For those of you concerned....

I have just completed my notes. I have been extrememely behind and although it has been causing me a large amount of distress.........I have been procrastinating like CRAZY. My desk is clean, I've posted how many times in the last three days, I've talked, I've made phone calls, I've organized and cleaned out.................finally I just finished my last one!!! Yippy!

Lost Friends....

I have been thinking lately about friends. I have been blessed throughout my life with great friends. No matter what stage I was going through or where I was I always got to know intersting and fabulous people. I could sit and tell you stories all day long. I have shared a few with you along the way....so you already know a little. Anyhoo. There is a reason for this post. Although I have had many people touch my life I have lost many friends through the years. Many times when my circumstance changed or when I moved I lost contact with friends. A great example of that is work. I have worked jobs and befriended a many coworker. I have taken a few friendships with me when I was no longer employed but many times people I saw on a daily basis and even spent time outside of work with just got lost. That is really the only way I can explain it. Sometimes you just take for granted a person will always be there and then you loose touch. I do have friends that even if we don't talk for a very long time - when we do it is like time never passed between us. I love that. A few months ago Jake and I were out to eat and I saw this girl who I thought looked familiar. I asked if she used to work at Allstate. She was so shocked and said "Yes, like forever ago." She was pregnant at the time. She had a young teen girl sitting with her. I said, I am Delilah. She was suprised to see me and she laughed and told the people she was with....I was just telling you a story about her! Funny. We exchanged cards but haven't spoken since. I'm not sure why.

When I first went to Kent I worked at Toys R Us. I met this girl named Lisa. She was from Struthers or Poland Ohio. She went to the University of Akron. We immediately clicked and started hanging out all the time. We dated guys that were best friends. LOL. She went to Columbus with me to visit another friend. I still have pictures of her. Well, after hanging out with me for one semester she, unfortunately, flunked her fisrt semester of college and didn't make it back for a second. We kept in contact for a while but I have no idea where she is now. I can't even remember her last name.

So, many of you know my story of my "best friend" who basically dumped me after I got married and then got pregnant. I haven't ever blogged about it because I honestly, don't even really understand what happened. Funny, thinking about it many of you were dumped too. Regardless....I tried to talk to her about it a couple of years later and she told me she wasn't interesting in my "negativity". Still....a little in shock about that, since I still don't know why she went from being a friend to a foe overnight. Maybe it was coming for a while and I just didn't see it. So....she and I work in the same field. A couple of years ago my sister ran into her dad and come to find out - she lived only a few short blocks from me. Later Jake was looking at the property transfers in the newspaper and saw she bought a house not quite as close but in the same city....on the same side of the tracks! I have never run into her anywhere. I had just said a couple of weeks ago, that if she saw me she probably wouldn't talk to me or she would avoid me. Well, a couple of Sunday's ago I got to put that very theory to test. Jake and I went to the grocery store after church. He dropped me off at the door so he could get gas, then he was going to meet me inside. I got out and went on my way. When we were leaving the store, Jake said..."Did you see Tiffany?" I said, What???? He said she was right behind you when you got out of the car! Are you kidding me? Sure enough right then we walked past her car. He said there was absolutely NO WAY she could not have seen you. Maybe she didn't. I can't know for sure because I didn't see her - she was behind me. I am really at a loss...... I guess it isn't meant for me to ever understand. I used to think, "Someday when I talk to Tiffany again I will tell her I ran into this person or about this happening." I don't think that anymore. If she had talked to me in the store I would have been friendly, smiled, asked her how she was...... I don't think we will ever be friends again. Too much...too long... Ya know?

Well, lucky for me occassionally I will run into an old friend and reunite....although at times it is brief. I love when that happens. Myspace, my blog, Facebook, Classmates....I love 'em. Maybe next time I will post "Lost Friends Found"!

Free Hugs...

I just found this on Youtube. I was at Toys for Tots when this guy was there. It is a great video. I am not fond of the full on body hug but I think it is a great message.

Kids Say the Silliest Things.....

Last night the kids were coloring with these markers on this shiny cardstock paper. It was making this high pitched squeaking noise - sorta like nails on a chalk board.

I said, "Will you stop that sound is making me crazy!"

Elise said, "Crazier?"

I know, Christmas is Over!

Well, it has been some time hasn't it???? As always I have been in fast forward buzzing through the holidays. The Miller family is always on the go. I won't bore you with all the details but we've made trips, had company, shopped, baked, delivered, created, ate, played and even relaxed a little. Whew....now I think I need a vactaion. Too bad for me - I am back to work today and should be working on my notes. Yikes! I had court first thing this morning and despite a lengthy delay in the proceedings the case made a turn around and everyone was given a Monday morning suprise when my clients baby was returned to her. I love those joyous moments. On the other hand on the way to the office three hours later I got a call that- another client started disclosing stuff that will honestly probably end up on the evening news. What I am trying to say is.....no rest for me. We haven't even taken our tree down yet. We had planned to do that yesterday but never got around to it. Maybe tonight. If I am not here doing notes too late. LOL.

So, I made a New Years Resolution. Last year I wanted to be more healthy - and I think I started out real strong but after going back to work I really fell off that wagon. So, this year I want to make it something a little more "concrete". I have decided to give up fast food. With my job it is so easy to run by a drive though and get something to eat. And honestly, I can do it for pretty cheap. But....it is so unhealthy. Yuck yuck yuck. So, I am going to do my best. Today I packed leftovers and they were delish.

I am going to attempt to get back on track with daily blogging. Lord only knows I have a lot to tell ya about........

2008 Tour of Homes....Welcome

I have been telling you about the Tour of Homes for a few weeks now and it is finally here! This is my third year participating and I am excited to invite everyone into our home again. This year we moved and I haven't really "introduced" the house to the bloggers yet - so I will give you a few before and after shots as well as my holiday garb. Come on in....let me show you around. This is our entryway. You can see into our living room, hence the desk. That is where our blogging "magic" comes alive. LOL.

This is what the entryway looked like before. You can't really tell but we changed the color.

This is the before shot of our living room. All I can say it YIKES.

This is a current picture of the living room. The photo is a little dark but if you look closely you can see gifts that I started to wrap on the couch. I wasn't getting very far because Avery kept stepping on the wrapping paper!

We went with a live tree again this year. I love the way it smells. Fresh Pine....

Here are a few favorite ornaments. Elise loves Hello Kitty....

Jude really likes birds. He tells people we have a real bird in our tree.

I just received this one yesterday, as a Thank You gift. It is made out of real olive wood from Jerusalem. I love it.

I usually get the kids dressed up and take their picture in front of the tree instead of taking them to a "professional" photographer. Then I post the outtakes on my blog. This year we only got outtakes. Ahhh...the joys of having a toddler! Here are some of the better ones for ya!

Now to the kitchen....These are the before shots. Yellow is not my thing.

Here is our kitchen now, in all it's glory. What a mess! LOL. We have been making and creating all day long.

Of course the kids helped!

Jake bought me Christmas flowers!

These are Peppermint Meringues. This is the first time I tried them. Jude calls them snow mountains.

Peanut Butter Fudge. This is round two. Since I just had my gall bladder out I was taking some pain meds....the first batch got a little ugly. Let's just leave it at that!

This is a before picture of our basement!

It is the kids playroom now!

My craft room is so neglected this year. I haven't made a card or even one Christmas gift yet. I still have 10 days.......

This is our bedroom. Our Chruch adopted some families from Jude's school that needed help with the holidays. I collected the gifts. Now I have to deliver them. I can't wait.

Here are some misc... pics.

I hope you enjoyed my tour. Please come back again next year! If you are interested in my other tours check them out here: 2007 & 2006.

Also, feel free to become a follower of my blog by clicking on my sidebar!

Here are the recipes for the Peanut Butter Fudge, Peppermint Meringues or Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies.

Getting Ready....

I hope you didn't forget about the tour of homes. I have been thinking about everything I will post. If you have a blog and want to increase your traffic I highly recommend joining in the fun!



On another note....I did get rid of that pesky ole gall bladder. They gave me some crazy pain meds and go figure....I actually need them because I am in pain. I only took advil with my appendix. Anyhoo...the meds have totally messed up my sleep schedule. Everything is all backwards. I probably over did it today - one of my incisions started to bleed. Bummer. I guess I should just rest for a couple of days.

I don't care what you say....

...she is still a baby!

What exactly do you want me to say????

Yesterday I had to go to court. It is a pretty normal part of my life these days. Since I am not an attorney or a CSB worker, I usually just sit there, observe and take notes. When I am with some of the magistrates they will ask me what my role is and what I am working on with the client. I mentioned before that I was subpoenaed and that is a little different. In that case I was actually already off the case but I was going to be the star witness for the prosecution - against my ex-client. That stresses me out. But it worked out and I never even had to testify. There is one particular magistrate that while I am in her court I just observe. She does not ask me questions and I (although it is SO difficult for me) I just sit there and keep my mouth shut. She is a stern woman - the CSB workers call her mean. I happen to really appreciate her. She expects everyone to do their job with excellence. I like that in her. When the workers or parents fall short she does not hide her frustrations. I love that she has high standards and enjoy being in her courtroom. So, yesterday I had this hearing to attend. It wasn't a regularly scheduled one - my clients attorney filed a motion for a change in placement back to her home based on a bunch of different reasons. Originally when I spoke with the attorney there was a problem with something that was directly ordered in court last time. So, that is how this whole thing started. In the mean time some other issues were brought up and I was so interested in how this thing was going to play out. I told the case worker - I get to just sit back and be a fly on the wall..... Famous last words. We get in the court room and before I knew what the heck was going on I was being CALLED as a witness. That means I get sworn in and the attorneys (there were four of them in the room) get to take turns asking me questions. I was totally unprepared because I was planning on just sitting back and listening. I think some of the attorney's are confused about what my program does and when you are on the witness stand you do not get to say what you want to say....instead they ask you questions and you have to answer just that question.....Man it was horrible. I am sitting up there so nervous. I had to state my name....spell it....give my qualifications....I say I have a BA in psychology....the attorney says "and you are licensed in the state of Ohio?" I tell her no....she says, "you don't have a social work license?" NO...how can I be more clear....thanks for pointing it out.....grrrrr....frustating....she really made me feel like a fraud of some sort. Oh well. One of the attorney's made me mad. He tried to make it look like I wasn't doing my job. Me? What do I have to do with this? Anyhoo....the magistrate didn't get annoyed with me or anything so that was good. I hate that I was caught off guard. There is this one attorney that I always work with and he seemed to ask me the right questions - ones that I had put together and complete answers for.....

What a crazy day - I don't have to go to court again until next week. Same magistrate. Wish me luck!

Adios, Gallbladder!

Well, I never got around to flushing out my gallbladder....I could never find a time when I would have several days to sit on the toilet. So, after much pain and other stuff I won't discuss with you - I have decided, along with my surgeon, to get rid of the sucker. So, this Friday it is a goner. This will be two organs in 6 months. Strange.