Second Christmas

Some of you may be familiar with the little tradition that we have among the Furedy/ Singer/ Woodard clan that we lovingly call... Second Christmas.

Second Christmas began about 6 years ago or so, when our collaborative clan started getting so large that Christmas shopping began in June and consumed at least one entire paycheck during the month of December (you think I am exaggerating, but seriously, NOT EXAGGERATING).  The entire group got together and discussed what we could do to alleviate the shopping and budgetary strain (bet you wish you could have been a fly on the wall during THAT conversation).  A couple of key ideas emerged from our talk that day... we decided that kids should all get gifts, but that the adults would draw names.... and that one of the key things that we all wanted most was to spend more time together.  And we REALLY wanted to spend time together- away from the day to day routine of life in Phoenix/ Tucson (again, not sure what we were thinking at the time...). As one-quarter of the group is always gone for several weeks in December (the Furedy/Singer clan always heads back East to hang with Paige's family over the holidays) we also needed to find a time after Christmas that would work for us all to have an extended period of time together.

So, each year since, we have gone on a trip together over the long weekend in January that includes the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  This allows us to have a Friday evening through Monday afternoon extended weekend (enough time to enjoy each other, but not get on each others nerves... at least not too much).

Year One we all stayed in a hotel, with Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Steve's timeshare as our 'home base'.  This was a nice first attempt, but resulted in a difficult weekend of trying to figure out who was where and what we were doing and when-  all conducted by cell phone because we weren't in the same place (yep, not fun).  We were also forced into eating every meal in a restaurant (and since Colin was a toddler at the time also means that I don't think I sat down to eat a meal even once while we were there).

Here's a picture of Vanessa helping Julia try on her flower girl dress for her wedding
(which would take place the following Spring)
during our inaugural 2nd Christmas...

Year Two upgraded to a bed and breakfast in Tucson- we ended up renting out the entire place.  What can I say about that trip other than... yeah... bed and breakfasts are NOT made for groups of our size and makeup.  I think the owners about had a heart attack before the weekend was over because we (hold on to your hats folks) used their kitchen to fix a dessert.   They were also stressed out by our kids the entire weekend (and if our really well-behaved kids stress you out, well... you just might have a problem). We were also still tied to a lot of restaurant eating...

Here's Joe, Paige and Gundry enjoying our snow hike on Mt. Lemmon during Year Two....

Year Three upgraded us to renting a house in Flagstaff, which we have done every year since.  I won't say that this has been without it's share of issues (and family disagreements and one major all out family war that I am still not sure that we've ever totally recovered from..) but over all, the house rental has been a successful approach that allows us to spend time together, cook our own meals, play endless board games and of course celebrate Christmas (yep, the whole thing, a tree, and presents and all). 

Here are a few photos of our rather enjoyable 2nd Christmas of 2011.... (here I will apologize in advance for the lack of photos of Aunt Bic, Great Grandma Miriam (GG) and of course Joe, plus limited representation of Jason and Mike... not sure why, but they seem to be lacking in my photos.  We do LOVE you guys...)

The house... a delightful rental from VRBO...

 

Let the Second Christmas Begin......

 

Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Steve

G-man

Aunt Paige and her camera...

  

Aunt Vanessa and the best part of 2nd Christmas #6,

The addition of Cora to our family...

 

Miss Cora enjoying some blueberries... 

One of the best moments of the trip was getting to rock this little one to sleep.  What fun....

 

Julia goofing around...

 

Celebrating Eric's birthday with apple pie 

and one rock awesome card...

Asher catching some air...

 

And of course, a rocking game of Pictionary...

 

It is a great tradition, and one that I hope we will enjoy for years to come.  Sounds like next year we will be checking out the Showlow area for a different house (Aunt Vanessa is already hunting for us...).  Despite the ups and downs and ins and outs of getting 17 people together for a weekend, it's a weekend that I wouldn't trade for the world (and I'm happy that my kids just take 2nd Christmas for granted... like everyone in the world celebrates Christmas all over again in January...).

Night all...

C

PS  10 days to go.  :)

I've Got the Blues.....

I have to admit, I haven't been writing cause I've been experiencing a grand 'ol case of the January blues.  Between my neck issue (Nope, not any better, despite toradol shot, despite tons of drugs, despite rest and NOT working out, not any better.  In fact, maybe worse as my hand continues to go numb, which makes typing and working and just in general being a human being slightly more difficult.  Okay, enough on that..) and the LOVELY cold that I've had for over two weeks (Thanks a whole lot to my nephew Gundry who lovingly shared with his Aunt Carrie.), and the normal it's January and we're back to work and we have bills to pay (new tires for my car, pay the deductible to fix the dent in the back of my car, Julia's braces, my medical bills which keep piling up) my mood has been, shall we say, less than wonderful.  My Twitter and Facebook posts sound like a medical journal... when I post at all (and yes, I know, I haven't been posting, I've been sparing you all my horrific negativity... you should be glad folks, very glad). 

However, this weekend, I decided to at least try to change my mood- by still relaxing and taking it easy, but at the same time attempting to get a few things done around here.. and it actually made me feel a bit better.  See, I worked on the taxes (and it looks like a refund will be coming to the Furedy home, which will be a welcome addition to the family checkbook), we lucked into a (slightly used but new to us) water heater thanks to an old high school friend on Facebook (which spares us the cost of buying a new one as ours has been acting a little out of sorts for the last few weeks), and I got started on getting my pictures organized again (which was a great reminder of all the fun times we've had in the last few months... life really is good.)  The kids also had an awesome weekend- Colin got to have a sleepover at a friend's house (which necessitated an afternoon nap today... which he chose to take with me... it's been a long time since I got to nap with my little man and it was awesome).  Julia had a night out with Momma, Daddy, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Stacy that involved at trip to the bookstore and a grown-up dinner at a sushi restaurant (she did awesome trying the sushi, but says it's just not for her...) which seems to have made her quite happy.

My goal for this week is to do some small posts that feature some of our 2011 adventures so far... 2nd Christmas in Flagstaff with the Woodard/ Furedy/ Singer clans AND the Chandler Children's Choir singing the National Anthem at the Phoenix Suns' Game. (I am really hoping I will be up to doing this.. you'll have to stay tuned in just to see...)

So, my mood is a bit better, my outlook a little sunnier, but my neck still hurts (guess I can't have everything..).  So, I'm off to my bed... with my pain pills in one hand and my heating pad in the other.  Catch you on the upside my friends. 
C

PS  First cortisone epidural in my neck is scheduled for Feb. 10th.  That's 11 days from now.  Doctor assures me that I will experience significant pain relief after this shot.  Can you all pray for me?  That I make it gracefully through the next 11 days AND that the pain relief is as significant as I have been promised?  It would be greatly appreciated my friends.

The Glass is Half-Full, Or Maybe More...

Those of you who follow my Tweets and Facebook posts know that for the last few weeks (make that 6, but hey, really who's counting?) I have struggled with neck and back pain.  It started with a stiff neck in November, which was quickly alleviated with some muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and yes, those crazy pain pills (that I have indicated may have, just may have impacted some of my rational decision making).  It continued on in December with a stiff neck and pain that radiated through my shoulder and into my arm.  (more and better anti-inflammatories and BIGGER more potent pain pills).

After a trip to the doctor over break, a set of x-rays and a lovely MRI (who wouldn't love laying perfectly still in a tube with a plastic cover over your neck while someone makes the machine sound like is is self destructing around you for 40 minutes?), the cause of all the pain has been determined.

When the doctor called and left me a message with the news,  he actually said- 'This is not what I expected to find' (I think that is interesting.. don't know that I've ever had a doctor share news in quite that way). 

So.... I have osteoarthritis in my neck and spine. (Yep, like what a typical 60 year old would have).

It's funny, if you read here, I talk about the other typically age related disease that I suffer from... so I've started teasing Joe that he has a 37 year old wife in a 67 year old's body.....

Of course, Joe and I's questions started right away... how do I get rid of the pain that I'm having right now (WITHOUT the darn pain pills preferably since they make me loopy and make me feel really tired and I can't take them during the day and the pain is so bad by about 6 pm that I literally am incapable of making decisions), how do I keep the disease from progressing, what do I need to do on the preventative end, what does the future likely hold?

I talked with my doctor on Friday and got some answers- will see him again on Wednesday for more.  Here's the down and dirty...  I will be going to a Spine Center/ Pain Management Clinic later this month to try to get this current 'flare up' under control.  Other than that I need to:  eat healthy, exercise regularly, introduce yoga to my exercise routine, avoid stress, and take more vitamins (gee, that sounds like what I need to be doing anyway folks... sounds like what we ALL need to be doing).

I think the initial diagnosis really threw me for a loop, but after thinking about it for a few days... this is a piece of cake.  Gives me even more reason to take care of myself and my body.  So.. that glass isn't half-empty as I felt right after the first message from the doctor.  It is half full, well really, it's even more than that, I think it's like three-quarters full.

And as the Hunter S. Thompson says....

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, shouting GERONIMO!

Have a great day folks...

C 

A Glittering Smile.....

Today we made another step into pre-pubescence, adolescence, also known as THE TEENAGE YEARS.  How is this possible (I know you are all asking) since Miss Julia just turned 10 and Mr. Colin is a mere 8 years of age...

Well.... see.... our kids have always been rather advanced.  Julia especially.  I mean really...  she arrived on the planet 3 weeks ahead of schedule.  And even if you ignore that rush to arrive, there are her teeth. Julia got teeth early, got teeth fast, and lost them just as quickly.

I will NEVER forget when she lost her first tooth (when she was still in preschool folks...)  She was so excited to take her tooth to school and show it off that she would not (seriously, crying fit, blubbering hysterically would not) leave the tooth for the Tooth Fairy.  Instead she wrote him a note explaining that she would leave the tooth the next night (she was really curious about how much cash she would receive), but she HAD to take her tooth to school.  All well and good, but apparently NO other child in her class had lost a tooth, and some of the parents hadn't exactly explained to their kiddos that they were GOING to lose their teeth.  Preschool teacher was LESS than thrilled when several of her students burst out crying over this little gem of information.(Leave it to my kids to ruin it for everybody else...)

I will also ALWAYS remember Julia's dentist telling me that the teeth that needed crowns (yep, my dear child got silver crowns at the age of five under general anesthesia) would (without a doubt) be in her mouth until she was at least ten.  So... those puppies fell out at age 8.  That was (a lot) of money for teeth that didn't really hang around for very long.

We've known since Julia's adult teeth started to erupt (seriously, that's the only way to describe what happened) that she would most likely need braces.  One of her front teeth came in SIDEWAYS for goodness sake!  The dentist would look at her at each appointment and tell me 'Well Mom, her mouth grew a little, so we'll wait another six months and see what happens.'  Actually, he TOLD me that, until Julia's last appointment when he smiled at me and told me that she only had four baby teeth left and that none of those teeth had any roots anymore, so... IT WAS TIME.  Julia was... shall we say, less than thrilled (I can only guess that the fact that  she threw herself on her bed and cried about how life is unfair meant that she wasn't too happy).

A few months, a visit to the very cool orthodontist office, and some good coaching from her Nana, and she was ready to go.... her only request was to have it happen AFTER Christmas.  So... Colin gave her bubblegum for her birthday (cause she should get to chew as much as she would like until she got her braces on), several pre-appointments were scheduled, and we were ready to go!  Here she is, the final shot of her (pre-braces) mouth.

After a look of disgust (and a panicked question to mom about whether or not they had clear rubber bands) six weeks ago when they showed her all of the different colored rubber bands that they had, she was quick to select blue and teal rubberbands this morning.  We had a bit of an adventure as not one, but two of her brackets popped today (one before we even left the office), but overall she seems happy.  Here's Julia sporting her NEW glittering look....

She reports that her mouth and tongue are sore.  She did however, just eat an entire can of spagehettios, edamame, an apple chopped into little pieces and some cheese balls (I know, I'm a STELLAR mom) so I think she is going to live.

In about six months, they will expand to the rest of the top teeth, and in a year or so we will enter the adventure of the bottom braces.... 
(Oh, and yeah, before you ask, of course Joe and I are now broke.  Like the Christmas bills weren't enough.... and this will be a lovely new addition to the monthly bills as well...)

As for 'being present' (remember my non-resolution resolution?) this was an awesome day of memories for Julia and I.  I don't think either one of us will ever forget this day... the nerves, the stress, the pain (and that was just how I felt!!)

Night all...
C

2011- A Non-Resolution Resolution

Hello my friends (Yes.  Yes.  I know.  I write.  And then I don't.  And then I do.  And then I don't again.  And if I am ever going to do anything with this blogging thing other than just fool around, I need to write.  Consistently.  You'll know if I ever get to more than just foolin' around.  Cause you'll read.  Consistently- right?)

Anyway... hello.  Glad to see you again.  Life in the Furedy household has been fun, chaotic, crazy, busy, funny and just downright strange for the last few months.  Between birthdays (And yes, as a mother I *do* know that I have written a birthday post for my daughter for the last two years and haven't written one for my son.  That's what he gets for being stubborn and not arriving until a week before Christmas.), Christmases (we've had 3 or maybe 4 so far and there's still one to go...), New Year's, choir concerts, work, drugs (yep, those pain pills for my neck kept me from doing much other than looking at the walls and muttering to myself for a few days), playing board games, and building Legos (and, well... maybe some laziness thrown in just for fun), I haven't had time to even think about writing on my blog.

Again, probably not the whole truth.  I've thought about it a lot... (but thinking and *doing* happen to be two different things I've discovered).  So, here I am.  And it's a New Year.  So, of course (please note the dripping sarcasm) I must join the world of bloggy mommas with a list of all the things that I am going to change about my life in the next year (those bloggy mommas can be a real pain in the *ss sometimes... I oughta know!), a list of my RESOLUTIONS....

I've actually decided that I don't want to CHANGE that much about my life.  I really like my life.  (Pretty cool- eh?)  The only real thing that I want to focus on is really paying ATTENTION to the life I am living... and to be present in it each and every day.  (Hmmm... I guess that could be considered a change, but since I'm not really gonna do anything different, and just gonna wake up and enjoy it more, I'm still voting that it's NOT a change.  Go with me folks.)

There we have it.  A New Year's Resolution.  One I think should be pretty easy to keep.  (Or will it?  'Cause I tend to get wrapped up in getting it done, rather than the doing, so this may be the hardest resolution ever to keep).

This does bring us full circle though, since if I am going to do this, I need at least one way to track my progress.... (come on folks... have you caught on yet?)  Yep, that would be writing about it.  All of it.  The good, the bad and the ugly.  (I usually try to at least spare you guys the ugly....).  Writing about it here.  On my lovely blog.  Just to see.  See what it becomes.

On that note, welcome 2011.
Welcome back my friends.
I *will* be talking to you soon.

Carrie