I think I can see the computer now

Wow. It's been a busy two weeks! Jason is back at work today and the kids are still out of school, so we are only partially back to normal. Our trip to the Northwest had lots of highs and some lows as well. Jason and I celebrated our tenth anniversary with a ski weekend at Whistler, BC. Beautiful place, lots of snow and good fun, and the best company you could ask for. I am so thankful to have Jason in my life for all these years. I hope we get many more decades together!


While we were in BC our kids got to spend their longest time ever with their grandparents. Thank you Mom, Dad and Jil for making their stay extra special and keeping them busy building incredible memories. I know they will be talking about it for a long time.

We got to see our good friends the Johnsons when we were in Seattle on our way back. Good food and great conversation. We miss you guys, it was so fun!

Christmas with the cousins was a classic good time. It reminded me so much of the wild fun times my brother and I had with our cousins growing up. I'm so glad we get the opportunity to give that excitement to our kids as well. Thank you Martin, Darlene, Tim and little girlies!

Now for the lowlights...we lost our good kitty Neo after 7 years together. He was always a man of mystery, but we are glad we got to give him a happy home for the second half of his life. We estimate he was at least 18 years old. We will miss him and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to tell Wesley. I don't want to do that again for a really long time. We are now pet-less for the first time in many years. We had a really gloomy day in the middle of the trip where it was grey and rainy (big surprise in Oregon, right), my firstborn son was weeping over the loss of his cat, I was worried sick over a good friend's cancer scare (thankfully everything is ok) and I had to accept the fact that Portland is not what it used to be for me 15 years ago. You know how you sort of immortalize a place in your mind? I think I had done that but it has not been that same place for some time now. Even Coffee People is gone. So sad! Oh well, I guess it is helping me really feel like California is my home.

Anyway, on to the new year! We got to see so many good friends on this trip and I'm thankful for every minute of it. Back to reality today...the messes, the discipline, the overcoming of my own thinking. I had a setback this morning and thought for a moment that maybe I should pack it all in on January 2nd. But I suppose that is not the best thing to do! My motto for 2008 (thank you Heather): Keep calm and CARRY ON!