Here we are, about 18 hours into 2013. I have a few resolutions this year. The first one… to blog more. I imagine those blogs will be more food related; but there will be other snippets of things to share, from time-to-time, with the few readers I have. This blog post will have “things to share”, mixed with my resolutions for the year. So, here we go!
Russ was lucky enough to have enough vacation time stockpiled to be able to be at the house in Missouri for almost 2 weeks. It was really nice hanging out with him (it’s a rarity in our life) and while we didn’t get the chance to go on a trip (like I had hoped), we did stay home and do some fun stuff.
Christmas was very quiet here – on Christmas Eve we went out looking at Christmas lights; when we got home, he was complaining about the fact he felt rotten. He has an auto-immune disorder that causes him to deal with staph infections on a fairly regular basis, and when I checked him he DEFINITELY had an infection. So, we got him all doctored up (although I was pushing for an ER visit, he didn’t want to go) and he went to bed early. I got up around 10am on Christmas day, and he slept until about 2; he stated he “felt better” when he got up, so I was happy to hear that. We opened our presents (he got lots of food items – including some interestingly flavored peanuts, a Galileo themometer, an LED flashlight, a cool frog magnet, some gun stuff, etc. I got some gun stuff, some diamond earrings, a few kitchen gadgets and a very cool fish tank – we both got a lot of cool stuff). That evening our friends Angela and Ryan brought their sons and his dad and grandmother out for dinner. We all ate too much and went into a food coma. I sent the leftovers home with Angie, and apparently Ryan recovered enough later on the evening to have a ham sandwich.
We saw a few movies while Russ was home: Monsters, Inc. in 3-D (a movie we both loved when it originally came out, 3-D made it even better), The Hobbit in 3-D, and Les Miserables. While Monsters, Inc and Hobbit were at a “normal” movie theater, we saw Les Miserables at a local theater (Marquee Suites in Ozark, MO) that is limited to the 21 and over crowd. You can have dinner while you’re watching the movie (they have very comfy recliners with built in tray table things), you can have a cocktail and it’s full service. You push the button on your tray, and you get a waitress within a few moments. I was driving, and Russ wasn’t feeling well, so we skipped having a cocktail – but he did have pizza, while I had a 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger (very tasty, although HUGE!) that came with fries. They only have 2 theaters, so it’s going to be a case of only getting to go there occasionally (I’m picky on the movies I like to see), but I can definitely see this theater being a major part of our lives from now on.
We had planned a NYE party, but sadly everyone ended up “backing out” on us, so we sat at home and listened to music for a while (while I was bartending – I did find some yummy drinks on Pinterest!), and then Russ joined in on some sort of podcast. He participated in that for a while (while I cleaned up the mess from bartending), then he came in a few minutes before midnight so we could ring in the new year, then he went back to participate in the podcast some more while I finished cleaning up the house. We were both in bed by 1:30 am or so.
As some of you know, I’ve had a lot of issues with various family members over the last several years. Russ has urged me, after many nights of tears over how things have turned out, to just turn and walk away and save myself additional grief. That’s my next resolution. For those that don’t know what happened, and would like a brief history, here it is:
My father died within hours of my birthday in 2006; at that point it was up to me to take care of my mother, who had Alzheimer’s and COPD. I had NEVER gotten along well with my mother, and as her memory and things began to fade, she told me that she never wanted me, that she hated me because I got the attention from my father that she should have gotten, she wanted to have an abortion and dad wouldn’t let her, I ruined her life because I was a sickly child (various health issues, including diabetes) and she wasn’t able to do the things she wanted to do because she had to take care of me, etc. I heard all of this over and over again. Was it true? I have no idea, but it weighed heavily on my mind and soul. Towards the end of her life, she involved her brother (who she hadn’t spoken to in YEARS) in the mix; after her death, that proved to be an expensive experience for us as her brother sued us for various reasons and there have been numerous court appearances and numerous hours of attorney’s slaving over documents and such. A few weeks ago I received a letter in the mail that makes it look like the light at the end of the tunnel is getting very bright (and it’s NOT an oncoming train from what I take from the letter), so I hope that shortly into the new year this whole situation with them (who I will NEVER speak to again – they said some things in the courtroom that were very unkind) will be over and I’ll be able to move on from that.
On the other side of this resolution, I have 3 half-brothers – only one of those brothers speak to me (the last time I saw the other 2, or any of their families, was several years ago – right after my father died). There have been lots of things going on in my life, over the years, that it would have been nice to have “family support” with, but I’ve not gotten it from them. So, I’m calling it quits with them. I tried to “make amends” (at the request of my dad on his death bed), and I just caught more grief about it. The whole situation has been a very long and painful experience (phone calls where I’ve been cussed out and told I was a waste of breath, emails of the same nature) and it’s time for me to move on. I kept hoping that we’d be able to “make amends”, but it’s pretty obvious it will never happen. SO, I’m done with them as well.
It’s not all bad in my family, though – I do still speak to the one brother, I speak to the ex-wife (we’re friends now that I’m an adult – she married him when I was quite young) of my oldest brother and I speak to her son (we’ve become friends as well, now that we’re adults) that she brought into the marriage. And I have several friends who have, in a weird way, adopted me into their family as “one of their own”. If I’m sick, hurt, thrilled about good news, etc. they all expect to be informed about it. They text or call me to check on me, they invite me to family shindigs, etc. They accept me for who I am, and don’t expect me to change. So, at least THEY “have my back”. And these friends are the ones who send messages on holidays that say, “Happy New Year. I love you.” – while a statement like this makes me tear up, I am thrilled that I have friends who care and love me. So, to those folks… thank you.
I saw this earlier today, and it’s perfect:
My next blog post will include information about my birthday parties (we’re having friends over to play poker for one of the parties; the next party will be all of us going to the local Brazilian Steakhouse and pigging out on all-you-can-eat steak and such – then heading to a Missouri State University Hockey Game) and whatever else we might have going on in the process.
May you have a wonderful 2013, filled with pleasant memories!
Cheryl