Christmas 2014

Yes, dear friends, it HAS been a very long time since I've sat down to blog. There are so many events and thoughts over the past year that I should have recorded here, but hope this annual update will bring you all up to speed for now.

First things first: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I have a personal reason to celebrate life each day, and if you know Christ, you do, too.  Here's a brief clip from my FAVORITE part of my FAVORITE Christmas movie.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Linus really gets it, don't you think?  If you don't read another word of my annual Christmas letter, then know that my thoughts, prayers and well-wishes are with you during this season and throughout 2015. If you DO want "the rest of the story," then grab your favorite beverage, get comfy and read on.

Last Christmas was spent getting used to the new way of doing holidays in our family. The kids spent the first half with me and we had a Hobbit watching party, watching the first movie at home before going to the theater to watch The Desolation of Smaug. When the kids left for their dad's, I put away all the decorations and then left New Year's Day to tour a large hospital campus in south Texas. My 1-hour flight ended some 15 hours later after flying to Edinburg, detouring to San Antonio, taking another plane to Edinburg, returning to San Antonio, and taking a tour bus to Edinburg. The airport was closed when we arrived and I was quite thankful my corporate travel agent moved my hotel reservation to the airport and I could take a taxi! The job went well, we ended up writing the account, and the flight home was completely uneventful. WINNER!

Speaking of winners, Teagan and Erin were busy with High School and Jr. High basketball, respectively. It was a busy season!!  All of the kids were still taking music lessons and Cullen was participating in the 5th grade choir at school. In mid-January, Brandon, Teagan and I met Sabrina in Austin for the 3M Half Marathon. The kids trained with me on occasion before the race, so it was no surprise when I beat them! I also finally broke 2:00 with a new PR of 1:59:33 (yes, just 27 seconds under my goal.) Brandon and Teagan ran together and finished not far behind me and Sabrina finished just a short while later. The kids and I were able to get cleaned up at the hotel before driving back to Houston. I had just enough time to run inside for my ski jacket before catching a flight to Providence for a week of training and blizzards! While I was gone, Brandon turned 16. Mom of the Year wasn't able to get him to the DMV for his driving test until several weeks later because I got back from Providence Friday, did laundry and left for a 2-day meeting in Dallas on Monday, then a 3-day trip to San Antonio the following week.  Keep reading, you'll begin to notice a theme here...

In February, Brandon competed at UIL Solo & Ensemble, earning a "1" (Superior) for his solo performance, which gave him enough points to earn his letter jacket. He chose not to order it that year, but I was very proud of him all the same. Sabrina and I ran our last half marathon of the season.  By February, we're TIRED of running, so we slogged along, posted horrible times, ate and drank what was left in the finish area and made plans for triathlon season! Basketball season wound to a close and Erin's team went all the way in the playoff brackets, finishing first in district!

I was asked to do a prospect visit at a healthcare account I served 15 years ago and was so happy to find they were as good as I remembered. I was even happier to later learn we wrote the locations I visited. I located a counselor to give the kids some support for the ongoing stress of learning to go back and forth between addresses and to work through their own emotions during this time. She was able to help some of the kids more than others and ultimately ended up only seeing Cullen to help with some anger he was experiencing between school and home. Brandon was FINALLY able to take his driving test.  Of course, he passed and it has been a huge blessing to have another driver in the house!  Our insurance didn't even double since we didn't add a vehicle and he gets a good student discount. Gas mileage on the Expedition is terrible, so he's thankful it's only a mile to school each day!

In March, the High School orchestra took the "once-every-four-years-BIG-trip" - to Disneyland! As many times as we've been to Disney World, we've never visited Disneyland. I was asked to chaperon, and I jumped at the chance!  The kids were great and I had a fantastic time getting to know the directors a lot better, along with the other chaperons and even the high school principal! I'm not sure many schools have an administrator who is as fun and cool as ours. The chaperon I roomed with is a law professor at University of Houston and helped me understand so much more about the legal process than my lawyer had time to explain. The kids got to rehearse, play and record several pieces from Disney films in the back-lot recording studio. We visited the Holocaust Museum in LA, along with many scenic areas around Los Angeles, and rode the best rides at Disneyland, California Adventure and Universal Studios.  All while wrangling two tour buses full of the best kids any chaperon could ask for. I returned home tired and happy and can't wait for the next trip! 

While we were on the west coast, Erin and Cullen went with their dad to Disney World for Spring Break. Cullen celebrated his 11th birthday there. I got him a birthday button at Disneyland and a few other things. Mom of the Year missed another birthday! Cullen's choir had their big final concert and invited all the alumni to join them for one of the songs. Teagan and Erin went up, and were surprised that several adults had been 5th grade choir students 10 years ago when the school opened. The 5th grade choir also took their big trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston at the end of March to celebrate their 10th year. 

In April, I spent a week in Louisiana and a week in Beaumont visiting locations for one of my large healthcare accounts. Brandon took the PSAT in March and his results were good enough that he was on the cusp to be a National Merit Finalist, so he attended a multi-session review program offered by the district to qualifying students. Brandon got certified as a lifeguard so he could work for our community swim teams. Erin turned 13 at the end of April, while Mom of the Year was in Beaumont.

Swim team kicked off in May, with Brandon guarding and coaching for another team and Erin swimming for our team. Teagan and Cullen decided to take the season off. The team board was really impressed by the job Brandon did with the new little swimmers and he was proud to report that all of HIS little swimmers were able to swim across the pool before the drop deadline. Erin really hit her stride as a swimmer this summer, earning a lot of first place finishes and an entry to Meet of Champs at the end of the season. There were several events where she posted better times than some friends who swim year-round with a private club and she has now decided that she'll try out for the high school swim team in the fall. Her best stroke is butterfly, which is a very difficult stroke to master, followed by freestyle, which she also does extremely well. 

Teagan, Erin and I formed a relay team for the TriGirl Super Sprint (200 m swim, 8 mi bike, 2 mi run) on Mother's Day. Last year we finished first, but fell to third this year as the race has grown in popularity. We'll train harder in the spring and be back in 2015! I also competed individually at No Label triathlon in April and Springs Back triathlon in May. My times were nothing brag-worthy, but sometimes just finishing is good enough. I volunteered at Ironman Texas again since Sabrina (my bestie) was competing. It was a long hard day for both of us (her much more than me!) but she finished well and I had a great time as always. The school year wound to a close and I finished the month out with trips to Dallas and Lafayette.

June brought several swim meets for Erin, Tejas Triathlon for me, Kamp Kingsland for the older three kids, summer school for Brandon and Teagan (extra credits), and Strength and Conditioning Camp for our student athletes. Cullen was glad to watch TV and play video games! I was able to schedule mostly local work for June. This summer we all got familiar with the new way our family does summer vacation between two households. It wasn't without it's sticky spots, but we got through it just fine.

The older three kids left for their respective mission trips in July. Brandon went to Montana, Teagan to Chicago and Erin to Arlington, TX. Cullen got to spend the week having fun with my parents while I took care of some work in San Antonio. The following week started a 2-week period with their dad and I went to Charleston, SC for a company meeting. I got back just in time to catch the AC drain overflow line fail and run down the wall between my bedroom and bathroom, ending in the garage ceiling. I'm grateful I was home and the damage was mostly minor drywall that ServePro was able to dry out. We still have a small patch job to do on the garage ceiling, but it truly could have been a lot worse! The end of the month saw a little local work for me (finally!) and Cullen went to Pre-Teen Camp.

The kids spent the first half of August with their dad and I used the time to get work done in Lake Charles, LA. Brandon and Teagan had the high school summer orchestra camp, which always ends in a nice concert. Cullen attended "Pup Camp" to get ready for Jr. High and auditioned for the Jr. High orchestra since he'd already had a year of violin lessons. He made the third group, which is very good for a beginning violinist.  Teagan and Erin participated in a research study through Texas Children's and earned $100 each for being part of a control group! After much consideration and discussion of the pros and cons, Brandon decided not to continue with football this school year. I think he made a wise choice, but it was still sad for both of us because he enjoys the sport so much. He knew Junior year would be challenging and busy and decided it would be best to devote more time to academics and music, which didn't leave extra time for football practice and games. 

Everyone attended the back-to-school festivities to get schedules and lockers and books. I wrote a bazillion checks. We sat down to our usual flurry of first-day-of-school paperwork. We've gotten rather efficient with the process and the kids fill out all of their own paperwork with a little help on some information. Then I sign the entire stack at one time, they sort and get everyone's forms back in their own backpacks. It's a little crazy for an hour or so, but it gets the job done and I don't end up with writer's cramp! This year, Brandon is a Junior, Teagan a Sophomore, Erin an 8th grader and Cullen a 6th grader. My people are finally all back on the same campus! Brandon is able to drive everyone to school unless someone has early sports practice. My dad helps fill in the gaps in the afternoon when they get done with activities at different times. Having a safe, reliable high-school driver is a huge blessing!! My birthday came and went without much fanfare. I'm finally the age I've had written on my calf all year - 43! It's been a long year and I'm tired, but I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm surrounded by great people.

September saw travel to Edinburg, TX and Dallas. Teagan turned 15 while I was in south Texas, giving me a perfect score for Mom of the Year! She was able to get her Learner's Permit the following week when I returned and has enjoyed learning to drive. Erin made the 8th grade volleyball team and had a great season, finishing District Runner-Up in the final tournament. Everyone got back into the swing of things with the regular school-year schedule. There are days for music lessons, church days, game days, and all the various activities that go on each week. 

In October, Brandon auditioned for the Region Orchestra. The music comes out mid-summer and he worked hard and earned a spot in the top group. Erin tried out for the church youth band and sings back-up for them about once a month. Teagan and Brandon each had dates to Homecoming this year, so we had fun making a mum and a garter (for those not in Texas, just Google what that means!) Teagan was very upset to find she was cut from the JV Basketball team, but then learned from one of her teachers that the school district needed lifeguards, so she took the class and has been guarding for the district since then. It's a great first job and coordinates well with her school schedule. I love that she's so resilient when disappointment comes her way! 

I competed at the Oktoberfest triathlon as part of a relay on the Olympic distance race, so I only had to run a 10K distance. Sabrina swam and Brandon took the bike leg, even though he hadn't been on his bike in about a year. He said it was a tough ride since he didn't train, but he still did well. I spent a week in New Orleans for work mid-month. Brandon attended the Area auditions and taped for All-State. He hasn't made it yet, but has continued to move up the ranks and hopes to make it next year.

In November, Sabrina and my friend Eileen came down from Michigan to relay the Texas Oilman 70.3 triathlon. Sabrina is always the swimmer, Eileen took the bike 56 miles and I ran the 13.1 miles at the end. It was a rather warm day and course changes provided a challenging run. We didn't get the podium finish we hoped for but still had a great weekend together despite the crazy schedules with everyone's jobs. I had a quick trip to New Orleans and then handled local work and reports for the remainder of the month. Erin tried out and made the 8th grade basketball team and has had a good deal of success on the court. Brandon played in a fantastic Region Orchestra concert. The girls and I ran in the YMCA Turkey Dash on Thanksgiving morning and then my parents and Sabrina's family joined us for dinner. We all had a great time eating, watching football and just hanging out.

The first weekend in December, Sabrina and I ran the 5th annual RunGirl 13.1. We later found out we are two of 8 people who have run every year. It's a special race for me since it was my first half marathon. Brandon finally ordered and received his letter jacket right before the school break. He did all the design himself and it turned out really well. The boy who NEVER wears a jacket has worn it every single day since it was delivered. 

Because of the workload this year, I ended up with a LOT of leftover vacation time. I wrapped up all but one report, sold days I could, rolled a week, ended up working through one of the weeks, but finally took off the last half of December. It has been wonderful to finally have some downtime. I've been truly exhausted by the workload this year and the other "stuff of life" hasn't been the easiest, either.

I'm relieved to report that as of Friday, December 19, after 17.5 months of litigation and more money than I care to divulge, my divorce is final. The process was absolutely awful from beginning to end and there are still a few minor details to wrap up in 2015, but I'm relieved that I can walk into 2015 free and healthy and can chart a new course for myself. 

I spent this weekend running. The 10th Goofy is in three weeks and the medal is really neat this year. Sabrina is just crazy (Goofy?) enough to come run it with me again. This was our 30-mile weekend where we ran 10 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Part of our 20 was the Santa Hustle 13.1 in Galveston. With four miles before and three after, I still posted a 2:08:12 race time, which I'm very satisfied with. I know my girls will want to run this with me next year - it was a lot of fun!

So, that's it for this year's Christmas letter / Year In Review. I pray your family can see and feel the blessings of God both now and in 2015. Despite the difficult times this year, I can tell you with absolute certainty that God has been in complete control, has delivered on EVERY promise, and has held me together when I wasn't sure I could take another breath.

I hope you enjoy this picture of my kids, taken by Madison Hennings, Brandon's girlfriend.