Where did January go?

First, you are all probably thinking that I fell off the face of the earth.  I didn't.  Can I explain?

The month/year didn't start off quite like I had hoped.  After sleeping through most of the Holiday Season with a kidney stone, surgery, and a raging infection, I was kind of ready for January to get here.  But alas, what we thought was food poisoning, turned out to be the dreaded stomach flu that was going around.  Oh happy day!  Not only had I not felt like eating during this whole kidney deal because of all the medications I was on, you throw in the stomach flu on top of it . . . blech!  Happy to say that has cleared out of our house. 

I never really like January - yes, it's full of good intentions for goals and resolutions, but it's also one of the rainiest and cloud covered months of the year.  And then there's January 17.  The day my dear Mom passed away.  No matter how long it's been (this year was the 4th anniversary of her death), I dread the day.  As I have voiced many times before, for those of you who say it gets easier, you're big liars.  I will NEVER get over it - it will always be a day that I dread because it puts me further away from the last time I held her hand, kissed her cheek, laughed with her, and hugged her.  She was my EVERYTHING!  She was the girl who I could tell anything to, knowing that I wouldn't be judged or made fun of.  She was the girl that I ran to when my best friend in the world betrayed my friendship (the first time - I went back again, only to be stepped upon and spit out like old gum again).  She was the girl who knew that I was going to marry my best friend, and later carry his child.  Yup, she was everything. 

And today, the last day of the month I find myself procrastinating.  It's tax day for WA State.  Time to pay up.  So I woke up this morning to get that return completed and paid for.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  Thankfully, it's easy enough (I say that after I struggled through 2 hours of wondering why my calculations said I had to pay triple what I paid last year).  Yes, I had a great year, but in no way did it make for triple what I paid last  year.  After a minor adjustment, the return was filed.  DONE for another year. 

So tomorrow, it's February.  Time to get out of this funk, get on with life.  I'm even hearing that there's sun in the forecast.  Perfect!  So, I'm going to leave you with a few Valentine's Day pieces.  Yes, that is our next holiday, and technically, if you procrastinate,  you only have about 10 days in order to have it in your hands. 

Enjoy your day - thank you for letting me rant a bit and bearing with me as I blanked out in January.  I promise you'll see more of me.  www.tippystockton.com