I am alive......

Okay....I am alive.....really I am! I have been so bad about posting here in the past few weeks. I know most of you know I am swamped, but for those of you that don't....I am swamped! I have literally been going nonstop, and with Christmas preparations on top of everything else, I don't have a second to myself. So please bear with me and know that I will get back in the swing of things eventually.
I feel like I have not written on here in forever, and I don't even know where to start to catch you all up. I guess I will start with the kids since they seem to take top priority in my life lately.

Sarah has finally finished up marching band. Our football team made it two rounds into the playoffs and then lost. Sarah was so bummed, but I on the other hand was doing backflips because I am so sick of running in the middle of the night to go pick her up etc. Their final marching happened last night at the Hometown Holiday Parade here in town. Sarah actually started crying because it is over for the season. I am so glad she has found something she loves that much. She also just tried out for the All District Honor Band on Saturday. She won't know if she makes it for a little bit, but she doesn't think she did very well, so we are not holding our breath. The other exciting news in her life is that she got her first kiss......not sure how I feel about that one. She shared every detail with me, so I guess I am lucky that we have a relationship where she feels comfortable to talk to me about it. But it still means my baby is growing up and soon I will be replaced by a boy who she will think hung the moon while I sit back and cry.

Bailey has been practicing hard for her piano recital. Her recital is tomorrow night in Sylvester which is a town about 30 minutes from us. They are having it at a church there, and she is so excited that she gets to play on a grand piano. She is playing Away in a Manger. She has it pretty much downpat, so I think she will do well. I just hope the crowd doesn't make her nervous. She continues to like piano a lot. We would love to buy her a piano, but right now all of our finances are going into the house and Christmas, so she will have to wait a while and continue to play on her keyboard. Bailey is also been picking up pecans all around our house. At last count she told me we had 8 pecan trees and that she intended on making lots of money selling her pecans. She even asked a girl that works at Adcock Pecans which is a local pecan distributor in our area how much she can make. They told her they pay $5 a pound but that they weren't buying anymore until next November. She is planning ahead already and has asked Santa for a pecan picker upper.......yes, they do make them and yes Santa is going to deliver. She is so funny about it. If it is nice outside, she grabs a basket I have given to her and she goes out to collect the pecans.....she is out there for quite sometime too. When she gets bored, she just puts down her basket, plays with the cats or Reilly, and then goes back to work. Too funny!

Todd has been very busy at work as he has lost his right hand man, Danny. Danny was promoted to GM of the Valdosta store, so Todd is having to pick up his work too until he gets a replacement manager. He is very tired by the time he gets home but he has remained diligent in helping me around the house, or straightening up the barn or whatever. He has gotten to go hunting 3 times this whole deer season which isn't a lot for him, but he is going when there is nothing else going on around here. He is still suffering badly with his leg cramps. I want him to go see a specialist or a chiropractor to see if we can get him some relief. I don't even know if there is such a thing as a "muscle" specialist. He is losing sleep which is already in short supply for him. He jumped up last night with a cramp so bad it made him sick to his stomach. The leg cramps seem to be getting worse, but no one and nothing seems to work. I have researched and researched on the internet, but unfortunately, most people who suffer with the same problem say there is little to no relief. I just hate seeing him hurting like this. It is pretty bad when he is learning to accept pain and sleeplessness as a normal thing......

As for me, I have been busy with work and the house. Work is going okay....I have one child that I am having major issue with, and he makes my days not so fun, but this too shall pass. I just can't blame him because I know it is his parents fault for the way he acts. They think it is all a laughing matter, and the dad encourages his behavior, so I am just not gonna fight it. As for the house, we have had construction guys in and out for about a week and a half. We started our remodel on the upstairs first. The girls have been sharing the guest room downstairs since we have moved in. None of their stuff has been moved upstairs so needless to say we are all cramped in the lower part of the house, all sharing one bathroom too! The good news is they should be in their own space by next weekend. They finished the upstairs on Friday. We had the bathroom completely gutted and redone. We had a closet built in Sarah's room since there wasn't one. We had all new doors put in. And we had the original hardwood floors refinished. They turned out soooo pretty. I love the color of them. Today I spent priming the walls, and I did get the bathroom painted. It looks so nice and so much better than what we had before. I am hoping to get the girl's rooms and the teen suite painted by Tuesday. Then I will work on all the trim work throughout the upstairs. Todd and I will move their beds in this week and we will order dressers for them to be delivered this week as well. Comforter sets have been purchased and Santa is gonna have to take care of the accessorizing of the rooms. We are not as concerned about furnishing the teen suite right now although all we really need for it is some seating and a tv. We are utilizing the funiture we had in our sunroom for their bookshelf and tv stand. We also had our concrete slabs poured and prepped for the building of walls. We have two slabs out by the barn where we will build a 16 x 30 garage for the storage of all of Todd's toys, and a 20 x20 that will become our game room for the pool table as well as my craft room. So we both will have our spaces. Concrete is so dang expensive....it is ridiculous, but at least that part is done. So we have made some progress. I am lacking in patience as I want all of the remodel done like yesterday, but I just need to let that weinie go and know that it will happen when it happens.

Well I guess that is about all for now. I am going to head to bed. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and your holiday season is going well so far. I am so thankful for all of you and for the wonderful family and friends and all the blessings I have. I didn't get to post that on Thanksgiving, but I hope you all know that.
Hugs from remodel central!!!