Maybe I'll Just Stay on the Porch

Yeah, you know what they say; If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. That was totally us last night! We were invited to a get-together with Bart's work buddies for New Year's Eve. I was the designated driver so I only had one daiquiri when we first arrived, then it was Sprite from that point. Everyone else on the other hand.... well, yeah we'll just leave them alone! We had some much needed time away from the kids (shout out to Mom for that part!) and had lots of laughs. This old couple also learned that after laying low for so long you just can't keep up with the young'ens any more. But we had fun and I met some new people (crazy people, but still people!)

So do you have any New Year's Resolutions? I have some "goals" I would like to work towards.

1. Be healthy. I'm not saying diet, because I am perfectly comfortable in my skin. I don't care that i have to get my clothes from the plus section or that I often have a "muffin top." HAHA! I just want to make sure I am healthy enough to be around for my kids in the future. How can I preach it to my kids when after they go to bed I pull out the goodies; right?

2. Mean what I say and say what I mean. And this applies to many areas of life. I don't need to worry about what others will say or think of me, so I'm gonna let it all roll! And also with the kids; this falls under the "follow through" category. If I say I'm going to take something away then I need to do it. My kids get away with far too much.

3.Keep a cleaner and more organized house. That's hard with this many people. But once I get the organization thing into place then it will all work out for the best.



This year I am looking forward to living a normal life. For example, we will all have the same last name, I will no longer have to say "foster" in front of son or daughter when I am talking to doctors, etc., and I will no longer have to explain myself or my way of doing things to others. We won't have to get a court order just to take the kids on vacation. I have lived under the microscope for five years and love every bit of it, ok almost every bit of it. But I am looking forward to not having to pay visits to the DCS office, or fielding phone calls or waiting for those almost always notoriously late case managers to come by. I won't have monthly paperwork to fill out and send to Indy (just to get it sent back b/c I dated it wrong.) I can remove my attorney, state police and emergency pager from my speed dial. I just may feed my kids Spaghettios for dinner and allow my babies to play outside in nothing but a diaper, and I just might let my kids stay home from school for the hell of it! Ahh, I'm feeling some real adventure here, such a rule breaker! LOL

So, good bye 2010. We had some nice times together. I didn't have to attend a funeral, got to celebrate the birthdays of all my kids and made it through another successful year of marriage.

And hello to 2011. I can't ask for a better year, but please don't take away the goodness, either!