Holidays and New Years

It has been a wild and wacky holiday time. My mother in law and sister in law were in town for nearly 7 weeks between November and January. It was great having them visit and I miss being closer to them.

Christmas was great. S-i-L was here and we just relaxed the day away.

New Years Eve was pretty good - I had a lazy birthday just relaxing with Seth and Rob.

New Years Day SUCKED. My daddy called very early in the morning to tell me that my mother had passed away the evening before in her sleep. She'd been very ill for so very long, but she was known for amazing come-backs and hanging in there. Some say she wanted to start the New Year with God. I don't think that was actually her thought process. She was a semi-religious woman.. but not so much that she concsciously went "I want to spend new years with god"... I could be wrong though.

Her death hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. She and I were close-ish but not best of pals/ tell each other everything, but in this last year, we made a better effort to speak at least once a week.

Her funeral was an experience in and of itself. I got to see my older brother, s-i-l, and two of my three nieces. Everyone had changed so much. My brother and s-i-l and I have placed the past in the past and are trying to move on into the future. Sucks that it took mother dying to get it done, but if that's what it takes, it's what it takes. My hubby finally got to meet many of my extended family and while I know he was a bit overwhelmed at times, he took it in stride. Seth did great too. He took right to my 2nd neice and was a spot of brightness for my Daddy.

"Ding Dong!"

I came away from Texas with a heavy but lifted heart and a lil bitty maybe a pound Black Chihuahua puppy that was mothers. She's super affectionate and thinks any and all laps are HERS. She's part Chinese Crested so she has bald patches here and there and long-haired patches in other spots. She's so ugly she's cute. Mother was calling her "Tinker Bell" - we quickly renamed her "DeLaney Catherine Taylor" or Lane for short. We just liked the name DeLaney and Catherine is... was my mother's first name. That and the Taylors tend to have a tradition about naming, the names go in alphabetical sequence. We have a Margrett Gweneth (Maggie) so we needed either an L or N name. I was drawing blanks on the N's and Lane holds a 2nd meaning for me. It's to remind me to make memories for my own "Memory Lane" - as now that's the only place I'll find my mother and so many others.

Other New Years things...

I'm a fulltime Freshman at East Central University and so far, I'm loving it! I'm taking 14 hrs this term and at least 12 this summer. My 1st Major is Special Education. I really want to dbl major I just haven't pinned down what the 2nd will be.

I'm in recovery from my surgery. I had a Hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy on January 14th. I stayed over night at the hospital and was on Oxygen for a while but was able to go home without it. Pain meds are my friends right now. I'm still sore and achey and OMG the bruises look bad right now (they will only get worse) but if thats the only pain I have out of all this, I'll be more than greatful. I'm hoping than when the surgery-soreness fades I won't have anymore pain in that area. No more treatments/cramps/discomfort/weird cycles that never end - EVER!

Life is good. Yeah, it really is.