Come join me there.  As soon as Blogger gets their import function back to working I will be importing all my posts back there and then probably closing this one down.

The second one is the need (and I’m talking NEED) to simplify.  Keli talks about this in her second post of the year.  Her first attempt to simplify was to start the dishwasher every night so it’s clean in the morning, which can then be emptied while drinking the morning coffee – which was prepared the night before so all that is needed is a flip of the switch.

I’ve been thinking about a simple thing I could do to start my day off right.  I’m not a morning person.  I’m not a organized person.  (Well, I’m a wannabe organized person.  I think all the “stuff” associated with organization looks awesome until it shows up in my house and then gets covered with my clutter.)

Anyway, I’m still working on this, but I think Keli is setting an awesome example and I want to follow in her footsteps and be enlightened and motivated and simplify too.  So I’ll be back with my new morning, start-your-day-off-right change in my life soon.  I promise.

So off we headed with all the paraphernalia that goes along with skiing. I’m glad we are renting equipment because that means I don’t have to haul 3 sets of everything around.

It was a beautiful morning.  I feel so lucky to live where I do.  About an hour from my house, I have this view.

(because I’m running out of time between things this afternoon, I will leave you with a picture of each kid – oldest to youngest.)

Fun was had by all.  Sweet Pea learned to stop.  Sass probably had too much fun and didn’t listen enough.  SmartyPants started out slow getting her “ski legs” back.  Next week should be even better.

1. Today I am planning on running.  I will also get in at least 2 more runs this week.  I’d like to try for 3, but I won’t commit to that number.
2. I’m planning on getting the girls ski stuff together tonight BEFORE we have to leave at 8 am tomorrow morning for their first ski lesson of the season.  (Those mysterious mittens keep disappearing!)
3. I am planning on taking my CCD teacher manual to the ski slopes tomorrow and trying to put together a lesson for my class tomorrow afternoon.
4. I am planning on getting a little bit of help on Thursday from the parents.  SmartyPants has her first orthodontia appointment (not sure how long that is going to last) and an hour later Sass has a swim lesson.  Luckily, my town is small and it will only take about 5 minutes to get from one to the other.
5. I am planning on jumping on the bandwagon with a commitment to picture taking this year.  I, however, will not be joining CE and Erin on their separate blog for it.  I will, however, be posting hopefully on Sunday with my own “Week in Pictures”.
6. I am planning on holding my shit together while T works crazy hours again this month and not kill any children.

I can’t think of anything else at this point.  I’m thankful that two normally-scheduled activities don’t start until next week, because I feel a little overwhelmed right now.

So the year 2000.

January – It started out spending New Year’s Eve with friends and family here in our hometown.  We drove from central Texas back to Nevada to spend a month.  After the previous year of T joining the Air Force and us moving to Florida and then Texas we needed the break!

February – Found out I was pregnant and decided to have the baby at a freestanding birth center instead of the Army Hospital.  Best decision evah.

March – June – Nothing earth shattering.  I was working, T was working.  I was growing a baby and dealing with morning sickness and LOVING being pregnant.

July – Went to the Delaware beach for a family reunion.  Was bitchy and moody and my mom surprised me with a baby shower.  Felt horrible for being so hormonal and bitchy.  Loved spending time with family.

October – Flew home at 34 weeks pregnant for my brother’s wedding.  Barely slept all weekend.  Was totally exhausted.  The wedding only had fancy food and I wanted simple, filling, comfort food.  At at least 12 waffles and half a pound of bacon for breakfast the next morning at my parents house.

SmartyPants was born at exactly 37 weeks after an external version for being breech and a looong (3+ days) of early labor.  I was thrilled she was finally on the outside!!

November-December – Just getting used to life with a baby.  Luckily we had great friends who were a month ahead of us in this department.  Spent a lot of time with them.

2001 – January – Rang in the new year playing board games w/friends and swapping breastfeeding/sleeping issues.

February-July – Not much different.  Loving life as a family of 3.

August – Flew home to Nevada for my 25th birthday with baby in tow.  Shakespeare on the beach at Lake Tahoe with my baby asleep in my lap.

September – Flew out to Boise the weekend before 9/11 to house hunt.  T was going to get out of the AF at the end of his 4-year tour and wanted to finish his degree at Boise State.  Remember sitting in a hotel on the Greenbelt watching the twin towers fall, holding my 10-month-old baby wondering if T was going to be able to get out or would be shipping out somewhere dangerous.

October-December – More online house hunting.  Hoping for T’s stop-loss waiver to go through.

2002 January – T and I were married in the Catholic church so I could be my cousin’s godmother.

February – Found and bought a house sight-unseen outside of Boise.  My parents saw it and approved, so we put in an offer.

March-April – Found out I was pregnant with Sass and had a meltdown. Didn’t know if we were going to change our minds and have T stay active duty.  Stop-loss waiver was approved and we took it as a sign!

May-July  - Packing and organizing and growing a baby.

August – Hit the road for Idaho.  Got out at the Texas/New Mexico border and did a little happy dance.

September – T went back to school full-time and found part-time work.

October-November – Planning and organizing for a home birth for Sass.  She was born the Sunday before Thanksgiving, 13 hours after we picked my Granny up at the airport.

December – Drove from Idaho to Nevada for one of my best friend’s wedding 6 weeks after Sass was born.  Found out Christmas Eve my mom’s biopsy was positive for breast cancer.  Remember hugging her in the hallway and telling her that we would get through and I’d do all I could to help.

2003 January – Trying to cope with new baby and toddler while T was gone for 12-18 hour days once the semester began.

February – April – Started making every 3-week trips between Idaho and Nevada to be there for my mom to cook and clean and be a pain in the ass about drinking fluids and eating enough.

June – Sass was baptized.  My parents along with my dad’s parents and Sass’ godparents were all in attendance. This would be the last time I saw my Gramps.

September – My mom called and told me that Gramps had died – drowned while snorkeling in Mexico before my grandparents were to get on the boat for their cruise through the Panama Canal.  Made the trip back to Pennsylvania for his funeral with the girls.

October – SmartyPants turns 3 and starts preschool.

November – Sass turns 1.

December – Christmas with my parents at our place.  They take the kids back with them and T and I have two days to ourselves. We then drove to Nevada for New Year’s.

2004  January – T is in his last semester and set to graduate in the spring.  There is much rejoicing.

May – T becomes the first in his family to get a bachelor’s degree.  Heart-swelling pride!  Lots of family came out to celebrate with us.

September-December – T left for San Antonio for tech school for the Guard.  That was the longest 16 weeks of my life – so far, I’m sure.

2005 – Most notable for buying a new house and getting pregnant with Sweet Pea and becoming neighbors with Tiffany.

September – Sass starts preschool.

December – Sweet Pea is born!!  Third kid so much easier of a transition than the first two.

2006 – T realized that his job sucked with no room for advancement and not having any luck finding something better in the area.

June – Family reunion in Florida.  Reconnected with my cousin (then 18) who I hadn’t seen since she was 9.  No words to describe the happiness to have her back in my life.

July – T interviews for a job in Nevada.  I’m not thrilled with the prospects of moving “home.”

August – SmartyPants starts kindergarten.

September – T accepts job offer in Nevada.  We put our house on the market about 6 weeks after the housing market started to crash.

October – On the road to Nevada.  Moved our 5 people + 1 dog + 2 cats into my parents’ 2000 sq. ft. home.  Can you say stress?

November-April – Still living with my parents, but patience wearing thin on all levels.

May – Move into the 70s retro house complete with flocked wallpaper and gold floor.

June-August – Settling into new house.  New windows installed? Check.  New roof? Check.  Wallpaper removed from all surfaces? Check.

September – Spent 10 days in Maine visiting friends and loving the beauty of the northeast.

October – Completed 13.1 miles remotely as part of the Nike Women’s Marathon, which was held in San Francisco.  (Ran the first 10 miles.)

2008 – Honestly, not much changed in 2008.

April – T and I celebrate our 10th anniversary.  Well, kind of.  He was gone for training for 6 weeks between March and April.  But before he left, he did buy me this:

June – Went to New Orleans for a charter school conference. Hurricanes (the drink) were my friend.

July – Started blogging.

August – Birthday, family reunion in Colorado, horrible case of vertigo.  Too young to be falling apart!

December –  Joined The Sisterhood and got back into regularly meeting with my treadmill.

2009 – This year?  Well this year has been full of new friends (and here) and rekindling friendships from long ago. It had me welcoming my long-lost cousin and her husband out for a week of skiing and sightseeing and fun in February.  May brought her younger sister out for week of fun.  It had me spending a fun-filled weekend in D.C. with friends/colleagues and attending a conference with them.  It had me preparing to run a half marathon in October (which I completed successfully running the whole way. Not that I’ve mentioned that before or anything).  It had me committing to complete another half marathon in 2010 for a fantastic charity/organization.

Don’t get me wrong.   2009 wasn’t a never-ending bed of roses.  There were the downs I wrote about and some that I didn’t.  I spent a lot of time with my family.  T bought me a new computer and a new camera.

This year has brought so much vibrancy to my life.  I know 2010 will be even better.  I will get to meet some of my bloggy friends in April.  T will be welcomed/initiated into our church.  We have a family reunion in Maine.  I will participate in a half-marathon with a group of bloggy/twitter friends in June.  (Let’s hear it for TEAM SHRINKING JEANS!) There will be many more challenges from The Sisterhood.

T is going to back to school (while continuing to work his regular job and the guard) for his Master’s degree this spring.  SmartyPants will continue to compete in gymnastics.  Sass will find her niche in swimming or maybe go back to gymnastics.  Sweet Pea will learn to ski this winter.  They girls will continue to grow and change becoming smarter and more beautiful than they already are.

Look out 2010!  Here I come!!

But, I wanted to let you know that I’m still running and still being a wonderful slave to the treadmill.  On Monday I ran 6.5 miles because I wanted to.  I love that I’ve overcome my mental block of last summer.  I just keep telling myself that I ran 13.1 without stopping, what’s a measly 4 or 6 or 7 miles.  If you notice over on the right side there is a new button.  It’s the latest challenge from The Sisterhood. You can read about it here.  In a nutshell the challenge is to help retrain your brain to be healthier.  I swear that being healthy is about 99% mental.  If you don’t overcome the negative thoughts in your head you’ll never get up and do whatever exercise you’ve said you were going to do.  You’ll never choose broccoli over chocolate.  But once your body is healthy and you start feeling stronger you won’t WANT to put that pan of brownies in your mouth.  One will be enough.  You will want to eat things that enhance your workout not hinder it.

I’m so excited to keep working towards my goal.  What’s my goal, you may ask.  It’s not something concrete.  My goal is be able to run in the San Diego Rock ‘N Roll half marathon and get closer to the 2-hour mark.  (Btw, have you clicked on my link above for my Team in Training site?  If not, here it is so you can help me reach my goal.)  That would be taking 18 minutes off my time from the Nike Women’s Marathon last October in San Francisco.  That seems like a lot, I know.  But when I ran/jogged those 13.1 last October I hadn’t run further than 6 miles in over two years.

So join me and a bunch of other ladies (and a few guys) in Rethinking our Shrink for the next 7 weeks.

(Taken in iPhoto.)

1. I am planning on making cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls for Christmas day today.
2. I’m planning on going to the store this morning and getting supplies for said baking.
3. I am planning on running two more times this week. When? Not sure yet.
4. I’m planning on cleaning my house before we have company on Saturday.
5. I’m planning on keeping my house orderly before an old friend from high school stays with us next week.
6. I’m planning on getting the Christmas presents wrapped before Christmas morning. (I swear this is my real goal. I’ve yet to wrap one present and I don’t think it will get done until after the kids go to bed tomorrow night.)
7. I’m planning on enjoying my kids and family even if I want to kill them periodically.

So there you have it. My goals for the week.  Now, it’s time to drink some coffee so I get moving and start on this list.

So my heart is heavy when I feel like I can’t win.  That nothing I do is enough.  And then I wonder if there really is a limit to the amount of love I can give.  Everyone always says that you will love all your kids and there is enough room in your heart to give your kids what they need.  I’m not sure about that.  Sweet Pea is constantly crawling into our bed in the middle of the night because she “wants to snuggle” – obviously she doesn’t get enough love during the day.  And SmartyPants?  Well, she was meant to be an only child.  Unfortunately we are 2 kids too late for that.  I periodically ask her who she wants to go live with because she’s obviously not happy here.  She has yet to find me an ideal situation.  (Is that too mean of a question to ask a kid? Because I’ve asked it multiple times, sometimes in jest and sometimes in exasperation.)  Not that I really want to get rid of her.  When she’s great, she’s really, really great.  Unfortunately, when she’s not, she’s really, really not.  My heart aches for her.  It makes me sad that she seems so unhappy with her situation.

I was talking with a friend on Saturday night about it.  Her daughter is the complete opposite of SmartyPants.  At 6 her daughter wanted to become a missionary so “she could help other people”.  How sweet is that?  Their church does many humanitarian missions throughout the year.  Things like helping people in South/Central America build a house or build a church for their local community.  We were thinking that we could kill two birds with one stone and take the girls on one next year.  That way her daughter could get a taste of the reality of helping someone else and mine would get a taste of how good she really has it.  Is that cruel?  I want my daughter to participate in helping others for the sole purpose of telling her to get over herself?

I’m trying to hang on to my Christmas spirit.  The spirit of being kind and loving.  Do those two things have to go hand in hand?  Can I do something hard and loving?  (Crap, now I’ll probably get spam for that one sentence.)  On that note, I hope this week moves in a positive direction.