Learning a bit more about me.....

Blog #2

Returned today from a week long vacation with my side of our family.  Watching my children play with their cousins is more than any one person can ask for.  It brings pure joy!  Across all of MY first and second cousins, my kids have 16 cousins that very close to their age.  Over the past week, we played with 9 of them - in addition to numerous aunts, uncles and grandparents.  Its a yearly Jamboree.  We all visit a family summer home in MA and do a whole lot of nothing.  We go to the pool, we lounge by the lake, we cook, we watch TV, we let the kids play in the woods and we huddle around one another and we do everything but argue, fight, yell or complain about eachother.  And I mean that seriously.  We are lucky.  No one is forced to go - we go because we want to - and everyone wants to be there. 

Many of us are not blood related - My mother passed in her mid 50's and my dad remarried in his late 60's.  She brings to the table three children and 2 grandkids who fit right in and would never be considered steps. 

It all sounds a bit surreal - but we do have lifes little complications too. 

Last week my husband lost his job.  This was the first casualty in our house of the sinking economy.

Changes are in store.  No more dinners out.  Shopping for anything other than necessities is over.  The clothing stores in my area will miss me and the restaurants we frequent will see far less of us.  We are very generous with the clothes we out grow.  In the past we bundled them up and dropped them with friends who have kids they might fit - or we called in the local charitable organization for a pick up.  From now on, we will do a clothing swap with friends who have kids the opposite age as ours.  We will own less - and we will live within our means. 

I look forward to cooking more, shopping less and more home time with my hubby and kids.  I loved living the 'high life' but I will love this just as much.

I live a good life - stick around - Ill be back...