The tree unadorned, awaiting just the unassembly. I did get the tree up right after Thanksgiving, but was a little late getting it all decorated (a week or so after Thanksgiving?) But as always we treasured it’s beauty, and planned to take it down the 7th. However, because Colleen was having a New Year’s party January 8, I decided to leave it up the 8th and take it down the 9th. Life got busy and I didn’t finish until the 12th!
This is my attic, and what a super attic it is! As you can see in the 3rd picture on the right there there is plenty of room to stack boxes 4-5 high even in the eaves. That is my Christmas corner where everything will snooze until next November – –
This is my first year to establish a snowman corner
The lights are put away now, of course, but the merry white figures remain. It seems to be good timing with scenes like this:
This was the beginning of the most snow we received at once this year. This was, I believe, Saturday the 8th, the day of Colleen’s party. We have had snow since then for 4 days from two different systems – I believe we now have about a foot of snow – less than some snow belt areas around us and some states to the Northeast in the blizzard, but enough to remind us that it is indeed January! I have always loved the snow. I don’t know what it is, but snow makes me feel refreshed and energetic. I get crabby and lethargic in the heat, and am much more active in the winter. I hate the heat, and you don’t want to be around me if the air conditioner fails on a hot summer day!
Things continue to be about the same in our household – we are in prayer over many issues and know the Lord has us in the palm of his hand.
- We continue to pray for Chris’s placement. A place that will offer him autism and deafness therapy and a safe residency, covered by our insurance or development disabilities funding, has not been found. His grandparents continue to care for him in the week . . . while he is at school during the day, and we have him over the weekend. My husband continues to stay with him during the week and come home with him on the weekend. At this time there is no other option, until we receive our I/O waiver. Could be sooner, if we could be granted an emergency waiver, but that does not look likely. Otherwise, we were told in 2002 it was probably a 20 year wait – so – only 11 more years – sigh.
- Praying the Lord orders our steps as we start another new segment of our year here – I’m starting my 4th semester of school – taking college algebra, children’s literature, and health. Colleen is in the middle of midterms and will be starting her new semester soon, where she says goodbye to her economics class and goes into the graphics class she has chosen to take this year. Chris and Ryan continue in their school years where they are both doing well and we hope to have good health for all the kids! Next week is only a 3 day week for the younger kids, with MLK and another day off, [Chris’s school is only closed Monday], and then will come a lengthy stretch of school for all of us where we hopefully get into a good, productive, routine!
- I have not made any goals for 2011, really. I need to work on that – the last list I really accomplished making (not necessarily following, but making!) was here https://criscollrj.com/2008/12/30/i-never-posted-my-08-goals/ and it is a master list of all lists! Really almost everything (almost, not every thing!) on there is still applicable –even though it was 4 years ago. If I could even follow some of that I would make a great improvement!
- Roger’s health is much better, but he still suffers from fatigue when he tries to work a full time week – prayers are that soon we will know when this surgery is and if it truly needs to occur (that is the medical question at this time), and our prayer is that we have wisdom in this issue – as the cyst is dangerous, but the surgery for the cyst is also dangerous.
With having my blog completely edited now (yay!) and links within the posts checked, I have resubmitted this blog to all the search engines and found a good ping site! I plan now to update weekly. That will be good writing practice for me, and hopefully will get me thinking on lots of issues to write about!! So hopefully will be back with another post by January 20! And maybe I can make a statement then that I’m back on South Beach? As I surely can’t say that now (refraining from posting a picture of the sour cream and onion potato chips I’m eating for breakfast, that I found in the closet from Colleen’s New Year’s party last Saturday)
