#365/365--Another Year in the Books

I have been doing

this

Photo-a-Day Blog

for

...9 years...

It used to be

fun

to keep up with

finding

my picture of the day

posting it

blogging about it

or

letting the picture speak for itself

but

...like all good things...

this, too, must find its end

I think

the time has come

for me

to lay it to rest

(at least in the format of

"a pic a day")

2019

has other things in store for me

...although...

I'm not quite sure yet

what those

"things"

are

I may try to blog

occasionally

since

writing

is something

I truly find enjoyment in

If you have consistently

kept up with

my

ranting

raving

repetitive

raucous

ramblings

about

my

kids

pets

friends

family

clouds

sunrise

sunset

life

then

I want to thank you for hanging in there

and encouraging

the writer in me

to keep it up

If you've ever thought about

journaling

be it in

written form

or

photographic form

I highly recommend doing it

...you will not regret it...

it is

...at times...

difficult

but

always

cathartic

and

leaves you feeling

thankful

gratified

accomplished

...in addition...

you've documented your life

in some way

Looking back

over the last 9 years

of

my photoblog

I see

hard times

good times

laughter

tears

memories

change

growth

love

Happy New Year, Everyone!

May you all be blessed

with

good health

prosperity

and

lots of laughter

May you be surrounded by

family

friends

and

make many memories!

***You can find the links to
past posts
to the right of this post
(Blog Archives)
and also
by
scrolling down to the bottom
and clicking one of the two links
under
"My Older Stuff"

#364/365--Bowling

...with my mom

and brother

and nephew...

and then

more games

later on 

#363/365--Family Games

#362/365--Gifts

Michael's girlfriend

got him

an awesome

driving experience gift

for birthday/Christmas

#361/365--Eating Right

Got in a workout that counts

for CG Fit

even though

it doesn't start

until January!

#360/365--Christmas (with some Eve)

Christmas Eve stuff

Christmas Day

We did our usual

Want

Need

Wear

Read

but

I didn't take

...all the pictures...

here are a few

Christmas Night

we had dinner

prepared by

Daniel and Lauren

and then

we played games

Merry Christmas

from

all of us

to

all of you!

#359/365--Christmas Eve, AKA Michael's Birthday

He always

gets

the

short end of the stick

since

his birthday

is

Christmas Eve

I remember his

"birth"

day

rather vaguely

...my memories are a little clouded...

He was due on 12/17/99

He decided to be late

My doctor wanted

...to schedule me for an induction...

but

ironically

there was nothing available

until

Christmas Eve

I arrived at the hospital

with my mom

very early

to start

the drip

and

I remember

the contractions came on

light and slow

but

eventually

they regulated

and got stronger

Finally

I needed

requested

wanted

an

epidural

for the pain

The anesthesiologist arrived

and

it took him

no less than

FIVE

sticks

...5 attempts...

to

"find the epidural space"

((if you're a mom, then you know

that getting the epidural

is

a "sticky" situation

you have to stay still

scrunched up

hold your breath

all the while

your body is

contracting

beyond belief

and this dude

is

sticking

a 9-foot needle

in your spine))

He said he finally

connected

and then

left the room

but

...I...

was still

feeling

each and every

contraction

they had me turn on my side

but

all too soon

Michael

was ready to

make his appearance

and with

a few quick pushes

There he was

in all his glory.

He was 9 pounds

and

21 inches long

My entire pregnancy with him was rocky.

I wondered

...as a lot of moms do with their successive pregnancies...

if it was possible

to love another baby

as much as

I loved my first

because

...as most moms know...

the love that you are overcome by

with your firstborn

is

overpowering

and

unbelievably enormous

filling your

whole heart

until it explodes

In the first trimester,

at three months,

I passed a blood clot

but

there was still a heartbeat

so my doctor wasn't concerned

At 5 months, I bled more

and again

there was a heartbeat

and in the ultrasound

(other than excessive fluid)

my baby

appeared fine

From month 5 to month 9

I continued to

have contractions

and

spot blood

but

the doctor didn't seem concerned

and put me on light duty

but

not bed rest

When I was in labor

going through the

...multiple sticks for my epidural...

my water broke

and then

a second bag of water broke

a little later on

We concluded that perhaps

I had started the pregnancy with twins

and one did not make it.

This child of mine

born on Christmas Eve

19 years ago

is

full of life

and

energy

and goodness

and

love

he is

precious

and

concerned

and

perceptive

and

intuitive

He wants the world

and

is attempting to go out

and take it

He dreams big

and

plays hard

He is my 19-year-old

Christmas present

and

I discovered

that

...indeed...

I did have enough love

it's like

I grew a second heart

the day he was born

and it was filled to the brim

enormously

and

overpoweringly

in exactly the same way

and also

exactly different

from my firstborn

Michael,

you've heard it

a thousand times before

and you'll hear it

a gazillion times more

but

I am so very proud of you

and

who you have grown into

I love you

more than you know

and

I pray that

2019

is

Your Year!

#358/365--Team Christmas

(I think...

no

I know

I am off on

post #

and

day of the year

correlations

but

I can't go without

posting this)

My awesome team

celebrated Christmas together

#357/365--Lunch with Friends

On a whim,

after finding out she

was in town,

I met up with

my friend, Dara,

and her daughter, Brooke

#356/365--More CG

#355/365--Changes

#354/365--Early Workouts

#353/365--Trivia Time

#352/365--Must-Have

#351/365--My Heart

#350/365--Spending the Gift Card

#349/365--Ugly Contest

My Team

was trying to win

the

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

for

"Best Theme"

...ours being...

Christmas Carols

...then, at our conference period...

we went around

"caroling"

...so to speak...

sort of

...explaining...

our sweaters

((I hope that vid works...))

P.S.

We won!

#348/365--Good to be the Teacher

#347/365--More Gifts

#346/365--Toppled

Trying to get

"into the Christmas Spirit,"

I put up

an old,

small, LED-prelighted

tree

and

it took perhaps

an hour or so before...

#345/365--Gaudy

#344/365--Faculty Christmas Party

#343/365--Fuuuuunny

#342/365--Early

Gift-giving

began

a little early

this year

but

I love it!

#341/365--Improvement

My CG Trainer

has us

time ourselves

on the 4th week

of each

CG Bootcamp

to see if

we have made

...improvements...

You can see the exercises/reps better

in this pic

She allowed us to start where ever we wanted

however

we had to work in

the same order

each time

(in order from left to right

October/November/December)

you can see

my decrease in times

which equals

improved

endurance and strength