Goodbye 2009

Dear 2009,

My original letter to you was over two pages long. You have been a very busy year and I wanted to journal every experience that I could remember. Then my mommy mush brain came back and I deleted the entry without saving it. That pretty much sums up my mind for the whole year.

I can’t re-do the entry…I just don’t have it in me but here is a quick list:
· Molly got her first haircut
· Started crawling
· Started swim lessons
· Started crawling at one year old
· Had our first birthday
· Started walking
· Started running
· Took a trip to San Francisco, CA
· Spend the summer swimming
· Went to Sea World
· Went to see the Wiggles
· Went to the Austin Zoo
· Went to Belize
· Celebrated Halloween as candy corn
· First carnival and rides
· Went to Tucson, AZ
· Celebrated Christmas

2009 you have been very good to me. It is easy to count my blessings this past year and can’t wait to see was 2010 has in store for me. So, my warning to 2010……..be ready, Molly has lots of energy and we have lots of things to see and to explore.

Tucson, AZ

Halloween, October 2009

Caracol Ruins, Belize 2009

Christmas

In all honesty, this was probably the best Christmas I have had in awhile. 10 members of Raymond's family came down and I have a pretty small house. It was cramped but we managed. The day was just spent eating and playing with toys it could not have gone any better.

The bad thing is...I was so busy with everything else that I only took two or three pictures! So I am just going to share random December pictures.

Playing in the leaves, yes in December!

First lick of the beater from Christmas cookies.

At the park, waiting for dark to look at Christmas lights.

All bundles up, looking at Christmas lights!

Cutting a Rug

Who taught her this?

Gawd she cracks me up!

First Christmas Present

I opened this by accident....but a box came for Molly so I opened it. The present wasn't wrapped inside but the outfit was so cute we had to wear it the next day.

Thank you Grandma Melissa!

Meet the Parents

I have learned a few things from my dad growing up:

1. Never sell you car to family or friends.

2. Never loan family or friends money. Know it will be a gift and you will never see it again.

3. Guests are like fish, they stink after three days.

We flew into Tucson on Friday afternoon and left Monday morning. Just enough time for them to see Molly, love her, spoil her and leave before it got ugly.

I am not going to revisit the flying or traveling details because it was bad very, very bad. I will just give you a few hints and you can fill in the rest. Planes were missed, words were said, then no talking, planes were delayed and lots of tears...both ways.

The trip itself was good. My father lives in a retirement town, everyone has to be over age 55 to live there and you have to own a golf cart. The city appears to fit my dad quite well, it is a very sociable town and lots to keep him out of trouble. They go to the pool every day and follow it up with happy hour! They even have a cruise planned out in February. This is really my kind of town and I either have to wait until I am 55 to move in or marry someone who is already 55.

The first day we went to a little pot luck dinner with everyone from the home owner association. The next day we went to a little town called Tubuk, which really consisted of a lot of art and shopping. Nice to just walk around, I bought a fabulous glass ring and a skirt for Molly. On the third day we went to Tombstone, because this is something all tourist must do!

It was actually quite fun but got so windy that we left to go to a local mission (totally forgot the name) but it appears that it was built so the Catholics could spread the good word and convert the Native Americans, so pushy those Catholics. Besides being very pretty it was also quite comedic. Inside the museum part it had a little blurb about why the mission was set up etc., etc. "...then much to the surprise of the Native Americans they found out the land they had lived on for centuries belong to someone else..." HA!

They also had the best garage sales, ever! I got a bowl full of costume jewelry for my girl for a couple of dollars. For the short amount of time we were there, I think we did about as much as one can do with a toddler. There were also lots of lessons learned such as: 1. Don't travel by plane in December and 2. When you see a cheap flight somewhere it is not going to get cheaper the longer you wait.

Meet Apollo

Look what we got............................

I am hoping that it is not a mistake because so far...it feels like a mistake. My neighbor, who is a nurse that goes to people's homes, called and said that he had a patient that could no longer care for a 2 Year Old, Jack Russell Terrier.

Raymond has been wanting a dog, I did not want a dog but I thought this was an opportunity because number one, he was free, he is the right size and he is house broken. So we thought we would try it and if it didn't work it should not be too hard to find him a home.

When I got home I took one look and said, "let's go to the vet". His skin was so bad (it was black, blistery and raw) and the dog was always scratching. We found a vet that would see us in 15 minutes, so off we were.

$215.00 later.........the dog had massive flea infestation, allergies, tape worm and some bacterial infection. Add on another $100.00 for food and accessories, $25.00 for flea medicine for the cats, $75.00 to neuter him and this free dog was not so free.

So cross your fingers for us that we all mesh into one big happy family and that Molly will stop bitch slapping him.

Favorite Meal

Dinner was so good tonight, that in the middle of eating, Molly reached out for a kiss. She doesn't even really eat much for dinner but tonight she darn near ate that whole plate of spaghetti.

Kitty Hat

Isn't this the cutest! I got it off a street vendor when we were in San Francisco last May. She really doesn't want to wear any hat but squealed, "kitty" when I brought the hat out. I have to put it on and then distract her quickly before she takes it off.

We have not been feeling good for the last couple of days but I thought we should go out for a few minutes of fresh air. The problem is, she is not satisfied with a few minutes and really does prefer to be outside and could probably stay outside all day. Just give her, her used car and chalk and she is fine.