Where Have I Been??????

No where, really. Disappointed, aren't you? You thought I'd been on some worldwide trip, huh? Nope. I've just been enjoying life. Tom has been off work for a while and we've just been busy doing this and that. (No projects!!) For those of you who don't know, Tom took volunteer furlough in July, half of October, all of November and most of December. I'm married to one special man. 2009 has been a very tough year for the engineering business. Tom has laid off dozens of employees. It just tore him up. In early summer, he decided that he would do everything in his power not to lay off or furlough any more men. He decided that he could handle a furlough better than men who had college-age children or several small children. It's just Tom & I and we don't have any unusual expenses. We're just watching our money and praying the economy picks up in 2010. The projection is that things will return to normal early next year. Tom hasn't had a normal paycheck (meaning 40 hours a week) since, I think, June. But ya know what? We're good. We're making it fine. And honestly, this is the least-stressed Christmas season I've ever had! I absolutely love it. We're scaling down in a major way as far as gift giving goes. But I always overspent every year any way so cutting back is a very good thing. This year we are truly enjoying what Christmas is really all about - a very special baby boy named Jesus. Sometimes I think Baby Jesus got lost in my manic gift-wrapping sessions in the past. I've had many, many days lately of just listening to good Christmas music, cooking some favorite dishes and counting the blessings God has given me.

So, I'm not posting any pictures today. I'm just saying, "Hello, again", good friends and family. I'll try to post pictures in the next few days so you can see how my little G.G.s have grown. And, tonight, we find out the name of our little Mr. Rucker who's due in April! I'll be sure to post that information!!!!

Tootles