2005: The year in review

Let's see if I can remember and recap what I did in 2005.

Much of the early part of the year was a blur. We were recovering from having about 20 people at our house for Christmas.

Then February we had a trip to the 2nd closest hospital when we thought A would be admitted for his bronchiolitis. Alas, the people there had their heads up their butts because he was not admitted and our pediatrician was PISSED when she found that out. We were the second family she had sent there who were not admitted but should have been.

In March DH whisked me away for a long wonderful weekend in Key West. It was just glorious basking in the sun and enjoying a few hours being childfree. Of course it was a huge PITA to have MIL watch the kids. I mean, she was shacking up with her boyfriend and didn't want us to know about it, so she wanted to have 6mo A sleep in the same room as his nearly 2yo sister. That's a GREAT idea, especially when said infant is BREASTFED... Whatever!

March was also when DH interviewed for the new position in his company. His interview was on my mom's birthday, so we were all figuring that was a good sign. "Pack your bags!" was what DH said when he called me that night. He had hit it off great with his boss, and asked when he could start.

April and May saw us trying to get our house in order to sell it. I worked like crazy trying to get rid of the clutter and get organized. All our hard work paid off when we received two offers, both above asking price, on the day of our open house, which was the first day of active showing. I don't think it hurt that the open house was on DH's birthday. LOL!

In June I was able to go to an offsite meeting with my group at work, and we stayed at the magnificent Marriott Seaview in south Jersey. At that meeting, another coworker announced his planned departure for California. I announced my departure the next week.

June was also the girls' birthdays and we were able to have a combined bday party for the girls, DH and DNephew at MIL's clubhouse. Poor B had wanted to invite her boyfriend, but I felt uncomfortable inviting friends to this strictly family combined party. I didn't want them to feel that they needed to get anyone else gifts.

Late June and July found me traveling twice to Texas. The first time was to househunt with DH. We'd been looking at houses online and he had been on a scouting trip in early May with our realtor. We suggested some listings and Joanne suggested some others. DH weeded them out and then I went down. We did a whirlwind tour, looking at 20 houses the first day and settled on 7, then 5, then 4 to look at the next day. We settled on one that was AMAZING and made an offer. However, we walked away from that one when we found out that our contract was void because the homeowners had sold out to their relo company. Our offer on our second choice house was accepted.

My second trip to Texas was to Austin. DH met me there (while I searched furiously for Matthew McConaughey) and we went to his hometown for his 20th HS reunion. It was really great to meet his old friends, especially since DH got along with everyone. He blended with everyone, instead of staying in one clique, so I got to meet a lot of interesting people. One of his classmates was pretty interesting to talk to because he had joined the military after HS and had been stationed at McMurdo in Antarctica. I wrote a paper on Antarctica in the third grade, so I was fascinated to speak to someone who had actually been there.

In June and July I took two separate trips to Sesame Place. The first time DH came with me and the kids and we all saw Hi-5 in concert. It was great fun. The second time I took the kids by myself and we met one of my online friends, her DH and three adorable kids. We had a great day lazing in the pools there.

In July we packed up and sold our house in PA and said goodbye to our dear friends and neighbors. We were supposed to have a nice dinner with MIL that weekend as a send-off for DH; she had suggested it about a week or two before. However, the intimate farewell dinner turned into a pretty big party as MIL and her boyfriend got engaged just days before. So his son and his family were at the house too. I took the kids to the pool because I didn't want to have to spend any more time than I needed to with MIL and her DF. As for the lovely dinner, well MIL, DF and his family ate together on the deck and we got to eat inside. I could've stayed at my parents house and eaten the same meal and not felt slighted; I felt really bad for DH because I think we both expected this to be an opportunity to spend time together before he'd be 1500 miles away. That Monday DH took off for his drive down to Texas; I was heartbroken to see him leave. A week later DH bought our new house in Texas.

In August B and I flew down to Texas to meet DH and guide the movers and unpackers. We got B half registered for Kindy and missed her first day of school because we couldn't officially register her until we were living there for good. However, we did get to take a tour of the school and meet some of the Kindy teachers. Unpacking was a nightmare unto itself. A few things were broken in transit. I'll know better for next time.

September saw B start Kindy at the day care center at my work. A week later we celebrated A's first birthday at a really fun indoor amusement party place. The kids had a great time, and so did most of the adults. Seriously. We were there for 6+ hours! We also had another ER visit, this one when A fell and split open his right eyebrow the day before his birthday. That was great fun, having him immobilized in a papoose so the doctor could put in the three sutures. The end of the month was my 15th anniversary at my company; we celebrated with a wonderful lunch at a great local steakhouse.

In mid-October I finished up my job, trained my replacement and made the drive down to Texas with DH.

November came quickly and I took the girls back to NJ and NYC. We went to Radio City to see the Christmas Spectacular and were lucky enough to get a backstage tour. I had another neurologist appointment while we were up there. The girls got some quality time with Grandma and Bampa which was nice, and I got to give them a tutorial on how to use the TiVo we got them as a thank you for putting up with us while we were in between homes. And when Thanksgiving arrived, so did MIL and her DF.

December has been a blur of holiday preparations and DH working very hard. I hope he'll be able to relax a bit more this coming year.

Other highlights: my kidney stone attack and subsequent lithotripsy, my birthday lunch with the gals from my office at one of the most amazing steak restaurants in Trenton, my parents trip to California and Hawaii, the arrival of my cousin's DS (can't wait to meet him!), the DW of one of my good friends from HS had a stroke, and it appears that I had one too, which may be the cause of my double vision.