It's a New Year!

I have been such a crummy blogger this past year!  So much happening in my life!

First and foremost we got another member of the family.  Nicola (my niece) gave birth to her second son Liam Edward Frank in August!  YEAH!!! He is the most precious baby...and already looks wise beyond his years.  You look into his eyes and you know that you are looking into the eyes of an old soul.  So calm and watchful.  He's actually mesmerizing to look at.  His big brother Jaxon is as happy as can be and never hesitates to run over and give his baby brother a kiss when he's a little fussy.  Poor Lulu has her hands(paws) full trying to keep out of the grasps of little hands when they come over to visit, but she manages.

Next big news...the manager at our clinic decided to leave us after 18 years of being on the job!  It was a big gutsy move for her, it`s a brave thing to do after such a long time at bing at one place, and we all loved her, but because of differences with certain people in the clinic she felt that the best thing for her to do was to move on.  The bigger news in relation to this is that her position was offered to me.  I have to admit, I was afraid to take the position when they offered me the job.  I knew that there were big shoes to fill, and because D had been there for soooo long there was an almost what I would call legacy in place there.  I just didn`t see that people would respect me the way they respected her.  It`s hard to explain and I don`t think that I am explaining it right even now.  Yet even after all my concerns,  the owner restructured the position after he asked me what my concerns were about the job, and he made it impossible for me to turn it down.  And I must say that after 2 weeks in my new office I don`t regret the decision I made to become manager of the clinic...the staff was wonderful with the transition, the doctors I work for are all relieved that it was me that took the position and not someone that was new and unfamiliar to them.  My boss said the the transition was seamless and that was due in part to how I handled everyone`s concerns.   Although I still feel like I`m missing something, or doing something wrong, because I am not as busy as I was before in my other position!  :)

We got ready for Christmas, that felt like it had to be rushed too, because we got a call from a friend of hubby`s on the 1st of December saying that he was coming to visit and spend the holidays with us from Hungary!!!  What??????!!!!!! And he was arriving on the 15th!  So basically it was a mad dash to the finish.  Not only did I have to decorate the house for christmas and think about menus and get together's and just the usual company that Xmas brings....but now I had a live in guest coming as well.  So that just added more stress and more work...because you know how that is...when you have a guest coming to spend some time with you, you do that extra cleaning that you have to do...the things that you neglect on a day to day basis because it can be done another time.  So THAT all had to be done too.  I had dresser drawers and closet space to clear out for him, and plus it was like a lost a storage space!  Because the spare room where he is staying is also the room where I put all the things that I "put away" for when I have to put my Christmas things out.  So everything had to go downstairs.  I had to go and buy storage rubbermaid bins just to put that stuff in!  LOL  Let me tell you I was losing my mind!  And all this on top of the stress that I was putting myself thru with my job as well  ARGH!!!!!

But in the end it's all good, all great! Accept that my mom does not like this man that is staying with us.  So I feel like I am caught in the middle of this little war between being on my Mom's side and being on my husband's side.  There is definitely a personality clash between the two of them....and neither one of them will let it go!  I can hardly wait until he leaves quite frankly.  Not because he's a bad person, but because the tension in the house is sooooo thick...and I hate to see my Mom upset all the time.  ARGH!!!  Mind you, she does have a tendency to over-react to things...and this I think is the case the majority of the time!  but you know what...she's 78 years old..and set in her ways.  Therefore, we have to be a little understanding of that too.   Anyway, he is leaving on the 4th for Argentina and then coming back for 4 days in February before he heads back home.  I just hope our little family can survive it.

Stitching??  Oh yeah!  I remember that!!!  I used to do that a long time ago!  LOL

Well I didn't get my Prairie Schooler 12 days of Christmas finished!  boo hooo.  I got 8 of them finished and 1/2 of the 9th.  And when I say finished I mean I just finished the cross stitching on it.  Not the actually finishing them into an ornament.  So they will be up on next year's tree :)  that's ok  :)   The two that I did finish though are the ones I finished for the boys.  They turned out sooooo great!  I almost didn't want to give them away.  I was thinking that maybe I can put them on my tree and then they can just see them every year!  LOL  but I was a good Great Auntie and gave them to them.  ARGH!  LOL  but look at them!!!  Aren't they adorable?????

So that's it.  I'm sure I left out a whole bunch of stuff! But I'll fill in the blanks as they come.
 
I signed up again this year with Daffycat's TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long)  Follow the link/icon on my sidebar to find out more about it and join us!  Perhaps this year I will post every month.  As I told Sharon...even if it's an empty jar I'll be posting that picture on time!