Well, it's not blue.

Here's the dress purchased for this evening. I also had to buy two pairs of shoes because I couldn't decide which ones I like best. I'll just return the ones I don't wear. Naturally, the first thing Tim said was, "Where's the bottom?" Yeah, it's pretty short. In fact, I asked the salesgirl if it was supposed to be a shirt, and she assured me it is a dress. I just can't imagine someone taller than me wearing it as a dress. Anyway, the second thing Tim said was, "You're gonna freeze your ass off." He always says that. He said it when I wore the nurse outfit too. I have to remind him that we won't be outside. So I'll take lots of pictures. And hopefully no one else has the same dress. And hopefully I'm not over dressed ... which has to be impossible when there is so little dress to speak of! Happy New Year!!

Vote for your favorite

Pick a dress and vote for it. I'm shopping in the morning.

Good grief!!

I have spent the last 2 hours changing my background ... what a pain in the butt! I have a new found appreciation for people who can read and write html code.

I hope you enjoy the paisley print. More blogging later when Tanner is napping ...

The Christmas Letter

Every year I write this long, drawn out Christmas letter explaining what has changed for our family over the past year and how we have all changed. I racked my brain this year trying to come up with something creative. Every night I told Tim he was going to have to help me write the letter ... how had we changed? ... what have we done this year? ... etc. However, every time we sat down to write it, we couldn't some up with much for ourselves. The kids have changed a ton, but the grownups? Not so much. I procrastinated so much on my Christmas letter that my Christmas cards went out later then usual. And they still went out without a letter.


But I didn't think it was fair not to share with everyone how much my kids have grown and developed this year. They are like night and day now compared to this time last year. So I have written a letter for 2008 that does not even compare to my previous letters but conveys my feelings, nonetheless.

If you did not receive a postmarked Christmas card, it is because I tried to send them to the people I don't see on a regular basis. (Translated -- I'm broke and cheap and only ordered 60 cards. So if I see you at least once every two weeks, you didn't get a card in the mail. It's not that I don't love you, but you can hug my kids whenever you want!!)

Continue reading for the Christmas letter. Happy holidays!!
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Dear Family and Friends,

I had a dilemma trying to write this letter for you all this year. I sat for many nights, pondering what has changed in our lives this year. While it doesn’t appear that life has changed much for Tim and me, our children have changed plenty.

It appears that Tim and I have really done nothing except keep our heads above water and age. Sounds pretty insignificant, right? Not really. Tim continues to build, working harder than he should with no obvious payment for his work. He is working at Inglett & Stubbs again, traveling from job to job, which keeps him entertained; never in a place long enough for it to get dull. After working his 8 hours during the day he drives back to Canton, only to work on the houses he continues to build in hopes that the market is going to swing our way. He began building in a new neighborhood in Canton, Royal Oaks, and was successful in selling one house there earlier this year. We are now waiting for the right buyers to come along for his current 3 projects; of course, we’re not very picky at this point! Tim continues to entertain his children when he is home, whether it be with four-wheeler rides or blowing them with the blower. He astounds me with his ambition and drive.

I have almost completed another year away from “work,” though I certainly feel like I work more now than I did when I was getting paid. Tanner and I have been more mobile this year with Kendall at school, and we’ve been able to do things we couldn’t do before. We spend time at the playground, and I’ve been trying to work with him on his colors and letters to no avail. I have begun filling out the dreaded applications for employment for next school year, hoping that teaching has not changed that much in the 3 years I’ve been away. I am eager to return to the work field so I can get a break every now and then (yes, now I understand what you all were talking about before). And I’m looking forward to some adult conversations again. Hopefully it will not be as difficult to find a job for me as it has been for so many others this year.

Kendall began real pre-school this year, attending four days a week. Her class consists of only 5 other children, and she has the same teacher she had last year. I feel that the continuity has really helped her this year. I am still amazed when I think of all she has accomplished this year. It has only been 365 days, but she has tackled so much! She has learned to write her first and last name, learned her phone number, learned to swim underwater with goggles and no swimmies, learned to ride her bike without training wheels, learned a little Spanish, and learned to pump her legs on the swings. While her advancements have made life easier for me (no more pushing two swings at once or juggling two kids in the pool), it makes me sad to see her growing up so quickly. I remember just yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital … I am eager to see what Kindergarten has to offer her this next school year.

Tanner also has changed a lot this year. He started out not talking much and has become a serious chatterbox! He asks questions constantly, and his favorite is, “Why?” Every day he says something to make me smile and giggle, whether it be, “Mommy, I like your dress,” or “You love me?” While I still try to get him to sing his ABC’s and count for me, he in stubborn (not sure where he gets that from) and wants to do everything in his own time. Kendall successfully taught him his colors with flashcards, but he still wants to be my baby. While I have talked to him about going to “school” next year when Mommy goes back to work, I’m not sure he’s looking forward to it. Perhaps he will surprise me and just walk away with a little wave over his shoulder. I’m certain I will be shedding more tears to watch my last baby walk away into childhood.

Though this year has been tough for many, we have received some blessing from above. Memaw (Tim’s mom) remains cancer free after 4 ½ year. PePaw (Tim’s dad) had successful prostate surgery after cancer was discovered, and luckily he did not have to endure any other treatment. We were lucky to have a visit with Josh before he returned to Iraq on December 6th. We pray for a safe and successful trip for him so that he and his boys will not have to return after this deployment. We know all of these blessings would not be possible without the Lord’s help, and we’re certain our Guardian Angel is watching out for us.

As always, we wish we saw more of you more often, but as families grow and people move, it becomes harder and harder to keep in touch. We hope that you and yours have a wonderful and safe holiday season and a joyful new year in 2009!

With love,

Tim, Keisha, Kendall, and Tanner Morris

Naughty

I'm using this one this year ... hopefully, it will work!!

Perks

OK, so right about now there aren't many perks to being a builder's wife. He's working super long hours trying to make these houses perfect that no one is even bothering to look at. I understand that times are tough. And I am one of the lucky ones who happens to have a husband who still has his "bill paying job." So after weeks of seeing him only right before dinner until bed, I finally received some perks.


I call them perks simply because they perk up my mood. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or not, but Tim has connections. So we are able to get new stuff for our house easier than your average Joe would be able to. For instance, when we wanted our walls repainted, it was easy to get the painter in to do it. When Kendall and Tanner wanted a playhouse built, we had workers here the next day. (No, Tim did not build that himself. But he could have ...) When we need new fluffy pinestraw or a dead shrub replaced, it's done right away by the landscaper. You get my point. So for the perks ...


A few weeks ago we found out a local family-owned lighting company was going out of business. So Tim gets this stuff in the mail alerting us of the sale. So on a Saturday Tim and I set out to find new light fixtures. For one of his new houses, I thought. So why did he need me there? Because the light fixtures were actually going in our house. And our light fixtures were going in the new house. See, perk. Because he is building a house of the same floor plan, the lights match up perfectly! So now I have a gorgeous new chandelier in my master bath, along with new vanity lights. The old ones were OK, but new is always better!


Just this week I experienced another perk. I've been having issues with my dishwasher for months. Apparently one time when Tanner was trying to help me unload, he decided to hang on the top shelf and it popped out of the groove. Tim popped it back in, but every since then it hasn't stayed properly. Most of the time when I'm trying to get all the sippy cup stoppers out and into the right cups, the shelf will fall and everything hits the floor. Then I have to chase the dog down because, inevitably, she gets a stopper in her mouth and runs off with it. Anyway, Tim and I were trying to watch TV the other night while the dishwasher was running. Usually I run it during the day because it is so loud. And most of you know how light a sleeper Kendall is. So the dishwasher was RUNNING and Tim and I were squinting at the TV, trying to hear (Why do we squint when we are straining to hear, anyway???), afraid to turn the sound up because we may wake Kendall, and she'd be up forever, and I wouldn't get to watch TV after all.


I'm on a tangent.


So Tim got online to find a quiet dishwasher. And quiet he did find! The next day he informed me that our dishwasher would be arriving Wednesday. Hooray! (No, we're not putting the broken dishwasher in one of the other houses!) So I now have a new dishwasher from Builder Specialities (because he's a builder, we get wholesale price or something like that). It has a dip in the top shelf so you can put wine glasses in and they won't hit the top when you close the door. It has 4 baskets ... that means I can put stoppers everywhere if I want to! And those crazy 3-piece straws that come in those Dora cups! And it's sooooo quiet. Oh, and I forgot to mention you can put detergent in this little compartment that holds enough detergent for an entire month!!!!!!!!! You don't have to refill every time you wash! I'm so excited!!


I know ... it's the little things ...

Craigs List

I spent my entire morning yesterday putting things on Craigslist. After Tim lectured me on spending all the money in my account over the last month, so I figured I would sell everything in our playroom to make up for it. I also decided that I would try one last time to sell my old prom, formal, and bridesmaids dresses. So for 4 hours I uploaded pictures and posted items. Shortly after nap time, I started getting the emails asking if "this" was still available or if "that" was an absolute price. This is the part I hate. You go back and forth on price and where you will meet. I always put that things have to be picked up from my house to save me the trouble, but after this morning, I may change that.

I checked my email this morning and saw that I had an inquiry on one of my dresses. Since they are all for sale for 10 bucks, I figured they would go pretty quickly. The inquiry was asking if I had a picture of the dress on to see how it fits. I thought nothing of it. So I found a picture from Kendall's birthday party at which I wore the dress to look like a princess. I cropped Kendall out and cropped my head off and sent the picture. No big deal.

About an hour later I received a response : "Damn, girl, that dress looks hot. Got any pictures of what's underneath?"

HUNH????????!!!!!!!!!

I mean, ewwww. Really. My skin is still crawling from that email. What kind of person does that? I mean ... ewwww. I'm just thankful that I cropped Kendall out.

I guess that's what I get for forgetting that there are awful, sick, bad, disgusting people in this world.

So no more pictures of me in dresses. Hangers only. If you don't want to buy it that way, fine. And no more meeting me at my house. I'm totally freaked out. And upset. And getting angrier by the second ...

Too Much Going On Around Here

Even though it seems that, at the end of the day I've done nothing, I feel like I've been super-busy for the last week or so. I was determined to get all my Christmas shopping done last week, and I have achieved this now. Of course, everything isn't wrapped yet, but that can happen later. So what else has been going on?

Well, Tim and I had 4 invitations to 4 functions in 4 different places for this past Saturday. After racking my brain and trying to figure out how we could be in 4 different places at once, I figured we couldn't do it all so we took the first invitation we received.

So Saturday afternoon we headed out to Blue Ridge for Matt's surprise 30th birthday party. We stayed in this gorgeous cabin that slept 14 or so. There were 4 couples and some other people. Luckily, everyone was up for a good time. All of the couples are parents, so it was nice to let our hair down with some people who understand what our lives are like on a daily basis. We ate a low country boil, cake, and drank wine and martinis. All without the pressure of having to drive home. It was fabulous!! We ended our night with several hours in a hot tub ... it was Heaven! It is really great when Tim and I have the chance to relax and not worry about anything. We remember how to laugh and enjoy each other's company and remember how lucky we are to have each other. So, all in all, fabulous trip.

On the way back from Blue Ridge, I made Tim stop on 575 beside the DUI sign for my dad. There are still flowers where his accident happened.

Lastly, Saturday night Josh deployed for Iraq again. 2nd tour of duty. This is my favorite picture, though it frightens me that the government gives my little brother a weapon ... kidding! I talked to him Thursday night, but I was hoping to be able to talk to him again before he left. But we had zero bars in the mountains, so I don't know if he called or not. I'm hoping that he knows how much I love him, how much I pray for is safety, and how proud I am of him. Mary (my sister-in-law) sent the pictures from deployment and I just sat and cried looking at them this morning. It still hasn't quite sunk in that he is gone for another year ...

So that's where we are now. No more online shopping and no more other stuff going on for a while, so hopefully I'll have more time to rest before the craziness of Christmas gets here.