Resolution, schmesolution

2010? Really?

Tap tap. Hello? Anyone there? I think this is my long lost blog...?

Okay, okay. Life has been a bit busy. Things like job and kids getting in the way of my blogging habit. annoying.

On the radio this morning they were chatting about New Year's resolutions... specifically resolutions for other people. i.e.... I resolve that my kids stop fighting... etc.

It got me thinking... I didn't resolve anything this year. I really don't have any New Year's resolutions. I'm good the way I am, really. heh heh. I did skip a few days of running because it's so flippin' cold out there (and windy... it's the wind that gets me), and I do feel guilty about that... but on the other hand it's good to take a break now and then.

A recap of what's been keeping me away from blogging? A whirlwhind fall/early winter....

1- the 13-year-old's high school applications are in, done. Entrance exams taken. done. Now we wait. And prayers won't hurt.

2- House is sold! yahoo! To people who LOVE our house, which gives me the warm fuzzy feeling in my heart which almost mitigates the low price we accepted. But then none of our houses is worth what they were a couple of years ago... and that's just the way it is. Suck it up.

3- More job responsibility- good in this economy, right? And stuff I enjoy doing...

So that's why I've been away.

There have been lots of bloggable moments throughout my last couple of months....most of which I've forgotten. I do remember saying to the 11-year-old just before thanksgiving: "gee, bud. You didn't give me your usual Christmas list in July, huh? Or did you give it to me and I've lost it?"

"Nah, he said," quite maturely, "I didn't do one this year. I decided to let you get me what you want." Then he gave it some deep thought; I could see the cogs turning. "Actually," he mused, "what I should do is give you a list of what NOT to give me."

I sputtered my coffee. "Excuse me?" I defended, "like what?"

"Like puzzles. You always give me puzzles and I'm just not into them anymore."

"I see," I said. "You shall get no puzzles this year, then." Coal, I thought. Lots of coal.

Most of all, what I want to say today, though, from the bottom of my heart, is...

I know there is a God because my two boys are back in school today.

There. I said it. And I'm not ashamed.

The environment in our household over Christmas break closely approximated the allied forces versus WWII Germany, the two boys literally screaming at, kicking, and punching each other. Okay, well, one of them did most of the screaming. I won't...11-year-old... mention any names. Somewhere, not so long ago, in my literature of parenting tutelage, I had read that parents should give their kids the opportunity to solve their own spats as long as it didn't get physical. Whoever wrote that particle of wisdom obviously didn't have boys. It always gets physical with boys.

Each day of vacation was the same. I enjoyed the peace and quiet in the household until around 10 am. Then, the boys got up. Inevitably, one would look at the other the wrong way, an offense punishable by lifelong hatred and disgust. Next, it would lead to blows, which led to mom's intervention. Mom's intervention consisted of sending both up to their rooms, notwithstanding the main offender or who was at fault, both of which are impossible to establish (as any fellow good parent knows).

I'm really proud of myself for waiting untiul 5 pm each day to start drinking.

Anyway, that is in my past now. The urchins are in school again, hopefully getting enough homework to last them until bedtime so that they are unable to interact with each other and have no free will whatsoever.

I do resolve to blog a bit more, publish more articles for Examiner.com, and call my grandmother more. Our household items, except for the everyday things, are mostly in sealed boxes throughout the house now, ready for our move toward the end of January. It's just a matter of time before I discover I need something from one of them.

At the end of January, we will be homeless for awhile, so I will have lots of blog material.

Happy New Year, friends.