I couldn't do Christmas Cards...

Brenda, I am so sorry.  No Christmas cards came out of the Isaacs house this year.  The thought of trying to get a picture was overwhelming.  Next year I'm gonna get one in the summer....I hope.

We had a nice Christmas. Gennie was (and still is) here.  I didn't have to work nights which made me super-duper happy and we just hung out and had fun. 

I just got back from Atlanta to celebrate the first of my high school girls turning 40.  Also to spend time with Erin.  It looks as if Todd's cancer is speeding up alarmingly fast and they heartbreakingly had to answer the question from their six year old "Is daddy gonna die?".  Ugh.  Cancer just sucks.  I think we can all concur on that.

Belle started horseback riding on Friday, she goes during school for an hour lesson.  So that along with piano lessons and skiing has keep her pretty busy.  Parrish is still spending lots of time with his girlfriend Shannon, doing some snowboarding and finding ways to prove how disgruntled he is.  He is becoming a voracious reader (finally!!!YEAH!!!) and favors the authors of the beat generation - Ginsberg, Keroac, etc.  Not my cup of tea, but he is also reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood which is one of my favorite books.  It gives us something other than his messy room to talk about.

Beginning a New Year

Hello ladies,

I see everyone has been as busy as I have....or you've just lost interest. Too bad the Memphis Moms couldn't get together over Christmas break. Hope Grant is feeling better, Cari. Hope you enjoyed N.O. Carole.

Hey Julie, hope you had a great Christmas. Mom came down so she could be with the kids the first week of break. She stayed until 12/27 which was nice. We did a little bit of shopping on Monday 12/26. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm off this week which is very nice.

I have some returns to do, but actually did pretty well buying this year. Carter only asked for one thing (a Wii game that I had Mom get him) so all he got from Santa was mostly clothes. I told him if he didn't tell Santa what he wanted, Santa brought what he thought he needed. The jeans worked out great, Cari. I ended up getting Levi's 514 which are a slim cut (not skinny jeans though.....I couldn't get myself to purchase those for him). They look pretty good on him, but you were right.....it does seem to make him look even skinnier. I think we need to get him in some type of muscle building camp over the summer to see if we can beef him up. Still waiting for that eating frenzy to take hold that I always hear about with teenage boys.

Unfortunately, Carter's dog, Scruffy passed away on Christmas. We do not know why. He was perfectly fine the night before. We spent the morning in the house opening presents and the boys took a chew bone out to him that Santa left in his stocking around 10. I noticed that he didn't run up to them like he normally does. Carter walked the bone out to him. He took it and walked down the driveway, laid down and started chewing so I didn't think too much about it. That afternoon we went next door for dessert and he didn't come along like he usually does. Again, thought it was odd, but he seemed to be enjoying laying in the sun on the sidewalk so I didn't think too much of it. When we came back he had moved to the front of the garage, but was dead. I guess he must have gotten into something early in the morning or late the night before. Needless to say, I felt pretty bad about it. I've never been that crazy about the dog. He certainly had his problems, but dying at only around 5 or so years old just doesn't seem right. We had a hard time burying him because Jim and I both expected him to jump up and be fine. I wish I had checked him during the day when I thought he was acting odd. Don't know that it would have helped but it would have made me feel better. I don't feel like a very responsible pet owner, that's for sure. It's really odd coming up the driveway and not seeing him running up to greet me. Pets just break your heart, don't they?

Carter had four teeth pulled yesterday as part of his orthodontic work plus an additional 2 baby teeth that were no big deal. He bounced back amazingly fast. He was fine by the afternoon and eating like nothing had happened. I know Jim was really dreading it. He had he same thing done and had a very bad experience when he was a teenager. Luckily, that wasn't the case for Carter.

Emerson had a great Christmas and we enjoyed a couple of weeks of pretty good behavior. Had a bad day today, but hopefully those will diminish. His behavior is so connected to sleep. We've started putting him to bed earlier and I think that really helps. It may be a 7:30 night tonight though.

Hoping you guys get a chance to post soon. I would love to catch up. Hmmmmm I don't seem to have gotten Christmas cards from any of you. Am I just old fashioned?

Brenda

Trying Again

Hey guys,

I tried to post the other day but lost my connection.  My Mac is giving me a lot of trouble lately.  Jim thought I needed a new hard drive but now it's working fine (for now anyway). Technology!!

Jim started his new job Wednesday.  So far so good.  There have been heated discussions in the Pruett house about me continuing to work.  Not sure his reasoning, but he is certainly passionate about it.  I start part time Jan 1st which will be helpful.  He has backed down about me quitting in the summer and I have given my boss and the COO my word that I won't (unless there is some unforeseen event).  My concession to him was I would quit May 2013 if this summer doesn't go well so I would be home next summer with Emerson.  Carter is obviously old enough to take care of himself at this point.  I know Emerson will love summer camp activities.  Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction for that type of thing.  Mom will come down as well and we will probably take the kids up there once too plus vacation ourselves so I don't think it will be that big of deal but I'll just have to wait and see.

Loved the picture of Corinne, Carole.  Carter ended up being a zombie and Emerson was Sponge Bob.  

Hoping to head to Mom's on Wednesday.  Jim technically only gets Thursday off so he is going to ask tomorrow or Tuesday about taking off Wed and Fri.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Brenda

Hello,

Julie, think your friend and his wife are possibly the strongest people I have heard of.

This is truely faith in the unknown.

I am keeping all of them in my prayers.

We are moving along...flag football is over for Kevin.

The buckle fx is healing.

Corinne is into basketball.

The team attended a jamboree sat. omg Corinne had on a

game face I have never seen before!!!

Cool weather is good for dog walking , which is now more important

since the bone density shows osteoporosis. ( side effect of aromasin...

the estrogen converting enzyme blockade med).

I can do this..easy.

The dog thinks it is great.

I am doing this for another reason alltogether....

Corinne was the wicked witch of the west. (she read the book Wicked.)

So I go up into the attic...I keep stuff forever...and behold

a bridesmaids dress for the year AFTER i was married.

huh, it fit her to a tee.... DOES THIS REALLY HAVE TO HAPPEN!!!!

was i really this small OR am i really this large?

still waiting to finish the porch.

still waiting for a full time job to open at G'town hosp.

Going to La/Miss for th'giv.

1st basketball game is today...XXXX your fingers for good luck.

update...they lost but put on a fairly good showing.

c

Welcome back Julie!

A girlfriend who is a Junior!!  Wow, must make Parrish feel pretty good :)  I can't even imagine Carter with a girlfriend let alone an "older woman"!!  I just got back from shopping with a friend and her almost 15 year old daughter who is best friends with the girl we carpool to school with.  We were talking about having this girl go to some of the Carter's school dances since the school she goes to is so small, they don't have any.  They were talking about having the other girl fix her up with a guy friend from school so she could go and I said why doesn't she just go with Carter?  (unless of course she didn't want to) and she said it would probably be better to go with Carter since at least she would already know him.  I'm sure it would be a group thing so its not like they were really on a "date" or anything. Then we mentioned how she would be older and she said it would help Carter with his "man card".  (Never heard of that before).  It was fun shopping with them.  I was trying to figure out what her tastes were by pulling out things and asking her if she liked them. Most of the time, she would say "ewww".  She did end up with two dresses, a shirt and two skirts.  I think that was a successful day!

We had all gotten rooms at a local Holiday Inn last night for a "staycation" night.  Jim had wanted to take the train to New Orleans yesterday morning, spend the night, and come back today.  Just thinking about that wore me out so we went with the one night in a local hotel thing instead.  It was fun.  They have a real nice pool and hot tub.  We walked to Hooters earlier in the evening (kids eat free until 6 pm) then hit the hot tub and just hung out.  Next time we will need to bring Carter's friend Mason with us.  I think Carter would have enjoyed it more.  He did hang out with the girl I went shopping with a bit.  She has a little brother that gets a long great with Emerson so they had a great time.  He ended up spending the night in our room so they even had a "sleep over".  

Took Emerson to his new school on Friday.  He was very clingy and had a melt down Friday night telling me he didn't want to go to school there.  Bought his uniforms yesterday and he seemed excited about it.  Jim will be dropping him off until he starts his job because I know he will just play me with the crying and clinging.  (I'm such a cold mom).  I know most of it is just an act but it still gets to me (maybe I'm not so cold after all).

 

Told my bosses I wanted to go part time in January.  They are brainstorming trying to figure out how this is all going to work. We've discussed working from home in the afternoons and I said I would consider it but now that I have I don't think that will work since I'd end up working until 6 or 6:30 to put in the time.  I really don't think the owners would go for it anyway. Oh well, we'll see.  They don't want me to quit so hopefully something will work out.

Julie,  I went to the link about your friend, Erin's husband.  My cousin's best friend just had the bead liver treatment as well. How odd.  I had never heard of it and now know of two people who have had it.  I do not think she has had the second 1/2 done yet.  The first one was successful and has bought her some more time.  His blog was right, it is not a cure but a chance for longer life expectancy.  

Brenda

OK, I'll Post

I have started a couple of posts and then had to run.  Things around here have been plugging along.  Nothing like trick or treating in the snow....

Parrish has a girlfriend who is a junior.  Lord help me.  I really wish I could go back in time to when he was 2 and just wander the zoo with him again.

Belle was a bunny for halloween.  Ya know how hard it is to find a size 12-14 bunny costume with a pink satin belly?  Right, I had to make it.  But at least she was warm in the snow as it was made of fur.

We are going to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.  My mom is taking Belle on a Disney cruise the Sun-Wed. before.  She is really excited (and a bit nervous). 

I went to Atlanta a month ago to help my friend Erin.  You can follow her husband Todd's story here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/toddcantrell  Prayers are welcome.

xoxo
j

Calling all Bloggers

Hey guys,

Guess this has fizzled out???

Jim got a job and starts with Fed Ex in a couple of weeks.  He is doing software stuff again.  I'm going to tell my bosses I'd like to start part time in January.  Not sure how that is going to go over. I may be unemployed come January :)

Emerson got in at Carter's school.  Hoping to get some details from them tomorrow.  They were out of school for All Saints Day today.

Had a great review last week.  Timing on this isn't too great but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?

Brenda