And the New Year blows in...

Happy New Year!! 2011 is officially here, and I am excited and nervous for all that it shall bring. This year is another big year for us. Jason will finish residency in June, and we will be moving to parts unknown (at least for now). It will be with a heavy heart that I pack up our house here and move to start over in a new city. I have come to enjoy being here (who would have thunk it?) and will miss the friends here that we have made in the last 3 years. But, all good things must end, and we will start our journey in a new place and hopefully a new addition by the end of the year. More than one person has told me that we are crazy for wanting to add to the family so quickly, but Jason and I both feel strongly about wanting to have kiddos close in age :)

As for the New Year Eve "celebrations", all I can say is wow. Jason had gone to have a drink with Dave and Luke and was coming back home by dinner. I was chatting on the phone when I stopped to listen to a noise outside. Ummm, it was the tornado sirens. I quickly said goodbye and turned on the TV. Yep, folks in my neck of the woods were being advised to take shelter. Great...So, I grabbed the baby and dog and off to the laundry room we went. I resurfaced for my cell phone and Ipad and to turn up the TV volume as loud as it would go so that I could hear updates from the laundry room. After texting Jason and telling him to stay at the bar for a bit, we got comfy on the floor. Then I get a text from the husband that asks about the cat! Mind you, this was the same husband who was adamant that I not feed this "damn" cat. So, feeling guilty about the cat being caught in a funnel cloud, I ventured out of the laundry room after making Jake a pallet from the dirty clothes.

Outside was a scary scene with the eerie stillness and lightning. I called Lucy and heard the jingle of her new collar immediately. She came running and the cat who has been trying to get inside for the past month stopped 3 feet short of the door and looked at me. Are you freaking kidding me? With visions of being swept into a tornadic funnel of fury in my head leaving my child in a pile of dirty clothes, I braved the outside to scoop up a scared kitty and run back inside. So now it was me, a very scared kitty, a slightly afraid and offended Maltipoo, and a child who had been stripped of anything except a bib and a onesie. (We have figured out that when Jake gets fussy in the evenings, we can take off clothing and immediately we have a happy baby. Jason says that he gets that from his Mama, but I digress...) Anyway, Jan (whose husband was also at the bar) and I texted pictures of us and the children huddled inside the laundry room and closet to each other and our husbands for entertainment and waited for the storm to pass. We played musical lap because I had a never-ending rotation of baby, dog, and cat that competed for attention. Finally, Peanut won lap space, Jake stretched out on the floor, and Lucy curled around his head. I wish that the trusty camera had made the cut because the pictures would have been comical.

The storm passed without incident, and we ventured out of the laundry room to continue with the normal nighttime routine. There were reports of a tornado at the airport which is only about 10 minutes down the road. Our yard was flooded but no damage - thank goodness. Jason got home, and I was fast asleep by 9:30 :)

Hopefully, 2011 will be a wonderful year with many pleasant surprises for our family and for all of you guys reading this. Now I must be off to make my black eyed peas, collard greens, and cornbread as any self-respecting Southern girl must do :)