Jealousy of a (not so) Different Kind

When my sister had her first kid I wanted nothing more than to have my kids close in age to hers so the cousins could grow up together. My brother also had a kid a year apart from my sister's second baby and it seemed like we could all have kids close in age. But I realized several years ago that I was just so far behind that that was never going to happen.

Eventually I got over the idea, thanks in part to something my mom said. I may have talked about this on the blog before, but when my sister was pregnant with her third kid (my parents' fourth grandchild) my mother was talking to me about my sister's pregnancy and how the baby was due soon and my mom said "it's just not as exciting anymore".

At first I was devastated to hear her say that. It seemed like I would be the only one excited about my own baby if I went ahead with becoming an SMC. However, I know my mom loves babies and I hoped that given enough time between my sister's last kid and my first that it would seem special and new again.

Now the youngest grandchild is six years old and I know my mom misses the babysitting she used to do. I knew she'd be excited if I got pregnant sometime in the next few years. Suddenly I was okay with my kids not being close in age to their cousins.

And then my brother proposed to his girlfriend of one year. They are planning on getting married this May. And while I'm happy that he's happy, his fiancee is not someone I would ever naturally be friends with. Let's just say she and I are diametrically opposed on several topics and she can be a bit rude at times.

Anyway, I know my brother wouldn't mind more kids, he even had a dream they had twins! And with them getting married in May I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there's a little one on the way.

And just like that, if I become an SMC, it'll go back to me being the only one excited about me having a baby. (And becoming an SMC still seems to be the most likely possibility considering things with my boyfriend are just not going that well right now).

New Things

Somehow my sister and I managed to coordinate our schedules, along with the weather, and we were finally able to have a photo shoot of my costume a couple weeks ago.
It was a balmy 30-some degrees Fahrenheit and there was a nice, nearly fresh, thick blanket of snow on the ground.
I think my sister did a beautiful job with the photos. It was nearing sunset and we were losing light fast but she was able to get some really great shots. Amazingly, the only part of me that froze during the shoot was my hands. (Well, I was able to get away with wearing jeans, snow pants, and heavy shoes underneath but that's the beauty of having a hoop skirt - no one knows!)

In other news, I agreed to a trial run of dating my friend PBJ. You might remember him from this post. I guess I'll just have to call him J now that he's an actual boyfriend and no longer a pseudo-boyfriend.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

I love how the sky and woods look so purple!

Sitting in the snow

More sitting

Wandering through the woods

The End of This Year and the Beginning of the Next

Well, 2015 is looming large and I am excited to know that I will be done with school this year and back on track with my SMC goals. I hope this coming year is a good one.

This past year I challenged myself to blog once per week, and in December I challenged myself to blog once per day. Now both challenges are over and done. There was only one week this year, in July, when I wasn't able to at least throw something up on the blog and that was due to my internet being out. Then in December I was late posting for one day because I worked late, joined a friend for a late dinner, and didn't get home until after midnight so I had to make up for it by posting twice the next day.

I have mixed feelings about the challenges. On one hand I'm glad I stuck it out and I'm proud of myself for having done so. On the other hand there were times it felt more like a chore and like I could have done better in regards to content.
But as I say goodbye to 2014 I thought I'd update on a few of the things I blogged about over the year.

• Scarf project - I'm still working on it but it's currently less than two feet long so progress has been fairly slow.
• Costume pictures - There are still no good pictures of me in the costume. Trying to coordinate my sister's schedule, my schedule, and the weather has proven difficult.
• My guy friend (PBJ) - We're still friends and things are still complicated.
• My summertime cough - I tested negative for whooping cough, yet I read somewhere that the cough associated with whooping cough can last for 12 weeks. Mine lasted from the third week in June to the middle of September - just about 12 weeks. My friend (PBJ) also had the same horrible cough, his also lasted about 12 weeks. I wonder if it was a false negative for whooping cough? If not I wonder what the hell we had.
• School - In for penny, in for a pound, right? I signed up for six classes next semester. I anticipate not having a lot of free time, but maybe this way I can end in the summer instead of next December - fingers crossed.
• Graduation Celebration Vacation - I still really want to do this but I'm still undecided about where to go, how much I can afford, and whether I really am brave enough to go it alone.

Finally I want to say a big, heartfelt THANK YOU!!! to all those who commented on my blog throughout this year. It really meant a lot to me and I wish I had had more time to personally answer each one.

Blog Challenge Day 30: One Thing You're Excited For

I'm excited for New Year's Eve game night. Every year we pass the time until midnight with board games and card games, and it's a great end to the holiday season. I wish we could have a game night once a week, or even once a month, but we all get so busy that game night only happens about a handful of times per year. But on New Year's Eve it's become a tradition. So, I look forward to the snacks and the desserts, the winning and the losing, the laughter and the fun times, as well as a brand new year.

Blog Challenge Day 29: Five Weird Things That You Like

1. When the clock reads 12:34.

2. When I'm driving really late at night and very few people are on the road because then I feel like some kind of apocalypse survivor (preferably the zombie apocalypse) and I can pretend I'm on a supply run in a (mostly) abandoned town.

3. The smell of my deodorant. I mean everyone should like the smell of whichever one they choose but I would be so sad if they discontinued this scent.

4. When the air is so cold that breathing in sort of freezes the inside of your nose. It's a weird feeling that I like for about one breath, then I'm quick to burrow into my scarf and breathe through that as much as possible.

5. Mayonnaise. Not because it's weird to like mayonnaise, but because I could eat it out of the jar, and that's probably weird.