How to catch up . . .

Life!!! Whewww. I just have not had time to blog. My last blog was in November, I think. Here are some of the reasons why I have not blogged, and some of these reasons will have a separate blog as part of my plan to catch up:

1. On December 13th, we lost my mom's brother, Uncle Mark. He lived next door to me, and was one of the kindest people I knew. I loved his dry sense of humor because he always made me laugh. He had a heart attack, and left behind his son, daughter, wife, and twin grand babies who are just about Ronin's age. It was a devastating loss to our whole family. He was only 54.
2. Our Christmas was different this year. Lisa was in the hospital, so we were back and forth to see her. It was also the first year in my life that I did not spend the night with my parents and sister on Christmas Eve. Already emotional, I was pretty much a wreck. Overall, it went really well. But I was still sad about changing that.
3. I started taking psychology classes through the doctoral program at Walden University online in December. The work load is tremendous, and I use all of my free time doing homework and writing papers.
4. Lisa is gone. I don't know what else to say about it other than it still hurts. I still miss her. I just try not to think about it. She passed away on January 8th. She was 42, my mom's baby sister, and one of my favorite people. She was also the biggest fan of my blog, and that has been part of my hesitation in catching up.
5. I'm pregnant. I thought some of you may have forgotten since I haven't mentioned it in so long. I am half way through (21 weeks), and doing okay. I have had the big ultrasound, but that really deserves it's own special blog. Don't you think?? Stress got a little out of control December and January, and my blood pressure spiked. But I think it's under control now that I am on medicine.
6. Jax turned 3 on January 9th. If you ask him about his birthday, he will tell you that he turned 3 in January and it was a "sad day." ....as he told the nurses at his pediatrician's office when they were drawing his blood for an allergy test. It was a sad day, we spent most of the day with my mom and our family and at Lisa's visitation. So I hardly saw Jax at all. I postponed his party. We are thinking of doing a 3 1/2 year old party this summer.
7. We are really involved in the outdoor project right now. By spring we should have our new fenced in pool area with outdoor kitchen, fireplace, and pizza oven.
8. John has been super busy. It's no wonder he's making president's club for the 3rd year in a row! We are on track to go to Cancun this year, and he's also won us a trip to Chicago in March.
9. I've started really focusing on my private practice. I'm busy doing groups and sessions almost every week now. I should be moving into my new office this week if all works out.
10. I've finished most of my EMDR training (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). I have had outstanding results using this method, and it is quite interesting. I will go for another full weekend of training this weekend to wrap up. But I've been involved in this process since August doing training and consultation.
11. My sister is pregnant! She is due September 30th. My mom and dad will have 5 grand kids before this year is over!
12. My parents moved into their new house. I'm happy for them, but it was a big transition for us to not have them across the street anymore!!! As we watched them drive off in the Uhaul, Jax said, "I need my Gwandaddy. I need my Thweese." It was heart breaking.

Anyway, that is a little bit of what has been going on. I will soon have a real blog with pictures!!