It's my (belated) Bloggy-versary!

It hit me a few days ago that my 1 year bloggy-versary has come and gone without me doing one thing to celebrate it! I'll blame it on the usual holiday hooplah and let it slide, but I did want to commemorate it with my first Everyday Occasions post. I decided to take up blogging after reading my cousins' blogs and getting such a kick out of the pictures and stories about what was going on in their lives. I was in the middle of one of Hubby's deployments at the time, also, and I thought it would be a good way to distract me from the evening blues that so often happened after the Bubs was asleep.

I've been fortunate enough to have met some fabulously thoughtful and creative people through this venture and I'm addicted to reading your blurts and getting your comments. Seriously, y'all, I looooove the comments!

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This Christmas makes the second year in a row that my five year old son, the Bubs, and I have celebrated the holiday season without my husband. He is currently out of country fulfilling a 7 month deployment as a United States Marine. I am unabashedly proud of my hubby and understand that there are going to be times when he has to be away from home. When he puts his name down on the dotted line for another enlistment it's as if we have all signed our names right along with him. As much as I understand the need for him to be away, I must confess that during the holiday season I find myself fighting off some serious self pity! As a result, I tend to go a little overboard with the whole Christmas gig in order to distract my son and me. Needless to say I had begun to feel the effects of juggling so many different events earlier this month and was crankier than my son when he's overheated, hungry and tired!

So after dropping my mom off at her doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago (she is bravely battling breast cancer), my son and I did something you wouldn't think of as being particularly Christmassy to counter act my bout of bah-humbugness. We walked along the water front. It was just he and I on the deserted sidewalks and docks...along with a few dozen sea gulls. We meandered along and stopped to look at whatever struck our fancy. We looked out over the calm waters at some sailboats that were anchored nearby, shells that the gulls had broken on the sidewalk, waterway maps on the sides of buildings and small fish darting here and there in the shallows. We even enjoyed swinging on the covered swings that lined a portion of the water front. I, as usual, had my camera in hand and snapped off pictures at will. It was a wonderful walk in it's unhurried, unplanned simplicity.


I know that it may not be what many think of as a traditional holiday event but for me it captured everything that's become precious to me about Christmas as I've gotten a bit older (notice I didn't say matured...) and that is family. For those precious moments I was able to truly enjoy being with my son and he with me. I think every child should have memories of their parents of when they were able to just....be...with one another. (Of course, this is much easier said than done.)

The Bubs perfectly summed up the morning as I was getting him into his car seat. He gave a big, blustery sigh and said, "We had a great walk Mommy. I love you."