It's Over Already??

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends and Santa brought you everything that you wanted.

My Christmas was really, really good. We went to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve, where we stuffed our faces with yummy brisket, potato salad, baked beans, macaroni and the works. We then played Dirty Santa and opened presents, and I finally got a full set of silverware that matches! :) I also got some kitchen knives and some much-needed dinero. Zoie got lots of goodies too, including a tea set which she loved. We all had a tea party, and the men joined in, too! She even got "tips" for being such a good hostess, so she banked at Christmas... literally!

Christmas Day was even better. We woke up early and opened presents. Zoie wasn't ready to get up as they stayed up and watched "Color Her Dress" as Zoie calls it, AKA Polar Express. haha She stayed up too late and we woke her up too early, so it took her a bit to realize what was going on. But once she woke up, she loved tearing into her presents, and mine, and my sister's, and my mom's... lol. She got tons of goodies--way too many to tell the truth. She even got a Dora Hot Wheels tricycle, but she will have to grow into it as her legs are still a little short. She also got books and Barbies and a Disney Princess sleeping bag. After she opened all of her loot, it was our turn. I got a really pretty votive lamp, mirror and book from my sister and her boyfriend. Mom and dad saved the best for last though... we got 32" flat screen TVs!! I couldn't believe it. There were tears in my eyes when they brought them out. I wasn't expecting something so great. I really needed it to replace my teensie-tiny TV that I got in Germany that doesn't even pick up channels! I was truly blessed.

Mom opened her "HOME" plaque and her cross mirror and loved them. She then opened her KitchenAid mixer that I got a GREAT deal on. She LOVED it. She was so happy as she has wanted one for a very long time. It was great to see her face when she opened it. It was priceless. Dad also opened his Celtic CDs that I got for him. He really liked them. He was sad he missed the Celtic Thunder on TV the other night, so I think he really was happy that I remembered that he liked them. He already saw his oars and lures that I got for him as I couldn't really "hide" them since they were so big. I wrapped a big bow around them and hung lures from them. He thought it was pretty clever... although he already bought some oars at Bass Pro Shops and didn't tell me. Oh well, he liked the idea. Then he opened his GPS. I will never forget the smile on his face. He seemed so happy. I was glad I was able to get people what they really wanted and deserved this year.

It was nice to have a couple days off of work. We did some after-Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart and our new SUPER Target! I got some great stuff on clearance for next year's Dirty Santa and also a couple presents. I was pretty stoked about that.

On Saturday we had Christmas on my dad's side of the family. We had 3 new babies in the family, so it was great getting to see all of them for the first time. We played Dirty Santa and opened presents. We all had a really great time. Zoie just played and played and wore herself out!

I had such a great weekend I can't believe Christmas is over already. I went back to work today and tried to play catch-up, as well as handle the mess from our "flood" last week that flooded all 7 floors when our air handler coil froze and busted. We literally had a waterfall from the roof of our building all the way down the side to the first floor. We had a restoration company come and tear our the drywall and extract the water, but now we have to get bids on carpet, paint, construction of drywall, etc. I was on the phone literally all day trying to get people out to give us estimates on the clean up. It is a huge nightmare and I will be glad when it is over!

Zoie was promoted in daycare today, too. She is now in the "older 2's" class. She was so happy to see her friends that had already promoted that she ran up and gave them each a hug. I wish I could have seen it. They are going to really start working with her next week on potty training too, so that is good. We haven't had much luck, so hopefully they will. :)

I got a call from DHS last week. They denied my daycare assistance and Zoie's insurance. They say that I make too much money to qualify for assistance, even though I don't get child support. I didn't even make $25,000 last year. However, they take your paystub and instead of multiplying it by two, they multiply it by like 2.15 or something, so that set me over. If they would just multiply it by 2 like they "should", I would still qualify. It is so frustrating. I don't know where I am going to come up with the money to pay for daycare or her insurance. I am going from paying $139 a month for FULL time daycare to $324 a month for PART time daycare, 3-days a week. And to add her to my insurance, the charge would go from $106 to $249. That is almost an extra $350!!! I'm just praying that things will work out and God will provide for us. I am really trying to give my daughter a good life, and it seems like these obstacles keep getting in my way. Hopefully everything will work out. My grandparents are going to watch her on Thurs. mornings and my mom will get her in the afternoon and on Fridays. So at least I have family to help me out. I am very fortunate there.

But that is all that is going on here. I am only working 2 days this week, then we get Wednesday and Thursday off for the holiday, and I am taking off Friday so that I can have a 5-day weekend. I am really excited about that!! :)

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!

Love,