NYE

Josh and I had a fabulous weekend away last weekend. We ventured to Tahoe for Guido and Bridge's wedding NYE night.

 The wedding was a beautiful celebration. Bridge looked perfect. Elegant and stunning. She and Guido were smiling all night.

 Phil was the best man and gave an awesome speech. It was all true to the heart and very well spoken. I know how nerve racking it is to give a speech like that so I am always impressed with people who do it flawlessly and confidently. Beautiful things were said about the newlyweds, all well deserved and spot on.

And, I am sorry. Have you seen better bridesmaids dresses? They worked on every beautiful bridesmaid.
It was a wonderful night. We danced the new year in and raised our glasses to a couple about to start a brand new adventure.
It didn't hurt that we came home with more money than we left with. Winners at 3 card poker baby!!!

Congrats Lanzas!

Relating

Relating to others makes me feel human. At this point in my life I have been very conscious of who surrounds me. I have let a few friendships taper off naturally. With that said, when I hear someone I know well talk about something I relate to, it makes me feel human. It makes me feel real. The minute I know someone else I respect has had the same experience or feels the same way about something I can almost hear myself exhale from relief that I'm not the only one.

While reading Tina Fey's book, Bossypants, I totally related to her chapter on being a mom. When I became pregnant with Haley there were so many decisions I made about childbirth, breastfeeding, etc. I had it all laid out, and then I went into labor.
I am going to pull a few excerpts that I especially related to. No, I don't know Tina Fey, but I loved that someone put into words what I have felt...
"...I chose to breastfeed and it was an amazing time in my life...Many experts have ideas of how long you should breastfeed, until 6 months, 1 year, toddlerhood. ..For my little angel and me the magic number was 72 hours...We tried the football hold, the cross-cradle hold, and one I like to call the Bret Michaels, where you kind of lie over the baby and stick your breast in its mouth to wake it up."
At this point I laughed out loud.
"...Here we experienced another generational difference. Gen X wanted to succeed so she could tell people she did it." (Breastfeeding IS what's best for you baby). "Gen Z wanted me to hand over the damn formula and she was willing to scream until she got it...I was defensive and grouchy whenever the topic came up...Once I gave up my guilt, which took awhile, the only remaining obstacle were the Teat Nazis. These are the women who not only brag endlessly about how much their 5 year old child still loves breast milk, but they also grill you about your choices.'...Are you breastfeeding? Did you have a vaginal birth? Are you back at work already? Do you feel weird about going back to work?"

For the record, I have been asked all of these questions by various moms.

"Let's be clear. Millions of women breastfeed their babies for years or go back to work without giving anyone a hard time about it. These are not the women I am talking about when I say Teat Nazis."

I thoroughly enjoyed the few pages in that chapter. Thank you Tina Fey, for relating to how I have felt in the past. One of my children was breastfed, the other formula fed. Both are doing just fine. Once I saw that, I was able to let go of the guilt. The guilt I put upon my own self. I feel more human to know that celebrities go through the same things we do.
Just with way more money.

Books

My favorite part about vacation? Besides being off with my lovely family is...READING! There is just so much more time to read. I am not falling asleep the minute my head hits the pillow and I can wake up and read on the couch before the kids even wake up! And then there's down time in the afternoon to read! I finished one book, The Last Child by John Hart. Lloyd Russell recommended it through his blog. I read about it on there and asked him to save it for me. If you are a reader I highly recommend his site. He reads a bazillion books a year, or close to that.
Anyway, the book was so damn good. I haven't read a book that scared me like that in a long time. It is not a horror, but a "who done it?" type of book and I read the last 1/2 of the book one night until 1:00am. At one point the ice maker turned and jolted my nerves! I finished the book in bed so Josh could save me from any fictional murderer who might be looming in the closet.
My mom gave me Tina Fey's autobiography and I read it in 3 days. FABULOUS! I was already a fan, so the book was pure enjoyment.
I love vacation.

Holiday

 Haley and Ryan both ended up on Santa's "nice" list. Phew! The Russell household had a new experience with Santa this year. In the past the gifts from Santa have not exceeded $20. What can I say? My kids love bargains! In October of this year Haley started talking about wanting a DS. I didn't know what this was so I had to do some research. As the rest of the world knows, it's game system but oh so much more. At first Mrs. Claus was unsure since this was a significant gift. She didn't want to give something inappropriate for an almost 7 year old. She did some research with parents she knows and respects. Santa also agreed that Haley is responsible and has never asked for anything big in the past. Needless to say it was under the tree and we've never seen her more excited about a gift. She has shown us all it has. Luckily Santa has a friend who downloaded a TON of stuff onto it. Hooray! She loves that thing. We all agreed on some general rules about care and usage, etc. (Ryan's gift was $11.99).

 We have seen our whole family this break. We had our annual trip to Yuba City. I came in 2nd place AGAIN in our drink contest. RIGGED? Perhaps...

 See these adults opening gifts? Yah, those are the little ones that were in our wedding. Juniors in high school and freshmen in college. Ummm, what?!

 We went to Tahoe for a few days and there is no snow. We had to drive to a resort so the kids could get bundled up and play in it for awhile. Haley loved it all- snowballs, sledding, sliding, everything. Ryan loved doing his own thing, which did not include being put into a sled and going  down the smallest hill and falling out. It also did not include his parents pressuring him to try again with Daddy, eventually forcing him on Josh's lap and sending him down (the same tiny hill) safely. Why did we do that? We are fundamentally against doing that kind of stuff to our kids. I don't know what possessed us that day, but we were reminded of why we don't do that. Ryan didn't want to go down again. Even if we knew he wouldn't fall out again. Lesson learned, again.

 Hanukkah was a great celebration as well. So much awesome cousin time this break! We lit the candles most of the 8 nights and sang the prayer and hugged and kissed exclaiming, "Happy Hanukkah!" each time.

 Baby Jake! 3 months old. One of the chillest babies on the planet. No joke.

We took a beautiful hike at Rancho San Antonio this week. We checked out all the animals at the farm and threw some rocks in the creek.
This holiday has been perfect. The best one yet. There are so many reasons to celebrate! Happiness, health, family, and my fabulous shoes for New Year's Eve (pictures to come).
Happy New Year!

Pure Joy

Every year our school comes together to help a few students during the holidays. This year the fire department donated a couple of brand new bikes. One of my students was a recipient. He was pulled out of class and given the new bike in the office. When he came back to class he kept repeating, "thank you" and gave me a huge hug. This student is not a hugger. I could see him the rest of class processing what had just happened. I kept wondering, has he ever been given something brand new like that? Much less, out of nowhere?
A true example of the what the holidays mean to me. Pure joy in my heart. If you could have seen his face, it would have filled your heart too.
My day is officially made.

Choice

I try not to live in envy and I am pretty good at it. I am pretty good at knowing how wonderful life is and how blessed we are to have all that we have. Like every human, there are times I wish for more money, more things. I know that I have everything that is really important in life. Sometimes I simply want more.

There are times when I have felt like I am the only one I know who is a working mom. I would find myself making blanket statements, in my head, about how I am the only person I know who has to work. Hello, that is not even close to true. How about all the wonderful moms I work with? There's a place to start!

I have also always found myself saying it's easy to go to work when you know you have no choice. Josh and I both love the work we do and we both bring home the same amount of bacon. When I say I have no choice, I mean with the life that we have.
I do have a choice. We are choosing to own a home instead of renting. I could stay at home if we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment. We would still have everything that really matters, but we are making a choice to both work and own a home.

Why am I talking about all of this? It has occurred to me lately that many people I know and love are dealing with things that they did not choose. This always makes me reflect on my own life. I would like more money or a house in Tahoe or even a house with a yard.I don't live in that thought process but I visit it from time to time. I especially go there when I hear people complain about things when they have all that I envy. This is what makes me think, "do I do that to others?" When I say I work because I have no choice, it's not true and I need to not say it anymore.

The other day I was talking to a friend about my new shoes and figuring out how to wear heels to a wedding in the snow. Do I bring boots and change? Do I wear them and hope for the best? When it was her time to catch up she talked about a serious health issue in her family that has wiped her out the last month. Ok..to say I felt like a jerk was an understatement. She had no choice in that situation. Life just gave it to her.

I know that this post was kind of rambling. I hope to clarify with this:

I am going to be better at owning my choices. I am going to be better at being aware of what I say to people who are going through things that they are not choosing.

Gone in a Flash

November was here and gone and here we are in December! I know that family and the school year are good when time flies like that.
I know lots of wonderful things happened in November with many memorable stories. I just didn't capture them.  Boo!
I'll be a better blogger in December.
Some highlights of November include:
1. Moving into my remodeled classroom. It is pure heaven to have everything new and clean and technologically sound. We all take pride in our new work space.
2. ICE SKATING! We took the kids to Downtown Ice and they never wanted to leave. Haley was eventually out in the mix with other skaters. Ryan stuck with a parent, but was doing all the work. It was a wonderful outing with friends.
3. End of the soccer season. Haley received her trophies and was very proud. She says she may be done with soccer. 3 seasons was a good run. We'll see how she feels in the fall.
4. Thanksgiving- a lovely and relaxing day with family. DELICIOUS food and so much to be thankful for.
Cheers to a wonderful December!