Best Daddy in the World

Tonight the fixer came out of my darling Kindergartener's room from putting her to bed and told me she declared, "You are the Best Daddy in the World!" What a smile on his face. I realize how much power our children have over us. Truly, we spend so much time trying to have power over our children...to mind, to eat, to go to bed, to take a bath, to do homework; but one simple comment from them can send us to the moon, or to the depths. I constantly worry about damaging my children. Not intentionally of course, but through the little things I don't realize I'm doing. But then I try to remember that I had the least Ideal childhood, to put it mildly. But I knew one thing with absolute certainty; my mom loved me. Yes, I have my issues, but the damage is minimal for the circumstances I had. So, my lesson: my kids are safe, happy, loved and think they have the best Daddy in the World! Their power over me is limitless!

Self-Control

Every month my darling Kindergartener has a new concept to work on in class. Every single student gets a chance to share their idea of what this concept means. They share with the class and the teacher writes the statement on a white board for all to see. Last month it was Service. All the kids had different definitions or examples. My girl said service would be to clean her room before Mom asks. My favorite from last month came from a friend of my girl...she said service might be buying poor people some chickens and goats so they could have eggs and milk. Wow!
So this month the concept is Self-Control. My darling shared her ideas yesterday. Quote: "My Dad needs to show more self-control in going to bed earlier so he can get up on time to go to work!"
I took a picture of it with my cell phone to show the fixer. Lessons from a 5 year old.

Happy New Year and New Blessings

Last year was crap. Sorry, it just was. Lot's of bad for the first three quarters...luckily things change. My life is filling up, my heart is filling up, I'm learning alot about myself and my relationships and I am finding a blinding happiness. Is it possible I'm returning to the Little Miss Sunshine my college partner so hated? Probably not. I'm glad to have found some wisdom in the crap and I don't think I'll ever return to the Little Miss Sunshine roll again, and I'm glad. I would much rather be aware of the forces in my life than not question them. I would rather examine causes and effects of behavior than just accept them blindly.
So, I am excited to ring in 2009 and see what is in store. With a little more awareness...

Winder Wonerland

Merry Christmas everyone. We have experienced our first White Christmas in such a long time and it was well worth the wait. Because of this:

and this:

and this:

and finally, this:

Get ready for the makeovers Mommy! Can't wait my fiery little redhead!

Feeling Blessed

This past month has been amazing for me. I feel blessed in finding new friends and reconnecting with old. I've had a great time going out and getting to know two AMAZING women from my little girl's kindergarten class. Moms who I can learn from and who inspire me. It's funny, I feel like I've known them for much longer than I have. The are funny, laid back and incredibly accepting. I'll be joining one in a bible study group that I am so looking forward to!
I've also been able to spend more time with another friend who invited me to a mom's group at her church. I decided to go, though in the past I've struggled with my beliefs about religion and churches in particular. I've always been spiritual, just never connected. I felt so welcomed at the group and inspired by the brief words a mentor mom spoke, I decided I to go to the Sunday service. We went as a family, and again I felt welcome and inspired. These friends are important in our lives and I look forward to spending more time with them.
And then Facebook popped up. I never thought to even look into it...then I checked it out just for fun. I have reconnected with so many people from my past. In particular, my friends from high school who I treated poorly when I fell in love with my fixer. At 16 we had a hormone fueled obsession with each other that left no room for others. Through Facebook I've been able to reach out to some of the friends and say...hello, I've grown up, do you forgive me?
My Washington b/f just returned from vaccation and now I get to spend more time with her! Thank you for my necklace marathon chick! (I think that will be your blog name from now on!)
But through all my blessings of friendship, I am missing one terribly. You know who you are. My Colorado friend. Too far away. I miss you.

Coupon Ecstacy

My Washington b/f and I have jumped into the world of coupon clipping with a vengeance. We make it a little game to see how great of deals we can get and then share our success stories and tricks with each other. We talk regularly about the Sunday paper and how to combine sales, store coupons and manufacturer coupons for the best deals. We literally have cut our grocery bills in half. Last night I had the ULTIMATE coupon buying experience. I went to Walgreen's with my mother in law to help her pick out some lipstick for a dance she's attending. I had a coupon, the product was buy one get one free and I had register rewards. We bought 15.00 worth of product and spent .88 cents. Life's little pleasures.

Credit Woes

Unbelievably I began getting collection calls and letters in the mail last week. "The Fixer" and I have near perfect credit so I could not even fathom what was going on. I began to investigate. My first instinct was that my personal information was compromised through my job...the company sent out letters stating 95,000 names, addresses and soc sec numbers were lost on a laptop. I didn't receive the letter, but still.... I called and they confirmed I WAS NOT compromised. Step two: I began calling the collection agencies and the companies who hired them to get to the bottom. They kept hanging up on me even though I was being REALLY nice. I began to panic and put a fraud alert on my credit to stop any activity. My points went from the 800s to the 600s in a month. Then I began on the credit reporting agencies. You can not get ahold of a live person UNLESS you buy a credit report. Luckily I still had one free annual report left to me this year so I printed it. 13 collections on it! AHHHH. I called the 1-800 number for disputes after searching the report and finding a name and soc sec number NOT MINE attached to my report. The name was very close to my maiden name, her current address is an old apartment building I lived in 15 years ago. That is where the similarities stop. As soon as a live person got on the phone and I began to explain my problem she stopped me and said she saw the problem clearly and deleted all the collections, the wrong name, the wrong soc sec number and the wrong addresses. She said my credit was fixed. Seems too easy and I still feel very afraid. I think I'll bite the bullet and pay for a years worth of credit watch...