I Know, I Know.......

I have been a terrible blogger. Life, it seems, gets insane during the holidays. And while I actually enjoy blogging very much, there has been no time for things I enjoy. There's been no time for anything, really. But let's try to play catch up.

We thought we sold our house but we didn't. The $%^#&@(^! people decided to back out. I am deriving great joy out of envisioning them search for a place to live for the next six months. I realize I am bitter and angry. I'm okay with it. Seriously, they really did not play nice and they wasted a great deal of my time and I don't appreciate it.

Both kids particpated in the district or regional UIL competitions last week. Caroline in Oral Reading and Duncan in Creative Writing. Such a huge thing for Duncan to make the team (they select three people from each grade level to make up the team---- that's right, 3 out of the entire grade) and then go on to participate. His coaches and Casey and I tried to explain to him what a big deal it was for him to open doors like that for other kids with disabilities. I am not sure if he grasps that concept or if he is just being himself. But his courage and the creativity of his coaches was inspiring to me. The courage he shows on a daily basis is inspiring. He did not place in the competition but we were certainly proud of his efforts. Caroline competed on Tuesday with her brother but with her competition there are two rounds. We had to wait Tuesday night to hear the finalists read- and in that instance I learned things about myself I would have rather not known. They announced "Okay people, let's get quiet we've got the 4th grade Oral Reading Finalists...." I thought I was going to vomit. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I wanted her to be something she wasn't. But she's good. At this, she is very good. And the thoughts rolled through my mind of what I would want to do should she not be a finalist. These were not good thoughts. First finalist is Caroline's good friend who is on her team. Good. Next finalist is Carolyn Cumby from Stephenville. My heart jumped a bit. Wait. I looked at Caroline . "They said your name, right?" She's screaming and jumping. I assume they did, in fact, mean Caroline. And they did. She returned to compete on Thursday night and she placed 6th. Not quite as good as 2nd place, which is what she did last year. But she wasn't feeling well and she immediately felt as though she hadn't done her best. We are, of course, immensely proud. It is thrilling to see your children succeed. It is a little less thrilling to realize that you are a petty, jealous, competitive stage mother.

The new house is almost complete when we will live there, I just don't know. I am trying to get through one day at time for now. Things are happening a little faster than I can deal. Between all the UIL last week Duncan and I both got a 24 hour virus which was pretty nasty. We have Christmas parties and outings with friend's etc. to tend to this week. Oh and of course, the search for a non-clip on tie for Duncan. He wants a real tie, clip on ties are tacky don't you know? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a decnt looking real tie for a 7 year old? It's hard.

Hope you all are having a "most wonderful time of the year". Ours is more like "where in the heck did all our money go time of the year" but whatever.