He made it!

Brian is now officially on the roster with the Regents...WOOHOO!!

Formal Introductions

* Peyton Ellen LeMieux*

* Lily Patricia Haskell, my newest neice.*

Brrrr!

Well, it's about 9:00am, and a balmy 26 degrees here. It snowed Saturday and Sunday, but not enough to stick. It seems that winter has arrived, and I am in no way ready for it! I've got no wood for the fireplace, an air conditioner that's still in the window upstairs, and all of my winter clothes are still packed away. haha....true Mary style there.

We had a good weekend...overall it was pretty quiet. Brian had two of his wisdom teeth pulled on Friday, so I was TRYING to keep him still and get him to rest all weekend. Let's just say that didn't work, and he is one stubborn man. Ok, it could just be me, but should someone really be running on the treadmill a day after surgery? I don't think so!

I'm getting excited for Thanksgiving already. It's going to be so nice to see family and catch up. David and Danielle are coming this year, and my Uncle Doug will be here from England. It's Brians "turn" to come to our Thanksgiving so he'll get his usual dose of good humored ribbing from the guys in my family. Speaking of "turns"....I always feel like parents are silently keeping track of where you've been which year, and when it is their "turn" to have you at their gathering...or I guess that could just be me not wanting anyone to feel left out. Either way, NOT a big deal...his family is pretty stellar (yes, I said stellar), so it's not a big deal. :)

That's all for now....happy Monday!

Dear Abby...

My entire life I have been struggling with one question:
How long can I survive if I continue to attempt to facilitate this relationship and fail? And it ALWAYS ends in failure. And I ALWAYS find a reason to keep trying.

Lately I'm finding that the reasons I'm giving myself just don't justify enduring a painful and damaging relationship. I spend a lot of time imagining how it would be to just let go, and on the surface it would be an instantaneous sigh of relief, but internally......would I continue to wonder forever if I had made the right decision? I wonder how long I can continue to try to be the bigger person. Am I fooling myself into thinking that I would even be worth the same amount of thought to you? It's one thing to put time and effort and love and care into a relationship if the other party is just as committed to some sort of resolution as you are, but in any other circumstance I think it's safe to say it would just be wasted time.
As I sit and torture myself with the possibilities and attempt to work my way through this maze of a broken relationship......do I even cross your mind?

Is there a crack in the foundation of my life that I'm just going to have to build around? Most of the time I think that that's the case. If I keep trying to single-handedly hold up this structurally unsound relationship, inevitably it's all going to come crashing down.....on me. And maybe that's why you are always stepping away...to avoid the debris and rubble of this damaged thing falling down on you. Maybe distance is smart on your part, and maybe that's why you have maintained it so well for so many years.

I give you more credit than you deserve most of the time, and I can only conclude that I have been completely deluded about our relationship, as I think is common when it is as unhealthy as ours. That makes me think that the only thing...the only SANE thing to do is to sever my ties. Step back, and let go. Let the rubble fall and do it's damage, and then build something new on solid ground.

Election Day

Record breaking numbers of people went to the polls and voted yesterday. How amazing that people who have never before been inclined to take part in the process of choosing their president have been inspired to exercise their right to vote!!

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Yesterday we choose Barack Obama to lead us for the next 4 years. With no way of knowing what the future will bring, today I am optimistic about the possibilities.

Spooky

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Brians neice and nephew, Anna and Matthew. I can't say
that I've ever seen a cuter mickey mouse. :)
Halloween was slow for us this year. We got a bunch of big candy bars, and only had 2 trick-or-treaters. I think we gave 90% of our candy to Brians cousin Andrew and his girlfriend, so they made out pretty well. Other than a few visitors, we had a quiet night.

I'm SO glad it's Saturday. It's been a long and busy week at work, and I'm ready for some down time. My boss is getting married in Key West next Saturday, so we've been a little unfocused at the office. In fact, I was just telling my boss that it wouldn't be a stretch for her to add wedding planner to her resume. I think she's done about 90% of everything. Enough about work.

Brian is going to contact the coach at Rockford College on Monday to set up a time that he can try out for the baseball team. He's so excited! I think he's lost about 60 lbs., which is AMAZING!I'm really hoping that all of his hard work pays off.

No big plans for this weekend. I might do a little bit of Christmas shopping. I've already gotten a couple of things, which is good for me because I'm usually the one that waits until the 23rd of December to even start.

ALSO....the Chiefs play the Bucs this Sunday. It's kind of a big deal in our house because Brian is a Bucs fan, and of course I'm a Chiefs fan, so....it's ON! He'll never hear the end of it if the Chiefs win. :)

That's all for now...