I celebrated a major accomplishment a few weeks ago.   This year, I managed to get my family holiday greeting cards completed and in the mail before Thanksgiving!  I’m a little embarrassed though because one of the reasons I sent my greeting cards out so early was to invite my extended family and friends to catch up with our family by reading my blog. 

The days just seemed to escape one by one until here I am almost forty days since my last post and what have I done?   I feel like my readers and friends just received an empty envelope.

To make up for lost time here are ten things that have happened since my last Cluck Howl Crow Blog post.

1.  Halloween, 5th Grade Patriots Day and Fifties Day

I’ve always loved dress-up.  I think it is the hidden theater geek inside of me wanting to come out and play.  These were a few of the costumes I had to put together for the kids the last few weeks.

2.  Road Trip For Eric’s Birthday

Eric was not able to take leave to celebrate, so we planned a day trip to Goliad State Park which is between Corpus Christi and Houston.  We ate at the historic Empresario Restaurant and then visited the Mission and hiked the trails.

3.  Lindsey Attended the Village Learning Center Gala

All women want to look pretty when they have a formal event to attend.  The women reading this will understand the work that goes into accomplishing this transformation.  Find the dress, find the shoes, do the hair, nails, and other grooming before painting on the lipstick and heading out the door.  Lindsey looked beautiful.

4.  Getting a Head Start On Christmas

This year I got off to a good start sending out our greeting cards and then stalled for a while on the holiday decorations.  Tony the Elf came last week and although Robert put the tree up for me over Thanksgiving break we just decorated it yesterday!

5.  Annual Thanksgiving Trip to Florida

This year we were especially thankful to find our home only minimally damaged by Hurrican Michael.  Cape San Blas was directly in the path as Michael made its way inland destroying much of Mexico Beach, Tyndall Airforce Base, and Panama City, Florida.  We had to use our GPS to find our way through Panama City as almost every landmark we used had been destroyed.  Having survived Hurrican Harvey, Ike, Rita, and more here in Houston, we know the hardships these folks will continue to face for the coming months.  We were glad to be able to fish in the bay with Captain Lee and visit a new favorite “Hole in the Wall”  for Apalachicola Oysters.

6.  Three Back to Back Days of Migraines

Migraines come unexpectedly and never at a good time.  I’ve suffered from these horrible headaches for the last ten years or so.  I lost three days after Thanksgiving another two just getting back up to speed this month.  I have not been as impacted by these in 2018 and I attribute that to being on my Keto diet.  Guess who decided to go off her diet to enjoy all the food and festivities of Thanksgiving?  Coincidence or correlation? 

7.  Meet Cajun Magnolia’s Mighty Zeus

Last year before Thanksgiving we lost our beloved Golden Pyrenees, Arnie.  I have always wanted a Corgi, more specifically a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.  You might be familiar with the paintings by George Rodrigue, Blue Dog, his inspiration is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.  Meet Zeus, my early Christmas present from Robert!  I’m sure he will provide plenty of writing inspiration in the future.

8.  Grandbaby Number One (Emma Paige) is Almost Here

A couple of weeks ago was Brianna’s baby shower.  It was sweet to see her with her girlfriends and have the chance to snap some photos with Mom.  Yesterday, Brianna hosted Mom and me to breakfast in her home, and she showed us the new nursery.  The tiger in the crib came from Brussels where we bought Luke’s first “lovey,” a dog he calls Chewie.  Zeus got to meet his new cousin Charlie who was completely non-plussed by a puppy, but they chilled and enjoyed everyone’s attention.  Robert and I are very excited about becoming Grandparents.

9.  Autism, I.D.D., and Aging

I started a post last week that I did not finish about how after two years I’m still adjusting to moving from full-time manager and part-time caregiver to full-time caregiver for multiple family members and part-time entrepreneur.  It didn’t have a holly jolly holiday kind of feeling, and I didn’t want to have my first post in a while be a “Debbie Downer.”  Besides, Zeus arrived, and he cheered me up and gave me the perfect excuse for not accomplishing things.  Puppies need lots of attention!  The truth is I’m a terrible housewife and household manager.  I have many talents, but those are not in the top tier.  I think I’m a great Mom but taking care of the day to day is hard for me.

10.  Finding My Way Home

I decided a few weeks ago that it might be ok to include a bit of my past in my future.  For over fifteen years I’ve shared my knowledge of real estate with clients and other agents.  Since having a place to call home is such an important part of how to reshape your life and live brave I decided to start a second blog to launch in January 2019.  I think it will compliment what I’m doing at Cluck Howl Crow.  The focus will be tips on buying or selling a home and becoming a real estate agent. My goal will be to seek client referrals for my agent partners to service.  I’ll let you know when I launch the Real Estate Roost.

These are just a few of the things that have kept me busy over the last forty days.  Christmas and New Years will bring more to do with parties to attend and friends to catch up with.  I have to say that once I looked at everything that has been going on I stopped beating myself up so much for the things that haven’t gotten done.  There will always be more to do and never enough time.  C’ est la vie!