Well, I don't want anyone to stroke out or anything, but I am actually blogging. :)

Yep... finally giving into the guilt (and my true need to write) and blogging.

So... where to start? Well, this seems to be the problem lately. Every time I start thinking about blogging, I think about how much has happened since my last entry. And, you know, that's quite a bit. So, here's the quick rundown - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve and Day. :) OK. So those are the holidays. They were great... each special in its own little way. And, I am hopeful that at some point in the very near future, I will sporadically decide to post photos with little snippets about each of these, as well as some video. But, please don't hold your breath! You know me... it takes a while.

There were many more things to tell... playing in the snow, Bailey actually learning to pedal her bicycle (which she's been working on for a while), Jake talking more clearly and becoming more independent, our fun trip to Gatlinburg with Mamaw Kathy and James, etc. So, how do I pick up where I left off without being hitting these highlights? Well, I don't know. So, I'm just going to write about our newest developments and go from there. Patience please... this could be more like a rough version of a term paper before it's all over. lol.

Perhaps the most exciting thing for me right now is that my last day at the Lexington Philharmonic is on Friday. Brad recently received a promotion at work, enabling me to stay at home with the kids for a while. I simply cannot express how excited I am about this. I've been so lucky to work for a company that allows me to work from home part time. They've been so good to me, but it is difficult splitting up my time. Even when I'm working from home, I feel the guilt of each thing pulling on me. If I'm working on things for work, I feel like I'm ignoring the kids. If I'm playing with the kids, I feel like I'm ignoring my work. It's a constant battle... and I'm very excited that I don't have to feel that choice tugging on me all the time. I'm sure I'm going to miss the adult interaction and even parts of my job. But, I can't wait to wake up every morning and know that the only thing I HAVE to do is take care of the kids. They seem excited about it, too. I know Jake will love being at home with me. He makes me feel guilty everyday I leave him, so he's going to be on cloud nine. Bailey, on the other hand, loves preschool, so her concern with me not working is that she wouldn't go anymore. Of course, we nearly have preschool completely paid for, so we had already planned to let her finish her school year. She was really happy then... especially when she understood that we could spend the entire summer by the pool or at the lake. Now, she's thrilled.

So, a week from tomorrow, I will be unemployed. :) Happily unemployed. Not sure how many of us there are out there with the economy like it is.

The other big thing going on right now is that my husband is in another country. Yep, Brad is in Guatemala City, Guatemala, living the good life. :) Or so you would think from the photos he's posted on Facebook! He actually is there on business, training some developers for his company. He left early last Wednesday and won't return until Thursday night. He spent his weekend seeing ancient Mayan ruins and Antigua. Apparently, he's stronger than I am though... His hotel has a casino in it and he's not gambling. He's nuts. They have a great exchange rate. He could win quite a bit if he got lucky. Thank God I'm not the one going on these trips or I would DEFINITELY be looking for a job. I'd gamble it all. :) Anyway, we've missed Brad so much. Bailey is completely convinced that he's on a vacation without us and does not think it's fair that he gets to swim in a pool in hot weather when we are stuck here in the cold and rain. I have to agree to a certain extent. :) Jake is missing him too. I expected him to ask about him, but not to say much more about it. Yet, in the middle of the night, Jake woke up to tell me that he missed his daddy. It was so cute. It kind of broke my heart. Needless to say, we are counting down the days until Brad gets home... quite literally. We created a calendar just for the time Brad would be gone so that we could "see" when he was coming home. Just a few more days... just a few more.