1. Good News: My blog has sounded upbeat lately like a normal person’s / Bad News: It’s mostly because I wasn’t able summon the emotional energy to post crankiness when the blogosphere was viral (viral like sick with smallpox versus viral like trendy popular) with thankfulness.
2. Good News: I love listening to Christmas music / Bad News: It seems like “Santa Baby” is making an unfortunate comeback. Who likes this song? The “Real Housewives” because the song is skanky.
3. Good News: My Christmas shopping is DONE! / Bad News: Like always I spent more than I meant to and less than I wanted to and now I need to go the next 22 days without buying anything else.
4. Good News: That children’s book that I wrote? Well, I re-wrote it, let a few people read it and make (awesome) suggestions and I re-wrote it again. It is now pretty stellar, if I say so myself (my suggestion-makers can brace themselves for another version in your email box soon) / Bad News: It’s time for me to brave the world of Actual Publishing (as opposed to Blog Publishing, lol).
5. Good News: I survived my baby, Peanut, turning 5 this month. He loved his presents and loves being five / Bad News: My baby is FIVE! And Boohoo’s birthday isn’t until May…which is a very long time when you have to talk about it six times a day.
6. Good News: We’re going to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for Christmas. The kids are giddy with excitement and I know it will be fun / Bad News: I am all but paralyzed with anxiety about traveling, being a parade of attachment disorder, and the fact that my kids don’t sleep at home and are never going to sleep away from home.
7. Good News: I’m watching less tv than I used to / Bad News: One of the things that I *am* watching is “Fatal Attractions” on Animal Planet about idiots people that essentially become obsessed with a wild animal that they believe they can tame and so they become eighty kinds of unsafe with the WILD DEADLY ANIMAL and then they pretty much die. Uplifting, right? Another show I’m watching… “Lockup” MSNBC’s prison documentary series. I know! Weird! But I’ve always been fascinated with abnormal psychology (and social justice, but that only fits one of the shows) and I’m fascinated with these shows.
8. Good News: Peanut is still learning to read, we’ve been really slow (purposefully) about teaching him to read, but he’s got a really good grasp on the basics and it’s not going to be very long before he’s an actual *reader* / Bad News: He doesn’t like to be wrong and even though he’s a hard worker it takes a certain alignment of the stars to get him wanting to work
9. Good News: I’m committed to the family that I have and making it work, and healing our relationships and creating a healthy family even if it means no more children / Bad News: I’ve been really mentally stuck in the past and I’m having a hard time letting go of that, but I cannot effectively parent from that place.
10. Good News: I’m getting more snuggle time with Pickle, he’s getting more 1:1 attention, and we’ve reduced (at least partially) our sleep time frustrations / Bad News: I’m starting to feel like I’m being smothered by Pickle and I’m still frustrated when it takes him so long to fall asleep, and he’s still not getting the full amount of sleep he needs.
11. Good News: I found a cheap shampoo/conditioner that is supposed to be “pure and clean” meaning minus creepy chemicals / Bad News: I hate it and it leaves my hair nasty
12. Good News: I haven’t seen an optometrist since before we left for Ethiopia meaning I haven’t worn contacts in a really long time so I finally decided (today) that I was going to call and make an appointment / Bad News: They’re apparently closed on Saturdays! Not open half a day, nothing! What a posh life that must be.
13. Good News: Boohoo is really growing. She’s getting big, her language skills are coming along, and she’s getting better at expressing her emotions / Bad News: I don’t believe that we’ve seen a correlation between better verbal skills and less tantrums like we had hoped.
14. Good News: We are probably going to start house hunting in 2012. Whoop! Whoop! / Bad News: Wow, is that intimidating and grown up and yikes!!
15. Good News: Peanut dressed himself this morning “because that’s what 5 year olds do” / Bad News: Apparently 5 year olds wear their nicest sweater backwards with a pair of play jeans with the knees totally ripped out.
