OK 2009, PLEASE BE GOOD TO US....

We happily welcome 2009!!! As I look back over 2008 there was so much that happened it is hard to really grasp it all. Obviously our losses have been hard with Terry's Mom and my Grandmother not to mention everything with Cooper. However, I really can't think of another year in my entire life that I have learned more, grown more or loved more. I am happy to move on to 2009 but I truly can say with all the bad there was an enormous amount of good in 2008 and it will be a year I will never forget.

We made it home Tuesday night about 11:30 pm. The funeral was nice and there were so many people I had not seen for years. It was hard to see my Grandmother for the last time but I could not help but feel a little relieved for her. I know that she is so much happier now. We reminisced about the way she used to be before she got sick. It made me sad that Steph and Karli do not remember her then because she was a fabulous Grandma! I will always cherish her memory. Raelynn did very well. She always wants to go to the viewing and so we did. When we got up there she said "Goodbye Great Grandma, we will miss you." She said it so softly. I started to cry and then her little face got so sad. I told her Mommy was only crying because I loved her and Great Grandma so much. I think she really understood. The night before the funeral when I was putting Raelynn to bed she asked me when Daddy was going to die. I told her we never know when anyone is going to die just that someday everyone will. I asked why she was asking and she said because Daddy is old. Now normally this would have cracked me up but I realized very quickly how scary this thought could be to her. See the problem is, I joke constantly that Terry is "old". Yet when Nanni and Great Grandma passed away I told her they died because they just got old and there bodies got too tired to keep living. To a 3 year old, everyone is old. So when I reference Terry as being "old" and then tell her they have passed away because they are "old" you can see how this would be scary. I explained to Raelynn then that Mommy just jokes about Daddy being old and they Nanni and Great Grandma were much older than Daddy. I felt horrible but she did not seem too upset and was satisfied with my explanation.

New Year's Eve was so much fun!!!!! I said that with as much sarcasm as possible. I got home after work and started putting things away from Christmas and our extended vacation and I finished tonight around 7 pm. I did break long enough to poor Terry and I a glass of champagne, wake him from sleeping on the couch and watch the ball drop. So that was our New Year's excitement. Today, as I said, I finished the upstairs about 7pm and am still working on the basement. It is insane how long it takes to get everything organized and clean. I went through the kids' closets to make room for there new clothes and toys. Raelynn was a big help with this. She now has an opinion on what goes where and what stays and what goes. The only problem with this though is that she and I don't always agree. Last night while we were working on her room she wanted her shoes arranged differently in the closet that I did. After going back and forth trying to find a happy medium for us both, she looks at me and says, "It's my room! You put your shoes in your closet this way, mine go here!" Once again I could do nothing but smile. I love her independence and the funny thing is her way was completely neat and organized too. Terry spent the day installing Jayhawk,Raelynn's Wii. You get to name the Wii and then build players that resemble each of us. Lisa's kids got a Wii too and they named theirs Cornhusker so as soon as Terry asked her what she wanted to name ours she responded Jayhawk so Jayhawk it is. Then they built their characters as well as mine. It is was all good and fun until Terry put in the new Wii game she had received for Christmas and tried to teach her how to play. My husband of great patience lost it. Trying to teach a 3 yr old to listen, sit still and be patient as Daddy reads the instructions was just a perfect recipe for disaster. I don't know if they ever really figured it all out. I continued to clean and organize while listening to Terry loose his patience and Raelynn decide to do something else why Daddy tried to figure it out. It really was funny but only because Terry truly is the most laid back patient person I have ever met. Everyone survived though and are now sound asleep. We will go to Manhattan tomorrow to help Steph move into her new house and I will enjoy 3 more days of spending time with Raelynn and Cooper. I love these days!!! I really can never consume enough of them. Even when tears are flowing because somebody didn't get there way and the other is wining because they just want to be held and I have a million things running in my mind that need to be done, I still smile and know that life does not get better than this.