SeVeN MoNTHS ToDay

Seven months today.

Yep, It’s been seven months since we moved. What have I discovered? Lots of things:

That I am open to change.

That a heart can break watching your children leave everything and everyone they have ever loved and known.

But that it can slowly heal. Although it takes time, and that they are slow to accept these changes and still remind me almost daily how much they miss home, miss their friends, miss snow, want their friends to visit, want to go to college in Illinois, don’t like their school (only on occasion).

I love the weather here after the sucky heat breaks. December has been absolutely beautiful.

We feel at home in our new home.

We have had a gazillion visitors and are expecting a gazillion more and are so happy that everyone wants to come see us.

I like talking to and meeting new people, and am open to discovering what people are all about.

I still miss my friends, and every now and then I will get a pang of homesickness, like today, when I was at Paradise Bakery, which is like Panera, I had some Black Bean Soup, I was thrown straight into missing my friends from home, who I would go to lunch with and always have soup.

I think cacti are really pretty. There are some purple ones that are so gorgeous. I really had preconceived ideas of what I thought it would be like here, and I was wrong. AZ, I apologize.

I still have the same resolutions here that I had when I lived in Illinois. Some things DON’T change.

I won’t keep those resolutions either.

I am worrying less about my kids, but still worrying about Tukey – he hasn’t found a group of kids to settle in with.

I am worrying about Ajers because there have been some cruel kids around; I don’t know if they are jealous that he’s come in and befriended some of the other kids, or that he came in and got on the basketball team, or what, but some things have happened that don’t make me happy. I have told him to do what Jesus did – turn the other cheek. Tukey said, “The butt cheek?”

Diva’s growing up beautifully. I’m watching her right now create a piece of art work in her class. She makes me proud. They all do. I’m learning that through the hard times, they’ll persevere and become better people.

I’m learning that rain in AZ is like snow in Virginia or other places where they get little of it – people freak and act erratically (and I just learned how to spell erratically!) when they are driving. It’s RAIN people! Good God, what will they do in snow?

I’ve learned that my kids loved swimming in a heated pool on Christmas Day (our neighbor’s, not ours).

I’ve learned that there are kind people willing to include a new family from Chicago into their traditions and into their lives and that makes my heart swell, especially during a time of year when it could have been a lonely sad place for us.

I’m learning that no matter where we are in life, that as long as we are together, and that we are raising our family in a way we believe in, and that we continue to communicate with each other, that everything will be working its way to fine.

Happy New Year. I hope 2011 brings you an abundance of health and happiness, because if you have that, everything else will follow.

PeaCe uP!

TRaNSiTioNS & TRaDiTioNS

We’ve moved away from everything “winter” recently, when our family packed it up, left the midwest and headed to Scottsdale. It’s been almost seven months, and a huge transition, but we’re getting there.

Today, just a couple of days before Christmas, I suggested to my three kids that we take a walk to Starbucks for some treats and hot chocolates. The kids had shorts on, and the boys grabbed their skateboards. While there is no snow here, there are still tons of decorations and everyone we meet is filled with the Christmas spirit ...

To read the rest, click to the Real Moms Guide Transitions and Traditions

(I'm hoping to be back in full swing in 2011 with a new MaNiC MoMMy game plan! Thanks for your continuous love and support - can't tell you how much it means that you still pop over here to read - I don't even know who is still reading! xo)

PeaCe uP!

~MaNiC MoMMy

STiLL WRiTiNG STuFF

Hi there! Thanks for popping over to see if I'm still here. I'm here but just writing elsewhere for the moment, so if you'd like to read about what's been going on, I'd be so happy if you'd check out any of these posts, and leave a comment or two over at Real Moms Guide:

My Last Christmas With Santa ... I'm gonna miss Santa Claus!

Books By Guys Who Sounds Like Girls ... Wally Lamb, Chris Bohjalian, Philip Beard - three great dude authors who sound totally like chicks!

Extending Your Weekend ... make the most of your weekend hours!

Baby Love ... I babysat adorable twins for a whole day and LOVED it!

Big Talks with Kids ... GLEE, sex talk and more with your kids.

Adult Friendships ... making them.

I'll be back after the New Year, and I hope you're getting all of your shopping done and finding time to enjoy the holiday season! xo PeaCe uP!

WiNNeRS oF DaWN MeeHaN'S BooK

Thank you all so much for your patience on
Dawn Meehan's You’ll Lose the Baby Weight (and OTHER LIES about pregnancy and childbirth).

Three winners have been chosen and contacted. There were so many great pregnancy stories, I ended up doing a random drawing to decide on winners. Congratulations to:

Erin T.
Cristen C.
Katie-Kat

Ladies, please email me your mailing addresses so I can ship you your books!

I hope everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season and that you're looking forward to a bright and healthy, happy New Year. Posting will continue to be light; we've got both sets of grandparents here and are enjoying their company!

However, if you've really got an itch for reading enlightening words from me (ha, do I crack myself up or WHAT?!), I'm still over at She Knows Real Moms Guide daily. Would love for you to stop by and leave a comment so they think I have friends! : )

Happy Holidays from the MaNiC family!

PeaCe uP!

TiS THe BuSy SeaSoN!

Am hoping that you've been as crazed as I am and haven't even bothered coming over here to see what's been going on. I'm actually afraid that blogs are slowly being replaced by the quicker, faster, get-your-SEO-fix-on Facebook and Twitter buzz stuff these days anyway, and that no one even bothers with blogs that much anymore? Not because I don't like blogs, but because I don't want anyone to be missing me.

I haven't been 'round here (insert Counting Crows song here) all that much. Also, been so busy I missed my own six-month anniversary in AZ. Happy Anniversary to us. We're surviving. It was actually COLD here. Mr. Manic even said the other day, "I didn't really think it got this cold in the winter." We're wimps now.

We've had a ton of company, and it's been a lot of fun. Went to the Grand Canyon, and took amazing photos that I shared on FB if you care to see (you can friend me by clicking on the FB link to the right over there, yeah, right over there -- I'm nudging my head in that direction, you know, to the right -- I'm horrible with directions, even on the 'net!).

I will be choosing winners for the You'll Lose the Baby Weight books in a few days, so yes, you can still enter, and these entries have been a blast to read, so much fun, that I'll probably have to choose winners randomly! But thanks for taking the time to enter! And since the holidays are upon us, posting will continue to be really slow-going, and I'll evaluate what to do with MaNiC MoMMy when 2012 is upon us. I really wanna finish up my next novel, as I'm 25,000 words knee-deep into it and have the momentum going.

For now, I continue to blog at Real Moms Guide, and having a lot of fun there -- I just posted on a tough suject -- Big Talks with Kids -- and would LOVE to hear your comments over there -- what do YOU talk to your kids about, how much is too much? We share everything with our children, so much sometimes that I wonder if we share too much, but then I think that I'd rather they hear it from us and they hear the RIGHT stuff from us and feel comfortable knowing they can come to us with questions. So, it'd be awesome if you could pop on over to Real Moms Guide and share your thoughts on how you talk with your kids.

Thanks for sticking by me. This month marks ... HOLY SHITOLA ... Friday, December 3 marks SIX years that I have been blogging as MaNiC MoMMy. Whoa. I think I'm getting the seven-year-itch a year early. For those bored to death interested, it all began six years ago, with a 3 year old, a 5-year old and a 7-year old ... right here.

HaPPy HoLiDayS!

~PeaCe uP!