Where We Are

Couldn't let this year end without one more entry in our little family journal here...
So here is where we are at the end of 2008:

Dan left this morning to once again make the drive to SLC in his trusty little Geo Metro. Out of vacation days, he is working today, will come home tonight for New Years Eve, then go back to work in the morning and stay through Saturday night. Yes, this lifestyle continues to take it's toll on all of us. In today's world, though, we are thankful to have a job.

I am playing mean mom today, making everybody work to catch up on all those boring old household chores that we have been putting off for a week now. I keep sneaking off to read a few pages in this book I started yesterday that I can't put down, but it isn't as fun to read in five-minute snatches.

Mitch slept til noon, then got up to go meet with a friend. He is back home now, hooked into his playstation, putting off vaccuuming the stairs like I asked him to. He is good at putting things off these days. Maybe next year will change that trend.

Alisa applied for a passport today. Her big Europe trip is coming on quickly. She also went to the gym, ran 3 miles, and is fretting about her plans for tonight. They were all set to go to Salt Lake until somebody's mom squashed that idea by saying NO. Goodie for me! I don't have to wait up and worry, AND I don't have to be the bad guy this time.

Duncan is milling around waiting to get back on the computer. He tried to get out of chores this morning by telling me it wasn't fair that the cats got more free time than he did. He also seems to have had a small breakthrough yesterday. We have had this little problem going on with him and Will, where Will thinks he can boss Duncan around and make Duncan do all the dirty work, and fetch things for him. Duncan, being Duncan, wouldn't complain, and would just do whatever Will asked of him, and Will would sometimes be pretty mean to him. So yesterday, Will hollered at Duncan to go get something from downstairs for him, and I heard Duncan say, very calmly and patiently, "Will, now that is a demand. Remember, I am not going to respond to your demands anymore?" It was pretty hysterical.

Will is off on a trek to the corner store with a friend to spend the Christmas money he got from Grandma and Grandpa yesterday. Going places unchaperoned is his new hobby. As we were driving through downtown Logan last night, returning from Cedar Fort, Will said,"I love Logan. It's so warm and cuddly." And the thing is, he is right. It is cuddly. That's why we love living here.

Audrey and her new DS have gone to Grandma's house. She has a coupon for a free Golden Corral meal that she earned from school that she has been waiting all Christmas Break to use. So tomorrow is the day- my first date of the new year will be with Audrey at Golden Corral. She is such a sweetheart these days-I hope that lasts through 2009!

Olivia is alternating between being impossible and adorable. She has been crying to wear her hampster dress, but nobody knows what the heck she is talking about, so she finally settled for the good old Sleeping Beauty standby. Lately though, she has been pretty attached to her Diamond Castle dress, which matches her Diamond Castle barbie, and which she wears while watching her Diamond Castle video. Can you say overkill?

I feel like I should end with something profound about resolutions or thankfulness or something, but I am not just not feeling the nostalgia. Anyhow, the time police have tacked on an extra second to 2008, so I guess I can think about it for a little bit longer.

And in the words of baby Mitch, from 1990, "HAPPY NUR!"