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Showing posts from February, 2016

A February Christmas Wrap-Up

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With one thing or another I never did get around to sharing any of our Christmas shenanigans after the New Year. Well for the most part they were pretty much what we’ve come to expect and experience over the last several years – 4+ different days of Christmas dinners, family time, gift giving, game playing, catching up and having fun. As I’ve mentioned in previous years, as our extended families have grown larger and spread further afield, our Christmas celebrations have become larger, longer affairs that simply can’t be accomplished in one day. So here’s a brief breakdown of all this years celebrations’ parts… 

An Updated Cast of Family Characters

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It occurred to me while I was trying to write a post recently – one that included most, if not all, of our (still growing) immediate family on both sides, that there are now quite a lot of us AND when telling stories it can get very confusing to follow precisely who is involved. So I decided it might be worthwhile to write up something of a list of common “characters” that I talk about: family members mostly just from the immediate family. Here we go… The Corner Table Family Writer Mom (me) & Heli Dad (my hubs) Kids: Princess, Gamer Boy & Angel Face Pets: Sphinx & Jude (cats) Writer Mom’s Family Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) Pets: various cats on The Farm Big Sister and Bro (my older sister & her hubs) Kids: Big Babe, HG & Genie Pet: Rufus (dog) Little Sister and Boyfriend (my younger sister & her boyfriend) Pet: Juno (dog) Heli Dad’s Family Grams (his mom)

Dark Times, Death, and Parenting

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This time of year, as many of you will know from following me over the years, is never a good time for me. I am very often inundated by recurring waves of depression and have come to refer to these early months of the year as my ‘dark times.’ I can’t predict when it’s going to hit, nor can I predict the severity of the occurrence. All I can do from year to year is try my best to keep my head and heart straight, and when it hits, do my best to keep my head above water. This year… I just don’t know what’s going to happen this year. My Grandma and I 2 weeks before her death... After watching my grandmother fight and rally and fight for her life some more, and lose little by little every day and week over the last months, it was quite honestly a relief and a blessing when she passed away a couple weeks ago. We knew that her end was coming and what’s more, she knew it too and was ready for it. She was ready to go and we could only let her. We’re all happy tha