posting just to post...

I cannot believe I can't think of anything to write about. This will probably be random. I actually have a lot to say but it was all sounding so negative (I've written and erased a few times). Things are crazy at work with a real budget crisis and everyone trying to help fix the problem. Unfortunately, the ideas are pretty much dog-eat-dog solutions. It is all pretty depressing and I am only hoping that they will come up with a decent early-retirement offer so I can just get out before the real crisis hits.
Home life is kind of boring right now also. I work the early shift and Ray seems to work the late shift, we don't see too much of each other. The kids keep me busy since Amy's days off are her school days and she isn't around. Faith is great at doing homework but Cameron is a tough cookie. He knows his subjects well, but he has a real hard time staying focused enough to do homework. It can take up to 2 hours (and that's with him at the table, in my sight, with no TV on and nothing close by to distract him) and then when he does do the work, he is so sloppy. I love working with him on other things, like projects (since it is hands-on, he enjoys it) but homework is a struggle every night (and Amy doesn't get home until after 7:30 which is too late to help). I keep hoping it will get better but right now... Amy and Cameron have a meeting at school on Friday and I am hoping between the teacher and principal they can come up with some solutions to his "easily distracted" behaviors. He is also very inconsistent in tests scores. So, even though I love him to pieces, I also find him an added stress in my already stressed out day. Any suggestions? It helps having lots of family in the educational field, maybe you can help me work this out better.
I miss mom and dad also and wish I could visit more often. I am so used to having them here and making almost daily visits. And even though I know they are happy where they are I know they also miss having family close by and having regular visitors.

Well, I was right, this is random and, I apologize, a bit negative. But it's how I am feeling today and I had time to blog, so here it is.

random Christmas photos

I wish I could figure this out, how to post pictures the way I want them and add comments as wanted, but this is all I could do. Some random pictures from the family holiday party and then some of the cousin shots we took. I tried to add more but either I hit the limit or it just stopped letting me do what I wanted, so I will leave it at this.

Fun day in Santa Barbara

Thursday, Jan 1st, Amy, the kids and I drove to Lakewood to spend the night at Kathy's house. Actually, Kathy had Jessica's 3 kids there and invited Ella and Robert and Alisa to come over also, so there were 8 cousins in all, sleeping on air mattresses in her living room. Amy decided to join Ray and Brandie at their quiet home for the night and I stayed at Kathy's. We got up early and headed for Santa Barbara. We had decided to go visit the Natural Museum there because Cameron has a report to do on a California Indian tribe and chose the Chumash Indians who are from that area and this museum has an entire exhibit on the tribe. We were also able to visit the Santa Barbara Mission while there, which will be the next project Cameron will have (to build a model California mission). Both the museum (and surrounding grounds) and the mission were beautiful and worth the trip, but we also went to the SB Zoo and enjoyed that too. The drive to SB is nice and we all enjoyed the day. We went back to Ray and Brandie's and spent the night in the Middoughs' empty home (they drove kids back to AZ). Then Saturday we stopped by to see grandpa and grandma. Amy had not been to their new home and she loved it. We had a 2 hour visit and then had to head home. We got home early enough to catch up with housework and laundry and get ready for church and, unfortunately, back to school and work tomorrow.

the true Christmas spirit

I just want to share a special thing that happened to me this holiday. On Monday the 22nd I went shopping by myself and enjoyed it. But apparently I was a little more tired than I realized at the end of the day and did something pretty stupid. I stopped at a table just outside a store where they were doing gift wrapping. I decided to have one large item wrapped so I wouldn't have to sneak it in at home. The only thing I had in my hands at the time was the big box and a small box with a gift card from the store close by. Anyway, while waiting I decided it was going to take too long and I left. And, you guessed it, I left the little package on the table (it was in a small designer box). So, with the chaos at my house and even Christmas morning (ours was the 24th), I just thought I had misplaced the box or that it was still with the leftover gifts under the tree. But after searching for it all day, I finally figured out where it probably was. But of course, the next day was the actual holiday, so I couldn't call to ask about it (most of you know, my shopping trip was in Palm Desert , 100 miles away). So I really wasn't sure who to call to check on it since the gift wrap was some Palm Springs Musical Association or something like that. But I did call the store where I purchased it to report it lost and see if they could cancel it out or something (assuming it hadn't been spent yet) and to my surprise, they told me it had been turned in and they would hold it for me until I could come back in with my receipt to claim it. I was shocked but totally happy about that. I would like to think that it was turned in because someone was totally honest and not just because it was Christmastime, but either way I am glad and it does mean a lot to me. ( so Ric and Diona, the gift will be in the mail soon).

Mary or Martha?

I've done it again! As I tossed and turned in bed last night even though I was exhausted and had soaked in a hot tub, had a cup of hot chocolate and took 3 motrims, I could not fall asleep. My mind has trouble shutting off, especially if something is bothering me. So I went over everything I had done this last week (see previous post) to see what was still on my mind. And then it dawned on me. I was so obsessed with the party preparations and the food getting done (smoked a turkey for only the second time and forgot it would take so long) that I totally blew an opportunity which we may never have again...why didn't we take pictures of my mom and dad with their 4 out of 5 daughters (and spouses) or with 10 of their grandchildren with spouses or with 17 of their young great-grandchildren? Why? How could I have been so absorbed that I passed up that opportunity? I'm sure we got some pictures taken of the evening (I will post what Ray took, but not enough) but I don't have one picture of my parents with this large gathering of kids, grandkids and great grands and I will never have that opportunity back again. I actually hate the way I worry about the wrong things and don't remember the major details. And it was fun to play the "how well do you know your relatives" game, but again, an opportunity missed. I should have played some game with mom and dad supplying us with bits of information about their lives so that the younger generations could have learned more about them.
Oh well, I have beat myself up enough now, I better get back to something more worthwhile.

What a great week!

Well it has been a busy and crazy week but we loved it. Ric, Diona and girls got here on Wed. 12/17 in the evening. We had borrowed an RV as an extra sleeping space and that worked out well even though it was cold. On Friday, Ray, Brandie and kids came to town. Now the house was full but the cousins didn't seem to notice it. Of course Saturday was the family party. That was too awesome to have so many relatives together just to visit and enjoy each other's company. All those little kids are growing so fast! I was so glad to have mom and dad back in Blythe and so grateful that it all worked out for them to get the ride here and home again. Even though the party ended fairly early (for all the long travels home) we, the Boltons, stayed up late playing games. After church on Sunday, we played more games and ate leftovers all day. We had a fun gift exchange and then the Lakewood Boltons had to head home.
I got up early Monday because I had not done my Christmas shopping yet! So I went to Palm Desert by myself and spent 8 hours shopping. In the meantime, Ric's family and Amy with her kids headed for North Palm Springs to go on the Tram and go play in the snow for the day. But they didn't even make it there. It was too windy and foggy for the tram so they also spent the day shopping (at Cabazon outlet stores). Tuesday was our lazy day except for the gift wrapping. Wednesday morning was our Christmas and Santa did find his way to our house. Since Cameron and Faith got a WII, we spent the rest of the day bowling, playing golf and tennis and fishing. Oh, and lots of car racing. But there were many other nice gifts shared. Ray is now looking forward to a sunny day so he can try his hand at real golf with his new golf clubs from Ric and Diona and girls. His sons love the game so he is anxious to give it a try too.
Unfortunately, all good times have to come to an end and early Thursday morning we had to say goodbye to the Virginia Boltons. They made it home late Thurs. evening and I am sure they are all glad to be home and sleeping in their own beds. Ray and Amy had to work today so Ryan, the kids and I spent the day cleaning up and started the Christmas take-down.
I'm sure it will take a whole week to get it all down and put away and the house back together again. Now I am exhausted and ready for bed. Thanks to all of you for your cards, pictures and the holiday letters, I love to hear from all of you. I will be sending out a letter with pictures after the first of the year. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you all will have a happy and safe New Year. 2008 was great and 2009 should be just as fine!

fun and games

We are counting down the days until the holiday fun begins. Our Virginia grand daughters will be here in 2 days and we are ready for their visit. We hope the weather will stay nice. It looks like rain is in the near future but the days have been sunny and warm recently. The mornings and evenings have been cold (by Blythe standards, not cold like some of you have experienced) but we have still had our warm days up until 3 days ago. So we are hoping the warmer weather will return for their visit. I wish I could say that I am completely ready for Christmas but that would be too good to be true. As usual, I will probably be out shopping after school gets out and after our holiday party and maybe even up to the 23rd!

Just a quick note about a joke we pulled off. Linda was the mastermind behind it but I was a very willing participant. We got 7 families in the ward to sign up to feed the missionaries for 7 nights in a row and then we conspired to feed them the exact same menu each night. I was the 4th night and even though they commented about the food, I convinced them that it was a new recipe we had at a Relief Society meeting and everyone probably wanted to "try it out". We had a broccoli/chicken/cheese casserole, rice, green salad (with only ranch dressing), purple koolaid and punchbowl cake. The kool aid should have been a real give-away since we always serve milk and water (and offer rootbeer) but I was insistent that it was coincidental. But it was also a very good meal, so they didn't seem to mind too much. But after 7 days of eating broccoli.... well I hope they are doing okay. We did this a few years back, but you have to wait for the right elders to pull it off right and these two were real deserving :)