Susan's Diary

6:22am: Good morning, everyone. I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season. I think it's safe to say that everyone, or pretty much everyone here, had one. The snow certainly helps to keep things light. I love it a great deal. I did have to take a couple of my outside decorations in, however, after digging them out. There's so much snow, those cute blow up decorations just don't work. But my other ones are still out there. I don't feel like digging them out yet. I love seeing the lights among the snow, even if some of it has melted.

Today is a big general party day that will be enjoyable as well. I got up a little early so I can make sure everything is ready for people when they start to filter into my house. I've been working on a good breakfast buffet, which is always one of my favorite things to do for New Year's Eve. It makes it much easier, especially for people who run from house to house looking for treats. I'm planning to do the same sort of thing for dinner and lunch as well, allowing everyone to just have access to food all day.

I know this isn't a long post, but I hear Henry wandering down the hall and I should get him breakfast. Everyone have a wonderful day.

9:15pm: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it. That needs to be said second. I hope people didn't have too many problems this Black Friday. I go out every year. I never have problems with people, really, so I go out every Black Friday. I also always wake up rather early as it is, so forcing myself out of bed a couple hours early isn't any problem for me. Coffee shops were open bright and early, which was a definite bonus. I'm sure they had excellent business today as people lined up outside of stores. I started at the mall, which opened at 4, as that way there was more space for all the people who went through.

I also took Miser with me since he has to do his stocking. Today is his dream day. I actually had to stop by home after the mall to drop off mostly things he bought, and then we were off again. He is an amazing shopper. I had a great deal of fun, however, and now have almost all of my shopping done. I just love to see what stores will do to get people in their doors Black Friday. It's rather fascinating. Sometimes I wonder how far above cost some of these sales are. I think Miser is pretty much done with his Christmas shopping. He needs to go out once more Christmas eve to catch the last sale on Christmas candy. It's rare that all the stores actually run out of everything he wants, and I'm willing to go near and far. It's great fun to shop with him. I look forward to it every year.

We played a little mall dodging today too with those who dared to come out Black Friday, which, as I mentioned before, is always fun. Doug didn't come out, so I didn't have to worry about the one who actively tries to seek us out rather than focuses on buying things, and so I finished his presents. Now he won't be able to find his present. I think he'll like it, though.

With that, however, I am rather exhausted. I don't think I'll be up early tomorrow. I'll sleep in until 9 or so. Have a good night, everyone.

6:15pm: Good evening everyone. I've been meaning several times to get around to posting, and I kept getting distracted. It's easy for me to get distracted this time of year. I've been poring over recipes to use for Thanksgiving. With as many people as we feed, we need many people to be at full cooking speed to feed them all and have leftovers. I'm glad I have two ovens and that I put two ovens in the house we had built. I told Penny that she can use that kitchen if she so desired since Topaz's house doesn't have two ovens, and it's always wonderful to have two ovens when you're cooking for a very large Thanksgiving dinner. I'm sure she'll enjoy it all a great deal. The more kitchens we have access to, though, the better. I'm sure she'll still find reason to use Topaz's kitchen, and oven, and be running back and forth a bit to make sure everything's going as planned.

I have everything I need ingredient wise now except the fresh vegetables and potatoes, which I like to get closer to Thanksgiving, just in case. So those will be bought in about a week. I'm very excited for this, as I always get. My mother is looking for all ways possible that she's going to be able to help... or, well, take over, so I've been working on ways that she can do that as well.

It's going to be a great Thanksgiving, I'm sure, even though Mikel's grandmother will be there. We'll make sure she sits with Alyce, Jamie, and their kids to keep her disagreeability to a bare minimum. I'm sure she'll still be disagreeable, but there are other tricks to play if she is that might help her be a bit more agreeable.

With that, I need to finish looking through recipes and triple check that there's nothing else I want to make. Then I have Christmas lists to pore over next, from Christmas shopping to pondering what food to make for Christmas dinner.

I hope everyone has a good night.

9:41pm: Things seem to be calming down a little, but some still seem to be having a bad day at least today. My mother has settled in quite well, though she is having a hard time not trying to get up and cook or bake things. She's used to making cookie dough and other treats this time of year to freeze until closer to Christmas. It's the easiest way to make sure there are plenty of things to go around without burning oneself out during the Christmas season. I do hope Penny is ready to help out with the extra cooking and baking. Actually, I know she is. Now that we're getting to the point where the garden doesn't need as much work that I don't pay Bait to do, I've been working more on the coming season myself. Yesterday, I spent almost the entire day, when I wasn't helping with my mother, making things to freeze in preparation and looking through recipes, of course. I always try to find one or two different things to try each year. This time, I might have to go with buckeyes. I'm sure Mike would especially appreciate that.

I've been Christmas shopping quite a bit, lately. Early, yes, but there aren't the lines after lines, and I'm really not worried about discounts and such that happen during the Christmas season to get customers to the stores. Hopefully, Christmas will help the economy out quite a bit. It certainly has the potential to help. It's always enjoyable to go out with people to shop, especially when we go out as a large group to somewhere and spend have the time trying to avoid everyone while we get their presents. It's all about hiding, sneaking, and being effective and a great deal of fun, especially when the Dennys are involved. Alyce spends as much time trying to find everyone as she does shopping, but then, Doug spends more time trying to find everyone than he does shopping.

We'll have to plan one of those shopping trips here soon. I miss them a great deal. I hope everyone is doing well.

11:00pm: Well, this will be a rather quick post due to me being a bit late. It's been a rather hectic few days what with Mikel's grandmother getting mugged and needing a place to stay, is getting to use the house that I just recently bought. It was very excellent timing. The house is already coming along very well. Amber went out and got everything that would be needed for the bathroom, and that's already done. It looks very good, actually. I'm glad that there's a rather large bathroom in the house, though the cabinents had to get knocked out and replaced to make extra room for the wheelchair. Tomorrow, the ramps get put in and the kitchen and dining room get fixed up so we know the wheelchair won't have any problems. Then, the day after that is the living room and her bedroom. Then it should be ready for her. It's meant a lot of work throughout the day and a l lot of deliveries, but it's something for a lot of people to work on, and so actually is helping out.

Besides, I saw Isaac smile more than once when taking out the cabinents in the bathroom.

I need to finish watching television and then head to bed. I hope you're all doing well.

5:45am: Well, I have someone prepared to buy the house. Mankin is asking $135,000 for it, which is far more than it happens to be worth, except to me. It will be very nice having yet another house, even if it's in desperate need of some yard work and a paint job. I get the feeling the inside isn't going to be that great either. It has a decent garden in the back, however, so I'll have more to do in the yard. I never back down at the chance to do more gardening, and their garden is going to need some maintenance, I'm quite sure.

And so, he will be gone. It will be such a relief. Sometimes I worried about him a bit. I never knew just how sane he really is, which really left an air of unease around whenever he was seen out and about. And he won't waste water watering the streets, which is a very strange thing to do, but he did it. Apparently he didn't like the street in front of his house being dirty. I might take the offensive fence I had built down once I have the house, as well. It won't really be needed anymore.

With that update on the situation, I'm going to go make breakfast and then call work. They've been nagging me more than usual lately to solve problems that they really should learn to solve themselves, but I suppose that's what I'm here for.

Have a good day, everyone.

10:05pm: Good evening, everyone. I come to you with dreadful news.

My neighbor is moving. Mr. Mankin has finally had enough and he is leaving us. I am so terribly sad that I had to host a going away party to which he was not invited. I didn't want him to witness our sorrow and feel so sad that he would change his mind and not leave.

Well, that made my stomach turn a little. I am thrilled that this man, if you can call him that, is leaving. I'm going to buy his house to make sure it gets sold, through someone if I have to, and then he can just go away. I think Mayhem and Bait finally just threw him over the edge. Everyday, Mayhem takes a walk, passing in front of his house at least twice and just staring at it. It would be quite unnerving, I'm sure, if you weren't me. Bait is Bait and leaves him stuttering every chance he can get. It's a joy to watch. Bait loves to help me garden. I wonder why.

Then when you throw in everyone else here, well I'm just glad he's gone. So there is my joyful news. Rejoice with me.

10:00pm: Well, I can't let myself be the one to lose. That would be tragic, though I am curious to know the punishment Nemesis would give me. But, I hope to not find out. I'll have to ask her after this little contest is over.

Good evening, everyone. I hope you're all doing well. I've been very busy lately what with helping around the neighborhood, summer chores, gardening, which isn't a chore, and little Sydney. She just turned 18 months today. It's such a joy to have her around the house. She keeps Henry active, and we all know he needs that. It does his heart well to chase a one year old around the house.

My neighbor is as annoying as ever, surprisingly enough, though he's quieter about it that usual ever since he made noise at the wrong time. Mayhem scared him a great deal, I think. I find it amusing, myself. I did decide to have another house built on my property since it's rather large. It's very nice to have the extra room at times. And who knows, maybe someone will want to move into it permanently. We have a few people here thinking about moving here on a more permanent level, after all. Amber's family, Doug's family... I'm sure someone will make even more use of it.

I've been spending a lot of my time with Sydney or around at various houses gardening. The more I get to garden, the happier I am, even if it sometimes makes me sore. We won't go too much into that, however; people might insist on weeding for me more often.

There. I have made my post with a little to spare. I actually thought about writing it out and posting it at 11:59, but I decided against it just in case I forget.

3:48pm: Someday I'll update more often than once every few months. It's in the middle of the transition phase between winter and spring outside, but then it's been that way for most of the winter. I'm very glad that spring is almost here, to be honest. If winter is going to be ugly, I'd much rather have spring get here all the faster. But soon the early flowers should be coming up, and that will honestly make my day. We've had a few lovely days, but they seem far and few between. It will be nice to see this winter go so that we might be able to hope for a better one to come. It's been a rather nice winter with the lack of illness, however. We've had a few little bugs come and go throughout the group, but nothing big here in Washington at the very least. It's very nice to see that for a change.

I've been watching the chickadees outside and I've decided that I really must take Tamika out to the bird feeders to show her that they'll come to her hand. Chickadees are wonderful little birds, and I've been hand feeding them for years now. It's very enjoyable, and I'm sure it will very much thrill Tamika to get a chance to hold at least one. We'll see how quickly they take to her.

It's difficult to believe that Nick's in middle school already. Where does the time go? It's supposed to slow down, but it has yet to do that for me. It always just seems to go quickly.

I must go think about what to make for dinner, however. Nick's already hungry again, despite my mother making him lunch, and I need to beat my mother into the kitchen before she tries to take it over again anyway.

I do hope everything's been going well with everyone else and that it continues to do so.

8:07pm: I suppose I will update my journal while I'm here replying to others. Halloween was quite fun what with Bridget and everyone seeing to it that my house was well decorated up for a haunted house. Bridget does know how to do such things well. Having all the visitors for Madison's birthday was very nice too as they like, for some reason, to hang out on my lawn a lot of the time. I don't think Mr. Mankin appreciated this, but frankly, I don't really care too much about what he appreciates. I just like to make sure my dear friends get to have their entertainment.

In other things, the weather is starting to reflect the general spirit of people around here. It's been raining quite a bit over the past week or two. That is to be expected since that's the typical weather of fall, here, but that general spirit could use a lifting or ten. I'm sure we'll find ways to do just this, especially with the holiday season coming soon. Hopefully we'll have more snow this winter. It would certainly be nice and the kids would enjoy that very much.

I have started on the holiday baking, however, which does certainly make me feel better. I've even let my mother help, I'm just so nice. I have noticed an increase since we started this in the amount of time that Mike spends here. I do believe he has hopes to get his own entire batch of cookies rather than simply one or two occasionally simply because we can't resist him. I might have to do that tonight. It would help lift his spirits a little, I'm sure, and I'm willing to do that for everyone I can. I might even experiment with shaping out some peanut butter cookies and see if I can manage it. That would be quite the feat, but it would be worth it if I could find a way to do so.

So anything I can freeze, I've been making. That way I can be very ready for all the guests we're going to have over the holiday season. I'll have to start catering to the tastes of everyone here as well and start making pre-holiday treats for people. In fact, I think that's what I believe I'll go do now. Preparing food and gardening are two things that clear my mind quite nicely, and I'm going to take advantage of that.

7:38pm: It's been awhile
A long while, as a matter of fact. But I've been tagged for something and so I thought I might as well do it. And then I will perhaps catch people up with an update. I know you're all just dying to hear from me, after all.

Five things I can't live without:
-My family both blood related and not. Though we can exlude my brother, I suppose.
-Gardening.
-Ladybugs. They seem to have become a theme.
-Grandchildren. Note the plural.
-Books.

Five foods/beverages that I love:
-Crabcakes.
-Lobster.
-Tea.
-Calamares. That's fried squid in case someone doesn't know.
-Orange Juice.

Five things that I always (at least usually) have with me:
-Henry. He's a good puppy dog.
-Some sort of plant.
-A ladybug somewhere, whether it be a living one or decor.
-A hat of one sort or another.
-My wedding ring.

Five things I will always and forever hate and/or dislike:
-Chicken
-Bad seeds in the blood family. Yes, I have a few, can you believe that?
-My neighbor, but at least he offers some chances for amusement. I like it when Mayhem stays at my house.
-Being told what to do while I'm making dinner or gardening.
-People trying to mess with my family.

There we are. Now, on other notes, it's wonderful watching my grandson grow up. Give him about three or so more years and he'll fit into the jacket I gave to Mikel last Christmas to save for him. Mikel has a matching one, after all, except his is just a slight bit bigger. Yes, I'm expecting Mikel to have a great influence upon my grandchild. Many would think me crazy for that, but I like Mikel and Jamal is my grandchild, so I can pass him off on Bree anytime I so desire.

I believe I'm going to go in for fertility treatments here in the near future. So if, in about a year, you see an article on a fifty or fifty-one year old woman giving birth to quints, it's probably me. Henry loves this idea, really he does. Speaking of my age, my fiftieth birthday is this coming Thursday. It's hard to believe that I've almost been alive for five decades, but I find that refreshing. I don't feel fifty, and that's what matters. I certainly can't feel bad about my age with John around. So you may all wish me a happy fiftieth.

The summer has been somewhat quiet, but I have this motherly sense of slight foreboding. I don't know whether to ignore it or not, and I hate that. I suppose we'll see. It's almost like that feeling you get before a storm. But I'm looking forward to Pig Out in the Park. It starts on my birthday after all, so I plan to make a blast of it and go all out. I think I deserve at least that. We'll see if I can manage to get hyper or if I'll get sick of sugar first.

I suppose that's enough for now. Other than gardening and starting on Laura's garden, there hasn't been all that much going on that's involved me. And yet I always seem to stay busy. I haven't found time to read a few books I want to read as there always seems to be something more important to do at the time, such as bake cookies. Oh, that does remind me that I do need to get my yearly measuring of Bree done. If I put it up here, I'm less likely to forget. I like to have her measurements just in case something comes up. Usually it doesn't, as I don't have much time for sewing or anything like that, but I like to have them just in case.

With that, I must go take care of the sick ones. There seems to be a bit of a bug going around at the moment that's in need of a remedy or two. I'm at least good at those.

11:11pm: Ill Omens (No Pun Intended)
People seem to be following the path of not feeling too well. So far, there isn't anything too bad, but then it's just started. I'm not feeling the least bit sick, however, which I hope is a good sign since that will leave me open for the coming sickness that seems to be looming over the horizon in many cases. Henry assures me at home that he's not feeling at all sick either. I was going to head to Colorado next week, but I think, with this looming, I'll have to see how things turn out before I decide for sure just when I'm going back. I'm still working on one last child, after all, and Henry and I being apart isn't going to get me anywhere.

I worry that it is going to be the flu. There have been a few stories in the news lately about the flu running through the city, and well people here can't help but get exposed what with going to college and all and simply having to go out and about for day to day errands. If I could find a way to wipe the virus off the face of the Earth, I would happily see to it. It's caused some of us here more problems. My mother insists that she's fine, but she's been just a little slower than usual today. It didn't seem to weigh too much down on her until the last couple of hours, however. I think I'm going to have to wait until she goes to sleep and then sneak in to check on her. It might just be because she's tired, but that's a rarity in and of itself.

While I'm a little worried about her, I'm more worried about my daughter, who just can't seem to cut much of a break from the disease when it comes around. She did one year, just as Mike did, but other than that, those two tend to have the worst problems with the disease. Ironically enough, unlike my mother and most other people, you can't tell Bree's not feeling her best by her slowing down. No, since last night she's been insisting on doing more work as though that will fight off the disease. Well, on top of that, there's the fact that she's been passing Jamal off on others far more often than usual and hasn't tried to steal Madison within the last couple of days. Between those two signs, and especially the last, it's rather obvious that she's not feeling her best either. She, of course, insists that she feels fine and is as stubborn as ever about not accepting the fact that she's sick, but we know her too well for that to work.

So here's hoping for a short flu season, as I'm sure that's what it is, and not a lingering one. I think I'll go to Albertson's now and start gathering the supplies I'm sure I'm going to need for the next couple of weeks at least. The more ready we are, the better, correct?

Operation Stand Against the Flu is underway.

2:59am: Before I go to bed.
It was a nice day. I like to donate things, and I got quite the chance to do that today what with Jay and Kevin of a morning radio show here sponsoring a food drive. It gave me another reason on top of the several I already had to go out around the town today. I like to window shop if I have nothing else to do, especially with Christmas coming up. It is weird driving a car with the trunk and backseat heavy enough with cans that they drag you down. I'm sorry Jim, I think, at least for a little while, I took the mileage of my car down quite a bit. You'll have to forgive me. It was for a good cause, after all.

I did just finish convincing Henry that another baby would be a wonderful thing to have, so we are going to work toward that. It might take a while, and it might not happen at all, which would be depressing, but chances are that I will be pregnant given several months at the most. So I've been deciding what to do with our free room that will be the nursery and the guest room for the time being. I just need to have a guest room, after all. I must do more window shopping tomorrow, and I really need to get used to this shopping over the internet idea, but some things don't come easily, and looking at the computer screen just doesn't have the same quality to it as strolling through a mall. I think I'll go back to Denver for a while to be with Henry and Nick for the rest of Nick's school year as well. There's no time like the present to start trying to get a baby, and I really miss Nick. Maybe I'll transfer him up here to Orchard Center after this school year is over. I don't want to cut him off in the middle of the school year. I think that's what I'll do.

But now, I shall go to bed. It is late, even for me, and I need to be up no later than nine. I have friends to meet for browsing the Valley Mall. I think I shall try to find a spontaneous present for Doug. I just feel like it. I'm sure I can find the perfect gift.

5:37pm: Some moments in life are hard to prepare for. I'm forty-nine years old, and that puts me close to the average age for a woman to go through menopause. The idea of not being able to have children any more weighs heavily on my shoulders. I have two at this moment in time. Bree and Nick. They've both given my life untold pleasures throughout my years, and I simply couldn't imagine life without either of them. Bree is now twenty-five, as many of you know, and Nick is nine and simply growing up too fast, as all children do.

But with menopause looming in the too near future, I find myself wanting another one. Many younger people would probably think me crazy for wanting another child at forty-nine, but I can't help it. I see all the new young ones being brought into the world courtesy of those to whom I'm close, and now there's a little pang of jealousy in my gut as soon, I won't even have the chance to experience that again. I just need to convince Henry, which, honestly, won't be too difficult. When I really want to, I can convince him of just about anything, and he can do much the same to me. It amuses me to watch my daughter and Doug, because I know it's very much the same with them.

So yes, I think I will try to get pregnant one last time. It wouldn't hurt anything. It's not as though we're short of money or anything like that. My mother will be thrilled as well, I'm sure. She wouldn't mind another grandchild, just as she wouldn't mind another great-grandchild. Henry will half-heartedly bemoan it, but he'll say yes because he'll like the idea as well. He's that way, after all.

As for the rest of my life of late, I've been keeping in close contact with my little brother, Sammy. He's still as goofy as ever, and still as energetic. He has three wonderful children, the eldest of whom is at least as goofy and as energetic as he is. She definitely has her own way with the world and isn't afraid to express herself. She really is fun to be around. She reminds me quite a bit of her father. I'll have to see about Sammy coming here for Christmas. Maybe I can get him to bring his whole family. I'm sure those here wouldn't mind the added company. I like that idea. I will have to talk with Sammy about it tomorrow when I call him.

I do hope the rest of your lives have been going well as well. It's days like this that I truly remember what a joy life really is.

5:55am: Good morning, everyone.
I know I haven't updated in a long while, but I decided that this morning would probably be a good day to change that. I should force myself to do this more often. It's just been so busy around here, especially lately, what with the birth of my first grandchild, Becky's great-grandmother, Alice, needing help and then ending up in the hospital again, and then Mikel ending up in the hospital as well. We'll start the beginning and go from there. That's almost always a good way to go about things.

Well, as most, if not all of you know, my grandson, Jamal Peter Morse, was born June 30th, which is becoming quite the popular day for birthdays. I believe that's the fourth person in the group to have a birthday on June 30th. Of course, the stretch from June 30th to July 4th has at least one birthday every day. It seems to be a popular time to be born. Jamal is doing very well and is extremely adorable. He has at least one woman of the group huddled over him constantly, and he certainly doesn't seem to mind the attention. He's now two months old, which is just amazing to think about. Soon his first Christmas will be here. Oh, I've already started shopping for that. I don't know if there's enough room in my new house, however.

Oh yes, that reminds me, the house I was having built down the road is now finished. It just needs a bit more gardening work and then it will be complete, which is perfect timing considering I'll be right in time for fall planting.

But back to Jamal, him being more important by far. My mother has been just thrilled with her great-grandson. He's just so small and adorable. I can say that since I didn't have to push him out. Bree weighed more than Jamal did, so she can't complain to me about it, either. Being a mother really is wonderful, but being a grandmother is right up there with it as well. I get to spoil the child and then give him right back to his parents, after all. I think Mikel will be a wonderful influence for him as well. I'm very interested to see the presents that come to Jamal over the years from Mikel. I wonder how quickly Bree will go grey. If I'm lucky, she might get more grey hairs than I do if they come really quickly over the next few years. Then I can make fun of her. A mother can hope, and I know Mikel will do his best to make it so.

That brings us to Alice. I've been doing most of Alice's yardwork since she can't do it herself any more. I love yardwork enough that I certainly don't mind. I've gathered a couple of her roses for her on occasion, dealt with the dying heads, pulled weeds, and made sure the lawn is watered. She mentioned some pesticides killing off her ladybugs, so I decided that I would go out and buy her some and put them out in her yard. Her trees have had some problems with aphids, and nothing takes care of aphids better than ladybugs. I spend at least an hour there every morning and then return occasionally to move the water. She does have a very lovely yard. I enjoy taking care of it very much. I've also helped to keep the rest of her house in line since she's gone to the hospital and rehibilitation again. It's a bit odd watching her. On one hand, before she had her gall bladder removed, she would try to do all the work she could, including laundry, dishes, and just about anything, but she would not do her exercises. I have to wonder if I would do much of the same thing. It wouldn't surprise me to see my mother do that sort of thing. She's very contrary, after all. I know I'm not.

And that takes us to Mikel. As most, if not all of you, know already, he woke up yesterday. Personally I couldn't ask for a better birthday present. I've been very worried about the poor man, after all. I've done my own fair share of visiting over the past days. It just seems like I'm all over Spokane lately what with shopping, Alice's house, and seeing Mikel, along with other errands and just going out for something to do. Even my mother has been worried about Mikel, but she has a hard time letting that show. Bree's quite a bit like her that way. It must come out every other generation. You just have to know where to look and what to look for to know how the person feels, but, as Doug knows, it's not too difficult to master that talent if you really want to.

I mentioned my birthday. Yes, I am now a year older as of today. I'm now a total of forty-nine years old. Next year I will be fifty. No, I'm not worried about it. It's a little scary getting older, but I don't feel like some of the fifty year olds I've seen over the years, and I take that as a good sign. Having a grandson makes getting older all the better as well, and, like I said, having Mikel wake up yesterday was the best present that I could have ever asked for. Now as long as he keeps getting better, I'll be even happier. I'll have to go with Gayle to visit him today again. I'm sure she'll be insistant on doing so, even though she's getting her blood taken several times earlier this morning. She's strong that way.

I suppose that's enough for now. I believe it's quite the update. Like I said, a lot has gone on these past few months. It's made for a very busy summer, but I really don't mind being busy. I just wish that more of the reasons for being busy could be good.

I am off to start my day then. I hope you all have a good day as well.

6:58pm: Happy Easter, everyone.
I've now been kicked out of the kitchen four times over the course of the day. That's a rarity. Usually I'm the one kicking people out of the kitchen, not the other way around. But my mother insists that she makes Easter dinner, and not me. I get to wash all the dishes for going in a third time trying to help. This is an odd turn of events. It's weird not doing anything for dinner but sitting around and waiting for it to finish. It's almost done, but I still hate just waiting.

This morning was amusing. Not long after I woke up, my mother broke the news that we were going to go to a brunch. Doug, Bree, Henry, and Nick all got to wake up to this news. My mother had made reservations and everything. The reservations were for ten, and let me tell you, getting Doug out of bed that early is not a simple task. We ended up there at 10:15, but they hadn't given away our spot. We only had a couple delays. My mother briefly tried to get Doug to dress up again, but she knew from the start that it wasn't going to work, I'm sure. That argument only lasted a couple minutes at the most. Then, at the restaurant there were... discussions about food and whether dessert should come first or last. Doug won, though, but only because Nick already had dessert first, having grabbed it and taken it to the table to eat it before my mother returned with her food, but not before Doug returned with his. In fact, I think Doug was the one who went with Nick...

But it was an amusing day. Family events are always so wonderful. Oh, and I ended up buying a plot of land next to Jeremy and Grace's new house were a house burned down a two or three years ago or so. I'll see to it a nice house is built there, and Mikel even gave me the wonderful idea of making it so my mother can live there year round if she chooses, since Henry, Nick, and I still spend much of our time in Colorado. My mother's warmed to the idea, especially with Mikel proposing it to her. She could use to be closer to family. Her house there in Colorado is miles away, after all. There, she'll be just a few blocks away from Bree and her coming great-grandchild. I love it.

Again, Happy Easter, everyone. I hope your days have been as amusing and wonderful as mine has been.

12:39am: It's only been two months.
I'm sure all of you have missed my infinite wisdom. I'm sorry I haven't been able to write as much, but things have still been rather hectic around here. Bree's been getting a little more irritable as she finds herself getting tired more often again due to the fact she's getting farther along in her pregnancy, but not quite as irritable as she was with the flu. That was just a disease, after all. This is for a baby. But she still hates not being able to do too much. She'll do what she can, if for nothing else, to irritate her grandmother. It certainly doesn't come from my side of the family. Or at least these things passed over me. I know I never had one argument with my mother while I was pregnant, and I certainly never overworked myself. Not once.

Anyway, gardening has become more important of late as spring is truly starting to bloom here. The trees are budding, flowers are coming out, and the lawn needs to be cared for. What's nice is the fact that Bree lives in a duplex with Mikel's brother, Charlie, living in the other side. So the fence between the backyards was simply taken down, making for a larger backyard for the two families. This makes more yard for me to take care of, which I certainly don't mind. What I really need to do is find a way to fix up the front lawn. This gravel and bushes combination just doesn't cut it for me. The area between the fence and the road could certainly use some care as well, and another tree as one was cut down there not too long ago and the stump was simply left there, which I simply just can't stand. The side of both houses could certainly use some kind of bush or vine against it. I have so much work to do. But the flowers are coming along nicely. I have also decided that we simply must have a little recycling fountain in about the middle of the backyard against the back fence, which I've started to work on. Naida certainly needs an outdoor place to swim, after all.

I suppose that's enough talking about my gardening and what's to come of the backyard. It's certainly kept me rather busy, which I've enjoyed. And I enjoy any chance to get outside, especially in the wonderful weather we've been having here lately. Inside, my mother has done much of the cleaning and cooking, though I still get plenty to do in there as well. And then I love walking the dogs in the morning. So I've really had plenty to do.

Soon Bree will start her practice waddling. She's definitely showing now. Her belly isn't huge yet, but it's certainly bigger. Between her morning sickness, which still continues to hound her, and her fatigue, she's not been doing much other than occasional replies. Give her a few more months, and she'll be up to full force again, I'm sure. The due date of the baby is now less than three months away. I must say, I'm certainly getting excited.

And Henry's birthday is this coming Tuesday. He's flying in Friday and staying until next Wednesday with Nick. It's been too long since I've last seen him, and I can't wait to see what Mikel gets him this year. What's even better is the fact my mother will be there to see it. Mikel has such a wonderful sense of humor. I'm sure my mother will agree. The question is how much will she let that show. I can't wait to see the two again, and it's just two days away.

Hmm, what else? John certainly has been irritating me a bit more than usual lately. In fact, I got the chance to lay into him again not too long ago. When Gayle found out she was pregnant, John went into how the house is getting too small, this being his fault as he was the one fixing it up and then stopped halfway, and decided this meant people would have to move into the basement. Who was the first he suggested? Cult. And the second? Bait. Of all the insults, I swear. He stumbled a bit on how he was, of course, going to fix up the basement first, and they would have more room down there, but I can tell what was really going through his mind. Gayle would have to stay on the upper level of the house more often with the baby and everything, and she certainly wouldn't be able to sleep with Cult as often. Not only this, but it would get Cult and Bait all the farther away and not so much in his hair. I swear, he's probably is at least a marginal cause of Cult's nightmares, and frankly, it pisses me off. Gayle certainly wouldn't allow this anyway, especially since the chances of the basement being done by the time the baby comes around is about the same chance of someone winning the jackpot of the lottery. As it is, it's against fire code to do it anyway, the windows being too small to get out of should there be a fire. The whole idea simply angered me, and I let him know. So did Mikel, and John hasn't mentioned the idea again. I think he's busy making new plans. All I know is that I'm sure the family will manage just fine. Cult may stay in his room most of the time, but the closer that he is to the others, the better. It's not very often that I come across someone who angers me as much as John does.

I suppose that's enough for now. I'm actually feeling somewhat tired. And with the time it is, that's no surprise. Do have a good night, everyone. Sleep well.

5:50pm: I suppose it's past time for an update.
I know I've been rather quiet, so I decided that it is about time that I stop being so silent. Between everything, it's been quite a busy past couple of months. Bree's morning sickness is still terrible and the fatigue from the flu is still dogging her. She's definitely doing better, however, and I'll certainly take what I can get.

The biggest noise, however, have been the wars between her and my mother. These even escalated a bit after Bree came home from the doctor last Monday with the doctor's note that stated she needed to go out and get her exercise despite the fact that that fatigue has been hounding her since before she even got over the flu. Throw that in with the morning sickness, and my mother believes that Bree needs to stay in bed a lot more than Bree has any desire to stay there. The fights have been legendary, at least to a point. But my mother has a plot behind all of them. The fighting wears Bree out at least to a point. This makes it less likely, depending on the length of the match, that Bree can get out the door. Though, after the first couple times this worked really well, Bree caught on and just started leaving out the door without a word. So then my mother follows, and through this the neighborhood gets quite the show occasionally. My mother even went to have a talk with the doctor personally sometime this week. She didn't return looking overly satisfied either.

Personally, I just stay out of it. There aren't very many things that I'll stay out of, but they can both handle themselves just fine, and personally, I can use the little quiet time I can manage to get as it is. When they fight in the house, I'll do what gardening I can. When the fight outside the house, I'll happily clean up inside the house. Neither try to pull me into things, both knowing that they can handle themselves just fine, so I'm actually pretty safe.

You probably want to know who I believe is in the right. I'll happily take the easy way out and simply say both of them to a point. Yes, Bree needs her exercise, but she does have a "small" habit of overexerting herself that the doctor she went to probably doesn't even know about. My mother just believes that her advice in this scenario is certainly better than that of a doctor. She's just firm in her beliefs. On top of it all, it doesn't help that Bree's been bored for the greater part of the past month and a half, and it's driving her to want to get out of the house to just get away from things for a while. Much the same has been happening with Mikel and his hand, but I didn't say that. Henry did.

I'll just continue to stay out of things. It makes it much easier. It certainly makes the house noisier, however. It hasn't been this noisy since late December. And the more active Bree gets, the noisier it'll get at least until my mother decides to accept that she's fine.

It makes for interesting times. But the two will come out of it both alive. They respect each other's strength to stand firm behind their beliefs, even if they fight about them. It reminds me of some other people I know, but I won't go into that.

I'll leave it there. I need to go see that dinner gets on the table here shortly, and then I have to make sure Doug eats all the broccoli and doesn't try to feed it to the dogs.

Yes, he does that. I caught him.

1:51pm: Excuse me, but...

( Cut for Jim's benefit so he can avoid reading it. )

I feel a little better getting that out at least. Bree seems to have hit the worst of the flu. I won't go into too many details, but she can't sleep lying down completely or she simply can't breathe much at all, and she looks worse than she has any other time during the span of her illness, to the point of being comparable with those who went to the the hospital.

I hate this. I don't think I can bear to actually take her to the hospital either. Unless she stays this bad for several days, I don't think I'm going to push that. The whole that of separating her and Doug just doesn't set well with me, and well, we would have to get a crowbar just to pry her off.

So the house is full of heating up tea and making soups and other foods, most of which she won't be able to keep down, meaning she has to eat more. As much as she may dislike it, it just has to be done. She needs nutrients, after all, and lots of them. Hopefully this will fade within the next few days, especially with Christmas coming up.

Speaking of Christmas, I now have all but one present ready to go, so I don't have to worry about that anymore. The one I don't have ready will be ready Christmas Eve so it's only here for one, or well two full days. So that's a relief. Henry is done with his shopping as well, as we split up the group and each of us buy presents from both of us for half the group. Well, some people one of us just knows better than the other, so it's really much easier this way.

Anything else? Oh, Doug's cast is now off. He got it removed yesterday and then promptly scratched his entire knee as he now can without any cast hindering that. He looked rather relieved when he came back from that. Good news is always good to mix in with the bad. I hope she's feeling at least somewhat better by Christmas. I don't want her to be sick like this on Christmas Day.

I suppose I'll stop there for now. I need to go help my mother in the kitchen. I'm sure you'll hear from me again somewhat soon, at least. Oh, and Mikel, a wonderful job with the lights that you and the others did. I was awake at the time you were putting them up, so I saw the final testing of the lights. They look excellent. Very nicely done.

5:43pm: How annoying.

Bree woke up feeling worse than she has for the past week. This seriously irritates me at time. I need to have a long talk with her white blood cells when it comes to the flu. They seem to have nucleus damage when it comes to the flu virus. They can beat it down somewhat, but then they seem to give up and let it come back until they beat it down again, and then they'll get it on the second, third, or fourth try. How very annoying.

And poor Doug is having a division of the mind. People are going out to eat at his favorite place, insert all you can eat pizza, but he doesn't want to leave Bree who is telling him to just do it as people tend not to go there too often. So I'm going to have to let him order as many pizzas as he wants so he can all he can eat here at home and get the best of both worlds. I'm so nice sometimes.

I'm getting closer to done with my shopping, however, which makes me happier at least.

Oh, I'll make this a short update. I need to go find Doug. I might update again later. We'll see what happens.

11:58pm: Settling down...
Things are finally starting to calm down at least somewhat, it seems. The flu is still holding onto my daughter, but now Doug is completely done with school, giving him a few less things about which to worry. This gives him more time to worry about other things, such as Bree. But at least he only had to deal with one day of snow this week at school. And most of the day he spent inside one building, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been for him. This is especially true since we're supposed to get more snow over the next few days. Now he can stay in the warm house for the most part and he only has to worry about Christmas shopping.

Henry is doing much better now, and I'm expecting that he will pass my mothers inspection over the next couple of days. That will only leave Bree sick at our house, which she'll hate, but she'll just have to live with it until she's better.

I've been finishing up my Christmas shopping, not that I can tell any of you what I got anyone as I don't know who will be reading my journal at any point in time. So I will have to leave them as secrets. Mikel's present should be here soon, however. He'll love it, I'm sure. But he always loves his present from me, so I'm not worried in the least.

I'm also completely finished with the stocking that I have. Tempest shall be thrilled, I'm sure. Now I can't wait until Christmas, and I have about 13 days left to wait. As long as that seems, the wonderful day seems so close. Now I'm getting excited even as I type this out. Only a couple more presents to go, and then I'm completely done. I can't wait to see the presents that Mikel got Bree. He has such a wonderful sense of humor.

It's too quiet in the house at the moment. Doug isn't up typing away like crazy on this keyboard to cram in a final paper, my mother and Henry are both sleeping, and Bree isn't noisy, but then she very rarely is. She and Doug are probably talking about something if she isn't already asleep. That leaves me here wondering what the hell to do. I think I need to find more Christmas decorations to put up. Or maybe I'll bake. Since Mike is coming out of his flu, he'll be wanting cookies within a few more days, I'm sure. And Kristy never turns down an apple pie. Maybe I'll even be kind and make Doug one of the frozen pizzas in the freezer. While that doesn't take much, it's something to do. I hate being bored. Oh well, it gives me time to finish wrapping the presents I have already. Though I swear, some things are just impossible to wrap, but that's why we have gigantic bows.

Except when it comes to Cheyenne's present. I don't think a bow is going to cut it there. Oh well. I'll figure something out.

I hope everyone has a good night.

8:00pm: Another entry
I have such creative names for some of my entries. I'm bored, however, so I decided that I should write again. Bree's starting to look a little better. I'm hoping this is a good sign and that no relapses occur, as they've been known to do occasionally. I suppose we'll find out in the days to come. I'm feeling much better, though my mother still won't let me get out of my bed other than to go to the bathroom. I need out of here. Henry will get to feel my wrath at some point soon, as he's stuck in here with me, still being somewhat sick himself. I wonder where he put that Viagra. It's probably at home. Oh well, I suppose.

My mother seems to be getting along very well with everyone. She's already stuffed a brussel sprout in Bait's mouth. Next time he'll have to watch himself or she might have duct tape to cover his mouth with, making it much harder to spit out the disgusting and loathsome food. I know his pain only too well. She's always loved that sort of punishment. I think the worst, however, was the raw clove of garlic she stuffed straight into my mouth once. At least I didn't get my candy switched with unsweetened chocolate because I was eating too much. My brother looked like he was going to be quite ill. What's really very funny is that he fell for it a second time afterward.

My mother, in case you haven't noticed, likes to keep things around to get people to eat when they are being naughty. It was rather effective punishment. Poor Bait. I do feel for him. She's also started bugging Doug for family portraits already. It really didn't take much time for her to get onto that track. Poor Doug is very much against dressing up, and she's trying to get him in a tuxedo. How amusing can one get? She might eventually let him go in his turtleneck, but I doubt it. He can probably get her down from the tuxedo, however. I know, I'll get him a special gift of a nice set of clothes that I know my mother will approve of, but won't be a tuxedo. The poor thing almost squeaked when my mother asked him what he expects to get married in. And then he responded "my coffin." Oh, someday I'll have a son-in-law. But I'm a grandmother to be, so I can wait a little longer. Five years at the maximum. Unless they want to give me another grandchild in the time to help keep me waiting.

Anyway, I need to use the bathroom as an excuse as long as possible to get up and stretch my legs by walking around the lower level of the house. I hate feeling better and not being able to do much. Oh well, I suppose. Hopefully soon she'll release me from this prison so I can help around the place. I just need something to do.

I'm repeating myself, now. I suppose that means it's time to stop. I shall probably write again within a few days. Perhaps with another story. At least it's something to think on.

11:05pm: Mothers
As everyone who reads my journal knows, my mother decided to come visiting today, thanks to my dear husband. She will stay through New Year's Day and then head back to Colorado on a day that is still unknown. I'm actually very happy to have her here. She doesn't get to see Bree nearly enough around the holiday seasons anymore, and this is a chance to remedy that for at least one year. I should start making plans to see that things like this happen more often.

As you might be able to tell, I'm starting to feel better. I'm not very tired at the moment, despite the fact that it's a little past eleven o'clock at night, but I have been sleeping for much of the past six days, so who can blame me? I do find it rather ironic that I started feeling better the same day that my mother arrived. My husband can plan such dearly wonderful surprises. I hear Bree was delighted to see her, as she should be. The two get along very well.

Poor Doug had to face a family member he hadn't had the chance to meet, however. Yes, I know just how scary of a notion this can be. However, my mother is rather understanding. Her parents were Spanish immigrants and weren't very wealthy themselves. In fact, they came to America just after World War II had ended. My mother wasn't too young at the time, and she has many stories about the times her family had trying to get along in America. Her family wasn't poor, but they were certainly lower middle class. The same went for my father, really. He would take any job he could to support the family, and on his off time he would make furniture. My mother's favorite piece, a rocking chair, still looks almost as good as new. He really was very good at what he did, but it was into the time of big business, and that's something he never came close to having the money for.

What I should mention that I didn't in my first writing of this tale, is the inscription on the top arch of the rocking chair. My father inscribed it himself. It reads as follows:

"Powers that be
my words do heed
Those who take rest here, protect their souls,
Replenish their hearts, and keep them whole."

My mother refuses to leave her chair for long because she believes that my father placed a part of his soul in the chair when he inscriped that piece. I believe that she always feels that she's with him when she's there. And as odd as it might seem, the older I get and the more I've seen her just humming to herself, or talking to thin air, or rather my father as she believes, as she rocks in that chair, the more I believe that she's right. With that said, I shall let the tale continue.

We got by, however, and my brother and I were really very happy. While we lived in a neighborhood to reflect our "class," we were either driven or biked our way to a school that wasn't terribly far away, but at the edge of a much wealthier district. Needless to say, really, the kids never did like us very much. But it was a public school, and as long as we showed, they would take us. We actually both did rather well. I ended up focusing in finances and went on to college. However, I met Henry while I was in high school, and it took some time, but we ended up dating. Henry came from a rather rich family, and they weren't very happy with the situation, but I got lucky as Henry didn't care much about what they had to think. We stayed together through college and were married before we had Bree.

It was April of 1984 when I found out that my father had died in a rather terrible car accident. It broke my dear mother's heart, but I took her in, having access to plenty of money by this time, and made sure she had her own house and everything she needed to have a comfortable life. She had been through so much, it was the least I could do for her. She came to grips with what had happened and then decided that she would stay around until it was her true time to go. I've never stretched to live overly comfortably myself; I tend to find such things silly. Rather, I've always made sure that we lived in a nice middle to upper middle class neighborhood. Now I've seen houses in Denver that go for a million and more dollars, but let me tell you I hate all that flash. There's not very much to the houses either. They are rather bland, but seem to try to literally stand above the rest and dominate the scenery. I find them irritable at best.

I am very glad that my mother has decided to come and stay with us. Soon she will be a great-grandmother, and I can see the excitement dancing in her eyes. I'll also get to eat some of her homestyle Spanish cooking, which I've always loved.

Despite all of Doug's fears about meeting her, my mother may well be the one to understand him most of all. She was never above lower middle class herself, and there were times she was rather poor as well, but it gives my family, our family, that special taste of appreciation for what is truly important about family, each other. I have no fears about my mother and Doug disliking one another; I know it won't really happen. My mother tends to be very accepting, and she very much respects decisions of the heart rather than those of the head.

I get the feeling that it will be a wonderful Christmas, I really do. It's been a while since I've spent a Christmas with both my mother and daughter at once, and now everyone here gets to meet her as well. Mikel already has, and they get along splendedly, but then I didn't expect any less there either. In fact, I highly doubt that she'll have very many problems with anyone, except John, but then very few people actually get along with John.

There is my little ode to my mother. She really is a wonderful woman. I truly hope that everyone agrees.

7:34pm: The tale of a girl and her kitten.
Well, I decided I might as well begin with this one, as I have already told it to Mikel.

When Bree was five years old, and I was out gardening in front of the bushes that line our fence, she was happily bounding in and out of the bushes, attempting to startle me frpm one direction of another. It wasn't until she hadn't jumped out at me for about five minutes that I realized she got distracted somewhere and decided that I should probably find out where she went. A giggling shortly led to where she was, behind one of the bushes. In her hands was a black kitten that had white speckles down her back and little marks of white on her paws. Well the poor thing looked half starved, had no collar, and simply would not detach her little claws from Bree's shirt for anything at the moment.

Bree happily carried the little thing into the house, and I went to the store to get some kitten food while Henry took over cleaning the kitten up. He only ended up with three scratches from the occasion. However, by the time I got back, I had found out that Henry had decided to go to the bathroom, leaving Bree with the kitten for a few moments. Of course, in that short time, she had managed to pull out the ground hamburger that was for our dinner and had it on the floor, blood and all, for the kitten. The kitten, I must say, was extremely happy and seemed very disappointed when I had to switch the hamburger for the kitten food, but that quickly passed. Henry got the joy of cleaning the floor while I took the hamburger over to the neighbor to give his dog a wonderful treat. When I got back, the kitten had finished and was busy exploring the house. I quickly got things set up for the kitten, put the young thing into Bree's room with a litter box so she could get accustomed to things, and then we started to talk about names and ownership and such things.

Well Bree, the darling thing that she is, had a name already picked out, Cupcake. She started begging to keep the kitten, and we came to the decision that we would put out a found flyer, and if no one answered it within a couple weeks, we would keep the kitten.

To make a long story short, no one claimed the kitten, who grew much healthier over the following days. She and Bree just adored each other, and Cupcake took to following her around as much as she could. Bree even managed to sneak her into a theatre once under a rather fluffy coat she had at the time. It wasn't until halfway through the movie that I even noticed the kitten. We managed to get the whole movie seen and out without the movie employees noticing either.

There are several mini-stories having to do with the pair. They were very cute together. Sadly, when Bree was 13, Cupcake ended up dying of a liver disease. Bree was really upset over it, and didn't ask for another kitten afterward. Her next pet ended up being her black lab, Hecate, who was given to her as a Christmas present when she was 15, her freshman year of high school.

But I'll always remember the time when I could look down the hall and watch my little five year old daughter happily walking along with a kitten trotting right behind her, chasing after her loose shoelaces.

Now I have Nick, a young boy I adopted three years ago. He's nine years old, and I really need to get him a pet. Or maybe I should leave that to Mikel. You know, I think I will. I'll be fascinated to see what sort of animal we end up with in the house.

12:28pm: Everything must have a beginning.
As Becky was kind enough to allow me to have a livejournal code, though I was supposed to take Grace's free one, I'm sorry Mikel, I decided to just set it up now and get a feel for this. I won't be writing much as I have lunch to make, but I can certainly give a beginning to this journal so it looks a little more homier than it might otherwise. For those of you who might add me to your friends list before I write again and before you meet me, I'm Susan Preston, Bree's mother. Mikel has informed me that this would be a perfect way through which to pass Bree tales on to the public, or at least the semi-public, for leisurely reading. That's not the only thing I will use it for, of course, but I had to please Mikel, and besides, it got me another Christmas present from him. I'm certainly not going to argue with that.

So you will be seeing more of me in the near future, but I think I hear Henry's stomach growling in the other room, and he certainly can't even put a sandwich together by himself, so I must go for now.

And it's my greatest pleasure to set up this journal for you Mikel, as I'm sure it will be Bree's great pleasure that I did it for you as well.