My plan for 2009 was to Be More Responsible and Lose Weight. As of midnight, there would be no fooling around. Not this year, people. I would be on a strict vegan diet. I would cut out all caffeine. I would reorganize the garage, do six loads of laundry, bake fresh apple muffins from a recipe no one had seen before because the 09 model of Becca would know kitchen magic. And I started off strong. I got up, I started moving things around the garage. I cleaned the kitchen. Then, by mid-morning, I ate cereal and was like CRAP; there goes the veganism. Okay, I told myself, looking at the bowl. My motto is no longer restraint. My motto is now: Live the life you deserve. And I deserve Honey Bunches of Oats.

Other things I apparently deserve: an entire box of chocolate cookies, three hours of Warcraft, spending money on trinkets at Walmart, sick giggly kids climbing all over me, and another year of pantslessness.

I really like my life now, I’ve come to conclude. I don’t really want to change anything. I want this novel done, but besides that– well, and I’d like to be twenty pounds lighter. –And I’d like a neater home. And maybe a bit more computer time. Here’s the thing, though– I don’t want anything so badly that I’d give up what I currently have. Heh. I think that’s pretty common: we’d all like to have things, as long as we didn’t have to change anything in order to attain them. I’d like to be a jean size smaller, but only if I could continue to eat nachos at will. I wish my playroom were more organized, but not enough to take actual playtime hours to fix it. You know what I like? This. Typing on my laptop, in my bed, with a drink beside me, headphones on, wearing my Flying Weinie shirt. This is heavenly. I actually, seriously hope this is what Heaven is like. Jesus telling me stories would be the only thing that would make this sweeter, because you KNOW He has some. Jesus has stories for DAYS.

So, I don’t even know where to start on the catch-up. Let’s go with this site. You may have noticed it changed. I had an original vision was going for, but ran out of time to execute it well. In the meantime, we have this. It covers my major points: easy to navigate, clean, email contact obvious, main entry visible and displayed, and integrates all my other major online residences. The comments are also off; which takes a little pressure off both of us. I feel more comfortable writing without fear of negative feedback, and I’m sure a lot of you enjoy reading without obligation to respond.

I’m hoping to change it up in a few weeks when the original master design is complete, so if you hate this, rest assured it won’t be forever. If you love it, you’ll be happy to know that I plan on releasing it as a theme.

Our Christmas was low-key. We drove up to VA to visit friends and relatives, and spent about 80% of the time figuring out what was happening, when, where, with who, and only 20% actually doing anything. It didn’t help that we were all battling sickness. I’d just gotten over my bout of bronchitis and throat infection (yeah, remember when I was complaining? and it seemed like I was just whiny? there was a real medical reason). Jason was just beginning the throat thing, and Elias and Addie have some awful chest cold with sneezing and runny noses. AND. Addie’s eardrum ruptured. Man, I feel like it’s been so long since I talked to you. There’s SO MUCH to share. So many gross things. Heh. This is going to get a little nasty, so heads up if you’re squeamish. Basically, I had no idea Addie had an ear infection. I mentioned here that she’d been having night terrors, where she’d wake up several times during the night yelling and inconsolable. It never even occurred to me that it could be a sick issue. I mean, in retrospect– obviously it was probably pain keeping her up. At the time, though, she was just fussy. No fevers, no tugging on her ear, nothing that would alert me to an infection.

A day or two after the worst of the night terrors, Addie and I were playing on Sesame Street online. I went to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and I noticed her ear was leaking. Like– LEAKING. I had never seen anything like this, and I jumped to: her brain is leaking out of her ears. (I know, laugh, but trust me, you’d be surprised what conclusions you come to in a panic.) She’d had a bath that morning, and Jason mentioned she’d gotten gum or something in her hair. We brushed and washed it out. Then he said her hair was gross and matted again. Turns out that the ear drainage was basically gluing her hair to her head. Poor baby. I’m feeling guilty and lame again reliving this story. She was such a champ; you’d never know anything was wrong by her attitude. I did my little Web MD thing, and came up with a ruptured eardrum. We got her into the doctor the same day, and he looked at it for about nine seconds and concurred. The good news is the infection is over. The bad news is that it’s like she’s had a runny ear for the last two weeks.

The other good news is at least she likes Princess Leia style buns. We’ve been having to whip them up for quicker ear access lately.

She’s sitting next to me now, fake-burping. “BURP!” she yells, and laughs. “I said BURP, Mommy. I said the BURP, Mommy. I BURP-ED. HA HA HA HA! EXCUSE ME!” (Way back in the day, when we found out we were having a little girl, I wondered if Eli would miss out on having a brother. Luckily this kid loves gross-out stuff as much as any boy. Today, she let a slew of body noises out and then announced: NICE.)

So, backing up. We were in Virginia. Addie was leaking from her nose and her ears, and we were all calling everyone to try and figure out plans. Some things didn’t pan out. I didn’t get my Festival of Lights in, or the Night of Mamma Mia! with My Actual Mamma Mia. Other things, though, worked out well.

Exhibit One: Michelle’s New Townhouse.

Exhibit One B: The Old Invitation I Found While Cleaning And Brought To Show Her How Awesome We Were In High School.

Exhibit Two: Elias And Dave Playing Warcraft Together Hours After Becky Jo and I Made Death Knights Who Were Brothers That We Named After ‘Lonesome Dove’ Characters.

Exhibit Three: Lola’s Haircut, Which Happened After We Left Virginia But Is Still Important and Worth Mentioning.

Exhibit Three B: Proof That People Like Lola Better When Her Hair Is Cut.

Those were the main highlights of life around here lately. My two major presents were the re-activation of my Warcraft account (I dinged three times already! WOOT), and my mother’s redecoration and reorganization of my house. We have a new bookcase in the living room, new upholstered dining chairs, a new buffet in the kitchen, a freshly organized hall and master closet, and a mostly-finished garage. 2009 is the year my car actually gets IN this garage. I can feel it.

Honorable mention to Auds here for her pantry and cabinet work. Thank you, friend of friends.

I’m going to try to write every single day, even if it’s minute and stupid, and– along with getting this book to publishers or giving up on it entirely– it’s a resolution I intend to keep. So come back tomorrow for more fun and games. Or just another story about me! (It’ll probably be the story. Let’s keep it real.)