Did you miss me?

Hey, you!  Over here!  You probably can't see me too well, but here I am tucked into bed with the covers up to my chin.  It's 9:00 p.m. on a Thursday night.  I haven't been home this early on a Thursday (unless you count Thanksgiving, but we won't) since mid-September.  You may have noticed I've been a little lackadaisical with my blog over the last couple of weeks.  I swear, it feels like days - but I know it's been longer.  This is because I've been busy.  Busy celebrating Christmas with my dad's side of the family, busy trying to finish up my Christmas shopping before Christmas gets here, busy finding the motivation to teach meaningful lessons the whole week before Winter Break, and busy wrapping up the semester-long courses I've been taking.

I finished my Psychology class last Sunday.  Tonight marked the end of my first semester in Anatomy & Physiology.  I'm happy to report that I finished with strong effort, and although I may not be getting the grade I was hoping to achieve, I'm darn close.  And, I'm proud of what I earned.  Sometimes I can be too hard on myself - I'm working on this (and have been for awhile).  In the end, the grade is what it is, and I am done with the course.  I learned a tremendous amount about anatomy as well as physiology.  More importantly, I learned some valuable lessons about myself and my capabilities.  Long ago, after my first semester in college, I stopped taking Science classes because of the previously alluded to "high standards" that I set for myself.  I'd decided that I wasn't "good" at Science.  This semester has proven to me that I do just fine when I put my mind to it.  What it made even more evident was that I now know a lot more about studying and my own learning style than I did at eighteen.  Who knew?

Now it's time to get back on track.  Time to buckle down and come up with some "new" material for this here blog.  And, time to hop back on my fertility yoga bandwagon.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that I took a fairly long break from practicing yoga.  It started out completely innocently, really.  We traveled up North to Crandon, WI to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and their children.  While there, we were given the treat of caring for my cousin's little one, Jayden, overnight.  Jayden is five months old, and just a sweetie.  We so love our time with her, and really appreciate her mother trusting us enough to take her for the night :).   Anyhow...Jayden had a difficult time going to sleep - she fought it every step of the way.  When I finally sung her to sleep (she probably just decided it was better to give up and welcome sleep as opposed to continue listening to what I call singing), I realized that I probably should stay close by in case she woke up and needed me.  I realize now that this is silly, I certainly didn't need to stay in the very same room she was sleeping in, but I did.  I didn't want to turn on my yoga video and risk waking her up.  So, instead, I completed my yoga routine as best I could by memory.  It's normally a 32-minute routine.  I got done in 22 minutes.  Clearly I forgot some things or didn't hold certain poses long enough.  But, I did it.  Then came Saturday night.

We spent Saturday morning feeding and playing with Jayden.  She left to go get ready for the big party, and at 1:00 we all convened at Ben and Mel's for the celebration.  I cannot say enough about the food.  My cousin's wife did an amazing job putting together a spread fit for kings.  She is so darn creative, and this was apparent all over her home.  We had a "tree" of grapes, a wreath made of all different kinds of fruit, another tree made of mints...the list goes on and on.  Not only did it look spectacular, it tasted just as good (if not better) than it looked.  Not sure if you're reading this Mel, but hats off to you and your helpers!

It never ceases to amaze me how much I love my family.  Saturday was no different.  We have so many personalities and all of us seem to just come together and fit perfectly into place to finish off the puzzle that is the extended Conway clan.  We are so lucky to be able to have four generations of our family able to gather and celebrate each year, and I pray that this continues long into the future.  I think part of what makes the time so enjoyable is there is so much love bouncing around when we're together.  For example, here are my grandparents Steve and Bette Conway.

Photo courtesy of Valerie Niehaus  - To see more of here photos, CLICK HERE

Grandma and Grandpa are 89 and 90 years old and just as in love as ever.  In fact, I'd be willing to bet they're probably more in love because of all the years they've spent living, loving and learning together.  They are truly an inspiration.  And I feel that we are so incredibly lucky to still have them in our lives.
So there was nothing strenuous (at all) about the get-together on Saturday.  It was all laughter, hugs, games and smiles.

For some reason once 7:45 p.m. rolled around that was it for me, I was beat.  I was in bed by 8:30, and am almost embarrassed to say (but not quite enough not to share) that I slept until 9:30 Sunday morning.  I must have needed it because I sure slept well.  I had the most vivid, crazy dreams I've had in a long time.  I won't get into details, I'll just say that one involved me and @Valerie Niehaus trying to steal a million dollars (and then trying to hide while others hunted us down), and the other was a wild trip in which I was a villain traveling on roads similar to roller coasters.  I'm weird, I know.

All of that to tell you this:  I DIDN'T DO YOGA LAST SUNDAY.  Or Monday, or any other day since then.  And you know what?  I feel horribly about it.  Not guilty, I just miss it.  So, now that my final for  A&P is over, I'm going to start again tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow - there are so many good and exciting things in store!  It's the last day before Winter Break, woo hoo!  I'm starting my yoga again.  It's Friday, and I'm going to write another blog post, too.  Hehe.  I just love all of that not-so-important, but oh-so-fun stuff.

Before I sign off, I do want to say that the Conway clan I mentioned above got a little bigger today.  My cousin Shane and his wife Monica welcomed their third little bundle of joy today, little Miss Lennon Wren.  Can't wait to meet her, looking forward to meeting her and watching her grow.  Monica has her own blog, full of some amazing stuff -- if you care to, check it out HERE.

As I wind down tonight, I'm looking forward to all the weekend and upcoming holidays have in store.  Sure hope that all of you have plans to be surrounded by those you love.  Until tomorrow my friends...