first monday of a new year

How is that for a lame title? I wrote Mr. Benjamin a letter this morning, stamped and adressed it and got in the mailbox via Sonja, who had to go out to get on the bus anyway. I need more stamps, it is on my to-do list to get two packages, one for me and one to send to Ben.

He has to do push-ups everytime he gets a letter, so it makes me feel like the letter has to be worth the effort.

Benjamin gained 12 pounds over vacation. He has always been extremely thin, he now looks healthy and handsome.

I feel like I always do when I send a child to kindgergarten...I hope they realize how special this boy is.

Cold and chilly and freezing and icy and slippery and snowy....and it is only the beginning of January. This winter has been long already. We still have our snow, it has been here since the beginning of December. After driving across the whole state yesterday, and seeing fields of green, I realize that we are an exception even around here. South of us has lost snow, north of us didn't have as much....we have a few bare patches, but mostly snow and still those snowbanks. Yesterday when we got home I felt like we arrived back at winter.

Charlotte Claire is up, playing with her princess dolls with Jonathan's two LittleTikes tractor trailers which he inherited from Benjamin. Why the dolls would drive trucks like that in their ball dresses is beyond me, but to her it makes perfect sense. They do have a few RescueHeroes to protect them, riding on the roof.

Suzanne is home today. She was taking her temperature at bedtime last night, and I just thought, :oh here it comes, school is starting and the thermometer, which we haven't seen for the whole vacation, appears again. Imagine the guilt I experienced a few short minutes later when she ran to the bathroom and barfed up all her roast beef dinner.....she was totally white, and shaky....she said her tummy hurt badly....so she is home today.

And as horrible as is sounds, I would rather her be such a good faker she can throw-up to be convincing than this be a REAL bug, that travels through them all....

So has anyone kept any New Year's resolutions still? I keep forgetting about the Eating Right one. I remember when I get in bed at night, but during the day, I forget. I have been doing pretty well, actually, except for when I talked to my sister on the phone the other day and ate the whole bag of Dove Chocolate covered almonds....it IS only a four ounce bag, but for some reason that still adds up to way too many calories. But almonds ARE good for you, lots of protein.

My excercise one - not yet. I did take Rosie down the road farther than usual on Saturday, but all that did was make her want to go farther every morning. Today is so cold, and she thought it was fine out there....brr.

My Spending Less has worked so far. I went to the small grocery store on Saturday, and spent just thirty bucks, and got two movies from Redbox, which are only a dollar each...if one returns them the next day, and oops. I will try to get them back today.

I would like to start taking the kids to the pool again, but it is so hard to do when the people who run the pool are such meanies. They make the kids wear the horrible foam squares-attatched-to-belts, which ride up and itch them and choke them and bug them, instead of the nice and fashionable floaties which I have aquired through careful 75% off shopping. rrr.

The house seems so empty with the tree gone and all the pretty and sparkly stuff put away. It makes me want to go shopping and buy stuff.

Today I shall work on laundry, since one of the kids wet the bed, it shouldn't be too hard to decide what to wash first. I also want to empty the hampers and sort things again. We have five hampers, all for certain colors, one for socks, and one for bedding. Well, my kids have inherited my organizational skills, so we end up having five hampers with all sorts of things mixed up together. But I will not give up so easily. I will dump all the hampers, sort the laundry again, pick up all the things that fall on the laundry room floor, and get it all back the way it should be. Maybe.

Suze is up, she doesn't feel well, she is all cuddled up in her new pink fleece blanky, she is pale and blah.

I could easily go back to bed and sleep for a few hours. But I can't, so I won't waste my time wishing and wanting. I shall get up from my comfy chair and get to work....