It's been a whirlwind of a month is putting it mildly.  Nice to be busy however there is such a thing as to busy.  I was able to take time off and will go back to work tomorrow. 

I am so looking forward to enjoying some down time during Christmas as well it won't be as long however it will be a nice break.  I think my mom is coming in January so I don't feel as stressed with things at the moment.  God love the woman however my anxiety goes through the roof when I have to deal with her.  I am trying to not let it get to me and I feel badly for my kid/s and wonder if they experience some similar stress. 

My birthday was this past week.  What a difference a year makes.  Last year was a ringer .. I wound up in tears and my oldest was so out of control and I knew it however I didn't know how bad he was out of control as he hadn't come out .. he wasn't being honest on more levels than I care to think about  .. I'm learning it's not my life journey and I have to let go .. I hope as he grows as a person he realizes he doesn't need to punish himself and he's really allowed to be happy. 

This year we went to something called The Texas Gaylord Ice .. (or something like that .. LOL) .. they bring in tons of ice and carve it to a theme .. it's truly spectacular.  I have always wanted to go and had not.  My honey had never been and had heard about it so he got on board.  I have been very excited and I was clear about that .. lol .. don't rain on my parade .. LOL.  After the last time I think they were all on point because the evening ended with me in tears and all 3 of them being very shell shocked since that's totally not my MO. So the message was sent .. I want you to come however I am planning on enjoying my day .. if there are any fun suckers (I was also including the actual grown adult in this conversation) in the mix they will be promptly sent to the car to wait .. if that doesn't sound appealing and you truly don't want to come please don't .. I really just want to enjoy my afternoon I can do so alone, with friends or with family .. I really choose not to be with anyone that day that doesn't want to be with me and have a good time.  It's truly not that hard.  I am not going to listen to people complain or obsess about things I can't control.  I'm zero interested.  I also gave them 4 weeks to figure out what they wanted to do .. lol .. so this wasn't 24 hours before we went. 

It was sooo much fun .. we all had a great time .. the kids came away with some fun stuff for themselves (they even spent their own money .. lol)  and my oldest was so glad we were all together.  We even had a birthday lunch with my honey's son and that was nice.  We share the same birthday.  It was probably the best birthday I can remember for a long time and all before thanksgiving.  So I came home and did prep work for the following day, made sure I had everything ready to pop in the oven.  It was just soo nice to relax and not stress .. we didn't have to be anywhere .. I knew roughly what time we would eat the next day .. stayed pretty on track with it.  My oldest had to work that day .. that's ok .. he now has Christmas off and I am grateful for that because we will be out of town and sorry not sorry this is a college crap job so one holiday is one thing .. we are def not going to be out of town while he works. 

I attached some pictures .. everything is hand carved by layers it's really amazing and the theme was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer store .. the Claymation .. soooo fun. 

I'm very much looking forward to our next adventure that is strictly for adults only .. I would love to take the kids however not this year. 

Ohh I got to see the baby .. he's beautiful .. that is worthy of another post .. LOL .. I am trying not to push however now my honey is in full run and I explained need to just let time take time and slowly move forward.  It is time to move forward with family and they can choose to get on board or not .. at this point it's no longer my issue.  The ex inlaws are actually coming around and to me that speaks volumes about the state of what things were like. 

Anyway .. thanks for letting me share and I hope everyone had a relaxing thanksgiving .. I hope that Christmas is more of the same. 

S :)