The Yearly Alphabet

A – Astrid is Chris’s new girlfriend, she changes her hair color more than Michelle ever did – and she tends to sport a buzz cut when she doesn’t have unusually colored hair.

B – Last year blogs were big, they were even bigger this year.  Not only did we attend BlogherCon, allowing us to meet people like Nancy White (gasp!) but I was on a Blogher panel and I spent the year sharing Health & Wellness topics on Blogher.   Even bigger than blogs and Blogher were burritos.  Michelle started working at Burrito Brothers in May and has become quite the expert burrito maker which Prince J heartily approves of.

C – Who in their wildest dreams would have guessed I’d not only be an active member of Clubmom but a blogging member of Clubmom?  Not me, not in a zillion years.  But I started in June and have enjoyed every second of it.

D – TW gave a presentation about blogging for a group of Dietitians in Pennsylvania late in August.  A real grown up conference.  Who’d have thunk it?  D is also for Dexter the Showtime TV series we’ve added to our weekly television watching.

E – Elvis the Rat moved into our house – into my bedroom to be precise.  She and I have mostly made peace with each other, as long as she doesn’t make too many rat noises or escape from the bathroom when she is having "rat time" then we’re ok.

F –  Prince J along with his flute, made it to first chair at the end of fall. 

G – Gameboys entered the picture for both E and RJ, even though RJ swore for a full year that she didn’t want a Gameboy.  When the time came for her to create a birthday wishlist both a Gameboy and a Nintendo DS were on her list.  She got the Gameboy and uses Chris’s DS to play the game she likes.

H –  Chris moved home again and lives in the Florida Room.

I – IKEA was big again this year.  Michelle lucked out with a trip to celebrate her 16th birthday by purchasing a brand new bedroom at IKEA in Atlanta.

J – Jenn and Ronnie split up and Jenn has a new guy in her life.  She seems happy and she’s talking about going back to college in the new year.  (fingers crossed)

K – The hermits kicked the bucket, as did the dragons errr anole lizards.  All dogs and cats and turtles still here, though Chanel’s days are numbered.  Old age is catching up with her.

L –  Lists, lists, and more lists.  Life was full of lists.  Grocery lists, to do lists, chore lists, and the infamous 101 things list. 

M – TW finally had the mystery bump removed.  It took a 3 day stay in the hospital but it’s gone and we’re glad.

N – No grandchild for me this year.  Jenn ended her marriage and has a new apartment, a new boyfriend and a new life that she seems to be happy with. 

O – Out with the old, in with the new – that was a bit of a motto for us.  We worked hard to clean out a lot of old stuff from around the house – it’s still out in the garage though because we aren’t good at follow through.   

P –  Christopher has found his way to Leonardo’s where he makes pizza and is on his way to a manager position there.  Pirates were popular (SWEETNEY!!) with Michelle, RJ, Jenn and Chris.  Pirate swim team, pirate music, pirate movies, pirate costumes and pirate bandanas.

Q – It’s far too quiet around here now that the small children have gone off to Cambridge with their father for a six month sabbatical.  Sometimes quiet is nice, right now it’s taking a lot of getting use to.

R – Runewhatever aka Runescape has become the new favorite past-time for both TW and Prince J.  They’re constantly talking about quests and often sound like they are speaking some weird foreign language.

S – RJ enjoyed her stint as part of the Safety Patrol this fall and winter and Michelle entered Sante Fe Community College as part of the Dual Enrollment program.  She took four classes her first semester and has signed up for four more.  Synchronized swimming remained popular, and E added it to her life in the summer. 

T –  We are back down to only having one Toyota parked in our driveway.  Chris’s poor little white Toyota finally moved out, it was donated to charity and we hope whoever is using it (or using it for parts) enjoys it.

U – I did a great job of upsetting folks with my discussion of heteronormativity (or lack of) at Blogher, by using the phrase  "grow a pair" and by telling a friend she was behaving poorly as a CL at iVillage.  I’m sure I did more to upset folks, though right at the moment those are the ones that come to mind.

V – Vagina Monologues again this year, with the 1/2 child in tow.  (TW says no ABC list for the year would be complete without mentioning how VERY broke we are.)

W – The big kids’ father left NJ (finally) and moved back to SC.  He’s working at Walmart which is what he always said he was going to do after he retired from the AF.  Who knew he was so prophetic?  Web 2.0 in all its glory has taken over my work life and it hasn’t been all good.  It hasn’t been all bad, either though and World of Warcraft keeps Chris and his g/f busy on multiple computers around the house.

X – My "x" father in law had a liver transplant this summer and is doing amazingly well.  My "x" sister in law had a baby boy just a couple of days ago and is another family member who I still say should have stayed childfree – but do those girls ever listen to me?  Also my brother’s x g/f’s daughter had a baby this year too, another boy in the family.   

Y – Yugioh is still popular here, but now in the form of Gameboy games but Pokemon is still the favorite. 

Z –  We attended the Zellwood Corn Festival this year and Terri Clark can really wear a hat, can’t she? heh