You know sometimes I come to my journal and have nothing to write or it’s all too negative or personal. I thought about writing what I do each day and how things are but then what would I say…. “Went to work today, cut, copy, pasted and programmed another WBT, came home, crashed, ate Eric’s wonderful food , watched TV and went to bed.” Not too exciting. So I don’t know what type of frequency I’ll be writing.

I’ve been super stressed at work lately and taking it out on Eric, Josh and myself. I’ve been working like a dog on this project for work. I’m working with another person in Arizona and we’re making something like 12 Web courses, 128 simulations, 100 job aids and let’s not forget the 200 page users guide. I’ve been doing most of it exception the simulations because I don’t have the program to change them. So that’s my life right now. Not fun!

With the stress I’ve been trying to read more, scrapbook and things that keep the stress at bay. It’s working pretty well. Now I’m worried about Eric. He’s got high blood pressure and needs to do something about it so it’s going to be a change in diet and more exercise.

I’m going to Seattle in a couple of weeks to take care of my cousins kids while they go to Arizona. I think it should be a lot of fun. It will be some work but I’m looking forward to it.

Well.. got to go back to work…..

Today is Christmas! It’s sort of a funny day because it feels like Christmas but then it doesn’t too. Maybe it’s the lack of snow on the ground. I’m not sure. Eric and I and the rest of the family got up at a reasonable hour. Mom and Josh made it at about 9:30 and we had breakfast. Gosh I was hungry by the time they got here. Later in the morning mom and I drove to Yakima and picked up grandma for the holidays. It still feels different going to her apartment only because it’s anew place that she lives. It was comforting though to see all the same Christmas decorations up on the wall in her apartment. I couldn’t help thinking at the time how some things can make you feel at home. My grandma has lived in Sunnyside, moved to Kirkland, moved back to Yakima, lived in two different houses in Yakima and now she’s in an apartment and yet wherever she is feels like grandma’s house because of the pictures on the walls and decorations and things. I love my grandma. She’s been through so much in her life and has so much more to do. It was so nice that she could come to Ellensburg and share in the holiday. Yet again, I got to have the holidays with both families.

Once we got back to Ellensburg is was presents time. Funny how when I was younger I couldn’t wait to open present and now I have the ability to wait. We all sat around the tree while Julie played the elf and passed out gifts to everyone. It’s great to see all the gifts people got.

Today we headed to Othello for part of the holiday. I hate the drive to Othello, there’s nothing there to look at. This time we took the roads to the Tri-cities and went from there which makes it all the more painful since there’s really not a thing to look at besides the occasional town and the rolling fields of nothingness. We ended up not getting out-of-town until WAY after noon because “the boys” were up late the night before watching a Sonics game, playing videos and just general hanging out. I think we got out-of-town around 1 or so after a stop to Coffee People for a pumpkin creme latte. We got to mom’s about 5 ish which wasn’t so bad.

I am SO excited. Today is the last day of work before Christmas vacation. I’m SO looking forward to it all. I’m excited to visit family and just be away from here, read some good books and just recharge. We leave tomorrow for eastern Washington and Othello. We’re going there until Tuesday, most likely and then off to Ellensburg for the rest of vacation. I can’t wait. I love Christmas Eve in Ellensburg with Eric’s family. We play games, eat lots of food and do puzzles. It’s so nice. It’s going to be even nicer this time because my mom and brother will be there too. It’s always the best of both worlds when we can blend family activities.

Last night Greg, Eric’s brother, and Miles, Eric’s nephew, came over while Hollie got some much needed rest. It was so nice to have them over. Miles is too cute for words. I’m so glad they live so close. Last night was so funny because Miles would run around the love seat and coffee table chasing Baylee and having a great time. At one point Josh came down stairs and Miles thought it was pretty cool to see someone new. He called Josh “doss”. It’s so cute. Then, when Josh started to go upstairs I told Miles to go get him and he ran after Josh and stopped him at the stairs. They both sat and Miles talked to Josh about what, I don’t know but he talked so fast and about every twelfth word was one I recognized. Then Miles came back down the stairs and hung out for a while. Later in the night Josh went outside to talk to friends. Miles went up the stairs far enough to sit in the window sill. He could see Josh and would knock on the window and say “doss”.. “doss” and Josh would look at him. Eventually Miles would be more forcefully and sound more like a command for Josh. It was so cute… Then upon feeling defeated that Josh was busy Miles gave up and we went back in the living room where the boys watched TV, Miles played with trucks and Baylee sat eating her raw hide.

Later Hollie made it down and was able to visit for a few minutes. It was great to see her. I’m guessing she’ll be glad when she had Elizabeth…Unfortunately we didn’t get much of a visit in with Hollie because Miles was so tired and it was close to his bed time they had to go. I think the real indication was when he tried to sleep on the cat post and then moved to being sprawled out on top of the coffee table with a pillow conveniently provided by his uncle Eric.

Thanksgiving this year was out in Corbett again at Eric’s aunt and uncles’. It was another great year. My mom came down, Josh was already here, Bob and Julie came down as did Jim and we had another combined Titus, Crosier Thanksgiving. It was so nice. We had the traditional turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. Kathy made the corn pudding this year using another recipe. It was AWESOME! It was really nice to visit with everyone and relax. I wish Kathy would have come out and relaxed with the rest of us but she’s the Thanksgiving guru when it comes to cooking. She did a great job!
Here’s to another great year with family.

Here’s a few pictures of everyone. (I’m trying the embedding pictures in here thing)

The other side of the table

Here’s a great picture of Julie and Miles watching cars go by.