Fresh and Clean

David is officially moved in.

When we came up from Houston, by way of Ft. Worth, our car was
F-U-L-L, so much so that Leah and Michael brought a couple of things back for us. After the car was unloaded our apartment was, um, a HUGE mess. But yesterday we finally found everything a place. Woo Hoo!

Not only is the apartment clean, but improved!

We put curtains up in the bedroom. (David said it was too bright, and I gave him a hard time about it but wow, sleeping in the dark is amazing! The best sleep ever. If your bedroom isn't super dark at night, make it happen, you will sleep so well.)

Leah and Michael graciously are letting us use an old dresser and old chair. We bought some new pulls for the dresser which was pretty much an excuse for David to use a drill. Men.

I am making it known that I refuse to take down my Christmas decorations, which is basically garland and lights. I have decided that I won't take them down till we go down to Houston next, cause there is no where to put ANYTHING. We have filled every nook and cranny of this apartment. 500 sq ft was plenty for me, but it feels a little tight with a large man moving around and storing giant shoes.

I will admit that we are storing some empty boxes and wrapping paper in the trunk of my car. Hey, it is space.

Butt Update:
I can mostly sit and lay on my back now. Occasionally if I am on it for long periods of time I get sore. My ridiculous bruise, which I did take pictures of but felt it a bit inappropriate to post on the Internet, has mostly cleared. I survived another fall! Yay!

A Very Strange, not even white, Christmas

This was a very different Christmas. Not like any other Christmas before.

Our 12 days of Christmas

*David flew into Houston on Friday. He was FREE! I was still up in Abilene helping Leah test kids and prepare for the holiday week in school.

*Saturday I drove down to Houston. And it was a tough trip. My butt had not healed hardly enough to wear real pants. But I did. I was not even healed enough to sit, but some how I made it down. Although around Comanche, an hour in to the trip, I really didn't think I was going to make it.

*Sunday was MeeMaws 88th Birthday party. We all went to church with her, so she could show us off. Then a most delicious meal at Ninfas. And cake and presents at my Aunt Susan's house.

*Monday was our big shopping day, we had some more elf work to do, as well as be an elf for Leah. We went to Highland village, the Galleria and Rice Village. Oui, we were exhausted. Not to mention some other stores around my parents house. And we went over David's family's house to spend time with them.

*Tuesday was Robert (David's brother) and Dorothy's wedding party in Downtown Houston. The meal was very yummy.

*Wednesday was our big task of finding a bank and a storage unit. Ugh paper work. We went out to eat with Robert and Dorothy to Lupe's (angel chorus), and afterwards had a mini Christmas with David's family, R &D.

*Thursday. Oh Thursday. David got some warts removed, icky, and then our move started. You read about all of that below. That night I was just miserable, there was so much to do.

*Friday we packed all of David's things up, and went back to the storage unit to start taking pictures of broken stuff. We left for Ft. Worth around 4pm, made a quick stop in College Station to pick up some last minute gifts (elf work for Leah and my mom), and rolled into Ft. Worth at about 1030.

*Saturday was Bruner Christmas Brunch. We had a fun gift exchange, played some Catch Phrase and Mark had to go to work to be a police man. So we packed up again and drove back to Abilene.

*Monday we had another mini-Christmas. I cooked David a semi-home cooked meal. And we went over Leah and Michael's for a present exchange and to watch White Christmas.

*Christmas morning David and I opened up presents. Rigby played in the tissue and Abbey was peaceful in her hamper. I made pancakes and we drove to Midlothean for a Micheletti Christmas. And later that night we drove back. We were seriously delirious and spent the night looking for silly names of towns in Texas on the map.(Oh Noodle we thank you for 20 minutes of pure entertainment.)


Whew. It was definitely a weird Christmas.

A Few Thoughts on Moving

We gave moved yet again. And once again we are not with our things completely. Everything was moved from our Washington storage to storage in Houston. Kind of a let down, although having things 400 miles away is much better than 3000 miles.

Moving is awful. It sucks. The packing and unpacking and as we have unfortunately discovered the loss and destruction of our things. I won't say much more about it other than a lot of our things got broken and lost. We are going to have to go down to Houston soon and unpack, check and then repack all of our belongings. A major task. Sigh.

I am trying not to be emotional about it all. I keep telling myself they are just things, replaceable things. But it is still upsetting.

Why can't life ever move along smoothly?

"Life involves a continual leaving behind of stages, of parts of self." -Larry McMurtry

This week has been one of those weeks were you just run around with lists trying to get it all done. And we have. We have been super productive.

David is officially a free man. He is out of the Navy. It doesn't seem real yet, and I don't think it will for a while. Freedom is never free. We have to take the first step and all the rest become simply one foot in front of the other.
David and I have been taking the overwhelming task of becoming civilians one tiny step at a time. This is the best we can do.

Life is so deeply uncertain for all of us. No matter how much planning goes into life, it will remain uncertain. I am aware of all of those uncertainties, which makes the looming new year many things.

2008 is
scary
exciting
a challenge
the end and a fresh start
burdens
uncertain
new
overwhelming
possibility

Ever wish you could go on a permanent vacation and leave all the work, and struggles behind?

Little Nephews need prayers!

Please pray for Leah and the babies. They are growing and it is is so exciting, but those big babies make it hard to carry them around all day long.

The 3 in 1 needs prayers for safety, peace and 2 more healthy months.

I Feel Like I am Pregnant on a Soap Opera

If you are pregnant on a soap opera, rest assured one of these two things will happen to you:
1. You will be kidnapped and held hostage till you give birth, in order to steal your baby.
2. You will be pushed/fall/trip down the stairs at least once.

I have fallen down the stairs AGAIN!

This summer I fell down the stairs at my parents house. On Sunday I slipped on the icy stairs at my apartment, and down I went. Imagine Home Alone.

*Sound effects of the fall*
Floooooop
Bang
Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom
Oooooooooooh groan
"David, I fell down the stairs."
"You sure?"
"Pretty sure."


I am so tired of falling down stairs. But once again I didn't break my neck, not even one bone. I have a really wicked bruise on my bottom though. It is probably the biggest, nastiest bruise I ever had. (I didn't play sports in school)

I gotta stop falling down stairs.

Holiday Craze!

If you haven't seen this holiday craze, you have to:

click here: Analee Elf

To make yours just go to http://www.elfyourself.com/
(Its easy Mom)


And if you are lucky (HA!) enough to have a Scrooge in your family, there is one for them too.

click here: David Scrooge

Less than 100 days!

A year ago these pictures were taken:

Our family with Josh the doll.
Little did we know that we needed the practice! The twins are less than 100 days from arriving, and we are all getting really excited. They are so big now, a pound and a half each! he he
I think about what they will look like. Leah and I were discussing how big they will be and they will probably be about 5 lbs. I thought wow, that is smaller than little Rigby. (I don't have a lot of newborn experience) After holding my big girl Abbey Rigby is so tiny. But my little nephews will be half a Rigby.
My little nephews are on their way!

A Long Winter's Nap

I am sure everyone thinks their kitty is the sleepiest kitty. But I have the sleepiest kitty.

He doesn't even bother laying down for a nap.