Dear Pituitary Gland,

Hi there.

So. . . I know I'm generally oblivious to you and you go on, doing your thing, but . . . did you not get the memo last November 12? Because I think perhaps you are a little confused. I am now THIRTY-TWO years old, NOT fifteen.

So the smattering of tiny, mean, hurt-y pimples that you are authorizing to literally pop up out of nowhere across my face? Really (no, REALLY): unnecessary.

I already conquered that stage in life, honey. The whole polka-dot face thing just really doesn't go with the overall image I'm trying to project here.

There is no Clearasil in my medicine cabinet, no Oxy pads on my counter. I really just do not have the time or inclination to deal with . . . zits.

Hey, I'm sure this is just some fluke, some "whoops-a-daisy!" moment; I mean, who doesn't have those? But let's go ahead and fix it, shall we? Nix the pimples. I request demand that you cease and desist with the acne onslaught, pronto.

Hormonally yours,

Another Writers' Workshop topic brought to you by the lovely Ms. MamaKat

WW: Eighteen?

X loves numbers and letters. His favorite song is the ABC song and there are a couple of counting songs that the world stops for too. He can say the names of several numerals and letters, but lately, everything is eighteen. And when we try to correct him, he tells us, "No. Eighteen." And then it becomes a game. Where he argues and corrects us which each new card. Which is what we were doing when this picture was taken.

Man, I love that kid.

See what others are talking about over at Angie's Seven Clown Circus.

Musical Monday: Mamala

**brought to you by Jori and Diane**

January 25th marks my mom's 36th birthday . . . again.

*She's alive and well, just chooses to claim 36 as her age. Still.*

So I thought I would post a song that reminds me of my mama.

One of the things I remember about my mom as I was growing up, is that she collected music boxes. She didn't have bazillions of them, but she had, I don't know, 10 or 15. They were all special to her for one reason or another. Each had a story or memory attached to it.

Her music boxes are put away, somewhere hidden now. A few years back my parents did some renovations on the house, and a lot of stuff that was out before just never made it's way back into the new space. Not forgotten, really, just tucked away. And now with grandkids running in and out and all over the place, perhaps it's better that they stay hidden away, safe.

But music boxes will always and forever equal my mother.

She had a little mushroom with a red and white-spotted cap that wound like a jack-in-the-box to make it play; a little soldier boy that spun slowly as his little melody plinked itself out. I know for certain that I added to her collection when, during our infatuation with All Things Phantom, I bought her a box with the Phantom's mask on it that played "Music of the Night."

The box I remember and probably like the best of all, though, is a little silver one that stood on four tiny little scrolled feet. It had a key to wind the music on the bottom, and the sides and the hinged lid looked like they were carved, all scroll-y and pretty. The lid itself had a picture of two girls carved into it; one girl was sitting at a piano. It looked like they were singing together. The inside was lined in soft, sapphire-blue, and when you wound the key and opened the lid, you could see the mechanism of the music box, encased protectively and turning out this tune, twinkly music-box style:

**WARNING TMVM: CATCHY TUNE AHEAD**


I know there's a story to go along with this music box; I'm pretty sure my dad gave it to her, which makes it all the more precious to me.

I love my mom bunches. She is one of my best friends and still my biggest cheerleader. She has always been a great example to me of what a Mom should be.

I am a lucky girl, indeed.

Happy birthday, Mamala.

I love you.

* * *

Now it's YOUR turn!

What's movin' YOU this week?

Time to post a song, a video, lyrics, an album cover, whatever! that means something TO YOU and tell why.
As long as it's MUSICAL!

As always, have a fabulous Musical Monday!

WW: The Mysterious Rules of Boy Games

I had the opportunity to help out with Mitchell's Cub Scouts yesterday. It was a lot of fun, but I must admit the most interesting part for me was observing the boys before the meeting even began.

When boys are together, there are very specific, very real RULES that they play by.

There were three boys, including Mitch, who were there about ten minutes early. They immediately began playing soldiers, which morphed into Star Wars. With only their imaginations to arm and protect them, each of these boys became their Star Wars character, using The Force and their trusty lightsabers to defeat each other. What was so interesting to me is how they were literally kicking and punching at each other, and although they came thisclose many times, they never actually came into contact with each other! The unspoken, universally understood rules prevented it.

Also, if someone hit you with their lightsaber, you reacted by dying. Of course, you could get up in the next moment, but don't ignore the fact that you just got GOT. Those are the rules.

And the sound effects! Honestly, how is it that ALL boys can sound like a machine gun or a lightsaber? Xander can even do it! We ladies just sound like we're trying to spit something yucky out of our mouths. Jeff laughs hard at me anytime I try to embellish a story with a sound effect.

I had taken some video with my phone yesterday but the quality is so bad that I'm including pics from this last Christmas when the cousins got together and, being all boys, inevitably there was much swordplay and gun-fighting going on. The uncles even joined in! Most boys just never grow up.

See what others are saying over at Angie's Seven Clown Circus.

Another great contest! *ETA*

Holy prizes, Batman! If you want to enter (so easy! JUST comment!) a contest and be in the running for some SUPER-COOL prizes (handmade jewelery? beautiful bows? organizers? toys? music? YUP. ALL OF IT), head over to Mormon Mommy Blogs, stat!

**ETA: Here's another fab contest: check out Yummy Mummy

You're welcome.

Musical Monday: It's Nothin' 'Till I Give it to You

**brought to you by Jori and Diane**

I'm so excited! This is my inaugural post for Musical Monday (quite appropriate for this week, eh?), although my song has pretty much nothing to do with politics or the like. Thank goodness! I'm still reeling from the months leading up to the election.

Let's get to the Music!

The song I wanted to tell you about this week is this:



Making Love Outta Nothin' at All by Air Supply

Alright, alright, before you dismiss me completely for the unabashed cheesiness that is this song, let me explain.

I'm not going to say that I don't like this song, because I do. And the totally 80's baby! video only endears it to me more! But there is one line in particular that I loveLoveLOVE, and it starts at about 2:50 in the video:

"Everything I know, well it's nothin' 'till I give it to you!"

I have always felt that those words were so poignant, so true, eighties cheesiness and sappy lovey-doveyness aside.

When you love someone, be it a lover, a friend, a child, a family member . . . there are some things in your life, that, really, are meaningless until you can share it with That Person. And it can be devastating if your news isn't met with at least some fragment of interest.

I don't care who you are, you are not immune from this.

And this is so important to remember: are you someone's Person? Does it really matter to someone what you think?

Do you know??

Yesterday, Katerina found a Junie B. Jones book to read during quiet time that was about a wiggly tooth. Kat STILL has just one wiggly tooth, although in the last week, it has become considerably MORE wiggly. She is ecstatic at the prospect of finally losing a tooth. So when she found this book to read, she was all jumpy and giggly because she had found a book "written JUST FOR" her. After sharing her exciting news with me, she danced in to the family room, where Mitchell was already engrossed in a book of his own.

"Mitchell! . . . MITCHELL! . . . MITCHELL!!" bounced Katerina.

"WhAt??!" he {finally} screeched. And she proceeded to tell him of her lucky find, only for him to interrupt her and reply "I DON'T CARE!"

{insert motherly sigh from me}

I called Mitchell in to me and explained to him how important it was for him to NOT talk to his sister that way. Not just because we don't talk to each other that way in this family, but because she's his little sister. He's her big brother. The dude she would never admit to, but that she worships.

When something is important to her, I said, it doesn't have to be important to you, but she is important to you. She wants to share silly little things with you because they are important to her, and it is even more special to share it with one of her favorite people.

Mitchell, to his credit, got a little teary and felt badly that he had made light of Kat's excitement. He made amends and the night went on . . .

Maybe I should keep track or something, too, because I think that was the first decent Mommy Moment for me in awhile . . .

Anywhoo, now it's YOUR turn!

Time to post a song, a video, lyrics, an album cover, whatever! that means something TO YOU and tell why.

As long as it's MUSICAL!

Have a fabulous Musical Monday!

Where in Tarnation is Buck??

Alrighty, folks! Buck's adventure is in full-swing! You will NOT be sorry when you click on the links below to see what he's been up to! AND if you want to keep tags tabs on our friendly Buck-a-roo and spread the word about his ramblings, feel free to copy the button on the left sidebar and check back often!

Following is a list of Buck's intended hosts (if I missed someone, please let me know!! Buck would hate to miss his adventure with you!)

{Also, if you'd like Buck to visit you, it ain't too late! Just let me know and your name will be added to the docket!}

Emily at Our Family Wagon A big buck in a little town . . .

Mama Wheaton at The Unperfect Mom Ahhh, it's like he never left home!

Kelly at Carty Party of Three Partying at Mardi Gras! What a wild and crazy guy!

Debbie at Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch . . . It's official! He's a true "cow"buck!

NikkiCrumpet at Blah Blah Blah Blog Buck gets to know Ozzie and Crumpet

Jen at Buried With Children There was an accident . . . but don't worry, everything's okay . . .

Cara at The Land of Bean Buck is a deep thinker . . . who knew??

Pam at Country mouse, City mouse

Mitzi at Third Girl from the Right

La Pixie at Pixie Dusted

WishTrish at The Kobialka Family

Diane at Good Mouring Glory

Rosemarie at Twice as Nice

ElleBee at The Working Diva

Alisha at Beautiful Days: Love in the Making

Sharlene at Double the Adventure

Aleta at Fleur de Aleta

Jen at steenky bee

Soldier Without a War at Waiting.

Stacy at Stacy's Random Thoughts

Liz at Loving Mom 2 Boys

C at The Scattered Mind of a Tattooed Minivan Mom

Merecat at More MereCatherine

Yipes!

So, ummm . . .a big fat Welcome to my fellow SITStas! Just like my life, my blog is a little chaotic right now! *Sigh* I so wanted to create the illusion that I haven't lost half of my mind!

Oh well . . . !

When I got the email from Tiffany telling me I was the lucky duck to be featured today, a big grin plastered itself right across my face . . . even though my mind started racing because I've suddenly found myself involved in a couple of big bloggy projects.

You know how, in the movies, the heroine smiles beautifully when she hears wonderful news? And how, at first, her grin is totally genuine . . . and then the camera zooms in and the dramatic music begins to swell and you begin to read small flickers of panic on her face as her brain starts to buzz into overdrive like a little toy car that has been wound far too much and her beaming smile starts to crack a little . . . ???

That's me. Right now.

Because I cannot tell you how OVERJOYED I am at being the featured blogger for the day!

But I'm also getting the word out about a travelin' hitch deer. (Do not adjust anything--you read that correctly.)

And I'm also announcing the launch of Musical Monday (scroll down a wee bit and you'll see!) with my great bloggy friend Diane over at Good Mourning Glory!

My-heavens-to-Betsy! there's a lot going on around here, but I certainly don't want to be a bad bloggy host and overwhelm my expected visitors!

So please pardon the chaos and accept my apologies; take a look around and know that, while I would have loved to have shown you how put -together I wish I were, I'm just going to let go of that pipedream and hope that you'll take me as I am.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Announcement! Listen Up!

Huge, amazing things are afoot in BloggyWorld! Starting next week (this coming-up Monday), fun-ness will be in the air! Because Jori from Jeff & Me + Three and Diane from Good Mourning, Glory! will be co-hosting Musical Monday!

It's a little bit like Jori's original Music Memory Monday, only EVEN BETTER! I know, who knew it could get better??!!

Here's how we play...

On Monday, I'm sorry I mean, on MUSICAL MONDAY, you should post a song, video, lyrics, album cover, whatever, that means something TO YOU and tell us why.It can be a song or album that brings up an old memory, a song that just "speaks to you", a line in a song's lyrics that inspires you or pumps you up, a song you've just discovered that totally rawks, whatever! As long as it's MUSICAL!

You should link back to both Jori's and Diane's blog in your post.

**Here are the links so you can just EASY! cut and paste!**

http://martinfam1999.blogspot.com/

http://goodmourningglory.com//

Then go over to either Jori's blog -OR- Diane's blog and sign up with Mr. Linky. It doesn't matter which one, we'll have it set to be added on BOTH blogs.

Thereafter, you should try to visit as many other Musical Monday posts as you can. And show some COMMENT LOVE!

And this is just the beginning! We are already brewing up a ton o' more super fun stuff!

So play along with us! Share with us your favorite music! Make lots of new bloggy friends!

Buck Rogers in the Bloggy-First Century! **ETA**

Would YOU like to have a "white trash" visitor? Would you like to spread smiles, even laughter, to folks on the street as you drive past?? Then have I got news for you!

Buck Rogers, "white trash hitch deer extraordinaire" will be roaming the countryside (continent? world??) and he would like to invite YOU to host him and document his travels.

{For the record, he is a very well-behaved deer and doesn't intentionally cause any commotion! }


Interested?

Participating is as easy as possum-potpie! The only requirement is that you have a hitch** (the technical requirements are that you have a four-pin wire harness hitch) for Buck to perch hisself on for the duration of his approximate two-week stay with you and your kin, and that you promise to send him--in the same package you received him in--to the next stop in his adventures.

Oh, and of course you have to post at least once (if not more), describing the adventures Buck has with you, or at least regale us all with the reactions you get from others who notice his visit!

All Buck Rogers-related posts will be linked here on my blog for everyone to follow his happy trails. . . !

Simply comment or email me

MartinFam1999{at}gmail{dot}com

with your contact info and I'll compile a list of hostesses (hosts? PETE??) with the mostesses. When your turn comes up I will email you the mailing address to which you need to send Buck once he has worn out his welcome.


He is thrilled to be visiting Emily here first, and should be settled nicely by the end of the week. I'm pretty sure he'll fit right in with her whole fam-damily!

Bon voyage, Buck! We'll miss you! Keep us posted!

Many thanks to Angie over at Seven Clown Circus for hosting Wordful Wednesday!

**Alright, alright, so a LOT of you are claiming that Buck can't come visit you because you have no hitch. But Deb's comment about sneaking Buck into the Inauguration (wouldn't THAT be hysterical??!) got me thinking . . . even if you don't have a hitch, don't let that stop you from inviting Buck to come hang with your fam. He's sitting on my computer right now, watching me as I type, waiting for his trip to the post office later on today . . . and you saw how my kids loved their photo shoot with him! Not only in he portable, but he's quite adaptable! So if you'd like to have Buck join you and you can document your adventures on OR OFF the hitch with him, there you go. I'm all about accommodation, folks!

Music Memory Monday: Let's Play a Game **answers revealed!!**

Michelle posted this fun game last week, so I thought I'd take a break from a regular Music Memory Monday and throw this in. If you like music you will have fun trying to figure out these songs from their first few lyrics. This is how it works (if you want to play on your blog):

1: Put your iPod on shuffle.

2: Post the first line or two (unless the first line reveals the song title) from the first 25 songs that play.

3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and song title correctly. (I'll give you what has been submitted, but I'm not posting all the answers until Friday)

Ready? Set? GO!!

1. Closed off from love, I didn't need the pain / Once or twice was enough, and it was all in vain Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis


2. I heard you cryin' loud / all the way across town When I Come Around by Green Day


3. She's got a smile that seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories / where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses (although Sheryl Crow did do a pretty good remake--GNR is what's on my iPod)


4. Things were spinnin' 'round me, and all my thoughts were cloudy / I had begun to doubt all the things that were me New York's Not My Home by Jim Croce


5. I'm your average, ordinary, everyday kid / happy to do nothin', fact that's what I did Let's Get Rocked by Def Leppard


6. Ooooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, Do it! Ooooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, Do it! The Hustle by Van McCoy


7. We crossed the line, who pushed who over? / It doesn't matter to you, it matters to me You're So Cruel by U2


8. It's close to midnight, something evil's lurkin' in the dark / under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart Thriller by Michael Jackson


9. I hear the drums echoing tonight / but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation Africa by Toto


10. Rising up, back on the street, did my time, took my chances / went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive Eye of the Tiger by Survivor


11. I used to be a lunatic from the gracious days / I used to feel woebegone and so restless, nights No More I Love You's by Annie Lennox


12. Oh when you walk by every night, talkin' sweet and lookin' fine / I get kinda hectic inside Fantasy by Mariah Carey


13. When I was a younger man, I hadn't a care / foolin' around, hittin' the town, growing my hair I Love You by Climax Blues Band


14. You don't have to go now honey / call em' and tell 'em you won't be in today Just Got Started Lovin' You by James Otto


15. I remember how it used to be / you never was this nice, you can't fool me Never Gonna Get It by En Vogue


16. I been cheated / been mistreated When Will I Be Loved? by Linda Rondstadt (although the version I have is from the 8 Seconds soundtrack, sung by Vince Gill)


17. Now I've been happy lately, thinkin' about good things to come / and I believe it could be, something good has begun Peace Train by Cat Stevens


18. The deception with tact / just what are you trying to say? One Thing Leads to Another by The Fixx


19. Lights go out and I can't be saved / tides that I tried to swim against Clocks by Coldplay


20. Your cruel device / your blood, like ice Poison by Alice Cooper. You were right, Heather! I didn't think anyone would get this, but I forgot about YOU, you rock-n-roll mama!!


21. Got woken in the night by a mystic, golden light / my head soaked in river water Horse and I by Bat for Lashes


22. Jesse is a friend / yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield
    
23. I was out of your league / and you were 20,000 underneath the sea, waving affections True Affection by The Blow


24. I said maybe / baby you should stay with me Sweet Sweet Baby by Michelle Featherstone


25. Gonna tell you what you can do, with my love, alright / Let you know girl you're looking good you're out of sight and alright Let's Groove by Earth, Wind and Fire

ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about Buck Rogers, Trailer Hitch Deer Extraordinaire, coming Tuesday, January 13 at 5:00 p.m. PST!!

WWW: Obsessions and Indulgences

Hosted by MamaKat

Current obsessions:

I'm afraid that of all the "hobbies" I have, this one currently takes most of my time. Although I have found more of a balance lately and do not spend 18 of my 19 hours awake on the computer. Really.

And if you haven't had the opportunity to watch this series,

go directly

to your nearest renting establishment and get your hands on Season One.

Season Two will supposedly be out on DVD in July of this year,

around the same time that Season Three will begin on AMC.

Seriously, it's good.

I'm not going to hype it up anymore, but after you've watched it, and loved it, feel free to email me and we can discuss.

There is much to discuss.

And this is one of the best scenes from the whole first season:

Tell me I'm wrong!

Last thing --it'll be quick!!-- is this new mascara I found:

L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes.

Go buy some.

Right. Now.

* * * * *

Now, for a little indulgence of the lovemelovemeloveme facet of my personality~

MamaKat instructed her students to "Ask a loved one to use 6 descriptive words to describe you and report your findings. How well do they know you?"

I emailed a few people this:

If you could use six words to describe me,

what would they be?

Here's what I got back:

From my BFF: friend, loving, smart, funny, listener, "sister" :)

I have claimed AmyJ as my sister, and together, we are the funniest people I know. No one else sees it, but we do and that's all that matters, right?

From my big brother: Hmmmm, let me see. patient (kind of a gimme, since all moms/wives have to be), sister, devoted, teacher, observant/perceptive, engaging (or playful when referring to interaction w/ kids)

I was happily surprised to hear back from my big brother. Even as adults, I still feel very much like the pesky little sister to him. So thanks, Ben. This totally made the day for the little sister in me!

From my daddy: Loving, Considerate, Patient, Happy, Faithful, Honest

Aww, these are all characteristics I would totally use to describe my father. So I am honored that he would see some of the light he shines reflected in me. Thanks Daddy!

From my mama: funny, empathetic, loyal, generous, smart, and red. (Also daughter, sister , wife and mother)

This is so totally my mom to not follow directions! HA! And the reference to color, I'm sure, is from this personality test. (Be sure to tell me your color if you know or find out!)Thanks, Mamala, for your kind words!

From my hubby: cute, intelligent, loving, conscientious, adult, thorough

Hmmm...interesting words for a man to describe his wife, no? Granted, I asked him this question last night as he was falling asleep, so his answer was a bit groggy. I think it's funny that he describes me as "adult." I'm pretty sure he's referring to the fact that I won't let him fart all over the house and his throw-up/farting/gross-out jokes usually get a big huge roll of the eyes from me. And thorough? He tried to explain that he couldn't think of a better word, but that I did things completely, you know, followed through with stuff. Ooo-kay.

Thanks, hon!

So do these loves of my life know me pretty well? I suppose so--if you were here in the room with me right now, I would be waving off such accolades because in my head, I can be pretty mean and selfish and snobby. So I guess it's good that I'm putting up a good front, eh?!!

What about YOU, bloggy friends? Or YOU, In-Real-Life friends? What word (you don't have to use six) would YOU use to describe ME? I'll be sure to return the favor on your blog, if you want.

This could be interesting!

PS--I have a possibly exciting announcement about Buck Rogers (that's our Hitch Deer), so stay tuned!

Wordful Wednesday: Valley of Fire

Angie, ringleader extraordinaire, is hosting once again this week.

First off, I have to show you the BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT we got this year. It is a deer. Attached to the hitch. Whose tummy lights up with a bulls-eye when the brakes are on. And his arms wave as if he is surrendering. We are thisclose to claiming 100% white trash, y'all!

This past weekend we went to a family reunion out in Logandale and made our way back into town via the Valley of Fire. The kids loved it and we vowed to come again and hike around before the heat sets in.

In case you were wondering, K is doing a "ta-da!" and M is pretending he discovered it all.

Of course.

Music Memory Monday #16: Oh Jakob!

First of all, this is a very belated post, so. . . sorry about that. Here we go!

Music Memory #16

Title: One Headlight

Artist: The Wallflowers

Click here to see the video on dumb old YouTube who won't share

(I hateHateHATE it when embedding is disabled for the real video!!)

ANYHOO~

I've been meaning to do a post on this song because every. single. time. I hear it, it makes me think of my college roomies Margaret, Amy, and Ashleigh. I just recently got in touch again with Ashleigh, so I thought it apropos to walk down this particular lane of memoria.

Now, we liked the song anyway because it's got a sweet beat, but it was the video that did us in. Seriously, you have to go watch and remember because oh! those eyes.

HAVE MERCY!

(as Uncle Jesse would say)

Whenever this came on the radio, we would crank it up and have our own little dance party. I remember hearing it one particular outing en route to Hogi Yogi to celebrate some out-of-the-ordinary happening for one of us and we b.l.a.s.t.e.d the song out of the car speakers . . .can't remember if we were in the Brown Bomber or Ashleigh's Blue Beast, either way, we were stylin' in our ride, let me tell you!

We all lusted after Jakob and his beautiful blue eyes.

{*sigh*}

"One Headlight" = rollin' with my homies and dancing the night away

Ew. Poo.

Well, the year has started out with a bang. Or maybe, I should say, a blast.

Of poo.

You (oh so unfortunately) read that correctly.

X had a blowout of E.P.I.C. proportions. I'll spare you any more of the details (it's bad enough I am blogging about POO), but let's just say I am really hoping that what I woke up to this morning is NOT an indication of how 2009 will be. Because if it is, I am going to go find a rock to hide under until twenty-ten.

Wow. Happy New Year to me.

A Retrospective.

I know I'm late, but I'm runnung down the hall, throwing in my assignment to MamaKat for Writers' Workshop Wednesday right now!!

Ten things about the Martin fam in 2008:

1. We spent more time in urgent cares / doctor's offices / hospitals this year than any other. I was a record-setting year in the medical bill department (thank you Xander).

2. Katerina chopped twelve inches of her hair off. Physically speaking, it really cemented her transition from little girl to big girl. Sniff.

3. Mitchell got glasses and is already on pair #2 due to frames being twisted, smashed and broken during a spirited wrastlin' match. Remember, Mitch, to take your glasses OFF when there is a real possibility of another person SITTING on your HEAD. All in good fun, of course!

4. We enjoyed our shortie but relaxing/invigorating/get-us-the-heck-out-of-this-repetitive-daily-rut vacation to San Diego. Hopefully 2009 will bring more of those. The vacations, not the ruts.

5. Xander ended the year with quite a vocabulary developing. He has stepped into the "parrot" phase of toddlerhood, trying to repeat every. blessed. thing. Our favorite Xander words and phrases are Thank you ("day-doo"), Please ("peas?"), Whoa!, Cars, Ball!, and he even sings snippets of the ABC song, which is, hands down, his fa.vor.ite.

6. Mitchell and Katerina's friendship with each other has really deepened this year, now that she's in first grade and they are able to play with one another at school. Of course, they still fight like cats and dogs on a daily hourly basis, and so help me, if I hear, "He/She's bugging me!" one more time, my head may explode!, but I remind myself to savor the times when they are playing harmoniously to help prevent what little brains I have left from splattering all over the room. Besides, that's just one more mess I'd have to clean up.

7. Jeff just got his "report card" for his third year of the apprenticeship program. 95.37%! For the whole year! Among the many other things that he is, my man is brilliant too. Congratulations, Sweetie! I am so proud of you!

8. This year I started working part-time as a student teaching supervisor. And I'm continuing to teach preschool, and I also clean my parents' house once a week. AND I'm the Activities Committee Chairperson in my ward (read: regular party/event planner for around 200 people). Oh, and I'm a stay-at-home-mom. HA! (All snarkiness aside, each of these opportunities are actually a perfect fit for me and the whole fam right now. I'm glad I can bring in a little extra dough by using the skills I have with some amazingly flexible jobs. And the Activities Committee? Um, who doesn't like to plan parties?? It is really fun! The busy-ness just sometimes contributes to my potential brain detonation--but so far, so good. Brains are still intact--I think...)

9. This year marks my maiden dive into the blogosphere, and I have met some really amazing, inspiring, helpful, kind, and downright funny people. And reconnected with / got to know better some folks that I was already blessed to call friends (or cousins or brothers or whatever). It's been fun so far, though I'm determined to put blogging in it's proper place in my life for 2009, knowwhatImean? Oh, I know all you other bloggers do indeed!

10. *sigh of relief* Our little Martin fam ends 2008 and begins 2009 happy, healthy and hopefully a little wiser for all the experiences and challenges and opportunities we've had in the past 366 (it was a Leap year, remember??) days. I have high hopes for 2009 and wish you all the best. year. EVER!