Now that I think about it, he had to purposely lose the first game because neither of us kids had $25 to start with!  Wonder why that never occurred to me then?  Ahhh...good times.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Like I said, we never really had holiday traditions growing up.  I guess no matter where we lived or who we lived with it seems like we always made sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles.  And I can always remember being able to watch the Christmas specials and It's a Wonderful Life.  I do make sure my kids make cookies and we watch some of the classic specials and Christmas movies every year, so I guess we do have a tradition!  Yay!!!!  We're making progress! 

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? I would love to go to Switzerland and see the Alps and eat lots of hot, melted cheese dishes while I watch the snow fall and listen to milking maids yodel about hot chocolate. Seriously though, Switzerland sounds like a wonderfully, picturesque place to spend at least one Christmas, with it's pretty little villages nestled among huge snow covered mountains.     

8. Check out GameStop (http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? 

1) A Nintendo Red DSi Bundle for Little Man, his Gameboy is antiquated and hard to find games for.

2) An Xbox 360 w/Kinect for The Man and Big Brother, because apparently PS2 is no longer relevant in the gaming world.

3) A Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board or EA Sports Fitness Bundle for me so I can get my fat butt moving in 2011 to something fun and finally get in shape!

Well, that's my meme.  It actually made me a little depressed.  My goal right now is to be extremely positive, so I really need to work hard this year to create a different experience for myself and my family!  No more mourning the past!  Now you know a little bit more about me, I would love to hear about some of your family traditions and Christmas wishes!!  Maybe I can borrow from some of you to start creating better memories for my kids.  Here's to a happy, memorable Holiday Season!! 

Merry Christmas!

Hope your Christmas table is filled with wonderful food, family and fun!

Lots of love from

A Day for Giving Thanks

As Thanksgiving Days go, this could seriously go down as the worst ever if I were to judge it by normal standards. The meal was less than tasty, the company in which we ate the meal was very Jerry Springer-ish, there was nothing festive to eat at home when we returned from our wreck of a meal and the neighbor kid got his bike stolen from out of his garage in broad dayight, which made my boys sad. But you know what? It wan't a bad day. It was weird and different, but as a family, we enjoyed each other. And we really needed a day to just take time to be with each other.

The food thing? Went down like this...Gramma ended up having a lot of last minute dinner guests, which stressed her out and her food suffered because of the stress. So hubby and kids didn't chow down like they normally do. Now me? I'm not judging Gramma or her efforts cause been there, it's a lot of food to cook and I've messed up my share of meals.

The people thing? Was just wierd. The in-law situation is touchy when things are normal, which is NOT our definition of normal. Again, not judging, just stating a fact regarding our differences in how we filter reality. Their reality is an open door kind of thing, where lots of different "characters" are welcome in their home, like their current son-in-law and his friends. There were some real winners there today. I won't go into details. Let's just say we lead very different lifestyles from the visitors there today. Which is fine, but awkward when they are obviously used to "that special kind of oregano" and kegs as part of the meal...and having to constantly remind them there were kids present during some of the conversations was even MORE awkward, given that some of the kids were their own! Again, not judging...they were nice people. Just different and I think they were glad to have a place to be for Thanksgiving.

THEN... because I have moronic moments of what think is brilliance, I decided not to buy a lot of food for today, because I usually bring home lots of leftovers. But we boogied so fast from Grammy's house this year that we didn't have anything thanksgiving-y for dinner. Little Man was straight out mad that he didn't get deviled eggs this year and Big Brother wanted some stuffing without burnt gravy like Gramma's.

We didn't have any of that. So we ate burgers and watched Star Trek the movie. The kids were happy, Big Man was happy, I was happy and we had brownies for dessert. Total peace and satisfaction. And I am grateful. Because as weird as the day was...I recognized my blessings. Actually, I recognized them because of the weirdness.

I realized how important my husband and boys are to me. Their happy faces and laughter make my heart sing. Spending time with them brings me joy (most days) and I would be lost without them (most days).

I realized that the guests at my MIL's house were just cash strapped people trying to build a life like we are right now, but they had no family to turn to or to eat with. And I am grateful that we have somehow managed to keep our home and a shred of dignity and that through the grace of God and generosity of family, we have survived an incrediby tough year.

I realized that even though the food was not her best, I am very blessed to have a MIL who was willing to take the time to prepare a huge meal and have us over to celebrate with the family. I am so grateful that I have family close to me. And that I didn't have to cook. Or clean up!

I am grateful that my MIL was understanding when my husband wanted to leave early. She was gracious and loving and honestly? I think this group freaked her out a little bit too. It was nice to leave without a guilt trip.

I realized that I really am growing to love my neighbors. When M came over to ask if we had seen his bike he was so sad and it made us all sad for him. My boys immediately helped him scour the neighborhood while all of us parents stood around commiserating about the state of our neighborhood and speculating about who we think the offenders might be. I am grateful that I have neighbors who look out for each other and that our kids all get along (most days) and that my boys love their friend enough to want to help him with his plight.

And I am most grateful that I have a loving Heaveny Father who helped me recognize that I am where I need to be right now and that I am truly blessed with all I need right now. Other than a job. I still need that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where Would You Go?

We had the "Where would you go?" discussion in the car the other day as we were driving to the Veteran's Day parade. You know the one..."If you could go anywhere in the world..."

I found my boys' answers intriguing. Little Man wants to be a paleontologist, so he wanted to go to the African deserts where dinosaur bones were recently discovered. Big Brother wated to go somewhere relaxing and where there's good food, like Italy.

You can definitely see there are distinct differences in how my boys filter the world!

Then we talked about the places I've been. I've really only been out of the country one time, when I went to Spain. One of the best parts about my trip to Spain was flying British Airways. Seriously? It was one of the most comfortable flights of my life. We are not in the position to go anywhere right now though, which is unfortunate, because British Airways is having a huge fare sale to destinations all over the world. With flights starting from just $229 and Flight + hotel packages from $659, now is a great time to see some exotic destinations. How awesome would it be to spend Chrismas in London or Hong Kong or Milan? BA flies to all of those locations! They cover the Middle East, India, Asia and Europe.

If you haven't flown out of the US before, you should know the flights are very long. Like 14 hours plus kind of long. Which is a long time to sit in an airplane belonging to an airline company that doesn't value its customers. Does it strike you odd that my flight on British Airways stuck out so much in my mind? It's because BA offers a much more upgraded travel experience! The flight became part of memory because it was so pleasant.

When I flew? Right after we were seated on the plane, they brought hot towels around with which to freshen up. I was suprised at how much better I felt after wiping the airport "air" from my face and hands. Plus the towels smelled of lemon. That was a really nice touch. Before we took off, we were given a little travel bag, filled with toothpaste, eye masks, little warm socks, etc. along with headsets and pillows and blankets. It's a long flight and British Airways goes the extra mile to help their passengers get as comfy as possible. Along with the really, really comfortable seats (lumbar support, adjustable headrests) they have over 200 On-demand Entertainment options, so you can watch movies, listen to music, whatever helps you chill.

I won't go into a whole long thing about every little detail I experienced, suffice it to say that the food was outstanding (they served little individual fine chocolates after the meal), the flight attendants were very, very attentive and there was not one thing I lacked during that flight. Oh...and all of the food and beverages are complimentary. No paying extra 'cause you're thirsty and up in the air and so desperate that you'll pay $5 for a bottle of water! British Airways doesn't roll like that. They really do take the honors when it comes to top notch flight service. British Airways IS all that and a bag of chips. And yes, this is a sponsored post that I am being paid to wirte. But you all know me well enough to know that if I have a problem with a company or product? I SAY SO! Not the case here...my experience with British Airways was spot on.

So...where would I go if I could take a dream trip right now? My first response is always Spain, because I loved it so much and only got to see part of the country. I could probably go almost anywhere in Europe though and enjoy it. I would love to go to Egypt sometime and see the pyramids, and I think Japan would be an amazing country to see. I just love to travel, so I guess my dream vacation would be almost anyplace new and different.

Where would you go? Wherever it is, check out British Airways to get you there. But better hurry, the fare sale ends November 19th! And if you need some help planning your trip, click here for a destination guide that will help you plan a great holiday experience.

Disneyland is NOT for Whimps!! Part 2

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, blissful slumber. Which ended abruptly Saturday Morning when Little Man leapt out of bed and started running circles around the hotel room. We'd planned on getting up an d out of the room at 7 am. We didn't do that. We slept til 8, showered and Big Man got some wonderful chocolate filled croissants and hot cocoa for breakfast! Yum!!

Here's the family photo with Minnie that I had put on a DisneyPhotoPass card. I was then able to pull it up at DisneyPhotoPass.com and download it as a jpeg for my own enjoyment! Cool! You can take your card throughout the park and anywhere you see a Disney Photographer, they can take your pic and put it on the card! You have 30 days to view your photos online, where you can make prints, calendars, scrapbooks, all kinds of cool stuff! It works great if your family wants to split up. Just make sure everyone has a PhotoPass card, then they can get pics wherever they are at in the park and you can view them all when you get home! Okay - End of Photopass commercial.

Am I the only one who is continually shocked at how I look in pictures? My eyes must automatically photoshop my own image when I look in the mirror, because I never think I look as fat as I really am. MAJOR goal for 2009 - photoshop my body for REAL!

We hit Disneyland about 10 am and headed right to Tomorrowland for the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy. Have you seen this? It rocks! Big Brother got embarrassed and didn't want to be picked to fight Darth Vader..."Mom! I don't want to go up there. I'm not really into role playing, I'm into the action figures." Okay then, son. Now I know! Little Man managed to wiggle his way to the front row and got picked! It was so fun to watch him and the main Jedi guy was hilarious!! I managed to get my camera working for a few minutes and caught this video:



This is the point where the dropped camera started to fizzle out again, so I missed the pics of him fighting Darth Mal, luckily the Disney Photo guy was there and got the shots and I was able to put them on my...PhotoPass card! Here he is with Darth Mal:

Anyway - after the Jedi Training we hit a bunch of rides and enjoyed the park as much as we could while dodging millions of people and waiting in some lines. My kids did better than my husband with the whole crowd thing. My camera would work intermittently and I would catch a few photos now and then. The Boys thought this nose-picking situation in Adventureland was HYSTERICAL!

We caught part of the Christmas parade and waved to Santa:

We hit the It's a Small World Holiday Ride later that night, which is beautifully decorated with all kinds of lights. While you are riding through it, listening to THAT SONG you will notice that they even added holiday scents! Then we literally dragged our bodies back to the room after 12 hours of walking and waiting in line. We were all too exhausted to even think. Big Man got the bright idea to go check out the pool, then got hooked into taking the boys for a swim, while I laid in bed and watched TV. My throbbing feet thanked me.

Tomorrow: Part 3 - The Final Day! You gotta come back and read the final post for great news about special Disney offers for 2009!!!

Disneyland is NOT for Whimps!!

Can I just start by saying that Disneyland during the Holidays is absolutely INSANE!!?? It's a whole lotta crazy at Christmas!

MomSelect and Disneyland gave me and my family the opportunity to meet up at Disneyland with 50 other MomBloggers and experience the park during the holiday season! (Shout out to Michele Himmelberg- Disneyland Resort Public Relations! She did so much to ensure we had a great experience! Thanks so much!) Since it was my family's first time there, I was a bit unprepared for the MASSES of people we would encounter, but in the end we really enjoyed ourselves.

Wanna hear all the boring details? Okay! First of all, we flew. We left Friday morning. They didn't know where we were going, we kept it a surprise! My boys had a blast on the plane, they have never flown before. Big Brother wants to be a military man of some sort and is really into military planes and jets right now, so he totally soaked up the experience, including the safety procedures the flight attendant reviewed with us (he's very, very safety conscious). He knew exactly how to save our lives when she was done. (Little Man was not asleep, I don't know what he was doing in that pic!)

We caught the Disneyland Express bus from Orange County Airport to the Disneyland Hotel. Jeff was our bus driver. He was...interesting. I'll leave it at that. The hotel is beautiful. We checked in without a hitch, got our 1st Time buttons and they even had an "It's my Birthday" button waiting for Little Man since his B-day was just on the 1st! Little Man, while happy, was extremely perplexed about how they knew! I explained how Mickey is a psychic mouse who uses his powers for good to suprise little kids and sometimes evil grumpy husbands. Kidding! We all know Mickey isn't psychic, just happy! Everybody was extremely pleasant to deal with. Disneyland kind of pleasant. I kept waiting for birds to start singing while circling around their heads! No, seriously, it was nice to have good customer service for a change. It made up for Jeff the Bus Driver...did I mention he was really...interesting? He kind of freaked me out. Something is definitely flying around his head and singing. Nice guy, just umm...interesting. I didn't take his pic, I didn't want to encourage him.

Here is a quick pic of our room and our view, which was chosen so we could see the fireworks from the balcony, which was awesome and useful on the second night, when we could not walk one more step and the kids were able to sit and dirnk hot chocolate and watch the fireworks while my feet died a slow death. I do not have pics of the fireworks. I will explain this later in the post.

We explored Downtown Disney the first afternoon and ran around the park just a bit before attending a presentation for all the MomBloggers Friday night. The presentation and awesome buffet were both held at the Disneyland Grand Californian Hotel in the Sequoia Ballroom. The minute we entered we were greeted by Minnie, who promptly embarrassed Big Brother by giving him a hug. (He's 9...still not into girls, especially one's with big heads and ears.) Little Man ran over and gave her a big hug. I could have gotten pics of this if I hadn't dropped my camera and wrecked it, so now you will have to wait for the family/Minnie pic until I get it downloaded from DisneyPhotoPass.com, which I learned about at the festivities Friday night! I will blog about this more tomorrow!

Big Man and the Boys met some dads and ate shrimp cocktails, prime rib, turkey and pasta, along with yummy cookies and rice krispy treats while us MomBloggers learned about all the yummy treats the park makes during the holiday season! Did you know Disneyland makes more gingerbread than any other bakery or restaurant west of the Rockies? Who knew?! More on that tomorrow too!

Anyway, we finished the night at the park, with a special preview of the fireworks show, set to holiday music and SNOW! Disney can make anything happen, right? It was this cool snow looking stuff that fell softly over Main Street as we walked toward the exit. It was awesome and fun and the perfect way to end the night! We headed back to the hotel and had a wonderful night's sleep on those comfy beds, dreaming about the next day's adventures. I had no idea how many miles I would be walking the next day, so I slumbered with no worries. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2!

What We Did This Weekend!

Check in tomorrow for more details on our wonderful trip!!