The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 18 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I just just love Christmas, no make that the whole of December!

Cookies, fudge, gingerbread, cooler temperatures ( not cold, it’s Southern California) , hot chocolate, late night gift shopping online but most of all….our elf, Elvan , appears!!!

He amuses the children every morning with his antics, hiding in the tree, flour angels, bringing treats , etc.

This of course is only limited by my imagination , and whether or not I even remember to change his location.  I usually have my shower and am settling down in bed when my last waking thought is the Elf. I jolt upright, stumble down the stairs ,and scramble my brain to think of a new place to stage him.

Being as organized as I am, you would think I would have  plan for the 24 days we do this, but this year I don’t. So throw him in a jar and put the lid on, yup that’ll get a laugh! If I forget , I can always claim that one of the children must have made him sad and so he stayed put. Guilt the toddlers??

Sure.

Here are a sample of what our Elvan gets up to .

if you are unfamiliar with the concept check out http://www.elfontheshelf.com

Goodnight, and yes,  he is in a new place tonight !

We took the two middle boys out in the RV for a surprise night in the desert. A little treat during the Christmas Rush. A chance for them to have Mom and Dad all to themselves without little baby girl  taking all the attention.

The drive only took 90 minutes, stopping for gas and footlong Costco hot dogs on the way .

Setting up camp is a cinch with only 4 people and the boys eager to help unload the wood and camp chairs. Dad drove the off road vehicle off the trailer and the boys danced a jig!

Hours were spent up and down hills , spinning donuts , and throwing rocks and kicking soccer balls, when they eventually climbed out.

Dinner was chili , s’mores and hot cider. There was no drama and relatively tear free from all parties ( including me) .

Finished it off with wine and whisky truffles by the fire for me and the hubby once they were asleep.

Fuel $50

Hot dogs $7

Seeing the boys enjoy themselves , priceless.

I am very much looking forward to watching this. I read the book about a year ago and could not put it down, I  recommended it to all my friends , and will watch closely and write my opinion soon!

I have been remiss in writing or posting anything on my blog for a while now. I didn’t lose interest in it, am still in the position to do so, but just couldn’t bring myself to make the effort.

Stepping back, and being honest,  I believe I was just “feeling down” over the last few months. Not a full blown depression, just ‘blah’. This is not a subject that society is fully comfortable discussing or admitting to. I will admit that to myself today and that is a huge step to getting “better”.

An outsider looking in at my life must wonder, why?? She is healthy, has a husband with a great job, big house, two cars , four kids, an Rv and frequent trips.

What they do not see is a 44 year old lonely , gaining weight, bored stay at home mom , who spends way too much time with 3 under 6 year olds, repetitive housework and taxiing them around to school, soccer and into the stores with me. No immediate family around to help break the monotony, or sit with them whilst I have an uninterrupted  soak in the tub.

I miss working as an RN, and delighting in seeing my kids after a long day of work because I missed them. I miss helping my patients and giggling with my colleagues. Being a stay at home mom is a position I thought I would love and whilst I love the kids, I would love them more if I could have a few hours break to refresh.

I had a friend whose youngest son left for the army, and on coming home to her empty apartment the day he left, sat in her car and sobbed. She described it to me as “a pity party of one” . I loved the descriptive. That was me . But not anymore. 

I see people coping with hardships in life , such as a lady I know who looks after elderly parents and has a Down Syndrome son, but still has a smile and good word for everyone.

I am fully aware aware that my life is a good one , but I need to look at the positives in my life and enjoy the moments as they are all too soon gone. I just needed to remind myself of this.

I can get a job in a couple of years , THEY can wait, my kids wont.

I can make the taxi rides more fun by turning up the songs on the radio and have the kids wiggle in their car seats .

We can watch movies that I like too.

Date night once a month with my husband.

Allocate small household tasks to others. Maybe one day I  just won’t make the beds or vacuum, and leave dirty dishes in the sink. No one will suffer from not doing them. We can order pizza.

Make phone calls to friends and reconnect whilst the kids are in the bathtub and I sit beside them.

The next time you ask someone “how are you?” please ask slowly , look them in the eye , and wait for a reply. If you haven’t heard from someone in a while , they maybe are feeling low and could use a call.

Well here I go, looking forwards, not backwards.