I think this might be the longest I've gone without blogging.

Blog ennui has set in. I just have nothing interesting to share. Or anyway, nothing that I have actual time to sit down and blog about. Life has been busy. My Mom has been very sick. I have been very preoccupied.

I have been:

Traveling quite a bit to my hometown to visit my Mom in the hospital. She's been there for about a month and endured two major surgeries. She still has to heal and then she will have to endure more chemotherapy. She is not doing well and I am trying not to dwell on the negative. Nobody but God knows that will unfold but I can't help but think about the likely possibility of being without parents and grandparents. Without my Mom here I seriously worry about what will become of my family. She is our glue.

Cleaning the house. Just about daily. It's to a level of cleanliness where we are regularly hosting play dates. I will never have a magazine spread beautiful house. And there are still piles of things that I have to deal with. But, I'm getting there slowly. If only I could train the dog not to shed and the cats not to vomit.

Planning birthday parties. Every year I say we aren't having big birthday parties and every year I have them anyway. I am a big softie for my kids. Right now we can afford their birthday craziness. My big problem will be what to do with all the new presents they bring home. We donated a bunch of new birthday gifts that we rediscovered in the basement a few months ago. Toys 4 Tots benefited from our forgetfulness. Perhaps we could do that again.

Decorating my daughter's room. This is so not my forte. But, she wants to transition from a little girl's room to a big girl's room so out goes anything too girly or babyish. Goodbye pastel butterflies, flowers, and Ariel. Hello to the color red and zebra print. I'm not repainting her room. I just can't handle that right now. But, I redid a framed picture of Ariel with black and white scrapbook paper, rose appliques and her initials in red. It looks great. I also bought a red valance at Goodwill and hot glued zebra print ribbon to the bottom of it. She already has a red comforter but I found a new red and white flowered sham for $2.99 at a discount store. I still need to redo the seat of her desk chair with some sturdy zebra fabric. I also bought her some dry erase wall pops. She wants a bunk bed set too but it might take a while for us to shop around for a good quality one. I refuse to buy anything made of pressed wood or particle board anymore.

Celebrating our 15th anniversary. My in-laws stayed with the kids while we went to a hotel for a night away. We also took the kids out for a nice dinner. My husband has been my rock while I deal with my Mom's illness. I am so lucky to have him.

And that about sums up everything that's been going on.