good year

Happy new year! It's been a roller coaster year for me. I started a new job in March which is always tough. I think I'm finally starting to settle in. I think the hardest part is dealing with all the new people, it reminds me of starting a new school when I was a kid (which I did many times). There's always a few bullies in the playground that try to make you miserable at first. I'm starting to like it though, there are a lot of great people there and I've learned a lot. There was one round of layoff right after I started, but thankfully I'm still working. I feel very fortunate.

The kids are getting so big too. Aubrey's 2 1/2 now and Xavier is 5 1/2. We decided to home school Xavier this year because we didn't like the school by our house and the school we're trying to get him into has a long waiting list (hopefully next year he'll get in). But I think he's doing pretty good with home schooling. He seems to do well with math and puzzles. He still manages to make a lot of friends too and we've got him involved with some activities at the YMCA. Aubrey's turning into a stubborn 2 year old (big surprise, both of her parents are stubborn as hell). She is an excellent conversationalist and talks to everyone. Everyone always comments on how well she speaks for her age, and she's getting so dang cute. She always seems to cheer me up when I'm crabby.

Anna's been staying at home with the kids and she has been making sure Xavier has been doing plenty of school work. I feel very fortunate that the kids are able to be raised by their mother instead of sitting in daycare all day, especially in today's economy. I'm sure she'll start working one of these days, but there is no rush. Maybe after Aubrey starts kindergarten. (eventually we'll have to pay back those student loans.)

We've also done a lot of work on the house and it's finally starting to feel like our home. We still have to remodel the kitchen one of these days. Our plan after that is to hopefully turn this house into a rental and move out to the country (if things go as planned)



Overall it's been a good year, thanks to all of our friends and family that have been there for us this year. Hopefully 2009 will be another good year! Happy holidays all!