Contestant #1: Christmas.
We had a very nice Christmas this year. Since I lost my job in May (and didn't want to sign up for unemployment benefits), money was tight, but we still had fun. Hattie is now old enough to enjoy all of the festivities, especially opening presents. She loves to wear Lori's shoes all over the house, so we decided it was time to get her some princess shoes. The problem is, we got her four pair which is about three pair too many. Lori made her a little bag to carry them all around in. She takes them all room to room with her throughout the day. I think one pair would have been fine.
Contestant #2: Business Decision 2010.
As most of you know, Lori and I have been trying to buy a business. I started looking for one at the beginning of 2009 and we have been working toward a purchase ever since then. We are only a week or so away from a "yes" or "no" decision (how many times have I said that?). I'm still going to withhold where and what until we know for sure. Ultimately it would involve us leaving Hurricane and moving to the middle of nowhere to run the business.
Contestant #3: How to keep your insanity.
This is a question; not an instructable. How do you keep your sanity? Since we have effectively been "on hold" since May, we have all started showing symptoms of stir-craziness. All frivolous spending has been curbed and vacations turn into staycations. I (Kevin) have been Mr. Mommy while Lori has been at work. Since the Christmas and New Year holiday, Lori has had some time off and we have been able to spend a lot of time together as a family. It's been great, but I haven't been comfortable driving long distances with the current state of our only car, so we spend a lot of time at home, staring at each other, not spending money.
What do you do to keep your insanity?
Contestant #4: Hobbies.
If the business deal goes through, we will be moving and assuming a completely different lifestyle, mostly because the business is in the middle of nowhere, 2 hours from the nearest Home Depot and Wal-Mart and about 5 hours away from the nearest Costco. "Remote" is a good descriptor. We would have a LOT of free time on our hands. Most of the hobbies I have usually involve large amounts of money. I'm trying to come up with a list of things I can do that don't necessarily involve large outlays of cash and can be fun. Suggestions?
Contestant #5: Hattie.
Her personality is showing itself more every day. She is so dang cute. She really likes Tinkerbell and watches the movie every day, sometimes twice. She has a little portable DVD player and watches it on that. Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Madagascar are some other movies she likes to watch. Her vocabulary is getting to the point where understanding what she wants is pretty easy now. She still signs with Mom and her cousins. She is a smarty-pants.
Hopefully 2010 will pan out to be a not-so-dramatic year. If the business purchase goes through, we should be in a much better spot financially and, more importantly, mentally.
I hope you all have a great start to the year!
By the way, the winner of the "Catch Up on Murset Information Time Pageant" is Contestant #5: Hattie. Duh.
Hattie as a Jedi Knight Shepherd for the Christmas Eve Nativity tradition.
The pile of dress up shoes Hattie so loves.
Self explanatory.
Why is she wearing snow boots and no clothes? I have no idea.
Helping Mom with the laundry. She dresses herself, you know.
These photos were not color corrected or anything like that. If you care, too bad.
8 comments:
Huh. Well, if I were you, I'd take up reading as a hobby. Assuming your "remote" location has a library, you might actually be able to keep that one up for a while. Or just bring a bunch of coloring books. Ha ha!
I think you'll actually have a lot of home improvement projects to keep you busy. You'll just need a dumptruck to cart all your supplies from Home Depot all at once.
wow, remote! Are you by any chance moving near Odessa, WA?? LOL!
Sounds like an interesting year. Thanks for the update. It is nice to hear how you guys are doing. Hattie is just beautiful :)
Funny, I was going to vote for Hattie before I even read that she was the winner.
As for #3 and #4, I suggest gardening, (and then blogging about it, of course) and cooking, (and then blogging about it) because then you can grow food and make it taste good, and become internet superstar millionaires from your popular blog. And you Mursets are all good at photography, so that's a plus. And Lori will have to be quilting (and blogging about it). Mostly the blogging is just so I can still know what you guys are up to if you move to the middle of blinking nowhere.
Good luck with the change. I hope that it all works out great for you!!
Is the audience allowed to vote.
I'd choose Hattie, if my vote counts.
Hattie for sure would have to be the winner--hands down! I have the pleasure of watching her adorable little personality every week in nursery and I LOVE IT! She is sooo cute!
The love of shoes all makes sense now. Whenever any other kid loses a shoe in nursery, they remove their shoes and continue playing. Hattie will generally carry it around with her, or ask for help to put it on. I was surprised on Sunday when Lori came and Hattie was missing a shoe. That has never happened before!
As for free things to take up time, I agree with Jen. Gardening, cooking, and quilting...and make sure to blog about it too!
Go badgers. That's all you will need to learn. You are really close to lots and lots of out door activities. Some great hiking and camping and not to far from Lake Powell. Your remote location is known for there long distant runners:) It's beautiful country, maybe you could take up painting or photography... When are you actually going to know YES OR NO?
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