Goodbye 2007

Today is New Year's Eve, and all over the world people are getting ready to do anything from getting ridiculously drunk to staying at home to going to a classy party to dancing in Times Square...I'm sure the list goes on. Tomorrow they'll eat a meal with their families or try to sleep off their hangovers. THEN the day after that, they will begin: the resolution(s). That is what I want to write about--my resolution or lack thereof, or maybe something in between.

I was thinking about the infamous New Year's Resolution last night. Typically, it's to lose weight. It seems people stuff themselves all through the holidays to burn it off in January. That's not my idea of fun, though the weight loss commercials do amuse me. I guess what I don't get is, "Why? Why is January 1st so special?" What is so magical about a new year? I actually will have the same issues and dilemmas that I had on December 31 at midnight tonight.

I guess it's like a fresh page for some, but I still don't understand why. Why...and this is so cliche'...but why can't everyday be New Year's? Ha, but seriously, is it not already? It's a new day. The saying "time heals all wounds" is the biggest lie. It's equal to "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." Fact is, time heals nothing and words do hurt. It's not time that heals but what you do in that time. Forgive, love, think before you speak. These are all things I need to do.

So if I want to "resolve" to do something, it would be those things. I want to be more gracious. I'm not so much at the moment. I always tend to think the worst of people. For example, I sat in church yesterday just like the rest of "the common people," if you will. I wasn't singing. I didn't get there early...it was just that. So there is this lady sitting in front of me, and to be honest, she drove me nuts. She had this goofy straw hat that I thought seemed more appropriate for a day at the lake in the summer rather than the cold, rainy day we had yesterday. She kept jumping up and down and going, "WOOO! Come on Jesus!" She was so excited, and it annoyed the heck out of me. She was clapping to a song that I thought DIDN'T need to be clapped to, and to top that off, she was off rhythm--terribly. We had a special guest yesterday who talked about how God was going to purposefully place people to offend us. Ha, was He?! Well done, God. Anyway, it was a really great message that touched my heart, but that lady still got on my nerves.

When service ended, people were leaving, she had turned around to face me and she said, "OH it's you! I can't believe I didn't recognize you, but I do now. I just want to tell you that I appreciate you getting up there to sing every week. You have no idea what it means to me. You have let out some notes that made me feel the Lord when I really needed to. Thank you, thank you, thank you." I was actually crying at the moment because of what she said, and unbeknown by her, the way I had judged. So that is why I lay awake thinking about what I want to do, what I want to be. Kind, full of love, and grace...like a Christian. We all know we're supposed to "love our neighbor as ourself," but very few of us have it down. I know I'm the least.

Who's Your Daddy?

Below is Mayer's dad, Dego, followed by a picture of Mayer. Think they favor? :)

She's not even 3!!!

It was really warm today, so I put a dress on Sage with socks and little mary jane shoes. She is in this phase now where everything is, "I'm going to do it ALL BY MY-SELF!" in a sing-song voice. So I let her put the socks on, and she insisted on having them pulled all the way up. I said, "Sage, roll them down so you can see the lace on them." She goes, "NO, I gotta pull it up." I said, "Sage it looks silly like that." Not missing a beat she goes, "Well, you don't have to look at it." I couldn't stop laughing. What am I going to do?!

My Favorite Gift

This was the last gift that I had from Sage. It was my favorite. I had been trying to get her to talk to Santa since he first arrived back at the beginning of November. Turns out, a little bribe of candy from Daddy sealed the deal. THAT must be the reason she got all that she wanted; she really did go and see him. She's obviously not too happy about it, but I love the picture. It makes me smile everytime I see it, and I believe it always will.

Fast Forward a bit

I know these posts go from the newest at the top and getting older as they read, but I wanted it to read DOWN--like Christmas Eve then Christmas, and I did that. However, I'm messing it up right off the bat (so it appears). I may have confused you more by this explanation or just myself. This is all being posted on Christmas Day at about 10 pm, and I slept for MAYBE 3 hours so bear with me. These are just some taken from Travis's new camera (read about that on the "christmas day" post), and I meant to post them where they belonged. Oops! Sorry.

Her solemn face.
THERE'S my girl! (Don't peek at her gift here!)
Yeeeahhh, this picture was taken Christmas morning after ALL gifts had been opened. You can see that Sage is feeling great. I, on the other hand, felt like I had taken handfuls of speed, and it had JUST worn off right before this pic was taken.
Thank GOD for makeup! I think Sage and I look alike here.

Angel face.
I adore this picture.
I'm the lamest person I know, but that's how I roll.
I didn't realize I looked like this all day. I was SO tired.
This is Sarah, one of my nieces. She is such a sweet girl.
Sage, Sarah, and I

HEEERE we are!

Merry Christmas (Christmas Eve)

Christmas Eve was really pleasant for us. I actually LOVE Christmas Eve. Christmas day itself kind of makes me sad because it always goes so fast. All of that anticipation, all the gifts, the lights, the secrets, the surprises are all tucked away for next fall/winter, and you're left with cold weather and tax season. Just call me Miss Optimist.

Anyway, Travis worked on Christmas Eve for a bit, which was fine with me because I could clean. I almost go into this "nesting" like mood where I want EVERYTHING clean, all laundry done--the entire house PERFECT. It's weird because less than 24 hours later it looks like a hurricane went through. The vet had also called that morning, and Chanel was able to come home. And it IS Chanel! She is TOTALLY herself: happy, excited, alert, eating and drinking. It's amazing the turnaround. Because she was licking her wounds, she came home with an added bonus to prevent that. I'll let you see the pic for that.

Christmas Eve is also that day that Sage and I bake a birthday cake for Jesus! We leave a piece of that out for Santa rather than cookies. She LOVED making the cake. I poured the mix into the bowl, walked around to the sink for a sec, and I hear, "MOMMY! This is SOOO GOOD!" Sure enough, her hand was in it. Haha, that's okay though, she had a blast. We danced to Christmas carols, which unfortunately, I have no picture proof of. You all will have to trust that we are SUPERB dancers...haha. We iced the cake, I wrote "Happy Birthday Jesus" on it, and I handed her the sprinkles. Having no concept of "SPRINKLE" she dumped them ALL in one spot...lol, making it THAT much more perfect in my opinion. Travis read the Christmas story from Luke 2, and we sang Happy Birthday to our Savior. She blew out His candle. :) Then we went to Travis's mom where Sage's cousins were. She was a little overwhelmed, but she had a great day. We all did.

Mixing up Jesus's birthday cake.
Now she's decorating.
She took this part VERY seriously.
And the finished product. I think He loved it.
Presents at Grandmother's.
You're not seeing double. The twins, Spence and Devon, just turned 3 a few weeks ago.
Any baby-like doll/animal is a hit with Sage--especially if it has accessories to help care for it.
A pup ready for Santa.

She got a new cast, but that's not all.
Chanel is not only home but ready in a second's notice should she have to go to outer space. Isn't this picture funny? (Seriously, she is feeling SO much better.)

Merry Christmas!!! (The DAY)

Well, today is FINALLY HERE! The BIG DAY! The day that I've waited MONTHS for! We were GIDDY for Sage to wake up; it was unreal. I woke up at 4am. Yes, that is correct: 4am. Thankfully, I can always count on "A Christmas Story" to be on for a full 24 hours on this day. I watched it a few times.

Sage ALWAYS wakes up at anywhere from 6-7, SOMETIMES a little later--except on Christmas, of course. She slept until a little after 8 today, JUST like she did last year. I was vacuuming and everything; she didn't make a sound. I watched the monitor light until I hallucinated that it moved...hahaha. But she FINALLY woke up, and she was VERY overwhelmed. I said, "SAGE, today's the day! SANTA CAME!" And she was thinking he'd STILL be here, I think, because she was like, "No he didn't." She was very pleased, and she's "cooking" as I speak.

TODAY'S THE DAY!
He ate the cake, drank the milk, AND wrote a letter.
WOAH.
Look at all that Santa left.
Some of her kitchen goodies.
She had so much fun opening the gifts.
I love this picture.
This was her first experience with a jack-in-the-box. This picture was taken the moment he came up. Isn't it funny?
CANDY.
And he even brought her a ball, which she loved.

Helping Daddy open his gifts.
We tend to lose our remote quite often. This is kind of a joke, but we're ACTUALLY using it now--it's for real.
I will explain THIS gift below.*
My baby girl.
She's in there somewhere. Hopefully, we'll find her again.
*Ok, so the two things that Travis told me he wanted for Christmas months ago were an $800 camera and a motorcycle. Well it just so turns out that I GOT that camera (for a great deal right after Thanksgiving during the holiday sales) when I was in Kentucky back in November. He was in AL then, and I called and told him that I bought a wooden dollhouse for Sage for $250. What's funny is that she already has a dollhouse, and he was like, "She has one though. Why in the world did you spend that much money?" Because I had already spent a lot of money on her. I was like, "Oh this one is so intricate, and she'll be able to keep it forever." I wrapped it there and actually had him hide "the dollhouse" when I got home. He even asked me a few questions about it during the following weeks like, "So that's a dollhouse in there?" I totally went with it. I can tell some of the best lies when it's for a surprise. ;) So today I had it set back and I told him, "I want Sage to open this last because I want her to have that 'one last thing.'" I had many other things for him as well: clothes, lots of pampered chef goodies, a movie, that remote...and then I said, "Sage, here's one more." She ripped it open and he just gasped. Then he was kind of confused, followed by nervous laughter, followed by ripping the box open because he was so excited. Thank you, I'm accepting my wife of the year award next week. :)

To You and Your's

A MERRY CHRISTMAS from our's! :) The cameras-photo and video-are charged with full tape and memory cards and ready to go. Sage is literally giddy about the next two days. She just put her hands over her face when I told her all that's going to take place. I'll post pics and have stories, I'm sure. Oh, and the vet called today and said that Chanel is doing great and will possibly get to come home in the morning. So, until then: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Boo

Chanel was readmitted back into the vet tonight. She came home on Monday evening and peed, but ever since then, she hasn't gone again. I knew all of the medicine she was on and the trauma she'd gone through would make her lose her appetite, but the fact that she wasn't peeing wasn't good. I actually hate that I waited as long as I did, but I was sure she'd go last night after all of the water and ice she ate/drank. Nope.

They also told us if we smelled ANYTHING to bring her in. I smelled something today, and so did Travis. It wasn't anything we did wrong, but the way it was wrapped....you know what...I just don't know. It was really, really infected though. They said they wouldn't charge us like normal; they just want to get her well. They're going to keep her through the weekend, change the kind of bandage, which will have to be rewrapped by them every 3 days....sigh.......I just don't know. I didn't think this would be a very big deal: she broke her leg, they fixed it, we do what they say, and she heals....I don't know anymore.

Chanelie's Home

Chanel came home from the hospital this evening after being there since Saturday. It was an EXTREMELY long weekend. It's honestly a miracle she's alive. To make a long story short, she got out of her collar at Petsmart and ran out of their open doors. The fact that it was so easy for her to get out of a place that welcomes animals makes them accountable somewhat, in my opinion.

She ran back/forth across the highway before jumping from a 30 foot high bridge down into a ravine. It was a terrible weekend. Thank God for the people that stopped to help Travis--none of them being employees from Petsmart, btw. They all climbed down into the rocks to help carry her out and take her to the hospital. Travis said she had blood all over her face and that her leg was definitely broken. She threw up blood in his truck.

She ripped the ligaments in that leg, and right now it's crucial that she moves as little as possible. Her liver is also bruised, her back was twisted, and she has stitches in her back leg. All of those things will heal, they said, but they did surgery on the break by adding a pin. She has to remain in our half bathroom for 2 weeks moving only to use the bathroom outside. She has a full cast covering her entire leg and foot, which is really pitiful to see her try and walk. She is glad to be home though, and we're glad she's here. Now just PRAY petsmart pays!!!

In other news, Sage is really excited about Christmas. She's ready to make a pink birthday cake for Jesus. And even though she's refused to speak with him, she is sure Santa knows what she wanted. We shall see. :) Below are just some random pics taken today that I thought were fun.


Milk Mustache
Look at that pitiful girl.
And then there's him.
He's alright for a white dog.

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like...

the annual Dean & Company Christmas special. I have the privilege of sharing them with you from my favorite morning radio show, Rick and Bubba. It is priceless.

In Mourning

He always thinks Chanel is just right outside, and he can't stand the thought of not being out there too.

The one I like

I'm not sure if I want to go into detail of this whole story or not. Chanel is hurt. Really hurt. It's a horrendous story that pushed me over the edge on Saturday. And the girl that laughed about it was what made me explode and cuss her out. (Sidenote: She apologized because she had no idea, and I am not mad at anyone.)

I have never claimed to be "dog lover of the year," but I do love them, and I'd never EVER wish them harm. The dogs are a part of our family now and aside from driving me nuts at times (daily), they are sweet--especially Chanel. She is my favorite. Anyway, I don't equate dogs with humans, but I believe God loves animals because He made them for our enjoyment. Anyway, we need a miracle. We need a corporation, Petsmart, which I believe bears responsibility in this to come through for us financially. I didn't want to have Chanel put to sleep because she's not even 2 years old. I just couldn't do it.

We're not through this yet, and so far we're looking at over 2 grand. It's not what I needed or wanted, but I've called Petsmart and when our bill is through, they are going to fax it to corporate office. Please PLEASE pray that they pay for it. I don't need another bill. And pray, of course, that Chanel is all right and better than ever. We love her. Sage always introduces herself as "Chanel." Oh, and pray for Mayer. He's so depressed without her. It's sad.

On a positive note

I've lost 10 pounds.
And Christmas is one week from tomorrow.
That makes me happy.

Rudolph

Sage knows Rudolph completely, but this time she kept going back to the beginning. It was like the song would never end. She obviously wanted no help from me though.

Santa Claus is Coming

After having my camera for two years now, we finally realized that it does indeed record videos...haha. So very appropriately for Christmas, here is the BEST version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" that you will EVER hear. Ignore the crackle of her Popsicle wrapper, but notice how she says "nonni (my mom) or right" instead of "naughty or nice."

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I have really long hair, and it can get messy looking fairly quickly. SO, if I'm going somewhere and Travis hugs me, a lot of times I say, "Please don't mess up my hair." Apparently, I say that more than I realize.

Last night, Sage was putting up a fight to go to sleep, and Travis went in her room one more time. When he came back he was laughing. He said, "She is JUST like you." He had gone in to give her a kiss on the forehead, and when he did, she said, "OHHH!!! You messed up my HAIRCUT!"

Holidays through Pictures

We just got back from Kentucky yesterday afternoon, and I have a LOT of highlights from our trip. Because I can't come back for Christmas, we have to do Thanksgiving and Christmas in two weeks. We had a great time though, and it's always bittersweet to come and go. Enjoy the album. :)

First trip to Build-A-Bear because she loooovvvvees Rudolph...well Clarice is her favorite. She's giving her a bath!
What I THOUGHT would be a tradition, making gingerbread houses, but...not so much. THAT is my work below there. I'll be making wedding cakes soon.
But it was worth it. Look at that face.
Thanksgiving!
Silly girl.
Sweet bebe girl
Cooking wears you out...or so I heard. :) I just love this picture.
This is the first year that she didn't pull my mom's tree over.
Opening presents.
She loves candy canes.
Mom's necklace that Chrissie made. She loved it.
I love the light of the Christmas tree.
Haha. Taken by my artsy husband. I don't know what that face is.

She gave papa a tin of popcorn, which she was more than happy to help eat.
A cash register! Now she can "pay for it."
Christmas is going to be so fun this year.