Well, another year has made us stronger.  I’m so strong this year, I can carry an extra 10 pounds (an inner-tube) around my mid-section!  We went on a Celebrity cruise in April of this year to the “non-third world Eastern Caribbean” with the kids and my parents to celebrate being on “our own” for two years, and John and I took a “Detox” seminar thinking that we needed to get healthy.  We ended up purchasing $1,400 worth of seaweed pills that didn’t work, and just made my urine brighter and ripe.  We also completely stopped drinking Diet Coke which has been super glued to my left hand since 1989.  Well, if I’m not drinking Diet Coke, I have to drink SOMETHING, and water is boring…I completely acknowledge that if I stopped consuming wine and Miller Lite by the case load, that I’d drop the pounds, but everyone has a coping strategy to deal with the trials and tribulations of their life, and I enjoy all of which I have acquired a taste.  Besides, I’m not boring and I’m thirsty.

The Montgomery “3” are at absolutely fantastic ages.  This has been my most enjoyable year as a mother so far, and if the kids were any tastier, I’d drink them too.  Jack is highly involved in third grade and extra-curricular activities of Tennis, Basketball, Cubscouts, Chess, and Baseball.  Ashton is chilling out in first grade and is into whatever Jack is signed up for, but would rather be playing Legos and Star Wars.  He also continues to not like girls to the point of which I’ve been spoken to by his teacher, Sunday school teacher, check out lady at the grocery store, and anyone else that has an interaction with him.  And then there is Princess M.  She’s my ballerina, ball playing, trash talking, and swimming artist.  Her favorite color is pink and she wears a customized couture line of dresses made by my mother on a daily basis.  Her favorite line is, “Keep a Lid on It, Butterscotch”, and she’s keeping her brothers in line with her high pitched, Dora the Explorer sounding voice.  Delightful and music to my ears like nails on a chalk board.  M is a sponge and has somehow taught herself to read, write, and do mathematical equations while none of us were paying attention to her.  She now makes grocery lists, ingredient lists, and recipes, as well as completes Ashton’s workbooks for him when he’s not interested in doing them himself.  She’s four.

Lille, the overweight schnauzer, is absolutely no use at all, and what doesn’t kill her makes us closer.  This year, her 10 year old pancreas has decided that consuming peanut butter sandwiches, popcorn, candy, bread, pizza, and food scraps thrown on the floor doesn’t work for its digestion anymore, so now whenever Lille has a taste of the ‘good stuff’, she goes into a pancreatic attack and has to be hospitalized ($800/pop) and given IV treatment to clear her system.  Trust me, she doesn’t learn her lessons, and it’s caused me no end of frustration.  Lille had a hell of a good time this summer on Daufuskie when she and the kids learned how to pop popcorn in the microwave – well, Daufuskie doesn’t have a hospital, let alone a vet, and there was no way I was going over to the mainland to cure her bender.  Daufuskie does have Internet access, and I did my online research and made a call to her vet in Atlanta.  If there is one thing I proudly share with the world this year, it’s that a Zantac 75mg. pill works the same as an $800IV system flush – cut it in half, pop it down her throat.  Lille and I continue to have an understanding – she doesn’t poop on the floor, and I’ll stick a pill down her throat when she goes on a food binge.  Don’t get Xanax confused with Zantac.  Zantac is for acid indigestion, Xanax is for anti-anxiety, which is also a beautiful thing.

Speaking of a beautiful thing, I continue to run on the Gerbil track of life with the goal of going to Daufuskie Island every summer.  I never thought that I’d be that person that truly wants to go live on an island where there is no grocery store, no cars, no movie theatre, no mall, but I am.  I’m still driving the duct-taped minivan and have no replacement desire on the horizon.  A new mini-van is just not something to look forward to, and so I live for my summer, when I’m cruising in a six seater golf cart, and don’t have to fill my gas tank until we have to come back for the drive to Atlanta.  I’m consistently playing the lottery, and have decided that I’ll build a private school and Catholic church (with priest) on the island when my numbers come in so that I never have to leave!  John says he’ll join me.  Harris Teeter already delivers the groceries ordered via fax, so that totally works for me, rather than toting three kids to the grocery store.  In the meantime, I spend my reality of the school year helping John with his company, dropping off kids at school, activities, and friends houses, volunteering at the school, and picking up the tens of thousands of Lego’s living in our basement.  I do laundry, I cook dinner, and because the economy is in the tanker and we help companies raise capital (which is hard to come by these days), I now also clean/scrub/ disinfect our house without the weekly assistance of “the ladies” in my spare time.   It’s been quite a year and I’m very motivated!     We hope that everyone has a great and healthy and PROSPEROUS 2009.  Everyone is welcome to visit us in 2009 – please bring wine.    Love, Sinclair